Time to start the journey home......

Leaving Parry Creek Farm and turning East again was the beginning of our return journey home.  The GPS told us that we had over 4000 km to home and I guess we had to start somewhere.

We drove on passing through the very messy border sign and stopped soon after at Zebra Rock Mine to camp for the night.  We enjoyed a quiet night here and found it to be a very quirky place to camp.

We continued on the next morning with a quick stop at Kununurra for the shops and then we were on our way in earnest stopping to make lunch at Saddle Creek rest area before continuing on to Timber Creek to camp for the night.

Back at Big Horse campground we found a spot, set up quickly and then headed out to see the sights.  We drove up to the Lookout and found a great view of The Victoria River.

It was here that we also found 'The Nackeroo Memorial' commemorating this special group of soldiers from World War 2 and their Aboriginal Trackers.  An amazing story and one neither Bill nor I had been aware of before today.  A group of men stationed here during the war were known as 'the eyes and ears of the North'.   

My research tells me that The North Australia Observation Unit (NAOU), nicknamed the “Nackeroos” was created in mid-March 1942, a week after Broome was strafed.  The unit was barely 550 strong, and with their headquarters in Katherine, in the Northern Territory, they were given the task of patrolling northern Australia to look for signs of enemy activity. They operated in small groups, and most of their patrols were on horseback. The men made use of the knowledge of local Aboriginals and maintained coastwatching outposts.  As the threat of invasion passed, the unit was reduced in strength and disbanded in March 1945.

Our next stop was Policemans Point Lookout and here we found a friendly Butcher Bird.  We returned home for the evening and tried to keep cool as the sun set.  The weather which had been very pleasant, around 32 degs and dry, had suddenly shot up to 36 and 37 and had become humid.  According to the newspaper the next day 'the build up' had begun early.  Now it really was time to leave.

Waking early the next morning we were hoping to be up and off when suddenly I discovered that we had visitors.  Little black ants had decided to invade during the night and were hell bent on getting into all the cupboards.  We got stuck into them with a can of spray and soon had more dead than alive.  A bit of a shock and the first time we have had any problems with the little creatures.  As luck would have it we seem to have gotten rid of them all and have had no further problems.  It did delay our departure a little bit though.

Back on the road we continued on just stopping at Limestone Creek for lunch before making our way into Katherine where we were going to stay in a caravan park for two nights.  Time to wash and shop again.  We chose The Riverview Park and enjoyed our stay here.

The next morning Bill got up early and went of in search of the Gouldian Finch again and with still no luck it looks like we will have to return to try again another time.  He returned and we had breakfast and then set off to have a look at the Katherine river.  We found some lovely places to get up close and enjoyed the morning.

Back at home we had lunch and stayed in the cool of the aircon for a while before changing into the bathers and walking down to the Katherine Hot springs.  These are a series of crystal clear pools winding through the trees on their way to the river.  The pools are a constant 32 deg and edged with paving and lawn on one side make it a lovely spot to while away a few hours.  We swam and enjoyed the water which was cooler than the temperature then.  Back at home we remained inside with the aircon still going as the heat seemed not to want to let up at all.

And so now as we prepare to leave in the morning we must map out our route home.

Until then.........