2nd June Saturday
Another beautiful sunny start, watching the wildlife. Drove onwards along Parry Creek rd and stopped at Black Rock Falls,
and as usual no water in the falls just a puddle at the base. Found road to Ivanhoe Crossing
but the road to cross over is closed, just our luck,
but the crossing is amazing.
When arrived in Kununurra went straight to the visitor centre and got list of caravan parks, chose the cheapest, Hidden Valley C.P. and they have space. It is a lovely site situated next to the Mirima Nat Pk. You just camp wherever you like. After dinner walked to the office grass area where they have Movies Under The Stars, we watched Mama Mia, sat on the grass under the moon and stars, great evening. Could here music from tent, there is a concert on locally called Kimberley Moon, fell asleep no probs.
3rd June Sunday
Today sees the start of a new book to record our journey. Fantastic sleep, sun popping it's head out. Kununurra is an Abbo word meaning "the meeting of the big waters", the region was settled based on the cattle industry. The Ord River was dammed in 1971 to form the biggest man made lake in Oz, without which the agriculture could not be sustained. The Mirima Nat Pk which we can see from our camp
are known as The Mini Bungle Bungle's. Sorted boxes this morning, Rose now has all her clothes in her own box. Colin repaired one of the food drawers. Went to office and booked ourselves on a flight over the Bungle Bungle's with Shoal Air tomorrow at 6am!!!! (supposed to be the best time of day- yeah) we had to give them our weights, which we had to guess as never weighed ourselves. Roses ticket cost $295 whilst Colin's only cost $280 cos he an old git. This is our treat on the trip. Had a walk into town in afternoon, only 20 mins, but only went to the IGA, the only place open. After dinner watched a bit of Avatar at the Movies Under The Stars, it was rubbish so set alarm clock for 5am and went to bed.
4th June Monday
Alarm worked, jumpers weather. Down at gate at 5.30am for pick up along with 8 others. We had the small plane with 5 seats with another couple,
Rose had the back seat to herself and Colin got to be co-pilot. we flew out over the Ord River,
the Diversion Dam
and Ord Irrigation Area
then flew over Lake Argyle
which is the biggest man made lake in Oz, it took 2 years to fill the lake and the islands you can see are the tops of mountains.
We passed over 2 cattle stations
and the Osmond Ranges where the hills look like waves,
then onto The Purnulu Nat Pk and The Bungle Bungles
where you can see the sandstone beehive formations,
then the return over the Argyle Diamond Mine
which is owned by Rio Tinto, it is the biggest diamond producing mine in the world and has the most expensive plane runway in the southern hemisphere,
the surface has tiny diamonds in it which can't be separated out. We had a few bumps and the horizon was a bit hazy. Views were spectacular, well worth the early start. Back at camp by 8.15am, some campers are just getting up. Rose still got jumper on as wind has got up. Had a cuppa and breakfast before heading out to Ivanhoe Crossing
to see it from the other side, it was flowing faster than a couple of days ago.
We were told they had let water out of the dam, which is why the crossing is still closed.
A bloke walked into the crossing to fish and his dog followed him and got washed over the weir,
the owner was preparing to in on the end of a rope that Colin had given him when the dog finnally struggled out of the current and onto the bank,
alls well that ends well. Drove back to town for fuel and shopping before heading back for lunch. Feels like we've been longer than we actually have, both if us feel tired. Used camp BBQ to cook dinner of pork steaks and chips, absolutely stuffed. Went to bed 6.30ish as tired.
5th June Tuesday
Warmer this morning, we are leaving Kununurra today, heading east along The Victoria HWay, crossing into the Northern Territory. Sitting having a cuppa before leaving we were watching the Kites (birds) circling overhead, fantastic sight. Left site at 9.30, visited library to upload photos, took an hour before heading onto the Victoria HWay, saw some great Boab Trees
on the way. Stopped at the border for photos and lunch,
moved time forward 1.1/2 hours. Headed off for Saddle Creek Rest Area for the night. Bit disappointed with it not being suitable for tents, so sleeping in LRover tonight. It is situated in The Duncan Passage which is quite spectacular driving up to it. sat around picnic tables with fellow travellers, exchanging information, appears we are going the opposite way to the others, we have been given leaflets and brochures to help us with Katherine and the Nat Pks. Looks like plenty of free or very cheep camping ahead of us. as cooking dinner people kept bringing us fruit and veg as they can't take it over the border into WA with them, Colin had an apple for pudding, it was free. Got dark 6.45ish, what a change from WA when it is totally dark at 5.30pm. Ate dinner in daylight. Chatted with neighbours till bed.
6th June Wednesday
Colin said people were moving off really early this morning before daylight. We didn't get up till 8am and the site seemed empty, people already starting to come in. Rose had a look round an "A VAN" , it was amazingly spacious and the layout is very good. By the time we packed up and had more chats it was 10.45am really late. Off up The Victoria HWay towards Timber Creek. We have grass verges with cerice pink wildflowers growing. Condition of the bitumen not good in places. Stopped at Horse Creek Campground for lunch, parked by boat ramp overlooking the Victoria River, lovely spot so decided to stay for a couple of nights, just got tent set up when a Nissan Ute pulled in, it had decals on it making it look like a zebra,
reminded us of Daktari. They had loads of soft toys on the roof rack and Wonder Woman tied to the bull bar. The couple were expats from East Anglia and taken part in a Variety 4WD Challenge. Fantastic vehicle, they had various hats to wear during the Challenge, and Bill even had a monkey mask.
Great chat with them, they had moved out to Oz 6yrs ago, living in Brisbane for 5yrs then moving to Perth. Good evening.
7th June Thursday
Cold evening. Colin set to and checked out the LRover, topping oils and checking nuts and bolts, he replugged the tyre again and found a chunk missing out of the tread of another.
Quiet day, a young family came onto site who we originally met at Hamelin Pool, but most people are travelling West, we are going East. Decided to stay tomorrow night as well here, aiming to get to Katherine for monday.
8th June Friday
FRIDAY FACT:- THE LONGEST PLACE NAME IN OZ IS "MAMUNGKUKUMPURAKUNTJUNYA"
Got woken up at 6.30 this morning by some French campers slamming doors and leaving their engine running, Colin got up and told them to "either turn it off or f**k off" they turned it off then left soon after. Colin checked tyre,still up at the moment. Had a walk down to the river
and saw the jetty where the river cruise boats moor,
also saw croc footprints in the mud. Busy day doing nothing.
26th May Saturday
7am and 16degs, good night in LRover. Very windy, Colin checked under vehicle, all ok, then tyre pressures, looks like we have slow puncture in one, not worth changing unless we have to. we are the last to leave the camp area and it is only 8.30 and temp only 18degs. Rose has kept her trousers on and Colin still wearing his jumper. First water crossing is Bell Ck,
lots of stones on road. Took road to Bell Gorge, 29kms from G.R.R, passing through the ranges and plains, reminding us of African plains,
lots of dust from traffic
and through a few water crossings. The walk to the gorge was rocky but worth it. The river with small weirs
feed into a pool which then has the waterfall at the other end,
absolutely stunning, it looks like an infinity pool.
Drove back to G.R.R. and stopped at Imintji Store for cuppa, then carried on to our next stop for the night at Hann River(bush camping). The road has been sandy, dusty and very rocky in places along with corrugations. We have crossed 19 water crossings so far since begining G.R.R. Bed early as getting cold, sleeping in LRover again.
27th May Sunday
What a cold night, at 6.30 only 8degs, Rose has Tshirt shirt and jumper on Colin has 2 Tshirts and jumper. We definately have a puncture, Colin has found it and it's repairable, which he'll do before we move on today. Sat in sun trying to warm up. Tyre plugged(nail in tread), left site 9.15 Rose not feeling good. Had to stop after 50km as tyre gone down again, Colin changed the wheel quickly, just as finished a ute going the other way stopped to make sure we were ok. Turned off G.R.R. onto The Kalumburu Rd towards Drysdale Station, the corrugations
are awful in places. Drysdale Station has a shop, car repairs,deisel at $2.08 and camping, $30 unpowered, we have grass, trees and showers, there is even a bar and restaurant. Total water crossings today 8.
28 May Monday
Brrrr night, 7am 8 degrees, glad we had all the bedding last night. Another camper lit a fire to keep warm. Turned into a lovely sunny day. Colin has replugged the tyre and given the LRover a maintenance check, I have done domestic duties like laundry and given the cooker a clean, probably shouldn't bother as the dust will come back quickly. Sorted my clothes and put clothes that have got too big into a bag for a charity shop, will just have to go clothes shopping when I get home. Had a BBQ for dinner the steaks were lovely and tender then sat around the coals to keep warm.
29 May Tuesday
Not such a cold night, tyre still deflating. Left Drysdale Station just after 9am. the station covers approx 1 million acres. It took us an hour to drive back to the GRR. The road is hilly and twisty today, support vehicles for the Gibb Bike challenge have gone past us but we caught them up at the ROADWORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!.
We saw the grader parked up waiting for us to pass. Stopped at a water crossing, the biggest yet,
it was fun watching other vehcles crossing over. Further up the road had to stop as a bull with horns was in the road,
Colin had to back up as it started to charge at us, we waited a few minutes then it walked off into the bush, the most dangerous animal encounter yet. Some of the views over the plains have been amazing,
keep expecting to see african wildlife walk before us. We are driving through the Pentacost Ranges
and the views are magnificent, just a shame about the mistiness. Arrived at Home Valley Station for 1 night, it is like a holiday resort with pools, horse riding and they arrange tours, we are even camping on grass. You can see the mistiness from the camp towards the Cockburn Range in the distance. 21 water crossings today.
30th May Wednesday
Early morning, warmer night 6.30am and 16degs. Left site at 9am, first water crossing is the Pentacost River,
it was so good Colin did it 3 times.
The road is dreadfulwith stones and corrugations,
down to 20kph at times. Stopped at Emma Gorge Resort but they wanted to charge $10 each to walk to the waterfall, too expensive to walk just 3kms return. Made it to the end of the G.R.R. ,
Now onto Wyndam, back on the bitumen. 8 water crossings today. Stopped at the Grotto, 144 steps down then the same back up again, at the end of the pool
is a waterfall, but only in the wet season, we are in the dry, still nice to clamber as saw Boab trees clinging to the sides of the cliff.
Keep seeing quadruple trucks along the road, they are massive. The scenery is more rolling hills then mountains, and salt flats. Decided to stop at Wyndam for the night. Since we left Derby we have covered 940kms and ran out of fuel in both tanks in the caravan park, what timing, after 800kms of corrugations and 56 water crossings we have used 90ltrs of fuel. Stopping at Wyndam Caravan Pk for 2 nights as there is plenty to see here. Walked up to local servo and had 2 hot pies for dinner followed by fruit and custard back at camp. Rose rang Marion and had a nice chat.
31st May Thursday
Bit chilly in night but was able to remove and straighten it before putting it back everthing else seems to be ok. Wyndam is WAs most northerly town, it was originally a port for the East Kimberley gold fields but the port is now used for the export of iron ore and the cattle industry. The Cambridge Gulf is home to some of the largest saltwater crocodiles in the world. We visited the Crocodile Farm in the morning in time for the feeding tour.
The oldest croc aged 98 died last year, the oldest they have now is called Donald,
looks good for 93. Some of their crocs have been given to them as they were a menace to local communities and they now use some of them as part of their breeding program. They have black crocs
which are supposed to be the meanest and a youngster that is white (very rare).
When the young crocs get to 2years old they are sold and eventually to be made into high quality leather goods, like snappy handbags.. The guide took us round feeding crocs as we went, it was amazing how quick, agile and fierce they were.
At times some havebroken their enclosure fencings. Today they were pretty lazy as it was too cold at 30degs. We also managed to get a reduction on entry as Colin is a senior, well worth the trip. When left the crocs we drove to the port to The Old Tin Shop and bought a print of a Boab tree by a NZ artist who settled in Oz, then across the road for lunch at the local hotel,
of Barramundi(in a beer batter) burger with chips, fantastic, the burger was taller than a Coke can, we were stuffed so headed back to camp to recover. Stopped for gas bottle refill and to look at the Big Croc,
it was constucted in the 1980s by a group of students as a reminder of all the crocs found in East Kimberley. After 6pm rang and spoke to Dee, good chat, she has bought the Keishi(seed) pearls she wanted, Rose told her last bit of cake would be eaten tonight. Good busy day.
1st June Friday
FRIDAY FACT:- ARGYLE DIAMOND MINE IN THE KIMBERLEY'S PRODUCES MORE DIAMONDS THAN ANY OTHER MINE IN THE WORLD.
Bit warmer last night, there are a scattering of clouds in the sky. There is also a donkey
on the site and came to visit us while packing up. After packing up popped into library and uploaded blog for last week, drove out of town and saw some camel silhouettes
in commeration of the Afghans and their camels who helped transport goods before roads. Looking for dirt road to Marglu Billabong, a bit rough in places. Stopped on Telegraph Hill and you can see down to the billabong and the land around it,
wonderful views. Down the track to the billabong, an amazing amount of water birds
and the flowers in the water are lovely.
Found the macro setting on the camera to take close ups of the flowers. When we left we found a dirt track
that had no signs, but going in the right direction, kicking up a lot of bull dust, parts of the track resemble green lanes at home. Eventually found Parry Creek Rd heading to Kununurra looking for Mambi Island Rest Area for the night, found the sign, it is a lovely setting by the River Ord, found a place to pitch tent,
not close to the river, after being at the croc reserve you become a bit wary. There are lots of Kangaroos and Cranes,
so peaceful. Plenty of mossies, with a warm evening.
