Derby, WA

High Tide, Derby, WA

Tuesday, 22 May 2012 to Wednesday, 23 May 2012

Derby was our destination today. Derby has incredibly high tides ranging from low tide of 1.86 to 11.5 metres at high tide and ranks amongst the nine highest tides in the world. The water looked like liquid chocolate as the flood water entering from the Fitzroy River is very muddy. We were lucky enough to see the tide change on Wednesday morning and the dirty water made this very easy.

Low Tide, Derby, WA

We also visited the Old Derby Gaol, a covered caged area which was used to hold aboriginals in atrocious conditions.
Our next stop was Myall's Bore and Cattle Trough which is 120 metres long and could handle 500 bullocks at one time.

The Prison Boab Tree is believed to be about 1500 years old. It is hollow in the middle and was used to hold mainly aboriginal prisoners or those captured for slave labour for a night on their way to Derby.

Prison Boab Tree, Derby, WA

Myall's Water Trough, Derby, WA

Fonty's Pool, built in 1944 as a bathing pool for the troops stationed in the area is alongside the road into Derby.
It is very small and was used by the officers for part of the day and the non-coms had use of it at other times. Derby played a significant part in the Second World War and was bombed by the Japanese several times.

Bungle Bungles

Friday, 18 May 2012

We left Kununurra this morning and headed south to Spring Creek Rest Area where we decided to camp for two nights as it is close to the road into Purnululu National Park where the Bungle Bungles can be explored. The road south is part of Highway One and has a surprising number of one lane bridges which cross several rivers including Bow River.

Saturday, 19 May 2012

Bungle Bungles, WA

Bungle Bungles, WA

Bungle Bungles, WA

We decided on a very early start, about 5.45am as the drive into the Bungle Bungles is only about 56kms but because of the rough and corrugated road takes a couple of hours to travel. After registering at the ranger station we had another 45 minute (27kms) drive to Piccaninny Creek car park before we commenced our first walk to explore the famous "beehive domes" and the Cathedral Gorge. This area is, in my opinion, more spectacular when viewed from the ground than from the air. Words cannot describe the beauty and wonder of this area.
After lunch we commenced our next drive to Echidna Chasm approximately 20kms in the other direction. There are many gorges and chasms to view but we only had time for two. We first walked along a very rocky path then entered the chasm with it's incredibly high walls and the light streaming in from the top intensified the colours of the rocks. The chasm is only one person wide in some parts and quite steep towards the end.
We then returned to the cars and commenced our return trip to our campsite before dark.

Echidna Chasm, Bungle Bungles

Sunday, 20 May 2012

After our early start and long walks yesterday, we set off a little later this morning and travelled in a very spread out convoy. We had a stop at Halls Creek for morning tea and a visit to the visitor centre. We spent the night at Mary Pool Rest Area on the Mary River.

Monday, 21 may 2012

Today was another travelling day with a stop at Fitzroy Crossing for fuel before we moved on to Ellendale Rest Area while the other couples went to view Geikie Gorge but without success as the going was a bit too rough and sandy.

Kununurra, WA

Monday, 14 May 2012

Mirima National Park, Kununurra, WA

Mirima National Park, Kununurra, WA

This morning we visited Mirima National Park, known as Happy Valley, which adjoins our caravan park. This area is sometimes referred to as the Little Bungle Bungles. Next we travelled about 13kms from Kununurra to visit the Sandalwood Factory where we learnt that in the next few years over 80,000 hectares of land will be planted with sandalwood. Sandalwood trees need a host tree to live on and they are planted with two other varieties of trees, one that grows quickly but doesn't live more than 5 to 6 years and another that will take over as host when the first host tree dies.
A little further down the road is the "Hoochery", the only remaining sugar cane growing property in the area and the sugar is used for the making of rum.
Crawf had a few samples before buying a bottle of rum liqueur.

Zebra Rock

Our next stop, with me as driver, was on the other side of town at the Zebra Rock Gallery. This area has the only known deposits of Zebra Rock in the world. The rock when cut has beautiful stripes and colours.

 

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Zebedee Springs, El Questro, WA 

Emma Gorge, El Questro, WA

Today's excursion was to El Questro, outback playground of the rich and famous and also those who just want to have a day trip to see this lovely wilderness area. The resort is very expensive and we didn't go anywhere near it. We stopped at the Emma Gorge ranger station and purchased our permits then continued to Zebedee Springs where we found a lovely thermal pool with a small waterfall. We all enjoyed a swim before lunch then returned to Emma Gorge for a challenging walk and climb. As it was getting late most of us decided to enjoy a lovely waterhole about 2/3rds of the way along the walk. Three of the men continued to the top and took some photos but as the gorge is very deep and it gets dark very early here, we were struggling to get back to Kununurra before dark.

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

5.15am - We were picked-up by the bus at our caravan park and taken to our plane for a flight over the Bungle Bungles. As I had never flown before the pilot suggested that as one passenger had to sit up the front with him that it might be a good seat for me. It was great.

We witnessed sunrise over Lake Argyle then continued for breathtaking views of the Bungle Bungles. After several passes over the magnificent rock formations we returned to Kununurra via the Argyle Diamond Mine which is the world's largest supplier of diamonds, producing approximately 30 million carats each year.  Rare pink diamonds are found in this area. After our two hour trip we were delivered back to our park.

Sue's View, flight over Bungle Bungles

Argyle Diamond Mine, WA

 The afternoon was spent, by some, trying to catch fish at Ivanhoe Crossing just out of town but without any success. The crossing is closed at the moment to road traffic because of the huge amount of water being released from Lake Argyle into the Ord River system for irrigation.

Across the Top End

Tuesday, 8 May 2012

We left Victoria River mid-morning and stopped at Timber Creek to look around and check our phone calls. Next stop was at Big Horse Campsite but after a quick walk around check we decided that there wasn't enough room for us so we continued until we found Saddle Creek Rest Area. We met some more interesting people and although we were surrounded by burning off fires in the hills and valleys in the area we settled down for another very warm night.

Wednesday, 9 May 2012

The fires burning in the area created a lot of smoke haze so we were up early and headed to the NT/WA border where we didn't have any problems with the quarantine officer as we had done all the right things.

We had a very early check-in at Lake Argyle Resort due to the fact that we had been reminded to change our clocks by one and a half hours by the quarantine officer as we crossed the border.

The Pool at Lake Argyle Resort, WA

Lake Argyle Resort is a lovely caravan park, set on the hill overlooking Lake Argyle and the Ord River. The pool appears to have no edge and is set into the side of the cliff overlooking the lake so you look like you are swimming in the lake. The view is brilliant.

Thursday, 10 May 2012

Lake Argyle, WA

We spent the morning cleaning-up, the van, the ute and the clothes. We had booked a cruise on the lake and the bus picked us up at 2.30pm and drove us to the jetty where we boarded the boat. Unfortunately there was some cloud cover but the views on the water were still very impressive. The commentary was very informative, we were told about the building of the dam and the history of the area. We saw a rock wallaby, a crocodile, a sea eagle, hawks, lots of catfish and also archer fish that spit at you when you show them some food. Our boat stopped in the middle of one of the bays just before sunset, some people had a swim, we were served drinks and nibbles but the sunset wasn't very colourful due to the cloud cover.

Friday, 11 May 2012

Today was spent very quietly, trying to catch a fish, no luck, and visiting the "Durack Homestead" Museum. The Durack family settled this area after coming over to the area from Queensland and the properties remained in the family until the leases were resumed and the dam was built and the lake area flooded in the early 1970's. The Ord River was the river that was dammed and the plan was to irrigate the area and grow an abundance of food to feed the country but many obstacles confronted the farmers including poor soil, a limited growing period and the incredible distances to import supplies and export the produce. Many cropping projects failed or were not viable and now days different types of crops are being tried. Sandalwood is one of the major crops and mangoes are grown in abundance. Chia is a new crop that is being grown in the area. The amount of water in this area is incredible.

Saturday, 12 May 2012

We moved into Kununurra this morning and as we were unable to fit into the park were our friends were planning on staying, we checked into the Hidden Valley Caravan Park.

Mirima National Park, Kununurra, WA

The park is on the edge of Mirima National Park so we have great views of the huge rocks which show beautiful colours when the sun changes direction.

Sunday, 13 May 2012

Together with three couples we went to Wyndham.
The drive firstly took us to Molly Springs, a pretty area with a small waterfall. From there we continued to the "Grotto", a huge canyon with 146 man made steps down to the waterhole, approximately 300ft deep. We then arrived at Wyndham, the top town of the west, the most northern port before Darwin. We found our way to the Five Rivers Lookout where you can see the Pentecost, King, Durack, Forrest and Ord Rivers all flow into the Cambridge Gulf before flowing into the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and finally into the Timor Sea. We then returned to Wyndham township for lunch, then set off to visit Telegraph Hill, from where telegrams were sent to ships at sea. The telegraph station played a big part in the sinking of the "Emden", the German warship, by ''HMAS Sydney" during World War I.
Our next stop was Parry Lagoon and Marglu Billabong where there is a bird hide and we watched and listened to the many birds that live in the area. We then ventured on along the rough road which was originally the old road from Darwin to Wyndham. As the light was fading quickly, sunset is about 4.30pm, we didn't have time to stop at the last couple of waterholes.

The Northern Territory


Saturday, 28 April, 2012

Devil's Marbles

  

Devil's Marbles

We arrived at Karlu Karlu (Devil's Marbles) where according to aboriginal lore the Rainbow Serpent laid her eggs. After lunch we went for a long walk around the "Marbles" and took lots of photos. The campsite had a resident dingo who tried to convince campers to feed him.  Hopefully no-one did.  During happy hour with the neighbours we took some sunset photos.

Desert Rose

Devil's Marbles

Sunrise, Devil's Marbles, NT

The next morning I awoke in time for sunrise and along with several others took some more photos to add to the collection of sunrises and sunsets. The colours of the outback are spectacular.

Sunday, 29 April, 2012 to Monday, 30 April, 2012

After wandering around the last unexplored (by us) 'Marbles' we continued our trip northwards to Tennant Creek, but didn't stay, then found our way to Banka Banka Station Rest Area where we found a really great place to rest. The managers, Marie and Bob Warde (Ree & Wardy) were the loveliest people. At approximately 5.30pm the kiosk opened where they sold 'cold drinks', souvenirs etc but you could BYO anything from drinks, food, music, singing or whatever. In peak times the campfire is lit and people can add their ovens. We stayed two nights.

Tuesday, 1 May, 2012

Wildflower, NT

Today we passed through several small towns, Renner Springs, Elliott, Dunmarra and Larrimah and eventually stopped at the Warloch Rest Area. The temperature was about 35 degrees and very humid. We didn't get much sleep because of the heat and couple of road trains that decided to share our already reasonably full rest area. One left early but the other made a lot of noise as he had a flat battery. He was still there when we left.

Wednesday, 2 May, 2012

Katherine was our destination today. We decided to give Mataranka a miss and checked into the Riverview Caravan Park. The weather is very hot and humid so a swim in the hot spring at the back of the park was very enjoyable. The water was only about body temperature, maybe a little lower.

Cutta Cutta Caves, NT

Hot Springs, Katherine, NT

Thursday, 3 May, 2012

We had a great visit to the Cutta Cutta Caves this morning. A one hour guided tour of the limestone caves revealed some very impressive stalactites.

Saturday, 5 May, 2012

The last two days have been spent shopping, washing and relaxing in the park. This afternoon we visited the very interesting Katherine Museum which records Katherine's aboriginal history, the explorer's paths, the overland telegraph, the 'Ghan" train and the floods that have all shaped Katherine's identity. There is also a large display about Katherine's involvement in World War II, the bombings and the large numbers of troops that passed through the area on their way to defend Australia. During the war, the rest of Australia knew little about the bombing of Katherine and other areas south of Darwin as the Government didn't want to frighten the country. Katherine was home to an army hospital and an airbase for both Australian and American troops.

Sunday, 6 May, 2012

Joe Creek, near Victoria River, NT

Joe Creek, near Victoria River, NT

Today we moved to Victoria River where we found a nice caravan park at the roadhouse. We braved the warm conditions and explored the escarpment of the Victoria River at Joe Creek. The walk was very steep and rugged but very beautiful. This valley is home to towering Liverstonia Palms and aboriginal rock art.

Through the Middle


Tuesday, 24 April, 2012

As we left Marla, a very lazy dingo wandered along the side of the road and watched us as we stopped to take it's photo.

From there we travelled across the Northern Territory border to Erldunda where we turned left onto Lasseter's Highway towards King's Canyon. After 108kms we turned right and found Salt Creek Rest Area in the Liddle Hills. Along the way we saw camels, Major Mitchell cockatoos and a flock of budgerigars.

Wednesday, 25 April, 2012 (Anzac Day)

Rock Face, King's Canyon, NT

King's Canyon, NT

Rock Steps, King's Canyon, NT

After an enjoyable evening chatting with new friends we set off to Watarrka National Park and King's Canyon where we started the Rim Walk, about 6 kms, which can take anywhere from 3 to 5 hours. We took about 4 hours including a picnic lunch near the "Garden of Eden" about half way through the walk. The walk started with a very steep climb up rock steps but the view from the top was magnificent. There was a lot of climbing and uneven ground but the walking path was well sign posted. There are several walks of varying difficulty so most people are able to enjoy this spectacular place. The scenery varied, chasms, plateaus, valleys and the "Garden of Eden" which is at the top of the canyon where it all began from a small crack in the rocks. It is a little oasis with ponds and lush vegetation. The desert cycads were hundreds of years old. The colours, cracking and layering of the rocks shows the history of the formation of the Earth.

"Garden of Eden", King's Canyon, NT

After an absolutely wonderful day we made our way 120kms back to last nights campsite where we found familiar faces from last night and a few new ones.

Thursday, 26 April 2012

Today we made our way back to Erldunda for fuel and then to the Desert Oaks Rest Area, 32 kms along the highway. We are using as many rest areas as we can as the caravan parks are few and far between or not worth staying in, no point in paying for services that we are not going to use.

Friday, 27 April 2012

Alice Springs was the next major town but we passed straight through as we had been there before. We then crossed the "Tropic of Capricorn", re-fuelled at Ti-Tree Roadhouse, where we possibly should have stayed for the night as most rest areas were either too small or a bit 'rough'. We eventually set-up for the night at Taylor Creek Rest Area.

2012, A New Year

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Finally, after five months back in our old territory, the Riverina, mainly Temora, Griffith and Ladysmith, we are on the road again. It was great to catch up with the family and friends but the time has come to go back to Western Australia, this time to see the top half and maybe the southern coastal areas.

As we had travelled this route before, we only had a stop for lunch at Hay and then made our way to Lake Benanee, near Euston, where we again camped for the night.

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

We had a reasonably early start, for us, and made our way through Mildura then into South Australia and to Burra where we stayed in the showground.

Sunrise at Port Augusta

Thursday, 19 April 2012

From Burra we continued over familiar ground again until we reached Port Germein and then on to Port Augusta where we found a parking spot at the Motorhome Park at the sports club. We stayed there for three nights while we did some washing, shopping etc ready for the trip north.

Sunday, 22 April 2012

Our first stop today was Pimba Roadhouse shelter area for lunch and then to Glendambo where we booked into the caravan park at the roadhouse.

Monday, 23 April 2012

Today was fairly uneventful as we are still covering old tracks as we stopped at most of these places when we went with Durham's Coaches two years ago. After filling the fuel tank at Cadney Roadhouse we stayed the night at Marla.