Katherine to Roebuck Plains via Timber Creek, Kununurra,

Sunday 25th May

We got away early from Katherine and the first thing we saw was a 2 metre black headed python crossing the road. I wasn't ready for it and didn't have the camera ready. But I was ready for the next sight. 2 people riding push bikes west about 160km west of Katherine. I mean it was going to be 35 degrees. They are certainly keen.

As we were heading towards Victoria River Roadhouse the scenery was amazing. Beautiful red, rocky ranges. They are called the Stokes ranges and are absolutely breathtaking. We stopped and took a few shots but really the photos don't do them justice. You really have to see them for yourself.

Here is a photo of Ray leaning on the van with those colourful ranges in the background.

Just taking a photo from the centre of the road.
After this we kept heading west towards Timber Creek. After booking into the caravan park we went and paid our money for the Victoria River Sunset Cruise. Apparently they were waiting for us to show up because another 6 people had shown interest and as the cruise takes a minimum of 8, they couldn't confirm until we showed up.

As the cruise didn't leave until 4pm we had a few hours up our sleeve so we wandered down to Timber Creek and took a few photos of the actual creek and I had a chat to some indigenous women and children who were fishing for turtles in the creek.
This is a photo of the beautiful Boab tree in the park. Usually by this time of the year the Boab has lost its leaves but this one still had some. In the wet season it is a lovely shade tree with huge white flowers but in the dry season it is quite stark looking.

This is a photo looking up Timber Creek. There was a small freshwater crocodile around but he was shy and wouldn't come up for a photo.

At 4pm the bus picked us up to take us about 10km up the road to the boat. This is a photo of an area called Big Horse Creek, which runs into the Victoria River. This is where the boat is kept.
Apparently if a barramundi is caught and it is over 1metre long it is called a big horse, so this is where the creek got its name.

As part of the cruise the captain feeds some kites and sea eagles. He hides a piece of meat in a piece of bread and throws it into the water. This is a photo of a brown kite scooping up the meat and leaving the bread behind.

This is another interesting part of the cruise. apparently the Victoria River is teeming with crocodiles, the saltwater kind. This crocodile had just caught the wallaby and dragged it into the river by the neck . You can see his head on the right holding the wallaby's neck. He was waiting until we passed as he thought we were going to take it. When we were doing the return trip he had the wallaby carcass up on the bank and was having a feed

Part way through the cruise the captain pulls up to a pontoon anchored in the middle of the river and we all go on and there is hot and cold nibblies and cold drinks. Ray and I had taken our own beer and sav blanc so it was quite a nice setting for a drink. The captain threw out a line and caught a catfish which he then placed on a platform. The result was this sea eagle swooping down and taking the fish.

This was a brown whistling kite waiting in the tree for a chance to come and get some of that meat.

Looking back at the sun setting over the Yambarran ranges north west of Timber Creek. These ranges are now part of the Bradshaw training area used by the RAAF for training purposes.

The Yambarran Ranges taken from the Victoria River

Ray and I on the boat enjoying a delightful afternoon



Monday 26th May

We got away from Timber Creek about 8.15am. About 25km out of town we saw a dingo wandering on the grass verge. First dingo we have seen on this trip. After going through the quarantine inspection area where we lost all of our remaining fruit and vegies, we arrived at the caravan park in Kununurra at 9.30am because when crossing the border we had to put our clocks back 1 1/2 hours. After setting up we caught up on some shopping, went to the Ivanhoe Café for lunch and to the sandalwood factory so I could get some lovely soap and hair care products. Then back to the caravan park for a swim. Tomorrow we are going out to Ivanhoe Crossing to see if we can get across. The last time we were here in 2011 the water was really pouring across and very deep and impassable.

 When we got out to Ivanhoe Crossing the crossing is still closed but fishermen were still trying their luck. Apparently there are some concerns with the integrity of the concrete on the crossing and authorities are trying to decide what to do about it. In the meantime it remains closed.

This is a view of the crossing from downstream a bit. There was still a fair bit of water going over it. The water was up to the knees of the guys fishing.
The next day Thursday 29th May we headed down to Purnululu National Park. (The Bungle Bungles). We only had time to stay one night but we have booked a helicopter flight for the 10th July and will stay a few nights then.

 

 

 

These are a couple of photos of the Boab Tree and our camp site at Purnululu.

The mountain ranges on the road from the Bungles to Fitzroy crossing are very colourful. Someone told us these mountain ranges in the north of Australia are some of the oldest in the world.

Then on to Fitzroy Crossing for a night. Lots of lovely countryside on the way. Huge termite mounds. This is a picture of the sunrise from the caravan park at Fitzroy Crossing.
Next stop was Roebuck Plains Roadhouse where we stayed for a night so we could get to Barn Hill early the next morning.

We got to Barn Hill about 10am and after we set up we went for a walk down on the beach to look at the beautiful rock formations.

 

On the Sunday we set up the tent and airbed for Margaret and John. The markets were on at Barn Hill so we had a bit of a look at them. We befriended a lovely young couple from Broome who were camping on the site next door. They had come down to Barn Hill for the weekend as it was a long weekend in WA for Foundation Day. Brad and Brooke were delightful and it was lovely to meet a young couple with such a great outlook on life. If you are reading this , good luck for your wedding day in August and we hope you have a very happy future.

On Monday afternoon we went up to Broome and did some shopping and went out to the airport about 5pm to wait for Margaret and John, who arrived at 6pm. By the time we got back to Barn Hill it was about 8pm so we had a couple of drinks, something to eat and went to bed.

When Margaret and John woke up the next morning they were gobsmacked by the view from the campsite. The Indian Ocean was spread out before them.

After breakfast we went for a walk along the beach, we had a bit of a swim, not Margaret though and then wandered back to camp.

Margaret and John on the walk down to the beach.








This is the view along the beach on the north side of Barn Hill



There was a beautiful sunset due to there being a lot of dust in the atmosphere from the volcano erupting in Indonesia.

Beautiful sunset

 

On Wednesday 4th June , we headed into Broome for the day to do a bit of sight seeing. We visited the Japanese Cemetery and then went down to the Port and had a bit of a walk along the jetty. Then went to The Roey Hotel for some lunch then out to Ganthaume Point and on to Cable Beach for an ice cream. We got back to camp about 6pm.

Thursday and Friday we walked on the south side beach at barn Hill and generally just relaxed. The following are some photos taken on the beach and around Barn Hill.

Open to the air toilet block at Barn Hill

Showers at Barn Hill. Water is heated in black hose spread out on the ground and heated by the sun. Water is nice and warm between 9am and about 5pm. A bit colder after that

The toilets. They do flush but you sometimes have to move the green tree frogs out of the way to use the loo. And always leave the lid town to discourage frogs because frogs attract snakes.

What remains of a lobster probably eaten by a turtle

Some red coral washed up on the beach

A jelly fish and an empty lobster head shell

Another unusual piece of red coral

 

 

Margaret, John and Ray strolling on the beach

Margaret and John strolling

Maura and Margaret strolling

Maura posing on a rock

Ray and John having a swim

Some rock formations

Maura and Ray on the beach

We left Barn Hill on Saturday and headed up to Derby. I will blog again at the end of the week. We are going on an overnight trip to Horizontal Falls on Tuesday so there will be plenty of photos of that. Blog you later.

 

Mt Isa to Katherine via Wonorah Bore, Banka Banka Station and Daly Waters Hotel

Tuesday 20th May

Left Mt Isa early. The area up here is inundated with Ulysses Motor Cycle Club members. They had their annual rally at Alice Springs and apparently there were 2500 in a parade up the main street of Alice. Some of the bikes are amazing with little camper trailers behind them. Every colour of the rainbow and some quite elderly riders.

We arrived at Wonorah Bore about 1.30pm after winding the clocks back 30 minutes at the Queensland/Northern Territory border. The speed limit on the open road in the territory is 130kph so some cars do fly by.

Looking out from the caravan at Wonorah Bore

Wonorah Bore is a very old bore where the drovers used to water the cattle but it has long gone into disrepair but it is quite a nice spot to pull up if you are self sufficient from a bathroom point of view.
We met a lovely lady travelling on her own and enjoyed happy hour together.
There was a lovely sunset and the next morning a stunning sunrise but we couldn't stay outside and enjoy it as the flies drove us back inside.

The caravan parked at Wonorah Bore

Sunset at Wonorah Bore

Sunrise

Sunset

Flattering insect nets

 Then it was on to Banka Banka Station. We had stayed there before. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.

 The people next door were from Wallerawang and he knew Rays aunt and uncle, Carmel and Bob and their family. He was the butcher in Wallerawang and is going home to work at the butcher shop in Portland. Another couple from the Sunshine Coast joined us for a very pleasant happy hour.

And yes we do have happy hour every day. Sometimes on our own and sometimes with nice people and sometimes with d**kheads.. Those of you who travel will know what I mean.

We got away early the next day and were at Daly Waters Hotel just after 11am.

Those of you that have been reading the Blog for a few years will know we have been here before. In 1862 John McDougall Stuart successfully crossed the continent from south to north. After discovering fresh water Stuart named the area Daly Waters in honour of the Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominic Daly. Then cattle drovers used the water for the cattle. The telegraph line followed. Daly waters was a major Air Force base during WW2. The airfield was the first International airfield in Australia serving Australian and American personnel.
Bill Pearce opened a Drovers Store in  1930 which today is the Daly Waters Pub.

We went to the pub for dinner sharing a Beef and Barramundi dinner. Two more people joined us, Greg and Wendy from Victoria. Really nice people who are on their way to Darwin. Entertainment wasn't so good this time. The guys couldn't sing very well. One of them had so much electronics I thought he had a 3 piece girl band backing him and I was looking for them. Ray said to have a look at the box on the table and sure enough it was a backing tape. BUT I did get up and dance to the Time Warp with Wendy and Ray took some photos to prove it.


Next day, Friday 23rd May we were moving on to Katherine. It was a bit cloudy when we woke up and a fairly thick fog rolled in and stayed with us for about 50km up the road. We got to Katherine before lunch and went into town for lunch and to do a bit of shopping. For those of you who know Katherine it hasn't changed that much. The alcohol rules have changed and the locals no longer drink on the median strip in the middle of town. they just hang around outside the shops instead.
We ordered some chairs from the camping store and will pick them up on the way back through in July.

After coming back to camp we went and had a lovely swim in the pool. Very refreshing. It is a very warm afternoon.
The next morning we went down to Katherine River to take some photos. It is a lovely spot with the water tumbling over the weir.

 

We are going for another swim this afternoon and tomorrow we head to Timber Creek and we are booked on a sunset cruise on the Victoria River. So on the next Blog I might have some photos of crocs.