The Simple things in Life...

Well here we are back in Victoria on the way to Ballarat to see the family before we go home to Alexandra. I'm sitting in the car, Mark's driving, the kids watching DVD's and I am on the laptop writing this blog. (The powers of modern technology!) This blog is probably more for our own sakes than of our readers… it's about all those little things that we are looking forward to when we get back, and that we know we will be taking for granted real soon when we get into the groove of home life. 

       Emshia's first. "I am so looking forward to":

·         Seeing my friends and family

·         Seeing our dogs

·         Sleeping in a real bed not just a sleeping bag

·         Watching a TV

·         My own computer

·         Having my own shower and bath

      "I am going to miss":

·         Trakkie

·         Travelling to new places

·         Sleeping in our sleeping bags every night

·         The whole trip. It was great!

Rory's next. "I am looking forward to":

·         Seeing my friends

·         Seeing Nan & Poppy and my family

·         Seeing the dogs

·         Having a bed

·         Having air-conditioning

·         Playing my play station

·         Seeing all my toys

      "I am going to miss":

·         Trakkie

·         Snorkelling

·         Swimming in the pool

·         Not going to school!

 

Ok ,I'm next, Sharyn. " I can't believe we are heading home. It feels like we have been gone forever, life as we knew it before is so hard to imagine now.  But we are all excited. It's a real new beginning, a new rental house, Mark in a new position, and most importantly we have all got a new attitude now to life. Travelling our half lap has given us all such perspective on our world around us. We are so grateful that we have been able to 'Live the Dream', call a 'time out' on our lives and truly be together as a family. It has been the best time of our lives".

      "What I know for sure":

·         We are all going to be so grateful for all those little things that we haven't had for 5 ½ months

·         To have hot water on tap will be heaven

·         To have a solid roof above my head will be such a relief especially when it rains.

·         Having my own shower and toilet will be ecstasy (cleaning it won't!)

·         A bath…ahhhhhhhhhhhh

·         To have a selection of more than 3 t-shirts will be great

·         To not have to search for dollar coins to wash and dry our clothes will be  a joy

·         Travelling distances in the car will no longer be a hassle, Victoria is sooo tiny compared to WA

·         I can survive without my hair straightener, curly hair isn't so bad

·         I can survive without a shower for quite a few days… and still go out in public

·         I can be in public with no trace of make-up on, and hair looking daggy and people still accept me as I am

·         I can wear shorts above the knee and even a bikini and not give a damn what anyone thinks

·         I can get a tan!!!!

·         I can survive without a television, didn't miss it at all

·         Travelling is so awesome, it is a true passion of mine, and this trip is just the beginning of many other adventures, in Australia and around the world

"What I am going to miss":

·         Having no sense of obligation or responsibility or pressure

·         Having Mark by my side 24/7

·         Watching the kids experience new things everyday and growing in confidence

·         Living minimalistic

·         Meeting other travellers, they are so relaxed, so positive and so friendly

·         Going to new places and seeing place names on the Australian map come alive

·         Living in Trakkie

·         Everything about life on the road… our early semi-retirement was a gift!

 Mark:

My list is a mix of the above so I'll rant on because I'm good at that!

Although our 5 and a half months on the road felt a lot slower than the same time working, I can't believe it has ended. Life on the road had become our life and it's a strange feeling knowing we will soon be back in a house and doing 'regular' things again. The trip has easily been the best thing we have done as a family and I can't believe how much more I have learnt about the kids. In fact, today I was thinking about how little I really knew their personalities before we left and that scared me because I simply didn't know any different. Were it not for this trip I may never have known them on the same level as I do now. Sharyn has seen it for years but as a working dad it's hard to look outside the square and see what's really going on with your kids. Although they loved me before the trip, I have noticed that they come to me a lot more for play or simply to have a cuddle. It's just priceless stuff!

I have seen different sides to Sharyn too and she surprised me with how easily she took to life on the road - living under canvas, going days without a shower, putting up with ants, mozzies, biting midgies and other insects we couldn't identify, the dust and heat, the continual packing and setting up, and of course me! It's funny how the thought of spending any length of time with your partner 24/7 scares many couples but it was something that just seemed natural for us and by the end we were like a well oiled machine. Each night we tried to crack a stubbie and do a cheers to something, anything. And like the kids, we are closer than we've ever been too.

The people you meet travelling is awesome. Yes you get your idiots and whingers, but on the whole people on the road are stress free and open to anyone. We made some great friends and had the most amazing conversations, ranging from people around our age up to the retirees.

Australia is beautiful. I don't know how many times I said to the kids "how good is this?". From the most pristine beaches, the deepest gorges, snorkelling with hundreds of fish, seeing rock art 25000 years old, landscapes resembling the best paintings, night skies that go forever, howling Dingo's outside the camper, magnificent eagles and huge crocs...it's little wonder there are hordes of overseas tourists visiting us for in places like Germany, they don't have much of anything 'natural' left. If you can get any chance to do a trip like this (speaking as a family man), well...you just have to! Sacrifice things, rent your house, sell your plasma - you'll be a far richer person for it and I don't mean in a material sense. It's a bit like when you plan to have a baby; if you waited for the 'right time' to have one, then you probably never would. I don't know if there's ever a right time to do a trip like this so just get your head around the fact it's going to cost a lot of money and financially you'll be behind but if you've read this far, hopefully you'll realise that the experiences gained with your family can never be bought in Myers or Harvey Norman!!!

 

 

 

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The Oodnadatta Track beats us ... yet again

Leaving Alice we drove out at a good time (for us) with the big Finke Desert Race ready to take over the town for the long weekend. We were told that the entries fill up super quick and that they had 500 entrants and knocked back 300+ more. Huge money spinner for the town. The caravan park we stayed at was booked out as I'm sure all the others would have been too. We were also told that some 12,000 people camp along the track from Alice to Finke to watch the race unfold. We haven't heard any race details but the rain on Saturday night would have made the race more interesting I'm sure!

We stopped for petrol at Erldunda, filling up with petrol at the first pump then rolling forward to fill with gas. While Mark was filling up I saw a woman running frantically out of the fuel payment area, and thought her hubby must have driven off without her. Poor woman I thought .We haven't had any issues double fuelling to date but boy I got a blast from the woman behind the counter, who came running back in, puffing when Mark sent me in to pay. I realised it was the same woman I thought had been left behind by her hubby! She thought the car in front of us had drove off without paying for their fuel, and although relieved to find out it was our fuel, she gave me a serve for not signalling to her that we were double fuelling. Found out after further conversation that not long before we'd arrived a car had drove away after not paying for some $170.00 worth of fuel… ouch!

On to Marla roadhouse for the night then next morning got ready to tackle the Oodnadatta track. It was only just over a year ago that we were on the first section of the Oodnadatta. We went on a 2 week speed trip with our friends the Rougets up to Uluru, Kings Canyon and Alice Springs and were planning on going home on the Oodnadatta track. (We had a Windsor wind up camper back then, and thought it would be ok but after we had lost a door handle and a hub cap we high-tailed it off the track back to Coober Pedy.) So this trip was a 'take 2', we now had the off-road camper and planned to go all the way down to Leigh Creek. So back window protected and taped up and tyre pressures dropped, off we headed, excited and ready to go. Just before we made it onto the track, Emshia informed us she had a bad earache and a 'funny belly' (she also gets bad car-sickness on bumpy roads) so we were bracing ourselves for a real adventure!

On the first 208km from Marla to Oodnadatta town, we saw some 60 kangaroos, 20 Wedge tailed eagles, 1 dead camel and 3 emus. More wildlife in one area than we have seen in 5 months! Emshia was doing a great job of distracting herself from the bumps and was a real trooper spotting wildlife along the track. Oodnadatta itself was our lunch stop and what a quaint town it is. The Pink Roadhouse (which is actually pink, hence the name!) is the main hub of the town and we managed to fill up, get a loaf of Brumby's bread here and send off a couple of postcards. We were told by a couple pulling in that the next part of the track was quite rough with corrugations and stones but there was no turning back for us, we knew it would be rough and this time we were ready (but hey they were in a Jeep…)

We made it past the spot where we made the decision last time to turn back and the track actually improved a bit. This section of the Oodnadatta had lots of ruins from the heyday of the Old Ghan Railway that used to run from Adelaide, to Oodnadatta to Alice. When Diesel locomotives replaced Steam Engines back in 1954, and many water points fell into disrepair, the line was closed in 1982, and the accompanying infrastructure fell into its now ruined state. We stopped at all the ruins we could, Mount Dutton, Algebuckina, Peake Creek and 15km (on a rough and ready track) into the Peake Historic Site. These ruins were once a Pastoral Station and the Peake Telegraph Repeater Station. There were 6 ruins of varying disrepair and we had a great time exploring. We also decided to camp here for the night as it was getting late and the clouds were building, with rain expected that night. And rain it did. Mark had built a campfire and as we sat around toasting marshmallows we had to cut it short as the rain was getting heavier and we were getting wetter.

Now rain to anyone else would be a nice sound on a canvas roof but to Mark & I it brought back visions of being drenched in Tropical Cyclone Pancho back in Exmouth, and  a leaking roof(and sleepless night) at every seam at Tom Price. . We had become paranoid over rain!!!! So out came the full size tarp Mark had bought back in Broome that covered nearly the entire roof of Trakkie and as the rain continued to get heavier and with the knowledge that we haven't yet fully resealed the roof, we managed to get some sleep (although I will say I shone the torch up to the roof looking for drips at least once or twice over the night!!)

We were planning on heading off the next day but the sheer amount of steady rain over the night made us stay put for another day. We thought of staying in our sleeping bags all day, reading or playing game-boys but we got up and dressed, explored the ruins and lit another warm fire. Nice day enjoying the serenity with silence that was deafening, and soup and toast for lunch to warm us from the inside out.

That night we were serenaded by choruses of spine chilling dingo howls and we set off later that morning to drive the rest of the Oodnadatta Track. The amount of water lying around amazed us, and made for some fun driving on the track. We were a bit 'ruined' out by this stage and chose to drive by rather than stop at the next ruins. We made it into William Creek about 2pm. This town has a population of about 12 and consisted of a pub, mechanic and a caravan park. As we were trying to find someone to clear the petrol pump, a Ute pulled up in front of the pub. It looked like it had been cement rendered; the mud was caked on so thick you could hardly see the windscreen. Mark got chatting to its owner and he told us it had taken him 5 hours to drive 200km from Maree, the track was so bad after the previous night's rain and there were vehicles still stuck on the road .As tempted as we were to get bogged in our attempt to finally complete the Oodnadatta track, we admitted defeat…yet again…and chose the route back…once again…to Coober Pedy. We love Coober Pedy so much it is the 3^rd time we have been there in 12 months!!

So back down the Stuart Highway we are headed, feeling the excitement of going home, the anticipation of living in a house with a real roof and not having anyone else hear our rude noises in the loo… our next blog will probably be from home, once we find one!

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A town like Alice..

Hard to believe it was only a year ago since we were last here on our Central trip with our good friends the Rougets. Only planned on staying the one night but it turned into more, typical us! The amount of aboriginal folk seemed double from last time we were here. Walking around the main street and shopping centres it almost seemed to be more blacks than whites, bit like being back in Fitzroy Crossing. There is such a mix of indigenous folk here, from those who seem to really be doing well to those who seem to be scraping for every dollar. Had an aboriginal lady come up to me and the kids pleading for a couple of dollars so she could buy some food to eat. I had only large notes in my purse having spent my only change on paying to use the local toilets (first time had to pay for loos all trip but they were lovely and clean) and felt terrible saying no to her. That was the first time all trip that any aboriginal had approached me in any way. They have all kept to themselves and not bothered with us white fellas. 

In Alice we got to catch up on mail and shopping and our big highlight was visiting the Desert Wildlife Park. The Wildlife Park was a great day out. We had a talk by a great aboriginal guy who told us all about the tools the women use for getting bush tucker and the tools and weapons the men use. Very much mens work and womens work; if man do womens work all goes wrong, so men stick to hunting for food and women getting berries and grubs. He gave us a great insight into the aboriginal culture and Rory loved holding the spears and boomerangs. He talked afterwards about how the aboriginal traditions are slowly dying away, with the strong influence of the white fellas culture. He spoke of a tribe out the Tanami desert way that still live traditionally but he said for most city dwelling aboriginals, a great effort must be made to teach their kids the old ways or it will be lost forever. We wandered through all the different types of desert habitats in the park and got a running commentary through little headsets. The birds of prey demonstration was simply amazing. The guide would talk about different birds and almost as if on cue they would fly in and she would feed them tidbits of food. If you ever come here this is a must see. Great entertainment.

So here we are, on the last stretch to home. We made the big decision in Darwin to head back to Alexandra. We were extremely tempted to keep going round to Queensland but as the finances are dwindling we would have had to work and that would change the feel of our 'holiday' completely. We didn't want to spoil that magical feeling of our 'early retirement'. Sounds odd I guess but that is just what we have had for the past 6 months. A real taste of what it wil be like for us in 20 odd years. The experiences we have had have been so awesome and the time spent as a family has been priceless. It is undoubtedly the best thing we have ever done. We are now fairly poor and homeless but you know what, we have never been closer, happier and more relaxed. We feel so proud that we have given the kids this experience, and it has changed our lives forever. Now I'll get off my soapbox and go and do the washing...some things dont change!

 

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UFO's .... beam me up Scotty!

I've heard a few UFO stories in my time and they make good campfire chat. Being someone who is open to these things, I had always wanted to visit Wycliffe Well, the 'UFO Centre' of Australia.  Last year the morning TV show 'Sunrise' were there and interviewed 2 old blokes about their experiences and they were so serious and adamant that they had seen them. I thought they were nutty as did the presenters. Well as were setting up camp a worker who had been there a long time was over for a chat and when we asked him about all this talk of UFO's he told us a few stories, one which happened only a week or so ago. We has sitting down the back of the park with his missus enjoying a twilight beer when they saw what they thought was a shooting star. When it 'hit' the ground however, it came back up again and headed towards the park.  The speed it travelled was incredible and when it got to the park it flew over a line of trees, downing branches as it flew over them. The sound was like a mix of washing machine at high speed and a vacuum.  A semi-trailer was driving past on the highway and it flew and hovered above that. Another truckie behind this one radioed to him about this weird light above his truck and actually filmed it (on what I don't know). The light then dropped back and hovered over the second truck for a while before shooting off. The tape was handed into the police and they still hadn't heard anything back from them.

Admittedly I was close to laughing at this stage and another camper who wandered over for a listen was looking at me with raised eyebrows and I think both our thoughts was that this bloke was pulling our leg and any minute he would blurt out that us tourists would believe anything. But he didn't. He kept a straight face through the whole story and told us other weird things that have happened. Even the Army were there years ago to investigate a weird light that re-appeared every night for 28 straight. We had a bit to do with this guy during our 2 nights there and when anything about UFO's came up he maintained his straight approach and told the stories like he didn't care what we thought because he knew what he had seen. I'm fast forwarding a bit here but days later we were in Alice Springs and the owner of the park was on local radio as it was up for sale after 23 years of ownership. Naturally the interviewer asked about the UFO's and the owner told the same story as the one above and spoke about the whole topic as if there was no question about their existence because he (and lots of others) had seen so many over the years it was just a given that they're out there. For the record we looked but didn't see anything other than some flashing lights that looked like planes lights but then stopped – for 2 nights in a row!

Back to the park itself it was really well done. There were 'aliens' everywhere,  a mix of statues (Elvis, The Phantom, The Hulk and others), nearly every wall and fence had great murals painted on them (mostly space stuff), they had their own train that was free to ride on, and the usual park stuff like a pool. The reception had heaps of cut-outs from newspapers and magazine on UFO's and a visitor's book detailing their own experiences (we didn't get to read that). A fascinating place to stop if you're up this way, so keep your eyes skywards and a camera handy. Don't worry about being abducted, it appears they only like to look and not touch…

Another interesting tie-in to this story. At the near-by Devils Marbles (Karlu Karlu) there is information about the park and how it relates to the local Aboriginal people. One story is a warning from an elder who tells of the people who live in caves under the rocks. These people take you away and you never come back. They look like real people but when they talk to you, you can't escape and you somehow do what they tell you to (like you're hypnotised). One spoke to this elder when he was a boy walking to the creek for some water but his mum saved him. His cousin though went for a walk and they never found him again. Because of these people under the rocks and this story, the Aboriginal people never ever camped near the Devils Marbles. Interesting how most of the Aboriginal stories we have read in National Parks have come from the Dream Time but this story came from someone who is probably still living. Aliens? Who knows...Spooky.

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Snorkelling in Mataranka ??

I'll do the first bit of this one (Mark) because the laughs were on me. After losing the T-piece that joined our trailer to the car, I wedged in a tough bit of stick that I thought at the time would be better than a skinny screwdriver that would bend and fall out. I drove accordingly like I had eggs on the dashboard, taking every corner slowly while avoiding sharp turns, crawling over any large bumps and reducing my speed on the highway. It was only intended as a temporary fix, thinking I would pick up something at the next town. That next town was Pine Creek and they had nothing. The join looked OK so onwards to Katherine we went, about 260km from our start that morning. Driving into Katherine I was out of gas and pulling into the BP station I had to cross their quite steep and angled gutter. As this made some funny angles between Prado and Trakkie, cracks and crunches were heard and in my side mirrors I noticed Trakkie looking very close to the ground. Luckily we were off the road doing walking pace and the safety chains did their job in stopping Trakkie from hitting the ground. I couldn't get anything under the nose of Trakkie to jack it up so with a big grunt managed to sit it back in place and this time dropped a big screwdriver in and taped that up. The hunt was on for a new T-piece.

No-one in Katherine appeared to have one, however, I found one bloke from an engineering place that had some trailer parts and explained my problem to him and his mate.  When I got to the part about the stick he said out loud, "you put a f%$#@& what in there?".  His mate was laughing loudly at this stage while I was trying to convince them I really wasn't an idiot tourist who didn't know what he was doing.  When I told them it had held up since Kakadu they were a bit impressed with that but of course that's only because "we grow tough trees up here in the Territory".  While they were cracking jokes he found a big bolt that could be drilled and welded to resemble our T-piece. Before going ahead with that he sent me off to another place that "should" have one but of course it didn't so back I go and him and his mate were still in a jolly mood thanks to my story.  His make-shift T-piece was actually quite good and he turned out to be a good bloke. I can hear the stories now that him and his mate will be telling in weeks to come about that stupid Victorian…

The second bit of this blog is by me (Sharyn). Being the indecisive 'on holiday' folk that we are, even when we were in Katherine, we still weren't sure on where we were going to stay for the night. I went in to the supermarket here to stock up and the girl on the checkout said "What's on for the rest of the day" and I said how we were travelling through and she said "Well you have to go and stay out at Mataranka, you'll love it". Being a big believer in fate, off to Mataranka we went, and yes we did love it! Our two night stay turned into three and we even got to have a snorkel. No that's not a typo, we actually all snorkelled in the outback! You may of heard of the thermal pools/hot springs they have out this way - Mataranka Thermal pool and Bitter Springs. Bubbling up at a beautiful 32-34 degrees, just heavenly on the old muscles and joints! Well these springs are also brilliantly crystal clear, and at Bitter Springs we donned the snorkel gear and cruised down the current, looking in amazement of the underwater world inside a creek. And the bonus was that was like having a big bath at the same time. Considering we haven't had a bath for 5 months, it was pretty awesome.

The other cool thing at Mataranka was its connection with a classic old Aussie book written back in the early 1900's called 'We of the Never Never'. I never got to read it at secondary school so Mum gave me her copy to read when we were in Broome, and I just finished it before we arrived here. Based on a true story, the author Jeannie Gunn tells her story of arriving out in the never never with her husband and living on a cattle station, and its many hardships that followed. We got to visit the site of her original 'Elsey Homestead' (there is no trace of any buildings now just a memorial plaque), we went to the Elsey Cemetery where her husband Aeneas (and other characters from the book) were buried, and got to see and go into a replica of her old homestead, made for the movie recreation of her story, back I think in the 80's. The park where we stayed in Mataranka (the Mataranka Homestead) screened the movie 'We of the Never Never' daily in the bistro at 12, so the kids and I got to watch the movie and then visiting the sites all made so much more sense for them. It was like seeing history come to life!

Next stop...who knows??? Somewhere down south, home is getting closer by the day. Bit sad and bit exciting at the same time. But still more adventures yet to come!

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Kaka (must) du!

On our way to Kakadu, we stopped at the Adelaide River where big advertising billboards and a croc standing on one leg (see photos) enticed us to go on a 'Jumping Crocodile' cruise. We weren't going to do it, thinking it was a bit of a touristy gimmick but took the plunge and so glad we did. We hopped on board a two story cruise boat, and as we cruised along, you could see the big salt water crocodiles(the real man eaters) floating along the surface. As the crocs approached the boat the guides slowed the boat down and got the bait ready. They put big meat off cuts on the end of a long rope attached to a long pole, and splashed the meat on the water, baiting the crocs. As the crocs lunged out of the water they lifted the meat up just high enough so the crocs couldn't grasp it causing the crocs to leap higher out of the water with the smaller ones even getting their back legs in the air. On the second or third jump they would let the crocs grab the meat and move off down river to the next awaiting croc. Amazingly the guides said that the crocs get to know their voices and they associate the tour guides voice with food. He said that even when he is fishing on the river in his tinny, he can't talk out loud because the crocs come in real close to his boat expecting a feed. In fact the week before we were there, he had a 3m croc try to drag him out of his tinny, scary stuff. On our return trip back to the jetty, we just missed out on seeing a tussle between the local 'king of the river', a 5.5m male croc and a smaller 4m one. They had just gone under as we approached. We got some great photos here and the kids thought seeing the big salties was awesome.

The infamous Kakadu awaited us. We had heard stories from others who basically bagged it, dubbing it 'Kaka-don't' as it was not what they had expected it to be, but by this stage of our trip we had learnt to not take any fellow travellers 'negative advice' too seriously and that we would see it and make an opinion for ourselves. Well we loved it. It can't be compared to anything else, not to Litchfield NP, or any other National Park we have seen so far on our trip. It is like comparing Heavy Metal, to Rock and Roll, to Country music, each one is so different and has its own attributes.  How can I explain it… it is a place of extreme diversity, it has savanna woodlands that make up approx. 80% of the park, monsoon forests, hills and ridges, dominating escarpments, floodplains and billabongs and one of the most extensive collections of aboriginal rock art. It is a place where you can truly feel the aboriginal spirit in the land. The Bowali Visitor centre and Wardaman Aboriginal Cultural centre are must see's. They both contain a wealth of information about Kakadu, we watched movies on the animal life and seasons of Kakadu, and learnt so much about the aboriginal culture. We visited Ubirr (pronounced Oo beer) ( where you might remember in Crocodile Dundee he took Linda Kozlowski to see the view, calling it Jabawonga!) and saw an amazing sunset, and brilliant aboriginal art; Nourlangie Rock where the art was more recent (like only 2,000+ years old); Mamukala (Mar-moo-car-lar) Wetlands where the mozzies were big and the scenery breathtaking; we spent 2 nights camping out where the dingoes howled (such a spooky noise);  tried to run over cane toads on the road and we managed to lose our T-piece pin that connects Trakkie to Prado. Now that was fun! Searching on the road in the black of night, dingoes howling around us, (the kids terrified one of the dingoes were going to jump out and gobble them up) and avoiding stepping on big squashed cane toads on the road. The next morning after no luck in finding it, Mark found a good fat stocky stick and wedged it down where the T-piece would go, and wrapped it in '100 mile per hour' tape. More about that next blog! (Let me just say it held up till Katherine and then came crashing down!!)

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Cold Old Darwin!

With the folks in tow, we couldn't believe we were heading for Darwin. It had seemed so far away on our map of Australia and we were nearly there. We were concerned at the prices of some of the parks here. One supposedly 'nice' park was going to cost us around $60 a night! On the way in we checked out a park at Howard Springs (on the outskirts of Darwin) and we went down the back to an area they had just opened up. It was great - heaps of space, green grass and the best pool we have come across yet on our trip. This for $34 a night and only 8 minutes from the other park. As it turned out some other travellers who had been at the other expensive one had heard of this park and upon coming for a sticky, packed up and moved over here!
In the city we caught up on the usual Macca's and Subway and nearly got ourselves lost in the Casuarina Shopping Centre - it was huge compared to what we're use to! We had heard about the Mindil Market and how they get 10,000 people there. Well I have no idea how many it was but it was shoulder to shoulder by the time we left. There were heaps of food stalls and local artists with a huge array of things to buy. Certainly worth going to. One night we went out to the Fisherman's Wharf with Mum and Dad and although we had no luck (Dad did get a Catfish) the girls were able to find us a Barra Burger and chips.
The local museum was fantastic. They had a great display on Cyclone Tracy, including a sound room with a recording of the storm that sounded incredible. The noise was booming and you could hear things crashing and scraping; it scared the kids just a little bit! The whole town was basically wiped out and the pictures looked like those of Hiroshima after the Atomic Bomb. We also heard from other travellers (we didn't read it) that there was a hippy community living along the beach that the council were sick of. After the cyclone no traces of them were found and none of their deaths were recorded, as if they didn't exist! I guess it fixed the problem for the council...Also on display was 'Sweetheart', a local 5 metre Croc that was attacking boats back in the 70's. It was huge, yet they get them even bigger with reports of 6 and 7 metre crocs from the past and present.
We caught up with Sharyn's cousin Ange, who is working up here for a few months and while she was out on one of the islands she got some sort of bite on the ankle and it swelled up into a huge blister like a mini golf ball. We drove her to the Royal Darwin Hospital and after a 5 hour wait she finally had it seen to. Luckily our kids are so good, they hardly complained at all. It wasn't the best circumstances in which to catch up but we got in some good quality chatting time and Rory took quite a fancy to her and added Ange to his 'Favourite Girls List'!
We also caught up with Jasmine, who taught our nephew Luke a few years ago in Lara. She was so nice, taking us into her classroom and having a big chin wag about travelling and life in Darwin. Some of the things she found quite different to Victoria included the education standards, which she thought were about 5 years behind Vic and the general education levels themselves were much lower than equivalent Vic kids. Probably not surprising with the laid back attitude up here. The lack of water conservation was a shock too, coming from drought plagued Victoria. The school had a water fun day, with things like the old 'Slip'n'Slide', water bombs and anything else that uses copius amounts of water. She was sold on the lifestyle though and we too have enjoyed the lifestyle in these places, with it starting around Broome. Anyway Jasmine was sweet and it's wonder Sharyn's family are so fond of her.
Mum cooked us another roast and it was just the best. Geez have I missed a roast. Dad and I thought we would try our luck again at providing for the family and went out on a half day fishing charter. They reckon the fishing is the best up the Top End but obviously old Darwing Harbour is fished out because not much was caught on the whole boat. The one saving grace was a huge Coral Trout, around 30 pounds, which was divided up amongst us and Dad cooked it the next day. It was 'oooh' and 'ahhh' kind of stuff (I'll have what she's having), just a beautiful tasting fish.
Since we were staying in Howard Springs we checked out the springs themselves. It was a small lake surrounded by tropical trees and you could feed the turtles and huge Barramundi and huge they were. Check out the photo of Sharyn feeding one. We went to Aquascene where you can also feed fish. It was a feeding frenzy with hundred of Diamond Scaled Mullet, Catfish, Milkfish and the occasional Batfish. Something to see. The Military Museum was really good too and the kids loved it. Being Southerners, we had no idea as to the extent of the bombings in Darwin and how a lot of it was kept quiet to the rest of the country so no-one went into a panic! The southern newspapers reported 43 deaths when it fact it was 243. Were they serious? Here we were being bombed by the Japanese and they didn't want the rest of the country to really know about it? Apparently Northern Queensland towns were bombed too but it was a case of "lets just stick our heads in the sand and pretend it isn't happening OK?". This museum is another must see if you're up here.
I've already mentioned the water waste above but it's just everywhere. Here in the park, when a van moves they put a sprinkler on its spot and let it run non-stop for 24 to 48 hours! The gardens are watered constantly, regardless if it's the middle of the day, the wind's blowing the water elsewhere etc etc. After we've had no water to do that in Vic for so long, we just can't get out heads around it, especially since we though the hot North would be dry. Not so thanks to the wet season, big rivers, Lake Argyle and the massive underground water table...it's limitless (or appears to be).
Speaking of water and weather, apparently Darwin is experiencing a cold spell. The local paper had a picture of a girl in a big coat and beanie and the story of how the night temps have dropped below 20 degrees! It hit 19 or something and the locals think it's freezing, it's so funny. They would die back in Alex or Ballarat where night temps have been hovering above and below 0 degrees. The girl in the picture said she was looking forward to camping with a camp fire to help keep her warm on those freezing 19 degree nights...
I have to add another character to our list of interesting people (Sharyn thinks I'm just jealous but he was a real tosser). One day in the pool in hops this youngish bloke built like Adonis with hair slicked back. Anyway he jumps in the water and when he comes up he brushes his hair back and sitting on the edge of the pool he looks across his arms and chest to see the sun glistening off his muscles and then looks up with lips pouted like he's in some fashion shoot. I can't help myself so I start laughing but then he goes even better. He gets out of the pool, drops down his board shorts to reveal his little speedo togs. Then he drops down onto the grass and proceeds to do some sit-ups and crunches! At this stage Sharyn was talking on the phone so she missed the speedos (thanks Ange!) and we were thankfully walking out, so he only had some primary school girls playing in the pool to impress. If I had of thought of it (and maybe after a few drinks) I would have dropped down next to him to do some sit-ups and made conversation like "isn't it hard to keep in shape when you're travelling", or "do you keep your tan up by sunbaking or using a solarium" or maybe "who can you recommend to do a Brazillian around here?". Next time.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Litchfield National Park

Left Katherine and stopped at a little town called Pine Creek for lunch. Pine Creek is the Top Ends only original mining town remaining from the 1870's gold rush era. Gold was discovered here in 1871 by workers on the Overland Telegraph Line. We had a wander through the Pine Creek Railway area which was crucial to the development of the mining boom and during WW2 when it was extended to Katherine. The kids loved seeing the old train carriage and engine and it was a great spot to stop.
Enroute to Litchfield NP we noticed an increase in burning-off along the sides of the roads. A great prevention technique for the dry season ahead for the Territory. At one stage (as you will see in our photos) the smoke got thicker, and thicker until our visibility was nearly zero, and this was all in seconds. Like a really heavy fog but not gradual, it was immediate. Next thing we knew we could see a 4WD and van heading straight for us on our side of the road and huge flames spreading out over the right hand side of the road. Talk about adrenaline rush! The oncoming car veered back to its side and it was only as we got closer we saw this car had little option as the flames were really high and the heat was so intense even for us on the other side of the road! My heart had never beat so fast. Luckily for all involved it was just a scare, Mark kept his cool and it was good to get out of the car at Adelaide River and get some fresh air!
Had to stop for a beer at the Adelaide River Inn and see 'Charlie', he was the water buffalo out of the original Crocodile Dundee movie. The barman told us he was about 30 years old when he died back in 2000 and he was a local to the Adelaide River area and patrons had to watch their beers at the bar as Charlie would come in and polish them off if they weren't looking. (Not sure how you would miss seeing a water buffalo make its way into a bar!)
We stayed at the Litchfield Tourist Park and spent the next day exploring the Litchfield NP. Some area were still closed due to the recent wet season, but we got to see the main attractions.

• The magnetic termite mounds - Gotta love those termites! We have been seeing termite mounds since Exmouth, but these mounds up in NT are massive! They can be up to 2m high and look like tombs in an ancient burial ground. Termites are such smart little insects. They build their mounds using an ingenious design to regulate the amount of sunshine on their home, so the interior temperature and humidity remain constant throughout the year. Termite mounds aren't built of mud but they are made of termite poo mixed with dirt and saliva! Ewww! Termites are actually on the same diet as cows, they eat plants and grasses, and in order to digest their food they need the same organism in their gut as ruminant animals do, and (you'll love this!) they also have the same flatulence (farting) problem as cattle, producing large amounts for their size of methane gas. Bet you never knew that! (Rory had a bit of an issue with knowing this information and refused to stand next to the termite mound initially for a photo because he didnt want the termites 'farting' on him!! He he!) Termites have one queen who can live for many years. She is basically an egg laying machine who can lay thousands of eggs at a time. If an animal comes in and eats some of the termite population the queen can wave her magic wand and change a worker into another queen who will start laying eggs to boost the population again. Once the laying is done she organises for one of the workers to 'knock her off' (melbourne mafia eat your heart out!) and becomes the sole reign of the termite mound once again.
• The Buley Rockholes - these are a series of cascading waterfalls that tumble their way into rock pools of different depths, so pretty and Mark enjoyed having a swim here.(The kids and I didn't bring our bathers so it was like seeing a big scrumptious ice cream in front of our noses but we couldn't lick it!)
• Florence Falls - These are twin falls that cascade down in a 20m curtain into the rockhole below. So pretty set among the monsoon forest, but it got so busy here you felt like you were in Bourke St. Definitely a spot to visit early morning when not many other tourists about! (funny how we dont feel like a tourist but everyone else is!!)
• Wangi falls - Closed for swimming (they haven't made sure it is croc free yet) but magnificent to see and the most popular attraction in Litchfield.
• Tolmer Falls - This is home of the rare Ghost Bat (a cannibal bat!) and just a lookout but very pretty.

We managed to see all that was open in a day and made it back in time for a swim in the pool.
Funny thing about what people tell you along the way. The crazy old woman and man we met at Karijini who we awarded "most irritating couple of the trip" told us "the gorges at Litchfield were so much better and deeper than at Karijini" must have really been losing a few marbles because their was absolutely no similarities between the two National Parks, Litchfield has some amazing waterfalls but doesn't have the incredible gorge formation that Karijini has. So lesson 1, take peoples advice in one ear, and voice no opinion until you has seen it with your own eyes!
Darwin here we come!

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Crusin' in Katherine

Welcome Howletts to the Northern Territory!
 
Oh... the roast was magnificent! Melt in our mouths lamb and vegies... oh and it was great to see Marks folks too! The kids were stoked to see their Nan & Pa and hang out in their lovely caravan, something about a roof and 4 walls! I think little old trakkie is losing its novelty value!
The Big 4 at Katherine was lovely with a huge pool, a bit cold for me (yeah I'm a sook!) but Mark and the kids enjoyed it. We got a phone call from our German friends Jaman & Alex and found out they were in town too and had a lovely reunion at the caravan park, and heard all about their travels up to Litchfield, Darwin and Kakadu.
With Mothers Day coming up on the Sunday we booked ourselves, Pam & Lou and Alex & Jaman onto a 'Sunrise Cruise' on the Katherine Gorge, complete with a full buffet breakfast as the mist rises over the Katherine River. And it was magnificent! Alex and Jaman became 'Howletts' when the cruise organisers asked for "all the Howletts" to come up the front and go onto the boat first (as we were such a big group) so we could all sit together. It felt like we were kings and queens as we were served up a beautiful breakfast and the food was so distracting I think we missed out on appreciating the first 5 minutes of the gorge! Once the food was demolished, we sat back and enjoyed the amazing beauty of Katherine (Nitmiluk - the aboriginal name) Gorge. Nitmiluk consists of 13 towering gorges, with its walls up to 60m high which have been carved over millions of years by water swept down from Arnhem Land during the monsoonal rains. We all had a magical time, pinching ourselves that it was all happening. A cruise on Nitmiluk is a 'must-do' if you are in Katherine. Someone told us that they thought Geikie Gorge in Fitzroy Crossing was better than Katherine, but I think that is like comparing apples and oranges. They are very different and stunning in their own unique ways. And a cruise is definitely the best way to see a gorge's beauty.
The other spots we visited in Katherine were the School of the Air and the historic Springvale Homestead. The homestead (check out our spooky photo) dates back to 1878 and is the oldest station homestead in the territory. It's founder Alfred Giles led an epic pionering trek, spending 19 months droving sheep and cattle from Adelaide to Springvale. Gee they did it hard back in those days... The homestead is a really well preserved old house, now being used as a reception area to the nearby caravan park and has withstood floods upon floods. They really buillt things to last back then! The other special thing at this place was the for huge South American Raintrees. Giles wife Mary planted one for each of their children and they are stunning huge trees that have massive trunks that can support a canopy of greater than 30 metres. At night the leaves close and condensed water drips like rain when the leaves open again in the morning, hence the name 'raintree'.
The School of the Air was fascinating. No more using the simple radio to teach outback kids, now it is all high tech! When we arrived we could see in to the teachers 'classroom' studio area that has 4 camera's overhead to capture and zoom in to any angle. They call it IDL - Interactive Distance Learning and involves placing a computer, digital camera, CD burner, scanner, modem and microphone along with a satellite connection into family homes at a cost of $12,000 per setup (all government funded). This is run on the broadband system via satellite with one way visual (teacher to student) and two way audio system. The roll is called for the IDL lessons and students usually have 3 lessons a week. The correspondence material for each student is mailed out before the school holidays for each unit of work and the kids send their work back through Australia Post as well. The schools annual mailing bill is $40,000!
Mark & I loved Katherine. It had a lovely outback feel to it, a mix of old and new and Mark & I made a vow to come back one year up this way to experience a 'wet-season'. We saw photo's of recent floods back in 2006 and the amount of water that flows in is absolutely phenomenal, a must be 'seen to be believed.'
On to Darwin we go! Next stop Litchfield NP.
 

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From Kununurra to Katherine...

From roughing it in the bush at Purnululu with mozzies and giant centipedes, we found ourselves in 5 star luxury at the 'Ivanhoe Resort'(was just a fancy name for a caravan park). Green grass, great amenities, a beautiful pool and even local wildlife. Rory's favourite were the green frogs in the toilet block and Marks was the frilled neck lizard that was just wandering around near our site. Gotta love that!
Kununurra the town was established in 1960 to service the Ord River scheme. The Ord River was dammed in 1971 (its as old as Sharyn!) to supply water to one of Australia's largest irrigation schemes. Kununurra has approx. 6000 people and has its own Target, Coles and numerous variety of shops. Kununurra is also the base to jump on a light aircraft or chopper and explore Lake Argyle and Purnululu by air, which was our initial intention. We got all the brochures but just couldn't justify paying over $1000 for us all to go flying for 2 hours...that works out for us to be a months accomodation on a powered site! (We figure it's something we will do when we have retired and have lots of money to splurge.)
So because we didn't fly over the Bungles or cruise on Lake Argyle, we got to just enjoy 'being' in Kununurra, and this meant meeting new people. We found the people of Kununurra to be open, warm and so friendly. Our first 'interesting person' was our next door neighbour at our caravan park. He owned a 'Geist' caravan, a German engineered van that looked like it stepped out of the space age. It was massive, approx 22ft and are priced over $70,000! We got chatting just as he was packing up, and we learnt that he was the recently retired CIO (Chief Information Officer) of Wesfarmers, a real high flyer. He has a house in Perth and one in Melbourne (next to Rex Hunt!) and was an international jetsetter, admitting he was one of those men in suits who walks around airports with his mobile phone to his ear and felt very superior. As we got talking he just opened up to us, telling us that his professional life was so busy he never got to see any of his childrens school concerts or sports day, and that it was one of his biggest regrets, but the monetary rewards were so great, he felt it was justified at the time. Strangely enough his son is now an executive with Shell and has the same jetsetting life that he had. We had a fascinating conversation and wished they were hanging around so we could chat longer
We then hit the shops for a look and met 'interesting person' No. 2. She worked in the local newsagent and just started telling us all about herself and her amazing life. Her husband used to play football for a short while with Geelong FC and then suffered a knee injury that shortened his playing life. Her husband always loved the Kimberley area and they moved up to Halls Creek when their first child was 2/3 years of age. They had 3 children in total and as their first child neared secondary school age, Perth was their choice for boarding school,(long way from Kununurra!) When their youngest child was 5, they had a car accident near the Ord River and their son  (who was 11) tragically died. She spoke of how her sons principal at the time, wanted him buried in his prized old cricket jersey from Lourdes in England, the family wanted to have it framed and a plaque put on it in memory of their son so this jersey could still be seen and treasured, but the old principal refused and said it must be worn and buried with their son.  Her story was so moving at one stage both she and I (Sharyn) had tears welling in our eyes, and even though we didn't even know each others name, it was a shared human experience that I will never forget. She said the local aboriginal women were encouraging her to place a memorial board at the site of the accident, which they had named 'Leycesters rest area' to commemorate the memory of her son. We look forward to seeing it when we get back up to the Kimberley one day. (After chatting to this lady Mark nick-named me Andrew Denton, the way I'd ask a question and people would bare their souls!)
When we returned to our campsite after a big arvo shopping in Kununurra, it was dark (sunset here at 10 to 5!) and we had new neighbours, who became 'interesting people' No.3! They live on the Tamar River near Launceston in Tasmania with their own jetty
and after having 5 precious kids, decided this is their time to explore Oz. They had this cool new camper/caravan called an 'Ecotourer' which folds down like a camper trailer, but goes up like a pop-top caravan. It even had a toilet and shower on board. This couple were so lovely, they had such a positive, energetic aura they were great to be around.
Marks Mum & Dad called to let us know they had arrived in Katherine to meet us (and were going to cook us a roast!), so after a brief stop at Lake Argyle (looked like Lake Eildon but with water!) we had a long trip through Timber Creek, Victoria River and onto Katherine. Lamb roast and Northern Territory here we come!
 

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A Taste of the Kimberley

After Sharyn's folks left us at Broome, we stayed for another day and prepared for the next leg of our journey. Originally we had intended on doing the Gibb River Road but up till now it had been closed, so we decided to drive the first part and veer off to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek. We stopped for lunch at Derby after we had checked out the Boab Prison Tree; wow that was huge! The history surrounding it wasn't so grand as it was used as prison for aboriginals who had been taken from their land, chained up and literally dragged down south to be used on the pearl luggers around Broome. Hard to believe that this sort of stuff happened in Australia, the 'Lucky Country'.
Around here was the start of the Boab Trees. Then it was on to the Gibb River Road, with the start of it being bitumen and then we turned off for Windjana Gorge. The campsite was just dead grass and dirt but it had tap water, flushing toilets (how unbelievable in the middle of nowhere!),outside cold showers and stunning views. What luxury in the bush! He walked into the gorge early the next morning and spotted lots of fresh water crocs and a colony of fruit bats. The gorge itself was stunning and the surrounding cliffs were once an ancient limestone reef. Strange to imagine we were standing under an old sea and somewhere up on the cliffs they have found some marine fossils in a cave.
Next stop was Tunnel Creek and this was literally 'cool'. Before we got there, we came across a creek still flowing over the road. Not sure just how deep it was, Sharyn got out of her own accord to check the depth. Honest she did! I did mention it might be a good idea in case we got stuck half way across on a rock or a big hole...Anyway, not far into it a Landcruiser comes around the bend, Sharyn jumps out of the way and he just charges through. Bravado stuff hey, but somewhere he'll get caught. Saved Sharyn from walking all the way across anyway.
Tunnel Creek flows under cliffs that were part of that old limestone reef that extends throughout the Kimberley. We took the torches and saw fish and freshwater shrimp, some quite big like yabbies back home but without the big claws. Half way along the roof had collapsed in and after this section the bats could be found. Another great spot and 'must see' if you're up here.
Onwards we went to Fitzroy Crossing, a spot we had been warned to miss by fellow travellers..."just get petrol and GO". We stayed outside of town at Fitzroy Lodge, which was a real upmarket place in such a rough area. We had no trouble in town though, but then we didn't go in of a night. We did have a small shop at the local supermarket though and that was a cultural experience in itself, for us and the kids! Really well stocked little supermarket. Our highlight here in Fitzroy Crossing was a guided tour on the Fitzroy River. Our aboriginal guide was brilliant. His family were custodians of the land and he told us the local names for the trees and animals as well as the gorge itself; 'Darngu'. Apparently some explorer named it after a mate of his back in England, Sir Archibald Geikie, who had never even seen the place. I think it should be changed to Darngu just as Uluru and Kata Tjuta have been changed to their native names. Sorry Archi mate but you don't deserve to have this place named after you.
The gorge was a photo at every bend, picture postcard stuff, and the water that flows through here is amazing. In the wet season the water level rises up to 17 meters above where we were and if Sydney Harbour was empty, the Fitzroy River would fill it in 5 hours at full flow! Another trip highlight, another 'must see'.
Onwards to Halls Creek for lunch and a stop at the visitors centre. Some young female German tourists, not blonde and topless for once (bugger), were asking about what they could see around the area in their 2wd vehicle. To cut a long story short (rare for me), they basically couldn't see anything unless they were willing to fork out big money on a tour. Wouldn't you be annoyed to have travelled so far and find out in the middle of this great area that you should have bought/hired a 4wd instead. Didn't say that in the travel brochures.
We made our way into Purnululu National Park, more commonly known as the Bungles Bungles. We had been told at the info centre that the 50+km in would take 2.5 to 3 hours towing our camper trailer and caravans were not allowed as they would be wrecked on the steep ascents and descents into the many creeks and gutters found along this very windy and rough road. Our time was a little shorter than that and we found ourselves a beautiful spot with all-day shade and a nearyby drop toilet with tap. Luxury again, how little things excite us now. Early the next morning we headed for Catherdral Gorge but the first walk was the 'Domes Walk'. This went into some of the famous bee-hive domes and they were a sight to behold. Cathedral Gorge itself was one of those 'look in awe' places and we had it to ourselves for 20 minutes. Our voices echoed in an angelic way, well the kids did and mine was sort of angelic, so we had fun singing and making silly noises before we were joined by other tourists. That night while sleeping with all the windows down, Sharyn awoke with a fright, a wet spray and bad smell on her head. She thought she had been peed upon by a bat but when she went outside to look, there was our resident Owl perched high in the tree who had done a poo with the flyscreen catching the solid component and the liquid stuff falling through into the camper. No Sharyn was not too happy but a quick wash and she was back into bed.
Next morning we went to the Northern end of the park and into Echidna Chasm. The rocks up this end of the park looked more like Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) but even more impressive I thought. Scattered everywhere amongst them were palm trees adding a strange tropical feel to this dry and harsh area. We managed to get to the end of the walk by midday when the sun shone done into the rocks and lit up the whole end of the walk. Some of the cliffs were 200 meters high and something to see. Onwards to Mini Palms and after a long and tiring walk we made it. Was breathtaking, and against Sharyn's judgement I chose to ignore the 'No Entry' sign and walked down to the left of the last lookout to the cave at the end of the gorge....Only because we had read a book not that old that describes walking into the cave and to me they had put the sign up to stop people falling on the rocks with all the legal stuff that follows. Having done some rock climbing and abseiling in my time I thought I would be OK and I was. Don't do this at home though kids, Emshia and Rory know this! 
 
The trip out of Purnululu the next day was quicker than coming in, we made it out in just over 2 hours, although 4km from the end poor Emshia's tea and breakfast made a return visit, and after a quick clean up we were on our way to Kununurra.
 
 
 
 
 

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Broometime...

We slipped into Broometime real easily...we swear for every second in Victoria, their are 5-10 seconds in Broome. The days cruise slowly by like a crocodile drifting on the current...like getting good value for money...and very easy to get used to.
On the flip side, Broome was unlike anything we'd imagined it would be. We thought tropical paradise, like images we see of Cairns and the like, but it has a character truly of its own. You know from its position on the map of Australia that it is remote, hundreds of kms from a major town, and close to the real Outback of Australia but all the brochures you see of Broome focus on the 'tropical paradise' that is Cable Beach. Its pristine white sand, crystal blue ocean contrasted with palm trees, fancy resorts and restaurants. And that is how it is at Cable Beach, it is beautiful, the magnificent sunsets, the camels on the beach, the ritzy Cable Beach resort...a great place to be. But that is just one very small part of Broome, the rest of Broome, the real bit where people live, work and play is very different. The vegetation is not all palm trees, it is more mangroves and outback. It is a small place (although we still managed to get lost a couple of times!), and its shops (mainly in the precinct called Chinatown) are not pretentious, they are set back in under cool verandahs and great fun to explore the individuality of each one. There are the flashy pearl showrooms where you feel nervous setting foot into, (feeling you aren't dressed nicely enough in your thongs and shorts!),there are the touristy shops, there is 'The Camel Store' where they sell everything 'camel', lots of art gallerys and the old favourites like Sportspower, Brumby's, Target and Coles. Such a mix of the old and the new, thats what gives Broome its charm. Its not out to prove anything, it is what it is, like it or not. A McDonald has found its way in which is a pity, but it was a sight for sore eyes for us who hadn't had a Mc burger for many months!!!
My Mum and Dad decided to fly over from Ballarat to see us and catch up on much missed 'grand parent' time. The kids had been so looking forward to them coming after our 3 and 1/2 months of travelling away, and the reunion at the airport was beautiful! It was great to be around family again and we fit lots in to our two weeks together. Mum and Dad stayed at apartments about 5 minutes away, with a great big pool and surrounded by palm trees. We didn't see the kids for dust after they saw they had a real bed to sleep in, a toilet and shower only steps away and air conditioning to boot! And on top of all that, loving grandparents to spoil them and give them all those treats that mum and dad haven't let them have all trip!!! So, Mark and I got to spend lovely evenings alone in trakkie, and some lovely 'us' time walking on Cable Beach and shopping in Chinatown. It was tough, but someone had to do it!
So in our time in Broome we got to :

• have Mango smoothies (absolutely to die for!)
• see the history of the pearl luggers at the Broome Historical museum (fascinating stuff)
• watch the most amazing sunsets at Cable Beach
• visit Willie Creek Pearl farm to see how the pearls are created ( we saw our first croc here)
• we rode the famous camels and were graced with seeing the buttocks of 13 young men and women who thought that would make our camel ride so much more enjoyable!!!! (I think the kids are still in shock from that one!!!)
• we discovered that the north side of Cable Beach was actually a real nudist beach and a older male nudist managed to get in my camel photo (see our photo album!), cheeky thing!!
• an evening out at Matso's Brewery with our German friends, Jaman and Alex. Sampled all their beers, nine glasses each, with everyone else staring at us like we were drunks and the bloke playing guitar asking if we were performing some science experiment. This was followed by some hot Indian food from the Curry Hut cooked by 'Mr P'. Yum.
• 2 nights at the Mangrove Hotel waiting for the 'Staircase to the Moon'. This didn't eventuate due to clouds so had to settle for some great local musos playing a mix of country/blues/didgeridoo. Great stuff.
• we drove up to Cape Leveque with our German friends, visiting the beautiful Beagle Bay church, Middle Lagoon, Kooljaman resort and One arm point
• Hang out by the pool, swim, relax and spend some great family time together!

It was sad to see Mum and Dad fly away from 35deg weather to cold old Ballarat (down to 1 degree!!!!), what a huge temperature drop...and hard to go from Broometime back to normal time, but it must be heart warming to relive all our wonderful memories and see all our awesome photos!!
So in the words of a famous athlete (and great friend) "onwards and upwards" we go, The Kimberley here we come!
 

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80 mile beach

Left Karijini, and stopped at Auski Roadhouse to fill up. Mark sent me in to pay and after the customer in front of me was served, I innocently came out with (and I am still questioning myself why?) ... "I've got gas". The saleswoman tried to stay professional until the guy next to her started to crack up and before I knew it they were all laughing at me...and me at myself!! My mouth just speaks too quick for my brain!! Feeling glad that I was the source of entertainment for the roadhouse and Mark and the kids, we set off for Port Hedland.
Did a grocery shop at Port Hedland and the Woolworths here had the oldest staff that I had ever come across. The average age without word of a lie was over 55, with most of the check-out chicks being sweet old grey haired grannies and the one at my register took about 10 minutes to process my trolley. It was like watching grass grow, she was sooooo slow!!!
On dusk we pulled in to the turnoff for 80 mile beach. Little kangaroos were everywhere on the road and I swear I saw the juices of one that hit our bull-bar, but must have just been its nervous sweat because Mark got out to look and there was no trace of it. We pulled in, felt completely overwhelmed by the humidity (we felt like we were struggling to even breathe) and set up in the dark. So glad we had our little desk fan to keep us cool (very grateful for small mercies!!)
With sunrise being around 5.30am and all our windows letting full light in, early morning waking was becoming the norm. The mornings were definitely the best time to do anything, so we went to check out the beach, which was only a stones throw away from our camp. We had heard the tides were big up this part of the world but nothing prepared me for what we saw when we came over the dunes. The tide was so far out it made the beach look massive, and their were shells everywhere you looked. The ocean looked so far away. Later that night, we went out to see low tide again and it was even further out that earlier that morning, we would approximate the distance out to be 1.5 -2km!!! We walked out onto the mud/sand flats, our thongs sticking in the sand that looked and felt like wet cement. It was the most awesome experience. Hermit crabs were crawling all over the sand, and the sun started to set and with its reflection on the mud flats, gave us our own version of the 'Staircase to the sun'.
The fishing was also a huge highlight of 80 mile beach. An hour before and after high tide, fishing right on the beach will almost guarantee you a great catch, but I'll let Mark fill you in on the details...Mark here - the fishing here was the best of the whole trip, particularly because you didn't need a boat to get good fish. My first go netted 2 black tip reef sharks and a blue salmon or threadfin salmon. I let the sharks go, not knowing if there was a size limit. Back at camp we had the salmon straight away...beautiful. After hearing the small sharks were in fact good eating and there was no size limit I was keen to get more because of the amount of meat you get. This time however, I lost 2 sharks and caught 4 blue salmon, one a bit small. So for tea that night we had salmon in 'Crumb in One', absolutley beautiful. Some people up here regard the salmon above Barramundi. We will be back to this place one day for sure.
 
We would have loved to stay longer here at 80 mile but the humidity was a killer, you couldn't swim in the ocean because of the stingers (box jellyfish), and there was no pool here to cool off, so we had no choice but to go. We could only have so many cold showers, which were great when under the water but the minute you got out you were sweating again... not good! So onwards to Broome, to seeing Mum and Dad (they are flying over from Ballarat to visit!) and a cold pool!

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Karijini

On the day we left Tom Price, Jaman and Alex (our new German friends) were leaving too. They beat us out (which isn't a hard thing to do!), only having to pack up a tent, and we were all heading for Hamersley Gorge. Despite some warm days with no rain, we came across a lot of water on the road, with some 'puddles' stretching across the whole road and quite long. We thought that there was no way our German friends could have made it through in their 2WD, and driving into the Hamersley Gorge carpark with Prado covered in red mud, there was their Falcon Stationwagon looking like it had driven on a dry dirt road! We were shaking our heads. Catching up with them, they said Alex walked the water first to check for depth and then Jaman drove through very slowly and it worked. Go the Ford…  As we walked into Hamersley Gorge, the colours were magnificent, lots of purple rocks and other unusual shades we had never seen before. The rocks were in waves (called tectonic rock) and they looked like layers of puff pastry, one on top of the other. We experienced our first go at rock scrambling, and were amazed at how great the kids went, without a word of complaint!

From here we stayed at Dales Campground. We checked out Circular Pool, as its name suggests it's circular with small waterfalls you can stand under. Just a beautiful little place. We also walked the track to Fortesque Falls, a Grade 4 track for people with medium to high fitness and the kids did it no worries. A few lifts here and there, where their little legs couldn't reach, but the rest was easy for them. This track ended at Fern Pool, filled with heaps of little fish and me and the kids had a dip under the waterfall at the opposite side of the pool. The fish took a liking to the skin peeling off my legs from sunburn back in Exmouth. Every now and then I felt them biting the back of my thighs; cheeky buggers.

The next gorge along was Kalamina. After a long walk in we were surrounded by high red cliffs that were stunning and Sharyn suggested we have a swim. Since we didn't have our bathers, we stripped down to our underwear and had a lovely time in the rock pools, not believing we had this stunning place to ourselves. It was one of those 'pinch-yourself' moments…

At the western end of Karijini NP the gorges were deeper and more visually spectacular than the eastern end. Joffre Gorge, Knox  Gorge, Hancock Gorge, Oxer & Junction Pool, such amazing lookouts, but just looking down into these gorges we knew the kids were too little to tackle these and they would have to wait a few years till their legs were bigger!!

It was at Karijini NP that we awarded our first prize for "the most irritating couple of the trip". This night was really quiet at the campground and nearly all the campsites were free. This couple chose to camp right next to us and being friendly, Sharyn went over for a chat. They were in their late sixties, early 70's from NSW and were obviously not cut out for the travelling life. Every word that came out of their mouth was negative, the woman had one of those whiny little voices that doesn't stop for breath and they bagged Karijini saying it was a waste of time coming in, "the gorges at Litchfield and overseas were sooooo much deeper"... I was hiding in the toilet at this stage, hearing every word and hoping they would stop talking so I could sneak back into the tent, but no luck, Sharyn was stuck, so being the knight in shining armour that I am, I came out to rescue her. We stood there for over 10 minutes listening to them whine and all we could do was smile politely and nod our heads like good little campers (whilst inside we were screaming in agony!). They had only seen this end of the park where the gorges were shallow, but still beautiful, and we couldn't be bothered telling them the gorges at the other end of the park were simply huge (probably like the ones at Litchfield). Luckily they hated it so much they took off early the next day, with us staying inside Trakkie until they left to avoid another agonising whinge. We breathed a big sigh of relief and prayed we'd never see them again!

Speaking of toilets, the drop toilets here were quite good and didn't smell at all but at night they came alive...with cockroaches. They breed them big over here in the West and once the sun went down they scrambled from out of the pit, up the toilet drop off and onto the seats and over the toilet floor. Needless to say night time visits involved taking over a can of fly spray and squatting over the seat, not on it, in case one decided to come up from within and run over our bottoms and other bits. What a thought!

The kids started counting down the days now till Broome when Sharyn's parents were flying over from Ballarat to meet us, so onwards to 80 mile beach we headed, with next stop after that Broome.

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