Kununurra

Kununurra
26 - 29 Sept

This is a really new town - established in 1961 (I think) to build the Argyle Dam on the Ord River. We dropped in to Lake Argyle on the way to Kununurra. It's a big Lake - what more can I say?

From Kunnanurra

We're staying at the Town Caravan Park which is of course in town and shady. Our tent is in 80% shade for almost the entire day which is quite important when it is 43 degrees in the shade. We are camped near another couple, Rachel and Peter with 3 children who alerted us to the joys of Public Libraries.

Here in Kununurra, you can be there from 8am to 7pm. You are allowed to  eat, drink (There's a good esspresso machine)and  talk in the library. There is  a table set up with a power board for your laptop, free internet use for research (or pay for email or social networking usage) and activities for kids.  Apart from swimming  in the pool and a trip to the Ivanhoe Crossing, that's where we have been working  and playing for the last couple of days.

From Kunnanurra

Millie and Bro have been having a great time playing with Theo; Grace and Hannah. John has caught up on some work, Fabian found all the science work his teacher set on Moodle, and Millie found all the mathematics homework set by hers on Mathletics. Fabian is mostly looking after his own school work and Maggie is helping oversee Bro and Millie's work. We've downloaded and printed out the music for Fabian play for the PAU (Performing Arts Unit) stage band auditions next month. We are going to video his audition and send it in.

There are always little maintenance jobs to do. I replaced the bearings on the bicycle as they had become very crunchy. Also I removed the cable from the 12V flouro work light which only lasted a few weeks and used it to extend the cable on the replacement light. When tightening the trailer brakes, I noticed cracks in the welds of both spring hangers. I'm not sure how long they've been there.

Tomorrow we head for Purnululu National Park commonly know as the Bungle Bungles. I'll try to get them welded up soon.

New bird: Peacock

Umbrawara Gorge and Gregory National Park

Umbrawara Gorge and Gregory National Park

Heading out of Darwin, we stopped at the Aviation Heritage Center where they have a B52 bomber and good informative displays. Then off down the Stuart Highway to Umbrawarra Gorge.
Umbrawarra Gorge is the poor cousin of some of the more famous Gorges in the top end, but as we like to say on the cruise , ''it's special in it's own special way'

From Umbrawarra Gorge

The water in the creek had almost stopped flowing, but still worth having a dip below the red gorge walls. We especially appreciated camping alone.
Next day, we stocked up at Katherine and had another swim before driving southwest to Gregory National Park, where we camped at Bullita Homestead campground.
Gregory National Park was hot and dry but the Boab trees are striking.

From Gregory National Park

Next day we detoured to Limestone Gorge which we viewed from a distance, not feeling like the 8km walk into the gorge proper. We did walk up over the ancient stromatalites – some 20 meters in diameter and others weathered to a nasty sharpness – to a lookout. Also very interesting were the tufa dams on the dry creek – another deposit formed by the combination of limestone and algae.

On our way out of the park, I noticed a strange track which looked like it was made by a shredded tyre, and sure enough, after following it's wobbling path for a few km, we came upon a Czech couple sitting beside a Britz troop carrier with a shredded tire and a flat spare.

From Gregory National Park

With the joy which comes from a disapproved purchase vindicated, I pulled out the big compressor I bought in Boroloola and proceeded to pump up the spare. We followed them out of the park in case it went down again. Two very grateful campers.

We dropped in to the Park Office at Keep River National Park to have a look at the Cockatoo Billabong, but decided not to drive in to the campgrounds. That meant we had a lot of fruit to consume in the couple of km to the quarantine station at the WA border plus a few carrots.

Darwin

We arrived in Darwin on the 21st of September, and booked into a hotel with real beds (luxury!) called Barramundi lodge.

The next day, after moving downstairs to another room (the previous room was already booked for tomorrow) we set out to find a free water park that had been recommended to us. Our adventures took us to a park with a pond in it, and we were redirected to the real thing. It was great, there was a park with small water slides, fountains spring up from the ground, cannons to shoot water with, a huge bucket that drenched you every few minutes and more!
Plus there was a pool and three big waterslides. The kids loved it.

The next morning we hired some bikes for the day. Milly and bro made an expedition to the botanical gardens, and afterwards when Maggie had come back from buying supplies for the Mindil beach markets that afternoon, she and the kids went to the museum/art gallery. Then it was time to go to the markets. Milly and Fabian secured their busking licenses for that night, and Maggie set up her stall.

From Darwin

The kids all had a go at cracking a whip, and all succeeded.

From Darwin

Then there was a great act by a man doing circus tricks, and another later on in the night by him and another guy.

From Darwin

Milly and Fabe both earned a decent amount busking, though Maggie did not so well.
And so ended our last day in Darwin.

Milly

Litchfield NP

Litchfield National Park

Maggie and I somehow got the idea that Litchfield was a tropical jungle paradise, and it is tropical, but most of the park is brown dry savannah at the moment. Dotted through this landscape of termite mounds, rocks and stunted trees, however, are beautiful swimming holes.

From Litchfield

We drove up the 4WD track from the Daly River end. The track is sandy and corrugated with a couple of creek crossings but nothing too bad - our clothes in the trailer stayed dry.The first campsite we came  to at the south end of the park was Surprise Creek Falls .

From Litchfield

At Surprise Creek Falls, the only place to be was at the swimming hole – the campground was sweltering and there were no other walks. It is a beautiful little swimming hole with lots of rainbow fish. I also managed to catch a small turtle underwater. The junping off rocks reached ridiculous new heights with Fabian and then me jumping off a rock way above the small middle plunge pool. Lucky it is very deep.
After a couple of days we headed off up the 4WD track towards the rest of Litchfield, managing to get temporarily stuck in the middle of the Reynolds River – ah-hah so that's why some wheel tracks went right!

From Litchfield

We got out and the river promptly filled the footwells of the car. After a bit of poking around with a shovel, I just put the car into low range, reversed back and the drove forward over the big rock that was blocking the front wheel. Hmmm – I'll always follow the high route in future. We stopped for a swim in Sandy Creek falls, avoided the crowds of Wangi Falls, walked around another Lost City and finally camped at the 4WD campground at Florence Falls. We were now highly focused on finding shady camp sites. Florence Falls has a bigger, more beautiful swimming hole beneath the falls than the previous two falls but we spent more time in the creek beside the camp where Fabian (mainly) and Bro worked on the many small rock dams campers have built to deepen the small swimming holes in the creek.

From Litchfield

Again the fish were abundant and beautiful. The boys threw lures after the sooty grunter in the evening, but I was the one who ended up catching the fish early next morning. At one stage every cast hooked a fish.The first two which I kept were the best.
After a day, we felt we had explored the area well and it was time to head for Darwin.

By the Douglas River

On the Douglas River
14 15 16 September

My (John's) brother, Peter gave us the location of a camping spot on the Douglas River. The main point of this camp was to catch barramundi and he had also supplied a rod and reel, bait traps, cast net, lures, landing net. Everything needed to catch barramundi, but more importantly he gave us the exact spots to fish and how to get there. We followed a bumpy but well-worn track infested with Agile wallabies down to the river where we found one camp there already but noone about.

From Douglas River

Around evening, they returned in a tinny - a friendly couple who knew Peter, also out chasing barra on the Daly River.

Next day we followed Peter's directions to the special river section, Bro, Fabian and I all toting spinning rigs while I carried vital supplies and the landing net. After a bit of walking and casting we glimpsed a few flashes of fish and Fabian caught a little grunter but no Barra. Then, I saw a good size Barra had followed my lure across the stream and was just near the tip of my rod. I gesticulated wildly to Fabian who threw a lure past the fish and started retrieving. The Barra obligingly chomped the lure as it wobbled past and Fabe has his first Barra hooked. After a short fight, it was on the bank, all 69cm of it. We had never caught anything like it in all our fishing.

From Douglas River

We tried for a bit longer, but in the end it seemed more important to get the fish cleaned and into the fridge. Next day, Bro and Fabian both landed nice sooty grunter, and John caught a barra which was way too small to keep. We had fish for dinner for 3 days.

Apart from fishing, the river was crocodile infested so we only swam in the rapids and the pools in the middle of the falls. Fabe and I stalked a little freshwater crocodile in the night until it left with a big splash.

New Birds – osprey, rainbow pitta, white bellied sea eagle, satin flycatcher, grey flycatcher

Elsey National Park

Elsey National Park

11&12 September

This campground seemed pretty hot and dry. We stayed for a day, enjoying swimming in the river where we practiced dives and back-flips off the pontoon into the mostly crocodile-free river. In the afternoon, Maggie and the kids went to the Rainbow Hot Springs near Mataranka Homestead, while I checked my emails. Maggie picked up some beer – now much more appealing than red wine. The heat takes some getting used to.

Next day we headed to Bitter Springs – the original name given to the spring before someone renamed them to Mataranka to sound more appealing. These “hot”springs had been recommended before and they did not disappoint. Fabian wished we had an underwater camera.

From Bitter Springs and Katherine

What looked like a pretty little stream winding through the pandanus was actually much wider than it looks on the surface. If you go, make sure you take a diving mask and swim along underwater keeping an eye out for the shy Victoria River Red Faced turtles. We swam for quite a while before heading off for the big smoke – Katherine.

Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road

Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road
10&11 September

Fuelled up and with new tires fitted, we bounced off up the road through Lawn Hill station.

From Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road

We stopped at Domadgee for a break and some more supplies. Despite some negative press the Aboriginal people (especially the kids were really friendly) waving as we passed. As we drove around looking for a shop we ended up at the local swimming hole for morning tea. There I met a small girl called Margaret who wanted to know where we were going when I told her Borolloola she inquired about our family there. I think she found it hard to comprehend why would we go somewhere if not for family. Something to reflect on.
The road is fairly rough in parts but you could do it in any car if you let your tires down and went slow enough. Corrugations, sharp rocks, deep sand and creek crossings keep you on your toes. One dip with a deep dusty hole caught me unawares. We hit it pretty hard and the trailer bounced in the air. A bit further along, looking in the mirror, I thought the trailer wheels weren't turning properly but it all looked fine when I stopped and checked. Then the car didn't seem to be able to go any faster than 50km/hr. A better inspection showed the trailer brakes were on, and further inspection revealed the cause, one spring had snapped, and as the axle moved back, the trailer brakes were applied.
Luckily, the trailer came with a spare new spring, so I set about working out how to change a trailer spring.

From Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road

Broughton documented the process well on camera and Fabian helped with the repairs. A few vehicles passed as we worked. A couple of them stopped including a road train – others didn't, but then we didn't ask for help. It took about one and a half hours to replace the spring. I sent an an imaginary kiss to the previous owner for supplying the spring and set off more carefully. We had planned to camp by the Calvert River crossing but darkness caught us and we ended up pulling off near a little creek. We had fun that night catching native fish and yabbies in the creek.

From Up to King Ash Bay and the Nathan River Road

As well as Rainbows we found Purple Spotted Gudgeons, and lots of cane toads.

At Boroloola, we visited the Museum before heading out to the King Ash Bay Fishing Club Campground on the Macarthur River.
At the office we asked for an unpowered site and got directed to Jenny Flats beside the river. That night, we discovered it was actually Genny Flats as in generator. Every camp had one running until they had to be turned off at 10pm, apparently to run freezes for the big catch No swimming in this river as it is apparently full of esturine crocodiles. Luckily none of the kids got taken as they used the cast net to catch minnows and then fished until dark.
John

Next day Fabian and Broughton continued fishing with live bait they caught.
Fabian ended up catching a nice queen fish.
After we'd left I realised Broughton's beloved crocs got left at the river edge.
We joked about 2 crocs being sighted there or the next door neighbour campers thinking maybe the “young tike” had been taken by a real crocodile. Broughton is now working on developing tough feet ! I was saddened by their loss as I was set to inherit them when Bro's feet grew.

We made another call into Boroloola the next day on the way through to the Southurn Lost City on the Savannah Way. We had to shop for Fabian's birthday dinner – a challenge in a supermaket at 35 degrees, fans whirring, customers bustling. I managed to buy nachos ingredients and a sara-lee cake but failed to find sorbolene.
I was hanging out to buy beer but it wasn't going on sale until 2.30pm so we decided to push on.
Glad we did because we got to our destination, the Southern Lost City, at about 5pm – we were the only campers!
The backdrop was amazing and Fabian was able to play his trumpet amongst these stately rock formations – great acoustics.

From Southern Lost City

Later on that evening John got out his harmonicas and we tried a few numbers, I'm slowly learning to pluck the ukelele and Millie can pick up most tunes on her violin. Broughton has now learnt quite a bit of trumpet and he is loving it.
Next day we walked around the Lost City - extremely striking rock formations - before heading off. We stopped for the morning at Butterfly Springs, a very refreshing spot and aptly named.

Fabian got Millie and Bro to jump off a rock ledge and we all enjoyed a long swim with the fish.

We checked out the Tomato Rd Fishing camp on the Roper River but decided to keep going to Elsey National Park, where we set up camp in the dark.

From Butterfly Springs

Maggie

Lawn Hill Gorge

Lawn Hill Gorge
3 to 7 September

This was on our original itinerary. Lots of people had told us “you must go to Lawn Hill Gorge”. We felt we had worked hard to get there.
The first thing we noticed when we woke up was an abundance of new birds. Our bird list grew rapidly. The next thing was the beautiful green water of the Gorge teeming with tropical fish – archer fish, rainbow fish, salmon catfish bony bream, sooty grunter, coal grunter – the kids were very excited by this. The water is green due to the calcium in the water.

From Lawn Hill Gorge

The gorge is a beautiful place to swim and canoe, but the camp ground is quite hot and dry. Being the end of the dry season, it was looking a bit brown and drab.
While the kids swam, I gingerly drove 10km to Adel's Grove in search of a spare tyre. They had a used tyre that was the same size as the ones on the cruiser, and Doug could pick up 2 new tyres in Mt Isa on Monday. Not quite the same as what we had but same rolling diameter. After more discussion about tyres, tyre pressure and spares, I undertook to buy the tyres plus another rim so we would have two spares.

I did some consulting work (as there is full next G reception on the lookout beside camp) but also lots of swimming, li loing and bush walking. The Gorges is big and beautiful and whenever we got hot, we just jumped in for another swim. At Indarri falls, we had fun being shot by the Archer fish and being pummelled by the cascades.

From Lawn Hill Gorge

Maggie began her weekly linocut – yet to be completed.
Fabian managed to catch a Gulf Snapping turtle and also picked up an Olive Python near the amenities block.

From Lawn Hill Gorge

We met a Victorian family who had 2 sons around Fabian's age so that was a plus. We ended up staying an extra night to allow enough time to get the new tires fitted. All up very pleasant and memorable.

On the Road to Lawn Hill Gorge

On the Road to Lawn Hill Gorge
1st September and 2nd September

It looked to be too far for a two day trip, so we spent the morning in Alice. After lunch, and well provisioned, we drove north up the Stuart Highway. The Stuart really is a pretty dull road apart from the devils marbles where I spotted a crimson finch.

From On the Road to Lawn Hill Gorge

We often stopped to look at birds of prey and eventually nightfall and an afternoon storm halted us at Wycliffe Well, a quirky caravan park claiming to be the UFO centre of Australia. It also had caged emus, galahs and rabbits; a couple of donkeys, a lake (actually a dam), a miniature train, and murals on every semi-flat surface. The kids tried fishing in the ''lake'' but it turned out to have been recently fitted with plastic dam liner and had only just started to be filled again. So there probably were no fish and all Fabian caught was the dam liner. We travelled towards Tennant Creek and bought a few things, sent a parcel to the primary school (some prints the kids had done) then drove on. That night we stopped at the Sudan Bore rest area – just a place to sleep in the middle of the Barkly tablelands.

When we reached Camooweal Next G coverage appeared, so we stopped for the morning as I needed do some work. The general store had a cafe, making it very comfortable.
The couple running the store had just moved up from Gosford and seemed to be running a great service for the whole community including banking and postal services, legal advice and good quality foods. Then after lunch we struck out on the gravel Camooweal Rd up towards Lawn Hill Gorge. It was a bit rough and was taking longer than we thought, but we were going ok until Fabian heard a strange noise which turned out to be a flat tyre. Well it was only a matter of time. The tyres that came with the car were really not made for the sharp rocks on these roads. We got it changed fairly smoothly and back on the road but the spare burst, torn from tread to rim not much later. With the sun going down, I unwrapped the tyre repair kit I had bought and started reading the instructions. Amazingly it worked. Maggie cooked dinner at the back while me and the kids and I got the shredded wheel off and repaired the first flat.

From On the Road to Lawn Hill Gorge

A passing camper let us use their compressor to speed up the inflation of the repaired tyre. I drove very gingerly on the last 10 or so km to Lawn Hill Gorge – we no longer had a spare wheel!
We end up arriving at Lawn Hill about 9pm – which meant a challenging set up.

the Alice

Alice Springs
30 August 2010

This was a work stop for me. The first internet and phone reception for a week. But also a chance to restock supplies and get a few bits and pieces of camping gear including a camp oven which got returned after we agreed it would take up too much space.
The staff in shops were noticeably more friendly. When seeking a couple of hardwood jacking blocks (having learnt while helping the guy on the way to Warren jack up his trailer, the importance of having hardwood blocks which can be stood on their edge), the hardware staff member cheerfully supplied, cut and squared them for free. He explained that it was the end of the day anyway.
John


After a week out I was able to do 3 loads of washing – the kids have been helping more (at my insistence) and now probably have more of an idea about the work involved in keeping house etc.
We all visited the aboriginal Art Gallery, the Natural History and aircraft Museum in the Araluen Arts centre across the road from the Caravan Park.
We saw some original Albert Namitijiras and early Papunya paintings from the 70's + some great contemporary works.
Alice Springs is quite a rich cultural Centre I'd like to be there for the festival which is about to start (10th Sept).
I did some linoprinting back at the caravan park and met a woman from Oakey in Queensland who who is also a printmaker. We got talking and it turned out her sons were taught by one of John's relatives some 25 or 30 years ago.

This was also the start of warm weather.
The kids had a swim in the small caravan park pool.
Maggie