Just to give you an idea of the trip around Australia as a whole here is a rough map of the journey. It doesn’t show where I actually stayed – just the centre of the town – nor does it show any of the side trips.
The idea is that it gives you an overall view.
Distance: 281 km
Fuel: 27.93 L
After 20 minutes driving from Kununurra crossed into the NT and lost 1.5 hours of my life.
Note the sign telling you that the maximum speed limit in the Northern Territory is 110kph – about 200 metres down the road was a 130kph speed limit sign (someone must have forgotten to remove the first sign when the NT went back to its old limits).
Driving was easy on a fairly good road through undulating bush. I made a few stops at things that interested me.
Was undecided whether to stop at Timber Creek or push on another 90km to Victoria River. I stopped for a few sights along the way and it was after 1pm by the time I arrived at Timber Creek so I booked a night.
While I waited to book in I enjoyed a bloke going rabid about paying $1.70 for a two day old copy of the NT News (paper) the girl behind the counter was trying to explain that this was a remote location and the newspapers were always a couple of days old. He only wanted to pay $1.40 for it – how he arrived at that figure I don’t know but he was very insistent. He eventually flounced out but rather spoilt the flounce by having to come back to get his money back.
Unhooked my trailer in a nice shady spot and went to see the local sights having seen a couple of signs indicating lookouts as I drove in.
The road in the last picture is the highway from Timber Creek to Katherine (only 290km away).
In the creek and bush at the bottom of the caravan park were some freshwater crocs, turtles, kites and bats. Actually there was a two metre croc (as big as the males get) on the bank when I first walked down but I thought it was a fibreglass garden ornament and walked within a metre of it, it didn’t move. It was only later when I went back and found it gone that I realised it was the real thing.
Power for this town is generated locally at a small diesel power station.
I could do without the power I suppose except I like a cup of tea and some toast, videos and my music (am listening to Captain Beefheart as I type).
Distance: 1.5 km
Another brilliant day… Was standing outside the caravan park at 8.10pm when the little bus picked me up to go to Kununurra airport. At the airport we were briefed on where we would be flying and the day’s schedule. The flight was due to leave at 9am so we didn’t have long to wait before we board.
The flight to the Bungle Bungles airstrip at Bellburn took about one hour and flew down the western side of Lake Argyle (the lake is far more impressive from the air than from a boat), over a couple of cattle station homesteads before reaching the Bungle Bungles.
Those rectangles (above) are the tailings dams from an abandoned alluvial diamond mine. It took this mine a year to produce the amount of diamond that the Argyle Diamond Mine produces in a week.
At the airstrip we were met by a 4 wheel drive truck to take us the 10km drive to Piccaninny Creek Carpark and the start of the walk into Cathedral Gorge.
The beehive shaped mountains have red and black stripes where the blonde coloured sandstone has either reacted with algae to form the dark colour or the iron has oxidised to form the red. When you find a flake of the surface rock the colour is only as thick as a fingernail over the underlying yellow sandstone. This coating protects the rock and slows down erosion.
Millions of years ago these northern ranges were as high as the Himalayas, in 30 million more years they will be gone and northern Australia will be a coastal plain.
The guide took us on a slight detour to see where the Qantas ad was filmed in Piccaninny Creek.
The walk is only about 1.5km to get to the gorge but the path is very uneven and is often just soft, dry sand (it was hard to walk on).
The Cathedral Gorge is immense and the acoustics are unbelievable. It was so cool and an incredible place to sit, relax and have the packed lunch provided for us.
After hiking back to the carpark we were driven to the company’s Savannah Lodge for afternoon tea.
After cake, biscuits and tea it was time to return to the airstrip for the flight back to Kununurra which included passing over the massive Argyle Diamond Mine.
The plane landed at about 5pm so it was a pretty full day.
BTW I remembered to count the seats on this plane – there are 12 plus the seat beside the pilot.
Distance: 4 km
Fuel: 33 L
Up before 6am presumably because, being on the edge of a time zone, the sun rises unreasonably early. Anyway I showered, washed yesterday’s clothes, had brekkie etc while most people were still asleep.
At a far more reasonable hour drove into town to the Visitor’s Centre where a helpful lady booked me on a flight to the Bungle Bungles with a walking tour of Cathedral Gorge. Pretty pleased with that, there is also a chance of a helicopter ride when I get there (hoping and clutching my credit card). Actually I thought it was another seaplane ride but reading the brochure it is a normal plane and we land on a dirt airstrip in the National Park.
While I was in the shopping centre I also bought, wrote and sent postcards to all the usual suspects as I had a coffee and a vanilla slice (haven’t had a vanilla slice for years).
As I will be away all day tomorrow filled the car up with fuel too.
The main event today was a cruise on Lake Argyle; the bus picked me up at 1pm and drove half a dozen of us to the lake. On the way it stopped for 15 minutes at the Argyle Downs homestead. This was the original house built by the Durack family when they first started grazing in the region in the mid 1800s. It was dismantled when the property was to be flooded by the dam and rebuilt on higher ground.
The cruise itself was so so. Everybody else seemed to enjoy it but personally I thought it was a bit dull, no dolphins just a few freshwater crocs, some short eared wallabies, the odd wallaroo and lots of water. The dam wall itself is made of locally quarried rocks and clay there is no concrete except in the pump towers.
Just before sunset some of the passengers went swimming in the lake, the water temperature is 26’C.
There was one redeeming feature – two cans of free beer. Yes, I know it is me but cruises and water don’t excite me much.
It has been six weeks since I started on this trip so time for some statistics (you know… those things made up on the spur of the moment) rounded to the nearest whole number.
Total Distance travelled: 10995 km
Fuel Used: 1099 litres
Fuel Cost: $1510
Accommodation Cost: $1384
Distance: 332 km
Was in two minds whether to go to Wyndham or Kununurra today but I was ready to leave very early (7.30am) so decided to go to Wyndham for a look then continue on to Kununurra.
The journey to Wyndham was through a series of interesting ranges and winding passes.
Just outside Wyndham is an area called The Grotto which is a hole in the ground with very dodgy looking stairs.
Wyndham has a Big Croc…
I did want to go to the Five Rivers Lookout BUT there was a sign which said, “No Caravans” so that was that.
Kununurra is only 70km from Wyndham so it was an easy drive. Found a caravan park right in the centre of town where I booked in for a few nights and also booked a cruise on Lake Argyle for tomorrow arvo. There is a dinner cruise on Lake Kununurra but I think I have eaten enough Barramundi for a while.
After setting up my camp including my gazebo and doing my laundry I went for a drive. First stop the Kellys Knob Lookout with its views over town.
Then it was down to Celebrity Park and Lake Kununurra.
Lake Argyle and Lake Kununurra are part of the failed Ord River scheme. I have read the signs but still have only the vaguest notion of why the scheme needed two separate dams so you will have to Google it.
When the sun went down I was feeling pretty hungry so I wandered into the town centre looking for a restaurant and eventually found an Asian one opposite a Subway when I had almost given up. The meal wasn’t bad at all but I think I need to do better preparation in future; wandering about in strange towns is not the best way to find a feed.
Kununurra is only about 40km from the WA/NT border. The next town is Katherine on the Stuart Highway 500km and a time zone away.
Distance: 468 km
Fuel: 55 L
This morning, before packing up, I went for a drive to the old Fitzroy Crossing. It is still there but the river silt either side has effectively blocked it off. There were some tyre tracks but they had come from the river sand flats. It is still only a metre above the water line now so one can understand why it was replaced by a higher level bridge.
The drive to Halls Creek where I had originally intended to stay was pretty straight forward though there were many single lane bridges on the way which had to be approached with some caution.
At Halls Creek I filled up with fuel but because it was only 10.30am decided to press on to Warmun (Turkey Creek) Roadhouse only another 160km further on. Warmun is a small Aborigine community who own and run the roadhouse.
At Warmun I enquired about a site and was told to take one and come back to tell them which site it was – it was $35 for a powered site. Once I had set up I wandered over to the Helicopter Flight office and asked if there were anybody who wanted a flight but needed another to make up the numbers. Oh dear, nothing looking likely and at $400 per person I wasn’t going to pay for two seats. Will try again in the morning because Kununurra is only 200km away.
What was an almost empty caravan park was nearly full by the time 6pm came round.
Distance: 308km
Fuel: 58 L
Was out early buying fuel for the journey to Fitzroy Crossing and was on the road by 7.45am.
Easy drive to Fitzroy Crossing where I arrived about 11am. Found a Caravan Park right next to the IGA store, Checked in and the lady told me that there was a boat tour at the Geikie Gorge at 4pm.
The Geikie Gorge is only just over 20km from town and that sounded a good idea so at about 1pm I took off for the Geikie Gorge National Park. Of course I arrived in plenty of time for the boat trip, originally I had intended to suss it out and return later but there were a number of walks at the park so I decided to try out a couple – I was carrying plenty of water in the car.
History: Geikie Gorge is a reef from the Devonian Period (250 million years ago?) when the area was a sea. As I understand it it is limestone from a combination of algae and coral.
Anyway my first walk was in among the reef formations. BTW this is a story where too many rocks are just not enough.
Then it was a walk along the side of the Fitzroy River to the sandbar and the Margaret River. (In case you haven’t working it out yet Fitzroy Crossing is so named because it was a place early settlers could get across the Fitzroy River).
Here you can see both the start of the sandbar and where the Margaret River joins the Fitzroy to the left of the sandbar.
These were not arduous walks being about a kilometre or so each but the path was mainly soft sand (silt from the river flood) which made it hard going. They were well marked.
Suddenly it was time for the boat trip…
These are birds nests made of mud and saliva stuck to the underside of overhanging rocks.
The dark areas of the rocks are oxidised limestone while the light areas show where the river comes to at its peak. The limestone is eroded and scoured by the river. The ranger’s pagoda roof has been under 2 metres of water and it is not an insubstantial structure perhaps 5 metres high and many metres above the current water level.
The crocs are Freshwater Crocodiles much smaller and less threatening than the Salties further north, the river is quite safe to swim in they don’t attack humans.
This rock island is sacred to the local aborigines and is the only place where swimming is not allowed.
The boat trip finished just as the sun set so the drive back to town was at my least favourite time of day (for driving). As it happened I had to stop several times for wallabies with all the road sense of a two year old but I didn’t hit anything and got back safely.
I decided I didn’t want to cook so I went looking for a restaurant… Nope! the only food was at the servo but I really wanted a meal so I just bought fuel for tomorrow.
The diesel here is $1.43/L compared to $1.52 at Derby – how does that work?
Distance: 21 km
Today I exhausted the charms of Derby. I had to wait for the park shop to open for me to buy ice but once that was done I set off.
First stop the Visitors’’ Centre where I parked the car and followed the Heritage Walk Guide. It was a typical self guided town walk a mixture of what had been but was gone, a brief town history and an explanation of what still remained. It passed a pleasant hour or so in the cool of the morning.
There were the Boab Trees down the main street.
The propeller and anchor of a ship, SS Colac, that was damaged and sank at the wharf in 1910.
The Derby Museum.
The Old Woolshed and Tramway restoration project.
Finally the Derby Picture Gardens a once typical bush open air cinema, alas only the screen remains.
By now I was a bit peckish so I called in at the Jila Gallery Cafe for coffee and cheesecake.
Finally back at my starting point I decided to revisit the wharf because I had missed the Centenary Mosaic when I visited yesterday.
The tide was out so the tidal mud flats were visible.
I drove to Derby’s Old Gaol next to the Police Station. What an awful place it must have been, just a cage with a tin roof and rings in the floor for attaching chains, No toilets. Terrible!
The original Police Station is long gone having been eaten by termites but even termites didn’t like the steel cage.
Finally I was out walking looking for lunch when I came across this hollow Boab tree which was just part of the streetscape. From one side it looked a healthy solid Boab from the other it was a different matter.
Distance: 243 km
Shock… Horror… I was awoken this morning by what sounded like raindrops on the roof… except instead of a continuous pitter patter it was about 4 or 5 drops then perhaps 30 seconds pause then 4 or 5 more drops! when I finally got up sure enough the ground was damp but the surprise was that it was foggy! Thank goodness this didn’t happen yesterday.
Performed my usual ablutions and set about dismantling my camp, making breakfast and topping up the Esky with ice (I am multi-tasking).
By 8.30am I was ready to leave but I had still not decided where I was going; was it Derby or Fitzroy Crossing? A quick look at the map – Derby was only 40km from the highway – so it would be a visit to Derby first; if it looked OK then I would stay, if not I would carry on toward Kununurra.
Derby looked OK, the caravan park had vacancies so I checked in until Monday, set up camp and took off for the local visitors’ centre. Just outside town I had noticed a sign for the Boab Prison Tree so asked about that and the lady also gave me a self guided walking tour brochure. Unfortunately the local National Parks are not yet open so the day bus tour I was hoping for was not available (the problem of travelling early in the season – remember Kakadu last year? a lot of the crossings and parks were not open there either).
Anyway after the visitors’ centre I drove down to the wharf area for a look. The tide was on its way in so was flowing very fast under the wharf. The wharf was not a hive of activity except for a fishing boat being refuelled and the odd fisherman along the pier (not entirely sure that fishing can be classed as an activity).
At the entrance to the wharf was a restaurant/takeaway called “The Wharf” which reminded me that I was hungry. Went in to look at the menu and discovered they had a selection of Indian dishes. I selected one called Prawn and Scallop Curry, I was tempted by Rogan Josh or even Vindaloo but this won the day. It was excellent – fairly spicy (but could have been more) and plenty for a lunch.
I took a photo of the Mangroves just before I went for lunch and when I had finished took another from just about the same place. Gives you some idea of how quickly the water rises when the tide comes in. Actually it was going out again by the time the second picture was taken.
After eating decided that there was plenty of time for a visit to the Boab Prison Tree.
At the same location was a couple of other historic objects.There was Myall’s Bore and Cattle Trough. The trough is 120 metres long, was built in 1917 and could handle 500 cattle at one time. Unfortunately the bore pressure failed so now the water has to be pumped to the surface with a windmill.
Finally there was Frosty’s Pool built in 1944 for troops stationed in the area during WWII. It was constructed by the 3rd General Transport Co and nicknamed after a platoon member. BTW I hesitate to call this ‘historical’ as it was built only three years before I was born.
This is a highlight – perhaps the highlight of this journey.
Woken by my alarms at 4.20am, had a shower and was outside the caravan park at just after 5am – as I got there so did the bus. I was the second pick up so some time was spent driving to all the resorts picking up passengers.
We were at the airport before 6am, sorted into our groups (day and half day), told which was our aircraft before being issued with a life jacket and finally allotted a seat on the plane. They are quite tiny, I didn’t count the seats but there was probably only 12 or 15 and you cannot stand up in them.
Flew straight to Talbot Bay where they have quite a set up – there were four seaplanes tied up (including ours) together with a house boat and various pontoons..
First up they told us a bit about the place then led us down to see the local sharks being fed (Tawny Sharks from memory but there was a Bull Shark skulking among them). Some keen people had a swim in the shark cage – the water was 27’C (like swimming in soup I would imagine)
Next it was bacon and eggs for breakfast; we helped ourselves and there was seconds if you wanted it.
These trips are all about the tide, so while we ate some people went on 10 minute helicopter rides for $100 p/p. I would have liked to have gone but there was limited time On reflection I doubt they saw more than we saw from the plane later.
It was time to get on the speed boat to see the Horizontal Falls in action. There are two gaps that create the effect – wider outer gap and a narrower inner one, It is only safe for boats to go through when the difference in height is 1 metre (the highest tidal difference is 10 metres and the water depth is 40 metres).
Going through the gaps when the tide is running is like riding over rocks; very bumpy.
After going through the gaps several times and driving through the turbulence the boat then went back past the pontoons/houseboat to Cyclone Creek. The creek is so named because it provides safe harbour for boats during cyclones. It is very beautiful and full of signs of geologic contortion.
Back onto our plane for a half hour flight to One Arm Bay for lunch – this landing was not on water but on a dirt airstrip. On the way flew low over the Horizontal Falls.
There was a short visit to a fish hatchery which was entertaining. It was originally a place for breeding Trochus shells for buttons until plastic put them out of business.
Lunch was Barramundi at Cape Leveque which was pleasant enough. Afterwards the truck drove down to the beach for people to swim, The scenery is interesting with low, red rocky cliffs on a golden beach (I didn’t go swimming – remember I don’t even like sand).
Then heading home along the dirt road to Broome we called in to Bingle Bay community for afternoon tea and a visit to the pearl church built by interned German missionaries during the war.
I was dropped off at my caravan park just before 5pm so I had time to dismantle my gazebo for tomorrow’s move, have a cup of tea, a shower and finally a beer just as the sun went down. It was a very good day.
OZ Camper Travels 