Homeward Bound

After our fill of Bundy Rum and ginger beer, we based ourselves in Hervey Bay for a couple of nights and went on a 4WD tour of FraserIsland. The tour took us to some Fraser Island’s scenic highlights and for the mandatory drive along the beach highway. We managed not to get eaten by dingos but we did see a few.

Next it was a stop over with Linda and Will at Maroochydore. Had an evening of laughs and catching up on what has happened since we last saw them.

We then crossed the border into NSW last Tuesday and turned the clock back to 70s for a few days in Byron Bay.

We must look like aging hippies because one local shop keeper was sure we must have come from the Northern Rivers. We took an excursion across to Nimbin where Adrian had to buy some hemp. (It was a hat that was woven from the plant.)

While at Coffs Harbour for a couple of days the local sea life took a liking to us.

As we moved further down the North Coast we got the feeling that spring was in the air and felt the draw of home.

We only gave poor Gemma 2 days notice of our home coming and she really did need a week to clean up. Tim was around tonight and he is getting excited about his imminent trip to Hong Kong, Macau and China. We are a bit jealous, maybe its time for us to start planning a holiday!

Sparkling Company, Sparkling Gems and Now the Booze

We’ve been treated to some Queensland hospitality over the last week or so. We camped on Chris & Mike Rogerson’s front lawn in Townsville for a few nights and then visited Adrian’s cousin Wendy in MacKay. It was good to catch up with old friends, get some local knowledge and experience some gourmet delights in both households. While in Townsville we spent a day on Magnetic Island where we did some Koala spotting. Then it was more fauna at Eungella National Park near MacKay where we saw platypus, goanna and turtles.

Between Townsville & MacKay we spent a night in Bowen where

the Darwin scenes for the film Australia were filmed. We had to see Bowen because Chris loathed the place having been stuck there due to floods during their move to Townsville. We didn’t spend enough time to fully appreciate or loath the place but it did have nice beaches, the best sandwiches we’ve had on our trip and some delectable local tiger prawns.

We then traveled to the gem fields and stayed at Rubyvale. We had heard about the area from other travelers we had met and Wendy showed us a ring with a sapphire she had found there. We had great fun fossicking and from our first bucket we found one sapphire big enough to have cut and set in pendant for Joy. The small towns of Rubyvale and nearby Sapphire are dedicated to the gems and we went to several local businesses set up for fossicking to fossick.

We came away with a small bag of sapphires and zircons that we will send to Asia to have cut. Adrian was almost tempted to stay as in the local supermarket window there was house with 2 mines and all the required mining equipment for sale for $45 000.

We are now in Bundaberg and spent last night at Rockhampton. Tomorrow its rum tasting.

The Capitals and the World

Since arriving in Queensland we have stayed in 2 Capitals of Australia: the Rodeo Capital (Mt Isa) and the Dinosaur Capital (Richmond) as well as a city whose slogan is ‘the World’ (Charters Towers). In Mt Isa there were signs showing distances to various localities around Australia and the World. We realized that, if only there were roads, we could have reached London or Washington in the distance we have traveled around Australia so far.

The Rodeo was on when we reached the Isa so we had to go. It was a little different to the Fitzroy Crossing rodeo: the bulls all had names and knew where to exit the arena after their run and there was a program of events that changed every 15 to 20 minutes. At Fitzroy Crossing we were told the bull riding would be on after lunch, “what time” we asked and the reply was “after lunch” which turned out to be around 4pm. The bulls there were out of the scrub and they had to run in a herd of steers to get them out of the ring.

We tried our hand at mining at the Hard

Time mine in Mt Isa and visited an underground hospital that was built after the bombing of Darwin during World War II.

At Richmond it was a tour of the Dinosaur Museum then a field trip to one of the fossicking sites. We came back to the museum to have our finds assessed, we thought we had found a dinosaur tooth and a fossilized leaf but they turned out to be a stone and a scrape made by a grader. We did however find fossilized fish scales and shells.

In Charters Towers we have toured the town by car and foot and inspected many of the impressive buildings of the gold rush era. Joy paned for gold and found a few specks.

Wetlands to Marbles

Kakadu doesn’t have a good reputation with a lot of the grey nomads we have met on the road. We are not sure why because we enjoyed our 5 days in the park visiting aboriginal art sites, cruising the wetlands, swimming in a plunge pool beneath a waterfall and scrambling to pools above the falls with one of the traditional owners. We even got to watch crocs catching fish.

We then spent a couple of days in the never never at Mataranka where we floated around in hot springs and watched the daily screening of “We of the Never Never”

Then it was a night beside a wetland at Elliott that some other travelers told us about. (If you are in the area: turn west at the cattle grid as you enter the town, ignore the ‘private property’ sign and drive about 12k down the sandy dirt track.) Thousands of birds fly in and out each day: many more than we saw at Kakadu. On our way we had a light lunch at the famous Daley Waters Pub.

Tennant Creek was our next base

and we did a day trip south to the Devils Marbles before an evening around the camp fire with Jimmy the bush tucker man where we had damper and tea made from a native lemon grass. Jimmy recited a couple of poems and told a few tales.

We crossed the border into Queensland today. We both have colds which is no wonder as winter has kicked in with nights as low as 10 and days only reaching into the mid 20s brrrr.

The Top End

By Jeeves, its been hot lately. Perhaps its just the humidity for the temperatures have remained in the low 30’s. Its lucky the designer of theNorthern Territory have designed in lots of springs, waterfalls and swimming holes.

From the township of Katherine we traveled to nearby Nitmiluk National Park and stayed near Katherine Gorge for a couple of nights. We did the mandatory boat trip up three of the gorges. Then it was over to the other side of the park to Edith Falls. It has a magnificent swimming hole below the falls. Swimming is permitted between 7:00am and 7:00pm the rest of the time it is reserved for freshwater crocs (these are the ones that supposedly don’t eat you).

Then it was on to Litchfield National Park for a couple of days.

More waterfalls with plunge pools for swimming and the Buley Rock Pools: this is like a series of spa pools in a river cascade. We had our morning bath there on Tuesday before moving on to Darwin.

We thought that World War III must have started as there were fighter jets constantly roaring past. We later learned that the Yanks are out and they have been playing war games with us. We haven’t heard who is winning. Just when we started getting used to the aircraft noise, the Darwin Show started and it is located adjacent the caravan park we are staying at.

We have done a bit of sightseeing around town

and went on a day trip to the TiwiIslands where we got to experience a smoking ceremony, viewed Tiwi dancers and artists in action and of course went to the local swimming hole. We also went to the beach but there was no swimming as this is the domain of the saltwater crocs (the ones that eat you).

Farewell Kimberley Hello Katherine

The Kimberley certainly throws at you a variety of landscapes. After the Fitzroy we stayed a couple of days in the Halls Creek area including one night camped beside Palm Springs where we swam then fished. Even Joy caught fish in the warm pool. (Fortunately our neighbours plied us with pancakes so we didn’t go hungry)

Then it was onwards to Turkey Creek our base for a 4WD tour onParnululu National Park (better known as the Bungle Bungles ). The tour left at 5.30am and returned around 7pm so it was a long day but a magnificent journey with walks at both ends of the park. Unfortunately our camera could not capture the scale of Echidna Chasm or Cathedral Gorge, the destinations for the walks.

We then traveled to Kununurra where after a rest day we took a scenic flight over the Ord River Irrigation Area, Lake Argyle, the Argyle Diamond Mine and the Bungle Bungles. Monday, it was boat trips on Lake Argyle then down the Ord to Kununurra.

Last Tuesday we entered the Northern Territory and spent a night beside the Victoria River. We did a walk up to an escarpment to view Aboriginal paintings and then traveled to Katherine for a relaxing dip in the hot springs (32 degrees and it was like a warm bath). Stay tuned for more of our adventures since then.

Crossing the Kimberley

Following almost a week of lounging around Broome: dining in Chinatown, lazing on beaches, inspecting pearls (one too many for Adrian’s liking), sunsets on Cable Beach and tours of crocodile and pearl farms; we hit the road again. Firstly onward to Derby where there were no horse races, then Windjara Gorge and now Fitzroy Crossing in the heart of the Kimberley.









The scenery has changed with majestic boab trees dotted along the highway and savannah grasslands. The gorges that we have seen so far have been breathtaking and have the added bonus of crocodiles sunning on the banks and swimming in waterholes. (Look closely in the pic and you might see a croc)






Whilst in Fitzroy Crossing we’ve: been to the Rodeo; taken on a boat cruise up Geikie Gorge; and done some short walks in the national park. Adrian tried his hand fishing for Barra but without luck. The locals say they really bite in the warm weather but seeing it’s been in the low thirties, it’s far too cold.

The Pilbara Coast

Since leaving the renowned national parks of the Pilbara we have been exploring its coastline. On Tuesday morning it was rock rambling near Karatha in search of aboriginal rock art. We found many fine examples but that wasn’t surprising as the site has many thousand engravings. After lunch we traveled an hour up the road to Point Samson where we spent a rest day and a couple of nights. Adrian got the rods out for the first time and caught us our supper.

We then traveled to Port Hedland where we had planned to stay for a couple of days but after lunch and a quick look around we decided to keep moving and arrived at Eighty Mile Beach just on sunset. The brochures said that this was a good place for shell collecting. Joy was in her element; she found some in the half dark and was up at the crack of dawn in search of more. It was lucky we had to be out of the park by 10am or she would have walked the whole 80 miles.

We arrived in Broome yesterday and went to the movies at the world’s oldest continually operating garden cinema last night. We sat in the front row of deck chairs under a starry night sky. Just as the film was getting to an exciting bit, fireworks from a nearby carnival started. The movie was paused until the fireworks crescendo.

We’ve decided we need a holiday, so we booked in for 5 nights.

The Big Red Pilbara

We don’t think there is soil in the Pilbara region, just red rocks, red powdery dust and a bit of iron ore. Our first excursion after arriving in Tom Price on Wednesday was a trip to a mountain lookout and to Hamersley Gorge. This involved traveling about 140k on dirt roads. In fact we had to watch a 20 minute video on dirt driving to get a permit to drive on a Rio Tinto road to get there.

When we returned we spent a further hour or so cleaning off the thin layer of red dust that coated everything inside the van. But the trip was worth it to get to see some of the superb scenery the Pilbara has to offer. We also got to see one of the iron ore trains and waited for the 3 locos and 320 carriages to pass by. It measured about 2.5k and took about 4 minutes to pass. Down the track it stopped in front of another coming back up the line and we witnessed a crewchangeover. On Friday we did a mine tour and learned that they send on average 4 train loads of ore per day.

After two nights at Tom Price we traveled to nearby Karijini National Park and spent 2 days exploring many gorges, waterfalls and rock pools. We even swam in one of the pools and showered under the warm waters of a waterfall. On Sunday we hit the dirt again and traveled to Millstream National Park, 180k down the railway road. We met a ranger at the gate and he suggested we go for a swim in one of the river pools. The waters were lovely and warm, a nicerelaxing activity before cleaning out the day’s dust.

We arrived in Karatha today. After a couple of hours of cleaning we decided to go out for a meal. We have been driving around in the dark for the last hour and finally found a restaurant called McDonalds! At least they have free WIFI internet.

Monster of the Deep

Dah dmp … Dah dmp … Dah dmp … dah dah dah dah dah dah dah. The theme to jaws was sounding in our ears and we were about to come face to face with a monster of the deep. In fact this shark was even bigger than the great white and it was coming straight for us. And we were glad because we had traveled many hours across rough seas for our chance to swim with the plankton eating whale shark.

Our whale shark was estimated at 7-8 metres long and was accompanied by a flotilla of smaller fish. It swam along gracefully while we panted and puffed to keep up with it for our turn in the water. It was a regimented operation: slide off the back of the boat; follow the swim leader; get out of the way of the shark as he swims toward you; turn and swim like hell to keep up with the whale shark; huddle up while the boat comes to collect you; back on the boat and repeat the process.

On our way out to the shark zone we practiced the

process with a guided snorkel over the Ningaloo Reef and a chance to view the corals and many multi-coloured fish. Whilst the swim with the whale shark was the highlight of our 5 days at Coral Bay, snorkeling off the beach also provided some memorable moments. (Today’s photos are provided by the professional photographer who accompanied us on the shark trip).

Along the Coral Coast

Since leaving Perth on Saturday we have been traveling along the Coral Coast region of WA. Most has been long stretches of various types of scrub but every few hours there will be a scenic highlight like the sunset at Cervantes or spectacular pinnacles in a nearby desert landscape or the beautiful blue sea at Geraldton.

Monday it was the stark white shell beach and stromalites of Hamelin Pool and the brilliant green and blue of Shark Bay. More scrub and then the tranquil waters of Monkey Mia. It was then time to don the shorts and Tee shirts for a walk along the beach and a sunset sail across the bay.

It was an early rise on Tuesday to paddle with the famous dolphins and then another cruise in search of sea animals. We sighted the noses of several dugongs and sea turtles as well as an exhibition by pod of dolphins.

Wednesday we were on the road again with more scrub and then a scenic lookout at a low range that turned the vast scrub into a scene of beauty. More long stretches of road before finding the banana plantations and market gardens of Carnarvon where we stayed the night. A volunteer driver for the coffee pot train that runs along Carnarvon’s one-mile jetty bragged that we were less than 1000km from Perth. We walked the half of the jetty that was open and caught the train back.

After Carnarvon it was a few hours drive to Coral Bay. On the way we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and later the scrub was interspersed with massive termite mounds. Coral Bay is set on the edge of Ningaloo Reef: just a short swim to the coral and reef fish