Broome

Pearls were the industry that made Broome famous, it is still the fact today, although tourism is up there high on the list. The famous Cable Beach and sunsets we hear about don't disapoint. The sea is the most beautiful blue. I thought before I came to Broome that the ride on the camels was a "must do", however I was just happy to see them on the beach and appreciate the sunset. That was until a seagull dropped a nice present on my neck! Missing my hair that I had only washed a couple of hours earlier.
John and I were with dozens of others watching the sun go down after a hot day of 30c. Cable Beach has some lovely resorts close by. Our caravan park is at the other end of town, but very pleasant.

We hired a small car for two days. Much easier to park in town and we can leave the motor home hooked up to the power onsite.


at the Pearl Luggers


John and I did two tours yesterday. One was to the Pearl Luggers, to hear about the pearling industry, especially the hard times the divers had in days gone by. We drove out to the port and John walked out onto the jetty. Later we were picked up in a bus for a tour 40klms from Broome, to Willie Creek Farm. Here we learnt about the modern day pearl farming and the value of the pearls, which included at talk and a short cruise.

wild brumbies near Willie Creek Farm.

our cruise boat.

Willie Creek Farm and Pearl showroom.

Today we looked around town, saw some shops, and had a couple of hours back at the park before heading off to see the sunset over the Indian Ocean.

looking around Broome cliffs.

Sunset over Cable Beach.

The camels.

Some of the crowd watching the sunset.

Derby

John and I enjoyed our time at Derby, it was our first look at the WA coast.  Derby is on King Sound. It has the biggest variations of high tides in Australia.  Zinc and Ore are the main exports from the Derby Port. We watched Royal Wolf containers being offloaded from a ship onto a truck on the jetty. Royal Wolf is the company that my sister Kay works for in Sydney.

The sunsets are beautiful here. The first night I took photos from the caravan park, the colours in the clouds were enhanced  as the sun set. The following night we drove down to the jetty and sat with our drinks with others and enjoyed nature’s show.

 During the day we looked at Wharfinger’s House, which is now a museum on Derby’s history. Also we drove out to the pioneer cemetery, in 1800’s one of the local policeman were shot and he is buried out there. The prison boab tree is where the aborigines were kept overnight on there way to jail. The tree is huge and there was room to house the men, who were shackled together. The men had been caught stealing cattle, their sentances were very heavy. They were marched for hundreds of miles, a lot of atrocities were commited against these unfortunate people. Some were captured to work on the pearling luggers in Broome.  Dark days of our early history.

The prison tree.

Wharfinger's House.

from the caravan park.

Royal wolf containers

Sunset from the jetty.

Coffee at the jetty.

crocodile warnings are everywhere.

Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing

 on  the way to Fitzroy Crossing

  Termite Mounds

Thursday 23^rd  June                  

Hall”s Creek is suitable for a one night stop over. There is only one caravan park, they charged $30 for a powered site. No competition so they can get away with it. Some stay at Mary’s Pool, a free camp, another 100 klms or so further on, however we like to have power and water, so even though the park was basic it was fine for one night. The lady told John when he booked in that the gates are shut between 8pm and 7am. However the next morning we noticed there were no gates to shut!

 Geike Gorge

Jabiru

Friday 24^th June

We drove the next day to Fitzroy Crossing, to a very nice caravan park. The landscape changed from flat open country to rugged escarpments on the way. We stopped at Mary’s Pool for morning tea, booked into the park before lunch and took a drive into the town. The visitors centre was the only place worth seeing, besides the local supermarket. The Fitzroy River Lodge is one end of town and very pleasant. We are staying two nights to be able to go on a boat cruise into Geike Gorge, 18 klms from town.

 Geike Gorge

fresh water crocodile

Saturday 25^th June

Geike Gorge is a must see. The one hour boat ride is very relaxing. We saw plenty of fresh water crocodiles, even a jabiru, a large bird, native to Northern Australia. The guide said even she hadn’t seen a jabiru in the time she had worked in the national park. John and I had seen jabiru before on our trip to the Top End, a few years ago.

Back to the park for lunch, we had a cold drink and hot chips in the bar of the Lodge. I  did some washing and cooked some little cakes.

Derby is our next stop for two nights, it will be our first glimpse of the WA coast,  Derby  is on King Sound.  We will be in Broome on Tuesday, staying five nights.

Timber Creek NT to Kununurra WA

                                      Victoria River.

Leaving Mataranka after breakfast, the 160 klms drive to Katherine was an easy one. We got some groceries in Woolies in Katherine, the unwashed body odour of some people is pungent in the enclosed arcade. One group of men asked John if they could take the shopping trolley back, he said “no thank you”, there was a $2 refund to collect on the return of the trolley, they of course knew this. Hello, you are dealing with an accountant here, every $2 counts. After encountering a man in an unlocked toilet, we got the hell out of Dodge! ( as the saying goes).

 Kimberley Escarpment

The Victoria River Roadhouse sits on an impressive acreage overlooking the river of the same name. We stopped for a half hour, we wanted to get as far as Timber Creek, it has crocodile feeding at 5pm and wanted to get settled in before then. The Victoria River region is very picturesque; the Kimberley escarpments start to appear closer into the WA border.
As we approached Timber Creek, flames were licking almost to the road, the air was thick with smoke. The aboriginals do frequent burn offs, they believe the undergrowth comes back more plentiful. They own vast properties throughout Northern Australia. I don't know how they would have managed if the fire had got out of control. I'm sure an evacuation plan wouldn't have been part of the equation.
We booked into the caravan park in plenty of time to watch the “freshies” getting fed. The sites are shady, a big Boab tree sits majestically at the bottom of the park. These trees are common to this part of the Kimberley, the only other place they are found is in Madagascar, on the same latitude.  The boab are plentiful in this area.

                             Boab trees

Sea Eagles

                          

 Salt water cocodile

A Victoria River cruise is something we missed out on when we came through last time, luckily we booked for a sunset cruise on a fast boat and it was well worth it, along with about eighteen others. The guy who ran the cruise was a local, who had invaluable knowledge of his backyard. We saw crocodiles, sea eagles, kites, little wallabies and cattle, along the river banks. Light refreshments and soft drinks were included, we stepped off the boat onto a pontoon equipped with toilets and croc feeding equipment. The sunset was beautiful, the ride back fast and cooler, luckily we were told to bring jackets.

 Kimberley Sunset.

We are now in Kununurra, crossing the border into Western Australia at a quarantine station. Fresh fruit and vegetables aren’t allowed into the state and luckily I remembered and didn’t stock up when I went to the supermarket. I cooked the apples and any vegetables up the night before. Of course, the first thing I had to do was restock the fresh fruit and vegetables when I got into town.

We booked into a nice caravan park not far from town on Lilly Lagoon. We have a view of the water from our window. Sightseeing is on the agenda for tomorrow. I enjoyed a plane flight last time over the Bungle Bungle Range, very impressive. Kununurra has a large river and dam system, we will drive out to the irrigation farms for a look.

My cousin has a daughter living here but she is in Perth for work. I left a message for her husband, a journalist on the local paper, if he is in town he might ring us, we have yet to meet him.

Pretty gum blossom.

Mataranka NT

John relaxing

The drive from Daly Waters to Mataranka was an easy 162 klms. Larrimah is the only town on the route. It has the Pink Panther pub and caravan park, another café stop and that’s about it. No fuel, which we didn’t need, John had filled up at Daly Waters.

We were an hour late in leaving Daly Waters as we locked the keys in the truck! My spare pair were in my handbag, John left his hanging in the “house” and locked the door. The truck was locked also. My fault of course! A guy in the park, one of the workers, managed to pop the lock in the window in the house door, then we were on our way. We supplied the camp with the morning entertainment, everyone trying to give advice.
Guys who helped us get to our keys.

We fell for the sign in Larrimah, “fresh scones” and regretted paying $5 for two scones that were so heavy and doughy, when in the truck I had scones made the day before that would have been fresher! We had decided to forgo the other café in town, Fran’s, because last time we passed through, her prices were too high.

John stopped in Mataranka township for a few groceries, will leave the bulk of them until we get to Woolworth’s at Katherine.
in the thermal pool

Mataranka Homestead is in the Elsley NP.  The Australian classic, “We of the Never Never” was set in this area. There is a replica cottage in front of the caravan park of Elsley Homestead. It was built for the filming of the book in the 1980’s. I must read the book again, it’s been a long time and I’ve forgotten the storyline.

Mataranka thermal pools are in the grounds of the caravan park. A lovely tropical shaded walk takes you to warm pools, we went both days we were here. A short trail goes to a lookout over the  Roper River, here we saw freshwater crocodiles sunning on logs. Mataranka is a delightful stopover . there are peacocks wandering around plus small wallabies.

Tomorrow we drive 110 klms to Katherine, then 285klms  to Timber Creek, our next stop.

                                        WW2 hanger at Daly Waters

Elsley Homestead replica cottage

                                           Freshwater crocodile

                                        Thermal pools.

Cape Crawford and Daly Waters Pub.

Leaving Barkly Homestead at 8.30 am Tuesday, the 375 klm drive north took us about 6 hours. We stopped twice on route. The Tablehands Highway is a bitumen single lane road, not rain damaged in as many places as what we first thought. We only encountered two road trains, they were both in clear view for John to have enough time to edge off to the side. We probably only saw half a dozen cars the whole way, some with caravans.

The landscape began as flat open country through vast pastoral properties. Unfenced paddocks meant that we came across wandering cattle, some strolling across the road and others stopping to look at us. Shrubby trees and termite mounds scattered the country side as we went further into the never never. We crossed over several small creeks with prolific bird life, a pair of brolgas hastened away, but not before I got a good photo. A lazy wedge-tailed eagle stayed by the roadside further up, not wanting to let anyone else near the road kill he was eating. Another good photo opportunity.

                                            A pair of Brolgas at a billabong

                                           Wide open spaces

                                          A wedge- tailed eagle.

 "The wide brown land for me"- My Country, by Dorothea McKellar

Diesel fuel was limited to 50litres per vehicle as their supply at the caravan park was low, however we had gauged that added to what we had already was enough to get us the 270 klms on the Carpentaria highway to Daly Waters.The Heartbreak Hotel is a bit disappointing, another small roadhouse where the toilets are named “Elvis” and “Priscilla” that’s about all or any similarity to Elvis. It’s also the reception for the caravan park and sells a small selection of groceries. We had no mobile or internet in this isolated part of Australia.

Wednesday 15^th June

The road to the Stuart Highway and up to Daly Waters was again single lane bitumen. There was no water at the park before we left due to a busted hose. Luckily John and I have our showers in the afternoon, but we had no water in our fresh water tank to make a cup of tea and coffee. The shop sold instant takeaway coffees and their urns were full, so that kept us going until the morning stop. I boiled some bottled water in the kettle to pour into the thermos.

We found the 270 klm drive not as interesting as the day before, the landscape shrubby and dotted with cattle, but no wildlife. The road was flood damaged and rough in patches, the wet season in the far north had lasted longer than usual.

We arrived at Daly Waters historic pub and caravan park at lunchtime and booked in for two nights. The pub is famous for their Beef and Barra meals, along with good entertainment. We had stayed a night in 2007. We both decided to order the barramundi meal and it was delicious along with salads and fresh damper. John and Trish joined us for dinner.

Today just spent catching up with washing, cooking scones and biscuits and relaxing with a book. I have a couple of new books about the areas we are going through, memories of an earlier time. The one I’m reading now is “Alice on the Line” the life of a young girl whose father ran the telegraph station in Alice Springs in 1899.

Tomorrow we head to Mataranka Springs and the hot pools.

Opposite the pub.

Bits and pieces inside the pub.

Barkly Homestead

                            Whistling Kite   

We drove the 450 klms from Mount Isa, arriving at Barkly Homestead at 2pm, it took us 6 hours all up, with two stops. The day was cool but sunny. The powered sites are excellent here, all drive through. Large  generators used here are noisy, but somehow one gets used to the noise.  They didn’t keep us awake.

In the afternoon John and I looked around the roadhouse, had a soft drink at the bar and looked at the menu for dinner, also caught up with the football, the only television here is in the common dining area. At least we have mobile and internet. I decided on the Sunday night special, roast dinner.
We took some photos of a whistling kite in the tree outside the roadhouse.

John asked some truck drivers about the road up to our next stop, Cape Crawford, they all agreed the single road was ok, just to look out for the road trains. It’s 375 klms up to Cape Crawford so hope it’s worth it, at least it will be new to us. I think much of the sight seeing is done by helicopter. We will just relax. There is a hotel  named the “Heartbreak Hotel”.

John decided to eat earlier last night,but he went back over with me when it was time to order dinner. The roast beef and veges were very nice.

We watched a dvd before bed.

This morning most of the caravans pulled out, we had a chat to Trish and John, a couple from Melbourne whom we had met on the trip to Lark Quarry. They were off to Tennant Creek. We might meet up with then later in the trip. I made some scones for morning tea, did some washing and might have a hamburger for lunch.

                                          Road trains

                                           Barkly Homestead

Mount Isa, days 2&3

Yesterday we had to get a few things seen to on Syd, it was raining, but luckily our new friends, Yvonne and Alan took us for coffee to save us waiting at the auto electrician. After lunch we did go up to the lookout to give us a perspective of Mount Isa. It’s a copper town, a very tall smoke tower oversees the town, the mine is just behind the CBD. The sun came out, hoping the rain has gone.

Saturday.

We had to pick up a few prescriptions at the chemist then had a cappuccino before driving 15 klms to Lake Moondarra, spending a relaxing couple of hours in the sun by the water. John tried a bit of fishing, with no luck. Both of us read our books.

We are getting on the road early tomorrow, it’s  450 klms to Barkly Roadhouse, our next stopover, our first in the Northern Territory.

                                           Lake Moondarra.

                                        The lookout at Lake Moondarra.

 For the next week or so we mightn’t have mobile or internet. If we do, you will hear from us. We will be in more isolated areas as we head  towards Western Australia. We have been three weeks on the road already.