The Map to June 26th
As requested by Mother Mary, here's the latest red squiggly line showing us at Lajamanu and that's only 2588km from my chair at Mount Waverley (as the crow flies, the emu runs, the goanna crawls, etc).
Photo deleted June 2007
Monday 26th June
We had such a good fire that it was still glowing the this morning and Cathy was able to cook toast for breakfast. Lots of butter and honey on it tasted great. We can't take honey across the border into WA anyway. On the way into Lajamanu we buried the rest of our beer, carefully recording the GPS location. Lets hope the GPS system continues to work. As part of our entry permit we are unable to take pictures, but we looking forward to spending time with Cathy's uncle and cousin.
UPDATE:Stuart and Georgie put on a special baked potato extravaganza for dinner.
Sunday 25th June
Another day of slow-going 4WDing had us wondering whether we would ever make it to our proposed destination. But we made it into Paperbark Yard campsite by 3.30pm and set up the solar shower in time to catch the last hour of the sun's warmth. Knowing we would be going to Lajamanu the next day (a "dry" aboriginal community) meant drinking up as much alcohol as possible - which we very reluctantly did by a warm fire.
Water Crossing
Crossing the Humbert River, Gregory National Park, NT
Saturday 24th June
An early start from Timber Creek got us to Limestone Gorge in time for a morning walk to see the Calcite Falls (see picture). There is NO water coming down the falls. It has been discoloured by calcium carbonate which leeches out due to water turbulence. Ask your science teacher. We met the Ranger at Bullita Homestead, and then headed off on a 4WD adventure. The track was quite very rough with an average speed of 10-15km/h. The Humbert River was an interesting crossing with the rocky bottom at an angle and steep holes close to the track. At least the rocks were visible, we are not sure how anyone does it when it's flowing.
Friday 23rd June
We reluctantly left our camp at Jasper Gorge and headed into Timber Creek. We saw a few of the local sights then headed out on the Victoria River sunset cruise. A stray stone made a significant crack in our windscreen so more repairs added to the list for Kununurra. We finally managed to restock on alcohol having been reduced to Lime Cello last night. (Don't ask)
Thursday 22nd June
Our bush camp was so good that we decided to stay another night. This gave us all day to collect firewood, fill up the solar shower with water from the creek, read, write a letter and enjoy a hot bush shower. I don't know whether we'll ever go back to caravan parks! David says that you'll have to email bribes for the password to "Whoops!". Cathy says she'll never tell.
Wednesday 21st June
We knew little of Gregory National Park before we arrived and decided to do a couple of bushwalks this morning. Very soon, it became my favorite place on the whole trip. The extraordinary red rock of the escarpment contrasted with the lush green vegetation below. We climbed up to its base and marvelled at the many other colours in the rocks, the drips from ferns growing in spring-fed rocks, the livingstone palms and the aboriginal rock art. It was truly wonderful. We couldn't face a night at a caravan park so we headed out a road to Jasper Gorge and found ourselves a secret bush camp with an extraordinary outlook.
Tuesday 20th June
Happy Birthday Angus! Can't let my nephew's birthday pass without mention. We passed through Katherine with a list of things to do and forgot that you can't buy alcohol before midday so it will be a few dry days. We indulged ourselves with coffee scrolls instead which we ate at a rest stop on the way to the Gregory National park. Here we camped in the NP with a drop toilet as the only concession to bush camping.
Monday 19 June
A delightful 8k walk to Sweetwater Falls. On the way back we went for a swim in the Upper Pool. The water temperature was pleasant, the scenery truly amazing and the cascades provided much entertainment for kids of all ages. A quiet afternoon was spent doing some reading. Cathy arranged for David to help somebody who couldn't remove the cap on the water tank...so we made more new friends.
Sunday 18th June
After 4 days in Katherine, we finally got to the gorge. We lacked energy or inclination for canoeing, so we did a walk to the lookout and back along the "lawn" (now under 2ft of sand due to big wet). Off to Edith Falls where we discovered a peaceful and green park with camping including hot showers. We quickly decide to stay on for 2 nights. The Saturday Age kept David quiet for most of the afternoon.
Saturday 17th June - A "shocking" day
7am Katherine East Autos for a Wheel Alignment. "It's a bit low in the back, scrubbing front tires." Rx: New Shockers.
10.30am Bridgestone. Wait patiently to rotate tyres and get remaining 2 wheels balanced. Whilst waiting admire $750,000 worth of Swagman Motorhome. You could fit 2 Troopys inside it but only go half the places we can.
11.30 Katherine East Autos. Fit new shockers. Right rear was completely shot, left front had no rebound.
2pm Pick up our "dreamy" Troopy. Given warning re gearbox (Let's hope that's not next)
2.15pm Back to shops to buy food to cook and freeze for upcoming meals
Send us some mail.
Yuck!!! Lots of bills and statements in the mail. Send us something interesting, newspaper clippings, sudoku's, a picture of your dog, drawings from your kids, money, good jokes, etc. Most of all, we would love to hear from you. Our next mail collection point will be at Kununurra in 3-4 weeks so get writing *now* and send to
David and Cathy McAdam
Post Restante
Kununurra WA 6743.
Otherwise, send an email (there's a link on the side).
Friday 16th June
Troopy Clean out. Brush, sweep, wash and dry. Red Rooster for dinner. Another easy day.
Thursday 15th June
After talking to everyone in the caravan park, we finally got the washing done and wrote some blog. We are enjoying all the wonderful people that we meet along the way. Then off shopping and running around town getting our front wheels balanced and arranging a front end alignment. We enjoyed a relaxing devonshire tea at Historic Springvale Homestead. Now we can catch up on all the mail we collected at the post office.
Wednesday 14th June
The day began with an early morning swim in the thermal pools then we ventured out to the Elsey National Park. It was a hot and sandy 8km walk to the Mataranka Falls. Due to the late big wet, the falls were not so spectacular. As we had done enough in Mataranka, we set off for Katherine and stopped to celebrate 10000km since we left home. It occurred at Cutta Cutta Caves, which we have visited before.
Tuesday 13th June
There wasn't much to see in Roper Bar and the diesel was too expensive to fill up (at $1.96 per litre) so we hit the corrugations again. We arrived at Mataranka by lunchtime and spent the afternoon floating in Bitter Springs gorgeous opal blue-green waters. We camped at the homestead enjoying Barramundi, entertainment and dancing!
The Dancing Queen of Mataranka Homestead
with the kids, as usual.
Monday 12th June
We woke with the birds and set out early. The first stop was at the Southern Lost City which had only just opened up the day before. The walk was interesting but our old arch enemy, the spinifex grass, scratched our poor old legs again. At Butterfly Spring, we met Jess and Andy again and stoppe for lunch. The butterflies fluttered to Andy's didge droning. We planned to spend the night at Lomarleum lagoon, but when we got there, the campsites seemed to be in crocodile territory so we went on to Roper Bar.
Sunday 11th June
Lukewarm coffee due to a gas shortage in HOME42. Fortunately the local resupply was open at 8am. A slow trip from Borroloola due to the poor roads....this time mainly corrugations with fewer washouts. All creek crossings are now less than knee deep and the firm rocky bases make them straghtforward. We checked into Lorella Springs and spent well over 1 hour splashing around by ourselves in the moderately warm spring. It's cooler than normal due to the late and significant wet season. It was a short drive to see an eagles nest by the billabongs.
Saturday 10th June
Having decided to stay another day (to sober up??), we had a lazy breakfast chatting to our neighbours before heading to the museum. It contained a fascinating collection of artifacts and memorabilia including the old police journal. We received wonderful news of 2 new arrivals so Hello to Leyna Elizabeth and Sarah Jane (and congrats to the delighted parents). The Caranbarini National Park was recommended to us so we headed out there for a walk and a picnic. It lived up to expectations with marvellous rock formations much like I expect to see in the Bungle Bungles. The evening was a good Aussie BBQ with Andy and Jess and Co.
Andy and David
Andy was showing off again!!
Friday 9th June
David got up early to take some photographs of the Calvert River, so we were back on the road earlyish. It only improved very slightly with an average speed around 50km/h. The Robinson river was an interesting water crossing with a reasonable current still flowing. We arrived at the Caravan Park only to find our new Pommie mates, Andy and Jess and their 2 wonderful kids, Thomas and Daisy already in residence. A pile of laundry was quickly done and some "supermarket" shopping for essentials. Late afternnon and evening was a long liquid dinner with refound friends courtesy of VB.
Thursday 8th June
All good things must end...so we headed for Hell's Gate and beyond. No official word on the road, but a quick chat to some fellow travellers gave us the confidence to continue. The going was slow with many washouts and many small water crossings. Our fascination with taking photos of each one has long gone. Crossing the state border from Queensland to Northern Territory gave us an extra half hour but it wouldn't be enough to get all the way to Borroloola. The scenery was magnificent around Echo Gorge and a tip regarding a secluded camp site along the Calvert River was a spectacular overnight bush camp.
Wednesday 7th June
We had heard that the road for the next part of our advednture should be open to high clearance vehicles by the end of the week so we stayed another night. It was feeling kind of crowded with 9 new arrivals!!! Cathy spent the day reading her book while David watched them get the front end loader in and out of trouble again. We really weren't sure whether we were going to get out the next day or not but knew we'd be OK as Toni baked us a fresh loaf of bread - very much appreciated.
Tuesday 6th June
A couple of bushwalks were signposted and we decided to do the 7km return trip upriver. We weren't quite prepared for all the bushbashing and spinifex grass that made it very hard-going, so we turned around early and collapsed back at camp for the afternoon. The front end loader and grader came across to fix the other access road where the dam wall had burst. We watched as they got it bogged and had all sorts of fun attempting to get it out!
Monday 5th June
A quiet day was spent assessing for damage (none), getting to know the dry season caretakers and looking around. Their shop suppplies were low, but we did enjoy our chocolate bars for dessert - haven't had chocolate for a few weeks so it was a real treat.
Sunday 4th June - The Big BOG Day
We set off early for a big day of driving and we made it to Kingfisher camp. Well that's the short version anyway! We were told the road was passable, but at Bowthorn Station they said the road was closed and the front end loader that was clearing it had been bogged "but you'll get through if you stay to the centre of the track". They were the words ringing in David's ears as he pulled to the side of the road to pass the loader and sank in the Big BOG. Fortunately the grader was able to stabilise the road ahead, get back over to us an pull us out 50 minutes later. Never have we felt so relieved to pull into a campsite than that night, and then we were delighted to find we had the campground all to ourselves.
Saturday 3rd June - The Big Blog Day
Mmmm McDonald's Hash Browns for breakfast while we did our blog updates, We then set off to the Cloncurry aerodrome to see the original QANTAS hangar which is stilll in use today. Then north for an overnight stay at the Burke and Wills roadhouse. The smell - presumably from the road trains loaded with cattle that stopped reminded David of broccoli, so the campground was dubbed the broccoli camp!
Our Track to May 31
Look how far we've come!!!
Photo deleted June 2007
Friday 2nd June
Today we did one of the best tours so far. We dressed up in miners gear, complete with helmets, lights and steel-capped gumboots, and went down into the mine for a couple of hours. Steve, our guide, had been mining for 34 years and was a wealth of knowledge. He showed us how to drill, set charges and drive the big boys toys!! A quick trip to "Best and Less" netted Cathy some flanelette PJs and bed socks so she was snug as a bug in a rug with a pest all night!!!!
Thursday 1st June
We certainly knew it was the start of winter with the cold night but the showers were warm and the sun quickly warmed things up. Cathy did a tour of the School of the Air then we both went to the Underground Hospital and RFDS which were very interesting. David checked out the pedal radio at RFDS while Cathy was fascinated with a midwives book on neonatal resuscitation from 1955. David now has 5 hatpins for his Akubra Hat after making a large donation to the upkeep of the RFDS base in Mt Isa. Unfortunately, Cathy was not registered to work in Queensland so I kept the pin and the girl :)
Wednesday 31st May
Back on the road again, we enjoyed driving through the water at Riversleigh as the car needed a wash. We met some interesting characters at a roadside lunchstop including "Roamin' Ruthie" then moved on to Mt Isa. The caravan park we checked in to has afternoon tea at 4.00pm so we met plenty of fellow travellers for scones, jam and cream. There was a TV in the camp kitchen so we saw the news for the first time in weeks - we haven't missed much! Not sure if hearing that it was going down to 7 deg Celsius overnight was good or not but we rugged up and survived.
Tuesday 30th May
We had another early start to photograph some panoramic shots of the ranges. The countryside is reminiscent of the Flinders Ranges with different vegetation and greener. A quiet day in camp then lolling around in the gorge on a car inner tube (truck one for David). A short walk to the Lookout hill in the late afternoon gave us some parting memories of a special part of our trip. This was exceeded only by the size of David's Campfire that evening. It may have been the red wine or the heat from the flames that make David look like he is vapourising in the photo (OK....he can NEVER sit still)
The Early Morning Panorama
Taken looking towards Lawn Hill NP.
