Sunday 30th July

Cathy woke up full of energy – an early morning jog then snorkeling in Osprey Bay. David slept. We both walked into Yardie Creek, then snorkeled at Oyster Stacks. David thought it was safe for an afternoon snooze but was interrupted by shark sightings, swimming with manta rays and late afternoon drinks on “millionaires row” with Ian and Katinka. The best day (i.e. little wind for most of the day) since we arrived.

Wallabies in an early morning embrace.

Saturday 29th July

Another snorkel expedition, this time to Sandy Bay. We had been told about some clown fish “under the second rock”. Alas, as everyone knows, we cannot even find a mountain! At least visibility was much improved. We ventured north of the park to the Lighthouse Lookout. Large waves were still rolling in (5 metre swells yesterday, 3.5 today) and we watched surfers being towed into a reef break.

Friday 28th July

David’s “under the bonnet” morning check revealed a stowaway – a little mouse!! We think that Phil sent him in the last mail bag. Marc and Tori had warned us about such matters. Undeterred we ventured off to snorkel Turquoise Bay again, but were disappointed by the poor visibility. Sandy Bay was no better but we spotted some frolicking dolphins there. After sitting in the sun reading, we decided to fly a kite. By the time we got to the beach, it was completely still so we decided to snorkel. David took barely 5 minutes to collect the snorkel gear. Meanwhile the wind returned so we flew the kite! Another Happy Hour preceded a delicious steak and veggie dinner with Cab Merlot.

Thursday 27th July

The wind picked up during the night. David had to bring in the tarp which sounded like it was going 15 rounds with Mike Tyson. We had to put a rock in our drain bucket to stop it blowing away. In the AM we drove around looking at other campsites( too cramped and no views) and had a snorkel at Oyster Stacks and Turquoise Bay. The fish must be seen to be believed. The full range of colours and sizes. Cathy was icy cold, so it was hot pies from the visitors centre for lunch. A quiet afternoon. Some reading, a walk and finally a sensational sunset with some spitting rain. What a day :)

Wednesday 26th July

It’s a short drive from Exmouth around to Cape Range NP passing near the Harold Holt Naval Communication base. The most difficult bit was choosing a campsite (there were about 5 with vacancies). With some help from the ranger we ended up at Osprey Bay. We have beautiful views over the turquoise waters of the bay however, this means we are exposed to the strong winds and have no shade. We joined in for happy hour at 5pm where we met our camp hosts and other neighbours.

Tuesday 25th July

Slow day. Stocking up on food and energy. A very pleasant walk along town beach then our last internet update until early next week.

Track to July 24th

That’s it for k’s for a while. We’ll take it slow around Ningaloo Reef before heading to Karijini NP on the way back north to Broome.

Monday 24th July

Another long boring driving day but we managed to fit in some sightseeing before Exmouth. Then we headed to the shops to purchase some snorkeling gear, coffee and cake.

Sunday 23rd July

We were thrown out of bed by the gusty wind, the joint was rockin!!! As we headed for Dampier we had a look at the North West Shelf onshore operations and then did some 4WDing around the Burrup Penisula looking for Mt Burrup. A local even managed to get us lost. In the end, we had to admit “We couldn’t find a mountain!!” Cathy climbed some rocky ridges near Hearson Cove to view some aboriginal petroglyphs.

How did they know Cathy was coming to town?

When she said she had a locum job…..I was sure she meant Doctoring!!!

Saturday 22nd July

We booked in for another night then ventured out into the windy day to see nearby Cossack. It was in ruins. We enjoyed their exhibition for the Cossack art prize though. The afternoon was spent lazing around Honeymoon Cove beach. The low tide left plenty of rockpools to investigate but didn’t invite a swim. The day ended on a high note with a delicious seafood dinner at Tata’s restaurant in the Point Samson Resort. We should have another seafood night tomorrow as we were able to buy local banana prawns and have put them in marinade ready to cook on the BBQ.

Friday 21st July

John and Suze had told us to stop at a little place called Point Samson so, after shopping and catching up on emails in Port Hedland, we drove there, stopping briefly at Roebourne on the way. It was delightful to see the beach again and wander along looking at shells and parts of the wreck of the Solveig which sank in 1903. Although the caravan park was booked out, we convinced them to let us park on a sandy area yet to be developed. The park only opened 7 weeks ago so everything was fresh and clean.

Thursday 20th July

It’s a roadhouse crawl. After a farewell coffee with Scott, Kate and kids we headed out on the highway. 200k to Roebuck Plains Roadhouse for smoko. 290k to Sandfire Roadhouse for lunch. 145k to Pardoo Roadhouse for ice creams. Then 155k to Port Headland for a good rest. David had estimated the trip at 657k (actually 780k). Cathy thinks he must drink too much. The roads are boring but it gave us time to clean up the laptop, read some travel brochures and reply to emails.

Wednesday 19th July

We were tourists instead of workers in Derby this time. Cathy enjoyed jogging out to the jetty (with plenty of walk breaks on the way back) whilst David got the washing done. We went shopping – A new chair (Dead Chair Count:3), a new table (Dead Table Count: 1) and a new gas bottle. Unfortunately, there was no gas refills available in Derby. Apparently there’s no gas north of Port Hedland. Unperturbed, we used this excuse to have fish and chips on the Jetty with the Newton Family. Cathy was in her element with kids to play with and some intelligent conversation at last. A very enjoyable night for all.

Tuesday 18th July

Silent Grove campground was Noisy Grove around 6am. Cathy stayed in bed ignoring all the activity below, but the smell of coffee lured her from the warmth. We were first into Lennard Gorge and first back out. This was fortunate as we had run out of clean clothes and had to start wearing things inside out! Cathy drove the final 200k of the Gibb River Road to Derby. We survived the Gibb River Road!!! Sunset drinks at the Derby Wharf completed our East to West crossing of northern Australia.

Monday 17th July

After a morning stroll to Paradise pool, we joined Peter and Cheryl (the owners of Charnley River Station) for smoko. It was interesting to hear about station life and their plans for the future. We can recommend staying here to anyone visiting the Kimberley. Off we headed for Bell Gorge, stopping for fuel at Imintji. Bell Gorge did not disappoint and again, we swam out to the falls.

Sunday 16th July

Charnley River Station has so much to see that we enjoyed a day visiting some of their gorges and rockholes. We drove about 70 km on their 4WD tracks and had a great picnic at Grevillea Gorge. A few of the staff turned up on their day off and joined us for a refreshing swim.

Saturday 15th July **** Day 100 ****

Today was a “gorges” day so we had to adopt David’s new morning routine (found written on the back of a tour bus). We began with Galvans Gorge and Adcock before lunch. We checked into Charnley River Station then visited Dillie Gorge for an afternoon swim and sun baking on the rocks. To celebrate our 100th day, we had a homestead 3 course dinner with Sav blanc courtesy of Liz and Robert.

Friday 14th July

After a chilly night, we warmed up on our walk into Barnett gorge. We followed that with a walk into Manning falls where we had our best swim yet. We were able to swim right under the falls. We walk was shorter on the way home as we swam across the gorge with our backpacks in a foam esky. Tom and Jules shared their lovely warm fire and evening with us.

Thursday 13th July

After witnessing a traffic jam leaving Mitchell Falls yesterday, we were on the road ahead of others. There were no further casualties on the road out and David was able to make the corrugations feel smoother by driving faster. We checked out the water temperature at Miners Pool (and reminisced about the time we spent with John and Suze there almost 2 years ago) then checked into Drysdale Station homestead campground. We had a lovely dinner at Annie’s Bar.

Wednesday 12th July

A warm walk into Mitchell Falls even though it was early. The walk passes through tropical woodlands and near some rock art. The falls themselves are spectacular. Much more impressive from the ground as opposed to our scenic flight a year ago. We both had a refreshing swim above the falls, and the caught the 12.15 Helicopter taxi back to the campground. Cathy finished reading another novel in the afternoon.

Now where are the falls????

Tuesday 11th July

We both woke up early, so we headed off along the Gibb River Road. It was as corrugated as we remembered until we reached the recently graded section. Imagine our surprise when even that was surpassed by 18k of “major upgrades”. It was like a bitumen road, smooth and fast. Of course, all good things come to an end. The last 20k of the Kalumburu road before the Mitchell Falls turnoff was a nightmare. And the Mitchell Falls road was good in sections and bone rattling in others. After 424k’s there were 3 casualties for the day:
1) The radio aerial has detached itself after getting the bends in Gregory NP
2) David’s beer glass smashed inside the drawer (Overwork perhaps).
3) The front number plate cover

Monday 10th July

Goodbye ELQ, Hello HV8 (that's Home Valley). David sat around camp contemplating a broken tooth (old crocs lose teeth!!) and a new Gibb River Road itinerary. Cathy saddled up and rode off with the ringer. Fortunately, she came home after sunset. David took her to the pub with no beer, so it was back to the "Home Camp" with Smiths Crisps, red wine and Family Chicken Curry followed by coffee and dark chocolate. A typical outback meal.

Sunday 9th July

Up with the birds to see El Questro Gorge. We only walked to the halfway pool as you had to wade through chest deep water to go further. The water temperature at Zebedee Springs was much more to our liking (28-32 deg Celsius) and we easily lazed in the rock pools there for an hour. On the way back to camp, we drove up a very steep 4WD track to Saddleback Ridge to admire the view and take photos of the exceptional scenery.

Saturday 8th July

A quiet day around the camp site. David completed the dam wall across the river as Cathy cheered from the banks. We finally got time to read the bills and other mail that arrived in Kununurra on the day we departed.

Friday 7th July - Cathy's forgetful day

We were awake just before our little mates came in for a cuddle! We packed up and left Wyndham before remembering our meals were still happily freezing in Jeff and Jen's freezer. After a car chase around Wyndham, we retrieved them and found our way to the gorgeous Emma Gorge. Here, Cathy almost left her sunglasses and towel behind. After some mucking around that David would rather forget, El Questro staff finally managed to send us to our own private camping site where we finally relaxed and ate our emergency supplies as the dinner had not thawed!!!

Thursday 6th July

Departing Kununurra after last minute preparations, we stopped off at Valentine Springs, Middle Springs and the Parry Creek Lagoon on our way to Wyndham for Barra Burgers. The lagoon was particularly beautiful and we were mesmerised by the abundant birdlife - even in the middle of the day. Wilson and Kelly kept us entertained for the afternoon before watching the sunset from the Five Rivers lookout above Wyndham with the whole family.

Wednesday 5th July

We LOVE to fly and Cathy loves diamonds so today was an awesome day!!! We flew into Argyle diamond Mine for lunch and a tour and came away with 2 diamonds. We flew over the Bungle Bungles with cameras going non-stop then back up over Lake Argyle with afternoon sun accentuating the landscape. David was in his element sitting up front with the pilot.

Terrorist Alert!!!

Loose nut found in Co-Pilots seat.

Tuesday 4th July

Early morning car service, so Cathy did an Art Gallery tour whilst David updated the blog, etc. The Zebra Rock Art Gallery was a lovely picnic lunch spot by Lake Argyle. Back at the camp kitchen we had a huge cook up to prepare for our departure on Thursday and tonight's dinner with Hanneke (Cathy's friend from student days in Derby). After a delightful dinner, Hanneke read us a children's bedtime story as Cathy checked out the bookcase.

Raiding Granny's Handbag

Looking for Argyle Pink Diamonds and a lost brick.

Monday 3rd July

We can see!!!! We have a new windscreen that is so clear we wondered whether it was there at all. To celebrate we went for a local tour of the Ivanhoe Crossing, The Melon Farm, The Hoochery and failed to find the local aboriginal rock art (to much vegetation). Cathy has gone wild over Zebra Rock and other Kimberley rocks. We need new air-bag suspension!!!!

Sunday 2nd July

The Mid-Trip Troopy Clean Out began early in the morning. We eventually managed to clean out the red dust. Off to the carwash for a rinse down. Lunch at the Celebrity Tree Park where Cathy found the tree planted by Rolf Harris. A quick swim before a sensational steak and vegetable cook up. We both enjoyed chatting to fellow travellers around the camp kitchen.

The Rolf Harris Celebrity Tree

Saturday 1st July

Bounced our way out of the Bungle Bungles over the corrugations (it's not so bad when you know what to expect). Stopped for treats at Turkey Creek and again at Doon Doon Roadhouse. We spotted Robert and Liz who are travelling around Aus on a Triumph 1200 motorcycle. Their luggage rack had snapped so we carried their bags into Kununurra then had a wonderful dinner with them at the Tavern.

Friday 30th June - Marathon Day

With our sleep patterns still on NT time, we were up early again for a walk into Catherderal Gorge. We sang the National Anthem enjoying the resonant acoustics of this amazing gorge/cave. Up Picaninny Creek for a couple of k's before returning to the car for the trip across the park to Echidna Chasm. The internal park roads are no better than the track in (Corrugations!!!!) After restoring Cathy's enerhy with a big lunch and green jelly beans, we completed the Mini Palms Gorge walk. Cathy later mentioned that this was her favorite. After a refreshing shower, we took our VB and G&T up to a lookout above the camp. Thank goodness it was downhill on the way home.

Thursday 29th June

Up very early for a quick look at Sawpit Gorge and China Wall on the way into Halls Creek. We restocked on the essentials, then drove the 4WD track into Purnululu NP (Bungle Bungles). The track in is well known for being very rough but was better than some of the tracks within the Gregory NP. We arrived in time to do 2 quick walks, The Domes and then a Lookout at sunset.

Wednesday 28th June

Despite a promised lamb roast for dinner, we left Frank, Stuart and Georgie prior to lunch and headed towards Halls Creek. Lots of thanks to Frank for accommodation and lots of fun and good food. Fortunately, we remembered to dig up our beer on the way out. We arrived at Palm Springs (near Halls Creek) just before sundown. Thankfully, someone had kindly left wood ready for a fire. An early night (WA time).

Tuesday 27th June

The morning was spent catching up on the internet, arranging for the hot water service back home to be replaced and selling our SAAB to obtain some extra cash!! The evening began with a traditional Aussie BBQ followed by stargazing and a failed search for satellites. It then progressed to Frank's game of "Matchbox Flipping". 1 point for heads, 5 points for landing on it's side and 10 points for landing on it's end. Followed by various versions of scrabble, Circle scrabble and Take 2. Georgie won everything (we think). Frank showed his true colours, which can be summarised as follows:

Principal Gameplay Principles of a Principal
1. All rules shall contain an element of doubt and uncertainty. eg "First to 21" can be "First to **exactly** 21"
2. Further rules may be added at anytime by the Principal only
3. Never reveal the rules for essential gameplay elements, such as Winning. eg Is it High score or Most words?
4. Have FUN. :)