Thursday 31st August
Our last day of winter was spent basking in the sunshine in Central Australia. After settling in to camp, we set off for Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) where Cathy forced David to go on yet another long walk through the Valley of the Winds. (“It was the smell that got me!” – David). We returned to Uluru (Ayers Rock) to take a series of spectacular sunset shots.
MMM: 1936 km
Wednesday 30th August
Big drive and big walks today. After a later departure than usual, we headed to Kings Canyon where we did the canyon rim walk. It began with a steep ascent that woke our legs up but gave great views. We had been told not to miss the Kathleen Springs walk which we did in the late afternoon. It was less spectacular but pretty with lots of wildflowers about. We checked in to the Kings Creek Station where David had a great night with the Contiki tour girls.
MMM:1955 km (Whoops – are we going the right way??)
Tuesday 29th August
An early start to get our car serviced. The fridge temperature was HIGHER than the outside temperature!!! So we opened it to get warm Cathy dropped in to see Rob at the hospital, David went checking on the laptop and car. Then it was shopping time before heading off tomorrow. We are not sure yet which way to go – except it will be somewhere warm.
MMM: 1901 km (No Change - Frozen in place)
Monday 28th August
Sandstorms then rain. Just a few drops overnight but as we got closer to Alice we needed our windscreen wipers!! The temperature plummeted – well into single figures – even our “winter wollies” could not keep us warm.
MMM:1901 km
Sunday 27th August
We travelled over dirt, sand, corrugations, washouts, gravel, bitumen – mainly forwards but sometimes sideways and backwards!! We became well acquainted with the Rabbit Flat Roadhouse and met plenty of fellow travellers whilst waiting for Gina and the Lajamanu mob before moving to our campsite at Renehan’s Bore. Gina, and the Walparri women traveling with her, came along a little later for an enjoyable afternoon tea.
MMM:2298 km
Saturday 26th August
The computer broke – well, actually – David broke it. Hence, no navigation aids, but the navigator showed her determination and prowess by keeping us on the straight and narrow. We found the turnoff to Wolfe Creek Crater (at 80 km/h) and U-turned to have a look. It’s a crater. We passed another milestone – 20,000 km traveled since we left home. It was a pleasant afternoon and evening at our Sturt Creek bush camp, next to the Tanami Track.
MMM:2642 km
Friday 25th August
Whilst sad to leave Broome behind, we were at last ready to venture onwards and we hit the road just after 8am. The bitumen rolled by with a break for a delicious lunch at Fitzroy River Lodge. It was cooler in the Troopy than out so we were still sweating in the shade at Mary’s Pool where we stopped for the night.
MMM:2763.497 km
Thursday 24th August
The morning was preparation for our travels – preliminary packing and shopping. Cathy finally got David an anniversary present – a necklace. Then lunch and a swim at Cable Beach. Matso’s was the location of our final dinner in Broome. And Phil and Andrea joined us for a few drinks. Can you guess which one is working?? (Hint: NOT the guy with sunburn!!) Today we will introduce a new feature to the blog – the Mother Mary Monitor – which will tell you how far we are from home!!
MMM: 3134.119 km
Wednesday 23rd August
For the third morning in a row we started to a thick fog. However, the day turned into another lovely Broome day. You know by now…..walking, relaxing, swimming, etc. There was a 7m tidal difference today – in the morning the water is at your front door, in the afternoon it’s in another neighbourhood.
Now, you can see HIGH tide.
The boat ramp where I took the low tide picture is near the old Broome Jetty - what's left of it.
Tuesday 22nd August
This morning’s walk took us through the “Light Industrial Area” of Broome. We learned plenty about battery chargers and solar panels. A beautiful mermaid was spotted at town beach just before lunch (whilst there was water – once the tide went out you had to carry a picnic lunch to get there!!) The afternoon was reading, chatting and relaxing. Another day in paradise.
Monday 21st August
Cathy made an early morning visit to the office to get us a much better site, closer to the beach and with more shade. All was well until the fridge transformer failed. At least we noticed before the beer got warm!!
Sunday 20th August
We woke to the sounds of our noisy German neighbours having breakfast at 6am but hid in bed for another hour until the sun was drying off the night mist. Cable Beach beckoned so we went for a long walk along the beach, then sat around reading in the shade of the palms before a refreshing swim. One advantage of our Troopy is being able to make a yummy lunch in the car-park and stay at the beach. At 3pm we headed for the Broome rodeo in time to see the youngsters ride the poddy calves. We stayed on for barrel races, bucking broncos and wild bulls. All in all, a great night culminating in dessert at Blooms with Paul and Karen.
Saturday 19th August
To Market, To Market, to spend all our cash!!! You’ll be pleased to know we did actually buy fresh vegetables and dukkah as well as a couple of souvenirs. Then a long read of the Saturday paper whilst we watched the tide come in at Town Beach.
Friday 18th August
Happy Birthday to Mother Mary (Cathy had to use her toes to count the years!!) Our early morning queuing paid off – we scored a site at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park for a week. We celebrated with another of Debra’s delicious breakfasts. So we are back in our HOME42.
The weather gets warmer every day and the thought of heading south into the cold was too much for both of us.
Thursday 17th August
Cathy had an excellent shopping day (can there be any pearls left in Broome??) She even bought new bikinis so David is happy as well. Lovely afternoon swim in the Courthouse pool, followed by an evening of local music with the Pigram Brothers who were sensational (we bought 3CD’s). This was all followed by late evening drinks with Phil and Andrea who are both off to work soon (it happens to us all eventually)
Wednesday 16th August
David never thought it would happen – Cathy had a bad shopping day!!! However, we had a simple dinner with lots of ice cream and an early night.
Tuesday 15th August
We tried to “love the bumpy road” and feel comfortable “slipping in the sand” but we were overjoyed to see the bitumen road as we approached Broome. A quick tour of the shops, and crossed off at least 7 things on “Cathy’s List of Things to Do in Civilisation”. It was kebabs for lunch before checking into the Courthouse B&B for a few days of luxury. We returned to a favorite haunt “Matso’s” for dinner.
Monday 14th August
The weather is warming up and each day seems hotter now the wind has died down. This morning we walked along western beach (and Cathy jogged even further along). The time has flown so we had our last swim, last snorkel and went down to the beach for our last Leveque sunset. The only thing that cheered us up was booking in for next year.
Beer and Sunsets DON'T mix
Sunday 13th August
We were returning from a morning walk when Paul and Karen recognized us. We had met at Camp Kingfisher back in Queensland so we had fun catching up over morning tea (and later that evening over dinner). Apart from this, it was another day of reading, swimming, snorkeling and relaxing at one of our favorite places in the world.
Saturday 12th August
Another sunny day in paradise. Cathy had a long walk whilst David had his 2nd coffee….and 3rd whilst waiting for her return. The computer has been misbehaving so David spent 4 hours making it worse before we both went for a lovely afternoon swim. Cathy did some more snorkeling and saw some fish. We had the campfire to ourselves until our neighbours returned from their celebration dinner (Di’s BD) at the restaurant. We had eaten all the damper by the time they returned.
Friday 11th August
Nowhere to drive, nothing to wash, nothing to do except mend David’s chair (Yes, number 4 has had a near fatal incident). Today was a day to walk along the beach, swim, read, chat to the neighbours and admire our photos from last night. What more can we say - It’s lovely to be warm and by the beach.
Thursday 10th August – Moonrise
On the way to dinner we stopped and took some photos of the moon rise. David set up for a long exposure (10 seconds). Cathy watched in amazement whilst David waved the light around in front of the camera. Imagine her surprise when she saw the result. David was even more surprised!!
David: That’s one of the cleverest things I’ve done.
Cathy: It makes up for a lot of silly things.
Such is life after a wonderful 10 years of marriage.
Thursday 10th August
Thanks to everyone who tried to wish us well on our 10th Wedding anniversary. Unfortunately the phone was off. We headed off to Cape Leveque after stocking up with goodies and packing the troopy. The road was rough as expected. It was like getting “home”. We have a campsite which looks directly over the western beach where a whale was frolicking this afternoon. We are looking forward to 5 spectacular sunsets.
Wednesday 9th August
Wow….a big soft bed. We can roll over independently without even having to ask “Which way next?”. We did some shopping in Broome with millions of others. Cathy is deciding exactly what set of pearls and diamonds matches her existing pearl necklace and extraordinary smile. David filled the water tank and cleaned the air filter. It was a lovely swim in the pool before a shower and a special “pre-anniversary” dinner at the Old Zoo Café. We had a sensational seafood platter whilst Phil and Andrea had steaks (something about being “fished-out”).
Tuesday 8th August
After our major detour south over the past 3 weeks, we drove the final 31km of the Savannah Way into Broome. First stop – post office to pick up mail; next stop McDonalds for David’s breakfast!!! Our apartment in Cable Beach is decadently spacious and it was heaven to step out of a hot shower onto a bath mat. And what better address to have on census night than Broome, WA. The day ended with a sunset walk along Cable Beach.
Monday 7th August
Cathy must have scared everyone with the big walk yesterday as nobody wanted to join her for a morning jog along the beach. However, they joined in making her mermaid sandcastle - complete with shell decorations. After lunch, she got to play hairdressers not only for David, but also Thomas and Andy. The boys collected firewood and we sat back having a great campfire BBQ. Time slipped away over a few drinks and we were finally ordered to bed by the “camp police”.
Sandcastle Creations
with thanks to Thomas, Daisy and Jess. (Cathy modelled!)
Sunday 6th August
In the morning we went for a long walk along the beach trying NOT to collect too many shells and rocks. The cliffs along the beach looked magnificent – especially in the afternoon light. At sunset, we lined up our table with everyone else beside the bowling green (Yes someone has built a little bowling green on this cattle station where all the grey nomads come for the dry season!) for a Sunday roast. It was delicious and Daisy enjoyed dancing to the entertainers.
Saturday 5th August
Rather than back track 5km, Cathy directed David down an abandoned station track which put his blood pressure up and turned him greyer – but we got through OK. The rest of our gravel roads were less exciting and got us back onto the bitumen of the Great Northern Hwy. Destination Barn Hill to meet up with Andy and Jess for a couple of days. Barn Hill is a cattle station set on the beach 130km south of Broome where even the caravaners venture along the 9km of sandy track to get in.
Friday 4th August
Newman was a busy little town – miners trucks passed our campsite at all hours of the night as most of them live in the caravan park. We looked out over the world’s largest open cut mine then moved on to our lunch spot at Garden Pool near Nullagine. We spent the afternoon exploring sights around Marble Bar where David found Australia’s Hottest …..! It was 35 degrees according to the town thermometer but we still chose to have a campfire when we found a gorgeous bush camp at Doolena Gorge. Cathy used Kate’s recipe for damper cooked in Alfoil trays and it was delicious (even if a little burnt on the bottom). David has sent the bottom half to Argyle Diamond mines with the suggestion that they market them it as “Gothic Diamonds - Even something dark and evil can be a girl’s best friend!!!”
Thursday 3rd August
As we came out of the campground, we found Ben with his sick car waiting for a tow into Tom Price. (the poor guy needs a new car so please go to his website and buy some photos!! Click www.bjk.com.au The beauty of 6 months off is that you can afford to go out of your way to help others. The Troopy showed us how much guts it has towing his Landcruiser full of photographic gear up some tough hills. Cathy found a little track of the side of the Northern Highway on our way to Newman where we stopped for lunch and to look at the Wanna Munna Rock Carvings.
Ben Nogoski
Look who's waiting for a tow!!
Wednesday 2nd August
After camping in the overflow campground last night we were off bright and early but the sun was not yet highlighting the walls of the first gorges we visited so we returned to Joffre falls later. We took a short walk into Weano Gorge as we would have got wet if we ventured further but got along to the Rock Arch Pool in Kalamina Gorge. Cathy was almost gorged out by the time we secured a campsite, but after some lunch, David enticed her down into Dales Gorge and we loved our swim in Fern Pool at the end of the day. We bumped into Ben Knapinski - one of our favorite WA photographers and invited him around for a drink. We previewed his soon to be released book over a glass of red wine. It is magnificent.
Hangover in Weano Gorge
Can't wait to get home to paraglide.
Tuesday 1st August
After a well deserved sleep in, we drove to Hamersley Gorge. We walk to the pool and to the spa pool. After lunch in the Mt Bruce carpark, we embarked upwards. It was a reasonable climb with spectacular views around almost 360 degrees. Time was against us, so we didn’t quite make it to the summit. However, we covered the most difficult part and enjoyed the sensational views from the (almost) top. Being so high we were able to pick up mobile phone coverage and receive a much awaited SMS from Andy and Jess.
Monday 31st July
A quick goodbye to Ian, Katinka and Mac before heading to Exmouth to refuel, wash clothes and restock food. We bought some prawns from the local processing plant for an excellent lunch along the way to Tom Price. We realised we’d left the beach for mining country when we came across the mobile road block!!! It was a long day and Cathy especially enjoyed driving the last 60k’s on dirt (we are tarred out!!!). The scenery was magnificent as the sun set over the Pilbara ranges.
