We left
Melbourne about 5pm on Friday 13th May – a good omen for a great holiday we thought. I told Jen I would be
home from work in time to leave earlier so she got the kids out of school early and was ready to go by about 3pm. I was naughty and did not get
home until 4.30pm. I changed into my shorts straight away – you are not on holidays until you are wearing your shorts – and jumped in the car and we were away. Jen had done nearly all the packing. That night we motel-ed in Horsham!
The next day we drove from Horsham to
Mount Remarkable National Park. It was a good day in the car but the South Aussies turned on the rain and Jen and I had an argument about what we would do that night. She wanted to find a cabin because of the rain and I wanted to
camp in our Tvan. For once in our relationship, she let me win and we stayed at Mount Remarkable – remarkable as it was a long weekend and just as we pulled up the
Ranger was rubbing out a name of someone who had cancelled their pre-booked
campsite for that night – so we took that spot. Had a great night toasting marshmallows and sitting under the stars and still not believing we were away….and not a drop of rain.
Day 3 we drove to
Coober Pedy – had a nice dinner in the pub and early to bed that night. Funny thing was the pub forgot the kids meals and they had to sit and watch us eat …Lachlan nearly died of hunger until we reminded the waitress and the meals were promptly delivered.
The drive from
Coober Pedy to
Alice Springs was uneventful. I was astounded that the roadhouse at
Erldunda at the Uluru turn of had small signs up saying, “Sorry no diesel until tomorrow.” Thank goodness we had enough to make it to Alice.
Had two great days in Alice – went to
Standley Chasm,
Anzac Hill lookout and veged out for a couple of days – we had ‘done’ Alice and surrounds two years ago.
The Tanami Track was fairly uninspiring. We were pulled over by some locals who had run out of fuel and money and gave them about 10 litres from a jerry. Got stuck behind a road train for about two hours until he pulled over on the bitumen and we whizzed past. Camped that night in a lovely gravel put just over the W.A. border.
We visited
Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater and walked down into the centre. Worth visiting if you are coming up the Tanami. Then we drove on through
Halls Creek and on to Sawpit
Gorge where we met up with EO member Melissa and her family. I would have to say what a pleasant surprise that was meeting them….. you know what she sounds like on EO…..
well they are actually really really nice though they had just bathed when we arrived and we were all grubby … unfair advantage! I loved looking at Melissa’s drawers……. The
camping area there was fantastic – much nicer than in
Halls Creek.
We drove from Sawpit
Gorge to the Bungle Bungles and spent two nights there.
Camping area was not very shady though the Bungle Bungles were great. Particularly liked
Echidna Chasm and
Cathedral Gorge was just fantastic. Came across a poor lady with a broken ankle who had to be wheel barrowed out of
the gorge by her guides….wear good shoes!!
Kununurra was a fantastic place to stay for five days… the drive into town was special for the big moustache (Wal) that greeted us. We stayed in a caravan park and loved the Triple J Ord tour, flight over the Bungle Bungles and
Lake Argyle, the town, the shops, the people, the countryside, day trip to
Wyndham. Camped down by the Ord for a couple of days and had some fun fishing…..managed to find some shallows to strand the boat and bend the propeller and did my hammie running from imagined crocs!! Beautiful river it is though. A local lady gave us a Barra to feast on – if only I had caught one!!
We hit the
Gibb River Road – the whole length of the road was in fantastic nick.
El Questro was really nice. We met an EO guy called Tim from NSW. We thought that it would be really commercialized but it is a commercial as you want it to be really….was worth having a look at. We all loved Zebeddee Hot Springs….(Am I the first EO member to have a bath with member Melissa?).
El Questro gorge was lovely,
Chamberlain Gorge great particularly the wasps nests near the aboriginal art.
We then went to
Home Valley Station and stayed two nights – mainly because we became crook with gastro for a day and did not feel like travelling. Would have liked to fish the Pentecost – Paul one of the guys there caught a nice Threadfin Salmon.
Drysdale River was nice – did not meet Ann – we stayed at Miners Pool – a nice cool swim. The next day we drove on to the
King Edward River – had a swim – great spot and then onto the
Mitchell Falls
campground.
The walk into the
Mitchell Falls was fantastic – it was one of the highlights of the trip…the aboriginal art, the water, the landscape… it was great. The
Mitchell Falls were great , we caught a chopper back and took the one hour coastal tour option.
We drove up to
Kalumburu. Walking around the town we met a girl called Gloria who sold us some art she had done…a fine memory of our time there. We stayed at
Honeymoon bay and enjoyed but there was not much shade because Cyclone Ingrid had trashed most of the trees. The owner Les took us fishing and the trip was sensational!!
Next stay was at
Manning Gorge and we stayed there four nights… an awesome place to stay and swim with the kids – probably our favourite
gorge to swim because we had tyre tubes to swim in and there was a big
rock in the centre to sun ourselves.
Bell Gorge was just awesome – sitting in the water at the bottom watching the water cascade down the rocks and feeling that our lives are just such a blip in time compared to the millions of years that water had been carving out that
Gorge. Watching people bomb off the sides and watching the kids ‘ski’ down the mossy rocks… a sensational time.
Windjana Gorge was great – just an amazing transformation when you walk thought the
sandstone rock to the inner part of
the gorge. Heaps of fresh water crocs to be seen.
Tunnel creek was also a great place to visit. Went to
Fitzroy crossing and to Geike
Gorge and had a lovely tour on the boat. It started raining when we were at
Fitzroy Crossing and the whole way while we drove to
Derby.
Our trip up the
Dampier Peninsula was great.
Middle Lagoon was just sensational and I reckon that we had the best
campsite – Smiths 1 – fishing was great and went crabbing for $20 and the kids were free.
Cape Leveque was good but I reckon
Middle Lagoon was better. Loved the hot bread from
Lombadina.
We had a great time in
Broome – camel rides, walking on the great beach, playing Frisbee, the Hovercraft trip. Unfortunately it all came to an end and we flew
home. My parents are up there now driving my car and camper
home and I am enjoying
Melbourne and its 13 degree days with rain and drizzle……and work…
Twas a great trip. It was great meeting so many lovely people – particularly the ones that we travelled with – Melissa and Greg and Kerry and Jeff.
Did anyone read to the end??
The other stuff... my new Cooper STT's went
well - they were the new ones just released...., my fridge slide broke a circlip, no other breakages.
Big Kidz