This is where you will be able to see where we are travelling and (we hope) the route we're taking. We will try to create a story per day, with the route in Google maps - and then a link to some of the pictures per day. We are hoping that Google can translate the page back to Dutch :).
Not knowing what's going to happen is super frustrating and stressful, so we decided to give the insurer another call and the person handling our 'case' agreed we didn't have to stay in Camooweal waiting for a towtruck to take away the camper. So that means we could make our way home (without the camper, sad face) again!!! YAY!
We took out of the camper what was needed, food/drinks/clothing, and left the camper keys at the Motel reception and off we went.
We passed Mt Isa, Cloncurry, McKinlay and Kyuna before we found a hotel in Winton to stay overnight. We had a beer/wine at the beergarden with some live music and the boys had a dip in the spa...... Still a little bit of a holiday feeling, nice!
Pics here...
We left around 9 am, got some nice morning tea from the local bakery and swapped driving seats at Barcaldine.
Long distances, but happy to be on our way home again although very strange not having our 'home' with us. The boys are doing amazing in the backseats. Playing games, reading, homework and lots of eating snacks!
After we checked into a hotel in Charleville, we went out for diner and had a surprise for the boys after..... We had booked a Night Sky observation tour at the Charleville Cosmos Centre.
The guides told us all about the formations of the stars and galaxies, the meaning of the coloured stars and giving us the opportunity to look through these big telescopes. You could even see the rings around the planet Saturn through this telescope.....isn't that awesome?!!
Pics here...
Today was super exciting, but also a super long looooooong day...... The roads are long and never ending, the traffic is getting busier and we just wanted to get home.
Exhausted and sad not coming home with the camper, we were very happy we made it home safe......and having our own beds to sleep in and our own shower/toilets and space......hahaha!
Oh my goodness, what an amazing and exciting road trip we had, 86 days of exploring, seeing new things, being outdoors, meeting some incredible people, camping near the best beaches, learning to fish plus the unbelievable experience of catching a Sailfish, the walkingtracks ending near beautiful waterfalls......It has been an eventful and a once in your life time experience.....a family memory lasting forever. We loved it!
Pics here...
Another long day of driving from 730 am - 5pm. Stopped at Tennant Creek for diesel and discovered the crack in the chassis is now going through the extra plate as well...... Well, that was such a frustrating moment, because we've been just driving on the highway and be cautious and still the crack is back again and through the extra plate??? What the..%*#$!!!!!!!!. I lost it......THIS CAN NOT BE HAPPENING!!!!!!!!
We didn't know what to do, but the one thing we knew is to get out of Tennant Creek.... so we drove to the Three Way Roadhouse and set up there at the camping area while the winch was even more noisy........
It's all SO FRUSTRATING!!!!! GRRRRRR....
Pics here...
After a restless night we got up, had a nice warm shower and made a plan.
Pete did NOT want to stay here, so we would go back on the road and stop every hour or every rest area there is on the road to Mt Isa. But between here and Mt Isa is nothinggggg.
Okay, breath in and out and let's go.....slowly.
Slowly we did....most of the way we didn't wanna drive faster than 60km/hr in the hope the camper would stay in one piece. We stopped at every rest area to check on the chassis.......we so desperately wanted to get into QLD....... With sweaty hands we made it just 10 kms into Queensland in a little town called Camooweal.
Not wanting to drive any further as the crack is now all the way through one side of the chassis and because the strange noises the winch made the last couple of days (which might have to do with the chassis) we booked into the Motel.
Even though we are stressed out to the MAX, we and especially the boys were having a great time in the motel room; we've got beds to sleep on, woohoooo! Our own shower and toilet, woohooooo! A TV, woohoooooo!!!!!
We also made a few phonecalls to just see what options we've got and what to do next....
Pics here...
Mmmmm....that was nice waking up in a bed and having another warm shower.
We decided to ring the Caravan insurance and see what we can do. They were friendly and helpfull, but now we had to wait for a call back to see what they could do for us. So we booked another night here at the Motel so we could do some jobs, get some washing done and try to organise camper a little bit.
Still waiting to hear back from insurer...................................................................
Pics here...
Early morning as we need to be in Broome, Cable beach, at 745am to join the Redsun Camel Tour.....woohoo!
I've been so looking forward to ride a camel again and give the boys that experience of getting on/off a camel.....I had so many giggles way before we even got here..hahahaha...... Only to find out that this Tour company had a much easier way to get on/off the camel just by simply get on the back of a ute and while camels are directed next to the ute you swing your leg over the camel and tadaaaaa.....what? no going forward and backwards and nearly fall off????? Okay this is a much better way for the camels too......
And still, it was so much fun on this beautiful morning on this beautiful beach.....yep, awesome!
After the camel ride we went back into town for some last shopping and a quick fishing session of the jetty at Point Gantheaume.
Back at the campsite we started packing up, cleaning up and preparing for next couple of days. The next week we will drive long hours, long distances as we'd like to be back home in the weekend of 27th July. It's about 5000kms from Broome and the plan is to just stay on bitumen/highway to try not to put too much stress on camper chassis.
Broome-Fitzroy Crossing-Kununurra-Katherine-Mt Isa....from there we need to decide whether to head to the coast, Townsville and follow the coast back home or take the inland route home......
Pics here...
Pete had another conference call early in morning so boys and I packed up the camper and by the time we finished Pete was ready to go too. Pete drove for about 4 hours and I did another 2hours before we stopped at this free campspot/rest area at Mary Pool.
It was only 3pm and even though we would have liked to drive a bit further.....we did not want to stop in Halls Creek to stay overnight and the next stop was another 200km from there so we decided to stop here at Mary Pool and take the opportunity to cook and prepare some extra meals for the coming days. The boys made a campfire again and we made plans for tomorrow and next couple of days........while we witnessed the moon rise again, this time at around 8pm....which means Marleens' bedtime! Night, night.
Pics here...
We left at 7 am, nice and early. After I drove for 3 hours Pete took over and after quick stop and shop in Kununura we crossed the border WA/NT around 1pm....or should I say 3pm....because we've crossed the time zone.
The rest area we'd planned to stay overnight was full (where are all those people coming from???) so we drove bit further and set up camp near an airstrip just after 5pm. The set up went okay, but the winch to lift up the roof is not very happy by the cracky/squeeky sound of it........keeping fingers crossed it will hold on another few days until we're home.
Pics here...
After our chat with neighbours Dale & Amy last night we had a morning catch up again and depending on weather/wind conditions and bait they were inviting us over on their boat this afternoon......waaaaah!getting a little bit excited....YAY!!! Woohoooo!
After we booked another night at Middle lagoon the boys went fishing to help Dale & Amy for bait....
Back at campsite Dale & Amy told us to be ready at 1pm.....OOOOh my goodness, this is so exciting!
Dale canoed his way to the boat and picked us up with the boat close to the beach, so we walked a bit into the water to enter their boat.....and then drove out further in the bay.... This is soooooo fantastic, being on a boat, seeing everything from different angle and just being on the water/ocean. We told them that this was already fantastic for us, just being on the water... Dale then slowed down the boat and put his rod with 5 different hooks/tinsels into the water, reeled it in had 5!!! fish on there.....some of them to use for bait.
Dale & Amy told us they love fishing and have a passion to catch Sailfish and were hoping to let us catch one this afternoon as they've been catching a heap of them over the last week. They were telling us all about the sailfish and how the sailfish catches their teaser queeny and when they reel it in the sailfish 'dances' over the water, changes colour in a bright blue colour and then it sometimes results in awesome pics....
Oops....what's that on the fishing line?? "Jack you have a go, said Dale.....just hang onto the fishingrod and reel it in!"
A big Tuna fish was on the line......that is hard work.....and just as Jack got the tuna on board of the boat another fishingline went off and......oh my goodness, a big fish...."Mike! Have a go, said Dale....it's a Sailfish!!!!!"
Mike explained later that getting this sailfish in was really hard and heavy but sooooo awesome. The sailfish danced so many times over the water....it was just crazy awesome! And than finally Dale got the MASSIVE sailfish on board of the boat for a photo...... We all couldn't believe how BIG and beautiful this fish was....just unbelievable.
Stunned of what just happened Amy drove a bit further and Dale prepared another few rods....ready for action again and yep, not long after Jack was the lucky one who was given a go to reel in another Sailfish, and not once, but three times the sailfish decided to 'run off' again so that Jack could do some more reeling in. Mike caught another tuna and Pete experienced reeling in another Sailfish as well.......we couldn't believe our luck! What a day, what an experience!
And than watching the sunset over the water and the moon rise.....it was just an unforgettable day!
Back at the campground and after we all had our diners we got together again for some more stories and even some didgeridoo playing....hahahha! What a day!!!.
Pics here...
We did NOT want to leave this place, but we are running out of time and have still a few thousand kilometers to go....so we packed up and left the campground just after 9 am. We are so gonna miss this place......
We were planning on staying at Willie Creek (recommended by Dale) which is a bushcampground, but decided after another week without internet we'd stay at a camping area near Broome where there is internet/reception. Arriving early afternoon at campground we did couple of washing loads and checked our emails and messages....and Pete could get some work done.
Pics here...
Today the boys and I went into town, Broome and Pete stayed 'home' to catch up on work.
In Broome we drove around, visited some lovely Art and souvernir shops. We went back to the Tackle shop for a chat & thanks to the guy that sold us our first rods.
We had a nice/cold swim at Cable beach..... beautiful white sandy beaches with amazing turquoise water. We booked our cameltour for tomorrow morning on Cable beach and we did some grocery shopping (to get ready for our long trip back home). We then headed to Town beach, where there were night markets and the event 'staircase to the moon'. This natural wonder happens only couple of times a year so it was super busy, but to see the moon rise from the ocean horizon is something you don't see everyday so we were happy to have experienced this as well.
Pics here...
Another beautiful sunrise and a sunny day, 31C. In the morning we visited the Whalesong cafe, only 10km up the dirtroad, had some coffee with a beautiful view.
On the way back we collected some firewood (using chainsaw) so we would have enough for the next couple of nights building campfires.
After some washing and having lunch we walked to the creek (half hour beach walk) for some fishing.
Pics here...
Today we decided to enjoy the day at 'home'/beach after failing to get internet and book a pearl tour. We worked on the website, did jobs around the camper/campsite, of course went out fishing and treating all cuts and wounds on the boys feet (from fishing of the rocks etc).
Pics here...
Pete left early in the morning to get some shopping, booking campsite and cameltour in Broome......only to experience something totally different and unexpected......an Earthquake. 200km offshore Broome - but he felt the 6.5 earthquake very well with everything shaking, moving up & down and being evacuated out of shops. It only lasted for couple of minutes and nothing too major happened, but it was still quite a crazy experience.
The boys and i had a relaxing day, didn't feel anything from earthquake but we were 200km North of Broome, did some jobs and went fishing at the creek. We all arrived back at camper around 4pm and had our showers (solar powered) and had fish (bought in shop haha) for dinner....and a campfire. Had a lovely chat with our neighbours at the campground who had some super cool stories about their fishing adventures and their boat trips.
Pics here...
Left camping at around 9 am - after a quick catch-up with Finn and his parents (met them in Alice). Stopped at the Prison Boab tree in Derby, before heading into Broome. In Broom, we visited Tackle World - and bought our first fishing rods/reels etc. We also had a quick look at the 'boulevard' with the shops. We checked emails and texts as well - nice to have internet again after some 13 days.
Back in the car at 2PM - off to Middle Lagoon. The first 80km of this road is still a dirt road (read: corrugation), but after that it turns into tarmac again, followed by the dirt track into Middle Lagoon itself.
The main road had roadworks happening, and they had sectioned off only just enough for 2 trucks to pass each others - quite narrow considering the massive corrugation and bulldust.
When we arrived at Middle Lagoon, we were told that the camping was full. It was WA school holidays, did you not book??? After letting us sweat a bit (it was around 5 pm, getting dark) the manager offered us a quiet place at the overflow area - an oval shared with the grave of the original owner in the middle. We picked a great spot overlooking the ocean / beach.
Even though it was dark-ish already after setup, the boys really wanted to 'test' the new rods, so we went to the beach to test it all out.
Pics here...
It was very nice waking up to the view and sound of the ocean onto the beach. The boys could NOT wait to go fishing again, so after brekkie they disappeared straight away. After lunch the washing was done - YAY - fresh smelling and clean clothes again..
In the afternoon we went to the nearby creek, this time with live bait. The road into the creek area was pretty cool - driving through a sandy / swampy like area and then having to cross a dune with soft sand - noice.
At the creek, Pete caught the first fish - woohoooo. Both Mike and Jack caught one quickly after - this was all pretty awesome.
We stayed till sunset before returning to camp, enjoying spag bol. The days are going too fast here - we decided to book 3 more days here, also because the so called "Staircase to the Moon" event will be in Broome from the 17th of July.
Pics here...
Now that we have booked extra days at Middle Lagoon, the plan was to have a look at Cape Leveque and One Arm Point.
The boys were up very early and insisted they'd go beach fishing first - where Mike caught a nice little fish.
We left around 11am to drive up to the northest point of this peninsula, called Cape Leveque - branded Kooljaman. The views were amazing and the sand was white - very nice. The boys had a quick dip in the ocean. After the walk back, we continued our road trip to a campsite called Gumbunnan - to see what we were missing out on. Nice views, but no beach area and quite crowded. We continued to Ardyaloon (One Arm Point) and the round rock lookout. We looked for ages, but did not discover the round rock. Nice views though, and the currents that were happening in the ocean, in different directions, were very cool. Would not want to swim here :).
On our way back, we visited the Pearl farm in Cygnet Bay and also visited "Bully's Camp" campsite near Bygnunn. This is where we called Paul - Happy Birthday Bro :), because we had reception all of a sudden and it was a nice view.
We decided we were happy to be in Middle Lagoon - no need to move higher up with teh camper.
Back at camp... yep, boys went fishing again.
Pete and I enjoyed the beautiful sunset over the ocean again.
Pics here...
So, another early start - and quite cold. This time, we arrived at the right time at "Over the range", where we stood waiting in front of the gate until exactly 08:00 .. you gotta laugh.
The welder "Scottie" was well prepared. Had been searching for a steel plate that could serve as 'gussets', being strenghtening plates and was ready to go. Their MIG welder died, so they could only stick weld - and asked if Pete was okay with that. Pete said "I have no options - no guts, no glory!"
They mentioned it would take around 2 - 3 hours, so we decided to visit the closeby Galvans Gorge - a nice gorge with a swimming area. We are quite sure we saw a freshie croc in the middle, and once we mentioned that, the boys were not game to jump in. Instead, they climbed all the way to the top of the gorge. 2 hours later, we drove back, but Scotty was not ready yet. We then visited Adcock Gorge, another nice Gorge in this area - again with Freshies, so no swim.
We then picked up the van - which was now ready, and thanked them for their great work.
Based on the time, we decided to go to Silent Grove camping at Bells Gorge, after a quick stop at the local Woolies called Imintji store.
On our way into the camp, we stopped and collected more firewood.
At the campsite - we 'discovered' that one of the 9KG gas bottles was missing completely, the bracket was broken and the gas bottle gone. Increadible, this Gibb Road!
Pics here...
Bell Gorge was beautiful. The walk was pretty easy and the falls were nice. The last bit going down into the pool were a bit harder, but very nice. The boys had a swim [super cold water :)] and tried to climb the falls, to no avail.
We left for Windjana Gorge, and arrived there at 14:30. Setup, shower [well, trickle feed water drip], busy (way too), dust , dust , bulldust, wind with dust... dusty.
Pics here...
In the morning, we did two Windjana Gorge trails. We have seen lots of Freshies in the Gorge - who were not hard to see when there isn't much water and there are around 25 crocs visible (imagine how many there are in total :)).
We left the packed van at the campground, and drove for 30 minutes to Tunnel Creek National Park. We did the cave walk, which had an interesting start. There were big rocks blocking the entrance, so you had to climb these to get in. We all took torches (as the cave is dark) and we started our journey. Halfway there is a little openening in the cave, letting daylight in - quite a spectacular view. Following through, and after our eyes adjusted again, we noticed a little freshie waiting for us on the left. WHAT ??? here, in the cave ??
Further into the cave we needed to wade through knee deep water a couple of times. Throughout the walk, we saw great stalagmites, bats, the freshie, water, etc.
At the end of cave, where the tunnel ended and opened again, there was a beautiful forest, with a creek and fruitbats in the trees. Nice and quiet.
On the way back, going through the water again, Pete saw some bubbles next to him in the water - and other people mentioned they saw some red eyes there too.. wooohooo... "walking with crocs" gets a whole new meaning.
(Pete has a pair of "crocs" things and has been joking about 'seeing crocs' during the holidays)
This Tunnel Creek is indeed a very different type of "Gorge" / thing to do here in the Kimberley.
Back at the campsite, around midday, we hooked on the van and were back on the last bit of corrugation into Derby.. (well, last corrugation for now)..
Woohoooooo - bitumen!!!!
Arrived in Derby around 15:00, went out to Woolies (the real one) and stocked up on groceries, meat and beer.
we all a beautiful, long and hot shower - that was loooong overdue and was fabulous.
Made dinner with a beautiful sunset in the background and were able to contact loved ones. Wow - 12 days without reception..
Pics here...
Alarm early to get ready for the mechanic, called Jack. We packed up - and noticed that our main internal fridge was warm... grrrrr. The fan and light were working, but the compressor would not start... Repacked the other two fridges to fit most of it in - and drove back to Kalumburu. We were just 5 minutes late, so that was okay-ish. Mechanic Jack had a look and decided the job was too big for him and his stick welder, so he proposed that we would try Drysdale station. He did manage to stick weld the exhaust bracket (that had also broken), so Pete fitted that back on 'on the spot'. We drove off feeling a bit ... sad. we had to nurture the van back on this horrible road..
We decided to still stop at Mitchel Plateau - to have seen that in action. As we arrived still quite early - after setting up, Marleen decided to drive to the nearby Abo art site. She then 'discovered' that we had a new challenge - the car was dead. No starting action whatsoever. Pete checked the batteries - and found that the cranking battery - the new Optima Red - displayed 4.7 volts!!. It must have not liked the corrugation..
Pete changed the main over with the 2nd battery - an Optima Yellow - and did not reconned the Red. This fixed the issue - the car started again. At that stage though, we were too late to both visit the Abo art AND also checkout the closeby Munuru waterfall trail. We decided to do the latter instead. Back at camp we enjoyed a fire and a nice chicken curry- rice dinner.
Pics here...
Today we headed off to the Mitchel Falls - the infamous! The road was 'nicely' corrugated and the 80kms took us around 1.5 hours. We started the walking track at around 10 am and were back at around 2:45 pm. Long walking track, nice lookouts / views and rocks and pools. The falls fortunately had still some water flowing - quite a magical place.
When we were back, we were all quite exhausted - but very happy that we actually did it.
We really enjoyed sitting back at the camp fire tonight - not in the mood for cooking, we made a quick bacon and eggs with baked beans.
Pics here...
Okay - today was the day of the fix again - Drysdale: here we come.
After two hours of nurturing the van over the road, we arrived at Drysdale. The mechanics there were quite excited about the van (they though it was well built), until they found out the problem. None wanted to assist - this is a mechanic/engineering job, we cannot do that!
Try "over the range" mechanics - they might be able to help... pffffff.. another 2 hours of THIS road!
In the meantime, the hairline cracks were getting longer - so Pete did not think aiming for Broome was a good idea - we had to fix it as soon as we had a chance!
At Mt Barnett roadhouse, where it was around 4pm - Pete asked about the "over the range" mechanics. They knew them very well (as they were just 30 minutes further up the road). They mentioned it was too late to arrive there, but they phoned the owner for me. We/he suggested I should be at his place at around 7:30, so he could have a look before they opened and come up with a plan. We stayed the night here - and the boys had fun and a swim in the creek. There was a great 'swing' into the water, all good.
Pics here...
After a lot of thinking and talking about the options, we have we decided to continue the planned journey - we are NOT going back now :).!..... This time we will take the corrugation slower, in the hope to save the harder hits on the chassis. We were checking the chassis often along the way and stopped at Ellenbrae for a morning break. We had some lovely scones & jam (where they are famous for)....mmmmm
Arriving at Drysdale campground around 3pm we were exhausted and relieved.....we made it so far!!!
It was also nice to see familiar faces again as we were greeted at the camping ground by our fellow travellers Sonny and his parents.... whome we met in Alice Springs and Howard Springs/Darwin.
Pics here...
Today we would really like to reach to top of the Kimberley...... Kalumburu.
We can tell you it was a LONG loooooooong heavy corrugated road, just not fun with all the dips, rocks, dry floodways and heavy corrugation. We stopped halfway to do another check on the chassis and car and had some lunch at the Mitchel Falls campground.... Do we decide to stay here and do the walking track to the Mitchel Falls tomorrrow morning or do we come back after Kalumburu.....??? We decided to do this on the way back from the top.
On the road we went..... off to Kalumburu and McGowan campground near the beach!
It's the strangest thing to drive for hours and hours on this dirt road and all of a sudden you find this (aboroginal) community of Kalumburu.... And only 26km's further up the road we found McGowans' campground.
Matt, the caretaker of the camping, did his introduction to the campground where we had the amazing view over the ocean with clear aqua coloured water.....only to find out we are NOT allowed to swim here as there are many crocs and sharks..... At night you need your torch to be allowed to walk around, to spot any snakes and you needed to keep the toilet lids closed as we don't wanna have green frogs hiding in there....
Fishing is the main activity here and you are allowed to fish off the rocks,, but don't get into the water....we spot crocs and sharks every day......
With that information we, of course, set up our camper in Matt's designated area that happened to have an amazing view.
What a nice little spot it is here in McGowan and how nice is it to see water/ocean again.....instead of dust all the time...
While setting up, Pete discovered a couple of hairline cracks again next to the newly welded areas........so that was shit!
Let's think about this a bit more tomorrow and enjoy the rest of this afternoon and the view......
We later met Sonny and his parents again and also the lovely family we met in Home Valley AND we also found out that Marc and Peta were here! (the couple we met in Kakadu). They invited us over for sunset as they had the first camping spot off the beach and yes, the view and sunset were amazing and so lovely to catch up with them as well!
Pics here...
Waking up after a warm night with a view like this.....is so awesome! Love it!
In the morning, we went out with Sonny, Rachel and Matt fishing off the rocks. The boys borrowed some hand reels from Matt, the camping manager.
And after a bit of practising how to throw the line, they soon got the hang of it. Sonny was lucky to catch a couple of fish as Rachel and I were mainly focusing on the water/shadows in the water (croc? or shark?).
In the meantime Pete went to Kalumburu to see a mechanic, only to find out he wasn't there today. They said they might know a bit more in afternoon whether the mechanic was coming in tomorrow..... Indeed, a phonecall via manager Matt came in later in the afternoon. The mechanic was happy to have a look at our chassis tomorrow morning early.
Back at the camper - and out of the blue - manager Matt came over with two snapper fish and suggested and explained to cook it 'black man' style.....make a campfire, let the ashes/wood cool down till they're black and then throw on the fish. Cook 'em for around 10 minutes each side. Their skin should be black on the outside - and that will then peel off easy to find the beautiful white flesh.
We also got given a bag of snapper wings by another neighbour, so we invited Sonny and his parents over to share this lunch feast with us.... We had a great time cooking, eating, drinking, chatting.... The other family came over for a chat as well.....it was a great time.
According to manager Matt, we had to throw out all the scraps of fish into the shallow end of the beach, just over the rocks and wait for the 'lemon sharks' to come and 'vacuum' it up...... It was a great sight to see several sharks come to close.
Later this afternoon, Jack joined the lovely family, hunting for oysters...using their metal chisel and hammer. Mike went hand reel fishing again off the rocks with Sonny.
Life is hard here at McGowan..
Pics here...
Packing up and back on the dirt/corrugation road for about 1 hour. Turn off to Home Valley Station, booked camping spot for one night and a reservation at restaurant.
While setting up Pete found this very disturbing and very unexpected problem..... on both sides of the chassis were cracks, big ones.......This is NOT possible....what???....NO WAY??!!! How???
The chassis was strengenth with gussets (extra plates of steel) - and on one side the actual gusset was ruptured / torn apart - wow!
Pete asked around at the maintenance shed and Jack went over to reception and learned that the only option would be to ask the mechanic to have a look and hopefully he could weld it back together again....
The mechanic would be here tomorrow afternoon, so for us that meant booking another night and wait......
Boys were lucky there's a playground and pool at this campground so they were having fun..... in the meantime both Pete and I were just in disbelieve, felt numb, angry and could not believe this happened.
What made today special is the experience we had at the restaurant. The menu had various "Ozzie tucker starters" on the menu, like Crocodile salad, Kangaroo tail, Carpaccio, Chicken tenders in bush spices, Magpie goose and Calamari....... So cool - we ordered two of all of these to share. It all tasted sooooo good and so much fun to have all these different taste sensations. For desert we shared some sticky date pudding and Affogato with Baileys and Tia Maria......and that with live music!
It was delicious and such a fantastic and unique experience....yummmm
Pics here...
Today was a waiting day....waiting till its afternoon and hopefully have a chat with the mechanic.... It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, so heaps of fun on the playground and in the pool. Done some reading, some games and there are always fellow travellers with their stories, repairs etc.
Later in the afternoon we finally got the chance to speak to the mechanic and he said he could weld it, but because its quite a big job he suggested to come back tomorrow morning and leave it there for the whole morning to work on it..
So at least there is a bit of hope and there is a plan..... Pete and I removed the wiring that was run on the inside of the chassis, after attaching some fencing wire to it so we could pull it back again. It is very neat to have the wires in the inside of the chassis - but it would not cope with the heat of the welding. We had to cut some of the wires - we'll solder them back together when we get it back through again.
Pics here...
Early morning, 7 am, as we dropped off the camper at the maintenance shed.
We decided to stock up again in Kununura as we are again delayed in our trip plan..... and were running low on fresh things.... like milk and bread, meat, veggies etc....
Kununurra is about an hour and a half drive, with inflating and deflating tyres for the dirt road and the tarmac.... In Kununurra we also visited the Information centre and the markets, had a nice Subway lunch.
Back at the campsite, around 2:30pm, we were able to pick up the camper again.
They had done a good welding job, but didn't do any more strenghtning on the chassis...... which made us think what to do? What are the risks to go further on dirt tracks? How will the 'Gibb River Road' be further into the Kimberley? How much time do we have? What does this mean for the planning? Are we going back to Kununurra and find an engineering company? Is it best to just go home via the highway? But we are now soooooooo close or actually we are in the Kimberley now, so don't wanna give up now..........
Let's set up camp again as sunset is around 5 pm here and as we like to eat in daylight we now have to hurry up.....haha...
Pics here...
In the morning we went early to Zebedee Springs, which is a natural thermal pool. Although it was very busy, we found a parking space and went to the pool. Mike went snorkling and Jack swam around with goggles. As we left, we went to the Jackeroo waterhole - it was good looking, but we didn't go for a swim. Coming back, we went to Moonshine Gorge. To get there, you needed to cross a deep river crossing with the 4wd - wich was super cool! Pete loved it. At home, the boys did some homework for 15mins. Later Pete and Jack went back to Kununnura - only to find out that one can only buy 1 carton of beer per person - per day...and Pete wanted to stock up for the Kimberley after paying $ 60 for a 6-pack in El Questro...
Pics Here...
Early again we went to the El Questro Gorge walking track, which was super cool / beautiful. However, the walk ended (unexpectedly) at a pool, where you had to climb a big and slippery rock if you wanted to continue - after going through super cold water to get to it. Not really prepared, we went back to the car. Afterwards we did some super cool 4x4 tracks, called Saddleback Ridge & lookout - Pigeon Hole Billabong & lookout - The Brancos lookout and Explosion Gorge. All were super rocky, rough tracks, which was awesome (Pete loved it)!
Pics Here...
Once again we had an early morning, and Jack had the idea to make pancakes - which he did (they tasted sooo good :) ). We wanted to miss the crowd at Emma Gorge, so we tried to be there early - and it worked :). We think we did miss most of the croud. It was another rocky walking track and a big one - on the way to the middle gorge [halfway], Jack banged his head very hard on a solid rock - not so good. When we got to the middle pool, we sat down for a little had some water. Mike had a swim. We then kept going to the end gorge. When we got there, it was amazing - there was still a little waterfall going [it is very dry at the moment in the top end of Aus - the wet season was very poor] and there were little thermal pools around which was soooo welcome after the refreshing cold gorge waters. On the way back, Jack screamed and said "Snaaaake !!!!!". It was about a thumb size in thickness and was long - it was a whipsnake that stared Jack dead in the eye. Just after that, continuing the walk, Mike screamed and yelled "little Snaaaake !!". It was indeed a tiny little snake - but enough to give Mike a fright as well.
Pics Here...
Today we joined the Zebra Rock Mine tour....Ruth drove us in a little 4WD bus to her camp and talked and showed us the machinery they use....and than drove us to one of the Mine sites. She told us the stories about the early explorers discovering the Zebra rock and why the Zebra rock is so unique. Kim and Ruth have been here for the last 10 years and their vision is to leave the Zebra rock in the ground for everyone to see and admire what a special formation this actually is......We agree, we can see a beautiful outdoor museum here (just as we've seen in Winton at the Dinosaur Stampede).
We than got the opportunity to pick out some Zebra ore for us to polish up and take home.
Back at the campsite we had a look at the Gallery with all the beautiful polished Zebra rock items and photos of the process of the last 10 years.
They also had some animals there for us to touch and Mike was brave enough to have a snake around his neck and a blue tongue lizard on his arm.....pretty cool!
After that it was packing up time, and on the road again..... crossing the WA border, quick grocery stop at Kununnura and arriving at Purnululu National Park/Bungle Bungles at around 3pm.......or was it 430pm.......as we all of a sudden have 1 1/2hr time difference.
Pics here...
Today is a special day for 'Greenie'......Not only is it her birthday, she turns 20 today, she is also just run-in - she just turned over 300.000 kms.....What a great day to visist the Bungle Bungles.....
We left early today, after Pete lowered the tyre pressures as we discovered was very much needed for the next 53 kilometers of super heavy corrugation......It is a looooong, long way when you can't drive any faster than 40km/hr as it is a very windy road too.
At the Visitors Centre we paid our fees and got a map of the Park.
We then drove half and hour to the Southern site of the Bungles, to Piccaninny, and walked 'The Domes' walking track, the Cathedral Gorge walk and the Piccaninny Creek Lookout. Pretty awesome to be up close to these rock formations.
Back at the car, we drove 1 hour to the Northern site of the Bungle Bungles and visited the Osmand Lookout and walked the Echidna Chasm walking track. This track was super cool - after you walk a rocky riverbed, you get to the rock formations and squeeze through the narrow gaps in between the rocks.....They are so massive and so high....it's a very impressive sight.
Back at the car we started our drive back to camp, had a quick stop at the Bloodwoods Lookout and than 'prepared' for the 53 kms of corrugation again. Lucky we didn't have any cars in front of us so we could keep our own pace, but what a horrible 1 1/2hours it was.....
Everything in the car shakes, rattles, scratches, squeaks, jumps up and down and left and right......and there is no speed that makes it more comfortable....
Jack descriped it as a rough massage chair that you couldn't turn off!!
Soooooo happy to be back at camp, we so wanted to relax, have a beer/cruiser...but no, we discovered an empy coke can in the car fridge......yep, the whole fridge was covered with coke.....So we emptied the fridge, took it out of the car to clean it and than back in the car and fill it up again.......
There is hardly any time to sit down and relax when camping and exploring, but what an amazing day we had again!
Pics here...
Today was another one of those "get some place else" days - just the highway to get to places. We would drive back North, towards a place called "El Questro", for us the 'real' start of the Kimberley trip. I read earlier that a place called "Ivanhoe crossing" is actually north of Kununurra!! I have seen many pictures from it, and thought it was in the Kimberley... Good that we were heading to Kununurra anyway, to do the last stocking up of diesel, food and alcohol - so we added the infamous crossing as well :) :) :)...
In Kununurra we found out that the local bottle shops both closed on Sundays, so that is NOT good...
Anyways - we arrived in El Questro - let the Kimberley begin :)..
At checking-in we discovered that it was "State of Origin rugby night" - so we obviously had to fly the flag for the Maroons and eat some pizza whilst we were at it..
I will not reveal the absolute hammering we received from the blues - that is on a 'need to know basis'.
Pics here...
Today was one of those days you'd like to do a lot, but especially for Pete, today is a recovery and slow day.
Some homework got done, worked on the website, got some groceries in town, had a splash in the pool and done some work in/around camper.
Pics here...
Just 2kms up the road we visited the Katherine hot springs.....a beautiful little stream with some pools and all filled with warm water.....Mike had a swim and we had a nice relaxing time sitting on the edge with our legs dangling in the water.
Back at the campsite we did our last jobs in and around the camper and some packing up as we are leaving tomorrow. Pete had to catch up with some work and so did the boys with homework.
Later in the afternoon we drove half an hour to the Cutta Cutta Caves to join the 3 oclock Cave tour. The tourguide told and showed us around in the caves which was quite stunning as you'd never know there are caves.....Its a landscape full of Limestone rocks and a little opening showed us the entrance of the caves....pretty cool. Unfortunately we didn't get to see any bats or snakes, but that was fine with me...haha!
Pics here...
Packing up again.....Even though we packed some yesterday there's always more to pack, to put back in the car, to fill all the water bottles again and have snacks/lunch in coolingbag in the car....everything has it's place, but being in one place for a few days things are spread all over the place and need to find their places again.....
The drive to Zebra Rock Mine was an easy highway, 460km, drive.
This Zebra Rock Mine, family owned, has a non powered campsite, very outback, friendly and easy going.
After setting up the boys were exploring the area and finding some (Zebra) rocks in the dry creek.
For diner we had meat from the barbie and finished all of our vegies - as tomorrow we are crossing the Western Australia border, where they will quarantine all fruit and vegies.
Pics here...
Today we drove from Douglas Hotsprings all the way to Katherine. So much corrugation!!!!! It was a long drive to Katherine, but when we got there we were running around town to find a battery for the car fridge until about 2 pm. When we got to the campsite we wanted to camp at... they didn't have any powered campsite and thats what we needed. So as a result we went to a campsite a tiny bit out of Katherine where they had powered sites, Yayyyyyy.
We started to set up when the boys decided they wanted to set up by themselves, so they did and they did an amazing job. Whilst the boys set up Mum did some washing as the smoke from Gunlom backburning made the sheets smelly. Overall though it was a great day.
In other news:
Dad's toothache (wisdom tooth) that started some 5 weeks ago [shhhhht] is now getting a bit worse. it also starts throbbing now...
Today we left early to go to the Katherine gorge walk and did the Baruwei lookout, which was amazing, as it overlooked the entire gorge - beautiful. Though it was a little disappointing that the Nitmuluk centre was under construction. It was good that we left early because by the time we got back to the car (11am) it was already 30c, HOTTTTT. Back at the campsite we played bocce and had lunch. We decided to stay home today and work on the website and homework.
Update on Dad's toothache:
Hmmm.. I [Peter] am realising that the toothache is getting worse, and that the availability of dentists between here and Broome are probably a bit of a challenge. Maybe it is a good idea to visit one in Darwin??
Pics here...
Update on Pete's toothache:
Long story short, the dentist in Darwin could see me (Pete) at 13:00. They discovered that my wisdom tooth (left bottom) had developed an infection..... I could choose between cleaning + filling it up, or removing it....
I now have one less wisdom tooth.. And YES, it hurts!!
In the meantime, the boys and me (Marleen) enjoyed the day at Edith Falls.
We walked up to the Upper pool which is an area with a waterfall and a few different pools at the bottom. The boys had a swim in a few of these pools and also swam under the waterfall. They discovered that the waterflow would put their whole body down under water.
After a nice relaxing time we took the rocky, uneven, 1.6kms, where-can-we-find-the-next-arrow-to-follow-the-track path down to the plunge pool. This plunge pool was massive and had only 3 entries to get into the water: One shallow with small rocks, one deeper with big rocks and one super deep! They've tried them all!
Mike kept on snorkling.....seeing heaps of fish, big & small, and a water snake....Yikes!
Out of the water and finding a nice shady spot, we played some card games, climbed trees and relaxed until Pete returned from his trip to Darwin (around 16:30pm).
Happy to be back home (at camper), Pete could take his painkillers and antibiotics and rest, while the family prepared a nice spag-bol .... We were all happy to get to bed early after a long long day..
Pics here...
Today we left camp early to go visit Maguk before it gets to hot (so much planning for the middle of the day cause thats when we want to be in shade. Much different than Qld) It was a great walk for Mike and Jack not so much for Mum n Dad cause it was a bit warm and quite rocky - but so worth it!
It was a great waterfall the boys went in... even after the crocodile warnings but it was so nice and cold. We drove further to Gunlom and set up camp and ate dinner in front of a fire made by Jack. Overall it was a great day.
Pics here...
Last night we had soooo much smoke hanging around the camp area as the result of the back burning the park rangers did earlier in the day. But there was no breeze so the smoke kept haning around all night.
Early morning walk up to the top of Gunlom waterfall..... The walkingtrack was not an easy track, but fun, rocky and steep.....so a bit of huffing and puffing from mum and dad again. Very nice at the top of the waterfall with 4 to 6 'pools' you could choose from. Boys n Marleen enjoyed the clear, nice and cool water......and with a view!
After our walk back down we also took a dip in the plunge pool at the bottom of the waterfall.....again we had seen signs that "freshies" inhabit the area but it was quite safe to swim.
Back at the campsite (which now cleared of smoke) we decided to stay here for another night so the afternoon was spend doing homework, work on website and later in afternoon take another dip in the plunge pool near the waterfall.
Tonight Mike started a campfire and so the boys went looking for some wood in the 'backburning' area and came back with a LOG!! that had just fallen down....the end of it was still smoking so the fire started quite easily.
After diner Pete n boys went back to the waterfall with their torches and guess what????........they DID spot a few red eyes in the water which could very well mean...CROCS!
Pics here...
In the middle of the night as I turned over I noticed a lot of light just outside of the camper......the log had caught fire again (even though we thought we put it out). Pete went out and turned the log and put out the burning grass around it, but the log itself was happily burning away......so than Pete came with this genious idea of using his own fire hose!!hahahahaha!!....it worked!
We left Gunlom just before 9 am and 'enjoyed' the 40 kms of corrogation again before we were back on the highway.
We took the turn off to Douglas Hotsprings and survived another 10kms of dirtroad.
We parked our camper in the generator area so we could charge our batteries.
We couldn't wait to put on our swimmers and walk to the riverbed seeing the water flow in a foresty (fallen trees) kinda serounding.....beautiful. It was the strangest feeling though to walk through the water and nearly burning your feet, that's how HOT some sections were.
Further downstream we found a luke-warm 'pool' with a little waterfall where we were hanging out and relaxing for a bit.
After an early diner we had another 'swim' and snorkel around time in one of the pools with in the distance the lovely site of a croc catcher/cage?!.....uhmmm......
Pics here...
Cooinda - In the morning we had a look for different campsites, and we found a campsite by the name of Sandy Billabong, but it was 20 minutes away from the highway - as well as being a far way from Ubirr and Nourlangie, but luckily we found a very nice campground which was close to Ubirr and Nourlangie. Later that day we saw that Jim Jim Falls were closed, so we decided 'why not do a scenic flight - little did we know there were no scenic flights over Jim Jim, so here we are, sad with mozzies and a beaming hot day (humidity was crazy). During the afternoon we booked a Yellow River sunset cruise which we hoped would be good. Little did we know it would be amazing. During that cruise we saw crocs (of course) and heaps of Jabirus and Buffalos. We saw maybe 25 different crocs that day, even on croc had a piece of pig in his mouth (after doing several death rolls to it that moring). The sunset as well was amazing. Back at Cooinda we had diner at the restaurant, ordering croc, barramundi, and a wallabi/kangaroo, water buffalo and croc pizza, AMAZING!!! When we returned back to camp, we realised how bad the mozzies were, once again....
Pics here...
This mornig we set up camp early (10 am). Heaps of mozzies ccccrrrraaazzzzyyyy and visited Jabiru which was nice. In the afternoon we had an early dinner (2 pm) and went to Ubirr where we joined the ranger walk n talk.....and the sunset on top of Ubirr with the view to Arnhemland was amazing. When we got home we had chips and bread as we were very hungry.
Pics here...
This morning we went just a bit further than Jabiru and set up camp again early.... no mozzies (yessssss!!) . After we set up we decided before it gets to hot, we better do the Nourlangie rock walk which was cool. We decided to got to Jabiru (as it wasn't too far away) to see if we could get a rock-art tour in Oenpelli. At $ 300 per person it wasn't a good idea. Overall it was a good day because there weren't too many mozzies.
Pics here...
We visited Flip-Out trampoline - the boys had a great time. Mike did a "backflip 360 in the foampit"!
We picked up Pete from the airport and did some shopping on the way home. The local Woollies had a Texas T-Bone :).
Pete fell asleep after checking out both car and camper, me and the boys went to Tara and their boys to say goodbye.
Pics here...
Today we left the Campsite at Big4 and drove towards Mary River to get ready for a river cruise. On the way there we stopped at a little fuel station to check if the wildmen track really would take 5 hours (apparently it didn't) and to book a place on the croc cruise . When we pulled into the station we saw quite a lot of army people and army trucks which was pretty cool.
Sadly there weren't enough seats left on the afternoon/sunset cruise, but enough on the lunch cruise.... at least now we got lunch too! We started driving towards to Mary River again and when we got there we were maybe an hour early so we waited at the viewing point trying to already spot some crocs (we didn't), but when the cruise finally let us aboard we were all excited to see some crocs. We started to float into the river and about some 2 minutes in we had already seen our first croc and the boat instructer thought 'hmm... what a nice spot to have our lunch' .....so we had our beautiful lunch maybe some 2 metres away from a salt water crocodile!!! Inspecting it quite thoughruly while having lunch.
After lunch we floated away from the croc and further into the river and saw about 6 more crocs and heaps of Azure King Fishers and Jesus birds and we also saw 2 Jabiru's! After the cruise we all got back into the car adrenaline rushed and happy as could be..... We drove to our next campsite overlooking the Mary River and Jack suprisingly saw a croc swimming in the river ( what luck is that?!). As the light started to dim we had a delicious dinner that was ribeye on the bone, cooked by the amazing Pete.... As we settled down we saw a wallaby jumping around the campsite..... Over all it was an amazing day.
Pics here...
Wildman 4wd track, wild pigs, nice billabong, oops - tree down, oops - another one, deep ruts, nice 4wd track, Cooinda
Pics here...
Litchfield is a national park with many waterfalls, walking tracks, creeks, swamps, historical places, rock & swimming holes.
We started our journey today at the Florence falls.... To get there, we followed this nice walking (somewhat paved) pathway with many little and sometimes bigger steps..... Easy to follow - unless you are looking around ... (like I did) and miss a step....yep, Marleen went down! I twisted my ankle and fell on the ground..... I just sat there on the ground for a few minutes, flabbergasted of what just happened.... I took my time to slowly get up again and thank goodness nothing really hurt. My knees were scraped a bit, but my ankle felt fine. So we continued our walk (while the boys kept on joking: "Mum, there's a step here"...."and here"....."and here"...."and there is one here too mum!").
Arriving at the waterfalls, it was quite busy with people in and near the water, but that soon forgotten as the falls were an amazing sight. The boys decided to jump in and swim to the waterfalls, but came back straight after they had done the swim because the water was extremely cold...... Jack was shivering for the next 45 minutes.
The next stop was at the Buley rockholes.... a lovely spot with different little waterfalls on different levels. It looked so beautiful that I decided to jump into one of the rockholes with the idea to sit under the waterfall for a bit, but this water was indeed cold too! Mike decided to jump in as well.....It is quite a special place, so nice and beautiful to sit near a waterfall....I just wanted to take it all in! Awesome!!!
We then drove to the Tolmer falls and had a nice view from the lookout platform.
After the lookout we wanted to explore the 4WD track towards the Tjaynera falls, but after about 200 meters of gravel and sandy track, I stopped the car and wanted to rethink this idea. We were now standing before a massive wide rivercrossing through croc invested water/bush and I couldn't even see where the track was going. And with no other cars around, I just couldn't do it. It would have been super cool to go through, but being on my own I thought I'd better choose the safer way...... so we turned around and drove to the Wangi falls.
The Wangi falls had a big swimming area and two big and beautiful waterfalls. Mike was contemplating whether to go for swim, but to go for a big swim in icy cold water again left him stay on the shore and came with us to the nearby viewing deck instead.
Really nice was that we ran into Finn and his parents (we met at the Alice Springs camping park), so it was lovely to have a quick chat with them again.
Our last stop today was at the Cascades, which are little rockholes and waterfalls..... You follow this rocky 1.2 km nature path to get to the Cascades, with the water in the creek and rockholes so crystal clear, it was amazing. The boys climbed even further than the track to get to the next waterfall...... But by the time we got to the rockholes, my ankle started to play up and starting to really hurt (.....strange that it took this long to play up).
I took off my shoe and dangled my foot in the nice cold water rockhole....Unfortunately, that didn't help much and now I had to get my shoe back on....Anyway, it was a very long and slow walk back to the car. The boys were very helpful, carried all the bags & towels and gave me their shoulders to lean on.....
The driving back home was quite a long way (parts of it gravel), but happy with cruise control, after around 1 1/2hr we were home again.
What an amazing day it was! Now let's rest this foot and go to szzzzzleep.
Pics here...
Today is a resting day..... rest the foot a bit more and read a book. Also a good time for the boys to catch up with homework. We also did some grocery shopping.....stocking up for the next few weeks.
Opposite of our camping spot at the Big4 caravan park there is this jumping pillow which attracks all of the children in the park. The boys love to be on there and jump/fool/play around.
Pics here..
Two more days here at Howard Springs and then we are on our way to Kakadu......Which means for today; explore some more of this (Darwin) area or to get ready for the next week(s)..... We choose to get ready and stay home today, do some chores, prepare some meals for when we are on the road again and just clean up/reorganize....
Just a day at home today, some grocery shopping and later in the afternoon we were getting really excited to meetup with our friends Dave & Tara (we met them while working at Cooinda/Kakadu 16 years ago).
It was sooooo much fun to see each other again and catching up...... it was like we had seen each other last week, so nice! And to see all our kids play together was just awesome. With a bbq, some dips n chips and of course a few drinks the stories from back then and travel stories didn't stop.... so good!
Awesome night!
Dropped off Pete at Airport (back to work for a couple of days) and we drove around Darwin. We visisted Casuarina shopping centre (too busy for me, but hey it is Saturday), then to the Wharf area, visited the Museum & Art gallery, drove and walked around the city centre. There wasn't much to do in the city, many shops were closed or not even there anymore.
Back home we had an easy dinner with our leftovers from last night...yummm.
Later we played some boardgames, including pictionary (draw anything you remember from the last couple of weeks during our trip was super fun!)
Pics here...
Today we had a plan: The boys would go to the movies to see the Marvel Adventures End Game and I'd do some shopping.
Back home for lunch and some relaxing before we headed off to the Mindil beach sunset markets.
These markets are all about food, souveniers, entertainment and sunset...... It was busy, but it was really fun, colourful and a cool vibe. Plus: it's always nice to find a market stall selling 'poffertjes' (little dutch pancakes) ...yummmm
And a sunset is always awesome, especially when it sets in the ocean (when it's not cloudy).
Pics here...
While 'Greenie' is in for service and repair at the Toyota guys, we did some repairs on the camper (additional 'hold her in place' screws, new breathing solution for tank 4 as a try-out, a refill of all tanks with water etc.). Washing clothes never stops - and it was about time too, so it was nice to get that done as well today......(even though 'my' washing machine had issues and needed to get some attention of the park maintenance guy - obviously I had to select the 'repeat washing cycle'.......... )
The kids were happy to explore the park and its playgrounds.
Later in the afternoon we (finally) got the phonecall that 'Greenie' was ready to be picked up, so we were super happy to have our own car back and enjoying the fixed aircon in the car!
Pics here...
Beautiful day, sunshine with some clouds, 32 degrees...perfect day to stay home & relax, go for a swim, clean out & wash the car, doing some homework and enjoy being out & about away from home.
We also sat down and made a new trip plan, where to go & stay, how many days/kms, etc.. We remember the West Coast as being beautiful and because we won't be on this side of the country very soon again, we are hoping to be able to show the boys the WA Coast.
In the evening, the caravan park organised a father & son duo who performed a Didgeridoo show. They showed us how a Didgeridoo is made, with numerous background stories - and showed us how to play it, making different sounds.
It was very interesting and authentic, and it was even more interesting to play a didgeridoo ourselves.....hahaha.... We all managed to get some sort of sound out of it, which was super cool, and it made us practise even more at home (without the Didgeridoo) hahahaha....
Pics here...
The receptionist here at the caravan park encouraged us to go to the wildlife park - as an introduction to the NT animals. We thought that would be a good idea, so off to the Wildlife Park at Berry Springs we went......
It was a pretty well organised park, with shows at various sites and a hop-on hop-off shuttle train that would drive continuously around the park. We got ourselves on the train and hopped off at the first presentation at the Water Buffalo's.... pretty laidback talk about the animals, park and the overall NT ecosystem. Next we went to the Flight show, with various different bird species, such as the kite bird, the wedgetail eagle and ground dwelling birds. The bird talk was pretty awesome, explaining all the different birds, and one thing that amazed us in particular was a fact about the owl. This owl, when they fly, is silent - you cannot hear it fly. This is due to their feathers being made of a silk type material. After the show, we went to the main station, followed by the nocturnal exhibit. Here we saw cool animals, such as snakes, owls, possums, wallabies and echidnas. After that, we walked to the dingos, followed by the stingrays and barramundies. The show there was nice, they were showing how the various fish hunt in the wild. One of the fish species would spit water at its prey, so if you were to hold a worm between your fingers, and the fish could se that worm, it would spit water onto that worm - very cool!. When it did spit, you would release the worm for him as a reward. We walked back to the dingos for the dingo show, which was very informative.
We went home, tired and exhausted - stopped at the butcher to get some buffalo sausages and started the barbie for dinner.
Pics here...
Yep, really nice sunrise this morning.....but when the sun is out, the flies are out.......sooooooo many flies.....waaaaaaah!!!!
We do use our flynets/hats a lot and yes they help, but you can't see properly through the net especially when you've got the nice sun glance on it......where are all those flies coming from???
Anyway, time to get cracking: packing up, doing the dishes, making lunches for on the road, fill up water bottles, have breakfast. We'd like to be on our way by 830am because today will be a long drive...... We try to stick to our original plan (that we prepared at home), but as you've read before, things can chance. You have to be flexible and ready to change plans every day..... Today, whilst driving, we decided to keep going and camp for two night at Mataranka instead of staying in Daly Waters for a night and than travel to Mataranka......The drive went pretty well, long stretches of long straight roads, all good until we started to smell Diesel in the car. We had just passed Daly Waters and out of the blue we started to smell Diesel........A LOT of diesel.... Looking in the mirrors, the spare tyre on the back looked 'wet' so we wanted to stop, but where.........The highway here is a two lane road where many road trains go passed and on the side of the road it's just rough and bushes..... We slowed down and thank goodness there was a road train truck stop, where a Road Train was parked already. We pulled over and the driver from the roadtrain came over to see if everything was okay. We told him the story and so both Pete and the guy had a look under the bonnet. They discovered that the fuel line feeding the 5th cylinder injector was completely snapped off - right at the fuel pump. Shhhhhhhhheizen heisen mit ringelS!!
There is nothing really we can do about that. The RoadTrain truckie wished us luck and went on his way and we started calling around (first with the Satelite phone - but than Jack discovered this very cool local hotspot thingy on this rest area, where you can use your normal phone if you stand on one leg at that location). Our amazing mechanical back-up guy, Andrew from Powertune 4x4, informed us that we should not block that pump outlet, as that could damage the pump. And driving for a long distance on 5 cylinders is not that good either, as that number 5 cylinder would not be lubricated by any diesel. All we could do was test our RACQ membership. We started the 'incident' process with them as it was clear we couldn't drive any further and needed to be towed....but where to? Talking about changing plans...... At the roadside, Peter found out that Toyota Darwin had the fuel line, so he purchased that over the phone. They informed him that they would not have time before next Thursday to fit it - but at least we secured the part (just like that aircon compressor that is still waiting for us in Darwin as well). And whilst on the phone, more roadtrains stopped and went, but one truckie was so kind to have a chat with the boys. He got them to help him changing one of his 72 tyres and showed them the truck cabin......"that was super cool!", the boys said. "He has air suspension in his seat, wow, and Aircon!!"
We were happy the towtruck arrived at 430pm and they took the car and camper back to Daly Waters Hi-Way Inn. This is both a fuel stop, a RoadHouse, a camping area and the Roadside recovery area. It was only 30km back.
All afternoon and later in evening we were on the phone (thank goodness there is reception here) with RACQ and Toyota dealers to see where to go, who would have time to fit the part, and where we could get towed to etc.etc......
All very hectic, and not knowing where, when and how was a bit stressfull. It became clearer that over the weekend nothing would happen, and therefore we might have to stay here for the weekend and see what we can organize for Monday......
Let's get some sleep first.....
Pics here...
Waking up with still so many questions and plans to make....what to do? When to go? Where to go....Katherine or Darwin? What will be covered by RACQ, what options will they present..
Many RACQ and Toyota dealer phonecalls later the plans were now coming along..... The Palmerston site of the Toyota dealer would have an opening on Tuesday to fit the parts and service the car. Did you know Darwin Toyota mechanics charge $ 165 per hour?!?!
RACQ was very helpfull and understanding, and agreed to tow the car and the van all the way (571km) to Palmerston on Monday. As the towtruck only has 1 passenger seat, RACQ were also happy to pay the Greyhound bus fees for me (Marleen) and the boys. Pete will be joining the tow truckie, who is going to tow the car and camper. They will drop off the camper at our chosen caravan park and then the car at the Toyota dealer where Pete has organised a courtesy car. We will be travelling by (touring)bus - all of nine lovely hours to Darwin......It will be a long day, but can't wait to get there and get the car fixed.
Now that we've got a new plan, we could sit back a little bit.......and let go of our 'old' plans, play some games outside, work on the website etc....Time to review the impact to the whole plan.
No pics of these days.. :(
Alarm goes at 0545!!! Packed up camper in dark/sunrise to be ready for when Brian would rock up, with the towtruck and 'Greenie', planned for 7am.
Pete joined Brian and 'cruised' to Darwin where they dropped off the camper at Howard Springs at around 1430 and the Landcruiser 'Greenie' in Palmerston at around 1500......The boys and I waited for the Greyhound bus arriving at 0820, just to find out we were not on the passenger list!
With further inspection of the RACQ booking, it appeared that the bus trip was booked for yesterday!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!
The busdriver disappeared inside the roadhouse, leaving us wondering what's happening now? We just couldn't believe this was happening.....anyway, after checking our identification, he was happy to let us on board today.....phew!!! Were we glad to sit in the bus (for the next 9 hours)....
We had a couple of stops to pick up a few more travellers, before we stopped in Katherine to have a lunch break.
We were asked to get out of the bus, have lunch and come back in an hour.....and so we did.... Coming back to the bus to hop on again, all of a sudden there were a lot more people waiting to get on this bus.. I was getting nervous again, wondering whether there was still enough room - as the bus was now filling up fast. Thank goodness there was enough room, but only with one or two spare seats left..... We were happy to sit back and enjoy another 2 1/2 hours in the Greyhound bus. All in all, the boys were happy playing games on their ipads and I couldn't stop reading my book, so the 9 hour journey went pretty well.
Still, I had such a strange feeling today, being separated as a family and not travelling in our own car......... so we were very happy and relieved to be dropped of at our destination in Palmerston (suburb 20km South of Darwin), at 1645 and Pete was there with a rental car waiting for us.
He had done all the running around town to collect the various parts he purchased, and delivered them at the Toyota guys where the car gets a service and fixeruperer tomorrow.
We booked ourselves into one of the Big4 Camping/caravan parks where there are heaps of playgrounds, waterpark, jumping pillow and pools....... After a long day it was time to szzzzzleeeeeeep.
Pics here...
We met a lovely couple yesterday who became our neighbours at the campground and they were telling us all about how they enjoyed the climb of Uluru. The walking track is often closed and will be closed forever as of October 2019...... So now that we are here, and knowing this will be our last change to do this climb, the boys and I (Marleen) drove down to Uluru to see if the walking track was open. Unfortunately, the Aboriginals closed the track due to strong winds at the summit, but they told us that an update would come in half an hour. We did a short walking track around a part of the rock and enjoyed being so close to this sacred site. Back at the entry gate of the climb, you could feel the anticipation....and than the YES, you are allowed to climb the rock!!! That in itself was very special already :).
We started the climb just after 10 am and within around 2 minutes I was puffed out already.....The climb was so steep, it was nearly vertical.....There were no harnesses or ropes, just a heavy chain to hold on to......It was really really hard! You'd have to stop many times, just to catch your breath whilst enjoying the view. However, looking down whilst on a vertical angle wasn't cool, but looking up and seeing so much more vertical rock coming wasn't great either....hahaha.
However, knowing this is such a special place to be in, you just kept on going. Having reached a little 'plateau' after you've done the most vertical part of the rock, you then start to follow some white markers on the rocks and hills.....these rocks and hills were even challenging at times, so we realised the climb wasn't over yet. The views were amazing. You are very high up (845m above sealevel) - and with that you have got amazing views, so far away. It is a privilige to be here.
It was exhausting and hard/steep terrain, but when we've reached the top....it was an unbelievable feeling. So thankful we were allowed to do this climb and so proud of us that we did it!
WE ARE ON TOP OF ULURU!!!
After a nice break, taking in the views, taking photos, and having a snack - Jack was helping others by taking photos of them. He was having chats with (mainly) Japanese people, who couldn't believe he spoke a little bit of Japanese. We slowly worked our way down. The hard work wasn't done yet - as you make your way down the same way as you go up, so yes, that means the most vertical part you now have to walk down hill.......It was super scary - you had to take things really slow, little steps whilst moving your body all the way backwards....It was possible though, and we made it down safe!
A funny feeling in your wobbily legs when you are on (normal/straight) ground, lol. Looking back at this massive rock, which the Aboriginals believe is over 600 million years old, it is crazy to think we were on top of it!
Arriving back at the campground, Pete got the chance to catch up with work and got some other jobs done....and as planned, we left to the Olga's after lunch. The boys and I were pretty tired, but I still wanted to see the Olga's from up close. We stopped at the Dune viewing lookout and we did go into the Olga's to do a short lookout walk.
Happy to be back home, we had a easy pizza and pie dinner before we went out for a special event.
At 8pm (dark nightsky) we were picked up by the bus who dropped us (and many others) of at the Field of Lights....which is an Art installation of more than 50,000 stems with frosted glass spheres. The installation, named Tili Niru Tjuta Nyakutjaku or ' looking at lots of beautiful lights' in local Pitjantjatjara Language was AMAZING! We followed a few pathways through the field and just took this unique display in.....it was quite special.
Home by 10pm....in bed by 10.01pm...phew, what an incredible day!
Pics here...
It was a bit hectic getting ready today, as yesterday was a very big day, so we did not really prepare things for the departure today. As a result, we left reasonably late - and had a fair amount of driving to do. We shared the drive - highway only - but with the windy conditions and the ruts in the bitumen from the heavy haulage, this was 'interesting enough'. We then got overtaken by a roadtrain (three 40' trailers') - and that was a bit exciting, sweaty palms for Marleen :).
We picked a different caravan park this time, for some change. We setup and went out shopping. We stocked up on grog, on meat at the local butcher, on groceries at Woolies - happy that we are ready for the next week(s) again.
Today (Day 21) we did some laundry and Pete fixed some little things on the van and car and did a general check if everything is still attached, working and charged. We updated the site; the boys did some homework - all in all a leisurely day.
Later in the afternoon while cooking diner we had some lovely chats with the neighbours and their son so before we knew it the boys were playing boardgames and running around and so we decided to put both of our diners on one table and share our food & drinks......it was a lovely time spending an evening with new friends.
Pics here...
Before we head off today, we paid the local welding place a visit to fix the broken gas bottle holder. The boys were nice and quick, so by 10 am we were on the road and off to Devils Marbles where we arrived around 2:30pm....nice time to set up camp and go for a nice wonder around these amazing round and balancing rocks.
The camping area appeared quite popular - as more and more caravans and campers were rolling in, even later at night.
As always, the sunset was beautiful. Seeing the colours changing on these rocks was just amazing.....can't wait waking up to this at sunrise.
Pics here...
Around 9am at Kings Canyon we were all ready and 'prepared' and as we walked closer and closer to the start we saw what was ahead, which scared us all, especially Pete. As we started the trip up the stairs were straight up, steep and high. When we reched the top all you could hear was *huff, inhaleeeee, Huff* repeatedly. As we continued it evened out and was easier, not easy but better. At 11:30 we reached back to the car and went to the Aboriginal cultral tour, where we got to see paintings and different seeds they would ground to make biscuits and then the most amazing part was when they cracked open a piece of wood from a tree root and pulled out this huge wigidy grub, put it on a plate and gave it to Jack to have a look and pass around, it was soooo soft and slimy. We then went over to this fire pit that had been preheated under sand and ash and they plaed the wigidy grub into the ash and rolled it around for about 30 seconds and there was one pop, and then they put it back on the plate and let us eat it, it tasted like popcorn and butter and corn all at the same time, it was amazing. Then the boys went down to the reception area and sinse they had camels they were allowed to pet the camels, which was amazing. For dinner we had some beef and some fries which was sooo good for camping, as if we were at home.
Pics here...
After a rainy/stormy night at Kings creek, after packing up with all the wet dirt and yucky stuff from the mats and other stuff we head off to Yulara, on the highway. When we reached Yulara we went to the Yulara Resort and booked in for a unpowered at the overflow area (big area) at the back, then we went for a 5 minute down to Uluru and drove around the big red Rock, as well as went to the cultral centre which was cool, gave some backstories about how the Aboriginals gave Uluru to the government and then it was getting destroyed so they pleaded for it back and went to court to get it back when finally in 1985 Yularu got handed back to the Aboriginals, the tribe name Anigals. We got home and had sausages and fries for dinner which was nice, then went to sleep as thunder and lightning and rain in the background...
Pics here...
After again a stormy night with some rain we got up to an overcast morning. Instead of going to the Olga's we decided to have a day at the camper and do the Olga's walking track tomorrow. It always surprises us how much there is to do aroung the camper and car..... Always repairs and cleaning to do, washing clothes and some grocery shopping.
In the afternoon we went to the Astro Hub where there was a lot of information about the stars and constalations.
Mike and I went to visit Uluru for another beautiful sunset. It is just so amazing to see the rock getting darker in colour while the sun is setting, but than for two minutes just as the sun disappears the rock lights up with this bright red colour....its just awwwwesome!
Back home Pete n Jack prepared a nice dinner with chicken schnitzels and sweet potato wrapped in alu-foil...yummmmm.
Pics here...
As mentioned earlier - these days are all about fixing and getting ready. The Powertune 4x4 team were great again - and secured an aircon compressor in Darwin - thanks again!
I reckon we fixed all issues :). Bring on the Gibb River road in the Kimberley region :). Some pics will show the fixes - other fixes are 'hidden'..
Marleen and the boys visited the Alice local Art Studio - which was pretty awesome.
Tomorrow we will be visiting the MacDonnel Ranges - then Watarrka National Park (for us - Kings Canyon) and then on to Uluru.
Pics here...
Leaving the camping at around 9:15 am and a quick stop in town, we were on our way to MacDonnell National Park.
Our first stop was at Simpsons' Gap.... a nice short (and still cold) walk to the Rockpool and rock formations.....really nice.
The second stop was at Standley Chasm......which by arrival felt very commercial, lots of big hiking trails and an entry fee ( $30,- p.fam) to see the gorge .......nah, this is not for us. So, we turned around and went off to our next stop (30 min.drive).... This was Ellery Creek Big Hole, the Dolomite walk was about an hour walk through rocky hills, spinifex, lookouts and lots and lots of flies!!!
Next stop was Serpentine Gorge.... the walking track to the gorge was very nice with a beautiful rockpool in between the hills.
Only a few minutes drive from Serpentine Gorge was the Ochre Pit. This was a 300m walk to see these amazing rockwalls with lots of colours.....The last Gorge walk for today was the Ormiston Gorge which had a really rockpool with freezing cold water so no, we did NOT go for a swim! haha.... Our campground was a few kilometers on the road at Glen Helens Gorge. We set up camp (4pm) and decided to go for the Gorge walk tomorrow morning. While cooking diner we came very close with a roaming Dingo......It was an eventful day so we'll sleep well tonight.
Pics here...
Before we left the camping area, we took a walk to the Glen Helen Gorge....a short walk through a sandy river bed.
At 9:30 am we were on our way to the Redbank Gorge...... Here we did a one hour walk, or should I say climb?, because this riverbed was full of rocks and big boulders where it was hard to find a path. So much fun at the same time though! We then spotted a rock wallabie....woohoo! At the end of the path the Gorge was a stunning.....such cool rockwalls and a pool.....it's all so colourfull and everything is so massive and high, nature is beautiful.
At 12:30 we reached the Mereenie (4WD/gravel) road......Heavy corrogation, so the tyre pressure went down to 28 and 32 psi. Dust, dust, corrrrrr-ooooo-gaaa-ttttion.....oh, and we spotted some wild camels!
At around 3pm we reached bitumen again, hooray!!! - pumped up the tyres and drove past Kings Canyon Resort [whooaaaaa - this is quite commercial....] - we drove further, knowing we could always drive back. At the actual Kings Canyon turnoff, we stopped and had a look at the different walking tracks. We decided to do the Rim Walk tomorrow morning....it takes you all the way up on the cliffs, with some promising views. We set up camp 30km further up the road at Kings Creek Station. This is a very 'outback/bush' set up, with lots of space, red dirt and very lovely people.
Tonight we went out for dinner and enjoyed some nice big hamburgers.....yummmmm.
Pics here...
Very bad corrugation and very bad 'holes' in the road. Shaking and jumping all over the road.
Fortunately not too much damage:
- Water tank connector hit by rocks - tank 1 (of 4 ) leaking
- rear storage shelf, that holds the maxxtrax, the 4 camping chairs, the ironman table and the swan top door, collpased. Glue and pop-rivets gave way .....
- rear storage: Hot water system fell off its position
- water filter setup in the kitchen was un-hooked and fell. Extra screws required
- external front storage box (the one that comes off to reveal dirtbike racks): the drivers side doorframe came loose a little
- external front storage box: the "thanks to Fam Gesler" toolbox fitted perfectly [well.. actually designed that way] - but the security latches let go, have to find a way to secure it again.
- bulldust (red and white) - everywhere. None inside the 'living compartment', but heaps in the storage rear and front...
- Internal fridge (the one inside the camper) had a leaking milk plastic bottle - what a mess!
Needless to say - some repairs needed :)
The remainder of the camper was still in tact though :)! :)
Pics here...
Hmmmmm - we thought we had the worst of it.. wrong!
The corrugation was really bad, and the car-and-van were jumping up and down. Around 80kph seemed to be the 'sweet spot'..
The good thing is that I 'fixed' the internal blower/fan - that was just a fuse [I finally found the fusebox at the passenger side footwell [very tiny]. Now that it is fixed, we can pressurise the internal of the car - maybe that stops more bulldust coming in?
On another note: if that fan issue was just a fuse issue - that part that I bought is therefore not needed.. and therefore we are in Alice Springs for no reason... The aircon unit is blown... Hmmmm.. that thingy was not old. maybe Nov 2017?
Anyways - we are safe in Alice Springs - have travelled over 3000 kms - all good so far,
Extra damage today: One door hinge has a crack...we will ignore that for now,
Pics here...
Today Dad designed a foundation for the rear shelf and emptied the first watertank.
We then went on a shopping spree to Bunnings, SuperCheap and the normal grocery shops......very happy with our new beanies - and Pete and Marleen cannot wait to try/test the new head-flynets!!
We spoiled Mum today with heaps of chocolates as we forgot it was mothers day yesterday. We enjoyed a yummy subway lunch and spent the afternoon doing repairs.
We, Jack n Mike, like the childrens playground (only because it has a swing and slide), so we spent the whole afternoon there.
Jack made a nice spaghetti for dinner.....and now we're getting ready for another cold night.
Pics here...
Day 7 jeez its already been 1 week........ it doesn't feel like it. We left around 9 o'clock from the campsite and made a quick stop at a river bed. It was written on the marketing material in a way that we would be able to find fossils on rocks, but we didn't find any, unfortunately. We were driving through Hughenden straight to Richmond, when we ordered the new "heater - blower resistor", that should 'fix' the aircon. In Richmond, we visited the marine dinosaur museum. In the museum we saw the full skeleton of a Polycotylid, which was a sea dwelling dinosaur that grew up to about 20 meters. After the museum we went to the local Richmond butcher and got some meat, so dinner is sorted for tonight. While we had lunch in the car, Pete heard a funny noise when the car was started - it seems that the aircon pully bearing is gone as well... So, more work to do.. With the windows down we drove to Julias Creek, where we found out that we couldn't use the RV friendly camp area (as you needed to have an ensuite shower!). We decided to spend the night at the local caravan park - all good, supporting the locals :). The park included some free tickets to the pool across the road, so after setting up the camper we jumped in the pool and had a nice cold swim. Back at the caravan park, we had a nice warm shower and a beautul dinner, cooked on the barbie by Pete.
Pics Here...
Today was just a day of driving .......long stretches of road....the scenery changed from grassy flat country to rocky hills. The closer we got to Mt Isa the more Roadtrains (minimum of 3 big trailers) and Oversize trucks on the road.
We are planning to get to Tenant Creek before Monday as we ordered the aircon part for the car. With that in mind we had plenty of time and between Mt Isa and Tennant Creek there is not much to do. For that reason we decided to stay for two nights in Mt Isa, so it was an early set up. Around Sunset, we visited the local Lookout in Mt Isa, where you've got a 360 degree view of the place.
At night we have always plenty to do like doing homework, working on the website, copying pictures from all devices, cooking, dishes, planning for the next day, etc.
Pics Here....
Today was just a celebration day - relay and have fun.
We visited the underground hospital in Mt Isa and we did some grocery shopping.
The biggest shock was when we found out that the aircon part that we ordered was NOT ending up in Tennant Creek - it was in Alice Springs..... Aaaaaahhhhh - did you not know we closed our shop in Tennant Creek?... Yes, you dialed the Tennant Creek number - but that is redirected to our Alice office....
Grrrrrrr.....
We contemplated having them to send the part to Darwin - but at the same time it offered us a chance to review our plans. maybe we could do Alice and area now - so that we do not HAVE to do the deserts when we are in Money Mia. Maybe - if we have time left - we could do Perth, and then back to Brissie via Adelaide and visit Marco?...
Pete had another look at the Aircon - and tried to remove the aircon pulley from the compressor.. easier said then done..
At this stage - we decided to "do Alice" - so that we may have aircon earlier (and have civil conversations in the car, rather than wind gushing around everyones ears)...
Pics here....
Apologies for the sideways pics - no time to change them :).
Nice waking up to kookaburra's, pelicans in the wier and kangaroos jumping around.....After taking our time to have breakfast and a nice cuppa coffee/tea, we were packed and ready to go around 9 o'clock. We took an inland shortcut gravel road to Longreach but after 30 minutes the road took a turn that didn't go towards Longreach and while we were thinking whether to turn around or keep going a farmer rocked up on his dirtbike and friendly informed us thatthis road is no longer the dirtroad towards Longreach. So we turned around and took the 'normal' road. In Longreach we visited the Qantas Museum. Who knew that Qantas is an abbreviation of Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service.....
After spending a few hours in the museum we set off to Winton where we arrived at the camping area around 4pm.
Setting up the camper goes pretty quick & smooth now....within half an hour we are all done. Today the boys set up the gazebo as well as we're staying here for two nights. The weather is beautiful and sunny.....let's see how far the temperature drops overnight....
Pics here....
Our neighbours had told us last night that there would be a comet close to Earth, treating us to a meteor shower. As we all love watching stars we decided to set the alarm for 4:30... Time paced and we were yet to see the comet, but luckily were lucky to see two shooting stars, then Jack finally got his app out and told everyone that the shower was actually happening tomorow. We were leaving at 8:00, which was hard for both Jack and Mike, to see the dinosaur stampede. At lark Quarry conservation park we got a talk and a video about the stampede that had happended almost 95 million years ago, the only one in Australia and one of the three in the world. After we had a look at the amazing footprints that were preserved, we went outside for a 30 minute walk (750m) to see the landscape which was amazing. On the drive back to Winton to go to the musuem we parked on the side of the road to have a picnic lunch with our best friends, the flies - Jack was smart enough to buy a fly net to put over your head to prevent irritation from the flies, quickly followed by Mike. At the museum we first went to the labrotory, seeing the amount of nicely wrapped preserved bones from multiple different species of Dinosaurs, the main one being the Sauropods, which are large plant eating dinos, about 20 metres high and 30 metres long, weighing about 30-40 tons. We also saw some people working on defossicking bones (cleaning the dirt away from the bones). Back ot the reception, and got a talk and video about 3 different dinosaurs, one was a carnivor, the other two were herbivors, good to know as they both were very large/big. So then Marleen and Pete braved the flies and then we hopped on a shuttle bus to go to a outdoor dinosaur exibit showing different dinosaurs which was very cool, also seeing a nice veiw where you could see for 60km out. After that we hopped in the car again and head back to the camp site, where we ordered our dinner, which was very nice. Now we will wake up at 4:30 again to see the expected meteor shower to leave early at around 5:30.
Pics Here...
Mum and Dad both woke up early to see the Meteor shower, which wasn't the best-so Mum decided not to wake Jack and Mike up to see it. At 9:00 we set off to Hughenden and then to Richmond but as we entered Hughenden we saw that it was amazing as there was a Museum which was amazing, a whole skeleton of a Dinosaur (Muttaburrasaurus) with multiple different fossils and petrified wood, with some amazing rocks, almost over 75 million years old (if you would like to know what petrified wood is, use google *too much info for this area*). We knew of a campground near by, so plans changed and we decided to stay in Hughenden and got a sheet that showed the different sites you can see to the campsite, half way there we stopped by a lookout which was amazing, but Jack almost walked into a very large spider... When we got back to the car and drove away, all of a sudden the aircon stopped working and there was a bad electrical smell *burning smell* in the car, windows open we all pretended this didn't happen. When we got to the campsite we set up camp, which went very smoothly, after we set up we went to gorge, which was spectacular, however on the way down it was a struggle for some, the way up was much harder, fun fact the gorge was being created by the time Dinosaurs were around which was very interesting to see and know. At the top there was a lookout viewing the gorge whcih was amazing as well.
When we got back to camp, Mike cooked a great pasta and Dad might have found the problem of the aircon, let's now hope we can find a new relay...
Pics Here...
Day 1 is here!!!!.......such an exciting day!
After packing the last few things in camper & car we left home around 10.30am, filled up the diesel tanks and set off for our adventure.
We are ON THE ROAD!!!! So many feelings; excitement, nervous (are we forgetting something?) and soooo ready to go.
The Toowoomba "great dividing range' is super steep so that was our first challenge, but the car managed really (and slowly) well. (EGT's plateau'd at 600 degrees, oil temp max'd 120 degrees, coolant stayed at 100 degrees, auto oil max'd at 98 degrees. We were surprised she only managed the hills in second gear, but with 6.7 tonnes it's okay).
During the next 4 hours we've seen lots of different sceneries, field of cotton, corn, and lots of nothingness...... Long stretches of road and a few big 'oversize' trucks and roadtrains with three large trailers.
We found this lovely camp spot at Judd Lagoon where lots of kookaburra's welcomed us.....as well as the other 9 fellow travellers. Our set up went pretty smooth and fast......ready to start the bbq. Jack served up some yummy hamburgers tonight.....mmmmm
click here for Pics :)..
Woken up nice and early by many kookaburra's chatting n 'laughing'. After brekkie we left the campsite around 9 o'clock and had a quick stop at Roma. In Roma we've visited an old timber house (Historical place) and of course the biggest Bottle Tree in Roma!
The road West from Roma to Charleville was long and straight with lots and lots of dead Roo's/roadkill.
Arriving in Charleville we visited the Royal Flying Doctors Museum......
It was not fortunate that the whole sky was turning grey and dark so we didn't think doing the Night Sky observatory tour was a good idea.
We then drove 42km North to set up camp and we're very 'lucky' that we could test our new and improved sealed roof. So far no leaks.....there is a bit of a worry though, superman Pete thought it was a great idea to pull the generator cord to bits....rather than just starting the thing! Proud and embarrassed at the same time, he quickly informed us we need to manage our power consumption tonight......no warm showers and back to one camp light....early night tonight!!
Pics here...
After a rainy night we were happy to pack up early, We were really fortunate that it was dry during packing up, however, it was very muddy. At around 8:15am we were on our way to Tambo....where at the petrol station we discovered they ran out of diesel which was quiet a dissapointment.... not only for us but for many other travellers. One of them mentioned to us he might not get to the next town so we offered to follow him just in case and yes, after 30km out of town he stopped his car and hopped into our car to get a ride to the next town (70km further). We had a nice chat with him about his travel plans etc.... We were all happy we soon arrived at Blackall where we could fill our tanks with diesel again. The guy was happy to catch a ride back with someone else so we continued our travels towards Barcaldine after we bought some meat at the local butcher and were lucky to find a place selling generators....you guessed it, we are now the owners of a brand new generator.
Just before Barcaldine we found a beautiful camp spot near the Lloyd John Wier......and as we arrived early in the afternoon we had time to set up the camper to dry out, test the new generator and to explore the wier......
Pics here...
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