Wydon Crafts

FRIDAY 10 to THURSDAY 16 OCTOBER

 

We stayed overnight and when Karen and Geoff left the following morning to head on down the coast we left and went to the Palm Grove Resort – quite a bit smaller and the pool stayed open til 7:30.   We pulled in alongside Marion and Terry and once we were set up, headed for the pool.   That evening they took us with them to Cable Beach where they were able to drive onto the beach and we set up table and chairs, nibblies and wine and watched the sun got down.   It was a great atmosphere – the beach was lined with 4-wheel-drives, their occupants all doing the same as us.

 

Went to the local cinema one evening to see ‘Mamma Mia’ – great pic in a great setting.   The cinema is one of the last open air movie houses in the country – we all sat in deckchairs and ate popcorn and icecream.

 

Jeff has bought himself a bike and goes for a ride every morning – usually along Cable Beach.   He had to get a rack to carry it on Betty G, but she don’t seem to mind.

 

We both had much-needed haircuts and a very good job the hairdressers did, too.

 

We gave pyrography and knot-tying lessons to Marion and Terry – I think they may be taking up new hobbies

 

On the 15^th and 16^th we joined that crowds at Broome’s Town Beach to watch a local phenomenon called “The Staircase to the Moon”.   It only happens from March to October when the full moon rises over Roebuck Bay and is reflected on the mudflats exposed by the low tide.   A lovely site (we’ve seen the photographs) but this month it didn’t happen – too much cloud.   However, on both nights we could see huge columns of smoke arising from bushfires along the coast.

FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER

 

We decided to move on today towards 80-Mile Beach and stayed overnight at the Pardoo Roadhouse.   As we passed the Roebuck Roadhouse and turned south, we could see the results of last night’s fires still smouldering.   Luckily it was just open bush and no buildings were in the area.   We refuelled at the Sandfire Roadhouse and then a few Ks further down the road we came to the turn off to 80 Mile Beach and bravely decided to go for it.   The 6Ks of dirt road turned out to be 10Ks of bone shattering corrugations.   We had been advised to travel at 10 – 15 Kph so we did and it took nearly an hour.   When we eventually arrived at the caravan park, Jeff took one look and said “Book us in for a week” – this in spite of the fact that there ain’t no SWIMMING POOL! And there’s too many nasties in the sea for safe swimming!!!!!    OK, we’re right by the sea, but the temperatures are still in the high 30s.

 

SATURDAY 18 OCTOBER

 

Had a go at fishing from the beach.  Both of us had several bites but I reckon that them fishes was just getting a free feed from us.   It was rather hot and there was no shade so I wasn’t really sorry when all our bait was gone.   Standing in the water was lovely and cooling, but a pool would have been soooo much more betterer.   Marion and Terry arrived in the afternoon and set up just across the pathway.    There was a wonderful sunset this evening and I took several photos.   It made up for missing out on the Stairway to the Moon – this was a Stairway to the Sun.   The setting sun’s reflection on the water left by the outgoing tide was amazing.   Today was the wedding of a friend of mine back in the UK so I sent one of the best pics to her.

 

SUNDAY 19 OCTOBER

 

Jeff went fishing on his own today – I opted for spending most of the day in the TV Room which had A/C going full belt, reading or doing computer stuff – luverly.   When I finally emerged and went down to the fish-cleaning area, there they all were, cleaning off their catch.   Jeff’s tally was a baby shark and 3 blue-nose salmon;  Marion had caught 3 or 4 of the same.   Actually Jeff caught 12 catfish as well, but threw them all back.   We all ate very well that night.

 

MONDAY 20 – THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER

 

More of the same – Jeff fishing and me escaping from the heat in the TV room.

 

One evening one of the other fishermen made us some sushini using some king white salmon Jeff caught that day – using white vinegar, soy sauce, finely chopped onion and lemon juice.    The fish was thinly sliced and marinated in this mixture for about 30 minutes – abso-bluddy-lutely superb.   We all enjoyed it so much that Jeff made some more the next day – the only problem was we only had some pickled onion vinegar so it wasn’t quite as good – still great though.

 

FRIDAY 24 OCTOBER

 

We finally took our leave of 80-Mile Beach and carried on along the road to Port Hedland.   On arrival called in at the Tourist Information Office to get directions to the Big4 Caravan Park.   We did a bit of shopping and proceeded to the park which was situated near the Turner River.   It was a bit pricey ($35 per night), but it did have a nice pool.    We parked alongside the Ks who had arrived the day before, and headed for the pool.

 

SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER

 

Carried on to Point Samson, just off the road, before Karratha.   Only a short hop this time, but I had read about a ghost town called Cossack which I thought might be quite interesting.   We parked up next to the Ks and headed for Cossack in their car.    What a flippin’ disappointment!!!

OK it was interesting enough, but not exactly a “ghost town”.   People lived there and the old Post Office has been converted to a Backpacker’s Hostel. 

 

It would have been nice to stay on a little longer, but it was uncomfortably windy so after a lovely fish meal at the local chippy, we decided to move on to Karratha tomorrow.

 

SUNDAY 26 & MONDAY 27 OCTOBER

 

Stopped at another Big4 site in Karratha – even more expensive.   The facilities are good, but certainly no better than other far cheaper sites.   Spent some time in the pool, of course, but also went with M & T to Dampier and called in at the LPG Plant Information Centre.   Fascinating place – very interesting visit.

 

TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER

 

Stayed overnight at the Nanuturrah Roadhouse – Marion and I had a little walk down to the Ashburton River which runs alongside the caravan park – beautiful scenery.   There is a footbridge over the river which used to carry the old road before the new bridge was constructed a few years ago.   ~We walked halfway across and I looked down to some rocks in the middle of the river and spotted what looked very much like a 3-toed dinosaur footprint on a large flat rock.   I took a couple of photos and then told the guy in reception – dunno how interested he was though.

 

WEDNESDAY 29 & THURSDAY 30OCTOBER

 

Carried on round to Exmouth and booked in at the Ningaloo Reef Resort Park.   The first thing we mentioned was the pool.   We didn’t need to ask because friends of M & T had stayed here and reported that there was a particularly good pool.   You can imagine our reaction on being told “Sorry, the pool’s closed”.    What a shame we said – or words to that effect.   We booked in for 2 nights anyway, and cast longing looks at the pool every time we passed.   That evening Jeff and I had a nice spaghetti meal at the Italian restaurant attached to the caravan park.

 

FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER

 

We left Exmouth for a look at and an overnight stay in the Cape Range National Park.   There was ‘free’ camping in several sites all along the various beaches – well not ‘free’ in the monetary sense, but ‘free’ in the ‘no facilities’ sense.   We thought we needed to find out if we (and Betty G) could manage this ‘free camping’ lark, and having the Ks and their rig and generator there as backup it seemed an ideal time to try it out.   There’s a small fee to enter the park, plus a charge of $6.50 per person for camping.    We checked out a couple of sites and settled on ‘Mesa Beach’.   There were only two other caravans there, one of whom was just packing up as we arrived.   We settled in a choice spot, sheltered somewhat from the wind by several tea trees, and went for a walk on the beach – what a place, white sand, blue, blue sea, cloudless sky – magical.   The only problem was it was windy, very, very windy and I hates windy!!

 

Jeff and Terry went fishing, but by the time Marion and I joined them, all ready to have a go too, they had decided that enuff was enuff and we all retired to the relative shelter of the campsite.

 

That evening after dinner we all sat out in the middle of the campground and did a bit of stargazing – no light pollution whatsoever.   We saw a total of 5 satellites within an hour – two at the same time, their paths crossing the sky.    Several shooting stars, too.   Unfortunately, none of us know the southern hemisphere star constellations.  So although we could see literally millions of stars and the Milky Way was very clear, nothing meant anything.   Must see about getting some sort of reference book – the nights are so clear here, most of the time anyway.

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FRIDAY 3 OCTOBER

 

Set off a bit late after shopping (AGAIN) in Katherine and sending off Betty G’s insurance papers to Ken Tame, the Insurance Brokers.   When we arrived at our next stop, Timber Creek, we pulled into a garage forecourt and I went into the pub to book into the caravan park.   Very funny guy behind the bar said that there were in fact 2 sites – one with grass and a sunny pool and the other with plenty of shade all over.   Of course we opted for the shady one, pulled in, and there were Karen and Geoff in their Mazda bus.   We set up next to them and headed for the pool.   A little bit later Malcolm and Sheila arrived.  The evening’s entertainment at this site was the feeding of the freshies (freshwater crocs) in the creek at the back of the site.  These don’t jump like the salties, are smaller and far less aggressive.   People came from the other site as well including the nice German couple we’d been next to at the Kakadu Aurora site.   That night we were kept awake by a bird that Karen reckoned was a currawong, but I’ve since found a description in our bird book which actually fits a Common Koel – so I don’t know who’s right.   All I know is that the flippin’ thing kept calling all night long.   The locals even tried setting off fireworks to persuade it to go away as it had apprently been there for 5 nights already.   Did it go away – wot do you think!!!

 

SATURDAY 4 OCTOBER

 

We left fairly early, heading for Kununurra.   Within a couple of Ks Jeff noticed that the speedometer was no longer working – no more mileage checks until we can get it fixed.  As we arrived in Kununurra we saw a sign for a garage sale so we entered the address into TomTom and Tommo led us right to the house.   Not very much there, but Jeff bought a cookbook (Potatoes!!) for a dollar.   As we returned to the main road I thought I should call Karen and Geoff to see if they’d arrived and if they’d found a site.   I was just leaving a message on Karen’s phone, and what did I spot tootling down the road – their Mazda bus.   Jeff called them up on the CB, just in case they didn’t see us, and Geoff said that they had just looked at a site, but it didn’t have a pool.   However he knew of another Big 4 site just up the road.   Jeff keyed the address into Tommo and off we went with the others following close behind.   The site looked very well-kept, if a little pricey, but we opted for 2 nights as Betty G needed an oilchange and service and we couldn’t do anything about that until Monday.   We did a little food shopping, returned to the park and headed for the pool.   I was wrong about the tempertaure before – it’s been over 40C in the last couple of days, and at one time hit 50C!!   The pool was a wonderful relief – so refreshing.   The park is full of birds – honey-eaters, magpie larks (including one with a poorly foot that stayed with us for ages – we tried to catch it so that we could possibly help it – couldn’t manage it), pheasant coucals, doves, ibis and many more.   There was one bird that sat in a tree above Betty G for hours on Sunday and reappeared on Monday.   It looked a bit like a kingfisher – maybe a female as it wasn’t very brightly coloured, but it was difficult to tell from below.

 

SUNDAY 5 OCTOBER

 

Thought we’d have a drive around K. but as it was Sunday, everything seemed to be shut, including the Tourist Information Office.   So after trying to find the local brewery (BG) we headed back to the Park and the pool.   Met a nice English couple, Marion and Terry, who now live in South Queensland.

 

MONDAY 6 OCTOBER

 

Eventually found someone to do an oil change and service on Betty G but he couldn’t fix the speedo cable.   We finally set off for Wyndham at about 11am.    I’m not sure what we expected but Wyndham ain’t eggzackly impressive.   We drove around for a bit and then decided to visit the Crocodile Farm – I’m glad they only charged us $10 each (we’d missed the guided tour) instead of $16.50 coz it wasn’t even worth 10 bucks.    The whole place looked run down and the poor crocs were either in very small enclosures, considering their size, or in a couple of lakes which were covered in green algae.   We then had lunch at the pub – a very nice barramundi basket washed down with a lovely drink that we’ve recently come across – lime and lemondade with a dash of Angastura bitters.   We then carried on our way.

 

As we passed a campsite at Doon Doon I spotted Karen & Geoff’s disctinctive bus, so Jeff called them on the CB.   “Nice site but no pool” was their comment so we said that we would carry on to the next likely stopping place, Turkey Creek (Warmun) which had a pool, plus a rather large Brahmin bull wandering across the highway and into the campsite.   Then a small herd of Brahmins appeared but were soon sent on their way by a bloke in a ute (aka. utility vehicle – a small truck).    Had a much needed dip in the pool in the company of a young couple who were working there, but off-duty at the time, and their daft dog, who wouldn’t go in the water, but wanted to play anyway.   Spent a relaxing evening doing very little.   During the night the heavens opened and we had to get up and shut all the windows – we can leave them open most of the time because of the mesh and steel insect-cum-security screens.   The rain lasted about an hour and by morning there was very little sign of it – just a few puddles in shady areas.

 

TUESDAY 7 OCTOBER

 

Left early this morning as we have decided that it is the best time of the day for travelling in this heat.   After an hour or so we spotted a 4WD in a parking area with its hood up.   As we drove past we noticed that the driver looked a little stressed.   So Jeff turned round and pulled in alongside the vehicle.   This of course was in the middle of nowhere, stinking hot already.   We asked the driver if he needed any help and he said that his fuel pump was not working properly.   He’d cleared the fuel line, but fuel still wasn’t getting through.   Jeff said that he was sorry but he couldn’t help – it was a fairly new car and they can be pretty tricky to fix if you don’t really know what you’re doing.     I noticed that as well as his wife(?) there was a little toddler in the back.   We could get no signal on any of our phones – his or ours and our call out on the CB was ignored so we said that we would go on and try to get them some help.   As luck would have it, about 5Ks down the road there was a roadgang working alongside the highway, so Jeff pulled in, went to the site office, explained the situation and asked if there was a mechanic who could help.   The foreman said that he was actually expecting a mechanic to arrive within the next halfhour who he would send back to help.   Our good deed for the day done, we went on our merry way.

 

We had thought about stopping at Hall’s Creek, but we weren’t terribly impressed.   I went into the Tourist Information Office and the very helpful lady there said that there were a few interesting places and a couple of good campsite that could be reached along Duncan Road – bitumen for a couple of Ks then dirt road “but OK for 2WDs”.   We duly tootled along Duncan Road and then came to the dirty part.   I took one look ad said “No way!!”, but Jeff said “Let’s just try it”    Well poor Betty G was shaken sommat rotten.   The ruts on dirt roads in Oz don’t run along the road as any self-respecting rut should, but they go ACROSS the roads – these are known as ‘corrugations’ – if you can imagine driving across a very long sheet of corrugated iron you might have some idea.   After about 5 yards (sorry – metres) Jeff admitted defeat  carefully turned around and returned to the Highway.   We filled up with diesel, said bye bye to Halls Creek and headed for Fitzroy Crossing.   We arrived there at about 3:30 and entered the Fitzroy River Lodge - it had been recommended to us by a guy near us at Kununurra.    As we drove around the site looking for a nice shady spot, this couple sitting outside their caravan waved at us enthusiastically.   “How nice and friendly” I thought.   We found our spot in the shade, set up and headed for the pool – as usual.   It was a bit of a trek without much shade, but we gratefully sank into the cool water when we eventually got there (cool??? – it wuz bluddy cold actually).   A few minutes later, who should arrive but Terry and Marion who we had chatted to in the pool at Kununurra – they were the ones who had recognised Betty G and waved so enthusiastically.    We arranged to have drinkies at their place before dinner and trudged back to Betty G.   We then spent a delightful couple of hours chatting before returning to our little home on wheels to eat. 

 

 

WEDNESDAY 8 OCTOBER

 

Went on a boat trip through the Giekie Gorge this morning with Marion and Terry.   We probably wouldn’t have gone it they hadn’t offered us a lift as the Gorge is about 17K from the campsite.  Driving in the luxury of their Landrover with it’s A/C was great – soooo civilised<BG>    Wonderful experience –  gliding along the Fitzroy River through the lovely Gorge with its fascinating rock formations, birds, freshies and plants.   Back to the campsite – another swim and drinkies again before dinner – ooh it’s a hard life.

 

THURSDAY 9 OCTOBER

 

Left early again to get well under way before it got too hot.   Called in briefly at Derby (pronounced DERby, not DARby like wot we Poms do).   Not too much to see, so we just filled up with fuel and carried on to Broome.   Poor Betty G had to go off-road for about 6-7 Km due to roadworks – most uncomfortable.   Four road trains coming the other way – three did the right thing and slowed down, but one driver just carried on oblivious to anyone travelling in the opposite direction, chucking up dust and stones as he careered past.   Jeff tried to send him a few choise words over the CB, but he didn’t have it switched on – dipstick!!

 

We stopped at the Roabuck Roadhouse for lunch and saw a great column of smoke rising from the nearby bush.   Nobody at the Roadhouse seemed to be at all bothered, so I guess it was quite a normal occurrence.   Pretty impressive though.

 

We carried on the Broome, and as we approached a Woollies supermarket, who should we see but Karen and Geoff.   We had a brief chat with them and found that they were staying at the Cable Beach Resort, so with did our shopping and joined them there.    This resort is pretty big, around 500 sites and the pool closes at 6pm – not much good to us as we arrived at about 5:30!!

We stayed overnight and when Karen and Geoff left the following morning to head on down the coast we left and went to the Palm Grove Resort – quite a bit smaller and the pool stayed open til 7:30.    We pulled in alongside Marion and Terry and once we were set up, headed for the pool.

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WEDNESDAY 1 OCTOBER

 

Left Batchelor at 7:50am for Katherine.    Highlight of the morning – Betty G OVERTOOK a roadtrain!!!!   OK, OK, it was going rather slow but we still overtook it.   We stopped briefly at Pine Creek for some pics of some old trains and mining equipment.   Very hot already at 9:50.

 

Considering this is the end of the Dry Season and there has apparently been a drought as well, everything is very green and lush.

 

We did a bit of shopping and looking around in Katherine itself and then went out to the Nitmulik (Katherine) Gorge campsite.    As usual, as soon as we arrived and got set up, I headed to the camp swimming pool for a cooling dip.   When I got there I found it full of Aboriginal kids having a whale of a time.   Apparently the campsite organisers allow them access to the pool and campsite for 2 days a week.   Their ages ran from 3 or 4 to mid-teens and they were having a great time.   That evening they had a rock band playing in their own part of the site and we strolled over to listen.

 

THURSDAY 2 OCTOBER

 

Sadly we found that the only way to see the Gorge was via tours which involved a fair amount of walking, and there’s no way I can walk any distance in this heat.   Walking in normal temperatures – no probs, but even a stroll when it’s over 30 degrees C is kernackering.   Jeff could probably manage it, but I think the heat is actually getting to him too.

 

We returned to Katherine to see if we could find anyone to do a service and oilchange on Betty G – but everyone was busy.    As it was now rather late in the day to set off to WA, we decided to stop at the Riverview Tourist Village just outside Katherine at the beginning of the Great North Road(?)    It advertised that it had WiFi, and a pool so we just had to stop there.    We were sited next to Karen and Geoff from Sydney and also met Malcolm and Sheila from Bedford (of all places!!)

 

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MONDAY 29 SEPTEMBER

 

On our way back down to Katherine we decided to visit the Litchfield National Park (I’d read about some lovely waterfalls that still flowed at this time of year).   We called in at the Information Office in the small town of Batchelor, just before the park and then headed for the main attraction, Wangi Falls.   We were a few kilometres into the Park when there was an almightty BANG.  “What the f— was that” says me, thinking someone was shooting at us.   “Sounds like we’ve blown a tyre” says Jeff, calm as you like!!   Now he’d thought about going back into Darwin to call in at a scrapyard we’d spotted yesterday, to see if he could get another spare wheel for Betty, but decided not to bother as we don’t much like going back on ourselves too often.   Oh dear does he regret that decision now.   We gingerly carried on to Tolmer Falls where there would be a car park where Jeff could attempt to change the tyre – nowhere safe to stop on the road.   There were already several cars and campervans there, but we managed to find a flattish spot and Jeff proceeded to empty the cavernous boot to get at the jack and the wheelbrace.   It was also quite a performance to get at the spare wheel.   A group of three European tourists appeared with an Aussie guide who remarked that it wasn’t a very good time of the day to be changing a tyre (11am), got in his 4-wheel drive and buggered off.   A little while later a tourist in a hired Maui camper pulled up almost alongside and just sat there looking at his map with the engine running, obviously to keep his A/C going.   In the meantime I was standing over Jeff with a brolly trying to keep the boiling sun off him (there was no shade whatsoever)  He remarked that the fumes from the Maui exhaust were really getting to him so I waved the brolly at the exhust pipe.   The driver got the message and turned off his engine, then got out of the van and said with a strong European accent “Flat tyre”? and went on his merry way to the Falls!

By this time we were both sweating buckets and Jeff was still having difficulties as the tyre that had blown was the inner one of the pair of nearside rears.   There had been several cars and coaches coming and gong all this time and NOT ONE person offered to help or even to phone for help.  Not one of the miserable buggers did anything but look.   And then to cap it all some fat Australian woman came up to us and asked which of the Falls in the Park had pools that you could swim in as Tolmer Falls was just to be looked at.   I must say I was very restrained and told her about the ones I knew of.   I think Jeff just stood there with his mouth open, the perspiration just running down his face.   So much for helping others in difficulties on the road.   The age of Chivalry and Knights of the Road have long gone out the window.

 

Finally Jeff decided that he couldn’t get the inner wheel off so we limped back to Batchelor and found a garage who’s tyre man would be back later and should be able to help.   Almost next door to the garage was a Big 4 Caravan Park so we booked in there and Jeff took Betty to be fixed up the following day.

We stayed a couple of nights here – Batchelor itself is a very pleasant little town and the Big 4Park ticked all the right boxes.   Also, every evening a member of staff fed the local birds – quite a sight.

 

TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER

 

We resumed our tour of the Litchfield National Park after the tyres had been sorted.   Surprised that the total cost was only $189.

 

On our way to Tolmer Falls we had a look at the Magnetic Termite Mounds, huge structures pointing north/south – apparently to create their A/C, the Falls were good but as it’s the end of the Dry Season it was more of a big dribble than a falls.   Then on to Wangi Falls which were a bit more spectacular and there was a big pool with quite a few people swimming.   Unfortunately I didn’t have my cozzie on and it was a bit of a walk from the carpark and back to the waterhole (it was, once again very, very ‘ot) so we decided to go on to the next place.   This was called Buley Rockholes – and this time I put me cozzie on before we left Betty G.   Just a short stroll and we came across a series of pools linked by small waterfalls.   In I went into the lowest one, while Jeff walked up to the top pool and made his way back down through all the pools and waterfalls – collecting a few bruises on his rear in the process.   We stayed there for a couple of hours, thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

 

Evening back at the campsite we had a loverly pizza in the site bar and prepared the van for leaving early next morning.

 

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FRIDAY 26 SEPTEMBER

 

Finally left Mataranka at 9:20 after another dip in the pool – couldn’t resist it.   Stopped in Katherine for fuel, money and shopping and then headed along the Kakadu Highway to Cooinda in the Kakadu National Park.   Big termite mounds, lotsa rocks – fascinating drive but very hot, not so much roadkill (thank goodness) although we did see what appeared to be a rather large bullock or buffalo by the side of the road with it’s feet in the air – very ded.   On arrival at Cooinda parked in our little space, set things up and got straight into the pool to cool down, the mozzies were having a field day – the buggers don’t seem to be interested in Jeff, just moi and I got really cranky because I was soooo hot and itchy.   The resort here is a biot of a rip-off - $40 a night for a powered site, but I guess it’s to be expected in such a touristy area.

 

 

SATURDAY 27 SEPTEMBER

 

Left Cooinda and carried on to Jabiru and then out again – not much to see there.   Saw a sign for Ubirr which I had read something about so we turned off the highway.  Some 46km later we arrived at a carpark with signs pointing to the Rock Paintings.   Oh, were they worth the drive – dozens of figures on flat rock faces, pictures that are believed to be thousands of years old.   Jeff then walked up to a viewing place overlooking the Arnhem Tableland – I only went halfway, the heat was getting to me again!!   While I was waiting for Jeff to come back down, a lady stopped briefly saying that there were some crocs at a nearby crossing and they were heading off to see them.   Whe Jeff finally returned I told him this and when we got back to Betty we followed the signs for the Cahill Crossing.   We walked down the boatramp and there basking on a sandbank across the river was a dirty great crocodiddle, and several others cruising up and down.   A bit further upstream we could see the actual crossing (and vehicles going backwards and forwards across it) so we thought we’d have a look there too.    We found a lookout with a good view of the crossing and more of the river and more crocs, including a real big ‘un – must’ve been at least 4 metres long!

 

Overnight at the Aurora Kakdu Resort – not a bad site, grassy, a lot of foreigners, nice pool – lots of mozzies going after Jeff this time – he counted over 20 bites on one leg the following morning<BG>

 

SUNDAY 28 SEPTEMBER

 

Left at 7:45 and stopped at the Adelaide River and went on a 1 hour Jumping Crocodile Cruise.   Got some fantastic shots of the crocs jumping for pieces meat suspended from a pole.   Very enjoyable and reasonably priced at $25 each.

 

We then headed on up to Darwin, but as it was Sunday, not much was going on so we just had a lovely Barramundi Fish and Chips meal at the Fisherman’s Wharf and carried on back down the Stuart Highway and stopped at Coolalinga Campsite – nice site, great pool – did lotsa washing!!

 

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TUESDAY 23 SEPTEMBER

 

Left Mt Isa and headed for Cammoweal just before the border between Queensland and Northern Territory.   Whilst trying to find out what there was to see there I found out that it was not permitted to transport fruit and veges across the border.    We had apples, bananas and mandarins, plus a fridge full of salad stuff.   I knew that there were strict quarantine areas down south, but as there had been nothing on the border between NSW and Queensland I wasn’t expecting restrictions here.    Anyway, we stuffed fruit from Cammoweal to the border (nowt to see in Cammoweal) and had a big salad lunch right on the border.   I couldn’t eat all mine so I just wrapped the plate in a plastic bag and stuck it in the fridge.    We crossed the border – no quarantine station.   We then approached A     along the Barkly Highway.   There, by a carpark and rest area, were two policeymen waving us to stop!!!    “Good afternoon, sir.   Would you mind blowing into this breathaliser?”   “Certainly” says Jeff.   And of course it shows up green – inspite of yesterday evening’s little drinkeypoos.    “Could I see your Driving Licence, sir?”    “Certainly” says Jeff, and starts leafing through the cards in his card holder apologising because he can’t find it straightaway.   “That’s OK, Jeff” says the copper, who had been watching the cards as Jeff was searching.   He eventually finds it and hands it over, completely flummoxed as to how the cop knew his name.   “Ah, we’re very observant” says the cop with a grin.   I reckon he was routinely checking to make sure that all the cards carried the same name.    We then asked about the fruit and veg regulations.   “Oh that’s OK it really only applies to boxed fruit and veg, not the odd bits that the like of us would have in our campers!!!!   Dhuh – why couldn’t they have said that in the book.

 

So we merrily went on our way and I amused meself trying to photograph roadtrains as they came towards us.   Some were actually successful.   Loads more termite mounds, some really big ‘uns.

 

Arrived at the Barkly Homestead Roadhouse and who should come strolling across but Tony, from our stay at Kynuna.   So we had dinner with them and spent a very pleasant evening in their company.   We were talking about guidebooks and the different ways they presented information about places, and Heather asked me if we would like a book that they didn’t find particularly useful but perhaps we would.   It’s ‘Around Australia – The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Trip’ and it’s PERFECT.   Talk about one man’s meat being another man’s poison!!  It’s just right – telling us what is to be seen along each of the hundreds of different highways around Oz.   Heather said that we could post it back when we’d finished out trip, or just keep it.

 

WEDNESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER

 

Left Barkly Roadhouse at 8:30 after refuelling.    A few miles along the road Jeff saw a flock of budgies – I had me nose buried in our new book looking for stuff to see, so I missed ‘em.

 

We reached the end of the Barkly Highway and turned right towards Darwin.    Jeff decided to refuel and pulled in to the Three Ways Filling Station.   Sitting there were Heather and Tony.   They had waited (well the dogs needed a pee break) to say goodbye, as they were now heading south towards Alice Springs, while we were going north to Darwin and Kakadu.

 

Overnight at Dunmarra Wayside Inn and Caravan Park.   When we pulled in to a shady spot a guy whose motorhome was already there said something about no privacy – I just took it that he meant that the pitches were a bit small, but Jeff reckoned that he was being snotty – so we just turned Betty round so that we didn’t impinge on his privacy – what a pair of miseries.   He was actually taking up half of a 4-space pitch – we was good little bunnies and only took up our rightful space.   The majority of people we have met on sites have been so nice, but obviously you do get the odd ones you can do without!

 

THURSDAY 25 SEPTEMBER

 

Left Dunmarra at 7:39am.   Called in at the Daley Waters pub about an hour up the road – oh we wished we’d stayed at the nearby caravan park – it looked a lot of fun.    Had damper toast for a mid-morning snack – yum.

 

Booked in at the Mataranka Homestead Caravan Park and then had a swim in the ‘Thermal’ pool.    Lovely and refreshing – a short walk through trees covered in roosting fruit bats – no, we didn’t get bombed, the walkway was covered.   Met a great couple, Marcia and Derek and had dinner with them in the restaurant.   There was a lady who obviously worked there who walked through with a baby roo (or wallaby) and I asked if I could have a look.   She said that she would be back in a while and I could see it then.   About half an hour later she walked by and plonked the baby in my lap and said “look after it for me for a minute”.   Oh boy – it was the cutest little thing you ever did see – rather skinny but very curious.   After about 15 minutes a young lad who had also been sitting in the bar/restaurant came over, reclaimed it and said that it was time for the baby’s feed and sat back at his table and fed it with a bottle.   He said that it was a road-kill orphan and they had only had it for 3 or 4 days.    I hope the little one makes it.

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