East - rangermillard, ford ranger, millard slide-on

Transcription

Ready to head off on the trip
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 325 KM
DAY 1 MONDAY 19/05/97
I departed Finley just after midday and travelled west through Deniliquin to Barham
where I crossed the NSWNictoria border and traveHed on down to Donald where I
booked into an unpowered site in the Donald Caravan Park - first mistake! The
thermometer dropped to below 0° C and I had a very unsettled night's sleep trying to
keep warm - I ended up wearing my pyjamas, tracksuit pants, sweatshirt, socks,
parka and beanie.
Donald Caravan Park
DAY 2 TUESDAY 20/05/97
The first item on the day's agenda was a hot shower to try to get some warmth back
into the bones. I had a quick breakfast, packed up the camper, turned the car's
heater up to full, and headed off, aiming to arrive in Adelaide that evening. I'd only
been on the road 30 minutes or so when 'I noticed a couple of warning lights on the
dashboard come on. I looked at the water temperature gauge and saw the needle
almost up into the red zone. As I took my foot off the accelerator my first thought was
"Oh no, not again!" (I'd only just had the cylinder head replaced after boiling the
engine and cracking the old head on my previous trip to Sydney at Easter). As the
car slowed down I heard a large BANG from underneath the bonnet and steam
started to pour out. After pulling up and opening the bonnet, I found that the top
heater hose had burst, so I got onto my recently purchased and installed UHF CB
radio and put out a tentative call for assistance. Luckily I received an immediate reply
from a chap named Craig in the next town, Waracknabeal, who offered to call the
RACV for me. Not being certain exactly where I was located, he arranged for the
RACV from Donald to come out to me, but whilst I was waiting for them he had to go
out and so I lost radio contact with him.
Thinking back over the events that had occurred before I had stopped, I worked out
that one of the warning lights that had come on was the alternator light, and further
investigation led to my discovering that the fan belt had broken. A couple of hours
after I had first stopped, the Donald RACV had not arrived and I was beginning to
wonder what to try next. Fortunately my question was answered when a lady drove
out of a nearby property and stopped to see if I was okay. After telling her my
Situation , she told me that I was actually closer to Warracknabeal (23 km) than
Donald (27 km), and offered to drive back to her house and call the RACV again for
me to find out what was going on. It turned out that the Donald RACV had come
about 25 km, not found me, assumed that I'd got under way on my own, and so had
returned to Donald! She arranged for the Warracknabeal RACV to come out instead .
When he arrived, he replaced the fan-belt (I was carrying a spare) and replaced the
Z-shaped burst hose temporarily with a straight one and then followed me back into
Warracknabeal to make sure everything was okay - it was!
Altogether I lost about 3 hours of travel time, so only made it as far as Tailem Bend .
As it was starting to look like rain by this time, and as I hadn't got very much sleep
the night before, I decided to treat myself to a motel room for the night. I'm not too
proud to admit that at this stage I was beginning to wonder whether someone was
trying to tell me that I wasn't meant to be making this trip!
DAY 3 WEDNESDAY 19/05/97
It was raining when I awoke which vindicated my decision to book the motel room I wasn't looking forward to the first time I had to pack up a wet tent. After breakfast, I
drove on down to Adelaide to' meet up with Bill Magee (ex Head Teacher of English
at Wooden bong Central School). We spent a couple of hours catching up with each
other's news since he left Wooden bong in 1991 to move to Adela ide, before he went
off to the University where he is doing a course. I went out to buy a new sleeping bag,
a set of heater hoses and a spare fanbelt. That evening while Bill was doing the
evening shift at a service station I replaced both heater hoses and watched a little TV
before going to bed in his flat-mate's room (she was away at the time).
DAY 4 THURSDAY 22/05/97
The next morning we did a little more catching up, then after buying up big at the last
city supermarket I'd be in for a while, and purchasing a new inner tube for the trailer's
jockey wheel (the old one had a very slow leak which I'd been unable to find in a
bucket of water) headed north at about 11.00am. I passed through Port Wakefield,
Crystal Brook and a short detour into Port Germein before arriving at Stirling North on
the outskirts of Port Augusta, arriving at 5: 15 pm. I booked into a powered site and
used my new sleeping bag and thermostat controlled fan-heater to spend a much
more comfortable night. I was to return to this caravan park some weeks later after
completing a big circle through SA, WA and the NT.
DAY 5 FRIDAY 23/05/97
Heading off at 8.45 am I drove through Port Augusta past an intersection with a sign
saying Perth straight ahead, Darwin turn right. The highway travelled past Iron Knob
Iron Knob viewed from the east
and through Kimba (home of the Big Galah), Kyancutta, Minnipa, Poochera and
Wirrulla. The first sight of each of these towns was the massive grain silos which
dominated the landscape. I arrived in Ceduna at 3.20 pm and booked into a caravan
park. Here I was told for the first time about the quarantine check~ point at the SAIWA
border - you're not allowed to take any fresh fruit or vegetables into WA. As I'd
bought bags of apples, oranges and mandarins for snacks along the road, as well as
enough potatoes, onions and tomatoes to last until Perth,it looked as though I'd have
to throw a lot of it out unless I could come up with a better idea. Thus it was that I
found myself that night peeling and coring as many of my apples as I could fit into my
biggest saucepan, stewing them and putting the result in the fridge.
DAY 6 SATURDAY 24/05/97
Before I left Ceduna I visited the local hardware store and bought a plastic citrus
juicer. I got away about 10 am and travelled westward across the Nullarbor along the
top of the Great Australian Bight, stopping for a hamburger lunch at Yalata Aboriginal
Community. I was also trying to eat up the remainder of my apples along the way.
Soon after lunch I was starting to feel intestinally uncomfortable, which I at first put
down to eating too many apples. After a couple of hundred kilometres I started to
catch glimpses of the blue ocean to the south, so turned off into a track to take a
closer look. The track led to the cliffs edge which was quite crumbly and very high.
I can remember thinking that if one wanted to disappear without trace all you'd have
to do is drive off the edge - morbid thought!
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Nullarbor Cliffs looking east
About a kil'ometre further on was a sign-posted track leading to a fenced-in viewing
area on the cliffs edge, with numerous signs warning of the danger of going too close
to the edge. The Nullarbor itself was quite interesting - in most part truly "treeless", in
others small trees and scrub. Apart from feeling increasingly uncomfortable as the
day progressed I was glad that I'd finally got the chance to drive across it myself (as
opposed to the 36 hour coach trip I'd done in 1978), I arrived at the Travel Park just
on the SA side of the border with WA at about 5.00 pm. After setting up my camper
I fried up all my tomatoes and onion, boiled a couple of potatoes, and finished off the
remainder of a barbecued chook I had . I had some of the tomato & onion with the
chicken and potato and put the rest in the fridge. I also juiced all my oranges and
mandarins and had a bottle of juice on ice as well. I on'ly ended up having to throw
away a few potatoes. Later that night I found out that it hadn't been the apples, I had
picked up some sort of gastric bug - consequently I spent the night "going from both
ends" .
DAY 7 SUNDAY 24505/97
Not feeling all that bright the next morning, I had a bit of a lie-in, only to have it start
raining before I'd started to pack the camper away. I waited until 10.30 to give the
rain a chance to stop, but it only got heavier, so II decided to pack up regardless and
press on. I got through the border quarantine check-point okay, but only travelled as
far as Madura before weariness and sickness told me to stop. By then it had stopped
raining, so I booked into one of their "Budget" rooms ($50/night) and opened up the
camper to dry. Feeling quite miserable, I contemplated turning back the next day if I
wasn't feeling any better. Fortunately I started to come good later that evening and
was able to get a good night's rest.
Feeling a lot better, but still quite weak, I continued westward . This stretch included
the famous "90 mile (114 km) straight" and also passed the Caiguna Blow-hole - the
entrance to one of the Nullarbor's many limestone caves. To quote the sign there:
The blowholes on the Nul/arbor have been formed by weathering
through to underground cavities. The cave below here has clearance
heights of about 0.5 - 1.5 m. AI/ caves breathe to some extent.
Nul/arbor caves breathe more vigorously than caves in any other area
in Australia. Air movement at one cave entrance on the Nul/arbor has
been measured to be about 72 kmlhr. A cave breathes out when the
air pressure fal/s, and breathes in when it rises. Speed of breathing is
related to the cross-sectional area of a cave's entrance (and to the
volume of air contained in the cave). Air movement in large caves can
be almost impossible to detect.
Caiguna Blowhole entrance
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I stopped for a very light lunch (the first food I'd eaten since Saturday night) at
8alladonia. After seeing the price of diesel ($1.02/Iitre) I emptied 2 of my jerry cans
instead (40 litres) having paid 72c/litre when I filled them up before I left. I asked the
attendant there what he did in his time off out there in the middle of nowhere, and he
told me he went off looking for uncharted caves on the Nullarbor. I arrived in
Norseman at 3.30 pm and after checking in to the caravan park went down to the
police station to check out the road conditions to Wave Rock, one place I had
planned on visiting on this trip. When they told me that the most direct routes were
flooded out and suggested that I go the long way around on sealed roads - an extra
couple of hundred kilometres - I decided to give it a miss. Whilst it was interesting
driving across the Nullarbor, I don't have any great desire to ever do it again!
Heading off early (8 .30 am), I drove via Coolgardie, Southern Cross and Northam to
the Perth suburb of Midlands, arriving at around 5.15 pm. As it had been raining most
of the way, I decided to treat myself to a motel, and visited the local Medical Centre
just to make sure I was alright - I was.
I was now ready to start the part of the trip I had travelled 3608 km to do, i.e. from
Perth northwards. After visiting the supermarket to re-provision I had a choice of 3
routes to my next planned stopping pl'ace, Geraldton. I decided to take the one
r~commended as the most picturesque by my guide book, up the Midl'ands Road
through such towns and Ihamlets as Moora, Marchagee, Carnamah, Three Springs,
Mingenew and Dongara. I camped just north of Geraldton at the Batavia Coast
Caravan Park. Though the nights were still cool, from here on the days were starting
to get warm enough to wear shorts and T-shirts. That night I shared the barbecue
facilities with two girls from Perth, Verity and Anthea, who were just setting off on a
round Australia trip.
I drove back into Geraldton to have a look around and to get some information from
Harvey World Travel, then headed north again to the very pretty seaside resort of
Kalbarri, at the mouth of the Murchison River. Here I booked into the Murchison
Caravan Park for two nights and booked a "Canoe Adventure Tour" for the following
day. This was the first night that I put up the annexe to my camper.
Kalbarri
Camper with annexe - Kalbarri
I was picked up by the tour mini-bus at 7.45 am by guide Dave Swift and driver Daniel
- the owner of Kalbarri tours. Daniel actually started the company a few years ago,
and Dave was taking only his second tour under Daniel's watchful eyes. We drove
into the Kalbarri National Park and out to "The Loop Lookout", with Daniel pointing out
the abundant wild flowers due to unseasonable rain that had recently fallen . The
Loop is where the Murchison River Gorge turns back on itself creating a neck only a
few hundred metres across where you can look down on the river on both sides.
Wind erosion has formed some quite interesting formations in the rock, such as the
overhang and the "Nature's Window" in the photos on the following page. We also
were shown the 40 million year fossil footprints of the first land-going animal - a sort
of giant scorpion - I can't remember its name.
From The Loop we drove towards another lookout called "The Z Bend", but just
before getting there left the bus and hiked down through a gully to the bottom of the
Murchison River Gorge. Once we reached the bottom, we .hiked along the river bank
to a spot where they stored some canoes, then after a quick lunch took to the water
for a one hour or so paddle.
Nature's Window looking west
Rock overhang - Kalbarri N
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Canoeing on the Murchison River
We hiked back up to the road
arriving back about 3.30 pm .
sitting in a car for the best part
with it some rain which lasted
after our return .
through a different gully and drove back to Kalbarri,
It felt good to have got some decent exercise after
of eleven days. A very strong wind blew up, bringing
until early the next morning, but fortunately not until
I had a $9 roast chicken dinner at the Kalbarri pub that evening, but only one can of
Tooheys Blue after finding out the price ($2 .50 a can).
The rain had stopped in the early morning so I dried off the tent and annexe as best
I could then packed up and headed off about 9.00 am. On my way back to the main
highway I visited "Hawks Head" and "Ross Graham" lookouts in the Kalbarri National
Park to get two more views of the Murchison Gorge. I stopped for lunch at the
Billabong Roadhouse then travelled on up to Shark Bay, booking into the Blue
Dolphin Caravan Park in Denham (the most western town in continental Australia) at
around 3.00 pm. I was advised that the best time to see the dolphins out at Monkey
Mia was between 8.00 and 8.30 am, so I decided to go out there the next morning. I
also booked a 2 hr cruise on the "Shotover" catamaral1 for 10.00 am.
DAY 14 SUNDAY 01/06/97
Leaving Denham at 7.30 am, I drove out to Monkey Mia, getting to the beach around
8.00 am. There were already about 30-40 people standing knee-deep in the water
watching and patting two dolphins.
2 Dolphins - Monkey Mia
(" Shotover" top left)
It was quite difficult to get a decent view of the dolphins from the beach, so I ended
up going out onto an adjacent jetty and using the zoom on my video camera to get a
better view - this proved to be very successful. About 8.30 a third dolphin appeared
as did 2 rangers who asked everyone to leave the water. They then selected people
one-at-a-time to hand-feed the dolphins. The skipper/owner of another catamaran "Aristocat" - was also on the jetty; he expressed an interest in my video camera and
after chatting with him for a while I found out that he was heading off on a whole day
cruise to Cape Peron to look for dugong and sting rays. He arranged for me to join
the cruise instead of the one on the "Shotover" with my only having to pay the
difference to him.
The cruise turned out to be ternific, we left at 9.00 am and travelled up Shark Bay,
spotting more dolphins, turtles, cormorants and other sea-life. We went ashore at
Cape Peron where we met a crew from National Geographic who were filming a
natural phenomena. It is here that a dolphin "herds" schools of fish into shallow water
on the out-going tide, thus stranding them. It then beaches itself and feeds on them.
We couldn't stay long enough to witness the whole process, but did see the herding
process in action . On the way back the skipper spotted a dugong cow and its calf, I
got some good video of them, but getting still photos of them proved difficU'lt.
Dugong cow off Cape Peron - Shark Bay
We arrived back in Monkey Mia at about 6.00 pm , I then drove back to Denham for a
late tea.
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 347 K'M
I left Denham at 9.30 am. Travelling back to the highway I stopped at Shell Beach
where literally millions of shells occur, many of them still living in the very salty water.
Due to the high salinity of water in this part of the bay the shells are safe from
predators - thus the high occurrence. I also visited the old Telegraph Station and
Post Office at Hamelin Pool.
Old Telegraph Station - Hamelin Pool
The Hamelin Pool is another natural phenomena - the protective , hypersaline
environment is home to the most significant stromatolite formations in the world. Built
by the action of photosynthetic bacteria over thousands of years, these structures are
a legacy from a period over 3 billion years ago , when with no other life forms to
compete with, such colonies abounded. In fact this was the environment which
eventually made the earth habitable for humans and animals.
Whilst visiting the old Telegraph Station I heard about the last line man to work there
- Clarence Vivian "Adgee" Cross. At one time he had to cross a flooded river to repair
a line, leaving his clothes on the other side - someone else had a camera handy.
Sub-tidal Stromatolites - Hamelin Pool
Hamelin Pool Shell Block Quarry
Adgee repairing the line
A number of buildings in the Shark Bay region are constructed from the unique
"coquinite", formed by shells of the fragum erugatum bivalve, quarried from an area
adjacent to Hamelin Pool.
In the Hamelin Pool car-park I met a Dutch gentleman, Cornelius 8yvank, who was
travelling in much the same direction as myself in a hired (from Perth) landcruiser.
We were to meet up again a number of times in the next few weeks.
From Shark Bay I travelled up to Carnarvon, booking into the Star Trek Caravan Park
- I didn't see any Vulcans or Klingons though!
Whilst in the shower that morning I heard rain on the roof, meaning I had to pack up
between showers of rain. As I travelled north (crossing the Tropic of Capricorn on the
way) the weather cleared up and by the time I reached Coral Bay at lunch-time it had
turned into a beautiful sunny day. Coral Bay is a very pretty spot, where the Ningaloo
Reef comes to within metres of the shore so you just have to wade out a short way to
see the coral, etc.
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Diving on the Ningaloo Reef
After a bit of a look around and some lunch, I travelled on north to Exmouth, where I
visited the Visitor's Centre and booked a tour for the next day. I then drove out to the
Lighthouse Caravan Park, arriving about 3.30 pm. That evening I met a couple from
Yerong Creek who knew my cousin Wendy.
I drove back into Exmouth for the start of my tour at 7.45 am. On board the 4-wheeldrive OCA bus was our driver/guide Leah and a local v,ideo film maker. 7 other
tourists and I joined them as we headed south to our first stop - Shothole Canyon in
the Cape Range National Park. The road into the park (originally an oil-mining survey
track) followed the original creek-bed along the bottom of the canyon, with scenery
that reminded me of Arizona .
Cape Range National Park
We next retraced our steps to the main highway, then travelled a bit further south
before heading back into the Park again, this time on the Charles Knife Road
(another ex oil exploration road) which climbed up into the range itself, giving us
some stunning views down into canyons. All the time we were driving Leah was
giving us a running commentary of the area - the history of the Learmonth RAAF,
Navy and Army bases there - how the "Krait" had set off from Exmouth for its dar,ing
raid ,in Singapore Harbour during WWII - etc. He was a fund of information and
certainly kept us all interested and amused. Once again we headed back to the
highway, then south towards the RAAF base before heading back into the park again.
This time the very rough 4-wheel-drive- only track took us up and over the range to
Osprey Bay on the Western side of the park. On the way across we took a short
detour to a little-known cave, the more daring of us venturing inside.
Entrance to Cape Range cave
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Limestone formation - "FiOzen Waterfall"
After a picnic lunch at Osprey Bay we travelled down the coast a short way to Yardie
Creek. We were met here by a couple of Swiss girls (Corinna and Corinna) who
asked Leah if they could join us on for the cruise section of the tour. Leah acquiesced
to their request so they joined us in our small boat as we cruised up the Yardie Creek
Gorge, spotting various types of wild-life including families of black-footed wallabies,
peering down at us from caves and ledges on the cliff-face. I was to run into the girls
a number of times later in the trip as well. From here we traveUed north again to
Turquoise Bay where we donned snorkels and drifted a'iong the Ningaloo Reef with
the natural current that ran a,long the shore. The water was crystal clear and the
sea-life abundant - corals, sting rays, a multitude of brightly coloured coral fish, as
well as snapper, leopard and reef sharks, trevally, etc. We only spent a couple of
hours here, but I could have stayed hours longer. Back on the bus, we travelled
northwards once more for a tour of the lighthouse, watching sunset from its balcony.
I arrived back in camp at around 7.30 pm, having squeezed a lot into a very
interesting day.
During the tour the previous day, Leah had told us that if we got the chance, a tour of
the prawn processing. plant was well worth the effort, but he wasn't sure just when
they ran. I decided to check as I went past on the way out of town that day, but first I
took a photo of a clue to the fate of our ex-Prime Minister - Harold Holt.
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After doing some shopping in town, I drove back southwards past the prawn
processing plant to read the sign that said "Plant Tours - Thursdays and Sundays 10.00 am". As the time was 9.45 am, I felt that it was "fate" that I should take the tour.
It was a very interesting tour, the plant is quite high-tec, with every prawn entering the
plant electronically scanned and sorted by computer - though packing and final
checking is done by humble humans. The majority of prawns are destined for the
Japanese market, but we were given a couple to taste each and I was able to buy a
kilo of tiger prawns for $11. Getting away from the plant at 11.30 am, I headed back
to the highway, following it up to the Nanutarra Roadhouse where I turned off and
headed inland to Tom Price, gateway to Karijini (formerly Hamersley Range) National
Park.
Unidentified mesa south of Nanutarra
The last hour or so of the trip was completed in darkness, and about 23 km before I
arrived I came across Rich (Engllish) and Robin (Dutch) whose car had skidded out
of control into a tree on the gravel road. I gave Rich a lift into Tom Price where he
organised a tow-truck to go out and tow Robin and the car into town. They only had
a tiny 2-man tent, so I let them store their gear in my tent for the next couple of nights
. while their car was being repaired.
DISTANCE TRAVEllED: 310 KM
I left my camper at the caravan park and drove into the
Tourist Information Centre in Tom Price (the hignest
town in WA at 747m above sea level) to get a map of
Karijini. I then drove to the furthermost gorge in the
park (Dales Gorge), stopping at the Aboriginal owned
and run Karijini Tourist Centre on the way where I
bought some presents and souvenirs. At the gorge I
did a short walk along the rim which ended up at a
viewing point that looked down into the Circular Pool.
As I was about to leave, a tourist bus from Darwin
pulled in, and I got talking to the driver and courier.
They told me of some places to visit, including
recommending the walk down into Joffre Gorge.
I then worked my way back through the park, stopping
at Fortescue Falls, Kalamina Gorge (where I had 2
lovely prawn rolls for lunch) and Joffre Falls. Here I
took the recommended walk down into the Joffre Gorge,
well worth the effort!
Joffre Gorge
The most popular spot in the park is the Oxer Look-out, where I met the 2 Corinnes
once more. The lookout is at a spectacular point where 4 gorges meet.
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Corrine & Corinne - Oxer Look-out
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From here I drove back to Tom Price, arr,iving with enough daylight left to drive up the
very steep 4 wheel-drive track to the top of Mt Nameless (the 2nd highest mountain
and highest vehicle accessible mountain in WA at 1128m) which gives panoramic
views over the area, including the open-cut mine. The track is closed off at sunset as
it is too dangerous to try it in the dark. It was quite a hairy climb, using low-range all
the way up and back down, but the view was worth lit. That night I entertained Rich,
Robin and a number of other campers with my guitar. One couple (Bob and Shirley
Ellison from Avoca) invited me to camp with them again the next night! Cornelius
also arrived that evening , though I didn't see him until the next morning as I was
leaving.
I was booked on a tour of the Hamersley Mine at 10.00 am, so I did a 'load of washing
that morning and put it in the camp's drier. Unfortunately when I went to get it out at
9.45 am I discovered that the drier was faulty, so I had to throw the damp washing
into a garbage bag and head off. The tour departed from the Visitor Centre in town ,
and I ended up on the tourist bus from Darwin with the people I'd met the previous
day. The 2 hr mine tour itself was very interesting and informative, they spend a lot
of time and effort on restoration work . After the tour I headed north west towards
Millstream Chichester National Park. For lunch I headed to the lookout on the top of
Mt Sheila. This track was even steeper than Mt Nameless, but was a bit easier
because it was sealed. I had to leave my camper at the bottom, but once again the
view was marvellous. After lunch I travelled down to Millstream along the Hamersley
Iron Railway Road - I had to carry with me a special permit from the mine. I set up
camp next to Bob and Shirley at the Deep Reach Camping Area on the Fortescue
River, strung up a line between some trees and hung out my washing. After tea I
spent a pleasant evening with the Ellisons , talking, playing guitar, singing and
enjoying the stars.
I woke to a cloudy day, but at least my washing was now dry. After breakfast I said
goodbye to Shirley and Bob (who were staying another night) and headed to Python
Pool in the neighbouring Chichester National Park. The scenery changed
dramatically on this trip, and pyt1hon Pool itself was quite picturesque.
Python Pool
Eighty Mile Beach
I continued on past Pyramid Homestead (the hill in the next photo may give a clue as
to how it got its name) to the NW Coastal Highway, then travelled north to my lunchstop at Whim Creek. An interesting sign above the bar here stated "My accountant's
Mt Wellard near Pyramid Homestead
name is Helen Waite, so if you want credit just go to Helen Waite." From here I drove
up to Sth Hedland and booked into the caravan park. After setting up camp, I called
Andrew Metcalf who invited me around for a BBQ tea. Andrew was the breakfast OJ
at Classic Rock 102.5 FM in Deniliquin for a while, and I got to know him through rock
trivia competitions that he used to run - winning a few CDs from him over a period of
18 months or so. He had bought a half share in a radio station (NW Radio) in Port
Hedland, so was living and working there. His girlfriend Cathy was from Deniliquin,
and we had a very pleasant evening.
After travelling on gravel roads for the last few days, the bolts and nuts holding the
lid on the trailer storage box had worked loose and fallen off, so my first job was to
buy some more nuts and bolts and do some repair work - this time I put lock-nuts on
and liberal amounts of super glue which did the trick for the remainder of the trip.
After doing some shopping for suppHes as well, I drove into Port Hedland for a look
at the port-end of the iron- ore mining operation, did some banking and then headed
north once more.
My lunch stop was beside the very inviting De Grey River where I considered having
a swim - until I saw the "No Swimming - Crocodiles" sign. Whilst enjoying my lunch
here, I started talking to a couple from Kangaroo Island who knew David Trethewey's
relatives from there. After lunch I travelled up to the very pretty 80 Mile Beach where
I had my first dip in the Indian Ocean for the trip before an early night.
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DAY 23 lUESDAY 10/06/97
The drive up to Broome was broken by a stop at Sandfire Roadhouse (so named
because explorer Leichhardt had written about the area "The desert sand was like a
fire") where I ran into Cornelius once again - he had spent the night there. A bit
further on I stopped for a mid-morning break at a road-side rest-stop, where I met a
couple (Gary and Pauline) who were on an anti-clockwise around-Australia cycling
trip, having started in Darwin a couple of months before. It was very interesting
talking to them and hearing about some of the people they had already met along the
way. They told me about a Japanese girl they had passed who was walking from
Perth to Brisbane pushing a wheelbarrow with all here gear inside - I was to see her
later on in my trip. I arrived in Broome at around 3.00pm and booked into the last site
available at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park. After visiting the Tourist Information
Centre and having a look around Chinatown, I booked my car in for its 150 000 km
service the following morning and then drove out to the port area and then on to
Cable Beach for the sunset where I once again I bumped into Cornelius.
Sunset at Cable Beach, Broome
Prison Tree Derby
I took my car to the garage at 7.00am, walked into China Town where I rang home,
did some shopping and wrote a letter home. When I went back to pick up my car, I
found that the clutch needed replacing, a front wheel bearing needed re-packing and
my rotor arm brushes needed replacing, so I booked the car in for the following day
and then went back to the caravan pank for a lazy afternoon/evening with some
nearby campers - amongst them were Debby, Honey (Johanna) and Trish. Had an
impromptu guitar/harmonica campfire singalong. Honey and Trish were from A'lbany
and were travelling around Austral,ia for 12 months in a Subaru towing a camper
trailer - Honey's daughter Debby had flown over from Sydney to spend a few weeks
in Broome with them.
Dropped the car at Shinju Motors at 7.00am, then walked down to the Tourist Info
Centre and waited until it opened at 8.00am. I tried to book onto a pearl tour that
coincided with my time there, but unfortunately it was full, so I caught a bus out to
Cable Beach instead, where I spent my time reading and chatting to the operator of
the surf-cat hire boats (I'd left my swimmers in the car). Back to pick up my car, I left
Broome at 1.00pm to drive to Derby where I visited the "Prison Tree" - a hollow boab
tree reputedly used to hold the Aboriginal outlaw Jundamurra (Pigeon) in the last
century. After bodking into the caravan park and setting up camp I met the Grant
family from Whittlesea, Victoria - Garth and Melinda with their children Amelia (11),
Bayden (9), Elouise (7) and Charlotte (2%) were travelling to Darwin to work for a
while, and were taking 3 months to get there. We went out to the Derby jetty to watch
the sunset - Derby Ihas the 2nd highest tidal flow in the world (the highest is in
Canada) and the tide was fairly racing in . :1 was to run linto the Grants again a number
of times as well further on the trip.
LEGEND
KIMBER EY REGION
NOT TO SCALE
I left the Grants in Derby at around 8.30am, Amelia was unwell so they were going
to take her to the hospital outpatients for a check-up before travelling on. Upon
arrival in Fitzroy Crossing I booked into the rather fancy Caravan Park, did a load of
washing, had lunch, hung out the washing and then drove out to Geike Gorge. Here
I did a 30 minute walk along the Fitzroy River to the sandbar where it meets the
Margaret River and saw my first freshwater crocodiles sunning themselves. I then
went on a 1Y:z hour river cruise guided by a Conservation and Life Management
(CALM) ranger which was very interesting and informative. The gorge is actually
carved out of a Devonian Era Great Barrier Reef - ie all the rock is the calcified
remains of coral'. He showed us samples of fossils of sea-animals found in the rock.
L
Geike Gorge
When I got back to camp, the Grants had arrived, and they invited me to share tea
with them.
msTMiCE TftAVELt.:'ED! 156 Kit
Leaving the Grants once more, I headed back NW until the turn-off to Windjana
Gorge. Here I said goodbye to sealed roads for some time as I headed up to the
Tunnel Creek National Park. The creek has actually tunnelled right through the
Devonian Reef and with the aid of a torch I was able to wal'k and wade right through
to the other side. I had been told that there are 3 crocodiles that reside in the tunnel.,
but it wasn't until I actually saw one that I believed it.
From the inside looking out
1-,
From the outside looking in
After this walk I stopped at the police station ruins at Lillimil'ura (where Pigeon had
killed a policeman) then travelled on to Windjana Gorge where I set up camp and had
lunch. I then did the 4 hr return (8 km) walk up the gorge where I counted no less
than 20 freshwater crocodiles sunning themselves. I was able to get up very close
to some of them. It was so hot that I even risked a quick dip in a very clear stretch of
shallow water at the far end of the walk (brave of me, wasn't it?) The next photo is
of one of the crocs that I got to within a few feet of without it even moving:
When I got back to camp the Grants had arrived and I also met a couple from
Adelaide (Laurie and Pam Moritz) with whom I was to travel for the next few days.
There were also three young blokes from Perth there who organised a communal
camp-fire that evening, with me and my guitar as the musical backing. Because
most people get up at sunrise (about 6.00am) and organise tea before sunset (about
Nt 10(.0 R..~ BUWl
Q ~ AAN 1 'f 1AC~
5. 15pm), this was one of our later nig hts, not getting to bed until about 9.30pm! It
was a fun evening with quite a mix of people and nationalities.
Windjana Gorge resident
DI\Y 28 SUNDI\Y 15/06/97
Having found out that we were
travelling in the same direction, the
Moritz's and I decided to travel
together for the next I~ittle while. We
headed N up to the Gibb River Road
and then travel.led ,E untiil we arrived
at Silent Grove camping ground on
the road into Bell River Gorge. Here
I set up my trailer, put out my solar
shower to heat up (a plastic bag filled
with water that is clear on one side
and black on the other), then drove
up to the Gorge. About a 20 m~n wal,k
brought me to the top of the Bel'! River
Falls. After taking the photo of the top . . . .
falls (right) I crossed over above the
falls and followed a trail down the
other side to the base of them where
I had a most refreshing swim in the
splash pool before exploring the
bottom falls. Another cooling off
swim at the top before hiking back to
my car, driving back to camp and a
nice hot shower. Played 500 with a
couple from Portland near Lithgow
(Alan and Pat) before heading off to
bed.
DlSTI\NCE llRAVEllED: 157 KM
...----
MANNING
GORGE
LEGEND
Cl TOILET
•
B.B.Q
+
CENTRAL RUBBISH TRAILER
{f
SWIMMING
+
Sa
WALKING TRACK
WATER TANK
.jf . 'STARTI • • ."
:10
Cl
DAV 29 MONDAV 16/06/97
With the Moritz's again I
headed out to Galvami
Gorge which was a pretty
little pool at the base of a
waterfall (about a 30 min
return walk).
I was
struck by the boab tree at
the top of the falls,
seemingly
standing
guard over the area (top
photo).
From here we travelled
on to the Manning Gorge
camp ground .
After
setting up camp and ~_ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ __ __ -----,
having lunch, we set off
on the 3 hour return walk
to the Manning Falls
(centre photo). The walk l Jt~~~~ill
was well worth the effort, Ii
the falls were quite
I swam
impressive.
across to the falls and
took a 3-shot panorama
photo looking out from
(PhotOt~illiilllll!11111111
bottom). Upon returning
from
falls I had
behindthe
the hike,
another swim in the
waterhole
near
the
while
the
campsite
freshies sunned themselves on nearby rocks - I was becoming quite brave about
swimming with crocs by then! The Grants had turned up then, and after tea I went
over to their campfire and ended up entertaining another large group for a while with
guitar and voice.
I farewelled the Grants
for the last time and
with
the
travelled
Moritz's to Barnett ~~~~~~~~....-fj~~~~~:-:--:;:;:;;'i:il
River Gorge. A 2hr
return hike took us to a
couple of great look-out
points above the gorge,
and Laurie and I had a
swim when we got back
to the cars (Pam
dangled her feet).
After lunch we decided
to head for Drysdale
River Station from ~=:!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
here, which involved
travel ling
up
the
Kalumburu Road . We
had heard that this road
was very rough, and I
had thought I might
leave my camper at
Drysdale River and
carryon up to the
Mitchell Plateau with an..."",,.
my small hiking tent as
accomodation .
After
on
the
getting
Kalumburu Road I had
got too far ahead of
Laurie and Pam to
maintain CB contact. The road turned out to be extremely bad - so bad that they
gave up and decided to head to Jack's Waterhole instead - I didn't see them again.
When I arrived at Drysdale River I decided that the road was too bad to continue up
to Mitchell Plateau, so I booked onto a scenic flight instead and set up camp at the
Miners pool, where I met my co-passengers (Norm and Kath Millard from
Melbourne). I shared their campfire to cook tea, chatted for a while, then headed off
to bed.
Our cessna took off from Drysdale airstrip at 10.00am (pilot Ian). We flew roughly
NW over Prince Regent Nature Reserve and St George Basin, then turned NE to fly
over Prince Frederick Harbour to Mitchell Plateau (90 mins). Here we transferred to
a helicopter for a 15 min flight up to the top of the Mitchell Falls. Ian gave us a 2 hr
guided tour viewing the falls from a number of different vantage points, including the
JrtJ
GEIKIE GORGE
AT PAR
r y Cro
DESERT
ng
-r
cr
top of Big Mertens Falls and lookiing at
some Bradshaw rock paintings.
Also up there were Mick Malloy and
Sophie Lee who had flown up from EI
Questro.
After lunch and a dip in the river we
helicoptered back to the cessna which
took us back to Drysdale, arriving
about 3.15pm. I hopped into my car
and drove to Jack's Waterhole,
stopping on the way to assist a family
from Gunnedah (Greg and Maryanne
Taylor) with my high-lift jack, arriving
about 7.00pm.
Islands in St George Basin
Mount Trafalgar
Bradshaw rock painting
Road train on the
Gibb River Road
Drysdale River crossing on
the Kulumburu Road
Headed off towards the EI
Questro Station Resort on
the Pentecost River at the
base of the majestic
Cockburn Range.
Just
before the turn off to the
~~~~;; resort was the longest river
crossing (Pentecost) of the
trip (photo left).
EI Questro was bought
by a 22 yr-old English
Lord in 1990 who
~:.:~~_~:;;..;.~~..._ _..;;._ _~_~~ turned the million
acre
beefcattle station into a holiday resort, with an award winning lUxury
homestead catering to the rich ($600 - $700 per night) as well as
cheaper bungalows and camp-sites ($7.50 per night in my case). The
station employs 4 permanent staff to run the beef-cattle side of the
operation, plus 40 odd staff during the dry
season to run the resort and related activities.
As I set up my camper I discovered that the
sustained corrugations of the Gibb River Road
had caused my annex tent-poles to batter their
way through 5mm of plastic capping and had
made good thei r escape somewhere in the
previous couple of days.
After some lunch and meeting a couple from
Kandos (Pat and Karen), I took the 3 hour
Chamberlain Gorge
bus/boat tour of the Chamberlain Gorge (only
accessible by boat). The boat trip wasn 't all that interesting, but when we
disembarked at the end of it we were shown some Aboriginal and Bradshaw rock
paintings, as well as the fossil of a mangrove root. The Bradshaw paintings (like the
ones at Mitchell Falls) pre-date known Aboriginal art by
thousands of years (according to carbon-dating of waspnests nearby) and the most popular theory is that they
were
painted
by
I ndonesian
natives
when
Gondwanaland was still connected to Asia. The figures
in the paintings are much thinner and more elongated,
and spears in the paintings have barbs on them, not
seen in Aboriginal paintings . That evening I shouted
myself to a steak , chips and salad dinner at the EI
Questro Steakhouse before going to sa beside the
camp-fire at the open-air "Swinging Arm Bar" . Here I met an interesting Aboriginal Peter - who had been born under a boab tree on the station. He, amongst other jobs,
drove the stations grader, and when their were enough tourists entertained with
guitar and song from 8.00pm until bed-time. This particular night there weren't
enough tourists, so we had an early night.
•
• ••••• ~ • •
••'
•
~rumby
Sase
•
Gallery Rock Art
•
"
'
:
(by Helicopter only)
1811m
••
: Amalla Gorge
$-"£'.~'
•:
•
..
~;
and)108
Rock Art
•
ElQ
STATION·
STORE
:.
h
. ....
..
Zebedee SpOngs
•••••..\Jackaroo'a Walertlole
and bungalows
•.... )-'. 8 Queslro GOf'QI
Moonshine Gorge
.....
"
;:. . :.:;;::::',:'.~:...:':.
. : ..•
". ' . .
..
~
' , "
.'
-"
'
: -. ~ .
• Mlrimlri Falls
After breakfast, I did a load of washing, hung it out, and
then 'headed off to Zebedee Springs. A 10 min walk
through rain-forest type vegetation took me to a series
of 5 small pool:s being fed by thermal springs, one of
which I luxuriated in for about half an hour until I
started to turn into a prune. The gully that the springs
are in is in the shade until at least midday, but ordinary tourists like
myself are not allowed there in the afternoons, this time is reserved
for the "rich" people staying at the homestead . From here 'I drove to Jackeroo
Waterhole for a picnic lunch before driving to the mouth of the EI Questro Gorge.
The 3 hr return walk into this gorge was by far the most demanding of the trip,
involving walking , rock-climbing, wading and swimming along the creek, but the
waterfall and drop-pool at the top of the gorge was well worth the effort.
Unfortunately the narrowness of the gorge at this end made it impossible to get a
decent photo . I returned to camp exhausted, brought in my washing and then had
an hour or so's rest before cooking tea . Peter had ,invited me and my guitar back to
the campfire that night, this time there were plenty of people, so he and I entertained
them until about 10.00pm - a late night for me! Peter had similar musical tastes to
me, so we blended well together as well as performing individually. He sang a
number of his own compositions, including one titled "I've Never Been To Bed With
An Ugly Woman, But I've Woken Up Next To A Few".
I packed up and departed EI
Questro campground around
7.30am and drove to the Emma
Gorge Resort (another part of
EI Questro). I did the 1% hour
return walk to the waterfall and
drop-pool. I only went in as far
as my waist as the water was
freezing . Once again it was
quite difficult to get a good
photo (see right) due to the
physical nature of the location.
From here I headed E until I hit
asphalt once more, then turned
N to drive up to Wyndham, the most northern major town and port in WA, arriving at
11 .00am. I did some supermarket shopping, then booked into the caravan park, set
up camp and had lunch. After a short nap, I drove to the port area where I watched
a freighter docking . They had two lines out fore and aft, and used the ship's winches
to gradually drag it into the jetty, letting out anchor chain on the seaward side as they
did so. On the dock were liarge hoppers; road trains drive right onto the dock, deposit
their loads of bauxite into the hoppers, which is then carried by conveyor belts out
onto the gantry and down into the ship's hold. It was quite interesting to watch the
whole process. From here I drove up to the Five Rivers Lookout on the top of Mt
The Big Crocodile
Wyndham
Bastion which overlooks the
port as well as giving views
of the Ord, Forrest, King,
Fortescue
and
Durack
Rivers emptying out into the
Cambridge Gulf, From here
I was able to watch the roadtrains driving onto the jetty
as well as video and
photograph the sunset that
evening (photo left).
DAY 35 SU"'DAY 22/06/97
D1STA"'CE TRAVELLED: 132 KM
Leaving Wyndham about
B.15am,
I headed SE,
stopping at The Grotto, about
25 km S of Wyndham (photo
right). It was a bit too early ---.....
and cool to have a dip in this
natural waterhole in a gully
that looked like a man-made
quarry. To get down into the
gully I had to climb down 140 ~_...;;
steps cut into the side of it.
The water was abso!l utely
teeming with tiny (about 3"
long) cat-fish, the creek was
not running so they were
trapped there until the next rains came. Back on the road again, drove down to
Kununurra, the major town for the Lake Kununurra/Ord River/Lake Argyle Scheme.
The road crossed the Kununurra Diversion Dam and I noticed boats sailing on the
lake as well as a sign advertising "Aqua Hire". It looked so tempting that I made
.------- -- - --------,-=-- - - - ----, enquiries about hiring a cat
($20/hr). Booking first in to
the Kona Caravan Park and
setting up on the banks of
Lake Kununurra, r then went
back and hired a cat for an
hour - the operator Geoff
wasn't very busy and said
take longer if I liked, so I took
him at his word and stayed
.~_~1 out for 90 mins in a great nor'
easter, getting the boat up
onto one hull a number of
times.
11'-
,:)
BUR,
AAt. GE
I
,I.
MATHESOt
ROGE
AFtR80YD
RAN"
LEGEND
_
=J2
_
-J3
..J
After my sail I had some lunch
and sat and chatted to Geoff
while a couple of more people
had a sail. I told him how I
instruct sailing at Sport and
Recreation Vacation Camps,
so when one of these people,
a bloke from Birmingham,
Eng, was having problems,
Geoff asked me to give him a
an
one-on-one lesson
opportunity I j,umped at. After
a 30 min lesson he was able
to sail on his own, so as a
reward Geoff let me take another cat out for a couple of more hours for free. I got him
to take some photos of me as well. Back at camp I met a couple from Melbourne
(Colin and Kath) and the Sneyd family from Shepparton (Simon, Margaret, Fiona (12)
and Katy (10).
After a leisurely breakfast,
drove into town to buy some
new tent-poles and supplies,
and dropped off 5 films for
developing. I then drove out to
Mirima National Park (also
called Mini-Bungles or Hidden
Valley) and did a couple of
walks there. I then drove to the
Top
Rockz
Gallery,
the
Kimberley Dairy (3,000 km from ...,..-;~~....._
the next WA dairy) where I had ~_""_ _~EE=i:I;;ii:liiiiil"'''lOiiiiiIIi..::I.....a;ilIiiIiIiI.s.i1iiZ9
a mango flavoured milkshake,
Hidden Valley
Ivanhoe Crossing - a now
permanently
flooded
causeway
on
the
old
Kununurra-Wyndham Rd, then
to the Zebra Rock Gallery.
Zebra rock is a striped rock
found only in the Argyle region.
At the gallery you can hand
feed bread to the catfish in the
:Iake (called cobbler for
commercial sales) and you can
also view elephant rock (photo
left).
Elephant Rock - Lake Kununurra
East
•
1m
lRFA r
" 'llY
r:nr
erie
II
I had a bit of a lie-in (7.00am),
then after doing a load of
washing went into town to pick
up my photos. After an early r.r...~.......
lunch I went on the J3 tour to
Lake Argyle Village by coach,
where we visited the re-Iocated
Argyle Homestead (home of the
Durack family) before swapping
to a boat for a 55km cruise
down the Ord River back to
Kununurra. Both the coach and
boat drivers had a wealth of
Argyle Dam viewed from the Ord River
information to impart, and it
was a very interesting tour. We
got back to Kona just after
sunset, about 5.30pm.
After filling up with fuel and doing
some
last
minute
supply
shopping, I headed off for Turkey
Creek
at
about
9.00am,
intending to stay there over-night
before tackling the track into
Purnululu Nati'onal Park (the
Sunset on Lake Kununurra
Bungle Bungles), but as I arrived
at 11.30am I decided to forge on. The 53km track into the Park took 2% hours of
low-range 4 wheel-driving, crossing about 30 creeks, 10 of them with water of varying
depths in them. Even though it was a slow trip, I quite enjoyed it as the terrain and
scenery were constantly changing. Upon arrival at Purnululu I drove to the Walardi
camp-site at the S end of the Park and set up camp about 3.00pm .. After tea I met
3 couples from Echuca, one of whom played piano accordion, so we had a bit of a
duet going for a while.
After breakfast I laid my solar
shower out in the sun, then drove
to the Piccaninny Creek car-park.
I walked into Cathedral Gorge ,
then up Piccaninny Creek where I
met a girl who had been on the
Argyle Dam tour with me who was
on a guided Purnululu tour. They
1: Echidna Chasm
2 Froghole/Mini Palms
3 Il(urrajong Camp Site
4 Walanginjdji Lookout
5 Walardi Camp Site
6 l3ellburn Camp Site
AlH Airstrip/Helipad
7 Piccaninny Gorgel
Cathedral Gorge
1ll€ &UN6""L'E. BuNertE
M~'F ANP
O~MO~J) ~N66
Legend
p\,\ ~ N fA UA L.L(
NA'noNAl- P.4RJ<.
......... -----
CREEK
ROAD
~
See "Things you need to /mow " for
information on the numbered sites
o
1
5
10
I
I
kilometres
directed me to "The Window" - a '~~i~~![~~~"""'7"="""~~~~~
natural window formed in the
rocks and then to "The Bat Cave"
in a side 9ully, neither of which I'd
probably have found on my own .
I then drove back to the airstrip
for a 30 min helicopter flight over
the Bungle Bungle Massif - well
worth the money. Afterwards I
moved to the Kurrajong Camp at
the N end of the park, had a nice
hot solar shower, cooked tea, 1Wli'i~~
and then entertained a couple I«JI"~~
from Cobram (Gordon a nd Jill) ...........iiiiiI_....
_IllillIiIiII. . . . .ilii:'lliilllllt
and Lee & Maggie Sheldon from
The Window - Piccaninny Creek
Melbourne.
R
_Illli_........
Pumulu Inhabitant - Piccaninny Creek
View from Cathedral Gorge
A Goanna in Cathedral Gorge
,
,-- -{
..
.
'\
".'
r
Bungle Bungle Massif from the air
Part of the track int% ut of Purnululu National Park
Echidna
Chasm
Drove out to the Frog-Hole/Mini Palms carpark where I walked into the Frog-hole with
the Sheldons and their children Sylvia (13)
and Jullian (11). This is a splash-pool at the
base of a seasonal waterfall (not flowing )
which was populated by hundreds of tiny
frogs - hence the name I guess! One of these
frogs can be seen in the photo right.
~
If/{.yc. . . .. , .. .
I had read that the Echidna Chasm is
best viewed around midday, so we
drove up there and hiked in . The
chasm (photo left) is a very narrow gully
cut into the massif which goes in at
least 500 metres with a number of
twists and turns before coming to an
abrupt end . It made the Standley
Chasm near Alice Springs look
insignificant. It was so narrow in some
places that you could touch both sides
at once.
The Sheldons then left to head to EI
Questro, I had some lunch and then
headed back to the Frog-Hole/Mini
Palms car-park once more. Here I did the 3 hr
return hike into Mini Palm Gorge. This gorge
(photo right) is magic, with a deep cave at one
end and an oasis of ti ny palms growing in the last
section. I'd been told to take a torch with me, so
I was able to explore the cave. On my way out 'I
met a coup'le from InvereU who didn't have a
torch, so I lent them mine and told them I'd wait at
the car-park for them. While I was waiting I found
myself inspired into writing a song: about
Purnululu which I played for them when they got
back. Back to camp for another nice solar
shower, tea and bed.
Post Office Ruins
Old Halls Creek
T A N AM I
ON
nF .
FR.
D E SER T'
I left Purnululu at 7.00am and drove
back out to the highway before heading
S to Halls Creek, arriving at 10.30am.
On the way down I spotted the Japanese
girl pushing the wheel-barrow that I had
heard about back near Broome. After . ~"'~I"":""
booking in to the Caravan Park, doing a
load of washing, doing some shopping
and grabbing some lunch, I drove out to
Old Halls Creek. Along the way 1 1rI:~;;;~:JIiII
stopped at a rock formation called "The
China Wall" (photo right) and at the ........
Caroline Pool - a natural swimming hole.
~~=---------------, At Old Halls Creek I videoed the ruins of
the post office, originalily built from mud
bricks using clay from termite mounds. I
then drove on to visit and crawl part-way
into an abandoned ruby mine. When I
took the photo at left, the camera flash
stirred up bats roosting on the ceiling,
taking me a bit by surprise as well! Back
at camp I brought in my washing and
headed to bed to get a good night's sleep
before the next part of my trip.
Setting off at 8.00am (WA time), I headed SE down the Tanami Track, taking a short
detour into Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater where I ran into a couple that I'd met at Bell
River Gorge. Drove on to Rabbit Flat (diesel $1.25/litre, glad I was carrying jerry
cans!), where I met Kevin and Maris Coates from a dairy near Launceston . We then
decided to travel together to a rest stop about 150km further on where we set up
camp for the night at about 6.30pm Central time 5.30 pm WA time) . The Tanami
Track, although unsealed gravel road, was in pretty good condition for most of the
time, allowing good travelling speeds.
When we got up the next morning it was
below O°C, so we packed up fairly quickly
and travelled on, stopping at Yuendumu
Community and Tilmouth Wells before
arriving in Alice Springs around 2.30pm.
Somewhere along the Tanami Track I'd lost
the covers for the trailer's wheel-bearings,
so I visited Territory Wreckers to get
another pair ($5) and booked the trailer in
for the following day to have them replaced .
Sunrise Tanami Desert
The Big Winch - Coober Pedy
Coober Pedy Lutheran Church
I then booked into the Heavitree Caravan Park with the Coates, where we set up
camp, had showers and then dined together at the Tavern in the resort. After tea, we
went to listen to a local singer (Scott Dawson) performing at the "Old Alice Bar" - the
main attraction being a lovely open-hearth fire as it was a very cold night. A surprise
visitor there was Cornelius, who I hadn't seen since Broome.
Had a bit of a lie-in (too cold to get up), then had breakfast, did some washing,
farewelled the Coates who were heading off to Kings Canyon, then took the trailer for
its service. I went up to the Anzac Hill Look-out, did some shopping, and then went
to visit the Panorama Guth Art Gallery. After collecting my trailer, I went back to
camp, attended a free reptile talkldemonstaration at the Old Alice Bar, then went off
to bed.
I departed the Alice at 9.00am and travelled to Cadney Homestead in SA, stopping
at Kulgera near the NT/SA border for lunch. Arrived about 4.15pm and decided to
shout myself tea at the homestead restaurant. Feeling brave, I tried "Aussie
Kebabs", one each of camel , kangaroo and emu meat. A bit gamey tasting definitely an acquired taste I think!
Departed 8.50am and arrived in
Coober Pedy at 10.50am. Set up at
the Opal Inn Caravan Park and
booked onto the 2.00pm 4hr Desert
Cave Tour.
This tour visited an
underground Lutheran church (photo
right) , an underground house, a disused opal mine, a pottery, the golfcourse (dirt "greens"), a hotel, and
then travelled out past opal mines to
the "Breakaways" - hills that have
broken away from the Stuart Range
thousands of years ago (bottom
photo).
The Breakaways area has been used
in films like Mad Max and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. We also drove
beside the dingo fence for a bit,
before heading back into town for a
drink at the Desert Cave Hotel. I had
a counter tea that night at the Desert
Inn.
Salt and Pepper - the Breakaways
'\
Opal fields dotted with mullock heaps
Departed Coober Pedy 9.00am I::!"":---O--_ _
heading for my next planned stop
at Woomera.
A short stop at
Glendambo for morning tea, then ..---__
arrived at Woomera to find
everything shut - July 4th American Independence Day.
There is still quite a US presence
here, so after looking at the rocket
disp.lay (photo right) I continued on
to Port Augusta/Stirling North,
where I completed a full circle,
arriving 5.30pm .
Departed 8.30am and travelled through the
Horrocks Pass to Wilmington (Sth Flinders
Range) and on through Orroroo and
Peterborough to the Barrier Highway. I then
followed this through Yunta, Mannahill, Olary
and Cockburn (NSW/SA border) to Broken HW,
arriving 1.15pm. Here I visited the Visitor
Centre, then booked into the Lake View
Caravan Park. After lunch, I travelled out to the
"Living Desert" sculptures on a hill just out of
town. Here vanious artists were commissioned
to carve sculptures out of sandstone blocks,
one of these is in the photo at right.
DISTMICE TRAVELLED: 217 KM
I ,left the Lake View at 9.00am and drove out to
the "Day Dream" mine - the original silver mine
- where we donned helmets and
helmet lights to travel down into the
old mine. I then travelled out to the
"ghost town" of Silverton and had
lunch at the pub there which has
been used in many movies (like
Crocodile Dundee) and various
commercials. I then drove back
through Broken Hill and out to
Menindee, on the Menindee Lakes, booking into the Lake Menindee Caravan Park
at 4.30pm.
I left Menindee and travelled to a lunch-stop at Ivanhoe, and then on to Hay where I
stayed the night with my mate Dennis Kennedy, bass player/vocalist in the band I
paly in called "Chalkies".
Left Hay and travelled via Deniliquin back home to Finley, arriving just after midday.
I worked out that I'd travelled a total of 14,049 km, using 2,162 litres (476 gallons) of
diesel at a total cost of $1,895 and averaging 17.64 miles per gallon . The average
cost of diesel for the trip was 87.6 cents per litre, ranging from 73 .5 cents per litre
(Perth) to $1.25 cents per litre (Rabbit Flat). A rough estimate of my total cost for the
whole trip, including fuel, vehicle repairs, accommodation , tours, flights , meals,
camping fees came to about $4,000, or about $570 per week. Money well spent, I
feel.
Overall, despite a less than auspicious start, the trip was fantastic, whetting my
appetite to see more of this marvellous country. I have plans to do so, perhaps when
I retire I can travel around in a motor home of some type, with a small 4-wheel drive
vehicle on a trailer behind, and really take my time.
This trip diary completed 17th July, 1998

East - rangermillard, ford ranger, millard slide-on

Transcription

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