Never Smile At A Crocodile

 

 

I last left you in Broome where we had 120mls of rain – most unseasonal. This meant that the road into the Bungle Bungle was closed. We’d been hesitating about doing it as we knew the road would be chopped up, but the decision was made for us. Shame.

 

First stop was Wilare roadhouse overnight, followed by Larrawa Station then arriving in Kununurra for a few days. We caught up with our Kiwi mates, Joanna and Bob and did some walking. We even managed to feed them a decent dinner of Risotto with Porcini.

 

We stayed in Kununurra as Lawrence needed to renew his Driver’s Licence, which can only be done 6 months before expiry – June 1^st. But we forgot about the public holiday – a result of being retirees. We rocked up at 8.15 sharp on the Tuesday only to find out that they had decided to have another day off… groan. We’ll figure out the licence thing another time as we had a booking at Edith Falls and didn’t want to miss a day as it’s our favourite spot. 

 

We crossed from WA into the NT and noticed a marked deterioration in the condition of the road surface. We’re so lucky in WA with our wide, straight, well maintained roads. Driving through the Victoria River area is stunning and we stayed overnight at the lovely Victoria River Roadhouse.            

 

Well I have to admit it’s now several days later. I’ve been distracted.

 

Our next stop was the wonderful Edith Falls. We’ve been here several times before and it’s one of our favourite spots in the NT. Sadly, the main swimming hole was closed due the incredible amount of rain they’d had – 200ml overnight. The upside of this is that the falls were pumping and the top pools had so much water in them that they were great for a good dip. Last time they were just rockpools. It also involved a decent amount of exercise as we had to climb the 1km uphill to get there.

 

 

 

From there we headed to Corroborree Billabong (how Australian can you get!) and stayed overnight at the Tavern campsite. We’d booked the sunrise cruise on the billabong but as we were the only ones mad enough to want to get out of bed at 5.30, the cruise didn’t run. We did sunset instead. The birdlife is amazing and also saw a couple of decent sized crocs.

 

 

 

Next stop  - Berry springs area (via a visit to Darwin for shopping etc) and we are staying on the wonderful Tumbling Waters Holiday park. It’s tropical paradise and mercifully the weather is wonderful. Mild warm days and cool nights – a contrast to the last time we were in the NT.

 

Yesterday we did the Territory Wildlife Park. What an amazing place, so much to see and do but our favourite section was the Monsoon Rainforest with its walk-through aviary and of course the spectacular bird show. The aquarium was also incredible interesting, mimicking the different stages of the waters from origin to ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we did the actual Berry Springs. What a pretty spot, but of course incredibly popular and heaving with tourists and locals. The water is tepid so even I could go straight in without a fuss. Lawrence had to get out as the fish starting nibbling at his toe wound – Nurse Kate bathed it in Betadine. 

 

 

 

From here we’ll be heading backwards and we’ve decided to go the one part of Kakadu again (Yellow Waters) and Ubirr for the rock art.

 

I’ll try not to leave it so long next time – promise!

 

 

Broome Broome

 

Well it seems I’m back to starting my blogs with the weather report. We’re in sunny Broome and it’s PISSING down – seriously.

 

I last left you in Denham and 35 degrees. From there we moseyed over to Wooramel Station and shady camping by the (dry) river bed. Wooramel is known for its natural hot tubs full of good stuff (allegedly). Call me a sook if you will, but the idea of sitting in hot tub of bore water in 36 degrees just didn’t appeal.

 

Wooramel Station

The sign on the rustic ablutions indicated that there was hot water available from 4 pm-8pm. Deciding I didn’t need a hot shower, I went over at 3.30pm and am extremely lucky that I didn’t sustain 3^rd degrees burns, the water was SCALDING. Can’t imagine what it would be like if they turned the hot water on…

 

As our priority was for shade, we decided to head straight to Point Samson – almost 500kms away. Of course that was the day that the aircon packed in – and it was 36 degrees.

 

A cold beer and a swim was a life saver.

 

Camping at Point Samson

 

 

 

From there, it was 2 days at 80 mile beach, a lovely campsite and a great beach for low-tide walking. Early one evening a couple pulled just by us and starting to unpack. The guy came over to ask if we were happy for him to park his car in a certain place, and would you believe it - they were old friends of Lawrence’s from NZ. We had a great catch up and will hopefully see them in Broome, if not then next year in Margaret River. On the other side was someone who recognised Lawrence from his Cheers tours in Margs. Small, small world.

 

80 mile beach

Onto Barn Hill station and that lovely beach. This is a great spot about 150km south of Broome. You can even get a good pizza.

 

Barn Hill Station

Our first day in Broome was spent shopping. Replacing the terrible (and expensive) outdoor gas cooktop with a smaller, simpler version. Replacing the inline water filter that Lawrence left in Pt Samson and various other things that have broken down or no longer fit for purpose. After spending a King's ransom on Boris before we left, we can't believe how tmuch there is still is to replace. 

 

Our first night in Broome was spent listening to Steve Pigram, eating great food, drinking good wine at the Golf Club with my old friend Sandie, complete with the best views in town.

 

Sunset from the Broome Golf Club

Saturday morning was spent at the Urgent Care Clinic to get 6 stitches in Lawrence’s big toe after the bread knife fell off the bench and onto his toe. Ouch.

 

Sunday was the obligatory lunch at The Mangrove, still my fave place in Broome, despite the cloud cover.

 

Lunch at The Mangrove with my friend of 50 years!

So Monday morning sees us awake at 3.30 with water dripping on us from the skylight – oh dear another leak. As Boris was booked in to have the aircon fixed, we asked the guys to silicon the 3 roof lights and we’ll pray that it can withstand Kimberely rain. 

Update: It's now several days later and no, the bloody thing leaked again so more silicone was rapidly applied to the inside. Much cursing ensued and we hit the brandy. I hadn't posted this blog coz the signal wasn't strong enough and it was too wet to put out the Starlink. We had 120mls of rain.

We're now at a Station called Larrawa and Starlink is working well. Thank goodness as Lawrence left his phone at a rest stop and we used Starlink and 'Find My Phone' to track it down in Fitzroy. Luckily a lovely South Australian couple had picked it up and delivered to us in Fitzroy Crossing. God bless the kindness of strangers.

Next stop is Kununurra. We've decided to skip Purnululu as the rain has made road worse and it just seems like too much effort. UPDATE - road is CLOSED. HEY HO.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On The Road Again…

 

Well after a bit of a hiatus, we are on the road and blogging again. We had a very bumpy start with quite a few dramas, some major, mostly small annoying ones. I won’t bore you with all the details, except to say we are several thousand dollars poorer, but at least we have new, dry mattress.

 

Our first stop was just north Bunbury, a big 125 kms from home. We hadn’t planned to go far, as we needed to get the house up to scratch for our renter. Next stop was Lancelin, once again not as far as planned as we needed to do more running repairs on bloody Boris. Just a vacuum hose, but crucial to progress.

 

Next stop Wooleen Station, so it really felt like we were getting somewhere. Wooleen is well known for its regenerative farming practices and informative station stay. Only spent a couple of nights here and headed for the coast – Denham in Shark Bay.

 

 

 

It’s unseasonably hot, and as we are camped a 2 minute walk from the beach, we decided to stay for 5 days and get ourselves sorted a bit. We had a bit of last minute rush before we left, so I didn’t feel my usual organised self.

 

 

 

 

We’ve changed plans a bit because of this unrelenting heat, and are simply looking for shade – priorities! Next stop Wooramel Station. I’m not sure how much use I’ll make of the ‘naturally heated therapeutic artesian bore baths’. A hot bath is way down the bottom of my list at the moment. A cold beer more likely.

 

Our latest addition to Boris is a pair electric bikes. It’s cost more to attach them to vehicle than the actual bikes – hey ho. But you should see me fly up hills!! I’m a hopeless cyclist so am loving these. I almost look like a I know what I’m doing.

 

Just back from a life-saving swim. The water is divine, crystal clear and cool. Even Lawrence is swimming everyday (well dipping). Being raised in Glasgow, the beach wasn’t really part of his life. He’s no beach babe.

 

We’re having dinner out tonight at The Pearler – the only booking we could get was 5pm, so we are treating it as Spanish lunch.

New blog

Hi there - if anyone is still looking at this blog, you might like to know that I have started a new one.

This is for our travels in Australia, starting with the Canning Stock Route, a remote 1800km trek through Western Australia.

Check out www.slowcamperoz.com

We're ba-ack...

Hello Stranger. If anyone is still reading my blog, you'll have noticed that we disappeared in Vladivostok. I was locked out by Google and Lawrence has just finally worked out to get back in - bless him.

We spent 2 wonderful weeks in Korea before getting Boris shipped to New Zealand. I may post a short piece on that trip.

I'm starting a new blog called Slow Camper Oz which will follow our travels in Australia - starting hopefully with the Canning Stock Route.

www.slowcamperoz.com