Monday 1st July

We arrived in Mataranka and checked in at the Homestead Caravan Park, settled in, went down to the springs for a swim.   We’ve been here before and it was just as crowded as it was last time.   Whilst it is an excellent place to relax and soak, the crowds make it difficult to enjoy.   These are stock photos because I didn’t want to take the camera down there this time.

Today is Territory Day (as in Northern Territory) so tonight there are fire crackers going off every where and a firework display. This evening there is a group playing sort of shit kicking music which is not bad. We sample the menu whilst the group is playing.   This is followed by a show of whip cracking by Nathan ‘Whippy’ Griggs, who is from Greenbushes in WA.   His performance is pretty good, cracking whips to music and some exhibition stuff.

   

We decided to stay an extra night so we could go to Bitter Springs in the morning, which are another set of hot springs and more natural than Mataranka.   In the morning we do a bit of shopping and then in the afternoon we go to Bitter Springs but when we get there access is closed due to a bush fire!   So we have another dip at the Homestead.

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Thursday 4th July

Today we thought we might be able to get to Bitter Springs early but unfortunately it is still closed, so we’ll put that down to experience.

We’re heading for Katherine, this is new country for Pat and I but Brad and Denise know it well so they’re in charge.   Shopping at Woolies and  a coffee are the priorities, closely followed by visits to the bottle shops, quite an experience as the police need IDs before entering any liquor store not only here but also in other NT towns. As visitors we are allowed to buy a few bottles each. Some places in N. Territory are “dry,” so there are no liquor stores, this is an attempt to curb drunkeness amongst the locals. We have booked in at the Katherine Holiday Park which is in the ‘Low Level Bridge Nature Park’.     We park next to John & Wendy who we had said goodbye to in Mataranka yesterday!

Dinner has been booked at the Fig Tree Restaurant on site.   Dinner is a bit of a disappointment and the wine very average, never mind the company is good.

Friday 5th July and we are on the Victoria Hwy, which goes to Kunanurra, we’re not going quite that far but will turn off about 60ks east and go down Duncan Road to Halls Creek.   The road is good and without too much traffic and we make good time.   We pull in to the Victoria River Roadhouse and bump into Russell our birdwatching friend again, by the time we have had a chat and been down to the river we decide to stay here for the night!

   

Saturday 5th July

This morning we’re taking a short diversion down to the boat ramp before hitting the road proper.   The scenery is magnificent and we try to capture it with camera, probably unsuccessfully!

       This landscape is the feature all the way from Victoria River R’house to the Duncan Road turn off and makes for a lovely journey.   On the way, at Timber Creek, there is a memorial to the ‘Nackeroos’, a military unit who were formed in 1942 to observe and ‘protect’ the northern coastline in this area against a potential Japanese invasion.  

  The memorial is high up on the mesas that are the main features of this landscape and the views are extraordinary.    The other feature of the area are the boab trees.

      

Our camp tonight is opposite the Duncan Road turn off – we’ll be heading down there tomorrow.

Sunday 7th July

Another lovely morning and we’re heading south on Duncan Road, only 5.5 ks to the Zebra Rock Mine and Gallery.   This will be a very early morning tea of scones, strawberry jam and cream.   They are baked while we wait and they even provide gluten free scones for Pat.   The jam is lovely and the cream is real.    A little girl introduces us to a couple of Black Headed pythons.

       

The Zebra Mine is interesting because it mines rocks which are amazing in that they are made up of multiple layers of different colours, which when polished produce remarkable surfaces.  Some jewellery and other items were made with the black bands that typify this rock. No one seemed to be able to tell me what sort of rocks they were, only that it is sometimes called ‘silk stone’.    Clearly it was formed from a mixture of molten mineral coloured rocks.

A few ks after we left the Zebra Mine we came across a battered old barrel with ‘Lake’ written on it and an arrow pointing in the direction of Lake Argyle, we followed a pretty good track for about 10ks and then came to a new fence and gate.   As there were cattle either side of the gate we decided to turn round and get back on the more corrugated road.

The road didn’t improve very much and and we made fairly slow time so we found a place to pull off for a lunch break.   After lunch the road did not change so we decided to drop the tyre pressures a bit more, which made the going a little bit more comfortable.   Shortly after we had done this we crossed the state border into WA but still the road didn’t get much better.   However, when it changed from Wyndham Shire to Halls Creek Shire there was a fairly immediate improvement in the road surface and it became considerably more comfortable to drive on.   We had seen only one other vehicle all day and then we met another BT and as is the custom we stopped for a chat, they were Bob and Lee from Nowra in NSW.

          Spot the roo.

Brad and Denise spotted a Jabaru in a creek bed, we had to wait until he turned sideways and by that time he was quite a long way away.

It was then only about 20ks to our camp site for tonight at White Dimond (did someone leave out an ‘a’?) Rest Area.   We originally thought of parking down by the  river but having watched a crocodile slide into the water we thought perhaps the upper level was probably better!   In fact, the view from the top parking area out over the river to the jump up country in the distance was beautiful.   We sat and watched a magnificent sunset with a couple of glasses of  wine, spotted 12 satellites and then it was time for dinner, which I thought was quite colourful………….

Monday 8th July

Took some photographs of this spot before we left this morning.

     

We had lunch at the old Ord River Station established around the turn of the century.   Not much left now but walls made of mud bricks and the corrugated iron cookhouse, complete with range!

   

Then it was quite a tiring run into Palm Springs winding up and down through the hills. The camp area is small and the 4 vehicles already there filled the it up meaning there was no room for our vans so we went into Saw Pit Gorge, (Brad and Denise have been here before), which is close by but about 5ks off the road and pulled into a cleared area above the gorge.   In fact, this is a much nicer spot than Palm Springs which was right on the road.    It was well past wine o’clock so we decided we’d look at the gorge in the morning.  

Tuesday 9th July

     

 

Having spent some time looking at the gorge and taking photos we were off again this time heading for Halls Creek, on the way we stopped at Old Halls Creek, which was one of the Overland Telegraph Stations.   The first payable gold found in WA was discovered here in 1885.   A very remote place.   Two old steam engines are rusting away at the gate to the camp site.

     

 

At Halls Creek we used the Dump Point, Brad put some diesel in his tanks and we pumped up the tyres, yes it blacktop for the next few hundred ks!!

We had a fairly reasonable run into Mary Pool for afternoon tea, very little water so no chance of a swim! As we approach Mary Pool, there is a range of hills called the Lubbock Range to our right and a little further on, not to be outdone, the Jones (Brad & Denise) Range.     After a short break we set off again for a short 90k run to Ngumban (called numbum!) Cliff which is a rest area, as the name suggests on the top of a cliff, with some superb vistas across the landscape to the north.   We’re actually a bit later getting in than usual and we set out our chairs to watch the sun go down with, of course, a glass or two!

       

                                                                                                                It looks different in the morning.

Wednesday 10th July

A beautiful morning and because we’re back in WA it starts early, sunrise at 0530 and it will get earlier!

   

Leaving ‘numbum’ this morning the sun is just right for a beautiful view of the cliffs that we camped on top of last night.   As usual it is very difficult to get the full beauty of this landscape.

We’re not going far today but it’s morning tea time before we get to Fitzroy Crossing.   Situated on the main northern route from west to east, this town is another iconic WA town and as with many others it is famed for it’s river crossing.   The Fitzroy River is wide and deep but a poor wet season has left it pretty low at the moment, it must be an awesome sight when it is in flood.   The town itself is pretty typical, dusty and untidy but we need to top up with diesel here for the run to Broome.   We also need to do a bit of shopping for the three nights in the bush before we get to Broome.

Having shopped, (no booze here as it is dry), refuelled, we’re heading for a camp site called RAAF Boab Quarry, this is where they mined and crushed limestone to construct the run and ways at RAAF Curtin, some 200ks away.    When we turn onto the dirt again the corrugations are quite bad which means letting the tyres down again.

The way in to the site takes us through yet more pretty exciting landscapes, particularly the mix of red rock and boab trees.

     The quarry area is pretty extensive and we have no problem finding somewhere to camp.  First activity is to have lunch, which is a bit late today, then a lazy afternoon, a walk round after the heat has gone out of the sun, then a couple of glasses – 10 satellites tonight.

Thursday 11th July

Had a wander round the quarry this morning and explored a couple of caves.    

   

Then back on the dirt to the main road, put some air in the tyres and morning tea.   An hour later we’re at Ellendale Pool, where we are going to stay tonight, I like short days!    The other advantage is that this spot has a reasonable internet signal so Pat can catch up on some admin.