As we have moved our mindset from touring West Australia to experiencing West Australia, we are intending to stay 3 or 4 nights at each chosen location, many of them will be beaches. Lyn loves to sit by ocean waters to enjoy sunshine, her reason for the skin color change. Cable beach in Broome is well known for the sunset camel ride. We didn’t experience the camels but filmed them in 2013.
Broome is a very busy town as many travelers restock supplies to do the Gibb River drive around the Kimberleys or further north or on their way south.
Barn Hill
Not far down the Great Northern Highway from Broome is this interesting farm that cares for many campers heading north or south. The 9 kilometers of private road is not the type I would like to drive to get home each day. But that is forgotten when you experience Barn Hill for a few days. Something like flying to London in economy class is forgotten in a few hours.
The grounds are made of the same red dirt you drive to Barn Hill on; powdery cosmetic dust. The clumps of rock and dirt and shale on the coast put there by nature reminds me, in a way, of the Sacred Valley in Peru but without a plan to build a city. Commonly referred to by regulars to Barn Hill as “the lost cities”, the colors change with both the time of day and the angle of the sunlight. If you’re driving the Great Northern Highway and go past the inconspicuous turn off, go back and experience the unique landscape of Barn Hill.
Everything at Barn Hill is done differently. Even the ablution block has been built of corrugated iron. As the property only has campers in the dry season, there is no roofing on the toilets and showers; just the stars in the sky to provide privacy. There is a lawn bowls club and green. Each morning starts with the smell of freshly baked bread created at the onsite bakery. Pizza and take-away lasagna are available on order some nights. Why not drive the red dirt to experience the charm of this “camp on a cliff”.
Flying a drone has become a hobby that brings a lot of satisfaction to me. After having made many travel movies by shooting from a movie camera on a tripod all around the world while taking groups of clients on a “trip of a lifetime”, moving into drone photography has brought many a “wouldn’t I get some great shots” feeling to me, if I had a drone in the sky! But not to be. I’ve settled now with the attitude “gotta get the drone up, there’s some great photos up there”. Driving along the highways on this lap of Australia, it’s happened a few times. Enjoy!
Most flights, I do not have a plan of what to shoot. The plan develops when I see what’s in the camera. Something like “right spot, right time” intuition. Sometimes it’s “let’s try this maneuver” and out comes “Wow! That’s nice”. At Barn Hill, that’s just what happened. The incoming surf was making lace on the beach, and I was awestruck at what nature freely provides for us to capture and share. It’s there now to enjoy. I’ve watched the movie many times since completing it and yes, there is a few “could be better” spots to improve on. But I’m happy to include it in my YouTube library now.
80 Mile Beach
Moving from Barn Hill to 80 Miles Beach started with the 9 km of red dirt and finished with another 9 km of red dirt but with many more corregations. Arriving here is a relief. The camp has over 200 sites and quite a bit of grassed area. You can also drive the beach in a 4wd.
A common occurrence on our trips is to meet up with friends in out of the way places. Today was no exception as we noticed that a travel agent roommate of Lyn’s was coming to Kununurra while we were in town. We met up with “Betty” at the Wild Mango Cafe. (Yes, their Mango smoothie becomes a favourite of Lyn’s)
You will wonder why a photo of a pump and one of legs under the motor home. Before we left for the Wild Mango, we thought we’d empty out of Darwin water by doing the washing. Problem became that our water pump burnt out. Thanks to some wonderful angels next to us, at the cost of a slab of coke, we are able to continue but with a slightly different way of using our tank water.
While in this town, there’s much to see and do. It was time for a two hour flight over Lake Argyle and beyond to the Bungle Bungles. Lyn is an experienced small plane flyer but gets nervous leading up to, and during a flight. Her saviour is travel sickness tablets and the exit door on our arrival.
From altitude, Lake Argyle is an expansive lake in the middle of a drought location in northern West Australia. However, the wet season (average 800mm) changes the landscape considerably with so much water in just a few short weeks. Back in the 1970’s, the Australian government decided to harness this water to do three things: one, to use the water for a hydro power station to supply electricity to the towns around Kununurra, two, to supply those towns potable drinking water, three, to create an extensive region of irrigated farmland for fruit and vegetable crops, and large scale agriculture products like cotton. After some failures along the way, the authorities are still not sure what’s best to do.
Beyond Lake Argyle is the Bungle bungles. This region was “found” by accident when a movie making company were looking for a somewhat different location for their movie – they landed on what has become a national treasure. We were on a fixed wing single engine aircraft known as a “caravan in the sky”. I’d advise a helicopter flight from the Warmun Roadhouse would be so much more enjoyable as you can get down into the valleys to experience the effect of layers of rock that make the bungles what they are.
The Bungle Bungles
The Argyle Mine
We managed to get away from Kununurra by 7:30am. Another long day of travel in the outback of WA is very hot – it reached 44 degrees today, but no rain and beautiful blue skies. Ahead of us we came up to a caravan that had a yellow number plate with the text “Happy Wife – Happy Life”. Now that must be Earlene and Rod’s van as that was her motto given in her wedding speech.
We had a late warning from our son that his eldest son was to be baptised in the afternoon in Kew, so we hurried on to our rest area at Mary Pool Campground, a quiet spot beside a dried up river during the dry season. After setting up and getting the starlink set, we managed to watch, in the middle of nowhere, our grandson’s baptism; how great is that.
Leaving early in the morning again, we found a breakfast stop a couple of hours down the highway. Would you believe there we found an Electric Car charging station – no, there was no diesel generator supplying power, but two rows of solar panels nearby, at last. I’m not sure many cars will reach the spot too often as it was around 500km from Broome. Lyn also had some work to do and was able to use the picnic table shade to keep cool.
We had heard that Fitzroy Crossing was open after the floods destroyed the bridge a couple of wet seasons ago. The new bridge is there to stay for a long time and the road works nearby indicate that a large ‘nomadic’ campground is being created. We stopped on the side of the highway to put the drone up for some overhead shots of the landscape.
We had a diversion this afternoon. In selecting our night rest area, we read that the Ellendale Station Lagoon was a short 6 km drive beyond the Ellendale Rest Area. We called into the rest area to find a number of appropriate spots; it was good. But the remarks on the Station Lagoon wiki camps info said there were friendly cows at the lagoon and we thought “what better way to spend a night than with friendly cows?” Through the farm gate we drove, yes, lots of cows but no other campers. I was walking ahead while Lyn drove following me. I was looking for a spot which enabled us to move out quietly in the morning. Found a spot, so we drove into the area. But with the car and motor home jack knifing we just couldn’t get past some shrubs. (You can’t reverse the motor home with a car in tow, it won’t happen) I thought I had brought a pruning saw just in case. But where was it? After searching all the obvious storage bins, we had to resort to the small tomahawk axe. Chop, chop, chop, for 20 minutes, we finally made enough room to complete the Uturn. Fortunately, we were not other campers entertainment for the afternoon. And back to the rest area for the night. (Sorry, we didn’t take any photos of our ordeal – you would be laughing more than we did)
After another very hot night, we moved on towards Derby. Our breakfast stop today was at a very interesting giant boab tree. Large and leaf bare, it still provides filtered shade to a degree, to passers-by on their great adventure across Australia. Apparently, this giant boab has something so special about it that you have to give credits when whatever is written about it. On delving into the details that are mentioned, I find that there is nothing peculiar about this tree listed, other than to mention the credits. (Oh dear! I hope I haven’t contravened any said copyright.)
The Kimberley area is a kind of separated wonder of West Australia; it feels like you are in a different world – there is very little dense vegetation even though you are in the tropics. There’s an extension of the red dirt that west Australia is made of; a rusty red dust that infiltrates every nook and cranny in your caravan or motor home. Our motor home has an exhaust fan in the step well that sucks out the air to prevent the red dust coming into the living quarters. It works hard and is very effective.
After long stretches of road, some over 15km straight, we come to Derby town. Derby is famous for enormous tide variations with up to 12 meters being common. We took a quick drive out to the jetty and wharf to watch the rushing tide for the day.
Flight to Horizontal Falls
We have an early pickup transfer to the Derby Airport where our seaplane is waiting for us. There is a 40 minute flight to enjoy on the way to Horizontal Falls. The view is great and sparse. Being the dry season, the wide rivers are dry, waiting for the coming of the rains in November/December. Our pilot gives us some great vision of the horizontal falls from above before landing and transferring us to the jet boat which takes us through the first falls and stops short of going through the second; we are not allowed through due to a bad accident a few years ago. That venture doesn’t happen anymore.
After the exhilarating pass-throughs, and a morning tea, our guide for the day takes us on another venture to see a few crocodiles on the shore of an island. Apparently, a whale beached itself and crocodiles have been eating it for food. There is also a cage to take a swim on the pontoon, and blind sharks have been attracted to the cage to be fed and viewed by the staff and visitors.
What’s he got in his mouth?Kimberley Rose
The flight back to Derby was another exhilarating experience from above. Below was a colour display of the ocean; truly memorable and a highlight of our lap of Australia so far.
Derby Town
Broome is a very popular mecca for West Australian residents; a bit like Cairns for Eastern Australian residents. Lots of 4WDs pulling large caravans fill the campgrounds replenishing supplies before hitting the “real” roads of the Kimberley region. Our campground has a pool which is popular at the end of yet another hot day of driving.
Friday we had a few shops to visit and a quick tour of the town. We checked out the famous Cable Beach and noticed many 4WDs along the beach. That vision made our minds up to pick up an awning from Mitre 10 for the Suzuki to wear the rest of this lap. We intend to “beach-hop” all the way down the West Australian coast and around to Esperance (that’s nearly 4,000 km. This makes our ‘equipment’ fit and ready now.
I try to have something to talk about when setting up my weekly posts. The problem with last week was there was nothing to talk about that hadn’t been mentioned before. I’m sure you were happy to find something else to be interested in after the exciting Paris Olympics closing ceremony (we didn’t watch either the opening or closing ceremonies).
How good is this? We washed the outside of the motor home and the Suzuki before departing Lee Point for Katherine and West Australia. The inside of the motor home looked like it was ready to sell. Lee Point has been a good place to stay with our own en suite and an almost constant sea breeze throughout the day and night, making it pleasant in the Darwin climate at this time of year.
Driving in Australia can be very hot. We expect our journey in the next week or two to take us through temperatures in the low to mid 40 Degrees Celsius. With that in mind, our driving needs to start soon after sunrise and be done by mid-day. Once we turn right at Katherine, the traffic becomes sparse as we venture and find our first camp spot beside the highway. There are a few stops along the way for long distance travellers and we find one called Limestone stopover. There are over 20 rigs parked around ‘the red dust bowl’ of a camping spot.
Second Day on the road towards West Australia
The second day on this part of our adventure, starts with long straight stretches of open highway, the speed limit in the Northern Territory is 130kph, but the configuration of our rig means we have to keep around 100kph; kind of boring at times with concentration required to make sure you hear the beeps of the speedo indicating “Over the 100kph limit”. The countryside changes along the way and we feel we are entering a new zone of foliage. The Victoria River is coming up and we take a longish stop to enjoy the change of atmosphere with the river winding its way to the ocean somewhere.
Victoria River and beyond
It seemed that the Victoria River region and campsite would be a good one to take time out, for 2 or 3 days; but we can’t, as we have made bookings in Kununurra for a river cruise. We found an appropriate spot at Saddle Creek Rest Area. The starlink came out so Lyn had a good internet connection to do her work. How good is that? Working at a very remote location and doing a booking for a client to visit Europe in six months time; very much a mobile travel agent – and a Grey Nomad at that.
On into Kununurra
Meals can be an interruption to Lyns lifestyle; adjusting involved itineraries from remote locations, taking pics, enjoying the driving or the scenery as it goes by. Lyn would be the first to say that I never put pressure with the topic “when are we getting a meal?” I consider myself to just be and ’emergency cook’. Lyn does very well despite the high temperatures when the gas cooker is on the go, in 35 degree heat.
The day we arrived into Kununurra was Lyns birthday, so after set up, it was down to the local shop “Pink Rocks” shop to choose a gift. I hope you think it’s cute too. How different, a boab tree pendant!
Ord River Cruise
The following day it was my birthday, so Lyn organised a six -hour cruise on the Ord River. It turned into a ‘birthday I shall not forget’. We had just boarded the little boat (with two V-8 out board motors) and I stood up and side stepped into the aisle, to take a picture. The worst thing was I took a step backwards into ’empty’ space and down I went. I ended up with a bruise in my left butt cheek and a few broken ribs on the right side. Breathing is always difficult with broken ribs so “careful, careful” is the way to go. That put a ‘dent’ in the day but thankfully another older guy got down and helped me up while Lyn called “what are you doing down there?”.
The Ord River is the water that comes over the spillway of Lake Argyle, one big lake indeed. We flew over it a couple of days later and on to the bungle bungles. It is very impressive.
There was a wealth of wildlife that live along the river banks and in the trees. We notice the ‘freshie crocodiles’ which are a little less aggressive than their relatives, the ‘salty’. We stopped and watched a’kite’ bird sitting on its nest in the high branches, and a ‘darter’ looking into the sky to impress others she was a branch in a tree while warming her eggs. We also stopped to view a colony of fruit bats and learn that a lot of their natural work is cross pollination of plants to breed more of the same kind.
Over 300 of the 760 species listed in the Australian Atlas of Birds can be found in the Kimberley, which includes birds of prey. The Lake Kununurra wetlands and Ord River are a haven for birds and easy to explore. (JJJ Tours)
Kununurra is an interesting town. It was built because of the work done on Lake Argyle to set up a large agricultural region; there is high rainfall during the wet season which may as well benefit the agricultural industry in Australia. They have tried cotton at first but the sprays caused a lot of problems. Interesting, we met up with a couple in Queensland who were agronomists and they have ‘invented’ a way to enable the cotton industry to flourish using a system using treated seed to eliminate pests and unwanted disease in the cotton harvest.
Tropical flowers are always a draw card to garden lovers. The botanical gardens in Darwin certainly have some beautiful blooms this last week. Amazingly, even the photos app on my phone knows the names of the peculiar ones – what a benefit. There’s a few different areas to enjoy with the tropical orchids not flowering en masse at present. Since we visited last year, an interesting sculpture has been created with a crocodile featured devouring a few unfortunate fish; nature owns its own way of survival.
AmherstiaGardenia carinata
Museum and Art Gallery of NT
Not being a museum chaser, I was impressed with the layout and displays in the Art Gallery. Lots of extensive illustrations of how things have happened in the Northern Territory over the decades past. The section on the Cyclone Tracey disaster that hit Darwin on Christmas Day in 1974, was well displayed and explained. Darwin certainly got hit quickly and at phi-nominal force and speed. (Well worth a visit if you haven’t been to Darwin.)
Cullen Bay
This little bay appears to be the rich people’s Mecca in Darwin. Classy yachts and water edge homes are well cared for. We arrived in time to see the one and only lock in the NT helping a yacht into the upper level marina.
There is a lock keeping in bay, all the posh yachts at a marina.
Views around East Point
Mindil Beach Sunset Market
I must admit to visiting the market three times this trip to Darwin. The last visit, I was hoping to pick up a very colourful shirt for a friend turning 80 soon. The second visit to the market seemed to have better shirts – this time most were not so good, so no present going his way – for now. I had a foot and leg massage and Lyn had a neck, arms and back massage. Dinner was the “food in your hand as you walk” with the meal ending with cream and churros.
Darwin Military Museum
This war museum has managed to keep its grandest gun in good but not working order. It still stands in the same location it fired bombs to the Japanese airforce, as they attacked in 1942. Other weapons and memorabilia are well displayed too. I spent a long time reading the accounts of the Jews at the time of Hitlers nasty form of power. I left a penned comment “may there never be another leader again of any country, to be so greedy and inhumane”.
A few signs around the war museums for your information.
We’ve decided to separate in Darwin for a rest and to do all the touristy things in our own time. There is much to see and Lyn and I saw most of it last year and just have a few spots to add to tick off our list. We enquired about going over to Tiwi Islands and having a day of island culture and entertainment but at $490 per person, we shied away from that idea. Lee Point is a campground to the north of the city about 15-20 minutes drive. We have learned that the campground was constructed after cyclone Tracy. The builders and trades workmen lived here for two years while the massive rebuild took place.
Each site has an en suite for the ‘tenants’.
We benefit from a sea breeze for much of the day and evening. The breeze takes away that clammy, humidity feeling. Because one in our group is waiting for a medical procedure to be done at Darwin Hospital, we will be staying here for who knows how long.
Last year we chose a favorite restaurant; the Cool Spot at Fannie Bay. The reason? Fabulous rocky road ice cream. I guess you agree we have made an excellent choice. When in Darwin, don’t leave without trying one; you’ll be surprised. (I’m not getting paid to make this promotion)
While in Darwin last year, we had heard about the Darwin Waterfront and thought it was just the jetty where the Royal Flying Doctor Museum, and the bombing of Darwin exhibition is. One day this week, we ventured further and discovered a beach and water playground. Around the perimeter were many eating places, too many to choose from really. I guess the late evenings have seen numerous rowdy parties there. Above the restaurants are holiday accommodation units and motels.
Royal Air Flying Doctor Museum and Darwin Bombing memorial display
Lyn and I had visited this spot last year but it still impresses us to experience again. The bombing in 1942 was catastrophic as was the cyclone in 1974. The good work the Flying Doctor does, is worth another look and donation.
To represent the experience of the bombing of Darwin
There are a bunch of underground tunnels just under the city itself. You gain entry through a small opening near the Darwin waterfront buildings. These tunnels were built to house oil and other fuels as a storage facility instead of the large above ground tanks we see at oil refineries today. The walls of the tunnel we toured, tell of the history of the building and problems associated with having such a large storage facility that if penetrated during war, would destroy the port of Darwin. I’m not a person who always remember facts and figures associated with museums and exhibits, so I suggest you make the time to visit the tunnels when next in Darwin. Ex servicemen are treated with a discount on entry.
Hopefully, the next post will have more exciting locations to review, but we’ll wait and see.
To take this cruise, you need to buy tickets and check in at Cooinda Lodge where you are taken to the mooring site for your departure to an ever changing landscape of the Yellow Water billabong. If you’re in Kakadu National Park, it is a “must-do” evening cruise finishing off with another brilliant Northern Territory sunset. Yes, you can do a sunrise or “during the day” cruise, but the end of the day is the most popular one that you will enjoy. What are the guides looking for? Well, crocodiles would be the guides first “look for” on his list during our cruise; from the departure point, we headed straight across the billabong to a lazing crocodile taking in the afternoon sun; big and handsome, some would say.
The birdlife is exceptional with many whistling ducks and egrets wandering around the banks of the billabong, scattering as we make our way closer to their breeding grounds. One standout bird in this area is the Jabiru; skinny pinkish legs with long toes, he roams the “kingdom”, as if it were his.
The cruise wanders around the billabong and leaves the area where the brilliant sunset is best seen until last point of “take a look at this”; what brilliance the sky presents each and every evening in the Northern Territory!
Cahill Crossing – Kakadu
We had a previous notification that Cahill Crossing isn’t just for cars and trucks to cross the East Alligator River; salt water alligators also use the crossing to get upstream to catch fish for dinner lunch and tomorrows breakfast. The tide comes up stream and floods over the low concrete bridge enabling access for the alligators. This has become a popular tourist destination for tourists to view crocodiles in the wild as you can see from some of the videos. I was particularly taken in with the guy “surfing” up stream on the “tidal wave”. We stayed at a camp nearby for two nights which enabled us to see two episodes of the naturally occurring event. Add it to your bucket list; all included in the Kakadu NP pass.
Hey! Surfer Joe!
Corroboree Billabong Mary River National Park
Further towards Darwin and on the west side of the Kakadu National Park is the Mary River. This area is well known as a “wetlands” National Park with plenty of billabong birds and wildlife. It too has a large number of crocodiles to view their lifestyle and “activity” during the daylight. We took the evening 5pm – 6:30pm cruise, said to be the better cruise because it too includes vantage points for great sunset photos. There is also a sunrise cruise.
Yes, the first stop was to view a crocodile on the billabong bank waiting for something to consume. And the whistling ducks were close by. A prominent bird in this region is the Jabiru also. A nest high up in the trees revealed a Jabiru caring for its eggs, or young. There were many of these “kingly looking” creatures which make a fabulous display as they leap and fly into the sky for finding another searching pad for fresh fish and other water creatures. The video of three pelicans in synchronized movement was a surprise.
Our guide spotted a water buffalo in the distance bathing in the sludgy waters. On our appearance, the bull buffalo thought it a good spectacle to “get out of the bath” and head for greener pastures. Thanks Billy!
Darwin Black Night Air Display
For our time in Darwin, we have decided to take a rest from each other and do “our own thing”. Lyn and I have chosen a camp north of Darwin near the shore where we get a continual light breeze to keep the temperature at a bearable level.
However, on Thursday evenings the Mindil Market is a market all visitors to Darwin have to visit. So find our way to the market during the daylight was ok, but our return back would take a lot longer. We knew the crowd would be enormous as the 2024 RAAF Pitch Black exercise was to present a 90 minute flyover exercise over the Mindil Beach. This was made up of over 4,400 military personnel and over 140 aircraft from 20 participating nations. The exercise involves air, sea, and land contingents and is held each two years. Another for your bucket list in 2026. Really really good.
The beach was wall to wall people viewing military aircraft and “show-off” movements just close to the beach. The event was held up twice while people tried swimming and another sent up his drone. A definite no no at an event like this. Silly duffas.
The town of Mataranka Springs is rather small and only has the basics in shopping and commercial activity. The “supermarket” only has bread available a few days a week. Eggs for a meal are a rare event. We stayed at Bitter Springs, just 3 or 4 km away.
You do not have to make a site booking here; it’s first arrival gets the next available site. So around 8:30am, campers start arriving at the reception to commence living a Bitter Springs lifestyle. Fortunately, we were able to site side-by-side, three across. The springs are an easy 1km stroll away. They are warm and you hop in the river and float down on a “floatie” to a “get out” point and take a short walk back to the starting point for another lap or two.
Unfortunately, I must have had some bad food or nasty water and was sidelined for two days with nothing going down and everything coming up. Even the charcoal tablets were not wanted. All good now but with a looser belt.
Katherine
Katherine is a very busy town, with the gorge close by to the east, and the highways heading north to Darwin and Kakadu, south to Adelaide and Queensland and west to the Kimberlys and Perth. The supermarket is full on flat out as it is the only one to feed the thousands of tourists that drive through each day in the busy season. Fuel stations are used by all tourists to top up the fuel, for you never know when the next road house will be supplying fuel.
Some friends we met again last year, were on a mission to catch us and spend a day with us before they headed out west to Broome. Their departure from Wollongong was a month after we moved on from the Gold Coast. They caught up just as we were departing Mataranka for Katherine.
Katherine Gorge Cruise
The gorge cruise is always a bright spot to visit on a clear blue sky day, and we did just that. It is a well known “bucket list” item in the Northern Territory and offers a number of relaxing cruises at various times of the day. The rock walls offer varying colors that at different times of the day. We chose the 10:00 am cruise.
The commentary used phrases like “5.3 billion years“. It’s hard to imagine how anyone could accurately say how old a rock is or when major things happened to the region’s geography. Nothing has been written down; in fact there were no pencils and books in those days.
Look closely at Mr Crocodile
Kakadu National Park
We have entered Kakadu from the south where the roads are much, much better than the roads in many country states to the south. We found a bush camp and stayed the night with millions of stars looking down on us, proving a spectacle one will always remember. In a short period of time, you can count 15-20 satellites orbiting the earth.
Next post, we’ll have completed the Yellow River cruise and then into Darwin.
I have tried to find detail of the regular residents of the Billabong but all I got was a “quack quack”. In other words, nothing. Not even a signboard to say what types or brands of water birds come here. Do any migrate to here or just pass through on to some other breeding region? Can’t tell you. Wikipedia didn’t enlighten my mind either.
So to do better than the “signboards” just come and experience the wonder of the activities of the birdlife in this out of the way billabong in outback western Queensland.
There is strong talk amongst the human grey nomads that this billabong is being closed. The decision to close the sites for camping is to protect cultural heritage and was made following discussions held between Mount Isa City Council and local landowners.
However, it is still open to short stay Grey Nomads. This lagoon is really owned by the many varieties of birds that inhabit the billabong and make it a busy natural place to live. They make the culture of Camooweal Billabong real and full of life. They are an exhibition of how we too should get along in the places we call home. Thank you birds and nature.
I said earlier that night skies in the outback never disappoint. I wrote that before I got out of bed for today’s sunrise. I guess we have to “endure” lots more of these stunning expanses of morning and evening colour, during our time in the outback.
The Northern Territory
Barkly and Frewena Rest area
The last we saw of Queensland is Police stopping traffic to do searches of the vehicles. Don’t know why, but they were very active around the vehicles they had stopped.
For those Hawkes supporters- Barkly Homestead. No sign of any customers at three ways NT.A sleep over takes on a new meaning when you’re driving hundreds of kilometers in a day.
Daly Waters is a well known town located around the goings on of an old country pub. Yes, everything is old and mostly broken, left to rust and never to be moved; aircraft, buses, trucks, cars windmills, and anything else that doesn’t need to be used again. The owner runs around on his quad bike making sure all is happening to his plan. He is a big guy and on the back of his quad bike, he has installed a sign “wide load”. He owns 3 or 4 other camps/pubs of similar value and “mission” in the Northern Territory. The meals provided are high quality. He has entertainment each afternoon and evening. The staff are the most helpful and courteous group of young people you could want to employ. They love what they do and so does the owner. If you are in the area, plan a two day stay to enable you to take in the “different” way people live in the NT. We stayed just a few hours including lunch, but I wish we could have stayed longer for that “Daly” experience. The restaurant and shop is very different to other roadhouses.
A Jeff and Sheri Easter song for pub afternoon entertainment.
Just a few hundred kilometers north from Daly Waters is Mataranka. We have set up camp there for the weekend. More next post.
Known as the Blue Heeler, this pub is very busy with one night stays of passing nomads and farm contractors. Before arriving at Kynuna, we travelled through wide open space of grasslands and rocky mounds. The pub was very old fashioned and the food wasn’t something I would go back for again.
Our “lineup”Tumbleweeds
McKinlay
This town is known for a lot of laughs; crocodile Dundee laughs. Amazingly, while we were using the outside dining area to have breakfast, sharp on 10:00am, the doors opened for tourist business. There are many memories from the movie, all relating to the humour style of Crocodile Dundee.
The jalopy car hadn’t been brought back from the McKinlay horse races held two days before our arrival; the car standing outside the “Walkabout Creek Hotel” is a great memory we saw last year on our Darwin trip.
Crocodile Dundee PubEntrance to the ladies loo. The Library in town.
Corella Dam
We had passed the turnoff to this dam last year on our way to Darwin and the reports told us not to miss out on this hidden gem. On arrival, after shutting the farm gate entrance and travelling a dirt road just a short while, we realised this was not a one night stay but at least a two night stay location, even longer. With a blue lake before us and many spots to camp at along the shore, we made the decision to do just that.
Lake Corella is a concrete faced rockfill dam built between 1956 and 1957 on the Corella River to provide town water for the Mary Kathleen Uranium Mine. The dam originally had a gated control structure which was removed in 2004, lowering the spillway and reducing the full supply level. When full it has a surface area of 200 hectares and holds 10,500 ML of water.
Mary Kathleen Mine
Mary Kathleen was a mining settlement in north-western Queensland, Australia. It is located in the Selwyn Range between Mount Isa and Cloncurry.
With the mine long closed, the structures of the township have been all but removed. Mary Kathleen’s secrets are not hard to uncover, you’ll find the old town fountain, outline of the pool and the concrete slabs where homes once stood. Follow the road to the abandoned mine and marvel at the sheer expanse of the pit.
The entry road is good for having the motor home do the rock and roll, in slow motion. Even at almost walking pace, the motor home rocked with every divot in the road. You drive about 2km into the now ghost town of Mary Kathleen. In the 50s, 60s and 70s, Mary Kathleen was the town where the miners of the uranium lived.
There are literally hundreds of concrete slabs to camp on. We found a parking spot beside what was the floor to the cafeteria; I’m still waiting for service. I’d like some hash browns for breakfast, please.
Many countries in the world have benefited from the uranium for their energy needs but Australia has reneged on using this clean energy resource.
History tells us that politics has played a major role in allowing the operation of the mine in the past and then politics eventually stopped the mining of uranium for domestic energy purposes. Always something to “wonder why” when you’re a logical thinker, which I tend to be.
Mary Kathleen open cut mineHold on! Three in the front of the two door Suki
The night skies do justice to the statement “the heavens declare the glory….”
Mt Isa Qld.
This town has been a lead mining town for many years. The mine is central to the town’s business area.
Our mission in Mt Isa was to collect a parcel at the post office that had been sent from Tamworth to enable us to use less power on the Starlink setup. The parcel was initially to arrive on Monday next week, but came into Mt Isa on Thursday this week. Good service Australia Post.
We had a bit of a hiccup coming into the town. The steering sensors went on the Iveco and showed an error on the screen. Fortunately, the Iveco service Center was able to rectify the problem and after $330 worth of computer checks and labour, we were on our way.
There are quite a number of free camping rest areas along the Barkley Highway. We decide on the WWII Historical Site Rest Area for a two night stay. We have missed out on a stunning Friday sunset, sorry to say.
Just before Mitchell was a small village that proudly showed off a Model T Ford. It was “encased” in its own building and was extremely well preserved and displayed.
The main reason we stopped at Mitchell was because the sister’s maiden name is Mitchell. Secondly, the third sister had planned to meet up with us there and to continue the Lap 24 venture. And thirdly, Mitchell has some Artesian Heated Pools available and we thought it was time to have a shower. For those who don’t free camp, the shower amenities are normally not provided.
The Neil Turner Weir is a free camp site with more than 100 spots to park and have a pit fire. The toilet block was a long walk away, so far that when you made it to the amenity, you forgot why you were there. Age does funny things to funny people. The Friday evening sunset was a treat when fluffy pink tinged clouds filled the evening sky. Outback Queensland knows how to show off at this time of the year when the grey nomad masses pass through.
Saturday, we decided on a camp oven cooked stew. (Poking around the fire is a great stress reducer and we wished we had a homely fireplace at our place. The TV would be left alone.) Camp damper came out and was added to the stew.
Artesian pools are a great alternative to the open air bush shower and a 3 day pass for $18 became a good spend. Scones with jam and cream were on the cafe menu but we had to contend with banana bread instead of the scones.
When Lyn came in from the meal, she noticed her glasses were missing. Found, outside in the dust near the fire, with a broken frame. (More later)
Might have to get a special frame for this photo. The camp oven meal/stewThe three sisters.
Morven Qld
Arriving at Morven, you are greeted with a bright pink painted truck selling coffee and bags. The entrepreneur has become an icon in the area as “the bag lady”. Her wit and Aussie slang is an added freebie. Apparently the town used to hold goat races (the ads still show on the public toilets) but went out of fashion as time gets in the way of daily life.
Augathella Qld
Tambo Qld
Many of the free camping grounds in this outback Queensland territory will be total bog holes when it rains. The weather man is very kind to us and there’s no rain due while we are enjoying the water holes and big expansive camping grounds filled with grey nomads from the south. Tambo is one such town. However, Tambo offers chicken races each night from 5pm. The local pub sends out a bus to collect us to, go experience a different game of chicken. It’s a great way to get customers from free camping to be donors to the Flying Doctor Service. Pick them up and drag them into the eating and drinking center of the town. Oh, and while they are there, we may as well have a chicken race. The publican has washed his chooks in colored dye and auctions them off calcutta style, with the highest bidder “owning” the chook for the race, when we eventually get to the starting point. If the chook wins, the owner gets half the total money collected and the rest goes to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. To date, they have raised over $70,000 for the RFDS. (We will visit their display in Darwin in a couple of weeks). The winner tonight took away $640.
After the race, your preordered meal is ready to enjoy. The menu? Chicken Snitzel or last night’s race looser.
Now here’s a chicken race of note.
Barcaldine/Ilfracombe
Barcaldine is the starting point for the Australian Labor Party. I have to be careful here because I’m not one of the party’s avid supporters. In the Main Street are 5 hotels. How fitting! There’s a monolithic, 3 dimensional wooden structure, which replaces the old cathedral, country towns often used to be proud of when the bells sounded each Sunday morning. Today, they have a wooden clunk sound whenever the wind blows through.
Exit from Ilfracombe Caravan Park
Longreach
There’s two major tourist attractions in Longreach that all visitors make a point of experiencing. As we had visited the Qantas museum and the Stockman’s Hall of Fame last year, we had a “relaxing” day of catching up on work and flying the drone. Rod and Earlene took the tours over two days. The “sun on body” got a little bit of a workout too.
If it were to rain at the Apex free camp near the Thomson River, there would be at least 120 RVs needing to be pulled from the ocean of black mud. A quagmire of mixed up vehicles is the last thing any grey nomad wants.
The sunrises and sunsets in the outback have been special moments of sky beauty. Each has its special commitment to performing on a wide open stage. If there’s some cloud in the right form and position, why would one not want to shoot the memory.
Driving into town to refill our gas bottles, we found this exhibition of women’s bras on the fence of the local radio station broadcasting location. Must have had a fund raiser for breast cancer at some point.
You’ll remember Lyn “lost” her glasses around the campfire in Mitchell. Optometrists are hard to find in the outback and if you find one, they are only in town a day a month, or some other outback arrangement. Lyn’s was in the right town on the right day. She now has her old lenses in new frames, at outback prices.
A good 120 RVs hereAnyone for a haircut?Bras are off in this town. lol
Winton Qld
Winton is well known for the “Waltzing Matilda Museum and the history of the writer, Banjo Paterson. It’s a very tourist active town with interesting opal shops and of course, a number of quaint pubs. The outback is famous for the old pubs that all towns seem to use for not just pictures or writings on the wall, but general gabbing on about bygone days of “what and how we used to do things out here”. Each town, or even pub, has distinct characters who are symbols of those times.
We found a free camp just south of Winton that gives us a few free nights and lots of birdlife to enjoy. I hadn’t seen a spoonbill for years so spent a few walks around the weir looking for him to include in my memories of our lap.
We kept up, what has become our tradition on this trip; brilliant Friday evening sunsets. This one was glorious in a new and different way. The colour stretched from the horizon back across our heads and to the horizon behind.
great life - retired got nothing on 