Paradise Found

Day 16 to 21  26th April to1st May

After our 2 day “enforced” stay in the lap of luxury (I must say if you are going to break down I can think of far worse places to stay than the Cable Beach Club Resort and Spa) we picked up our camper trailer from the mechanic.

We lost no time in setting up our newly tyred home in the Cable Beach Caravan Park, just a stones throw from the resort, (world’s apart in services offered but both equally enjoyable).

It was so good to be back “on track”, and we thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of this park.

Our thoughts now turned to our continuing adventure on the Gibb River road. We knew there had been violent thunderstorms while we were staying at Cape Leveque, so it came as no surprise when the Rangers informed us that it could be up to 14 days before the Gibb River road would be opened. We also learned at the same time that the Bungle Bungles had also been flooded out and that this road was also closed.

 Our timing was impeccable.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Broome. This place really does get into your blood. With plenty of time on our side, we decided that this was a great place to wait for the Gibb River road to open.

We have been playing tourist and visited the sights of Broome.

We checked out the pearl shops and Oohed and Aahed at the world’s biggest perfect pearl.

 We viewed Anastasia’s pool and trod through the Dinasaur tracks at Gantheaume Point 

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Paul had a nostalgic trip down memory lane when we went to see “The Hunger Games” at the outdoor Sun Cinema. The original Projectors that Paul used to help run at the Victa Cinema are on display to the public.

We paid our respects at both the Chinese and Japanese Cemeteries

 and we walked around the old Pearl 

Luggers down at Roebuck Bay.

We’ve driven along cable beach, swam in the beautiful azure blue waters and watched the sunset as the grumbling camels swayed and lunged past.

We have walked the streets of Chinatown and ambled down Johnny Chi Lane, We have visisted the oldest boab tree and the oldest  police lock up and have ticked off all the tourist activities on Broome’s list!

There IS one more thing we have done! We have fallen in love with the Broome lifestyle and the attitude of, there is always tomorrow. Time is not important here; only the season; and we were so lucky, the dry season started the day after we arrived here.

PS There is a Where's Paul and its not the Sun Cinema.Good Luck!

Paradise Lost on the Track

Day 15 Anzac Day 25^th April

This blog is being written from the bedroom of a very expensive resort in Broome!

 We decided to leave Cape Leveque a day early to go back to Broome!

 Kooljamon Resort is beautiful, especially if you are an environmentally friendly camper and the pristine beaches are your main, agenda!

This cute little crab joined us during a morning swim.

We had adopted a great ritual of down to the beach early in the morning for a day break swim and then back to the tent, for coffee and breakfast, then pack up lunch, chairs and a shade tarpaulin and back to the beach and set up our little day time shelter complete with chairs, fridges and food  to relax for three hours. Then back to the tent for a nanna nap!

Sounds great, right!!!

Let me tell you about the mosquitoes!! Two of them were big enough to cart us away, but they chose to send their whole army of 50.000. Paul was worried about which fever he would end up dying of caused by these giant mosquito hoards  which acted more like giant dive bombers from WWII. Which would strike first, Malaria, Dengue fever or Ross River Virus or perhaps some other virus you could relate to a mossie plague!

Even worse, Cape Leveque can- not sell Alcohol, AND PAUL RAN OUT OF BEER!

So we decided to depart from Paradise.

Wrong move!!

We were heading back along the really, really bad road, (appalling track), I had my nose in a riveting book  (just to help the rough ride go quicker), when I felt a rather larger bump.  I heard Paul say "There goes the wheel (actually he said more than that, but I feel it would be wiser to leave some of it out) I really didn't take much notice as we had already had one flat tyre so I assumed that was what he meant. I just gave a quick glance up, only to see our entire wheel rolling past us and on down the track! The wheel bearings had given u the ghost

The following pictures can spell it out for you, and you know why this entry is being written from a Resort (expensive) in Broome.

 All I can say Di and John,  Stewie and Caroline, BEWARE  the Cape Leveque Road. Total bill; Camp Site, $160 dollars, Flat Bed tow truck (after a long discussion and bargaining because he did have to travel nearly the full section of the unsurfaced road) $1000, hotel accommodation and meals, $700 and we still have to get the trailer fixed!

Paradise can be expensive

Days  11, 12 and 13.

21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd April.  Broome to Cape Leveque.

I feel as if I have arrived in heaven, or the earthly form of heaven! But of course like any magic heavenly place, there is a price to pay!! Cape Leveque is only 200 Kms from Broome, BUT 100Kms of that distance is unsurfaced road. I don’t just mean unsurfaced!  I mean a red dusty canal with sides at least a metre high! Bright red sand, not bull dust, lines this canal, but of course every now and then to keep every red blooded 4WD person on their toes there is a particularly sandy patch where the driver fights with the steering wheel , swinging it rapidly from side to side, just to stay on a straight line to get through this challenge, and then just when you think you have this demon sorted out, the road throws in a stony lumpy section!  Pity about the tyres being on 18psi..  Sometimes the road is a wide “dual lane highway” and other times it becomes a one lane bush track. No over taking here!

But when you get to the end of it, what a treat!

We have spent most of the time either on the beach watching sunsets, or Just on the beach.

Oh by the way, this is an ecological resort and we do have to share our conveniences with the local nature.

So with the setting sun lighting our path, I can tell you we have spent a wonderful  few days at Cape Leveque charging up our batteries for Broome.

Tracking along the Fitzroy River

Days 9 and 10

Thursday 19^th and Friday 20^th April.

 We left the Bungle Bungles and Purnululu National Park at 7.00 am. The trip back was event free, fortunately!  We didn’t have another spare tyre for the trailer and I don’t think Paul really wanted to change any more flat tyres! Funny about that! Iknew I certainly didn’t want that experience.  So fingers crossed, we tippy toed over every single sharp looking rock when leaving!  Good Image for a 4WD person isn’t it. My answer is, who in their right minds wants to change a tyre on a 4WD vehicle in 36 degrees on a stony road!

Some of the Obstacles we faced were four legged!

Our next destination was Fitzroy crossing, 270 Kms. from Halls Creek.  A quiet trip – all bitumen and easy travelling.

By 4.00 pm we were parked under shady trees, on beautiful lush grass, arm chairs out and Fiveses had begun.

The main tourist attraction here is the Geike Gorge. The best way to view it is via a flat bottomed boat: and the best time to view it is early in the morning. So up at 6.30 am and a short drive out to the boat landing. The next hour we slowly cruised up the Fitzroy River marveling at the exquisite sculptures on the sand stone cliffs carved out by the swirling currents of the river in full flood.

We “officially” saw our first crocodile – no point taking a photo – it just looked like a twig floating on the surface of the river! So…I’ll just finish with some photos of one of nature’s art works.

 The Geike Gorge on the Fitzroy River.

Day 7 and 8 Tracking into the Bungle Bungles

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Tuesday 17^th and Wednesday 18^th April.

Warning ! This entry contains a Where’s Paul!

WE left Hall’s Creek late because we only had a short trip – 150 Kms and 100 of that was on bitumen. We thought it would only take a couple of hours to get to Purnululu National Park. WRONG!

The last 50 Kms were the worst stretch of road we have travelled on during this trip so far.

We travelled the entire 1000 Kms of the Tanami Track with only 3 casualties. 3 eggs!

We travelled 50 Kms into the Bungle Bungles and lost two hub caps for the trailer’s wheels and shredded one of the trailer tyres 200 meters from our camp site!

 The Walardi Camp site was way above our expectations, beautiful grassy areas , with large shady trees ringing each generous camp site. And the Facilities! Spotlessly clean long drops which smelt of freshly linseed painted walls.

Day 2 in the Bungles saw us up at 6.00 am (still in SA time) so we decided to do our walks in the fresh morning air before the sun became too fierce.

The first walk to Cathedral Gorge was the most spectacular for us. We wound our way around the striped beehive shaped domes and then entered a very long and deep gorge which lead up to the amphithetre where a permanent pool at its base.

Immense walls towered above us and there was evidence that two large sections had actually split away from the original sandstone and had slipped during a major upheaval of the earth to form a keystone above the cathedral pool . 

We visited other places of interest including the mini palms walk and several lookouts but nothing rivaled our early morning experience in the Cathedral Gorge.

To me, the grandeur of the red domed Bungle Bungles against  the vivid blue skies and the underlying fragility of the geology in this area was all symbolized in this chance photo taken during the walk to the valley of the mini palms when I was lucky enough to spot this beautiful butterfly alight on these pretty red flowers. My  favourite  colours!

Day 2 on the Tanami Track- the longest day!

Day 6- 16th April 2012
Having looked at the same scenery for 100 kms, I originally thought I would have nothing to report! WRONG!
Just before we arrived at Rabbit Flat (which no longer exists! You don't even have to blink to miss it!) we noticed that both sides of the track had been recently burnt - still evidence of white ash.

60 Kms further on and it was still the same but we also noticed in the distance, clouds of billowing smoke ahead. It wasn't long before the pungent smell of gum tree smoke made its way into the car.
At this stage I started to feel a bit uneasy! A fire out here! Obviously no C.F.S. to call out to extinguish the fire. No water either! How fierce was the fire? Do we have to drive through it?
Fortunately I soon had my answer! On the right hand of the road large flames and black choking smoke rolled away from the road. Fortunately the wind was blowing it away from the road.

We drove on....... Another 300 Kms or so! Its amazing the scenery does change a bit but the conditions of the road change even more! For the worse! The road train driver we originally spoke to wasn't kidding!....This end of the road is not so good! ...No gold mines out here to look after the road!

The sign says it all. the condition of the Tanami! PS spot Gill!

Oh, by the way, we did get to Wolfe Creek (heh, heh, heh) and we did climb the crater. Hard to believe that this huge hole was made by a meteorite ( the second largest in the world)

We followed the deteriorating road into Hall's Creek and arrived at 4.30 SA time. It was only 3.00 pm Western Australian time. I guess fiveses will have to start early. An Extra 1 1/2 hours early, this makes it our longest day.

Day 5 The Tanami Track .... At last!

Sunday 15th April
This entry contains a" Where'sPaul"
I'm trying to write this with 5000 flies crawling up my nose, in my eyes and any other area they choose.
We left Alice Springs at 9.30 this morning and finally hit the real Track. The Tanami Track. The first 30 Kms were easy! Not a pothole in sight, just smooth black bitumen!! But Track Users BEWARE! We were lulled into a false sense of security. We topped up the fuel at Tillmouth Well (at only $2.15/lit) We knew we had too. The next available fuel was at Hall's Creek, 1006Km away.We have long range fuel tanks and had travelled that far before but we were unsure of the road conditions as they can make an impact on fuel consumption. We hoped the tanks plus our jerry can full would be enough!

We hit the red stuff soon after refuelling! The going was quite easy. Paul sat on about 90-100Km/hour. The road was sandy and had been just graded after the recent rains.
We did get a heads-up from the sole road train we passed, that it was going to deteriorate further up
THESE FLIES!!!!!!!!
It was fine, after travelling the Oodnadatta track after rains this seemed really easy.
We reached Renahans Bore at 3.30
THESE FLIES!!!!!!! SOMEONE HAND ME THE AEROGARD  ...PLEASE!!

We decided not to camp at the wayside stop.Too bare and open to the track so we followed a small track into the actual bore.
A great little camp site.
After a visit from an indigenous local who asked for water, although we heard them in the distance they left us alone.
We pitched camp.

THESE FLIES!!! I'm going to have to stop writing this. All I can see is little black blobs in front of my eyes.

Days 3 and 4 Alice Springs

Friday 13th and Saturday 14th April.
We decided to be tourists for these two days , it was actually pouring with rain Friday, so it was not much of a day for sight seeing.. We toured around the shopping precinct, and looked at some of the features of Alice springs. These included the Royal Flying doctor Museum, ( they make good coffee there) and a trip up to Anzac Hill which gave us a spectacular view of Alice Springs back to Heavitree Gap.

For once we are both in a photo thanks to an obliging tourist

Saturday we again visited local sights. The stand out for us was the 40 min hike up thecreek bed to view the Standley Chasm.An amazing formation, dripping in Cycad ferns. These beautiful, almost prehistoric ferns, covered the walls all the way up to the chasm.The sight was enough to make any gardners green thumbs itch.

We also visited Simpson's Gap and the Dessert Park. This is a botanical garden made up entirely of indigenous flora and fauna of the four dessert systems in the area. These four being the Dandy plains, the grass plains, the woodlands and the dry underground creek beds and water holes. Each themed area had anaviary with the birds found in that area and also a nocturnal house which housed the many reptiles and small mammals of the area.

P.S. One of these two photos are a where's Paul, let me know if you find him and which of the features we visited today he is located at.
Up tomorrow morning early to head off along the TANAMI TRACK. Our real adventure is about to start!

Day 2 Still on the Stuart Track

Day 2  12th April
Up with the sun and the birds in our little bush camp. Today our goal was the much more realistic goal of reaching Alice Springs. A mere 560 kms.
Took the obligatory photo of Paul entering the Northern Territory. To keep you on your toes we are going to include a "Where's Paul" photo, you need to not only find the photo where Paul is hiding (not very hard sometimes), but also guess which feature/landscape/area the photo has been taken from. Today's will not be too hard.

Silly me downloaded the regulations the wrong way around and I don't know how to rotate it you'll have to turn your screens around to see what I was referring to!

We were a bit shaken by the Expedition rules imposed by Stuart on his men, some of them would have been hard for us to keep. Could you imagine Paul following rule number two, and as for me, rule number 8 is totally out of the question. Oh well I guess we'll have to have our own expedition rules! No spitting, no watering down the drinks and no flies in the vegemite!



We arrived in Alice Springs at 4.00pm and we were well and truly set up, tent up, fridge plugged in, biscuits and cheese laid out. We were able to enjoy our fiveses at five.

The Stuart Track at six.

11th April 2012
It was one minute to 4 in the morning when I heard "psssst, pssst, are you ready for our adventure?" The alarm had not even gone off, but Paul was ready to go.He's actually been ready for three or four weeks.
By 4.30 we were on the track.
Paul had set a goal for the day's travel, Marla! It was going to be a huge day! Marla was 960 kms from Victor Harbor, but that's Paul. He doesn't do things by half. And we had traveled over that territory quite a few times, so its not as if we were going to miss anything. His plan was to get through the city and up to Port Augusta before the average person had even finished their breakfast, " to miss all the traffic!"
Even so with this ambitious plan we knew that it was going to be a bit of a struggle.
It was 5.30 and way past beer o'clock when Paul admitted that we wouldn't be camping at Marla.
It was also at this stage that we were travelling through a reasonably well wooded and attractive landscape, the first we had seen for over 3 hours. The final decision was made for us when we spotted a small side track. Within 30 mins we had the trailer set up and the camp fire well and truly glowing. It was fiveses at sixes. Better late than never!
 A great Campsite ................................................A great camp fire..............  a great night!                  good night  from the Stuart Track (highway)!

I don't know why I'm counting how many sleeps to go! It's 4.30am Wednesday morning and I can't sleep!Is it excitement or perhaps it's more of the "Oh no there is so much to do and so little time" I prefer to think that it is excitement cos there is only six more sleeps to go!