Kununurra

W A has very strict quarantine regulations; no honey, fruit or vegetables are allowed and each vehicle is subjected to a thorough search at the border.

On arriving at Kununurra we turned our watches back; we are now two hours behind Melbourne time (EST). This is okay in Perth and along the west coast, but it is strange in Kununurra which is only 50km from the border. Dawn is around 4.45am and it is dusk at 5.00pm. As a result business hours here are 8.00am to 4.00pm.

We are at Kimberleyland Holiday Park. We like it here, our site in one of four surrounding a central courtyard covered in shade cloth.





Malcom, our neighbour across the courtyard has this wonderful set up. He tows a long long trailer behind his Winnebago which houses his quad bike with a tin boat on top, and behind that a Suzuki 4X4. The name of his outfit is "howlongisapieceofstring". He uses the quad bike to tow his "tinnie" to remote places.















We had a lot of fun with Teya, Hugo and Sienna who are on a six month trip around Australia with their parents.













Faye spent a day at the Kimberley Writers Festival and was delighted to have her copy of 'Territory' signed by the author Judy Nunn.

Mud Mud Mud

We now have time to record a hazardous part of our trip. When we arrived at Oodnadatta Roadhouse we were given permission to drive to the Painted Desert with a warning that although 2mm of rain was forecast overnight it was not enough to be a problem. We were also given information on a cattle station, Arckaringa Homestead where we could camp overnight. We had a great night sitting around a campfire talking to a group of men travelling together. Faye baked a loaf of bread in the hot coals and in the morning we shared it at breakfast.

The rain persisted all night but there was no negative road report as we headed back towards the Painted desert. Unfortunately we chose a road south of the one that would have taken us back to the painted desert. By the time we realized our mistake we were concerned about the deterioration of the road (having experienced the speed at which red dust turns to mud). We therefore decided to abandon our plans and head for the closest bitumen at Coober Pedy, 142kms away.

The first 42kms was a mud scramble. We slid on the wet mud and we were blinded as we hit long stretches of muddy water, varying in depth. We were most relieved when we reached the Oodnadatta-Coober Pedy track, but for the most part it was only marginally better.

On one extremely cut up section, the car skidded sideways at right angles to the road, and just before we crossed the verge David regained control and after a few more skids, pulled us straight forward. All this was happening whilst towing the Ultimate camper. I must say David’s driving skill on that occasion was brilliant, thank goodness he drove in hill climbs and mud scrambles in his youth. We found out later that 10mm of rain had fallen overnight instead of the predicted 2mm.




This photo was taken at the intersection of the Mt Barry & Oodnadatta-Coober Pedy track at Mt Barry Station. As seen in the photo it is an isolated area, desert as far as you can see.










We stopped to look at our mud splashed vehicles before proceeding.











Approximately 20 kms from Coober Pedy we stopped to take this photo, There was a large oval of brilliant green to the side of the road, the only colour in the dry surroundings.











The build up of mud between the bottom of the car and the running board.











Mud caked on the mudguards








On arriving at Coober Pedy around midday, the car was so laden down with mud we headed straight for the one and only carwash in town. Whilst we waited we filled two wheel barrows with mud shoveled from under the car. We then spent ($40) on a high-pressure wash to remove the rest.

Later that night we were not at all surprised to hear all unmade roads in the area had been closed.

Keep River National Park - Jinumum Aboriginal Shelter and Art Site

The following day we did the 3km walk along the floor of the Gorge to view an Aboriginal Art site. Thousands of years of erosion by the Keep River has formed the shallow sandstone Keep River Gorge. A shown in this photo the so called path was hard to navigate because of all the loose stones. We couldn't take our eyes off the ground and therefore had to stop every few metres to look around.











Once again the gorge walk was beautiful, the boab trees, the wildflowers, and the cliffs of the gorge were spectacular. It amazed us how the two boab trees in this photo managed to survive on the rocky side wall of the gorge.











David having a close look at the Gorge wall.















David standing under the Aboriginal Shelter









Our interpretations of the artwork:

An Emu




















An aboriginal throwing a boomerang









A crocodile in white ochre


















The sun


















A Jabiru









A mud wasp nest on a tree beside the shelter and one of the wall of the shelter











As we were returning to the carpark we noticed this square rock of three colours which looked as if it had been cut straight on all sides. We thought an appropriate title would be "the liquorice allsort rock"

Keep River National Park - Gurrandalng Bushwalk

Before leaving the Northern Territory we spent two days at Keep River National Park located 3 km east of the NT/WA border. This National Park is noted for its striking landforms. Our camp site was situated at the start of a loop around the Gurrandalng sandstone escarpments. We walked around, over, up and down the escarpments. Evidence of volcanic activity, massive marine deposits and glaciation are visible in the rocks and landforms. The views and formations are stunning and change colour depending on the time of day. Walkers are encouraged to walk anti-clockwise in the early morning and clockwise in the latter part of the day.






We walked through woodlands until we passed between these two escarpments where we started our journey around the formations







These formations look quite comical












On looking through this natural window you overlooked a valley with more escarpments in the distance










This is where we climbed to look at the view through the window












Below is a selection of photos we took as we continued on our walk through this beautiful area - so much to see and capture on film

Victoria Highway

We reached the sealed Victoria Highway and stopped to look at this replica of a bronco panel, a tribute to the Durak family.






















This natural escarpment looks like a huge wall built around a hilltop village.












We refueled at Timber Creek Roadhouse and visited the nearby Northern Territory Park & Wildlife office to get information on the Gregory and Keep River National Parks.






We wonder how many overseas tourists have difficulty with this sign
















The Victoria River












The Gregory Tree beside the Victoria River is marked with the arrival (1885) and departure (July 2 1886) dates of the Gregory expedition.









We set up camp overnight at Big Horse Creek in Gregory National Park with lots of other travellers. The self registration camp was crowded with all types of caravans and campers overflowing onto the road.





There were a couple of eagles building a nest in a boab tree above our camper.