Advertisement
Distance traveled 3216km/4060km(79%).Leaving Fitzroy River Lodge early meant that we were once again on the road just after sunrise and as good as the sunsets are,there’s plenty to enthuse about the sun slowly lifting on a distant horizon and then gradually filtering it’s life giving,golden rays across the flat plains.The mystical and majestic boabs standing tall add their own special beauty.Joining the Great Northern Highway we spotted a fellow early traveler and we opted to guess/spot the next car.Sounds like a game for seriously bored kids but background to this is simple……many of the caravans,trailers and boats being pulled around Australia are attached to 4WD vehicles.An armada of Land Cruisers,Prado’s,Pajero’s and a variety of other 4WD models.If you guess any of the first three you have a pretty good chance of being correct.After 45 minutes we hadn’t seen another vehicle so like bored kids we kicked for touch and gave up.Now,this is the national highway….there are no alternate routes apart from unsealed roads for the pioneering types.Just provides an idea of how far flung the towns are from one another and distances are huge…..our journey on this leg taking us 388km from Fitzroy Crossing to Wyndham.The countryside started to change to
grassland and this is an important pastoral region for beef cattle.Road kill now consisted almost entirely of dead cattle accompanied by the usual carrion clean up squads……raptors and crows.Washongi heeded the signs and we slowed entering Hall’s Creek,a tiny town in the middle of absolutely nowhere.Sue,apart from her map reading and ‘roo spotting duties,is the tour guide reading pertinent stuff on each town from the Lonely Planet Guide which was less than complimentary about this little place.Their summary…”fill up and get the hell out of there”.A little harsh I fear as one needs to just spend a little while taking it all in…..the few people one saw all moving in slow motion and a deafening quietness.One hears anecdotal stories about Hicksville,Tennessee…..Halls’ Creek could be Australia’s version.For all of that we found it fascinating especially when spotting two traffic policemen stopping south bound cars in the main street to check licenses and doing breathalyzer tests….at 10am!This was genuine Outback country reinforced when an unsealed road due East could have delivered us to Alice Springs about 1000km away.Feedback on the dingo….this is a South East Asian dog which some time ago reverted to living in the wilds.It did not originate in Australia
and is not restricted to this country.A mixture of dogs and wolves through many years of cross breeding.Wyndham is a fairly small port town at the confluence of 5 major rivers from whence a helluva lot of those beef herds are shipped to hungry SE Asian countries.It has seen better times and there were clear signs that it is losing ground rapidly to it’s near neighbour,Kununurra,which is flourishing due to huge agricultural projects supported by the waters of Lake Argyle.A look out point above Wyndham provided a panoramic 360 deg view of the rivers and mud flats in the area.The tidal changes here vary between 8-10 meters so there is a large volume of water on the move at any given time.We had chosen not to stay there(wisely so)and checked in to Parry Creek Farm park which is situated on what would be floodplains during “the wet”.This was a gem of a camp set amongst beautiful trees,including boabs,adjoining wild bush veld.Bird life was prolific and each of the three mornings there,we awoke to the raucous shrieks and squawks of flocks of parrots and other bird calls.A beautiful pool provided some relief to the very hot days with temperatures rising to
33 deg C……this is mid winter,so imagine what happens in summer.Close by is the Marglu Billabong(which means receding water hole)situated in a Ramsar Convention wetland which we visited early one morning.Well…..in the space of 30 minutes we more than doubled our bird count seeing numerous water bird species…pelicans,darters,ducks,gannets,herons,geese and others.What was particularly interesting was watching the Whistling Kites(similar to our YBK’s)trying to catch numerous fish flicking on the surface.In the hour spent there we spotted one Kite catch a fish with it’s talons….a low success rate considering there must have been 25-30 all trying their luck.This wasn’t characteristic behaviour for a raptor which is essentially a carrion feeder.Now there may be a good few readers of this blog who wonder how we pencil in the afternoon and evening hours.Firstly,this trip has provided a lot of time to read and read we have…Sue is on her 9th novel and I am plowing through my 3rd(I would normally have read 3 per year).Late afternoons and early evenings are spent admiring wonderful sunsets with sundowners in hand…..it has been warm,cloudless and relatively insect free for almost the entire journey.Dinner is served mostly outdoors and we have maintained a high standard in the culinary
stakes.By 7pm it’s a case of “all dressed up and nowhere to go”……..so what better than to watch a youthful David Attenborough walking us through “Life on Earth”(DVD on laptop).There are three discs each with a number of episodes and it is fascinating stuff.By 9pm the curtain comes down and Washongi is in darkness.No fixed plans for the morrow…..just a gentle drift into slumberland with hazy thoughts as to what new adventures await.Australian fact file…..ever wondered how many species of antelope and monkey are found in Oz?Just keep in mind that this is a country the size of the USA(minus Hawaii)and has every imaginable type of vegetation and terrain.We all have a good idea of the different kangaroo and wallaby species plus the strange looking and named marsupials.Throw in the crocs and you are starting to see a picture emerge similar to the wilds of Africa.Well,here’s the strange thing….Australia does not have any native/indigenous antelope or monkey species at all.None,according to my internet research.This little fact is quite an intriguing anomaly and needs some further research for an explanation.Quick Cane Toad update…these nasty little buggers have arrived on the border of WA and we are seeing lots of literature designed
to heighten awareness of what is a looming ecological nightmare.A voluntary “Toadbusters Group” was formed in some of the small towns and their mission is pretty simple….locate and destroy(especially those 10000-30000 eggs each female lays 2-3 times per year).Fishing update……my hopes were not high on arrival at Parry Creek as fishing opportunity looked a bit restricted for fly fishing.So,I rigged up my light drop shot outfit and presented a small 3 inch minnow to the waters between the lily pads in the creek.The Barramundi were mesmerized by this little plastic fish and I hooked in the region of ten and landed about five…the biggest about 1.5kg.They attack the bait ferociously in true ambush style and then explode out of the water.With reddish eyes it is an interesting fish resembling our kob.Much sought after by Australians who rate the “barra” as a great fighting and eating fish.I also caught a small tarpon which are quite common in the waters of the Northern Territory.Importantly I kept my eyes peeled for a large salt water croc which has taken up residence in the creek and has already taken out a dog and domestic chicken.Next stop is Kununurra where the ‘barra are bigger.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.051s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0302s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Nevil
non-member comment
Feedback
Hi Guys To keep me motivated to write BIG emails I really need to know whether you are reveiving our emails? I did ask if you some time back but got no reply to say you were so now I am not sure if you are?? please confirm. I see on the public comments you have responded to some that you are receiving same so maybe go this route. Knowing that you are receiving my emails I will be able to get down and update you on the cricket etc ....Cheers Nev