The days rolled by as we waited for Thursday (and the Cruiser service / repairs / immobiliser install). We got in to the swing of relaxing easily: Early breakfast (before or after a shower), Coffee in town (with a large bowl of mango ice cream), back to the caravan park for lunch and a swim, read or rest, walk down to the lake and say hello to Rodney, take photos (birds mostly) or play games on the phone before dinner, (it gets dark here very early), another swim or shower before bed. The cruiser service / repair / immobiliser install was Thursday at 7am (all day). When I got there at 6.55 there were quite a few people waiting to book in. Alarm bells started to ring. This guy doesn't seem to have an army of ... read more

We got up bright and early to have another dip in the infinity pool at the Lake Argyle Resort and then checked out the dam itself and surrounds. This was a project of national importance which spread over decades (and now there is talk of extending the irrigation scheme further). Everybody should visit Lake Argyle. It is a truly fabulous piece of engineering. From Lake Argyle, it's just a short hop (70 kms) in to Kununurra and it's time to select a resort to stay at. When I say resort, it's a combination of accommodation with a pool and sometimes more. Our resort pool came with a bar (and poolside meals) which was very nice. Less nice were the smokers next door and the people who parked about one metre away. Unfortunately we had booked for ... read more

Eventually we dragged ourselves away from Mataranka as we still had a lot of ground to cover. Such a lovely place but we couldn't spend the rest of our days floating in a creek! Katherine came and went (maybe another trip - we know it has a lot to offer) and we turned westwards towards the Kimberley. Almost immediately, the scenery changes and Georgi remarks on the flora and the colour and the escarpments. Yes, this is a fabulous place that we are heading to. We see escarpments and eventually Boab trees become common. On my earlier trip to Kununurra in February, the bus had stopped at Timber Creek so that the passengers could refuel. There was a boat cruise on the Victoria River which was advertised. I asked and was told "the operators are on ... read more

We had camped at Connors Well overnight (just north of Alice Springs) and decided to drive the 400 odd kms to Tennant Creek to visit Georgi's cousin, Fiona. This stretch of the Stuart Highway is ideally set up for fast long driving, with 1000 plus km days but we took our time stopping to look at the cairns, monuments etc that told the story of the early exploration of this part of the world. Of course, there is plenty of information about John McDouall Stuart who made six trips north from Adelaide, seeking the inland sea, minerals and farming land. His last trip, in 1862, was when he reached an area close to Darwin. His exploration of central and northern Australia made possible the construction of the Overland Telegraph Line, a vital communication link back in ... read more

After the tough Kings Canyon Rim walk we agreed that a short walk was all that was required on the way to Alice Springs. So we chose the Kathleen Springs walk which is just 2.5 kilometres. This walk has an aboriginal dreamtime theme but there is also a discussion about the recent cattle industry (prior to being converted to a park). A spring-fed waterhole is a great place to relax at the end of the walk. One thing that we had noticed on our travels in northern South Australia and in the Northern Territory were "melons" growing on the side of the road. These seem to spring up after recent rain and around Kings Canyon there were heaps. We had thought about giving them a try until we heard someone say they could be poisonous. We ... read more