It's now June and we have been back in New Zealand for over 4 months! (seems like forever some days!) Time to round off our travelblog which we didn't quite finish before we flew out of Perth on January 27, 2009, bound for Wellington. Last time we wrote, we were in Perth for Christmas - spent the day with Blu's brother Ross, his wife Laurin and her family. Funny not to be spending it with our kids- first time ever without one or both on the day! Boxing Day we went down to Bunbury to spend the day with niece Ros and her extended family and had a very pleasant day - except on return to Perth that night I threw up a few times and was sick for the next week or so. Oh well ... read more

We moved on from the Kimberleys to the Pilbara region on 24 November. Like the Kimberleys, this region is characterised by its huge vastness, long empty roads and areas of vibrant scenery - the colours!! Magnificent ranges in different hues, rich red earth and bright blue skies. Stopped overnight at Eighty Mile Beach, which was pleasantly cool with the seabreeze. The beach is a great place to meander as there are a huge variety of shells of all shapes and colours - unfortunately we can’t take them back to NZ! It was turtle nesting time of year and at dusk, we were lucky to be able to watch mother turtle make her way out of the water to the sand dunes, where she proceeded to go through the nesting process. This consists of digging a large ... read more

25 October - off to the Top End! We set off early from Devil’s Marbles and covered 680k in about 10 hours! Not much to stop for apart from a beer at the Daly Waters pub and easy driving on long straight roads. The Daly Waters pub is pretty quirky with its walls chock full of all kinds of stuff pinned up by travellers over the years - heaps of ID cards, jandals, bras, money, knickers and so on. Got to Mataranka just in time to hear the last of the NPC Final from Wellington (through 2ZB on the computer) - we lost by one point to Canterbury! We stayed three nights at Mataranka - the Territory Manor caravan park was a really nice place to blob out and relax - very shady, lots of grass, ... read more

We set off on Sunday 28th Sept from the green of the Tablelands and straight into dry arid savannah country, heading northwest towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. Driving into Gulf Savannah country, we noticed a definite change in climate, from cool nights and mild days to a hot, dry climate. First stop was the Undara Lava Tubes. The tube-like tunnels were created from lava flows after a huge volcanic eruption way back in time. We thought the tour was a bit over-rated and it was relatively expensive, but it was still a pretty interesting place, and I think the only one in Australasia. You could clearly see the effects of the hot lava flows from the texture and colour of the cave walls. Stayed the night at the Bedrock Caravan Park (Mt Surprise) which was an ... read more

Our day trip to Thursday Island was another trip highlight. We were lucky to strike a calm day, as it had been pretty windy other days and the strait is well known for being a bit choppy. It takes about an hour to cross to the island and we were entertained along the way with a video about Torres Strait and one of the crew even came around with a map and a personal description of the area! A 90 minute bus tour of the island is included in the ferry ticket and this provides a good look around as the island is only about 3 square km. It is the main island of the more than 100 islands in the group, but is one of the smallest in size! The islands are part of Queensland ... read more