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Published: August 8th 2017
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Savannah Way - road conditions King Ash Bay - (Caranbirini Conservation Reserve) - Lorella Springs - (Southern Lost City, Butterfly Spring, Town River) - Tomato Island We left King Ash Bay early to arrive at Caranbirini Reserve and finish the walk before it got too hot (it has been averaging 33 degrees most days). It is a short 2km walk around the Lost City, which are sandstone formations, and another short walk to the 'birdwatcher's' waterhole. The rock formations are stunning and the morning light brought out the colours spectacularly. It was well worth the 40km detour to see.
From Caranbirini we headed towards Lorella Springs Wildlife Park planning to spend a couple of days. The road went from bad to worse and from the turnoff to Lorella Springs to the homestead (about 30km) our speed didn't go over 40km/hr. It was bloody rough... We were very disappointed with Lorella Springs itself - it was different to what we expected, and extremely expensive, so we stayed only one night. Everything was very spread out and to see the 'best' parts of the property would take at least a week. Camping at the homestead was just like camping at a caravan park, except the facilities
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Caranbirini Conservation Reserve - Lost City were sub-standard and the 'hot springs' were crowded and muddy. This one wasn't worth the 60km detour - but it can't all be perfect eh...
We packed up and left early the next morning, again hoping to arrive and finish the walk at the Southern Lost City before the heat set in. The Southern Lost City provided another 2.5km walk among sandstone formations and included a lookout over the Western Lost City. I know I've probably put too many photo's up again (making 2 pages) but there was so much beauty - and the photos really don't capture it sufficiently. The feeling you get among those huge rocks is just awesome - apparently my peaceful place is among old trees and rocks 😊
There are a few different campgrounds within the Limmen National Park (which the Savannah Way goes though) so we planned to just call into one of those for the night, depending on how far we got (ie per road conditions). During the day we also called into Butterfly Springs and Town Creek and then decided to call it a day at Tomato Island Campground. It was a beautiful spot along the river with nice, clean,
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Caranbirini Conservation Reserve - Lost City hot showers - a perfect finish to a perfect day.
It hasn't all been without issue - we've had some minor difficulties with the shaking and rattling from the rough roads. The side door of the camper opened somewhere between our last two stops, and we lost the remote control for the winch (that opens the camper trailer). Thankfully we have a spare so it's not a big deal. The wiring obviously doesn't take the dust/bumps very well because the switches in the control panel are not working properly. Kevin has patched the problems (bypassing the switches) so that things (power input, lights and water pump) work - yes, he is handy to have around.
Leaving Tomoto Island the next morning we had to get fuel - only available at Roper Bar. We arrived at Roper Bar at 8:30am and found everything locked up - they don't open until 9am. The roadhouse is in the middle of nowhere and people were lined up for fuel, but they didn't open till 9am on the dot... Good thing we aren't in a hurry. The security fencing around the place indicates that they have issues here, and the business was being
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Caranbirini Conservation Reserve - Lost City run by backpackers (as many are in these remote places).
I had expected the road from Roper Bar to improve, but some parts were actually worse. About 40km from Roper Bar we finally hit the bitumen again - nice to have smooth roads for a while. We have now arrived in Mataranka and are planning a couple days here to soak the dust off. Then we'll be heading into Darwin and have arranged for the 10,000km service for the car to be done. We also need to stock up on supplies, dust off as much dirt as possible, and make some more running repairs (that BCF voucher is coming in handy - new switches for the control panel).
PS: I tried to upload a short video of the dancing aerial but the file was too large - I'll try to put it on facebook...
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Keep the photos coming
Can't speak for anyone else but I am enjoying them all.