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Published: August 5th 2010
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Tues. 27th July
We drove from Katherine to Victoria River (200km), located in the Gregory National Park and stayed two nights at the rear of the Road House, which has power and water.
The site is set next to the Victoria River in a huge gorge with towering red coloured cliffs above. We found it to be quite a surprise considering we expected the next special scenery would be the Kimberly region. Rose kindly gave me a haircut after we arrived and to our surprise a lady came over and asked if Rose could cut her 10 yr old son’s hair. She even offered $10.00. Rose explained that she wasn’t a hairdresser but was more than happy to do his hair for free. We’re considering putting a sign up at our next stop!!
Wed. 28th July
We decided to take what was described in the brochure as an “ Escarpment Walk”. It turned out to be tougher than the walk to the top of Mt Warning, made worse by the searing 35deg heat. Needless to say that I wasn’t too popular with dear Rosie!!!! But she battled on.
We reached the top after an hour’s hard climb but the
spectacular scenery made it all worthwhile. The round trip took 2hrs.
Thursday 29th July
Drove to Timber Creek (90km) and checked into the caravan park at the rear of the Hotel. The site was ok on first impressions, however it proved to be very crowded and dusty. We booked in for a 4hr cruise of the Victoria River, which departed at 4.00pm. We saw heaps of fresh and saltwater crocs as well as wallabies and White Breasted Sea Eagles. The sunset on our return to Timber Creek was spectacular. See attached snaps. We decided to have dinner at the hotel on our return but they had had a fire in the kitchen, so we had beans on toast at the van instead.
Friday 30th July
We left Timber Creek Hotel van park and drove a massive 50m to the neighbouring tourist park. It had grass sites!! A nice change from the dusty sites of the previous few days. The only downside was its proximity to the creek which had a resident freshwater croc laying about 20m from our van! We were assured it would not come up the steep bank.
Most of the day was spent in the
pool.
Saturday 31st July
We went for a 4km walk along the highway along the Timber Creek Heritage Walk. The town was used as a WWII base, with the top of the escarpment used as a lookout for a possible invasion by the Japs. We then went for a drive to see a few lookouts and an historic site where Augustus Gregory set up camp in 1855.
A huge Boab tree marks the site of the camp next to the Victoria River.
I went into the hotel to buy some beer and found myself surrounded by the local Aboriginals. Talk about a contrast in colour. $26.00 for half dozen XXXXGold!!!!
We spent the afternoon in the pool and had happy hour with about fifteen others around our van. Great crowd of people.
Sunday 1st August
Only 13 days to get to Broome!
After heavy rain overnight (first for about 6 weeks), we spent the morning washing the car and van as well as doing a bit of maintenance - checking wheel nuts, tyre pressures etc.
We went for a swim in the pool in the afternoon and noticed that the skimmer box was blocked with leaves. I
lifted the lid to put my hand in but was shocked by two huge cane toads nestled in the box. We managed to coax them back into the main pool and then used a nearby spade to scoop them out sending them flying into a nearby tree at 100km/hr!!!!
Rose was happy to relax in the evening watching Bones on TV.
The only downside of Timber Creek is that we have no phone or internet service here. It seems like ages since we made contact with anyone.
2nd & 3rd August
We stayed at Lake Argyle for two nights. The coldest spell since early July (max of 19deg), with plenty of rain and wind. I had a dip in the infinity pool, which overlooks the lake. It was ice cold!!! The lake is 54 times larger than Sydney Harbour and holds approximately 30,000 crocs!
Wednesday 4th August
Travelled 70km to Kunanurra, which is renowned as the gateway to the eastern Kimberly region. We expect to spend a few days here, with lots of sites to see. The site, called Kimberly Land, is set adjacent to Lake Kunanurra with a lovely view across to some orange/red hills.
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Stephen
non-member comment
Diddums!
No phone! No internet! Freezing water! Crocs! Typical pom - can't you ever stop complaining? :) You should know by know that if you feed the crocs they will remain content and happy and won't bother you (well, you hope!) BTW - make sure you get some shots of the tidal waterfalls at Talbot Bay (I presume you ARE going up that way?) You could even go syrfing - well, you could think about it. BTW - did I tell you I'm jealous? :)