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Water Crossing
Many of these ... deepest probably 3/4 metre. most about 50cm with mud or sand or rocks on the bottom.Leaving Katherine behind, not really seeing much in the end apart from Woolies, Mitre ten and the servo ($1.55 for diesel). We had planned on showing the kids all the Katherine sites, but having lived there we were not fussed missing them. Besides it was great catching up with our friends instead.
The scenery quickly changed and was spectacular! Large mountain ranges with rocky escarpments and valleys and lots of BOAB trees. We lived in Katherine for 2 & 1/2 years and never went West. Not sure why. It was very beautiful. Wish we had time to call into Victoria River Crossing. The Roadhouse was okay, $1.91 for diesel, so we didnt get any .. but from here you can do the many walking tracks through the ranges.
Stunning scenery continued all the way to Kununara. We called into the Kimberleyland Holiday Park which was great. Pool, camping beside lake Argyle, and camp kitchens. We took the table and chairs down to the lake edge and had some snacks and beers (softies for the kids of course) and looked out over the lake. A guy came up to us and said "don't stick your toes in the water, there
Bungles Camp
This was a awesome little spot for a Base Camp! $50 a night for power and water ... $20 for dinner. was a croc swimming just there earlier". Not sure if he had checked out the crocs but they were only freshies .... the locals were canoeing in there, so it was safe. Awesome spot to camp. We had no power, just battery, but that was nice for once.
I had a small issue with the mighty Pajero on the way in to Kununara ... she was overheating. The radiator was running out of water and not taking the water from the overflow bottle. Radiator cap I assume. So when we arrived at the Caravan Park ... I let her cool for 20mins and as I checked the cap to see if it was cool enough it flew off and down the gap between the engine and the radiator. GREAT! So mission impossible to retrieve it with BBQ tongs and a torch. Took 30mins to fish it out. Not a good look. Once it was securely on and with more water we headed to town for a replacement and some other supplies.
Ever stuck in Kununara, head down to the Auto1 shop .. very friendly service. One of the guys was from Adelaide .. came for a Holiday and
Bungle Bungles
These photos just dont do them justice. has stayed 7 years!!! It was a lovely town ... very clean and the people were super friendly. Had a recommendation to go to the 'Gulliver's Tavern' for a pub meal .. but we already had BBQ stuff we had to cook. They have a Coles and IGA and a skate Park!!! Definately could live here. Great weather, plenty of water. Lake Argyle was huge. There were float plane rides for the taking too.
Leaving Kununara we headed for the Bungle Bungles. We assumed we'd be camping in a National Park campsite, however after entering the park, we discovered a new caravan park that opened 8 weeks ago.
It was only 300m into the park and all vehicles can access it. They had power, water and even a strip of grass for powered sites. It was set up like a South African Safari camp. They had an evening meal you could book in for, it was curry with soup and damper. We couldn't resist. We chilled out in the afternoon and relaxed and waited for out dinner. Having changed time zones (1 and 1/2 hours) we were rather hungry by the time the 6.30pm dinner started!!! After dinner we
Cathedral Gorge
Awesome place ... wish I had a better photo. sat by the fire with a glass of red, marsh mellows and looked up at the stars.
Next morning at the 'crack of Dawn' we started engines and headed into the Purnluru National Park. The track was awesome. With 47 river crossings of various depths and widths the track was slow going with 50kms taking us about 2 hours to get to the ranger station. We made sure we got plenty of mud on the Pajero. Poor old macca packa end up with mud all over him!!!
After calling into the Ranger station, that also has souvenirs, we head to the southern part of the park to check out the Bungle Bungles themselves. They are amazing. You are not allowed to climb on them due to them being so brittle. They are made of sandstone and are around 360 million years old. After checking them out and a bite to eat, we headed down to Piccaninny Creek that flows during the wet season. The river bed is carved stone from the flowing river. Next stop was Cathedral gorge. This was formed by water eroding a weak point in the rock and over time carving out the massive chasm.
It was just amazing. There were people down there meditating, it was just that sort of awesome place. The photos just don't do this park justice.
Back in the car for a half hour drive to the northern part of the park. There we hiked into Echidna Chasm. This narrow chasm was a narrow version of cathedral gorge. As you walk in you can see bolders big and small just sitting between the two sides of the chasm just waiting to drop further as they slowly erode. Make sure if you get there you make it all the way to the very end. It wasn't hard going, most people were put off by the bolders in the way. Better for us!!!
Then we made the slow 70 km return trip to camp along with all those river crossings again..... bummer. The sun was just setting as we returned and we cooked up a barbie and crashed ... our legs tired from the all the hiking we did.
Next morning we made the 800km push to Broome. Jac was not impressed with Broome. It is very busy here. We had accomodation at the Broome Caravan Park which was
Ben and his Camel
Happy Birthday Ben!!! 8 today! very nice, just on the outside of town by 3 mins drive, but all the parts of boome are spread out by 5 kms so it suited us just fine. If you had a motorhome or bus you might want to be closer to the beach, however there is only 1 very close to Cable Beach.
4th of July - Ben's birthday, we headed out for a 8am Camel Ride on Cable Beach. What an awesome time of the day to do it. The beach and Camel rides we not busy (as opposed to the evening). The Camel rides in the morning are kids ride free with a paying Adult ... suited us great!!! Jane rode solo and Ben and the girls had girl camels, they were best mates apparently and from Alice Spring originally. Matt and I had "Mission", a male camel recently shipped in from Victor Harbour. They were all very friendly camels and it made for a great morning.
Over the next few days we checked out all the markets, surf shops, souvenir shops, Anastasia's Pool, the dinasaur footprints and spent an afternoon driving on Cable beach, had a 'cheeky' swim and then beer and
The fam
Best way to see Cable Beach in the morning! snacks watching the sun go down. We all have to say this was the best part of Broome, the beach and the sunset. Best time to be on the beach. The water was just perfect for swimming.
Next stop is 80 mile beach to chill out for 4 days then 2 days in Karinjinji National Park then Exmouth. We will update then.
Bye for now,
Rus'n'Jac, Jane Matt and Ben xoxo.
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Karen
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A friendly face in Exmouth
Hi there guys! If you get a little stuck or need a friendly face, a great mate of mine lives in Exmouth working as a dive instructor - I think she may even part time in the local grocers? Rosie Dyster. She is actually ex-army and was a dive buddy of Paul's down here for many many years. I will text you her number just in case :) Safe travels Langstreths! Loving the blog :)