Committed Travellers

It was an obscenely early start to catch the 7am tour of Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge. I had to be there by 6.45am and it is a 30 minute drive. It was fortunate I had left our caravan park early, because the emailed information failed to mention the 400m walk from the car park!

I had time to make my $2 cup of tea before boarding the boat. Four hikers with large backpacks were dropped off on the other side of the river to start their 60+kms hike to Edith Falls. Most of the other passengers on the 7am boat were doing an APT bus tour.

The sun was in my eyes for a lot of the first boat trip, and much of the gorge was in shadow. Our guide/boat driver was a well informed woman who has worked in the national park for 8 seasons.

We reached a narrow section of river where the boats cannot pass in the dry season. We disembarked and walked for about 10 minutes over rocks and concrete paths and steps to reach the second gorge where slightly smaller boats were moored. The sandstone is some of the hardest in the world, and the weathered smooth rocks resemble granite.

The next gorge was narrower than the first, with several 90° turns for the boat. A section of gorge was dripping water that had soaked through from a swamp near the top of the gorge.

On the return journey the gorge walls were bathed in sunlight. We saw swallows building their mud nests on the roof of a cave, a darter bird, and a freshwater crocodile sunbathing. Any saltwater crocs spotted in the gorges are trapped and relocated to a more suitable habitat, because their nests get swept away in the wet.

I picked up Anita and Bluey and we returned to Pop Rocket Cafe for brunch. Our friend had secured a table in the shade, but I queued for 20 minutes to order. Surprisingly our coffees and food arrived promptly.

I let Tilly out for a while but she attracted several birds making a racket like a barking dog. These birds flit about flapping their wings, and spreading their tail feathers trying to intimidate her.

There is a Great Bower Bird nest under a bush near the amenities, with a collection of rocks, bottle tops, pieces of glass, and bits of blue peg. The walls of his nest are made from hundreds of twigs erected like an archway. Other campers told me other male birds tried to take over the nest. The builder of the nest destroyed his structure to chase away the invaders, and has since completed the rebuild.

We made the mistake eating at the Figtree Bistro located in grounds of the Big 4 caravan park. None of the four dishes we ordered was very nice, but it was a lovely setting under this huge figtree.

Our day started at the Katherine Community Market. We met up with a Roadie friend and had coffee at the market, before driving to Pop Rocket Cafe near the hot springs. Bluey and the young rescue dog Zelda behaved themselves admirably. The food and coffee were so good we will return for brunch tomorrow.

I drove to the 1926 Railway Station Building just behind the Stuart Hwy.  The facility is closed but I could take photos through the fence. The steam train dates back to 1892. On a nearby wall this mural represents the RAAF base at Tindal, just south of Katherine.

Later I drove to the Low Level Nature Reserve beside the Katherine River. There is a single lane low level bridge crossing the river, with access for pedestrians. Picnic tables and BBQs are available up the hill. Swimmers ignored the crocodile warning signs. During the wet season the water level rises up to 15m covering the bridge.

Today and tonight football finals are being played at the ground opposite our caravan park. There is a large mostly indigenous crowd as the Katherine Camels are in the grand final.

I gave Tilly lots of time outdoors, a chance to say hello to the neighbours, and a brisk run around the park. Hopefully she will sleep well tonight.

Before we left Timber Creek we turned off the air conditioning so that I could wash the filters. The strange cellular structure is fragile and expensive. I washed off the dust and left the filters on a towel to dry. At Katherine I made sure they had dried and refitted them.

I took photos of this hill with a sandstone “crust”, increasing the magnification each time.

The Victoria Hwy winds through impressive gorges that are a deep red colour. We drove past a rock the size of our caravan which had fallen from one of the hills.

The Boab Caravan Park which has well laid out large sites with concrete driveways and annex slabs. Katherine is subject to water restrictions but the park has maintained some green grassy areas. The down side is there is no dump site, but we can drive to the public site.

Tilly spent quiet time outside in her crate. Even she was subdued by the heat. Bluey demands the comfort of our bed in the comfortably air conditioned van.

The internet here in Katherine is good enough to watch ABC iview so we caught up with the latest episodes of Vera.

The military convoy left Kununurra before us, but we caught up with it at our first rest stop.

The rest stop is near a long escarpment, with a prominent line of exposed rocks. Within the area of the rest stop there are rock formations with multiple layers of sandstone.

We crossed the border into the NT at 9.55am, but our clocks all changed to 11.25am. At least it was closer to lunchtime!

The scenery in the Victoria River area continued to be impressive.

We had decided to stay at Timber Creek rather than push on to Katherine. The caravan park behind the Timber Creek Hotel has grassy areas, a pool, and entertaining croc and raptor feeding.

This 22 foot Bushtracker is 7 feet longer than our 15 foot van. It will have a larger bathroom and kitchen/diner, but is otherwise the same. The extra 7 foot of awning could be a challenge in strong winds. The second air conditioning unit would only be used if the first one failed. That would be very handy if the temperature tops 40° when we are in Tamworth.

Tilly loved rolling on the warm concrete. She then fantasised about climbing this big boab.

A family of seven freshwater crocs lives nearby in the creek. The feeding display was for the benefit of children. The other significant animal population along the creek is flying foxes, but they left before sunset.

We had dinner at the Hotel which was edible but nothing special. As we are parked under trees the satellite TV connection does not work. Instead we listened to the end of an audio book we had been playing in the car.

This morning we were going to have breakfast at the Mango Cafe, but outdoor tables were all in the sun. The nearby Corner Cafe offered one table in the shade and made very nice Grinders coffee.

I drove back up Kelly’s Knob so Anita could see the view. With morning sun the rockface was striking.

I spotted this clump of boabs near the showground.

We refuelled ready for our drive towards Katherine tomorrow, then spent the rest of the day at our caravan park. I bathed Bluey, cleaned dust off locks, removed dust and grease from our towing gear, and took Tilly on several walks.

Four RAAF trucks drove into the park this afternoon. They are spending the night here, some personnel in tents next to the trucks and others in cabins. There was an exercise in Derby and the vehicles are being returned to Katherine.

We decided to have dinner again at Kelly’s Bar and Grill at the Country Club Resort. Our meals were good the first time and we were not disappointed this evening. My steak and mash potato was one of the best I have had in a long time.

When I first take Bluey outside he walks 2m, pees then stops. I have to carry him back into the Bushtracker. Good thing he is only 6kgs!

Our morning was dedicated to washing, cleaning, checking the oil in the Toyota, walking Tilly, and planning our trip home. We have tickets to see Beccy Cole and Adam Harvey at the Caloundra RSL on 17 September. The earliest I could get the Toyota serviced is 12 September in Longreach. Those two commitments dictate the timing of our travels over the next couple of weeks.

There was no wind early this morning leaving the lake very still and reflecting the opposite bank.

We drove out of town for lunch at Hoochery Distillery. It was warm sitting on the grass under shade sails, but even hotter in the car at 41° as it had been sitting in the sun. We ran the air con for a while before putting Bluey on Anita’s lap as the front was cooler than the back. Beside the road were large sandstone rock formations.

The Mirima National Park is just to the north of Kununurra. We could not drive in with Bluey, but could see several of the park features from an industrial area.

The Norforce depot has a fabulous mural on one of its buildings, but I could only capture part of it.

Penney’s Prints is a gallery shop featuring photography printed onto mini orb, shower curtains, acrylic blocks etc. We bought a mini orb boab print in 2016. While she was patting Bluey, Penney asked us how our print has weathered. She had a complaint from one customer whose mini orb print had faded. Our print is not in full sun or exposed to rain so hasn’t faded.

Kelly’s Knob is a favourite location for viewing the sunset. The red sandstone feature is visible from many areas in town. I drove up to the viewing area at sunset.

When I arrived back at the caravan park a group of people was looking at the lake using torches. A sizeable crocodile had chased the bait being reeled in by a man fishing. Hopefully is was a fresh water croc and not the more dangerous estuarine croc, since it was less than 20m from our van! The water is less than a metre from the bank so the critter could easily climb up the bank. Later a larger croc was in the same place.

My coffee making is improving as I really enjoyed this morning’s experiment with the AeroPress. We were the last to leave the small caravan park, but only had a two hour drive

Some sections of National Hwy 1 were rough and narrow, with more single lane bridges. Over east we are used to seeing a Give Way sign on one side of single lane bridges, but there is no such guidance here in WA. I gave way to an oversize truck crossing a one lane bridge, where the load was only millimetres from the guard rail. The load was so big there should have been a pilot vehicle warning oncoming traffic.

There was some amazing scenery along today’s drive. Fortunately there was a stopping bay beside this range.

There was an interesting clump of young boab trees around a slightly older tree.

We are very happy with our shady lakeside site at the Lakeside Caravan Park Kununurra. We have uninterupted views across Lake Kununurra. The bank of the lake is eroding.

After unhooking the Bushtracker and setting up the critters’ crate, Blue and Tilly spent some time outside. He seems to have regained his happy smile.

We drove to Visitor Information then the bakery for late takeaway lunch. It was much warmer here reaching 37° so we spent some time in our air conditioned van.

The Kununurra Country Club Resort only offered early dining for non guests so we arrived at 5pm. The resort is surrounded by rainforest. There is indoor and outdoor dining, but Bluey was not allowed so stayed in the van. We both enjoyed our meals.

We captured the waxing crescent moon at the end of sunset.

I was woken by Bluey whimpering at 2am. When I got him out of his crate he was trembling and I think it was because he was scared of animals outside our van. It took a while to settle him, but I was very pleased he didn’t want to go outside in the middle of the night. An hour later he woke both of us when he had a little vomit, probably because he had been so stressed.

Cattle and kangaroos were evident in the caravan park at Fitzroy Lodge, but there are possibly wild dogs, feral cats and reptiles. The caravan next to us had these visitors.

We stayed hooked up so were on the road by 8.30am. Our 450kms drive to Warmun Roadhouse passed through some geologically interesting areas. There were several rest areas along the way, but nowhere to pull over to enjoy the best of the scenery.

We drove past active grass fires so there was plenty of smoke. Dozens of cattle were in one of the 24 hour rest stops, which is not appealing.

The next four photos were taken by Anita as we drove past these amazing sights. The rugged rocky cliffs changed to smooth curvy cliffs, then rounded boulders

There are significant places along this road we did not visit during this trip, but will do so next time we are up this way – Geikie Gorge, Mimbi Caves and the Bungle Bungles.

When we were getting close to Warmun, we came across a caravan accident. Several police were at the scene directing traffic because the caravan was blocking one lane. The tow vehicle had rolled but not the van. A second car was involved in the crash.

We decided to stay at the Warmun Roadhouse because it offers well-rated meals and barrista coffee. I tried to order two hamburgers and a coffee, but they were out of hamburger buns and milk. A fire between here and Kununurra two days ago cut the highway. Supplies did not get through and travellers could not continue beyond Warmun. This small caravan park was overflowing and full of hungry, thirsty visitors. Anita cooked lamb chops which were much nicer than any hamburger!

Bluey’s timetable was out of kilter because of his period without food and the anaesthetic. He woke me at 5am for an urgent toilet outing. Anita said we should have a cup of tea but was back asleep when I returned with Blue. I at least saw a Town Beach sunrise but wasn’t going back outside with my camera.

At a more reasonable hour I walked to the cafe for coffees and was entertained by two guys throwing a rock attached to a length of rope up into a palm tree. They succeeded in knocking down a couple of coconuts.

We had toast in the van with our coffees before packing up. Blue and Tilly were in the shade outside but she kept tangling him up with her lead. 

There were sections of active roadwork along the 400kms drive to Fitzroy Crossing. A couple of times we were stopped due to one way traffic flow.

Our first refuelling stop was Willare Roadhouse where we could see smoke from bushfires. The WA emergency website had listed these fires yesterday, but there were no road closures. We crossed four or five rivers on single lane bridges in the area. There was a lot less traffic on this drive than the other side of Broome.

The fires appeared to be hazard reduction and presented no risk to traffic. A flock of raptors were chasing flying insects or small birds escaping the fire.

This boab tree appears to be two or three trees. At this rest stop there was red dirt, a road train, the boab trees and termite mounds that look like the Pinnacles. I prefer the bright red termite mounds.

The land is generally flat in this area, with many floodplains, but we passed this flat top rocky outcrop.

We are camped at the dusty Fitzroy Lodge caravan park. Dinner at the Lodge was a bit of a circus. We both ordered ribeye steak, but were later told this was not available. We changed our orders to lamb curry and chicken supreme, but chicken curry was served and the “supreme” was missing from the other dish. My creme brulee was delicious.

Other diners from an AAPT bus tour were shocked by the poor quality of their glamping accommodation.

I had an early start as Bluey was booked with Simone for grooming at 7.30am. Simone normally has her first appointment at 8am but started early to make sure Bluey could get to the vet in time for teeth cleaning.

I left a trembling dog in the arms of the lovely Simone and drove back to our camp site. The Town Beach Cafe is only 200m from our van so that was an easy option for coffees. Bluey was finished just after 8.30am so I collected this happy, clean, beautifully clipped pooch. I asked how long it took for Blue to stop trembling, and Simone said it was as soon as I had left!

Five minutes later said pooch was handed over to a vet nurse at the Broome Vet Hospital. We spent our dog-free hours doing washing, cleaning the van, washing the Toyota windscreen, sweeping out some of the sand and dust from the floormats, and topping up water tanks. We then walked back to the now busy cafe for second coffees with toast and marmalade.

As we walked back to our van past the black poodle in the motorhome, he recognised us and barked. When he realised Blue was not with us he lost interest. Our next chore was shopping at Woolies, which is where we saw this German Shepherd guarding the three wheeler.

Lunch at the Mangrove Hotel was passable, but would have been nicer if the staff had tried a bit harder to find our table with our service number prominently displayed. Tomorrow night Deborah Cheetham is performing at the 30th anniversary of Opera Under the Stars. Tickets are available but we decided to stick to our plan and leave Broome tomorrow.

We have to leave the air conditioning on in the van for Tilly, because she is at risk of accidentally falling out of open windows. If she spots a bird outside a window she might lunge at it and dislodge the flyscreen. We remotely monitor the temperature in the van using a camera that allows the thermometer to be read. I can talk to her through the camera!

Bluey was ready to be picked up at 4pm but he was still dopey. He was very hungry not having eaten for nearly 24 hours.

While I was lubricating towing equipment Tilly had outdoor time. Our site is on a thoroughfare so several adults and children stopped and patted her. One of the children travels with a rabbit. Her family will return to Queensland after trying to make WA home. Said rabbit will be left with relatives in Victoria because of laws in Queensland banning pet rabbits.

We could hear music coming from the Town Beach so I went for a walk to see what was going on. The jetty had been turned into a long dining area, with musicians playing at the ocean end of the jetty. This was a ticketed event part of an annual Shinju Matsuri festival celebrating the history and culture of Broome. Pedestrian access was still allowed on one side of the jetty. The singer reminded me of Cleo Laine with her jazz/blues music. We could hear the music 400m across the water. Fortunately the strong winds have disappeared.