KUNUNURRA TO MATARANKA AND ALICE SPRINGS

MONDAY 14TH JULY  -  We left Kununurra in Western Australia and an hour later we crossed from the WA border back into The Northern Territory.   We travelled through Timber Creek and drove for 413 kilometres until we came to our overnight stop at Mathieson Rest Area.

TUESDAY 15TH JULY  -   We left  our overnight stop and headed to Katherine to stock up on shopping.  On the way we passed by “Skull Creek Major”, “Skull Creek Minor”, “Dingo Creek” and several “Please Arrive Alive” signs (hopefully we definitely will!!!).  We also passed by "Dick's Creek".

DICK'S CREEK IN NORTHERN TERRITORY 2014

DICK'S CREEK IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA 1978

After 210 kilometres we arrived at Territory Manor Caravan Park in Mataranka.  It was an older style park close to town with an on-site restaurant and billabong filled with wild barramundi where you could see them being hand fed twice daily.  There were lots of peacocks roaming freely around the park. Mataranka is close to the Roper River and a very small town with a population of 250.   It is called “The Gateway to The Never Never”.

The area is famous for the film “We of the Never Never”, the novel by Jeannie Gunn, a middle-class woman that came to live in the outback and tells the story of her life living on Elsey Station.  The book was made into a movie in 1982 and an exact replica of Elsey Station was built near the thermal pools for the film.  Some of the original costumes worn by Angela Punch McGregor are hanging inside the homestead.   Many of the characters from the book are buried at Elsey Cemetery.   The movie is shown in the bar of the Mataranka Resort Bar every day at midday.   

REPLICA OF ELSEY HOMESTEAD 

ONE OF THE BEDROOMS INSIDE THE HOMESTEAD

WEDNESDAY 15TH JULY  -   We went to the thermal pools in Elsey National Park.  There were lots of lush palms surrounding the crystal clear waters in the pool which were very busy with people swimming and relaxing in the constant 34 degree waters. 

THURSDAY 16TH JULY  -  We left Mataranka and drove 170 kilometres further south to Daly Waters.  We stayed there on our way up to Darwin and were eagerly looking forward to another fun filled night and the “Beef and Barra” dinner in the pub.   We were met by Ed the blackest Scotsman we’ve ever seen on his famous bicycle with a scruffy long armed monkey wrapped around the handle bars.  He ushered us to our parking spot and gave us the low-down on the place.  We got to the pub at 5pm for the start of the entertainment – two singers and guitarists who were pretty good, followed by a bush poet/singer/comedian/guitar player.   He was terrific and really funny and entertaining with a slightly different repertoire to our first visit.  We had the 6.30 sitting for our meal and help yourself salad bar, plus fresh hot damper and it was delicious.  It was such a fun place.

FRIDAY 17TH JULY   -    We left Daly Waters and drove through Dunmarra, Elliott, Renner Springs, Tennant Creek and Wauchope and came into Wycliffe Well on the very eastern edge of the Tanami Desert. It is green and grassy all year as Wycliffe Well lies on top of a large underground water table.  It is the Capital of UFO’s and one of the world’s top 5 hotspots for strange sightings.  Since WW11 there have been countless sightings of strange lights and shapes in the sky.  The RAF have conducted their own investigations. 

After our time at the UFO Centre, we headed out to the Devils Marbles, located 110 kilometres south of Tennant Creek.  They are amongst the most famous rocks in Australia, up there with Uluru and The Olgas.  They are a collection of huge red rounded granite boulders laying on top of one another -  some seeming to defy gravity.  They varied in size from 50cm up to 6 metres across.  They are called Karlu Karlu by the aboriginal people and their legend says they are thought to be the eggs of the Rainbow Serpent.  They were quite stunning and so colourful with the sun glistening over them.

We free camped on Friday at Attack Creek and Taylor Creek on Saturday on our way to Alice Springs.

Before we arrived in Alice Springs we stopped at the monument to mark the Tropic of Capricorn, the dividing line between the Southern Temperate Zone to the south and the tropics to the north.  It is one of the 5 major circles of latitude.





THIS PHOTO WON'T ROTATE FOR SOME STRANGE REASON!

This week we have driven 1,393 kilometres from Kununurra top end of Western Australia  to Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

NEXT WEEK:  We will be spending 7 nights in Alice Springs.

DARWIN TO KUNUNURRA IN WA

This part of our trip has been so incredibly scenic and we've taken literally hundreds of photos.  It was really hard deciding which photos to put on the blog, as we've had a scenic overload.  I just had to include all of the following - I know it's loads more than in previous blogs, but I'm sure you'll agree with me when you see them just how stunning each place was. 

FRIDAY 4TH JULY   -  We left Darwin and headed 114 kilometres south.  Our first stop was at Adelaide River. It was an historic township that was once a popular stopover for travellers and prospectors travelling to Pine Creek, when gold was discovered there in 1871 by workers on the Overland Telegraph Line.

THE SPEED LIMIT IN NORTHERN TERRITORY  - IT USED TO BE UNLIMITED!!!

The town played a major role as a large military base during WWII, with many service personnel stationed there.  Following the bombing of Darwin in 1942, the Australian and American military headquarters were relocated there. 

Adelaide River is the site of the third largest war cemetery in Australia and has 434 service personnel from Australia, Britain and Canada laid to rest there.  The War Memorial is a much visited spot, with many of those laid to rest only 19 years old and under.  It was a beautifully maintained and serene place, despite being a very sad place and was next to the civil cemetery where 63 soles were laid to rest.

Our next stop was at Pine Creek – the Top End’s only remaining original mining town from the 1870’s gold rush era.  We had lunch in the local water gardens and walked through the town looking at the remains of some of the original historical buildings still standing.

We pulled up at our overnight free stop Mathieson Rest Area, 392 kilometres from Darwin.  It was a big rest area and pretty crowded by the time we got there.  We parked next to an interesting Pommy couple and had a long chat with them as well as other people camped there overnight.

SATURDAY 5TH JULY   -   We left our overnight stop and headed towards Victoria River with some absolutely stunning scenery along the way with lots of boab trees and scenic gorges with vivid reds and browns ingrained in the hills.  Some of them looked like their grooves had been purposely sculpted. Victoria River is a popular barramundi fishing area, with a caravan park and helicopter rides available over nearby Gregory and Keep River National Parks.

 

We carried on through the beautiful landscape towards Timber Creek.  We were particularly taken by the amount of boab trees and the different sizes and shapes.  They are only found in the Western Australia Kimberly region.  Each tree is unique with a smooth brown trunk full of stored water from the wet season.  Some have very fat trunks and long spindly branches resembling gnarled arms and hands.   Others are very skinny with yellow flowers and fruit like ‘nuts’ on them. Some of them are 1,500 years old and were used by the aboriginal people for food, shelter and medicine.  The boab is a slow growing tree and can reach up to 15 metres.  They flower and grow fruit in the wet season.  Most parts of the tree are edible. The nuts can be ground down to use for flour for damper. Many of the tourist shops sell carved and/or hand painted boab shells done by the aboriginal people.  They’re quite magnificent and unusual.

DANCING TWIN BOABS

After 300 kilometres, we reached our overnight stop at Saddle Creek Rest Area, the last rest stop before the Western Australian border.  Saddle Creek had a beautiful backdrop of tall rocky colourful hills with ever-changing colours of reds, browns and oranges, with the sun wafting over them late in the afternoon and towards sunset. It felt magical and surreal being camped underneath such a stunning backdrop.  The rest area was quite small and practically full up by the time we arrived there.  We went for a walk along the road by the camping area admiring both the landscape and the different characteristics of each boab tree.

OUR FREE CAMP AT SADDLE CREEK - PRETTY SPECTACULAR

CALLED SADDLE CREEK AS THIS RANGE RESEMBLES A HORSE SADDLE

SUNDAY 6TH JULY   -   We left our overnight stop and got to the Western Australia border an hour later, with a 1 ½ hour time difference from the Northern Territory.  40 minutes later we reached our destination Kununurra at the top end of Western Australia.  We stayed at the 5 star Ivanhoe Caravan Village Resort close to town and opposite the Showground, where you can usually camp, but it was closed for a week as they were having the annual Agricultural Show. 

Kununurra means “Meeting of the Big Waters” in the aboriginal language.  It has a population of 8,000 and is located amongst the scenic hills and ranges of the far North-East Kimberly Region.  The area grows melons, mangoes and Indian sandalwood and has an abundant water supply from the Ord River Diversion Dam.  In fact, here and Darwin are the only places we’ve been to that actively encouraged their guests to water the grass.   There’s no problem washing cars or caravans either which is totally opposite to what we usually find everywhere else.

Later that night, we went to see Peter Brandy a local aboriginal entertainer singing and playing his guitar in the pool area.  He was a good guitar player and had lots of stories to tell us. We enjoyed listening to him.

MONDAY 7TH JULY   -   We visited the Celebrity Tree Park on the riverfront in town.  It was a big park with a variety of trees and plaques with the name of the famous people that had planted them.   We saw plaques from Peter Brock, John Farnham, Richard Clapton, HRH Princess Anne, Jimmy Edwards and Kate Ceberano.  It was a beautiful park with lots of boabs amongst the celebrity trees. 

TUESDAY 8TH JULY   -   We went for a drive to Zebra Rock an hour’s drive from the caravan park.  It was on a 10 kilometres dirt road off the Victoria Highway.  There was a caravan park with a café in a beautifully peaceful garden setting.  The park and the gallery were run by the owners of the mining lease Kim and Ruth Duncan.  It is the only operating mine in the World.  Zebra rock is mined in the area and is a light brown colour with white stripes through it.  It was a very unusual looking stone and looked beautiful when it was shaped and polished into pendants, jewellery and ornaments. 

Next we drove to Lake Argyle and were mesmerised with the stunning scenery on the drive up to the lake, with huge colourful rocky ranges.  It is the largest man-made lake in the southern hemisphere, covering 1,000 square kilometres and was opened in 1972.  We drove up to the lookout with beautiful views over the bays, inlets and islands of Lake Argyle.  There were lots of boats out on the lake taking in the scenery.   We drove over the dam wall and down to the lush green picnic area by the water and saw the water gushing out of large pipes into the lake.  There was a resort and caravan park by the lake with an on-site restaurant, bar and beer garden.  

THE STUNNING DRIVE UP TO LAKE ARGYLE

WEDNESDAY 9TH JULY   -    We went to Mirima National Park (Hidden Valley) – called the mini Bungle Bungles as it looks similar to the bigger Bungle Bungle National Park near Halls Creek further into Western Australia.

We took the 30 minute moderate hike up to the top of the Range with stunning views down the valleys of the sandstone ranges in the Ord Valley.  They had a black coating and the cliffs looked like honeycombs and were astonishing.

THURSDAY 10TH JULY  -  We went to Wyndham to see where The Five Rivers meet, an hour from Kununurra, along the Great Northern Highway.  We went past “Cheese Tin Creek”, “Dead Horse Creek” and “Wine Glass Creek" passing by picturesque tall pointed pyramid peaks, some with flat tops and small trees and shrubs growing out of them at right angles to the hillsides.  Wyndham is the oldest and most northernmost town in the Kimberley Region with a population of 700.

THE BIG CROCODILE IN WYNDHAM

AN ABORIGINAL SCULPTURE AT WYNDHAM

Wyndham is where The King, Pentecost, Durack, Ord and The Forest Rivers are all joined by the Cambridge Gulf.  The views from the upper and lower lookouts were spectacular.

In 1933 Charles Kingsford Smith flew from England to Wyndham.

SATURDAY 12TH JULY  -  We went to the Kununurra Agricultural Show. It was a 2 day event with lots of activities, rides, cattle, singers, bands and machinery.  We got there at 10am for the Dog Show, which was a great event and the dogs and owners had a fantastic time.  There was a prize for the waggliest tail, the dog with the biggest smile, the dog that most looked like its owner as well as the usual best of small, medium and large breeds.  It finished off with novelty races.  All the winning dogs proudly displayed their blue satin sashes around the showground.

We saw the tug of war, lawnmower race, show jumping display and came back later in the evening for the firework display and band that played until the show finished.  It was a great day out.

We’re very glad we made the trip over to Kununurra and it was well worth all the driving for the scenery alone which was just spectacular.

NEXT WEEK:  We will be leaving Kununurra and travelling back into Northern Territory and heading for Mataranka a popular town with thermal springs.  We will be staying in a caravan park there for a few days, then heading towards Alice Springs and Uluru.  Lots more driving over the next 2 weeks before we reach Alice.

WE’RE IN DARWIN - WEEK 3

Darwin has a population of 136,000 people and more than 62 nationalities.  It is known as the “Gateway to Asia” and is a rapidly growing city with a fairly consistent temperature of 32 degrees.  It has a 6 month wet and a 6 month dry season and is prone to cyclones during the wet season.  Darwin has a tropical savannah climate and is closer to the capitals of 5 other countries: East Timor, Port Moresby, Jakarta, Brunei and Palau than to Canberra (3,137 kilometres south).

SATURDAY 28TH JUNE   -    We visited the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.  Admission was free.  It was very well laid out. We saw the stuffed body of Sweetheart, the Top End’s most famous croc that was caught in 1979, weighing 750kg and measuring 5.1 metres.  He is now a permanent exhibit at the museum.

We visited the Cyclone Tracey Exhibition which was very poignant and told the story of the devastation that struck Darwin on Christmas Day 1974.  200 kilometre winds hit the town destroying over 70% of the buildings and 80% of homes.  Over 30,000 people had to be evacuated to Adelaide, Whyalla, Alice Springs and Sydney, most of them never returned to The Top End again. Seeing the actual footage and news stories brought home the full impact on the lives of the people living here at the time.

A CORROBORREE SIMULATION IN THE ART MUSEUM

AN ABORIGINAL PAINTING APPROPRIATELY NAMED 'BOTTLES' 

MORE ABORIGINALARTWORKS

SUNDAY 29TH JUNE   -   We went to Berry Springs Nature Park, a popular picnic area with bushwalking trails and thermal swimming pools.  There were lots of shady trees around and the big thermal pools which were quite deep had stunning  crystal clear water.

From there we drove into the city to visit the Chinese Temple, a very colourful but serene place of worship.  The original temple was built in 1887 and was damaged in cyclones in 1897 and 1937 and partially damaged during WWII.   It was totally devastated in Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and rebuilt on the original site in 1978.   Unfortunately, the Museum that I particularly wanted to visit had closed an hour before we got there.

THE FRONT ENTRANCE TO THE TEMPLE

THE COLOURFUL ALTARS INSIDE THE TEMPLE

ME RINGING THE TEMPLE GONG

There was a magnificent huge Bodhi Tree in front of the temple which grew from a cutting donated by the Bendigo Temple to celebrate the re-opening of the Darwin temple in 1978.  It was reputed to be a descendant of the original tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment.  

We went to Stokes Hill Wharf on Darwin Waterfront and sat by the water eating our ice cream with the ocean breeze wafting across the wharf.  There was a variety of cafes and restaurants along the wharf.  

   

We went to Mindil Beach Sunset Markets and walked through the food stalls having a hard time deciding what to choose for dinner as there was just so much choice.  The smells from the stalls made us want to try everything.  We sat on the beach and ate our dinner whilst waiting for the magnificent sunset to appear.  It was well worth waiting for!!!

MONDAY 30TH JUNE   -   We went to Darwin Dam a short drive from the caravan park.  The Dam is the major source of water and provides 90% of the Top End’s water needs. The Northern Territory usually has six months dry season each year.  During the wet season, the rains replenish the Dam’s water levels.

There were grassy picnic areas on both the lower and upper Dam levels.  On the top level, we walked across the Dam wall and looked into the deep water stored inside the walls.  The picnic tables and seats on this level were placed a bit too close to the water for my liking as the Dam is full of crocodiles.

TUESDAY 1ST JULY   -   ‘’Territory Day” when Territorians celebrate the anniversary of self-government.  It is the only day you were allowed to buy fireworks and all over the city there were advertisements for purchasing them.  There were firework displays at several venues throughout the town. 

It was also our 36^th wedding anniversary and we went to the Garden Café/Restaurant in the caravan park for dinner.  The café was outdoors with a lovely garden setting and colourful solar lights in the bushes surrounding the café.  It was a popular licensed eating venue with the locals also and was open 6 days a week.  We had delicious bruschetta, freshly caught barramundi steaks (2 big ones per serve), vegetables and sticky date pudding for dessert.  It was scrumptious.  

We have really enjoyed our 3 weeks in Darwin and met some lovely people who we hope to keep in touch with during our travels.  We were a bit disappointed at first being so far away from Darwin City (a 50 minute drive), but most of the places we wanted to visit were closer to the caravan park.  We loved the tropical bush setting at the park with lots of tall bushy trees and ferns everywhere.  The sites were a little on the smaller side than we were used to.  All in all, it was very well maintained with plenty of activities and everyone was so friendly.

We were going to visit Kakadu National Park.  It was a 2 hour drive from the caravan park to the entrance to the park alone and at least 400 kilomotres of driving from one end to the other, plus a lot of walking on the tracks to the scenic spots.  It obviously wasn't possible to do this trip in one day.  Dogs aren't allowed in the National Park, so we couldn't leave Sally in the van for 2 days on her own.  We had also heard from many people that the park was very dry and the spectacular water falls had no water in them.  Most people said Litchfield was much better and easier to get around, hence why we did go to Litchfield National Park and thoroughly enjoyed it.  

NEXT WEEK:  We will be leaving Darwin and free camping for 2 nights before crossing the border  to the top end of Western Australia and going to Kununurra, then on to gorgeous Lake Argyle that we’ve heard so much about.  We’ve been told the scenery on the way is stunning.  Can’t wait to tell you all about it and show you some of the photos along the way in our next blog.