About Woomera

It was a 400km road trip from Moonta Bay to Woomera (trip maplink) for a 3 day visit (should have been shorter – just sayin’).

On the way we passed the newly constructed Hornsdale Tesla Lithium Battery site (World’s largest) at Jamestown (maplink), near Port Augusta. The tower at the centre is so bright you can see it from about 100kms away.

• ABC Web News Article
• Sydney Morning Herald article

Woomera is a pretty quiet town with an emu strolling down the main street being the most excitement we had. The happy hour at the Woomera Traveller’s Village and Caravan Park (maplink) was a great way to meet with other traveller’s. Went for an hour and spent 4.

Toured through the Woomera Museum which was actually really good with lots of history from the 1950s to 1970s where rocket development and testing was carried out by the Australian, English and US air forces.

Len Beadell the bush surveyor

Whilst at the Woomera Space Museum we learnt about a famous surveyor by the name of Len Beadell who developed a lot of the roads in the area, in particular the “Gunbarrel Highway” which was built to allow the rocket recovery teams to go out into the desert to locate the remains of rockets after they were fired. This stretched for over 1,350 km from Woomera to central Western Australia.

• Short film about Lean Beadell’s bush surveying
• Len Beadell website (a bit slow)

About Coober Pedy

Road Trip to Coober Pedy – Lake Hart

It was a fortunate stop made on the way to Coober Pedy that we discovered the wonderful Lake Hart – (maplink).

In 1918, Lake Hart was important due to the salt deposit when surveyors investigated the area. They estimated the yield as being three million tons, and defined the lake’s area as 61 square miles.

While we were there we saw a massive goods train go past with “double stacked” containers.

A look around the town

We stayed at the Oasis Caravan Park in Coober Pedy. Nice park, but we were put under a shade cloth type of awning/roof which seemed good until it rained – then it dripped all night right onto the skylight of the van (bugger).

We paid an extra $6.00 for connection to town water which is really sweet. The water is pumped for 25km and treated in town by reverse osmosis; you can actually fill up your caravan tanks for a small charge in town.

Not really that much to look at while you wander around the town (maplink). Had a look at the Catholic Church, in centre of town.

Not sure whether times are bad or it’s just a Sunday; but most of the shops were closed. The local bank opens 10.00am till 2.00pm Mon to Fri.

Wandered up to the Big Winch Lookout to check it out. Great view of the town from here plus some “photo ops”

Coober Pedy Town Tour

We booked into the morning tour with George from the Oasis Caravan Park.

This was a fantastic way to gain an insight to the history of Coober Pedy and to see some of the local attractions. George has lived in Coober Pedy for nearly all of his life so he is very knowledgeable and really funny.

The Breakaways Sunset Tour

We loved the town tour run by George from the Oasis Caravan Park so much we booked into their Breakaways Sunset Tour. It also took in a trip to the famous “dog fence”. Off we went in the mini bus with 7 people on board and George in control.

First stop was the Dog Fence which the longest continual construction in the world. Stretching some 5,300km, it begins east of Surfer’s Paradise in Queensland and ends up north of Ceduna in the Great Australian Bite. Originally built to protect the sheep country in the south from the Dingo (native Australian dog) in the north.

Next we moved onto the “Coloured Desert” and the “Breakaways” which is nothing but spectacular. Then it was time for the sunset which did not disappoint at all. As the sun sank below the western horizon the full moon rose above the eastern horizon (wow!)

Some links…

• TripAdvisor
• Maplink (satellite view)

About Erldunda

Erldunda is nothing more than a roadhouse (petrol, food and toilets) and a good, reasonably priced accommodation option at the Desert Oaks Resort. Its appeal lies in its strategic location at he corner of the Stuart and Lasseter Highways (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Today saw the longest single stretch of driving we have done so far – 487 km (trip maplink) from Coober Pedy to Erldunda Roadhouse; which is the turn-off to Uluru on the Stuart Highway.

Erldunda Roadhouse is just a garage with a caravan park behind. It was a one night stop for us.

They have a rooster in the kangaroo enclosure called Cluck Norris who was raised and lives with the kangaroos. They say he thinks he is actually a kangaroo. Even had a segment on Channel 7’s Sunrise program

About Uluru

Some links…

• Some facts about Uluru

Ayers Rock Campground

It was an 247km road trip from Erldunda Roadhouse to Ayers Rock Campground (trip maplink) and had our 1st real experience of the red centre. Our campsite was pure red sand. The campsite is not at the rock, as some think, but some distance (maplink). We rounded out our first day by taking a stroll out to Naninga Lookout to get our first view and watch the sunset.

Sunrise Helicopter Flight over Uluru and Kata Tjuta

We took a 36 minute sunrise helicopter flight around Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) with Ayers Rock Helicopters. Check them out on Tripadvisor. Our pilot’s name was Carmen (from Switzerland).

The sun was just peaking up on the horizon as we lifted off from Ayers Rock airfield.

First was a circuit of “the rock” which casts a massive shadow over 50 km towards the western horizon. This really provides a perspective as to the size of the rock.

Then off to the mystical Kata Tjuta which is best seen from the air.

Neil’s Base Walk of Uluru

Following the inspirational flight around Uluru and the Olga’s Neil decides to tackle the 10 kilometre walk around the rock.

A breeze you may say; which it basically was. It was dead flat, people were passing on push-bikes and doing the Segway tour.

The walk provides a very different and personal perspective to the shear size of the rock. It was breath-taking in lots of places.

It took about 3.5 hours to comfortably do the walk. My legs were covered in the red dust of the rock when finished.

Sounds of Silence Dinner

We booked into the famous Sounds of Silence Dinner at the rock which also has the grande finale of the Field of Light.

What a fantastic evening we had – check it out on Tripadvisor. It began with pick-up from our caravan park then we were spirited out to a high sand dune for pre-dinner drinks and canapes as we watched the sunset over the desert on one side and the ever changing colours of the rock as the sun went down. Wow!!!

Then we moved onto a banquet dinner under the stars sharing a table with 8 other strangers. Everyone just clicked and that made for a great dinner. The menu went like this…

• ENTRÉES (served to the table)
  • Roasted tomato and native thyme soup
• MAIN COURSE – Bush Tucker Inspired Buffet
  • Barramundi, lemon myrtle cream, caramelised lemon, glazed greens
  • Native dukkah crusted kangaroo, organic quinoa, roasted capsicum salsa
  • Seared chicken breast, coastal rosemary and garlic baked potatoes, leek veloute
  • Lamb cutlet, blistered cherry tomatoes, crisp sea parsley, bush tomato jus
  • Steamed seasonal greens with lemon aspen vinaigrette
  • Warrigal green and mushroom risoni, feta crumble, sundried tomatoes
• DESSERT
  • Desert lime cheesecake
  • Warm chocolate and wattle-seed slice
  • Warm apple and quandong crumble tarts
  • Pear and lemon myrtle tea cake
  • Davidson plum and berry compote
  • Watermelon platters
  • Vanilla anglaise
• SALAD SELECTION
  • Kale, pickled Spanish onion, chickpea, roasted sesame dressing
  • Braised crocodile, shaved vegetable and fragrant herb salad
  • Pepperberry roasted cauliflower, pickled muntries, spinach and mint yogurt dressing
  • Fusilli salad, roasted artichoke, salt-bush, olives, salsa verde
  • Garden salad

Following dinner the “resident star talker” provided an insight into the myriad of stars in the night sky.

Field of Lights – Uluru

Following on from the brilliant dinner we strolled over the red sand dunes to this incredible light display. Absolutely magical – check it out on Tripadvisor.

The critically acclaimed Field of Light Uluru by the internationally celebrated artist Bruce Munro aptly named Tili Wiru Tjuta Nyakutjaku or ‘looking at lots of beautiful lights’ in local Pitjantjatjara is Munro’s largest work to date. Overwhelming in size, covering more than seven football fields, it invites immersion in its fantasy garden of 50,000 spindles of light, the stems breathing and swaying through a sympathetic desert spectrum of ochre, deep violet, blue and gentle white. Click here to read more

There are so many photos here it was hard to determine which were the best – here are 16 out of 67 taken…

The Mala Walk

We took the (free) ranger led Mala Walk at 10.00am and were so impressed by the information they shared about the traditions of the Mala Walk and the beauty of the walk. Check it out on Tripadvisor.

It is a short 2km return trip which took about 1.5 hours. Our Ranger, Peter, guided us along a shaded track, stopping to discuss Anangu history (the local people) and Tjukurpa (Aboriginal law) stories associated with Mala ancestors, rock art, traditional Anangu lifestyle, history and the environment; finishing up at Kantju Gorge.

Kata Tjuka (the Olgas)

To complete our “Uluru Experience” we drove out to the Kata Tjuka (Olgas) part of the national park and completed the short Walpa Gorge Walk.

It is the absolute mammoth series of the rocks which draw you into the gorge. (like Uluru but different)

About Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon Resort Campground

We took the short (305km) drive to Kings Canyon Resort for a 4 day stay. Nice spot to visit with amazing trips around the area to be taken. Why someone would think you could do a day trip to Kings Canyon from Uluru is totally dumbfounding! You must stay there. (maplink)

The campground was pretty basic but very neat & tidy with views of the ranges which you’d only see in travel magazines.

Had to fill the car up prior to moving onto Alice Springs – 73 litres @ $2.15 per litre (bloody hell!)

Kings Canyon Creek Walk

The first of our Kings Canyon walking trips began with a nice stroll up the middle of the canyon along the “Kings Creek Walk” – 2.6km return (maplink).

It was lovely, with birds in the trees and the canyon walls climbing up to the heavens on both sides.

Kathleen Springs Walk

After lunch we ventured out to Kathleen Springs to check it out (maplink).

This is also an easy graded and shady 2.4km walk to a spring-fed waterhole. We passed the stockyards where the aboriginal stockman used to hold the cattle after they had chased them into the dead-end canyon.

Kings Canyon Rim Walk

The Kings Canyon Rim Walk is an absolute must to do, if your body is in the condition to do so.

It’s a very demanding 6 km round trip that’s got a steep climb at the beginning but everyone that undertakes it says that’s it one of the best things to do whilst you are in Central Australia (maplink). Expect to take 3 to 4 hours to complete the walk and take plenty of water.

I took over 300 photos as I was so overawed with the whole place. I have cut them back to 65 (which is still too many) but I hope you can get through them all; Neil.

About Alice Springs

Alice Springs Caravan Park

We only had 2 days in Alice Springs as the whole town was booked out for the Finke Desert Race. We stayed at the Big4 MacDonnell Range Caravan Park.

The shorter stay worked out OK as it gave us more time to see other places up the road. We had also previously booked into the caravan park at the Aileron Roadhouse, but were advised to give it a miss by other people we had met. They all said to free camp at the Devil’s Marbles.

The Aileron Roadhouse is also famous for the massive iron statue Anmatjere Man (see in one of our photos) and the Anmatjere Woman and Child created by the artist Mark Egan.

Merrisa had to go to the doctors on the morning we were heading out so we left a bit later than planned and had to hi-tail it to the Devil’s Marbles pronto.

Our first free camp and we nearly did not make it in. Due to our late start in Alice Springs we tried to pass as many caravans as we could on the way to the Devil’s Marbles (maplink). We arrived at 3:20pm to find there were only 2 places left – phew!

What a great spot. The campground has a voluntary fee of $3.60 per night. As this was the 1st time “off the grid” we turned the gas on for the fridge and it would not work – mad panic (I never really stress!!!). Lucky enough our friendly neighbour, Jack, new all about things gas and we had it up and running in no time.

If you are traveling along the Stuart Highway make sure that you stop off at this place, even if it’s just to take a break. The rock formations are astounding.

We decided, on  bit of a whim, to pull into a station by the name of Banka Banka for an overnight stop (maplink) at their campground and we were really glad we did. The manager “Bob” showed us to our site then disappeared in a cloud of dust on his quad bike. All we could say was “what an unusual guy”.

We settled in and took a stroll around the campground. Bob had set-up a mini museum of old farming crap which was actually quite interesting; from a row of various “Victa” mowers to all sorts of old pumps. The pearler was the “bullshit corner” which is an old steel bath cut in half then half the other way to create a seat (check the photos).

Once again, the sunset was brilliant followed by a sit around the fire after dinner.

One of Neil’s scouts (Erin) had spent a couple of years at Newcastle Waters Station (maplink) as a Jillaroo. So we promised that we’d call in and possibly stay there but it was sadly all closed off to the public and we just got to see the memorial to stockman.

We decided to move on instead of staying

About Daly Waters

Daly Waters is essentially a fancy name for a roadhouse which is the local, and famous, Daly Waters Pub. Travellers making the long journey up the Stuart Highway are persuaded that the pub is unique and worth stopping at. It has an amusing ceiling of bras, lots of memorabilia left by visitors, and a typically hearty pub menu which specialises in a barbecue of beef and barramundi (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Daly Waters Pub

The Daly Waters Pub is highly spoken about by anyone traveling up and down the Stuart Highway (maplink) and we definitely had to visit so decided to stay for 2 nights (having skipped Newcastle Waters Station).

The pub is incredible. Donate a gold coin and you can hang up your bra, nickers, jocks, tee-shirts or any other interesting (for some) thingy. we added our Touring Wombats card to the collection.

While we were there a few of the V8 Super-cars Teams pulled in for the night with their huge car carriers; which caused quite a stir. Merrisa also enjoyed Collingwood thrashing Melbourne in the Big Freeze AFL game on the Queens Birthday.

We also visited the historic WW2 aerodrome which was a total disappointment with a heap of junk (from a recent airplane crash) and an abandoned hangar.

The Pitts Family Circus

Each afternoon at the Daly Waters Pub a young family (dad, mum and 3 kids) by the name of the Pitts produce a small spectacular acrobatic display. It was fantastic and really funny at times.

The young daughter kept trying to get dad to curtsy after they had performed an act. Even their 2 year old son participates in the fun – check the photos and video

 

About Mataranka

Bitter Springs Caravan Park

We moved on to Bitter Springs Campground, 3 km from Mataranka (maplink) and used this as our base to explore the area. Nice spot with a short walk to the hot water springs. The campground was pretty basic but we had shade plus power & water.

The Hot Springs at Bitter Springs

There are 2 hot water springs in the area, which are quite different to each other, Bitter Hot Springs and Mataranka Hot Springs (see next post). They are both part of Elsey National Park.

We enjoyed Bitter Springs more as it is really natural like swimming in a warm creek with small fish and turtles. Pretty neat just floating along with your “noodle” for support. So, you get in one end and float for a fair while; then come to a spot where you have to get out, walk back to the start and begin again.

Mataranka Hot Springs

We decided to also try out the Mataranka Hot Springs, which can be found at the Mataranka Homestead Campground (maplink). Like the Bitter Springs swim, it’s free to enter. This hot spring is a bit more “constructed” where they have built walls to create more of a long pool for the hot spring water to flow through. Not as nice as Bitter Springs but there are no hidden tree stumps under the water or swimming through whatever may be in  the water.

A young boy (about 8) comes along and as he steps into the water he says to his little sister “look out for the fresh water crocodile”. So I say to him; “there are 2 down the far end”. He absolutely packed himself, eyes popping out of his head, hands over mouth etc. Then I told him I was kidding and you could see the fear melt away. It was pretty funny; his mum and dad both cracked up laughing.

Mataranka Homestead to see the “Whip Guy”

We headed back to the Mataranka Homestead (maplink) for dinner and a show. There is a young local Mataranka bloke by the name of Nathan Griggs who is currently the holder of 3 Guinness Book of Records titles for using a whip.

1. Fastest one handed crack of a single whip
2. Fastest both handed crack of 2 whips
3. Longest whip in the world to be cracked at just over 100 metres long.

It was a fantastic night seeing something totally different. This guy is brilliant. After the show he sells whips to the crowd which he has made. The young boy behind us at our campground bought one and had mastered it within a day. His mum had a go and nearly cut her ear off (quite funny).

 

 

Mataranka Police Station – 50 year anniversary

Something very unexpected. We had a visit at our campsite from the local constabulary and had a bit of “what have we done” but they were handing out invitations to the local Police Station’s 50th Anniversary.

So we decided to go along for a look-see, free coffee and cake etc. It was quite interesting with lots of old photos and equipment (like a museum) but the best part of looking through the Arrest Register books and hearing some of the locals saying “Hey fella look here, it’s Uncle Jimmy. He got arrested 5 times in one week. What a naughty black fella”

We also got some free entertainment from a small bird who fell in love with our car’s side mirror; check out the video below.

About Darwin

Darwin Caravan Park

Settled into our campsite at Hidden Valley Caravan Park, about 11 kms from Darwin City (maplink).

Mindil Markets and 1st Sunset

Then off to the famous Mindil Markets (maplink) to watch the sunset and do some shopping.

Corroboree Lagoon Trip

We took a trip out to Corroboree Lagoon (maplink) for a wetlands tour with Wetland Cruises. Check it out on Tripadvisor.

This is a very nature centric tour (no jumping crocs) for 2.5 hours on the lagoon with a very informative and enthusiastic tour guide, Chrissy. Absolutely fantastic time had by all. Check out the 21 best photos taken (of 168) on the day. My favourite is the Rainbow Bee Eater with a bug in it’s mouth.

Royal Flying Doctor Service Museum

We paid a visit to the RFDS Museum located on Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin (maplink).
It was very good and well worth the visit. You begin the experience with a hologram movie by presented by the Reverend John Flynn (founder of RFDS) describing how the service was created. This is followed by a 2nd hologram by the Captain in charge of a US naval vessel who describes the bombing of Darwin.

This is a must see in as you then venture onto a virtual reality (goggles) experience of the bombing of Darwin which is pretty incredible. Check out these Trip Advisor Reviews. This is a 5 star attraction.

After the RFDS tour we took in the views of Darwin Harbour from Dudley Point Lookout at East Point.

Float Plane trip to Sweet’s Lagoon

While we were at the Mindil Markets we found this tour operator who run a trip out to a remote lagoon west of Darwin via a Floatplane. The company is called Outback Floatplane Adventures which is based in Darwin (same company we have booked to do Horizontal Falls in WA).

We kicked off the tour with a thrilling floatplane flight from Darwin airport that culminates with a landing in Sweet’s Lagoon (maplink) on the Finniss River. This is a very cool tour to take. After landing on the lagoon we then had a hearty breakfast then onto the air-boat (like a swamp boat with big fan on the back) and did a quick thrill ride on the lagoon. Very fast ending in the obligatory 360° spins – what a hoot!

Then we went out on a 2 hour trip through the swamps and channels spotting all sorts of bird life and heaps of crocs. This tour is rated by Tripadvisor as one of the best to do in Darwin so if you are ever in Darwin – book it!

 

 

 

Spirit of Darwin Sunset Dinner Cruise

We met a couple in Coober Pedy who we kept bumping into along the way and became really good friends. They are Gary and Janice from Newcastle.

It was Gary’s birthday on the 22nd June so we joined them on a sunset dinner cruise of Darwin Harbour aboard the Spirit of Darwin cruise boat. The owners are friends of Gary & Janice so that made the night even better as we kicked back after the cruise and had a few quiet ones. Other friends of Gary also joined the cruise to celebrate his birthday so it was a great night had by all.

So if you are looking for a great sunset dinner cruise lookup the reviews of Spirit of Darwin on Tripadvisor.

We decided to venture off to Litchfield National Park for a “look-see” while we were in Darwin; just a short trip of 308km! (roadmap). Headed down to Batchelor (entrance to the NP) and then a clockwise trip back to Darwin.

What a spectacular place and we just got to experience a tiny little piece of it. This is somewhere we will definitely be coming back to in the future and spending a lot of time exploring. Check Tripadvisor.

We began with the Magnetic termite mounds which are built in such a way that they capture the right amount of the sun to keep the mound an appropriate temperature for the colony to survive. Another type of termite mound (most prevalent in the outback) are the Cathedral termite mounds. These are just monolithic with multiple wings to help with the temperature moderation. Check Tripadvisor.

Then off to Florence Falls which were pretty good. There is a walk down to the base where you can swim. Check Tripadvisor.

We then went off-road for a 4wd trek to the Lost City Rock Formations. It was a great 4×4 track to get there and a fun drive! The formations are huge and give you some perspective to how large the rock formations were millions of years ago. Check Tripadvisor.

Feeling a bit hot and sweaty it was then time to cool off in the Wangi Falls. Nice swim but pretty popular swim hole. Check Tripadvisor.

The final drive was over 80kms of red dirt. The car was totally “redded up” by the time we returned to Hidden Valley CP in Darwin.

Cooinda Lodge campground

While we were in Darwin a lot of people convinced us that we were crazy to not visit Kakadu (even though a lot call it KakuDon’t) so we amended our agenda and re-booked accom etc and headed off to a place called Cooinda (roadmap) which is next to Yellow Water Lagoon (maplink).

We booked at Cooinda Lodge Campground and, after arriving and allocated our site, we were totally stuffed around (worst park yet). They told us to go onto site #73 and when we get there someone has already set-up on it. We were told they were allowed to so they could be next to their friends (stiff bikkies about us). So the park person moves us to another site and half way through setting up she comes back and says “sorry you cannot stay on this site” then proceeded to move us to an unpowered site which was probably suitably for a tent! So after hitting a tree with the van (arrrrrr!) I storm off (in typical Neil fashion) to speak to “the manager”. 10 minutes later we were moved to a lovely powered site and given some drink vouchers for our troubles; all good (but 2 hours later).

After all of the dramas it ended up being a nice spot to stay, but we were still pissed about the way they managed our bookings as we found out there were other people who suffered the same fate – except they did not storm off to see the manager like us and were stuck on unpowered sites until there was a powered site available.

Cahills Crossing

We just had to visit Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River (maplink). This is where you cross over the river via a causeway into Arnhem Land.
Had a few and caught nothing, just lost some lures on logs!

There are people standing knee deep in the water trying to catch a barra and there are crocs floating nearby waiting for some dinner – crazy!

The tide flows very fast and when it changes the only indication are schools of mullet milling around near the barrier caused by the crossing. It’s almost as if someone just flicks a switch as the water suddenly starts flowing in the opposite direction (no ebb tide).

As the tide drops the vehicles start to cross. First a couple of 4 wheel drives then a road train followed by a Magna sedan full of “locals”. When you see the wheels of vehicles, which failed to cross, start to appear in the water you get the idea of how dangerous this crossing is.

There are many Cahill Crossing videos available on YouTube. Here’s a few…

 

 

 

Ubirr Rock Art

Just up the road from Cahills Crossing is an historical aboriginal rock art site by the name of Ubirr (maplink).

We had lunch at the Ubirr Store then off to view the rock art. Ubirr’s rock art is considered among the best in the world featuring fish, turtles, goanna and other important food animals.

You take a circular walk of the site culminating with a climb to the top of a rock outcrop to view more rock art and over the plains of Kakadu. It is quite stunning.

Yellow Water Sunset Cruise

Staying at Cooinda Lodge Campground had the advantage of being next to the Yellow Water Billabong so we took the Sunset Cruise.

Very similar to our Corroboree Lagoon Cruise taken from Darwin – no jumping crocs etc as it’s all about the nature and environment. Totally recommend it.

Plenty of wildlife and crocs and the sunset was absolutely spectacular – check out the pics below (24 published of 161 taken).

Jim Jim Falls

Jim Jim Falls is a “short” 58km drive from the main Kakadu/Jabiru road (maplink) along one of the most corrugated dirt road we have driven on so far. This is definitely a 4wd drive road as it ends with about 8km of 4wd track with water crossings etc (yay our 1st ever water crossings!).

Once we got there the sign said it was a 900 metre walk to the falls with some pretty tough sections (climbing over boulders etc).

Well, it was more like 2km and some of the boulders were like the size of a bus! Very poor signage showing where the trail leads also did not help; sometimes the trail had 3 or 4 different directional arrows which lead to plenty of confusion and back tracking.

Finally made it in and had a swim along with some baby barramundi which was pretty cool.

 

About Katherine

Katherine is the third largest town in the Northern Territory after Darwin and Alice Springs. Situated on the banks of the Katherine River it is the service centre for the Gulf Savannah region of the Territory and a popular stopping point on the Stuart Highway. Its primary appeal is tourism with both the Katherine Gorge, in the Nitmiluk National Park, and the Cutta Cutta Caves being the most popular drawcards. It has a stable, permanent population of around 6,000 and the strategically important RAAF base, RAAF Tindal, is nearby (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Katherine Caravan Park

Arriving in Katherine we found ourselves a place to stay for 3 nights called Riverview Tourist Village which were just near the hot springs on the Katherine River.

Nitmiluk (formerly Katherine Gorge)

We took the boat tour of the Nitmiluk National Park (formerly known as Katherine Gorge) and you can understand why it is one of the must do’s on your central OZ bucket list. It is absolutely stunning.

We took the 3 Gorges Tour which culminates in a swim in the lily pond at the top end of the tour. You pass through 3 gorges changing boats at a natural rock barrier each time.

It is difficult to explain the grandeur of the gorge nor do photos do it justice. If you ever get the opportunity you MUST do this tour.

NT Day Fireworks & Veronicas concert

The 1st of July is known as NT Day in the Northern Territory. It celebrates the Declaration of Self Government for the Northern Territory back in 1978. Fireworks go on sale at 9:00am on the 1^st and are generally sold out by midday. One store sold 3 shipping containers of fireworks and were giving away 2 for the price of one.

We headed off to the Katherine Show Grounds at 6:00pm to watch the Veroinca’s play along with several thousand other people. It was fantastic followed by a fireworks display afterwards. There were then fireworks going off all night long.

The guy next to us in the caravan park spent $260 and had 2 massive boxes of crackers. We heard on the radio that you had until midday on the 2nd of July to use them and if found with fireworks in your possession after midday there was a minimum $1500 fine. Not sure what he did with his.

Some links…

• About Territory Day
• News article about why they are allowed to blow things up
• A website selling fireworks

 

Katherine Hot Springs

Took an afternoon dip in the hot springs behind our caravan park – Riverview. Really nice spot and is a bit like a cross between Bitter Springs and Mataranka Springs.

We met Gary Coles, (the head copper in Katherine) and his wife in the springs whom we met at the Mataranka Police Station for the 50th anniversary of the Mataranka Police Station on the 17th June. They recognised Merrisa and we started to chat. When Gary found out we were going to Timber Creek the next day he said he would call the boss there and arrange a visit for us to the Police Station and museum. We thought nothing more of it and continued our swim.

Some links…

• Maplink
• TripAdvisor

About Timber Creek

Timber Creek, a major stopping point roughly halfway between Katherine to Kununurra on the Victoria Highway, is a town in transition. It currently has a population of less than 300 which makes it more than just a roadhouse but hardly a major service centre. The increasing traffic during the winter months means that it has attracted enthusiastic anglers eager to get onto the Victoria River and catch the precious barramundi. For non-anglers its interest lies in the western section of the Judbarra/Gregory National Park which is accessible by 4WD and offers opportunities to explore gorges and rugged outback country far removed from the crowds who cling to Highway 1 (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Roadtrip to Timber Creek

A couple of posts back we talked about meeting the head copper from Katherine and how he was going to arrange with the copper at Timber Creek to meet up and give us a tour.

So we leave Katherine and off to Timber Creek we go with van in tow and just outside of town we are pulled over for a random breath test. I ask the coppa if his name is Ray and he responds with “yep and you must be Neil”. We all had a good laugh at that and then arranged with Ray to pay him a visit at the station later that day.

Ray was what you would call the typical country cop. He loved a chat and told us some pretty amazing stories of policing in the district. He gave us the keys to the museum and we wondered off down the road to have a gander. It was a really old building which contained a heap of old memorabilia and items from over the years but was very ramshackled and needed a lot of TLC. Back at the station and Merrisa met Ray’s dog (check the photo) which was a massive cross-eyed smoocher.

We also ventured off to some local attractions such as the massive Boab Tree marked by the explorer, A.C. Gregory on July 2 1856, as well as Policeman’s Point (saw some Jabiru fishing in the river).

At the Nakeroo Memorial Lookout we also learnt about the Northern Australia Observation Unit (NAOU) and aboriginal volunteers. The NAOU was set up by anthropologist W H Stanner in June 1942 and consisted of over 400 men. The unit`s role was to provide early warning of a Japanese invasion and to form a guerilla force in the event of such an attack.

The Wirib Store Caravan Park wasn’t too bad except they had been restricted to only 12 sites (lucky we booked) due to a failed septic tank. We found out that it had failed about 4 years ago! Timber creek runs along the boundary of the park so I went for a fish. No luck with the fish probably because there were 6 fat freshwater crocs along the bank.

Some Links…

• A bit more about Timber Creek
• TripAdvisor
• Maplink to Wirib Store campground
• Wikipedia – NAOU

About Kununurra

Roadtrip to Kununurra

We crossed the NT/WA border on way to Kununurra and were stopped by the border control point to check for any fruit & vegies as there is very strict controls here to protect the huge food-bowl areas of Kununurra and Lake Argyle. We’d already disposed of our vegies (and honey) at Timber Creek by donating them to the local community kitchen people who make meals for the needy. The guy checked out our van and was OK with everything UNTIL he grabs something in the fridge and says “OK, whats this then; a bottle of grapes?” and we go “uhhh?” to which he holds up a bottle of wine LOL – what a comedian.

Settled into the Hidden Valley Caravan Park for 3 nights.

Visited the Zebra Rock Mine (back into NT) which was great. Purchased a chunk of Zebra Rock for $25 to find that most places in the area use them as paper weights – feeling a bit ripped off but it’s all about the experience (right?).

Some links…

• Travel Maplink – Timber Creek to Kununurra
• Kununurra Maplink
• Trip advisor

About Wyndham

Day Trip to Wyndham

Drove out to Wyndham from Kununurra for the day and had a look around. Main attraction is the 5 rivers lookout. This alone is a good enough reason to visit. Also had a look at the Warriu Park Dreamtime Statues.

Some links…

• Maplink
• TripAdvisor

About Lake Argyle

Lake Argyle Village was the original construction site for Lake Argyle Dam. Today it is the remnants of the village with the main local attractions being the genuinely interesting Argyle Downs Homestead Museum and the vast Lake Argyle, the second largest artificial dam in Australia and the lifeblood of the Ord River scheme (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Lake Argyle Resort

We spent 5 nights at Lake Argyle Resort. You cannot book here and it’s a mad 70km dash from Kununurra to get a powered site. We arrived at 9:15am and were told that no sites were available but Merrisa smiled really nice at the site controller “Macca” and we managed to get into a powered site – phew!

This is a spectacular place to visit and stay. It was created when Lake Argyle was first flooded in 1974.  The lake is 19 times the size of Sydney Harbour. We took a few drives and took in some of the sites.

Some links…

• Maplink
• TripAdvisor
• About Lake Argyle Construction

Check out this YouTube video (from Today Tonight 2015)…

Pannikin Bay Lookout

We took a 4WD track to a beautiful location overlooking Pannikin Bay section of Lake Argyle for lunch. Pretty rough track which was rewarded with the most spectacular views and we were the only ones there (maplink).

 

Lunchtime Cruise on Lake Argyle

You cannot visit Lake Argyle without taking one of their famous cruises. We learnt a lot about the creation of the lake, visited an island set up by Harry Butler and Malcolm Douglas which is known as the “Ord Ark” for animals which were trapped by the flooding of the lake as there are no predators on the island.

A swim at the end was great including the fact that I swam with what is about 30,000 fresh water crocodiles!

Some links…

• Lake Argyle Cruises
• TripAdvisor

Homestead Museum and Bluff Walk

When Lake Argyle was flooded the original Durack family homestead needed to be relocated as the area was about to be flooded. They pulled it apart, numbered all the bricks and stored them in old 44 gallon drums. When they came to rebuild it the numbers had washed off so they needed to rebuild using photos. Well, they did a great job and the homestead is now a museum (maplink).

After we looked through the homestead museum we took the “bluff walk” to a ridge which looks across the lake at the resort and caravan park. A great walk.

Gourmet Camp Oven Experience

We extended our stay at Lake Argyle just so we could participate in a small tour (10 people) called the Gourmet Camp Oven Experience.

This is run by a young guy by the name of Josh and his partner Tamsyn from Lake Argyle Adventures. You leave the resort in an old Land Cruiser Troop Carrier and travel out into the middle of nowhere high up above Lake Argyle for a bushman’s dinner.

About the Bungle Bungles

There is an easy way, a sensible way and a hard way. You can fly over the Bungle Bungles and be amazed by the gigantic bell shaped rock towers with horizontal banding produced by layers of black lichens and orange silica and long to go and have a closer look. You can take one of the many options available from East Kimberley Tours all of which fly from Kununurra and then range from half a day to two days exploring on the ground. Or you can drive from the main highway over 55 km of incredibly rough and difficult road (it takes around two to three hours) and that will allow you to really experience this remarkable collection of unique geological formations close up. It is worth the effort. It is one of the great natural wonders of Australia (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Bungle Bungles Caravan Park

Stayed at the Bungle Bungles Caravan Park for 2 nights (maplink). Very dusty and the power kept on tripping out because there was a guy there with an electric car and every time he charged it the circuit breakers flicked for the whole park!

Had a friendly cow which came around to say hi to everyone.

Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) Walk

It is a 87km (3.75 hour) drive over some pretty rugged (tyre ripping) dirt roads (maplink) to get into the Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) National Park. We were (apparently) fortunate that the roads had recently had a grader run through. Purnululu is the indigenous name for the park and it will be shortly changed to it from Bungle Bungles.

We did the southern section of the park, leaving the car at Piccaninnie carpark to walk the Domes and Cathedral Gorge. Wow, this was incredibly breath taking. You have no idea of the size of the domes until you are before them. Photographs do not do this site justice as it is so massive.

We were a bit late getting out of the park and had to drive a lot of it in the dark, following another 4WD which through up so much dust it was like driving in a heavy fog. Tried to give them some separated distance but at times you just had to stop as it was just impossible to see.

Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) Helicopter Flight

Having walked part of the Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) National Park the day before we decided to fly over it as well.

This was on our bucket list and splurged $495 each for a 40 minute helicopter flight with Bungle Bungles Helicopters, from our caravan park; a lot closer than most flight departures (so more time over the park).

Our pilot, Greg, is a great grandson of Sir Reginald Ansett so we knew we were in good hands.

Wow – a big tick off on the bucket list. This is a must do if you ever travel to this part of our wonderful land!

Here is a great YouTube video (not ours) Showcasing the Bungle Bungles flight…

About Fitzroy Crossing

Fitzroy Crossing Caravan Park

We took the 397Km drive from the Bungle Bungles to Fitzroy Crossing (maplink) and booked into Fitzroy River Lodge Caravan Park.

Wonderful caravan site, which is probably one of the most spacious we have been in. Took a wander around the park and agreed this was a really good choice. It sits on the banks of the Fitzroy River (pretty dry at the moment) and all of the permanent buildings are built high off the ground to cater for the average 6 metre rise in the river each year.

Had a look at the Crossing Inn, which is the oldest Pub in WA, originally built in 1897. Also drove down to the original Fitzroy River Crossing (closed due to poor condition at entry point).

Some links…

• TripAdvisor
• About Fitzroy Crossing
• Wikipedia

One of the nicest cruises we have done was in the Geikie Gorge (27km from Fitzroy Crossing). We took the 4:00pm cruise which really shows off the amazing colours of the gorge in the late afternoon sun. Put this one on your bucket list folks and it’s really cheap too; run by WA National Parks. It is a 1 hour trip upstream from the National Park entrance.

When the Fitzroy is in full flood during the wet season it covers the whole national park. Those floods rise over 16 metres up the gorge walls and the continuous rise and fall of the water has left the bottom of the walls bleached white. The parks visitors centre has flood records nailed to the walls and roof with the highest level recorded as 2 metres above the roof; which is about 6 metres off the ground. The building is also about 20 metres above the current river level.

Geikie Gorge will shortly be renamed to it’s original indigenous name of Danggu.

Some links:

• Maplink
• TripAdvisor
• WA Parks info about Geikie Gorge

About Broome

Palm Grove Caravan Park

5 months prior to setting out on our adventure we thought we would pre-book a caravan park in Broome. We tried Cable Beach Caravan Park – fully booked; then Palm Grove Caravan Park (maplink) and were so lucky that the day we called there was a cancellation so we grabbed it for 3 weeks, otherwise we would not have gotten in there either.

The park is in a great location but everyone is crammed in and the daily sport is to watch new-commers attempting to park their vans in the skinny little roads they have. Just over the road is Divers Tavern pub and then a short stroll to the beach.

Merrisa’s mum and dad also came along flying in for 2 weeks so they could do the Horizontal Falls with us.

Our 1st day saw a totally awesome sunset on Cable Beach.

Willie Creek Oyster Farm

We drove out to Willie Creek Oyster Farm with Merrisa’s mum and Bill to do a tour of the oyster farm. Got to drive on the Cape Leveque Road, which is pretty rough (maplink).

The tour is really great. Our tour guide Sophie took us through the process for culturing the rare and beautiful Australian South Sea Cultured Pearl produced at the Willie Creek Pearl Farm.We learnt that there are 5 important aspects of determining a pearl’s worth…

1. Lustre
2. Colour
3. Size
4. Shape
5. Complexion (quality)

We then ventured out to the racks where the oysters spend their days lazing away in the beautiful blue waters of Willie Creek.

The tour naturally ends in the shop where Sophie drapes this beautiful drop pearl around Merrisa’s neck. There was no going back; as I knew that it looked so well on her and that she deserved it – so the words were “wrap it up”. Merrisa’s Pearl ticked all 5 of the important aspects for selecting a pearl – check out the photos.

Whale Watching

We booked into our 1st Whale Watching tour with Broome Whale Watching and it was an absolutely magnificent day. These guys have been running their tours for 20 years and guarantee that you will see whales or you get your money back and they did not disappoint.

There were about 30 people onboard the catamaran Ballena (Spanish for whale). The day started with a heavy sea-fog which was a bit scary but it cleared as we left the coast-line. It made me think of the theme words to Gilligan’s Island TV show – “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…”

Plenty of whales and a brilliant sunset to close out the trip. We absolutely loved it. Cut 236 photos back to 20 so please enjoy.

Staircase to the Moon

On only a few times of the year does the phenomenon known as “The Staircase to the Moon” occur when a full moon rises over the exposed tidal flats of Roebuck Bay in Broome. The Staircase to the Moon happens 2 – 3 days a month between March and October.

We were fortunate enough to time our stay in Broome with this event and went along, with thousands of other people, to partake in the experience. But I must say – there’s a lot of hullabaloo about this event and it wasn’t really all that fantastic AND I must learn how to photograph a full moon too!

Cable Beach Sunset

One of the big Four Wheel Drive attractions in Broome is to drive down onto Cable Beach to watch the sunset and camel tours.

So off we ventured and parked up on the beach to take in the sights. It was pretty cool; the only mistake we made was to leave the camera, drinks and nibbles behind. The sunset was yet another brilliant event and we captured the moment on our phones.

You can smell the camels coming and there are about four sets of them. Heaps of 4WDs as well along the way too.

About Derby

Why Derby?

Traveled to Derby from Broome (maplink), with Gwyn & Bill, so we would be ready to do the “Horizontal Falls” the next day. We had already booked accommodation but one look at the place and it was a unanimous vote to find somewhere else – should have realised it when it was half the cost of anywhere else! So we ended up at the Spinifex Hotel which was real nice.

Must admit though there is not much to do in Derby so it was good that it was just an overnighter. The main street looks great with a line of Boab Trees down the centre.

We took a short drive to the Mowanjum Aboriginal Art & Culture Centre which was pretty interesting. The art gallery consists mainly of paintings of Wandjina; who in the Kimberly Aboriginal culture is the supreme Creator and a symbol of fertility and rain. Tip – see the video before the artwork, then it all makes sense. Worth the short trip.

The other main attraction in Derby is the Wharf which should be visited at sunset. It (apparently) has the largest tide difference in Australia of about 11 metres. We had lunch at the Wharf Cafe which was pretty nice.

We left Broome and travelled 138km down to a really nice little caravan park called Barnhill Station. (maplink)

So many people told us how good this spot was so we thought “why not” and it hasn’t failed us. It’s about 10km along a (red) sand road to the park going through 3 farm gates along the way to the coast. We hoped to get a site with a view of the beach (spectacular) but we ended up with a view of the dunnies (bugger!).

It is so nice to be in a non-regimented park like we were in at Broome. Plenty of space and trees, but we still have that bloody red sand (washing the feet every-night before bed). This park also has a lot of regulars who stay for 2-3 months at a time. One guy was telling me it’s his 19th year!

They run games each night, have a bowling green and also have special park run meal events like Pizza night on Fridays & Tuesdays and a Roast on Sunday nights. Pretty cool.

The beach is pretty spectacular with all sorts of different colourful rock formations and the fishing is good (so I’m told).

Some links…

• TripAdvisor
• Where is it?
• Turu

Footy match at the Bidyadanga Aboriginal Community

A large group of people from the Barnhill Station Caravan Park travelled south to watch an AFL footy game at the Bidyadanga Community.

The local team, called the Emus were playing Derby (who had to drive for 5 hours to get there). There was a girls game on first followed by a boys game. It was fantastic to see so much talent on the field from all teams.

Sunday Roast Dinner

Every Sunday  the Barnhill Station team put on a Sunday night roast. $17 per head gets you soup, main and dessert. A great feed had by all.

We were also entertained by Frankie Shoveler; a singer from the local Bidyadanga Community. A bit of dancin’ and a lot of singin’ along.

Tai Chi & Left Right Centre Fun

One of the Barnhill Station regulars runs a free Tai Chi session every morning which Merrisa and Michelle attended. What a beautiful setting to practice your Tai Chi.

While at Barnhill we discovered this really hilarious dice game called Left, Right, Centre. You have 4 dice (all the same) with the faces marked with L R C K (Left Right Centre Keep) and when they are thrown you have to pass your money in the direction shown on top of each dice. So the money flows backwards and forwards until it all ends up in the Centre (the pot) and the last person left with any money wins the pot. When there are a large number of people playing the game you can hear the screams and laughs ring throughout the campsite.

The girls played one night while the blokes all sat around the fire. Very laid back environment at Barnhill Station – totally recommend a visit. Check out the rules for playing this fun game below.

80 Mile Beach Caravan Park is situated about 14km from the main highway (maplink) and is actually part of Wallal Downs Station

This beach would have to be the unofficial sea shell capital of Australia! There’s heaps to do here, fish, relax on the beach or happy hours galore! There is definitely no swimming here as the ocean is full of sea snakes and sharks.

Here is a nice YouTube video we found about 80 Mile Beach…

Check it out on TripAdvisor

Beach Fishing

80 Mile Beach is a magnificent long white sand beach which is safe to drive your 4WD on. Let your tyres down to 25PSI and scoot along to do some fishing or just a tour of the beach.

This day the 6 of us headed off to try out a spot of fishing. First spot was the “creek” which we were told was about 10km from the caravan park BUT we discovered it was actually 23km. Had a fish there with no success then trundled back down the beach a bit and had a cast there. I caught a shark (about 4 foot) which gave me a fantastic fight with the drag screaming and me worrying whether I would run out of line or not. Eventually got him into the shallows but he bit through my line and was off; with one of my lures still in his mouth – bugger! Rest of the fishing was then done with a wire tracer and lure which rewarded me with a nice Blue Threadfin Salmon.

Merrisa bought me a very trendy cool fishing shirt which must have brought me some luck as I was the only one to catch anything; but as I always say “It’s all about the serenity”

A collection of the regulars have their own special fishing buggies constructed using a quad bike with purpose built trailer – rod holders, sun shade, esky, bait box, comfortable seating and even mounted stubby holders. One of these outfits even had a skeleton inside with a sign saying “the fish are a bit slow on the bite today” (check the photos).

Shell Collecting

80 Mile Beach is a mecca for shell collectors. So while the blokes fished the girls went shell hunting or all of us went together. Plenty of beach means plenty of shells and some really cool shells were found by all. We even came across a sea snake which had died then was petrified by the sun.

We turned off the Great Northern Highway and travelled 13km down a very corrugated, bumpy and dusty red dirt road to find Pardoo Station Stay (maplink).

This place was recommended to us by many people on our travels but we really could not see what all of the fuss was about. Maybe it was because we stayed at Barnhill Station and 80 Mile Beach beforehand which were really great.

They do have a massive communal fire each night which is great for meeting new people.

The beach is about 10km drive from the station and there is a creek about 3.5km away (maplink) which both are supposed to have good fishing but we have had no luck yet.

These drives take you through the working part of the station with cattle in large groups in several spots. Each morning they have a half dozen “poddy calves” which are hand fed. This is pretty cute.

About Port Hedland

Port Hedland Caravan Park

We selected the Port Hedland Discovery Park for our accommodation. A very neat and tidy place to stay but a “bit away” from things (maplink).

Brendan’s Surprise Visit

For several weeks our son Brendan and myself had been planning a surprise visit from him. Trying to keep it from his mother was a bit of a nightmare at times; but we did it.

Brendan flew into Port Hedland today and I picked him up at the airport. The video below really spells out the surprise Merrisa got when we turned up back at the caravan park. Brendan will spend 9 days with us travelling trough Port Hedland, Tom Price, Karijini National Park and Onlso (where he flys out from).

Seafarers Mission Port Tour

The Port of Port Hedland is Australia’s largest export port by annual throughput and the largest bulk minerals port in the world. Iron ore is primarily the main material which arrives at the port in massively long ore trains from the various Pilbara mines. More information can be found at the Pilbara Ports Authority website.

We figured the best way to check out the port was take the Seafarers Mission Port Tour and it was really fantastic. We gained an insight into the many services they provide to seamen who visit Port Hedland after their ship docks. Majority of it is run by volunteers and the money derived from these tours goes a long way in providing that support.

The best part of the tour is when you board the tender boat which goes around the port picking up sailors who have shore leave. The trip is fully narrated as we travelled around.

These ships are huge and you get an idea of the amount of iron ore they carry when you see and empty one coming into port and one which is about to disembark.

More about the Port of Port Hedland

Port Hedland is one of the largest iron ore loading ports in the world and the largest in Australia. In 2011 it had the largest bulk cargo throughput in Australia. With the neighbouring ports of Port Walcott and Dampier, Port Hedland is one of three major iron ore exporting ports in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

There are 19 operational berths within Port Hedland harbour:

• 8 are owned and operated by BHP Iron Ore
• 5 are owned and operated by Fortescue Metal Group (Twiggy Forrest)
• 2 are owned and operated by Roy Hill Infrastructure Pty Ltd (Gina Rinehart)
• The remaining 4 are public berths

Iron ore makes up approximately 97 percent of the port’s total trade throughput; the majority of which goes to China.

These are the Port of Port Hedland export stats for the first 6 months of 2018:

COUNTRY	Copper Concentrates	General	Iron Ore	Manganese Ore	Salt	Spodumene	Totals
Australia	10,698	752	1,515,175	-	-	-	1,526,625
China	76,575	-	213,755,195	463,995	555,316	1,820,728	216,671,809
Hong Kong	-	-	170,481	-	-	-	170,481
India	54,631	22,260	4,110,761	-	-	-	4,187,652
Indonesia	-	9,622	2,010,744	101,350	157,057	-	2,278,773
Japan	42,780	-	11,053,978	-	641,980	-	11,738,738
Korea, Republic of	-	-	20,079,451	-	303,441	-	20,382,892
Netherlands	-	-	163,603	-	-	-	163,603
Malaysia	11,182	-	-	-	-	-	11,182
Singapore	-	-	963,598	-	-	-	963,598
Philippines	11,485	-	-	-	-	-	11,485
Russian Federation	-	2,844	-	-	-	-	2,844
Taiwan, Province of China	-	-	2,252,316	-	224,097	-	2,476,413
United Kingdom	-	-	284,156	-	-	-	284,156
Viet Nam	-	-	152,062	-	-	-	152,062
Totals	207,351	35,478	256,511,520	565,345	1,881,891	1,820,728	261,022,313

About Tom Price

Road Trip to Tom Price

Tom Price, situated in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, is a mining town. The town is located inland, at the edge of the Hamersley Range. Tom Price is the highest town above sea level (747 metres (2,451 ft)) in Western Australia, and is consequently dubbed “Top Town in WA”.

It was a 417 km trip from Port Hedland to Tom Price (maplink).

On the way we encountered some massive mining equipment which took up the entire road, it was massive. We were also warned about being caught at rail crossings waiting for 250 carriage ore trains to pass but we were lucky and missed them all.

Tom Price Caravan Park

We decided to use this location as a base to travel into Karijini National Park and checked into the Tom Price Tourist Park just outside of town (maplink).

Karijini Parks – Hamersley Gorge

Hamersley Gorge was our 1st trip into Karijini National Park from Tom Price campground (maplink).

It involved 50km of dirt road driving; the first 47km wasn’t too bad as the road is used by road-trains and is pretty well maintained and the last 3kms was horrific with sharp rocks and pot holes and a max speed of about 20km/hour. We got our 1st flat of our trip (12,000km to date) and it was a doozie with the tyre being totally destroyed (check out the photos).

The gorge is stunning and only a very short walk from the car park. Brendan and I went swimming while Merrisa watched from the shore. The water was very “refreshing” and we really could not stay in for very long, but it was a box ticked off.

PS – got the tyre replaced in Tom Price and was really lucky to score a match to our tyre set; otherwise the guy said it would be 5-10 days to wait for one.

View more on Hamersley Gorge in TripAdvisor.

Karijini Parks – Dales Gorge

We packed our lunch and headed off on a bit of a road trip to Dales Gorge & Recreation Area (218km return from Tom Price CP – maplink). This is one of the most popular of the gorges within Karijini NP and has 3 separate pools/falls to view; Circular Pool, Fortescue Falls & Fern Pool.

There is also a campground there for those who want to spend more time exploring the area.

Tom Price Mine Tour

Booked into the tour of Rio Tinto’s Tom Price Iron Ore Mine (maplink) and headed off with Lestok Tours. This is a good tour but we were left a bit disappointed to not see as much as expected. The tour guide, driving our bus, really made it enjoyable (full of heaps of funny quips).

The Mount Tom Price open cut operation is situated within the mineral rich Hamersley Range that has been reported to contain up to 80 percent of all known reserves of iron ore in Australia, making it one of the worlds major iron ore deposits. Mount Tom Price was the first Rio Tinto mining operation to take place in the Pilbara Region where it now has 14 other mines, three shipping terminals and the largest private railway network in Australia.

Some more about Tom Price Mine…

In 1962 geologists identified the large, high-grade deposits of iron ore in the Hamersley Ranges in what later became known as Mt Tom Price. In 1966 Hamersley Iron (HI) was formed. The first official iron ore tram departed Tom Price on the 16th July 1966. HI undertook development of the Mt Tom Price mine as the first mine m the Hamersley area. The first shipment of ore left for Japan in August 1966.

Originally Tom Price ore was railed only to Dampier Port. Ore from Tom Price is now railed to ports at Dampier and Cape Lambert. This rail system was the first standard gauge, heavy haul railways in Australia, and the first extensive privately owned and operated railways. Rio Tinto has since expanded too many more mines and now comprises mainline systems of approximately 1600kms.

With trains approximately 2.5km in length and consisting of 236 ore cars each carrying approximately 120t of ore per car, averaging out at approximately 28,000t per train load. The early railways were built under demanding physical and technical conditions and provided the basis for further developments over the past 50 years.

• Train over 2.5km long
• 4500hp each locomotive
• Approx 120 tonne ore per car
• Approx 28,000 tonne per train load
• Average of 5 trains per day from Tom Price
  • Pooled Fleet consists approx 45 x 236 cars
  • Approx 200 locomotives in the fleet
  • Approx 10,500 ore cars in the fleet
• Iron Ore output:
  • Hematite Fe²O³
  • Waste – Below 50% Fe
  • Low Grade – 50% to 60% Fe
  • High Grade – Above 60% Fe
  • Lump Ore – 6mm > 40mm Tom Price Ore approx 66% Fe
  • Fine Ore – <6mm Tom Price Ore 64% Fe

Tom Price Night Photography

Brendan took me out to a quiet and dark location to teach me about doing night photography (stars etc). It was great learning something like this as he is really good at this type of photography. Our biggest issue was a 3/4 full moon so it wasn’t totally dark. These are my attempts…

About Onslow

Onslow is a sleepy little town where people go to fish and to have quiet holidays by the sea. Historically it was created as a mixture of pearling, farming and gold mining, but today, in part because it lies on the coast 82 km from the main North West Coastal Road, it is a true Cinderella – a gorgeous coastal retreat where only those who know of its charms tend to divert from the long journey from Perth to Broome. It has become known as ‘Cyclone City’ as, since its establishment in 1883, it has experienced major cyclones in 1909, 1918, 1926, 1934, 1953, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1975, 1995 and 1999. The 1963 cyclone had winds which were measured at 232 km/h. In fact the cyclones have occurred with such regularity that they have had profound effects on the town – it was forced to relocate after the 1926 cyclone and the frequency of cyclones in the 1960s forced the reconstruction of the local jetty to be abandoned (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Some more links…

• TripAdvisor

Road trip – Tom Price to Onslow

Today we took the 418km road-trip to Onslow (maplink). Stopped along the way for lunch and captured some of the wildflowers which are starting to appear in WA.

Ended up at the Council run Ocean View caravan park in Onslow (maplink) with a waterside site with fantastic views of the water.

The locals actually call it Onnn Sloooww.

Onslow Salt Works and LNG Gas Plant

Salt Works

The weather conditions in the Onslow area make it a perfect location to carry out what is known as Solar Salt Mining which involves flooding special made ponds with salt water and then allowing the water to slowly gravitate from one pond to another until it dehydrates to raw salt. They then farm it with special machines, process it and ship it offshore to their customers.

The operation is run by Shark Bay Salt Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. Ltd, which is one of the world’s most diversified trading, investment and services enterprises. It owns and operates two salt-fields in Western Australia — Shark Bay Resources and Onslow Salt.

Wheatstone Liquefied Natural Gas Plant

Onslow was becoming a bit of a dying town until the development of a major Liquefied Natural Gas Plant was established by a company called Wheatstone (owned by Chevron) just west of the town. It is now a growing community with it’s own airport, built to facilitate the “fly-in fly-out” of workers.

The Wheatstone Project’s offshore processing platform is located in 70 metres of water, about 225km from the coast. The offshore facilities gather and partially process gas and associated condensate from the Wheatstone, Iago, Julimar and Brunello gas fields, and deliver it onshore via trunkline for further processing.

Once onshore at Ashburton North, the majority of Wheatstone’s gas is processed by the two LNG trains, where impurities and inert gases are removed and the natural gas is chilled to minus 130 degrees Celsius, at which point it flashes over to a liquid 600 times the density of the natural gas. It is further cooled to minus 162 degrees Celsius and sent to insulated storage tanks to await export overseas via LNG tankers. Excess gas has to be continually “burnt off” to keep the plant working. The flame can be seen for kilometers.

Click here to find out more about the Wheatstone project.

Great sunsets

Brendan and I went down to “sunset point” in Onslow to take some photos of the sunset using the Salt Works jetty as a feature. We even had a dog come down and voice his protest at the sacking of Malcolm Turnbull.

Brendan and I went down to “sunset point” in Onslow to take some photos of the sunset using the Salt Works jetty as a feature. We even had a dog come down and voice his protest at the sacking of Malcolm Turnbull.

The Old Onslow Township

We were told at the visitors centre that the “Old Onslow Township” was worth a visit. The original town was originally established in 1885 during the gold rush, the old town later acted as a port town for pearling luggers following the discovery of pearls nearby. By 1925 the Ashburton River mouth had silted up causing access problems for the ships. As a result the town was moved to where it is located today.

So we trundled down the dirt road expecting to see a ghost town and all we found were some signs with “this was where the general store was” and “this was the site of the livery stables” with no buildings in sight.

We then found the ruins of what was the police station, jail, post office and hospital. It was pretty cool but we were a bit disappointed.

Onslow’s Staircase to the Moon

We did the “staircase to the moon” in Broome (view the post) and were left wondering what all of the hype was about. We also had the same occurrence scheduled to happen whilst we were in Onslow.

The big difference was we did not have to battle the crowds. We just set-up on the seawall behind our caravan site and enjoyed a quiet beer with the neighbours whilst this (so called) phenomenon occurred.

A look around Onslow

Onslow was a really nice spot to visit. The Ocean View Caravan park is right of the water and close to town – totally recommend it.

There is a wonderful ANZAC Memorial constructed on the foreshore (next to the caravan park) which was built to capture the sunrise in a certain spot on ANZAC Day. It is at the beginning of a coastal boardwalk which we strolled along (about 2.5km return).

Brendan and I went for a fish in Beadon Creek with very little success but as they say “it’s all about the serenity” and bonding with your son.

We visited the ANZAC Memorial for sunrise on the morning Brendan was schedule to fly home then took him out to the Onslow Airport for a teary farewell (off to cold old Melbourne). It was fantastic having Brendan with us for 9 days.

About Exmouth

The Exmouth area was known to Europeans, specifically the Dutch, as early as the 17th century but it was not until World War II that the huge airport was built and it was as recently as 1963 that a naval town serving the US Naval Communication Station, Harold E. Holt, and the Learmonth RAAF Base, was established. The US Navy left in the early 1990s and while part of the old naval base is still used by the Australian Navy today the town is driven primarily by tourism with deep sea fishing, the beautiful Ningaloo Reef and the complex coastal wildlife (whale sharks are prevalent in the area) attracting visitors to this strikingly beautiful region. It is a place where a visitor could easily spend a week. Certainly the remarkable Cape Range National Park deserves days of exploration (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Exmouth Caravan Park

We hit Exmouth today and booked into the RAC Big 4 Caravan Park located to the southern end of town (maplink). A very neat and tidy park with fairly new facilities and amenities. If we return we may try out Yardie Homestead, which is more of a “bush park” (maplink)

Catching up with travel buddies and having a look around the place

It was a great piece of timing as we managed to catch up with a couple of travel buddies, Bob & Michelle for dinner that night. Merrisa even bumped into Keith Urban & I bumped into Willie Nelson out the front of the pub (and got photos too).

The next day was spent having a look around what is known as “North West Cape”. It’s got a lot of history.

One fascinating thing is the “Harold E Holt Communications Station VLF towers” built by the Americans in the 1960’s so they could transmit via radio to submerged submarines. Have a look at the image from Google maps.

We then had a coffee and cake at a quaint little beach shack called Bundegi Shack situated on the nearby beach.

We then checked out the views from Vlaming Head Lighthouse and watched as kite surfers absolutely flew out across the waves with the gusty winds we were experiencing and finished up at the wreck of the SS Mildura, (a cattle steamer, wrecked in 1907 during a cyclone) which was the reason the lighthouse was eventually constructed (after it bumped into the coastline.

Tour of Yardie Creek

Booked into a tour along Yardie Creek, which is in the Cape Range National Park. This was a delightful trip along the creek viewing the gorges and native wildlife.

Have a look at the photos, where we spotted black-footed rock wallabies, ospreys in their nest and were thoroughly entertained by Ash, the boat captain. If you are ever in Exmouth then we recommend you do this trip.

Some links…

• TripAdvisor
• Maplink
• Ningaloo Visitors Centre
• Yardie Creek Boat Tours Facebook

Ningaloo Beaches

Exmouth is located on a peninsula called North West Cape (maplink) and there was so much we missed here that we will definitely return; such as Cape Range National Park.

We took a day trip along the west side of the Cape and checked out the beaches and some great camp grounds (for the next trip) and also took a look at Ningaloo Lighthouse Holiday Park which is the northern end of the Cape and Yardie Homestead.

Exmouth is located on a peninsula called North West Cape (maplink) and there was so much we missed here that we will definitely return; such as Cape Range National Park.

We took a day trip along the west side of the Cape and checked out the beaches and some great camp grounds (for the next trip) and also took a look at Ningaloo Lighthouse Holiday Park which is the northern end of the Cape and Yardie Homestead.

We booked in with an excellent tour company called Ningaloo Discovery to do a Whale Shark snorkel on the Ningaloo Reef. These guys are awesome and so helpful in organising everyone to get the best experience. They take a maximum of 20 people on this trip.

We started the journey at Tantabiddi Boat Ramp and motored out in the beautiful catamaran through the reef barrier (to outside) and immediately came across some hump back whales. Everyone geared up and were split into 3 groups and the 1st group entered the water and the whales took off (bummer). We saw some more whales with calves but you are not allowed to dive with them so we moved onto find some whale sharks.

They use a spotter plane to locate the whale sharks. These are solitary animals and travel along very slowly so it wasn’t long before one was spotted. We were then split into 2 groups and entered the water in front of the path the whale shark was heading. The team operate as one and it was not long before our group was directed into position. The whale shark just glides past and then you can swim along with it. This was so surreal and and an experience which will stay with us forever. We swam with 3 different whale sharks during the trip.

Back inside the reef in what is called the “lagoon” where we saw dugongs, sting rays, turtles and dolphins and then went for a snorkel over some “bommies” of coral which were teaming with fish of all colours and sizes. The coral is not as colorful as the Great Barrier Reef and this is due to it’s type and is natural.

This tour was brilliant. The crew aboard the Ningaloo Discovery were all so friendly and helpful. We were served morning and afternoon tea, a fantastic lunch and finished up with a glass of champers on the way back to harbour.

Some links…

• TripAdvisor
• Ningaloo Discovery on Facebook
• Flickr photos from the trip
• A guide to Ningaloo Reef – Tourism Australia

About Coral Bay

Coral Bay is a small holiday resort town which is really nothing more than a couple of caravan parks, holiday homes for fishermen, a hotel, two cafes and a few basic facilities. The town’s great appeal lies in its unpretentiousness, its simplicity and, most of all, its access to the 260 km Ningaloo Reef which lies close to the shore and forms a kind of natural lagoon which is ideal for people wishing to snorkel, scuba dive, canoe or explore the reef. Lying just north of the Tropic of Capricorn (i.e. it is on the same latitude as Rockhampton) the waters in Coral Bay are warm for most of the year and the beaches are white, hard and beautifully clean. Today the town is still quiet and peaceful. A retreat for grey nomads, backpackers, sunlovers and anglers. It is hard to imagine that it will still be like this in a decade’s time (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Coral Bay Caravan Park

There’s only a couple of choices for caravan parks and we selected the Ningaloo Coral Bay CP which wasn’t a bad choice.

Coral Bay is an interesting town (maplink). First thing you must know is to bring your own fresh water as there is no “town water” which is drinkable. We had 240 litres of water in the caravan so that was a good start but we still had to ration it. The toilet blocks in the caravan parks all use bore water which was practically salt water.

The town’s power supply is created by several wind powered generators.

We stayed for 4 nights and loved it. The only downside was the wind which made it difficult to snorkel as it was really windy. We’ll definitely return again.

Coral Bay Snorkeling

Coral Bay (maplink) is a snorkeling wonderland. We just walked across the road from the Bayview Caravan Park and strolled into the water from the beach and drift along over beautiful corals teaming with fish.

The corals of Ningaloo Reef are apparently not as colourful as those on the great barrier reef and this is due to natural causes (non environmental like bleaching).

Coral Bay (maplink) is a snorkeling wonderland. We just walked across the road from the Bayview Caravan Park and strolled into the water from the beach and drift along over beautiful corals teaming with fish.

The corals of Ningaloo Reef are apparently not as colourful as those on the great barrier reef and this is due to natural causes (non environmental like bleaching).

Coral Bay Fish Feeding

3 times a week the tour companies combine to feed the fish on the main beach of Coral Bay (Bills Bay – check the satellite map).

The public just stand in the water whilst about 50 or more Spangled Emperor fish swim around your ankles whilst they are fed pellets by the tour guides. It’s pretty amazing to see these fish showing no fear of the humans. I suppose everyone is going to say “why not fish there” – well you cannot as it’s a sanctuary.

Coral Bay Dune Buggies

We took a trip with Off Road Rush Tours doing a 2 hour sunset tour in the dune buggies. It was a hoot blast through well defined tracks in the sand dunes to the south of Coral Bay. The tracks were really bumpy and we were continually knocked about but laughed through the whole trip. It was a really fun thing to do ending up with a sunset upon the cliff face over the ocean.

Merrisa took over the driving half way through and had a ball too.

We took a trip with Off Road Rush Tours doing a 2 hour sunset tour in the dune buggies. It was a hoot blast through well defined tracks in the sand dunes to the south of Coral Bay. The tracks were really bumpy and we were continually knocked about but laughed through the whole trip. It was a really fun thing to do ending up with a sunset upon the cliff face over the ocean.

Merrisa took over the driving half way through and had a ball too.

About Carnarvon

Carnarvon Caravan Park

We selected the Capricorn Holiday Park for no reason at all, mainly because it had good reviews, and it wasn’t too bad at all. Friendly staff and really clean amenities (maplink).

Quobba Blow Holes

We traveled out to have a look at the “Quobba Blow Holes” which are situated on a really rugged piece of coastline 75km north of Carnarvon. The seas were pretty big and the wind was howling so it was a bit difficult to get too close but they were really impressive even from where we were standing. The blowholes squirt seawater about 20 metres into the air from sea caves below the rocks.

We also drove up a dirt track to the Quobba lighthouse to gain a bigger view of the coastline and spotted a baby Peregrine Falcon nesting there (pretty cool). From here we drove up to the original HMAS Sydney memorial cairn (see below)

HMAS Sydney II Memorials

The most grievous loss suffered by the Royal Australian Navy occurred on 19 November 1941, when the cruiser HMAS Sydney was lost in action with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran off the Western Australian coast. None of the Sydney‘s complement of 645 men survived. The Kormoran was also sunk in the action.

On 17 March 2008 the Australian Government announced that the wreckage of both HMAS Sydney and the German raider Kormoran had been found, approximately 112 nautical miles off Steep Point, Western Australia. Kormoran is lying at a depth of 2,560 metres; Sydney, approximately 12 nautical miles away, is at 2,470 metres.

There are several memorials to the disaster along the Coral Coast. We visited 2 in Carnarvon; one in the town and another on the coast near to the location of the Carnarvon Blowholes.

Some links:

• From the National Archives

Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum

The Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum is actually the former NASA base which was built for the NASA manned space program of the 1960’s – 1970’s and the role of OTC Carnarvon satellite earth station (maplink).

Today it is a museum about the moon landing and space exploration. Totally run by volunteers; it is a great place to visit when you are in Carnarvon.

We took a trip in the Apollo Command module (bit corny but fun) and landed the space shuttle in a simulator (after crashing about 5 times as a novice LOL)

About Denham

Denham is both the western most town in Australia (at the 113°32″ East meridian of longitude) and the gateway to Monkey Mia with its famous dolphins. The town survives on the influx of tourists who come to the area to see the dolphins. It offers alternative accommodation to Monkey Mia, has restaurants and an airport. It is also the place where most people leave who are heading to Dirk Hartog Island. Denham is primarily a stopover for people heading to other places around Shark Bay. It has an almost Mediterranean feel about it with a small and beautiful beach and a jetty from which fishing and boating are popular activities (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Denham Caravan Park

After leaving Carnarvon we travelled 325km down the coast to a beautiful little town called Denham (maplink) which we used as a base to explore the area, including Monkey Mia and Francois Peron National Park.

We stayed in the Denham Seaside Caravan Park and had a beautiful site overlooking Shark Bay. Only problem was the wind had followed us and was extremely gusty with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing wind warnings for 2 of the 4 nights we were there.

Some links…

• About Denham
• Things to do in Shark Bay
• TripAdvisor

Denham Coastline

The Shark Bay area is quite spectacular with turquoise waters and pristine white beaches. If you are ever in this part of WA put Denham on your list of places to visit.

We tripped to several places along the coast…

Shell Beach

This beautiful snow-white beach is made up of millions of tiny shells up to 10 metres deep and stretching for over 70 kilometres. There is no sand, only shells! Shell Beach is one of only a handful of places on earth where shells replace beach sand in such a dramatic and picturesque way. A walk on Shell Beach is like no other. Incredibly, the beach is made up of shells from the Shark Bay cockle, making it truly unique.

Merrisa left a cute message in the beach (that’s what you do) and I took a stroll in the crystal clear water where a shovel nose shark swam right past me; awesome!

Goulett Bluff

A beautiful view of the coastline which really shows off the beauty of the area (web link)

Eagle Bluff

This location has a boardwalk along the cliff face where we saw sting rays, manta rays and a couple of sharks below us in the crystal clear water. The only downside was the wind; it nearly blew us back to Denham it was so strong. (web link)

Shark Bay Aquarium

We finished the road-trip up at the Shark Bay Aquarium for lunch.

Monkey Mia

We got up early and travelled the 27km from Denham to Monkey Mia (maplink) to do the dolphin experience. This pretty cool as you turn-up at 7:45am, have a briefing with the Monkey Mia rangers about the history of the place and the feeding of the dolphins.

There is no timetable as you wait for the dolphins turn-up. Sometimes it may not be until mid-day but in our case it was about 8:30am. The 1st dolphin was called “Surprise” and she had some awful scaring on her back, being attacked by what they think is a Tiger Shark last year. She was very fortunate as she was just millimeters from not surviving; the cut being right next to her blowhole.

Here is a promotional YouTube video on the Monkey Mia dolphins…

Some links…

• TripAdvisor
• Coral Coast website
• Tourism Australia

Francois Peron National Park

If you own a 4WD you must travel up the Peron Peninsula in the Francois Peron National Park. We took two separate trips over 2 days. You begin by letting your tyres down to 15 PSI then proceed up the red sand tracks which are a single car wide.

The 1st day was a trip was to Skip Jack Point and Cape Peron. The tracks were pretty hairy in parts with deep, soft sand trying very hard to bog the vehicle but we struggled through the 130km of sand tracks to the top and back (it was a hoot!). At Skip Jack Point we witnessed a feeding frenzy of birds and a single dolphin gouging themselves on bait-fish.

The 2nd day was a short trip to Big Lagoon for lunch. The area is beautiful with amazing facilities provided by the “Royalties for Regions” from the WA mining boom. We rounded out the day with a dip in the Peron Heritage Precinct “hot tub”.

• Parks – Francois Peron NP
• Parks – Cape Peron
• TripAdvisor

Hamelin Pool Stromatolites

On the road-trip from Denham to Kalbarri (maplink) we dropped into view the Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool.

Hamelin Pool is home to the most diverse and abundant examples of Stromatolites in the world. Also referred to as ‘living fossils’, stromatolites are living representatives of life over 3500 million years ago when there was no other complex life on Earth. Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve is one of only two places in the world with living marine stromatolites.

A 200m boardwalk at Hamelin Pool provides excellent views of the stromatolites, microbialites and microbial mats. The microbial mats and stromatolites of Hamelin Pool are among the most diverse in the world and show what marine ecosystems would have looked like three billion years ago. Life in Hamelin Pool is therefore among the reasons for Shark Bay’s World Heritage status.

For a long time scientists knew that microbial mats influenced the evolution of life on Earth, but they have learnt much more in recent years. They have found that microbial mats are diverse and complex ecosystems where different species work together in communities that depend on each other.

On the road-trip from Denham to Kalbarri (maplink) we dropped into view the Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool.

Hamelin Pool is home to the most diverse and abundant examples of Stromatolites in the world. Also referred to as ‘living fossils’, stromatolites are living representatives of life over 3500 million years ago when there was no other complex life on Earth. Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve is one of only two places in the world with living marine stromatolites.

A 200m boardwalk at Hamelin Pool provides excellent views of the stromatolites, microbialites and microbial mats. The microbial mats and stromatolites of Hamelin Pool are among the most diverse in the world and show what marine ecosystems would have looked like three billion years ago. Life in Hamelin Pool is therefore among the reasons for Shark Bay’s World Heritage status.

For a long time scientists knew that microbial mats influenced the evolution of life on Earth, but they have learnt much more in recent years. They have found that microbial mats are diverse and complex ecosystems where different species work together in communities that depend on each other.

About Kalbarri

Kalbarri is a popular holiday and retirement town surrounded by one of the most beautiful regions of wildflowers in Australia. Although the coastline around Kalbarri was explored by Europeans in the early seventeenth century the actual town of Kalbarri did not come into existence until 1951 and since then it has grown to become a popular tourist destination with fishing, swimming, bushwalking, organised cruises and a range of activities designed for holidaymakers including the impressive Rainbow Jungle, Australian Parrot Breeding Centre and walks in the beautiful and dramatic Kalbarri National Park (sourced from the Aussie Towns website – click for more).

Kalbarri Caravan Park

Selecting a place to stay was a bit difficult as we had stayed in Kalbarri in 1979 and an lot of changes had occurred in the last 39 year (LOL). We chose Kalbarri Anchorage Caravan Park for the standard reason – it’s close to town (maplink). It turned out to be a great choice.

Kalbarri Surf

After we arrived in Kalbarri we soon discovered the wind was still howling but it was practically offshore at Jakes Point so took some great surf snaps.

Kalbarri NP – Murchison River Gorges

Natures Window & Z Bend

We last visited Kalbarri in December 1979 and spent about a week here. The temperature hovered around 45 degrees celsius every day so the trip into the Murchison River Gorges section of the Kalbarri National Park was undertaken at about 6:00am. It was a dirt track back then and we had to drive around the kangaroos as they lazed away on the track.

Move forward 39 years and all of the tracks are now fully bitumised but the vistas at each location are just as incredible. One thing we did notice was the flys are just as horrific as they were back then; but this time we came prepared with our fly nets over our heads (not a good look but very effective).

It is a 50km trip (maplink) into the area from Kalbarri township with heaps of wildflowers now on display to make the trip even more enjoyable. The first area to visit was Natures Window and Z Bend.

Natures Window is probably the most visited and photographed piece of rock in Australia, coming in a close 2nd & 3rd to Uluru and Kings Canyon.

Some links…

• TripAdvisor
• National Parks website
• Coral Coast website

Hawks Head & Ross Graham Lookouts

After visiting Natures Window and Z Bend we drove another 50km to view Hawks Head and Ross Graham Lookout (roadmap). The beautiful wildflowers certainly made what would have been a boring road-trip quite beautiful.

We attempted to eat our picnic lunch at Hawks Head but the flies were so intense we ended up in the car.

Named after the first school teacher in Kalbarri (not the bloke who I worked with in the old Board of Works), Ross Graham was a devoted conservationist who aided in the exploration of the Murchison River. We took the walk down to the Murchison River from Ross Graham Lookout which gave a better perspective of the enormousness of these gorges; it was wonderful.

On our way back into town we stopped off at Meanarra Hill which provides a view over the coast and Kalbarri township. We were amazed at the eating shelter and layout of this beautiful spot; created by funding from the “Royalties for Regions” from the WA mining boom.

Some links…

• TripAdvisor – Ross Graham Lookout
• TripAdvisor – Hawks Head
• TripAdvisor – Meanarra Hill
• National Parks website

Kalbarri NP – Coastal Cliff Gorges

The coastal cliff gorges of Kalbarri National Park are totally different to the inland ones along the Murchison River. We rated these as better than the inland gorges; cannot exactly say why except for the wow factor they provided. We travelled south from the Kalbarri township with each place accessible via bitumen road (roadmap).

We visited…

• Shellhouse and Grandstand – originally seen by sailors out at sea and thought to be a house on the cliffs
• Island Rock – you almost could think that one of Victoria’s 12 Apostles has decided to move to a warmer climate in WA.
  We had our picnic lunch in one of the wonderful shelters above the cliffs overlooking the ocean.
• Natural Bridge – huge waves crashing up against the coast with this rock formation providing ample photo opportunities
• Eagle Gorge – we saw a large pod of dolphins herding a school of bait-fish from the cliff tops. This spectacle was pretty amazing seeing how they worked as a team to feast upon their prey.
• Pot Alley – very dramatic looking rock formations as you walk down a very old creek-bed to the beach – probably the best spot we visited.

All of the above are easily accessed with fantastic board walks and shelters along the way made possible by the royalties from the WA mining boom.

Some links…

• Parks Map of the coastal gorges
• TripAdvisor