Dennis and Barb on Tour

Carnarvon to Geraldton

Coral Bay and Carnarvon

Exmouth continued

Exmouth

Port Hedland to Exmouth

Hi again,

Do you believe that it is now 6th October and we are now heading into our 7th Month away from home.  We are still enjoying this side of Aus, we did't realise just how much mining etc is going on over here.

We left Port Hedland headed for Karratha and stopped off at Sandfire roadhouse just for the air-conditioning.  The temp up North is heading towards 40o every day and time to get down in the cooler areas.  Not a fabulous place but only $20 per night.  ( I can't believe the prices that they want to charge here just for a bit of power, water etc.)  We complain if we pay over $25 per night and here you just can't get anything much for that price, and may I say that a lot of the caravan parks could do with a lot of upgrading for the price you pay.  Anyway enough of that I have had my say.  Sandfire Roadhouse had lots of different animals including a curious camel which Dennis fell in love with and had lots of peacocks including white ones which I had never seen before and they really put on a performance.  The next morning we headed for Karratha and booked into the caravan park and got settled.  On our stay there we went on a sailing boat to the Dampier Archapiligoes' to a beautiful Island with prestine white beach.  Some of the people on board went diving to see the coral while others (like us) just went for a dip.  While we were at sea we spotted some manterays playing in the shallow waters.  What wonderful creatures and very gentle I believe.  On the way back to Dampier the weather did get rough but this was a good boat we were on and handled the weather extremely well.  We arrived back on shore about 3 pm after a wonderful day.  Would highly recommend this trip to anyone.  The next day we headed off for Roebourne to do a trip over the local Iron Ore Export Port at Cape Laverick.  This was at the enormous cost of $5 per person, (don't know how they do it) must be subsidised by Rio Tinto.  We left at 9am and arrived back around 2 pm.  The guide took us out to look over the area and it was interesting to see just how things are done.  Dennis enjoyed this tremendously.  From there they took us to the Ghost town of Cossack which is nestled on the waters edge.  Lots of old buildings and of course a jail.  We had lunch there and looked around for 1/2 hour before getting back on the coach to head back to Roebourne.  Which is also another old interesting place, the information centre is in the old jail there too.  Then drive back to Karratha in time for dinner.   We also went out to an area where there is thousands of aboriginal rock art.  All you have to do is climb the rocks and find them.  They are well faded now but extremely old.  After going there we went to the gas plant to look that over and watched a couple of DVD's on how gas is stored and exported.  again interesting.  There are also lots of salt pans in lots of different areas.  From Karratha we headed for Onslow  A small but rather nice little place.  While we were there we went out to Old Onslow Town situated 49 km awy of this we found 29 km to be corrugated roadway, but indured the trip and went anyway.  Not much left there but the police station, the goal and the cemetary.  We passed a river where there were people camping.  Still crocodiles in the water (I did't think they came this far south).  We drove out to the 4 mile creek where a family were fishing and catching bream.  Lovely place.  We also saw the 1.3 km long jetty and a ship had just bearthed ready to load salt.  From Onslow we drove to Exmouth which was a long drive for us so we took turns.  We booked into the big 4 for 3 nights only $33 a night this time with no slabs only sand again after we were told they had nice grassy sights.  I would like to know what they determine as grass.  While we were there we had an unexpected visitor from old man "Emu and his 3 chicks following close behind.  They nearly came into the van, so what a surprise we had.  All animals here have right of way on the roads so you do have to be a little careful.  We took a drive to the lighthouse where we are told you can see the whales, but we didn't see any.  maybe next time.  We also drove to one of the local beaches but intend going to the national park sometime in the next few days.  We have now moved to son's mates place who lives here.  Has a large yard and we are on concrete.  Dennis is not well today so will have a quiet one (has the dizzy's like I get so I can reate to how he is feeling).  He thinks he might have pinched a nerve in his neck.  Anyway I will report some more soon on what we are doing in Exmouth... until then.

Broome

Hi again,

We did go to Willie Farm which is about 30 km from Broome.  The tour bus came and picked us up as the road out there apparently was pretty rough and then after travelling it we were glad we left our vehicle back at camp.  If any of you go to Broome then I suggest you put this on your programme as it was really interesting to see just how a pearl is formed and the time they take to develop.  They can use the same oyster up to 5 times to develop a pearl.  We were taken out on a boat and shown how they look after the oysters and how to clean them from any fungi, bugs etc.  Then we were taken up Willie Creek for a ride before departing back to camp.  We really enjoyed just sitting in front of the caravan looking at the water, and of course our daily dip in the ocean.  The temperature has been averaging 36o most days and we had one day of 38o.  We watched the staircase to the moon for 2 nights and the 2nd night was much better than the first which had a lot of cloud cover.  Have enclosed a photo.  I caught up on a lot of painting so we can do another market when we get the chance.  We had 2 couples camped next to us with the best behaved children, who put on a party as part of their home studies.  Right down to the preparation of food, making the decorations, the guest list and of course we were invited, and it was delightful.  They also put on a concert on their last night and we followed on with a sausage sizzle....enjoyed by all.  It was so quiet when they left.  We had a very relaxing time and really enjoyed our stay there doing all the tourist things.  We are meeting some really lovely people on our travels and it's amazing just how many times you bump into each other in different places.

We are now in Port Hedland (not impressed) so are heading off for Karratha tomorrow.  The parks are getting more expensive as we go further down.  Karratha is $42 per night just to put your van on a little piece of land with power and water, but what choice do we have?  We free camp occasionally, but it was too hot from Broome to Port Hedland so we had power for the afternoon.  Also if you want to look around you can't drag the caravan everywhere so we don't have a choice.  Will catch up again some time soon.  Love to all.

Kununurra to Broome

Well we did get up early for the flight over the Bungle Bungle Ranges.  We were picked up at 5.30 am so you can see I can get up when I have to.  We were put onto a flight with 10 other people and all had window seats.  The first thing we flew over the sandlewood forrests and orchards in the area followed by a look at the Argyle dam, then onto the bungle Bungle.  What a sight it was tremendous,  the ranges look like bee hives in stripes of gold and black and went for miles and miles.  The only way to see them.  From there we flew over the Argyle Diamond Mine which also looked huge from the air.  the trucks looked like little ants.  Then back to Kununurra for lunch.  Will download these photos in the next few days.

We left Kununurra headed for Fitzroy Crossing.  On the way had stopped over at a free camp near the entrance of the Bungle Bungle track.  The next morning we moved onto Timber Creek and had another stopover there.  We stayed in Fitzroy Crossing for 3 nights and during this time we went out to Geikie Gorge and took a tour on the Fitzroy River up the gorge.  Again lovely but very different to Katherine Gorge, and lots of fresh water crocodiles.  The weather is starting to get quite hot and the average temperature is around 34 - 36o so the air conditioner has been working quite well.  We left Fitzroy Crossing headed for Derby and came accross this magnificent Boab Tree in the middle of no-where.  You can see the size by the photo of Dennis sitting in the centre of it.  Most unusual trees and I believe that they originate from South Africa and no-one seems to know how they got here in Australia.  There is also another photo taken in Derby of what they call the Prison tree as this was used to hold prisioners waiting to go to jail way back when.  We did the usual in Derby and visited all that there was to see.  We also went to their waste water area which the wild birds use as a haven.  Again we stayed 2 nights and we are now in Broome.  Have booked in for 2 weeks but may stay longer.  We are camped in Roebuck Bay Caravan Park and are nearly on the waters edge.  What a fabulous view we have overlooking the bay.  We are in the perfect place to see the staircase to the moon which happens on the 16th, 17th and 18th of this month, so we will stay until then.  We have just been in for a swim and the water was very cold at first until we got used to it.  I don't know when the last time I went for a swim in the ocean was?  We have organised a trip to the Willie Pearl Farm tomorrow so will report on that when I get on liine next time.  Until then.

To Kununurra

Hi all,

We are now in Kununurra and boy what a drive from Katherine, the ranges I felt were more spectacular than the Mc Donald's in Alice Springs.  Everywhere you go is a little different and boy what a beautiful country we have. Had another market in Kununurra on Sat and again this was good.  We went to Wyndham yesterday for a drive only to find that there is not much there but again the drive was spectacular.  The little town is spread out into 3 sections and you can't get onto the wharf to have a look.  They had a lookout to view the 5 rivers and this was spectacular.  We were there at low tide so you could see where the tide came in by the white salt residue on the sand.  We also saw the giant dreamtime statues of an aboriginal family and then we went to a billabong in the middle of no-where to see all the bird life.  There is a bird hide there so as not to disturb the birds in their environment.  What a wonderful place and again Dennis took lots of photos.  There was also ruins of the old ship to shore radio station used during the first word war and this overlooked the billabong.  Then we returned back to Kununurra. 

We are stying in a caravan park called Lakeview and it is on the edge of a logoon with lovely views.  There are fresh water crocodiles in it ,and Dennis saw one laying on top of the waterlillies yesterday.   In the evenings you can see the most beautiful sunsets over the water.  Millions of bats come out to play in the evening, don't know where they come from but have never seen so many all at once.  We are off for a flight over the Bungle Bungles at 6 am tomorow morning, we get picked us at 5.30, so no sleep in.  We are still to look around Kununurra and will report back along with the photos of the flight when I can.  Wed we leave for Broome and will take a few days to get there.

Litchfield National Park to Daly River

Hi to all,

We left Darwin and headed for Batchelor which is on the road to the Litchfield National Park.  We booked in for 3 days to have a good look around.   The Park has some lovely waterfalls in which you can take a swim, but as we don't go swimming too often we opted not to, so watched others while they had fun in the water.  We headed out for the furtherest point which was Banboo Creek 'tin Mine.  This is a very old historical place and quite interesting.  We had morning tea there and then headed off for the first Waterfall.  The falls were not far from the carpark which was quite a nice change.  Saw some interesting water lizards etc.  Lots of people in swimming.  The falls all had a nice picnic area so we had lunch there.  There is not many places that you can buy food so it is best to always take your own.  Around 3 pm we headed back to Batchelor to the Big 4...lovely camping area with huge caravan spaces and lots of trees.  Dennis had just bought his satelite for TV so decided to try it out.   No problems.  The next day we headed out to the places we had not been to to finish off the Park.  Florence falls we absolutely wonderful but we opted not to tackle all the stairs involved in getting to it.  It was either the stairs or a 1.1 km walk.  They had a viewing platform at the top  and wow the water going down, we would love to have this back in Brisbane.  We had dinner in the restaurant at the park that evening as it was roast night and I didn't have to cook.  The next day we visited the small town and went to the butterfly farm.  They have butterflies in the caterpiller stage and then the cacoons and an area where you walk around with all the butterflies.  Also have animals, mainly for the children but we enjoyed those also.

We left Batchelor the next day and headed for Adelaide River where we based ourselves to go to Daly River.  Adelaide River is a nice little place to stay and we saw the town and visited the memorial cemetary.  We headed for Daly River not knowing what was there.  Not much if you are not a fisherman.  Lots of fishing camps and a great River to fish in.  Dennis's cousin Miriam and her boys  live there so we arranged to meet her.  She shuffled us into a 4 wheel drive and took us out to Blood wood billabong where she picked a waterlily (which was huge).  When the seed pods dry out this is one of the foods that the aboriginals like to eat, and we tried some.  A bit like cashew nuts.  This was quite an experience for us as we don't often get the opportunity to do things like this.  There were some interesting rocks on the drive to Daly River and these were black not like the usual coloured ones.

KATHERINE.   We arrived in Katherine and went to the information centre to book a 3 gorge trip up Katherine Gorge.  We found that there was to be a garden fete the following Saturday so we extended our stay and decided that we would participate.  We headed off for the gorge and they halso had lovely gardens there but no-one told us that you can drive to the boat ramp, so we took the long treck again.  Then stood waiting for the boat for an hour.  No seats in the shade and it was quite hot.  The trip was well worth the wait, the gorges are tremendous and only a small amout of water compared to the wet season but there still was a lot.  It was hard to imagine just how high the water comes up.  Thr trip took nearly 4 hours and well worth it.  I might mention that I think they could spend some money on some decent steps to get in and out of the boats as I felt they were quite dangerous.  I am glad I had dennis to help me as the quide wasn't prepared to do so, there were a lot of people struggling with it.  You had to leave the boat in between gorges and walk to the next boat to take you up the next gorge.  But it was a lovely day.  We have seen all of Katherine and been to the Cutta Cutta Caves which were also interesting and again a lot of steps down.  these caves are underground not like the usual in a hillside.  We have also visited the Springvale Homestead which is only up the road from here.  Again quite interesting.  The Garden Fete was a huge success and we are staying on for a few more days, then we will head off for Kununara.  So until next time.

Darwin continued

Hi again,

well darwin is a really nice place to visit.  We have done most of the tourist stuff and even became members of the Darwin Casino for FREE with $20 of free poky money, a free coffee and $5 keno, we came out from the pokies with cash for quite a few extra tanks of fuel.  We have been to Stokes Hill Wharf for lunch, saw the new entertainment centre, visited the Indo Pacific Marine Centre which might I add was extreemly good.  Saw the pearl exhibit in the same centre.  Went to the chinese Temple and caught a ferry to Mandoorah across the other side of the Harbour, where we had lunch and then caught the ferry back to Cullen Bay terminal.  We went to Mindel Market, visited the tunnels and saw the jumping crocodiles about 35 km from Humpty Doo, which is where we are staying with Grand-daughter Tara.  We have had two markets here and nearly sold out of stock (not enough for another market), so I have been busy this week painting again.  I think we have now seen everything we want to and will be heading for Litchfield National Park in the next few days to see the sights there.  I believe that there is much more there to see than to go all the way to Kakadu.  Will report again when we get to Katherine.

Update on trip to Darwin

Sorry that the last report was a little short but ran out of time.

Also on way to darwin we visited newcastle Waters which is now nearly deserted with only a few people still living here and a very large property.  From there we headed for Daly Waters Pub as we had been told that we must visit.  On driving in I could see why, it was sooooo unusual and I had never quite seen a pub like this one.  some have gone close but this one would be the best.  Dennis and I had a few relaxing days at Mataranka and really enjoyed the thermal pools with a temperature of 32 - 34o.  Again a nice place to visit with lots of interesting things to see.  We say the film we of the Never Never which shows every day in the caravan park.  Then we visited the grave sights of the ones that the story was about, and also went to the sight of the old homestead.  Peacocks roamed the park freely along with lots of other wildlife.  We are going to see the Litchfield National Park and visit Adelaide River and surrounding areas again after we leave Darwin on the way back to Katherine.  When we arrived in Darwin we stayed with Dennis's second cousin Janita and her children Mitchell and Kayia for 4 days.  On the saturday we caught up with her sister Miriam and children Adam and Jacob (who live out of town), at Berry springs where we went for the day and had a barby lunch.  Another lovely place with three different pools in which to swim.  We have had 2 markets here, one at Palmerston and the other at the Craft and Art Gallery in Darwin.  I am now out of stock and will have to start painting again.  We have been sight seeing and seen nearly all of the sights here including a trip on the ferry to Mandoorah across the bay.  We went to the Darwin show yesterday to watch Tara show her bulls (from school) and she got one first and one second so she was wrapped.  We are off to see the jumping crocodiles today so will report back on that one next time, which I hope won't be too long in reporting..  Until then...............

Darwin

Hi all,

After leaving Tennant Creek, we headed again for Darwin.  We stopped off at Mataranka to enjoy the themal pools and to relax again for a day or so.  It was an oasis in the desert and quite a lot to see.  From there we headed for Katherine only stopping to fuel up.  We stayed the night at Adelaide River and then went to Darwin.  we are going to sight see this area on the way back to Katherine and also go to Litchfield national Park.  Will update in the next few days.

We are now in Tennant Creek

Hi all,

We are finally nearing departure date in Alice Springs, after staying 5 weeks and the road transport Hall of Fame.  What a wonderful time we have had here and are sorry to be leaving, but must press on.  Dennis and I went to the Alice Springs desert Park which is our last port of call.  What a remarkable place which shows you how everything actually functions in the desert.  I was walked out and could not quite make the last bit, but I am sure that we had seen most of it.  Dennis took me to the casino again for a seafood smorgasboard which we had only just found out about.  What a spread, oysters by the dozen (the best I think I had ever tasted) even Dennis had a couple. Prawns and mussels.  Along with salads and a hot box with all sorts in it.  Baked barramundi, roasts, curry & rice and vegs.  Then a small selection of desserts and coffee.  Absolutely delicious, and only $37.50 for two.  Buy one get one FREE.  Saturday our last day to work before our departure.  Sunday our 3rd market in the Todd Mall.  Not a bad day, better than the last one. 

We left Alice Springs on Tuesday morning after having morning tea and saying our goodbye's to friends Kay & Bill.  We had been together on and off since Coober Pedy, and had spent the last 3 weeks camped next to each other and the girls and the boys all worked together.  We will miss them.  We stopped at Ryan's Well, one of the many old wells in the NT.  Also at Aileron where the giant Aboriginal stands on top of the hill.  From there we went to Ti Tree to camp for the night.  They had quite a number of peacock's there and Dennis was sure that one of them was going to roost on the top of the caravan.  This was a very nice spot to camp for the night.  The next day we stopped for a while at Wycliffe Well where there have been numerous UFO sightings. and then to Devil's Marbles to camp for the night.  It is amazing how thes boulders don't topple over, they just hang there doing a balancing act.  There were a lot more than I expected.  NT really cater for the travellers.  There were heaps of sights there but you had to be early or you would miss out.  We left at 8.30 am and headed for Tennant Creek and today have done all the tourist things.  Going to the lookout and the pebbles ( a small version of the Devil's Marbles),  then to Mary Ann dam, the aboriginal cultural centre and then bought a cask of gold and only 2 litre at that.  The alcohol laws here are very different to what we are used to.  In Alice Springs you had to show you licence before you could get any.  We are off to see Jimmy the poet in the caravan park tonight at 7.30pm so hope it is not too cold.  It is quite cool in the evenings and mornings and the weather is getting warmer the higher we get.  Will be stripping off soon.  Anyway till next time.

Glen Helen Gorge & more

On 13th June we drove out to Glen Helen which is around 135 km West in the McDonnell Ranges.  We were amazed to see so much water there in the Gorge.  You could go smimming if you wished and I believe there is small fish and yabbies in there.  There was even a life raft in case of an emergency.  From there we went to Ormiston Gorge which was also very beautiful.  They had the most amazing trees covered in blossom.  The branches tooked dead and then towards the end you would see the tree just burst into flower.  Again another waterhole with ducks and birds.   everyone we visit is just so different.   We then headed for the Ochre Pits and the amazing way that the different coloured ochre is structured...almost vertically and shaped in curves and patterns of different colours.  A sight not to be missed.  By this time is was time to head back towards Alice and back to camp again.  Work again on Saturday, we have now nearlly finished the stocktake in the gift shop.  Sunday we had another Market in the Todd Mall, not so good as the last one but every $$$$ helps towards the fuel costs.  Enough for another 5 - 6 tanks.  Monday we went to the Flying Doctors for morning tea and it is nearly next door to the Womens Pioneer Hall of Fame where were headed for.  On Tuesday I met Sandra in town and we went shopping.  Sandra is an Alice Springs lady who also does butterflies but not like mine and we have been swapping ideas.  Hooray we found some fairies so have a good deal of stock now.  20th June we went to the Alice Springs Telegraph Station only to find that they were actually sending messages in morse code, they said that this only happens for 1 week every year and we just had to strike the right week...Lucky eh!  Very interesting place.  It is getting very cold now.  Most days are fine but for the past few days the wind has been very lazy, just wanting to go right through you and bitterly cold.  the temp is now 4 - 16 so nearly time to head for warmer weather.  We will do the markets again on Sunday and on the 30th June we are departing this lovely town.  We still have a few things to see just yet and then we will leave.  I believe there is a beanie festival on this week-end so we will have a look.  It is being held in the cultural centre and we haven't been there as yet so will look forward to a big day.  Will close now until next time.

Love Barb & Dennis

Alice Springs

Uluru

Hi again

We were excited to see Montan and Dana and Dana's Mum Fay.  we decided to go to the airport to meet them and surprise them, as they were to catch the shuttle bus into Yalara to their accomodation.  We had tea ready and all had it together back at camp.  The next morning we headed for Uluru so the YOUNG girls could attempt at the climb.  Both Dana and Montana climbed it with great excitement of their achievement, while the OLDIES looked on.  We then visited the cultural centre that day and had lunch.  Then back to camp and we were shoulted to dinner that evening.  The next day we headed of for the Olgas with picnic morning tea and lunch in hand.  We walked into the valley of winds again another several kilometres.  I will be getting used to this walking.  Again lovely views and everything is different.  That evening we were picked up and taken to the Sounds of Silence Dinner in the outback under the stars.  We were taken up a track and greated with beer, champas and soft drink and then entertained by a young chap playing a didgeriedoo, and boy was he good.  This was followed by another short walk to our tables under the stars.  The only light was the candles on the tables.  We had all sorts of food including crocodile ceasar salad, barramundi, kangaroo etc.  All very nice.  The next day we went back to Uluru to do some of the short walks and then relaxed for the afternoon and the girls came back for King George whiting and chips for dinner as they were leaving the next day.  So short but so good.  Montana has grown so much since we had seen her last.  Such a goergeous little lady as is all our lovely grand-daughters.  We stay in Yalara for the next day to do housekeeping etc before heading off for Alice Springs.  We stayed at Mt Ebenezer again that night.  We are now in Alice Springs and staying at the National Transport Hall of Fame.  We have to work a combined 20 hours for free accomodation.  We had a stall at the todd market last Sunday and had a good day, so back to painting again.  Will update again soon.

To Kings Canyon

Woomera to Coober Pedy

Port Vincent to Port Pirie

Hi again,

We left Marion bay and headed for Port Vincent as this was a central position on the East Coast of Yorke Peninsula.  We booked in for a week and didn't do too much.  Great view of the water from our van.Lots of fishing in the area and that's about all.  Dennis had a go and got impatient as nothing was biting.  We had met Sharyn and Glen in Kadina and they had caught up with us at port Vincent, so we had a few good days together.  We wnt to Edithbough to see the wind farm.  55 windmills in total and are they huge, you can see the size by the photo.  We called into Standsbury on the way back and just had to go and get some oysters.  Yummy... We also called into wool Bay as well.  These towns are very small and really only little villages.  Most have a little General store and fuel and of course there is always a pub.  Didn't do much else there,s o had a good rest up.

We arrived at Port Pirie on 6th May and are staying at Rangeview Caravan Park.  What a view of the Southern Flinders Ranges.  Have enclosed a photo from the park.  We have taken a few drives through the ranges and also went to Port Germein to have a look at the Jetty.  (another one).  The Germein Gorge is a lovely drive and lots to see.  We also headed towards Port augusta and then turned off and up to Hancock's lookout.  This overlooks the Spencer Gulf and we were shocked to see campers and vans up there.  A lovely spot.  We drove through numerous country towns stopping to have a bit of a look around.  Another great day.  We are off shopping tomorrow to stock up as we are headed for Woomera on Sunday 11th.  Not stopping at Port augusta as we will do this on the way back.   Will catch up again soon.  Not sure on service over the next few weeks.

Innes National Park

Monday 28th Aptil,

We are in Marion Bay and decided that today would go for a drive in the Innes National park.  1st stop was Stenhouse Bay, which used to be a settlement and only a few buildings left now.  We went to the jetty and what a view..  Dennis says this area is nearly a good as the Great Ocean Road.  Excellent he says, and so do I.  There are lots of little roads that take you to the beach and to view the magnificent sights of the cliffs and rocks.  Beautiful white sands on the beaches, and of course this area has a number of ship wrecks.  Then on to Cape Spencer lighthouse again with magnificent views.  You really need to walk to the lighthouse to get the best benefit.  We then headed for a deserted township of Inneston.  Just fascinating to see all these buildings made from limestone and gypsum morter.  They processed gypsum here and even had a chalk factory.  There are a few buildings which they let out to holiday makers if they wish to stay here.  Then we went to a few more outlooks and came across a campground at Pondalowie..  Quite nice and even had hot showers.  We discovered a little fishing villiage called Pondalowie Fishing Village.  This led down to the water where the locals could launch their boats.  I think there would have been about 10 houses there (all quite modern may I add.)  then back to Stenhouse bay for picnic lunch and then departed for Marion Bay.  We drove around the streets and boy what flash 2 storey houses that most have built here.  There is a garage/general store and a tavern.  That's the whole town.  Will leave tomorrow to see more and will start to head up the East Coast of Yorke Peninsula.