Wyndham was a place I enjoyed staying at 93. I have referred to the lookout as 7 Rivers on occasions, but we should split the difference & get it right ...... it’s 5 Rivers lookout.
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Wyndham was a place I enjoyed staying at 93. I have referred to the lookout as 7 Rivers on occasions, but we should split the difference & get it right ...... it’s 5 Rivers lookout.
sounds good Cuppa
its been 15 years since I was last up that way so forgive me if the memory is a bit fuzzy
Quote:
Originally Posted by 93patrol
Have been up to the 5 rivers lookout, was disappointing because of all the burn off they are doing all you can see is smoke.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuppa
Time to update my trip report.
Day 12 we left Kununurra to move to El Questro, had a close call on the bitumen with somebody overtaking a slow vehicle in the opposite direction, I had to slow right down and take to the dirt to avoid a head on collision, the wife was screaming and my heart was pumping hard but we survived, it does not matter how careful you drive there is always some other d-head trying to kill you.
On the way we visited Wyndham and had a look at the wharf, the Pioneer cemetery and the 5 rivers lookout, I was annoyed with myself when I found diesel was 20c/l cheaper at Wyndham than Kununurra where I filled up.
Drove out to the boab prison tree on King River Rd and tried to take a short cut to El Questro but the road was marked no access.
Got to El Questro and set up in a private camp by the river, needed to drive to get to the toilets and showers but was worth it to have a great secluded campsite.
Day 13 El Questro
We went for a walk at Emma Gorge, its an interesting but sometimes challenging walk with lots of pools filled with clear water with small fish swimming in them.
At the end of the walk there is a large cavern with a pool fed by a waterfall, lots of people were brave enough to swim in the icy water and get under the waterfall but getting my legs wet was enough for me.
Day 14 El Questro
Went to Zebedee Thermal Springs, these are a series of warm ponds with little waterfalls between each, the higher up you go the warmer the water is, they were very crowded but was worth it to enjoy a swim in the warm water.
Went to Jacksons Waterhole for lunch, very nice spot but no swimming because of the crocs.
Followed this up with a cruise in Chamberlain Gorge, spectacular views along the Gorge and we got to feed some fish while enjoying champagne and fresh fruit.
The river was teaming with fish, there were Barramundi, Groper, Catfish and 7 Spotted Archer Fish, the Archer Fish were amazing as they spit water at their prey to force them into the water so if you held out a fish pellet they would spit at it we then dropped the pellet to reward them.
Will continue later and load some photos as I am going out to have more fun now. (feel sorry for those that have to work)
A few photos from El Questro,
Emma Gorge.
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Chamberlain Gorge
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Zebedee Springs
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Days 15-18, Drysdale River & Mitchel Falls.
After El Questro we headed up the Kalumburu Rd to visit Mitchell Falls, we thought the Tanami was bad for corrugations but this road was much worse, it was too rough to make it in one day so we stopped off at Drysdale River over night on the way.
Drysdale had a large dusty campground and you had to watch out for snakes, the camper next to us had a whip snake under their tent, while I was setting up camp I had another camper come over and point out that my Harris Hardnose was hanging down, I looked under and it was hanging on by one bolt, lucky I did not loose it, a rummage through my box of odd bolts produced the bolts and washers required to fix it
The road from Kalumburu Rd to Mitchell Falls was also very corrugated, along the way we were waved over by a family in their Prado who were after some wire to wire up their fuel tank bash plate as two of the brackets had broken away, I gave him some wire then he realized he could not attach the wire to the plate as the bracket was completely gone so offered him a battery drill and bits and he soon had it sorted.
They were a nice family from Alice Springs with a 13 y/o son and 11 y/o daughter that they were home schooling on their travels, turned out they had a simular trip planned to us.
The Mitchel Falls has a nice campground with long-drop toilets and fire rings, need to bring in firewood from designated collection areas about 5km before the campground, we had John the ranger stop off at our fire for a red wine and a chat, he had been there 12 years and had to build his own residence.
The following morning we set off for the walk to the falls, there are varied reports on how long to allow for the walk but we took our time looking at all the sights and got there in about 2.5 hrs.
Along the way there is a steep rocky detour to Little Mertrens Falls that is well worth it, you can walk behind the falls and it quite a sight, close by to these there is a cave with aboriginal art.
The first sight of Mitchel falls is from the top if feel confident enough to stand close to the edge, the path then takes you too some great swimming holes that are very welcome after the hot walk.
After a swim we continued to the front of the falls to see the spectacular sight, after watching the falls and taking lots of photos we walked back to the side of the falls and had a helicopter ride back to the camp ground, the falls are even more amazing from the air.
The following morning I packed up early as I knew I had to look at the trailer brakes as the drivers side was making a noise, pulled the wheel off and found the calliper had jammed on the bolts causing one pad to just touch the disk, the other pad had lost a clip and rattled so much that it elongated the mountings so I had to disable the brakes.
We then headed off back to the Gibb with another night at Drysdale along the way.
Little Merten Falls
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Aboriginal Art
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Whip Snake
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Swimming Hole
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Mitchell Falls
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Day 19, Galvin Gorge and Bell Gorge.
Back on the Gibb River Rd and we headed off to Galvin Gorge in the morning, this is not far off the road and an easy walk.
The Gorge had another pool fed by waterfalls, went for a swim and found the water very cold but people had told us the water coming down the falls was warm, did not believe them at first but swam over and found they were right, we could get onto a rock ledge under the falls and have warm water cascading over us.
We then headed of to Bell Gorge and Silent Grove Campground, on the way we came across 50 Postie bikes being ridden along the road to raise money for charity, shortly after that I glanced in the side mirror to see the tread of one of my trailer tyres flapping around, bugger as only brought one trailer spare so would have to by another.
The walk to Bell Gorge was not long but very rocky and a bit of a steep climb over rocks to get to the bottom, not overly difficult.
This gorge has a very large pool good for swimming (cold water again) and fed by a large waterfall, there was a lot of people but plenty of space, would be great to see without 100 people in and around it.
Galvin Gorge
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Postie Bikes
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Trailer Tyre
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Bell Gorge
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Bad luck about the tyre.
We missed Galvan Gorge & a few others but loved Bell Gorge, but not sure we’d have felt the same with all those others there. How inconsiderate of them! There was one other couple there when we arrived & they left shortly after taking our photo for us. Next trip we will spend time at every gorge.
Looking forward to getting up to Mitchell Falls, Kalumbaru etc some day too.
Apart from falling in love with the corrugations :) are you enjoying it all. How’s the balance between moving & stopping?
Mitchell falls is a big effort to get there (4 nights to see it) but well worth it, we did not get to Kalumbaru as we did not have enough time, driving all that way we would have wanted to spend a few nights there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuppa
We are having an absolutely great time, it has been heavy on the moving time, if I did it again I would plan to take at least 3 more weeks but we are into a relaxing stage at the moment with 4 nights at Broome and will spend a week up the Peninsula.
Day 20 & 21, Windjana Gorge & Tunnel Creek.
We had an easy drive from Silent Grove to Windjana NP campground, when we arrived it was very crowded and we had set up in the noisy generator area, cannot understand why people need generators for camping. Like Silent Grove they had solar showers and flushing toilets, if you like showers in the morning like I do they are going to be cold as the solar heaters don't work at night.
The next morning we headed out to Tunnel Creek, this is a 750 meter long tunnel with a creek running through it, we had to wade through the creek up to about knee height to get through it, the tunnel is wide with large pools and has some stalactites in it, I did not take my SLR camera in there but wish I did as the waterproof camera is hopeless in poor light.
In the afternoon we took a short walk from the campground into Windjana Gorge, the path took us through a narrow tunnel to a shady path with cliff overhang along side the creek, further along it opens up to a wider area where we walked down to the waters edge and were amazed by how many freshwater crocodiles there were, standing in one place I counted 17 crocks then walked further and there were more, it was so interesting looking at the crocks I was not even paying any attention to the great sight of the gorge itself.
That night it clouded over and was looking like it was going to rain, we had not seen a forecast in over a week so had no idea what the weather was going to do, fortunately it held out for us to pack up and leave the next morning, we spoke to some people in Broome a couple of days later that got caught in the rain at Windjana and they had slept in their car because all the camping gear got saturated.
Tunnel Creek
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Windjana Gorge
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Days 22 to 26, Derby & Broome.
After leaving Windjana we headed off to Derby where we were due to board a seaplane to take us on an overnight trip to Horizontal Falls, this is something we were really looking forward to.
At derby we had lunch by the wharf, was going to have croc burger but they had run out of crocodile.
We were looking at the clouds getting darker and were concerned that the plane would not be able to take off, rang the organizers and they assured us it would still go ahead, then it started raining.
We put our cars into storage and boarded the bus to the airport and the rain was getting heavier.
Got to the airport and waited and waited while the pilots were under the wing of one of the planes having a discussion, did not look good for our trip, finally they came in and gave us the bad news, cancelled.
They told us it was only the second time it had been cancelled due to rain.
Now we had to decide what to do for the night as we were not booked in any ware and it was pissing down by this stage, after a few phone calls we booked into rooms at the Broome Gateway about 30km out of Broome.
The Broome Gateway was an interesting place, when we got there it was pitch black and raining and we are driving up this long driveway to what looked like an old farm, visions of American movies where people book into dodgy motels in little towns and get murdered one by one came to mind. it consisted of a common area with kitchen, dining area and lounge with two rows of rooms coming off it, the rooms consisted of a bed, toilet and shower and no other furniture so very basic. The room next to ours was used by the old lady that ran the place and the walls were thin so bedroom antics were out of the question.
We survived the night and found the place much more pleasant in the daylight, we then headed into Broome.
We set up in the Broome Caravan Park, the camp sites were large and actually had green grass, something we had not seen for a while, after setting up we noticed a Frilled Neck Lizard up a tree next to us, he would stay up the tree until someone was packing up then come down to feed on the crickets that would hop out when tents are folded, the caravan park owners said there are about 80 of the Lizards around the park.
We were fortunate that the Stairway to the Moon was occurring while we were in Broome so that night we headed down to the viewing area along with about 5,000 other people.
The Stairway to the moon is where the moon rises when there is a very low tide and the light reflects of the wavy sand giving an appearance that there is a stairway leading to the moon, I was very annoyed with myself that I forgot the SLR camera and tripod so could not get a good photo of it.
They put on a big night market next to the viewing area to cash in on the tourism as much as possible.
Another thing that can only be viewed at very low tides in Broome is the Dinosaur prints so we got up very early one morning to see those.
Staying at Broome also gave me a chance to conduct a few repairs before continuing on our journey so I went shopping for a few items for the Trailer,got a second hand tyre from Tyre Power for a carton of beer, a set of brakepads from a auto shop and a new tyre and tube for the jockey wheel from Bunning's so the trailer was back to normal again.
We tried fishing a few times on the jetty and caught nothing and nobody else on the jetty caught anything either so we went looking for a shop that sold fresh local seafood but there is no fresh fish shops in Broome, I had thought they would be every ware.
I was happy to leave Broome as I found it too busy and very expensive.
I have tried several times to load some more photos but it keeps failing with the poor coverage where I am, will try again later.
Great write up as normal tony.
You may be able to see of they have wifi at some parks or shops of you get a chance too mate.
Just read through from start to now, great write up mate, enjoying it.
Some photos from Derby & Broome
Derby Wharf, only 0ne I have seen that you can drive on.
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Horizontal Falls Pilots discussing our fate.
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Stairway to the Moon (poor photo)
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Frilled Neck Lizard.
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Dinosaur Prints & Coral.
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Finally replacing the Trailer tyre.
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Great write up and pics mate, I for one am very jealous.
Broome would have to be the most over priced and over rated tourist destinations in the country I reckon.Quote:
Originally Posted by TPC
Thanks again. Like firm351 I am jealous. Hope you are now enjoying relaxing up on the Dampier Peninsula.
I am loving Dampier Peninsula but the wives are hating the Midges but that will be in the next instalment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuppa
oh yeah,the midgies and the sandflies..we camped on the beach one night and came up with blisters for about a week and the itch...Farrrk..Love it up there..my wife has got back from 2 weeks up there spending time with the daughter..#2 child for her soon..
The locals use a cream called the locals,heaps of shops sell it up there..got to put it on regulary though.It helps soothe and repel.
glad to see your loving your trip mate.
I have been a bit slack updating this thread so here is the next instalment.
Days 27 to 33, Dampier Peninsula.
First up we headed up near the top to stay at Cygnet Bay Pearls campground, we had tried to book into Bully's camp but tried ringing them countless times over several weeks and never got a reply.
Was pleasantly surprised how good the road was as I had heard horror stories about the corrugations but it was much better than a lot of the roads we had been on.
Cygnet Bay Pearls is the oldest operating Australian Pearl Farm and is family owned and they recently set up some private campgrounds, it was great to get away from the crowds of Broome and setup with some seclusion. The beach was a short walk away and had rocks to fish off and a sandy beach for swimming. The best time to go to the rocks was low tide as we could collect oysters off the rocks, I must have eaten 2 doz a day while I was there. It was also great to wander around the low water between the rocks and see all the sea life, plenty of crabs, stingrays, octopus, fish and lots of coral. We tried fishing and caught plenty but all too small.
We went for a drive one day and had a look at One Arm Point and Kooljaman, could hardly believe that Kooljaman charged us $5 per person to have a look around, bloody expensive walk on the beach and I think my local beaches are better.
Unfortunately the wives did not like Cygnet Bay because of the Midges and they were happy to get out of there.
Next stop was Whalesong Café Campground, they only have 7 campsites here and they are on top of a cliff with great views of the wide bay below. An easy 7 min walk and we were on a sandy beach that seamed to go for ever and there were heaps of shells for the wives to collect. Jacinta does great pizzas in the Café but she is only open to 3pm so we had a very early dinner one day then drank the rest of the day away while staring out at the great view. The amenities here have to be seen to be believed, the shower is an outdoor one behind a curving clay wall and no door, there is a string of shells with a sign in the middle with one side showing in use and the other side showing free. the toilet has a simular arrangement with no door.
While we were there their dog adopted us and hung around until we left and on the last morning he was whining at our camper door at 5am to wake us up.
Photos from Cygnet Bay.
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Oyster covered rocks.
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Photos form Whalesong
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Amenities.
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The dog.
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Sounds like you enjoyed the peninsular. Shame about Bully’s, I’m surprised Jeff even has a phone there even though you couldn’t get him on it! Just driving into the campground would probably have been the way to go. Kooljaman wanted to charge us to have a look too, we just wanted to check out if we wanted to stay there or not. Their attitude didn’t impress us & we just turned around & left. Although aboriginal owned the place is run by a ‘management company’ which rarely, in my experience, keeps the integrity of a place, it becomes only a money making exercise. Glad you enjoyed Whalesong. A friend helped Jacinta (& Lenny) build the shower facilities. Do they still have the camels & the vegie garden? I expect it is the same dog who ‘adopted’ us when we were there .. ‘Jimbo’. He slept on a chair immediately outside our tent every night & waited until we were up before leaving each morning, joining us again later for walks on the beach. It was like he was looking after us.
Same dog 5 years younger???
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That is the same dog, he moves fairly slow as he is getting old but livened up when down the beach or when there was food on offer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuppa
The camels have gone but the vegie garden is still there.
We stayed in 22 different locations on our trip and this was one of my favourite's, I was originally going to stay at Middle Lagoon but glad I didn't as it was very busy there.
Great report TPC, thanks for sharing and love the pics.
Does that mean you’re back home now?Quote:
Originally Posted by TPC
Got back Monday. :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuppa
Great write up TPC can't wait to have a look out that way my self.
OK your back, now get going again so we can join you through the trip reports.....lol
Thanks heaps for this mate, I have learnt a lot and enjoyed your trip with you.
Can we expect another ‘episode’ or two to cover Whalesong to home? ;)
Yea I am working on it, selecting photos now and it takes me a long time to type with two fingers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cuppa
Day 34, Horizontal Falls.
After our failed attempt to visit Horizontal Falls 2 weeks prior we rescheduled and got perfect weather for it this time.
We boarded a seaplane in Derby and flew to lake Talbot where we were spending the night on a house boat, the view from the plane was spectacular, flying over countless islands and inlets, I scored the co-pilot seat but he would not let me fly. :(
Once on the houseboat we were introduced to the staff and shown our rooms and then onto a fast boat to look at the falls, the boat had 3 x 300hp motors and it needed them, the driver took us up to the mouth of the falls and gave us a good look at them and explained they were too rough to take the boat through at that time so we then went for a cruise to look at other sights.
We returned to the falls 30min later and went charging through, at this stage we were very glad the boat had so much power as the water is swirling and there are jagged rocks on both sides, he then spun around and went through the other direction and the boat got a bit of air before crashing down, most of us loved this but my mates wife was not impressed. We did this a few times and he then let the falls slowly take the boat backwards half way in and kept enough throttle to keep stationery so we could get a good look.
After this we were back to the house boat and I took a ride over the falls in a helicopter, this was brilliant as he flew real low.
Next up was swimming in a shark proof cage and feed the sharks for those that wanted to they were "Blind Sharks" and fairly, I jumped at this and put on goggles and got to see them up real close. There were plenty of fish around and I wished I had a rod.
They served up a great Barramundi dinner and we relaxed with a few drinks for the evening.
The next morning after breakfast we went out on the boat to go through the falls again then we boarded the plane to fly back to Derby.
This was by far the most expensive part of the trip but it was worth it, the staff are great and the whole thing is run very professionally.
Some shots from the air.
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From the Boat
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Some from the Houseboat, where is my fishing rod.
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Awesome read and pics. Till the next episode. Lol
Day 35 & 36 Fitzroy Crossing and Kununurra.
After getting off the plane at Derby we did a quick shop and lunch before heading to Fitzroy Crossing to do a cruise in Gieki Gorge, we got to Fitzroy Crossing at 2.30pm and were told the last cruise was at 3pm so a mad rush to make it with minutes to spare. The cruise was good but not as good as the Chamberlain Gorge cruise we had done, plenty of fresh water crocodiles.
After the cruise we headed back to Fitzroy Crossing and set up at Fitzroy Lodge Caravan Park, I would recommend this park as it is quiet and has large grassy sites, Wallaby's every ware and they have a bar and restaurant with good meals at reasonable prices.
From here we were heading to Katherine via an overnight stop at Kununurra where we had stayed a few weeks earlier.
Our original plan was to head home via the Tanami but changed our minds as it was a boring corrugated rd so thought it would be better heading over to NT to see more sites, meant driving an extra 1000km.
A few photos from Gieki Gorge.
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Great trip report mate definately on my bucket list. And some really awesome photos
Days 37 to 40, Katherine, Mataranka and Tennant Creek.
At Katherine we set up at Shady Lane Caravan Park which is a few km out of town on the Gorge Rd, found it to be a nice and quiet caravan park except for the d#$khead in the big motorhome who had his noisy aircon running all night. My misses lived in Katherine for a couple of years in the 70's so she was interested in seeing how things had changed.
We did a short walk in Katherine Gorge, I was amazed at all the bats hanging from the trees in the gorge. I would have liked to have hired a canoe and paddle up the gorge but time did not allow for it.
From here we headed short distance to Mataranka Homestead Tourist Park, as soon as we were set up we headed for Bitter Springs for a swim in the crystal clear thermal spring, I took my snorkelling gear and tried taking some underwater photos with mixed results. We then went back to swim in another thermal spring next to the park.
After all the swimming we did not feel like cooking so we had dinner at the Mataranka Homestead Pub and enjoyed a show put on by Garry Booth, a singer, guitarist, didgeridoo player and there was a whip cracker while he had a break. Really enjoyed this place and would recommend it to others, pity I could not stay longer.
Next up was Tennant Creek and we stayed at the Outback Caravan Park, I did not enjoy this place, it was very noisy with drunks yelling and cars roaring up and down the streets, it is a town with lots of problems. We watched a show in the caravan park by a bush poet who also does bush tucker that was entertaining.
Photos from Katherine.
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Bitter Springs
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Mataranka Homestead Pub
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Sounded like an awesome trip, I will be doing the same in April next year and can't wait to start exploring. Thanks for sharing your experience with us all.
Really enjoyed reading about your trip and the pics really add another dimension, thanks for posting so we could share.
Days 41 to 44. Alice Springs, Coober Pedy and Home.
After escaping winter for almost 6 weeks it was time to head back towards home and the cold.
Had a look at Devils Marbles on the way through to Alice, we were staying 3 nights at Alice and decided to stay in a cabin as we were sick of setting up the camper, the next morning we were glad we did as it got down to 0 deg, I was so tempted to turn around and head back north where it is warm.
While in Alice we visited the Desert Park and watched the flying bird presentation, this was quiet impressive. I also visited the school of the air for a tour and the girls got in some retail therapy in the mall.
The next day we headed up the Ross Hwy and had a look at Emily and Jessie Gaps, Corroboree Rock and took a rough track to a water hole I have forgotten the name of, this would have been far more impressive if the creek was flowing.
Next stop was Coober Pedy and we again decided to be lazy and not set up the camper and booked into the Desert View underground apartments, they are a bit dated and could do with a bit of maintenance but they were comfortable and very spacious and good value and I would use them again. We were just doing an overnighter here and head off early the next morning to drive the 880 km home, I have done this drive from Coober Pedy many times but am starting to find the distance is pushing my limits for one day, probably should have taken the Oodnadatta Track and split it into 2 or 3 days.
A few photos from Alice and along the way.
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Thanks again.I reckon the water hole you couldn’t recall the name of might have been Trephina Gorge? (4th last photo).
Surprised to see only the single figure on the hill at Aileron. When we were there two other figures (Woman & kid IIRC ) had been made & we were led to believe they would be joining Anmatjere Man up there on the hill.
FWIW I reckon 880kms in a day is a massive effort. I’d find half that about my I’d preferred maximum!
Any dreamings emerging of what the next trip will be yet? :)
Your choice of accommodation in Alice & Coober Pedy confirms my belief that a camper trailer is not for me. Too much effort which becomes an unwanted chore after the first few weeks. Packing up my rooftop tent is like that, mainly because it’s mounted with too small a gap between the tent base & top of the pod. The final part of securing the cover takes longer than all the rest of packing up together & is a real PIA. Note to self, must raise tent a couple of inches to get us by until ‘towable bedroom’ is built. (Neither of which will happen prior to the new shed going up & being fitted out, so I’ll just keep on whinging about what a pain packing away is)!
The woman, kid and monitor are at Aileron but not up the hill.
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I am hoping my next big trip will be Cape York in 2017 but still deciding on that, will no doubt do lots of 2 week trips before that, if I had my choice I would be back on the road tomorrow.
I’m pleased that the bloke is still on his own up there on the hill, I reckon he looks more impressive alone. Not a bad view when standing at his feet either.
Once you get that red dirt under your skin & experience the freedom of an on the road lifestyle it’s impossible to see it as a ‘been there done that’ one off experience, at least that’s how I’ve found it. If we could have done we would have been more than happy to have stayed ‘out there’. Only practicalities & finances drew us back home. It is surprising how quickly ‘home life’ sucks you back in. I strive hard to keep the ‘attraction’ of being on the road at the top of my thinking. Being able to share trips like yours help greatly.