Category Archives: Outback Tour 2013

Well day 51 begins with home in site, though dimly through a foggy Keith morning.

Wake up to icy cold conditions, literally. There is ice on the tent and ice on the car. We mostly pack up and leave the tent, hoping the rising sun will warm and dry it. Over to the local bakery for a warm, hot breakfast. Though we stretch this as long as we can we finish by nine and still the tent is frozen. Some of the nights moisture has pooled on the roof now and turned to ice. This tent is not drying!

So we dry and fold as best we can and head off. Soon crossing the mighty Murray and then the border. No quarantine inspections for once but it is still cold. Onward we drive stopping at Nhill for a bit of a shop and Dimboola for lunch of soup and cheese rolls. Nice and warm unlike the weather. Then its full steam ahead for home.

Finally back in Melbourne we are greeted by a traffic jam on the Monash Freeway just to let us know we are back in civilisation. Still we stagger home and collapse for the evening, pausing only to unpack some things and start the first loads of washing. Oh and uninterrupted hot showers.

Now two days latter all is unpacked – nearly – the photos are being uploaded and archived, the last load of washing is on and the tent is drying in the drive way. Were we ever away? Ah well, I will take some time to sort through photos and upload some to pad out this blog and maybe do a photo album. Then we can start planning our next trip.

Day 47 – After the trials of Cocklebiddy, Eucla turned into a little gem. Warm and cosy in the motel room, we still managed dinner in the camp kitchen and settled in for a comfortable night, even if we did watch TV for too long. Found a bit of time to glance through the small museum in the motel and fill up the gas bottle. In the morning drove down to the old telegraph station, now half buried in the sand dunes and wandered around in the fresh sunshine. Then on to Border Village and another time change. From Central WA Time to Central Australian Time
Photo stop as we reach the western end of the Great Australian Bight. Sand dunes and plains to the right, sheer cliffs and crashing waves to the left. Then on to flat plains as we enter the Nullabor Plain again. Another photo stop and we are about half way along the Bight. Just sheer cliffs that make the huge waves crashing against them seem small. Next stop for lunch and then a coffee at the Nullabor Roadhouse with its whale sculpture. These windblown places seem placed only to offer fuel and shelter for travellers as there seems little else around them for hundreds of miles. Oh and a place for tourists to find work. Soon after we turn off to Head of the Bight and a bit of whale spotting. Between showers with stand and marvel at about a dozen Southern Right Whales that we can easily spot by eye from the viewing platform. Most are said to have calves and the two frollicing about 100m off our lookout certainly did. Just as well the rain came or we could have been there for hours.
Onwards now as we race the weather to Ceduna. Past the end of the dog fence we saw so far away and long ago. Through Nundroo then Penong, town of the windmills, another quarantine check point and then we are in Ceduna settling down for the night.

Day 48 – rest in Ceduna. Sleep in, shop, National Trust Museum ( a grand collection of everything and anything from Maralinga memorabilia to spark plug collection), buy oysters and prawns (for dinner, yum), Pinky Point for the seals (not there). Denial Bay and McKenzie ruins – he use to distil sea water into drinking water for locals – which I found fascinating. Yummy dinner of Caesar Salad and grilled prawns (oysters for Cath). Nice day.

Day 49 – Ceduna to Mt Remarkable NP. We drive and drive. Did we stop at Minnipa or Wudinna. Maybe both, once to eat then once for someone to go to the toilet who forgot. Or maybe it was Poochera before that? Towns starting to look alike with a big grain silo, a rail yard and a Lion’s Park. Apparently we are in granite country with some fascinating granite formations to see as part of the mitcha body and the gawler extrusion (or something like that) but we are too tired and pressed for side excursions. Do notice some nice granite sculptures including one to the farmers as we go by . Past Iron Knob were they are slowly turning a mountain into a mole hill as they remove the iron ore. Through Port Augusta which is so industrial and grey and flat. On to a bush camp at Mt Remarkable National Park amongst the River Red Gums and Baroota homestead ruins. A bit damp but very relaxing apart from the noisy nomads down the track. Emus wandering by at the sunset.

Day 50 – Mt Remarkable to Keith. Driving again. Slow start because of overnight rain as we try to dry off the tent. Through rolling farmland to Port Wakefield for lunch. Intriguing port area, seems to be too small for the trade suggested in ore. Certainly runs a roaring trade in coffee shops for travellers. Down through Adelaide – factories, shops, traffic lights and freeways. Escape the other side and on to Keith for the night. Last sleep before home.

Day 43 – up earlyish to visit the stromatolites at Thatis? Lake. Similar to but different to Hamelin Pool ones. Climb a sand dune for a veiw of the coast. Rather disorganised and not sure to go next so head back to camp and settle down and plan afternoon. Bit of a shop for a change – general store at Cervantes really doesn’t have much. Head out in the afternoon to see the Pinnacles, timed so we will be there at sunset. Interesting and imposing but covered with tourists. Many weird and wonderful shapes of small to massive examples. Some rather rude. Hard to take an interesting shot that doesn’t have a car or people in it. Manage to get a few good ones and sunset is spectacular even if there are dozens of tourists cars and buses spread around the place.

Day 44 – Cervantes to Coolgardie, long days drive and Siobhan’s birthday. Start with some presents which she loves. Then I throw my back which we hate and a delayed start. Leave town greeted south of the pinnacles with white, white massive sand dunes. Then into Lancelin for morning tea and “best coffee in town”. Lived up to advertising as did slices. Drove past fields of grass trees, hundreds of grass trees even amongst the army firing range.
Then cut across through various small towns and big as we start across from the coast. Land changes from scrubby with occasional manicured paddocks to more varied paddocks and vineyards and orchards and sheep, goats, alpacas! Grass trees keep turning up. Past the Gravity Research Centre. Stop for lunch at Toodyay with its own live steam model railway. (Not running today 🙁 ). Then onwards we drive into Northam and pick up the main highway to Coolgardie flanked by the railway and the water pipe. Accident stops us for a while and we are heading ever east so it is quite dark when we get in. Bare looking caravan park but it has a great camp kitchen and the owner recommends the pub for dinner – Denver Hotel. Great call as it is a top meal even if Kiara is a bit hyper. Good end to Siobhan’s Birthday.

Day 45 – from Coolgardie to Cocklebiddy. Long day again. Might be getting homesick. Bit of a look around Coolgardie as we shop then onwards. Norseman and the corrugated iron camels and a bit more shopping. Good sausage rolls at the BP for lunch on the go. Not always treeless but weird and flat, usually. Did the 90 mile straight. Boring. Manage to beat sunset into our campsite but it is rather flat, open and windy. Bit of rain on an off. Why did we stop here?

Day 46 – Too cold and windy at Cocklebiddy, so shelve plan to hang around and visit the Eyre Bird Observatory. Take it easy and a slow start then on the road again to Eucla. Meet guy riding from Perth to Melbourne for Kids Cancer Project. Meet some of support crew for a runner who is running around the world. Hear about Shane Crawford riding the other way and see lots of ragged signs about various charity runner. The world is a funny place. Lots of Wedgetails on the road and don’t seem bothered by us. Go over Medena Pass to the Roe Plain. Beat rain but not wind into Eucla. Plan to camp but give in and crash in a motel room. Snuggled up warm and dry.

Approaching the end now. Two days here then we start heading east and home. But what else has been happening?

Day 40 – on advice start to visit cliff sits near Kalbarri. Take loop walk out to Mushroom Rock and back up Rainbow valley. Lots of geology and wildflowers to photograph. Back for lunch then out to Red Bluff for a look. Spectacular, high, windy and a bit scary. Then on to Natural Bridge and Island Rock. Nature at its grandest. Spotted some whales on the horizon then spot a pod of porpoises playing in the waves at the base of the cliff. Cool. Drop into Shellhouse, but can’t work it out. Back for quiet dinner of dahl, again. Did we get to Eagle Gorge?

Day 41 – visit the Murchison Gorge. Hawks Head Lookout is very spectacular. Go down to the river from Ross Graham Lookout. Spend morning wandering up parts of the river bed with and without water. Buzzed by Wedge-tailed Eagles, egrets and grebe. More wildflowers to take photos of. Very peaceful. Drift back to camp for afternoon tea then drag ourselves out to visit the rock pools at Blueholes and take photos of dead and living banksias. Dinner of burgers with the lot, thanks Kiara.

Day 42 – heading south from Kalbarri. Get away well, but then have to check the tyres and buy some presents and top up the lunch stores, so it’s not so quick. Land rapidly changing from scrub to manicured country side. Black faced sheep and common cattle. Pass Hutt River province. Is that still going. Hutt Lagoon passes, very pink and pretty though less so as we pass the salt works. Pass old convict distribution? camp. Hamilton, a heritage town, for early lunch, though nearly everything seems closed on Sunday. Not as attractive Greenough settlement which has lots of old stone buildings and ruins but is a bit scattered along the highway. Hit Geraldton our first big city for months. Scary. Down the coast road pass Beekeepers NR to Cervantes. This seems to be the lobster coast. Also lots of shacks along the sand dunes fronting the Indian Ocean. Pretty though sea weed is fairly dominant over sand at the moment.

day 37 – hanging around Denham, doing some washing then checking out the scenery and beaches around Shark Bay. Eagle Bluff gave us a view of the west bay with maybe some sharks then a brief detour to the beach. Shell Beach was a unique with the layers and layers of shells making up the beach. Peaked in at Whalebone but not much there if you don’t fish. Found an impressive specimen of Stuart Desert Pea in someones drive way!

day 38 – up early to see the dolphin feeding at Monkey Mia then out for a cruise around the bay. Out to the black pearl farm to have a look at another process. Then back down the bay to search for dugongs and turtle (nope) and dolphins (heaps) Saw the legendary sponge dolphins in action then heaps of dolphins playing and frolicking. Quiet lunch and ice cream at the resort then dropped into the old Peron Homestead to look at their bore water hot tub, the old wool shed and the plans for “New Eden” on the Francois Peron Peninsular.

day 39 slow start then on the road to Kalberri. Stopped in to check on the Stromatolites again but otherwise just another long drive. Only point of interest was the change from scrub to cultivated pastures as we approached Kalbarri region.

Day 34 – WE SWAM WITH WHALE SHARKS. I swam with a whale shark – I nearly drowned but at least I swam with one and saw it swim by under water, trailed by many little fish, jelly fish and a gaggle of tourists.

Cath and the girls swam again and again with a number of whale sharks. We nearly had to drag Kiara out. They also swam around the coral seeing a host of other amazing creature. We sighted a dolphin and a dugong and paced two male humpback whales as they tried to catch a teasing female. It was an amazing day.

Day 35 – we headed south towards Monkey Mia stopping at Coral Bay to see the clear blue water and white sand, drove over ancient sand dunes and spotted our first wild goats. Those Dutch have a lot to answer for. Ant hills are back in many vary and strange forms, before petering out again. We are passed by a number of wide loads as buildings and big gear head north. Weather started to turn and rain began as we arrived at Carnarvon, staying within sight of the radio telescope.

Day 36 arrived wet and cool as we head south again. Packing a wet tent is no fun. More old sand dunes, salt planes, cattle, sheep and goats and more goats. Weird. We also pass by the widest of our oversized loads and have to actually pull of the road. The mining game is obviously going strong. We stop at Red Bluff for our first view of Shark Bay and a slightly spooky gnome monument. Then we stop in at Hamelin Pool to view the stromatolites. Crystal clear waters and a hazy horizon gave a magical view. The beach is also shell not sand which is a bit noisy but seems standard for Shark Bay. Stop in for Devonshire tea at the old telegraph station there as well.
Pass Useless Loop Road – leading to the salt mines at Useless Loop, finally reaching Denham and settling in for a few days as we air our wet tent and gear, do some washing and settle back for sausages and mash.

How plans change.
Day 31 -Headed down the road again. It is very flat and dull down this coast. Can’t remember seeing much but sure there must have been something other than scrub and red dirt. Arrive at Pardoo Road House ready to sample their famous sausage rolls but they had sold out. Settled in for a stay any way and enjoyed a bit of quiet time.

Day 32 – Up early for a longish day. Pack up then try to get some sausage rolls but they had sold out again (at 8:30?). Do these sausage rolls exist or are they a myth. Decide not to wait and set out. The stops start to roll by. Port Headland, Roebourne, Karatha, Dampier and in between mines, quarries, gas plants. Really does seem like we are digging up the country and selling it off piece by piece. Occasional dramatic hill or range, many of which seem in the process of being reduced to ore piles, but otherwise very boring country again. Take big gamble and decide to push through to Exmouth and pick up a day. Lots of rock plains go by, occasional river and rolling sand dunes for the road to carve though. Oops miscalculation and arrive at Exmouth at 7:30 for fish & chip dinner and setting up in dark. Grumpy caravan park owners for keeping them up.

Day 33 – look around Lighthouse Cape and realise the road in was really boring, we are across the road from the beach and down the road from North West Cape. That is one big radio recieve they have set up there. Time to stock up on goods, indulge a sticky bun fix at Brumbies and book a Whale Shark cruise. Yes we are swimming with the whale sharks (we hope) tomorrow. After that a bit of a cruise around, check out the light house (top view up and down the peninsular) wander the beaches and relax. Tomorrow the excitment begin. Oh and its due to rain on Sunday

Day 28 set style for lazy days in Broome. Morning at the market, then home for a snooze then wander back to town late afternoon. Strolled through Pearl Lugger display and read plaques. Back for some shopping and then leave girls to cook dinner while Cath and I walk down to Cable Beach to watch the sunset – very pretty.

Day 29 rush down to Gantheaume Point to look at where the dinosaur prints would be if the tide was out enough (as in next week) then back to Pearl Information Centre for a talk on pearls. Hour or two later we know more than we want to about pearls and stagger over to Pharaoh’s Kebab House for lunch. Back for some shopping, repairs to the stone guard (successfully) and then leave Kiara to cook dinner while Cath, Siobhan and I walk down to Cable Beach to watch the sunset – very pretty again.

Day 30 sleep in then wander down to the Sisters of Saint John’s museum for a look around. Rather interesting. Then across verandah to exhibition on the Queen’s visit to Broome in 1963. Cool. Cruise around town, then chill for awhile then shop before charging down the beach for a Camel Ride for me, Cath and Kiara. Corny but fun. Did you know camels are very tall and have no suspension. Watched sunset – very pretty.

Planning now up to date so a three day trek down to Exmouth and then a week or so on the Coral Coast. Sun sand and snorkeling, unless it rains.

Well here we are at about the half way mark and all the way over at Broome. Its so far away. Now a recap of the past week.

Day 23 Left Kununarra on abit of an art trail. First stop back to Zebra Rock Gallery so Kiara can pick up some chips to make gifts for her friends. Then on to the Warmin Art Centre for a good dose of aboriginal art. After much uming and arhing we decide on a piece as Cath’s birthday present and organise to have it posted home. Then its onto Halls Creek. By some consensus we decide it would be nicer to stall at old Halls Creek.
SO its out of town and down the start of the Duncan Highway which quickly becomes a unsealed road. Fifteen kilometres of corrugations and floodways later we arrive at the campground in the ruins of old Halls Creek. Initial impressions are not good but we are too tired to try the road again and we need to fix a few things that have shaken loose on the trailer. As it turns out the place is not too bad if a little rough – apart from the constant drone of the generator.

Day 24. We are off to Wolfe Creek Crater. Think we are finally getting use to the sunrise start, sunset bed routine.
The road back to town seems a bit easier without the trailer and the car handles the corrugations better. Just as well since Wolfe Creek Crater is 130 km down the Tanami Track which varies between nice red dirt road and medium corrugations. The termite mounds get taller, the kites and wedge tails get more common as they graze on road kills and the cattle are everywhere. We even have to stop as a mob is driven across the road.
Finally we reach the crater. Fascinating history and views. Spot our first dragons – and then keep tripping over them. Kiara and I scramble down to the crater floor. Rather quiet and hot. Rim was more interesting. Lunch under one of the few trees around, then back down the Tanami track. Long and dusty.
On way back to camp stop of at China Wall – a impressive outcrop of quartz – and Caroline Pool – a nice quiet billabong. Bit of an explore of the old town but not much there.

Day 25 – On to Fitzroy Crossing. Bit of a short drive through a changing landscape as we move from east to west Kimberleys. Cross the limestone country and hit the rich red plains. Where did the boabs go? Set up camp by the old Crossing Inn. Very nice ground with actual grass to set up on. Fitzroy river looks big as we go across. Hate to see it in flood. Stock up on supplies and information. Is that all we did?

Day 26 – Out to Geikie Gorge for a bit of a walk and a boat cruise. Spotted some brolgas on the way out. Limestone cliffs are impressive an awe inspiring. Bit of ABC (another bloody croc) happening though Siobhan was having more of an ABG moment (another bloody gorge). Cath just finished reading, and I am starting to read, a history of Jandamarra and the aboriginal resistance so this is extra interesting. Again the guide was excellent if a bit croc focused. How do the croc’s and the martins know when the river is going to flood?

Day 27 – Don’t mention Derby. Head out of Fitzroy Crossing and start towards the coast. First across vast flat plains. What would this be like in the wet? Then as we get closer to the coast the boabs are back. Some huge examples appear and demand snap shots.
As we turn of towards that place we stop in at the prison tree (or another example of a prison tree). Get to town and find the tour we were hoping to take to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek isn’t running and girls not keen on staying at Birdswood Station and the highlights are not that high, except the pier and tides. Horizontal Falls tour is too expensive so why are we here? In stress of re-planning manage to jack knife trailer and wipe out Rob’s nice stone guard. Strap it onto trailer, book a cabin in Broome and calm down.
All is well again. Drive on to Broome, picking up some boab seeds for Kiara, and settle ourselves into a nice cabin as we all catch our breathe again and a dose of Rock Kwiz.

Day 28 arrives and after a lazy start we plan to visit the Court House Market, cruise around Broome and take it easy. Oh, and repair the stone guard.