21st June Kings Canyon

We loved Kings Canyon. 

Glenn and I did the KingsCanyon rim walk.. Quite challenging uphill to begin with and a generally rocky walk which took us 5hrs. We took our time to look around and admire the beautiful Holly Grevillea in full flower and the unusual Spinifex Pidgeon which was eating our crumbs as we lunched at the stunning Garden Of  Eden Waterhole. The Pidgeon has striking markings and a very tall topknot.

We then drove the Merindee Loop rd and explored Redbank Gorge.. A beautiful small gorge with interesting rock formations, the Ormiston Gorge and then Serpentine Gorge with its deep, beautiful waterhole.The climb to the top was the most difficult to date but the views spectacular.

We bush camped that night and our fire struggled to ward off the cold while we cooked. Next morning we went to Standley Chasm and got there at midday with the sun directly overhead so it's rays penetrated to the floor of the Chasm. The colors were vibrant reds and oranges as the sun hit the steep walls. Striking.

We drove on to Alice through magnificent countryside. I was amazed by the beauty of the West Macdonald Ranges. My expectations of Alice and surrounding country were of red dust and flat terrain. Not so! Rich and green.

Alice Springs 24th June

First port of call was the Araluen centre where the famous Beanie Festival was being held.  Fab, creative beanies of all shapes and colors and selling like hot cakes. We watched local Aboriginal women learning how to needle felt and looked at all the lovely things for sale.. Hand spun wool too. Once the Aboriginal women learn skills like these the can make goods which bring in an income for them.

Very cold o/n temperatures down to -4 one night and we had the heater on in the van.

We spent time in galleries and saw  some of Namitjira's beautiful watercolours. The museum had an excellent audio tour on the beginnings of life on the planet with relevant exhibits and a day at the Desert Park was very interesting. The bird show was great and the nocturnal house had lots of night creatures on exhibition.

As we were leaving the c'van park in Alice we had our first drama!

Ken noticed a bolt hanging loose from his suspension and we found that it had snapped and was just hanging loose. After carefully reversing back onto his site and inspecting the damage a quick trip was made to find parts ( plus extras just to be safe). He and Glenn did the repair and off we went thinking we were so lucky it hadn't come adrift at speed.

28th June Gem Tree

We stayed in a huge park here with a great campfire and fruit trees which we were told to help ourselves to. Beautiful oranges and lemons.

We booked a tour to go fossiking for garnets and were provided with all the tools we needed and were given a crash course in identifying gems and the soil to find them in. Five hours later, covered in mud, hot and dusty, we returned with our treasures. All of us had 'cutters' and were pleased with our efforts, but no one made a fortune!

Devil's Marbles.

When we arrived there was no room in the NP campground so we parked ourselves in the driveway with a great view of the Devil's Marbles. We clamboured to the top where the views were expansive and then watched the sunset.They are quite an amazing arrangement of huge rocks balanced precariously on one another.

We are finding that the campgrounds are usually full by mid-afternoon and we have to bush camp which we don't mind at all. It's just staggering the numbers of travelers there are, especially during the school hols which have just ended thank goodness.

We saw an interesting manouvre by a three vehicle drilling team on the road today. The team consisted of two huge trucks carrying the drill and a smaller car. Glenn slowed down for them and The three of them overtook us. Then they couldn't get past Ken so the small car overtook Ken and immediately slowed down, which forced Ken to slow considerably. Then the two heavy vehicles could pass Ken! Clever!

1st July Bitter Springs Mataranka

What a beautiful place.. Thanks Keith for the tip. We stayed three days  here spending endless hours floating downstream in these magnificent hot springs, mostly on our backs looking up at the blue sky. It was our first three day break in ages..."even when you work you get weekends" said Glenn!

We also were lucky to there for Territory Day  and had an entertaining night at the oval watching the fireworks which were excellent. The official ones were contested by the unofficial ones much to the delight of the entire township plus tourists. When things looked  like getting out of hand the police car in the middle of the oval sounded its siren. The  ladies of the town provided a three course meal for the princely sum of $12 pp and a great fun night was had by all.

4th July. Darwin.

It was hard to leave our lovely campsite at the springs but had to be in Darwin to fly out the next night. We arrived at Lib and Eric's house  and were greeted by their son Luke and his wife of two months Talia. They gave us free reign of the house and were happy to leave our car and van parked under the carport while we went to Singapore to visit the Smiths. We had dinner at the Trailer Boat Club and watched the magnificent sunset over the beach with the rest of our fellow travelers plus Ken' s brother Mark and Paul and Kerry's son Grahame who had flown to Darwin from Hong Kong where he lives, to visit them.

We watched the State of Origin and wonder why we bother when a three man strip of the ball goes unnoticed and results in a try for Qld!!!!

Next day we had very short, very overdue haircuts, packed for Singapore and headed for the airport.

Darwin 13thJuly

Big repack and cleaning of the van.

Washing day.

Pizza on the back deck

Food shopping.

14th July  Kakadu NP

Jabiru.

Caught up with the others at Jabiru after going to Fogg Dam and seeing the wetlands there and the amazing variety of birds along the dam wall.... Including Jacana and many others.

We did a short walk . Mostly boardwalk..through the swamp area to the pontoon. Hot. Saw a Bush Stone Curlew at eye level, watching us carefully and probably annoyed that we disturbed his sleep! A very peaceful billabong.

We had 3 days in the campground at Jabiru and then drove to Ubirr on the edge of Arnhem Land. The walk into Ubirr is very lovely and the view from the top magic! There is a strong sense of timelessness and serenity as you look towards the Arnhem Land escarpment over the wetlands which are so lush and green, and then backwards over the stone country which is so contrasting in its ruggedness. This was our second time in this place and again it had a power to move us.

Nourlangie Rock

This place has ancient Aboriginal rock art with explanation of the paintings and their significance. We also walked into a huge cave which was a cool place for people to gather and rest in hot weather. Many of the paintings were there to teach people about their culture and continue the oral history of the Aborigal people.

We camped at a place called Mardugal in the national park and then went to Twin Falls and Jim Jim Falls.. Both magnificent. The track in was  strictly 4x4 and very slow driving. The trip to Twin Falls was by boat and then on foot into the gorge with a view of the falls ahead as we walked closer. We didn't swim there because of the crocodiles. Jim Jim falls were at the end of a long scramble over boulders which tested all of us but the reward at the end was stunning. We swam in the plunge pool right up under the falls and floated on our backs looking up at the towering escarpment on three sides. The water was cold but refreshing after all our labours to reach it. We'd have stayed longer but the  light was fading and we didn't want to be rock-hopping in the dark! 

19/7/12 Mardugal -Edith Falls

We had planned to stay in the campground but it was full so we went in for a swim below the falls. They have made a lot of improvements by grassing a lot of the surrounding area  and planting trees. The carpark caters for large tour buses but the camping is limited. A shame we thought as a lot of people wanting to camp had to move on.. Including us. We headed towards The Stuart Hwy and found a bush camp on high ground, lit a cooking fire and had a lovely night. Clear and bright.

Katherine 20.7.12  

Next morning we headed for Katherine. Paul's car was playing up so the men drained water from his fuel twice along the way. When we reached Katherine we went straight to the Information Centre which was extremely busy. We opted for Springvale Homestead Park, a bit in need of a new amenities block but full of character, history and quite lovely. ..it has a billabong, home to Elvis a freshwater croc, turtles, waterlillies and fat ducks waddling around begging for food. The grounds of the old homestead ( oldest standing in the NT) have magnificent old Indian Raintrees, gnarled and spreading welcome shade. They are each named after the children who were born there.

We rang Eric for his birthday, and Glenn cooked a tasty beef curry for dinner much to the envy of the other four who had grills!

We relaxed there for six days spending many hours in the swimming pool which was fed by a hot spring, reading, catching up with family and friends which is often not possible due to lack of mobile service, and doing some repairs.

Glenn fitted a new water pump and everyone bought /replaced fuel filters. The markets had fresh food and veggies and the Katherine show was on . We went in the afternoon especially to see the Rodeo..a first for all of us. We perched like chooks in the stands overlooking the arena and were entertained by clowns with off-color jokes and gestures, skilled horsemen and bulls and broncos bucking their riders off into mid-air. We were coated in dust and decided that we had a great night!,

A highlight of our time in Katherine was a canoe trip up to the second gorge. We all went in three double canoes, enjoyed the paddling and the scenery. We saw some Freshwater crocs, lots of birdlife ESP the beautifully coloured Rainbow Bee-eater and then had a swim. As the tour boats went past people waved and some couldn't resist the two- armed croc gesture while we were in the water. We weren't worried... We know we're not on their menu!

The sprinklers in the campground gave us great opportunity to watch the birds and we enjoyed the freshness after such a long time without rain and often with limited water. The days are warm and sunny and the nights clear and cool. Ideal. No wonder the Grey Nomads are in here in astounding numbers.

Timber Creek 27.7.12

This was a pleasant campground behind the Timber Creek Roadhouse where they have a croc-feeding session each afternoon. We all stood on a small bridge over the creek and one of the staff dangled  chunks of meat attached to a pole just above water level. The well- fed crocs cruised by and then jumped for the meat. We had a really close look at them and the kids had a go at holding the pole. Each experience like this increases our knowledge and understanding, not to mention respect, for these ancient creatures.

Zebra Rock Mine 28.7.12

A number of people had highly recommended this place to to us and they hadn't exaggerated. A very hard-working couple are putting everything into it to make it a success and it is very interesting. They mine Zebra rock which is exists only in the NT of Australia and run a gallery and a campground as well during the dry season. Their wetland tour on Lake Argyle is remarkable for the absence of unending commentary and instead people are encouraged to look and listen. We saw freshwater crocs sunning themselves on logs and birds in the thousands. They pulled up on a grassy  island and served drinks and nibbles in generous amounts while we mixed and mingled and soaked up the serenity of the place. Once back on board Kim moved the boat to a place where we watched the sunset over the wetland. It was blood red and brilliant. Meanwhile most of the birds had returned to their perches on the dead trees. There is a lot of water there but it was 11 mtrs higher during the big wet!

Kim is a local who lived in the valley as a child on a cattle station before the dam was built. That homestead is now underwater.

We spent the rest of our time learning about zebra rock and fossicking in the creek bed and banks, eating the scones and cream made daily and generally relaxing. We were sorry it was too windy for the fishing trip where we had expected to catch the catfish from Lake Argyle. We did sample some of it as fish and chips was a speciality of campground, cooked on demand.

KUNUNURRA   30.7.12

We did the 60 kms from Zebra Rock Mine in the morning and are now in Western Australia. Quarantine restrictions are severe and we were searched before the border but had eaten or cooked all our fruit and vegetables so no problems.

Glenn and I went straight to the refrigeration man to have our fridge checked. It needed adjustment so hope it will be fine now. 

Three days later and the fridge is Not fine. Tomorrow Ken and Glenn a taking it out of the van and giving it an overhaul. Ken is a refrigeration mechanic so knows what he's doing and Glenn will be the apprentice! If all else fails we  will be looking at a new one and a week waiting for it to come from Perth. Good thing we are not in a hurry.

Paul and Kerry have gone to Pernululu (Bungle Bungles) for three days and we have revisited Parry Lagoon and spent several hours today watching the Brolgas, Jabiru, Jacana and many other water birds which congregate there.

There is a hide which you can sit in and watch without disturbing the birds. It's a beautifull, peaceful place. We are spending the night at Parry Lagoon Resort which is where we stayed in 2007. A lot of work has been done to improve the facilities since then and we are in a van rather than swags as we were last time!