(Just a casual drive around the big block)
We left home April 20 so have now been on the road for 14 weeks. Travelling with my sister Pam and brother-in-law Garry, ”It has been great”!
Starting in April we paid our respects to the diggers on Anzac Day and the 25th anniversary of the floods that devastated Charleville. We had a great informative night watching the stars at the Cosmos Centre.
We’ve climbed in a Qantas jet’s motor, paid tribute to the stockman of the outback and camped at the back of some famous iconic outback pubs. We’ve walked where dinosaurs walked 19 million years ago, been through some great named Queensland towns, Augathella, Longreach, Winton, Mt Isa and camped in some amazing bush camps.
We’ve had some great lunches in some out of the way places (Daly Water’s pub) and bathed in the natural thermal pools of Mataranka. Ahead of schedule we decided to go to Darwin for a week and it was great. The famous Mindal Markets, sunsets over the water, the old building in the middle of a modern city and of course the warm weather around 34c each day. “It was all very relaxing”!
But travelling into WA is really where our adventure started. We got ready in Kununurra to get out of the caravan and into a tent for 5 weeks to travel the Gibb River Road. “Wow” the Kimberley has lived up to all that we had expected.
We’ve been to Wyndham, stood at the 5 rivers lookout to see the mighty Ord, Pentecost, Durack, King and Forrest rivers that create the Cambridge Gulf. We’ve driven the King River – Karunjie 4WD track, crossed the Pentecost River, walked the gorges of El Questatro, camped a Drysdale Station and been to the iconic Mitchell Falls. We ‘ve done Manning Gorge, Bell Gorge, Windjarna Gorge, Tunnel Creek and been into Derby.
We flew out to the Horizontal Falls and stayed overnight, what can we say “it was amazing”. We’ve been to Beagle Bay, Middle Lagoon and Cape Leveque, then into the reality of Broome. We went to Fitzroy Crossing, into Wolfe Creek Crater, Halls Creek and then into the Bungle Bungles. This was truly amazing, the colours of the gorges, the formations of the domes and amphitheatres, was nature at its best.
Back to the caravan, then back to Broome on the bitumen to explore the area in a bit more detail. We went to the famous Cable beach for sunset, Chinatown for shopping then we were out of town it was too busy for us.
Hi Marilyn and John
What a great site. The photos are wonderful and give a real sense of the country you travelling through (without having to do the driving). Your beautiful card arrived a week ago but I have been too busy to answer it with earth working machinery here to build a new dam. The dam is dug, now all we need is rain, and then I read this lunchtime that we are heading into a major el nino event this summer. That is the way it goes.
Better news is that we are now grand parents, very exciting. Shane and Sarah have finally been given for adoption a 9 months old boy that they have named William Albert after Shane grandfather and an uncle of Sarah’s. We have been skyping a lot and that is wonderful but not the same as holding him so there is an other trip coming up next year. That is, if I can hold Lis back for that long.
Now that I know about this site we will keep track of your travels and enjoy the photos.