WEEKS 18 -20 16 Sept - 3 October

A short drive down the road bought us to one of our very favourite places, Coral Bay. The usual domestic chores needed to be done, sweeping, washing etc. The bore water here leaves a lot to be desired so hair washing was definitely out. It is far better to look like a scrag (think Phyllis Diller at her most outrageous) than put that crappy water in your hair. We would have liked to go out in a boat to snorkel on the outer reef, but all boats were booked fully for the two days we were there. Eventually we made our way to the beach where Stephen slept the rest of the day away (trust me, its not an unusual occurrence when beach meets Stephen). I went for a short snorkel out to look at the coral but its a bit spooky doing it on your own. Saw some lovely fishies but the coral is mainly brown or purple, not a great array of colour. Before dinner we went and had a quick drink at the pub where we had a hard time getting a seat just to have a drink. Nice meals and great atmosphere makes for lots of people and a good income for the owners. It was very windy the next day so we had a sleep in (just what S needed!!) then we went out to the point for a walk to check out the big waves crashing into the Ningaloo Reef. We went for a snorkel in the afternoon then out to one of the 3 places to eat in Coral Bay. We had a 7pm booking and we were the last to be served, again confirming that people go to bed very early over here.

Saturday 18th we arrived in Carnarvon after a long day in the car. We had the pleasure of listening to Sabrina Hahn on the Sat morning ABC gardening show while travelling. She’s a very funny bird and Stephen has taken a fancy to her. Her laugh sounds like that of the wicked witch of the west but she knows her plants. We did the rounds of the fruit and veggie plantations in Carnarvan and picked up some lovely produce. The campground we were staying at came complete with a drunk creepy cyclist who was camping in a small tent. Don’t know how he was going to ride without a massive hangover the next day but he was up and on his way around the same time we left. The things you see!!

Sunday we were off to Mullewa and our first day on the Wildflower Way. The WA wildflowers have been reported to being spectacular this year as they have had a significant amount of rain. It was a long drive listening to that wanker Macca yet again but we were gifted with loads of wildflowers along the roadsides. We could only get one night in Mullewa which was a shame as it is a lovely council run park with great facilities. After setting up we drove to Pindar to see the ‘famous’ wreath flowers. As the sun was going down we headed back to Mullewa for dinner. The caravan park had entertainment that night, a singer and a poet. We sat outside our caravan and listened to the very talented singer and we were far enough away that we couldn’t hear the dreadful poet. We sat back for the rest of the evening and watched Ollie Wines take out the Brownlow.

We moved onto Mingenew after a short drive and stopped to fill up with petrol. Stephen asked if there was a barber in town, no, but there was a young lady who advertises and will come to your van, so I promptly rang and made an appointment for Stephen tomorrow as he was feeling very fluffy, we won’t mention Phyllis. The next morning at 9.30am Grace and 6 month old Annie arrived to cut Stephen’s hair. I got to have cuddles while Stephen got trimmed up. Grace also ‘fixed’ my Broome haircut that I had been less than happy with. She wanted $20 for payment to which I laughed and told her she didn’t make a very good business woman. We spent the rest of the day at Coldseam, Canna and Depot Hill exploring the beautiful wildflowers. Some great photo opportunities along the way which you probably won’t see as you know who still hasn’t got his act together to post any.

Another change in the planning as we again headed to the coast, too many days without our feet in the water. We found a little town called Green Head on the coast with a CP right on the beachfront. A dip in the ocean for Stephen and a lie on the sand for me. There were a group of over 50 cyclists at the CP who had ridden from Mandurah up through the wildflower towns to Green Head. It was their final day on the bike. The following day we went for a drive to Milligan’s, no not Gilligan’s, Island and drove onto the beach. We sat on our chairs on the beach for all of 5 minutes before deciding it was too windy and got back in the car. We walked up the sand dunes and I had a sudden urge to sit on a piece of plastic and race down to the bottom but fortunately we didn’t have any plastic. Later that afternoon I had a rare occasion when I had internet access so as one does, I checked on facebook to see what was happening. I noticed my wandering cousin Lorraine and her husband Brent were at Sandy Cape, a mere 15 minutes away from us. We jumped in the car and had a lovely afternoon tea with them. We also discovered Sandy Cape was a lot nicer than where we were. Next time we’ll know better. Back to our van then off for dinner of Dhufish and chips in Leeman. Yummy!!

Perth, here we come. After fighting our way through suburbs once again, lights at intersections, freeways, pedestrians etc we made it to our friends Kathy and John’s in the lovely suburb of Doubleview overlooking the city of Perth. Our first night was filled with catching up, drinking, eating, drinking then more catching up and drinking. We went to bed at midnight about 4 hours after our normal bed time. Saturday morning we drove with them to Kings Park where we spent a couple of hours walking around through the flowers and plants. We were also treated to a 21 gun salute from the army as it was the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in Perth. Home for a quick bite then on the bus to the AFL grandfinal between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs. The atmosphere before the game was great with everyone decked out in blue and red or red, white and blue. There is no parking at Optus Stadium so everyone uses the free public train or bus services. Worked beautifully, I think a few of the bigger stadiums could learn from this arrangement. We walked past the people queueing for merchandise which was incredibly long. ‘Fan for a day’ seemed to be the way people were going. The demon supporters far outnumbered the doggies supporters. We met up with Bob and Robyn for a drink before the game. We had met them in Broome and they had flown from Adelaide for the game. Bob is an avid Bulldogs supporter. Our seats were on the 5th level but weren’t so high that we didn’t have a great view. We were sitting in a Bulldogs area except for the two idiots behind us who were decked out in full Eagles attire. Boooo!! The pregame entertainment went off with a bang, literally, and the stadium was filled with smoke meaning we were unable to see the entertainers. Everyone knows what happened so I won’t go into that but we had a good day even if we were barracking for the Dogs. Our opinion on the atmosphere for the day, it lacked passion. When the final siren sounded everyone got on their train or bus and went home. There was no singing as the crowd moved along, an eerie silence prevailed. Weird!! Don’t get me wrong, it was an enjoyable day and the stadium was great but there was just …. blah. Home to Kathy and John for more chat and drinking. Another late night. Sunday Stephen went to Bunnings, Mitre 10, Aldi or any place else he could find to browse away from me. Kathy and I dragged my Thermomix up from the van and made cumquat marmalade. We went to the Karrinyup Golf Club for a very nice lunch. There was no pause in the conversation for the weekend but we did go to bed early on the last night. I could say it was because we had an earlyish start on Monday, but it was really that it was a long time since we had drunk that much and we were knackered.

Monday we once again braved the suburbs of Perth before finally making it to the countryside and a lovely drive to Westonia, midway between Perth and Kalgoolie. It was the first time it really felt like we were heading home. Westonia is a quaint little town with a recreated main street from the early 1900s. We had a lovely meal at the pub which was obviously owned by a Fremantle supporter as there was Docker memorabilia everywhere. I was shocked that Fremantle would actually have memorabilia!!! We spent our time here exploring Baladjie Rock and Lake reserve where we climbed the rock to the top for a wonderful view over the lake and surrounds, visiting Sandford Rock birdhide, where we struggled to see a single bird then back to the council run CP where we were having a very pleasant stay. We did happen to find a tiny native orchid (we think) after I trampled about a dozen of them.

The next 3 nights were spent at 10 Mile Rock rest area, Jilah Rockhole rest area and Penong CP on the Nullabor. Driving, driving, driving, driving. You get the picture. At Penong which is about 70kms short of Ceduna we drove out to Cactus Beach where we saw loads of surfers catching some impressive waves. At the border into SA there was no checking of passes which we very surprised at in these Covid times.

We are currently holed up at Smoky Bay, a little seaside harbour on the Eyre Peninsula seeking respite from the car. The wind is blowing a gale so we have spent most of our time in the van reading and writing. The sun is warm but the wind is cold. I would imagine it will only get colder and colder from now on. We are not too keen to move quickly to the Vic border as the covid numbers are not very inviting. Have no idea where we are heading to tomorrow but that is the beauty of the way we are travelling.


Hope all are well

So, its goodbye from me and goodbye from him.

(Spell checked and Edited by Stephen No 1.)

 WEEKS 12 - 18 August 2 - 15 September

Hi, its us again,

Thought I'd catch up on what we've been doing since the beginning of August.  

As you can probably guess we didn't leave Broome on 15 August but rebooked until 4 September.  Both family and friends urged us to stay because of the covid situation in Victoria and, to be honest, we were having a great time.  The last month in Broome was interesting.  From the middle of August the CP scenery changed dramatically.  All the 'long termers' gradually started to leave and the occassional hole appeared, but were quickly filled up by people stilling hanging around Broome.  The demographic changed from old farts to young singles or young families.  We have been amazed to see how many families are on the road.  When you think about it, home schooling is now the norm in the eastern states so it makes it very easy for families to pack up and travel (as long as you made your escape early enough).  The weather also became warmer than it had been and the occassional humid day appeared.  I continued with bridge until they packed it in on 24 Aug and we continued to go to aerobics and the gym until we left Broome.  We also managed to have another haircut before we left, vital in this covid age.  I can't wait to get back to my regular hairdresser as they have no idea what a proper haircut is up here (I know, you poor buggers in Vic must be looking a bit scruffy by now).  Our plans for coming home changed daily, originally straight down the Stuart Hwy from Katherine until they had a case there which meant we couldn't have got into SA without quarantining, but we finally decided to go down through WA rather than risk an outbreak in NT or SA.   Eventually we packed up and left on 4 September and I must say, I wasn't really keen about moving on.

'On the road again' we travelled all of 170 kms to Barn Hill home stay.  We had heard a great deal about how lovely it was.  The beach was magnificent but the home stay was 'rustic' to say the least.  Open air toilets and showers don't really do it for me anymore and the red poofy dust underfoot, yuk.  One night there was more than enough.   No TV reception meant we had to listen to the Bris/WB cliffhanger.  Bullies by a point, lucky doggies.

Another 250 kms to Eighty Mile Beach where the wind was blowing a gale. We caught up with a number of people here who we had met in Broome so lots of nibbles and drinkies. Long walks on the beach and chasing the tide here.  We stepped out the low tide to 1.5 to 2 kms, ankle deep.  It was eerie.  Great fishing spot but the fishies weren't biting, too windy.  

Next we headed to Stephen's must go to, Marble Bar, 230 kms inland.  We had 3 nights here (stop laughing).  The CP was quite good and the temp a cool 30 degrees.  MB is famous for 161 continuous days above 37.8 degrees C (that's 100 F for we older folk) in the 1920s.  We explored a number of pools, gorges and gaps over the next few days.  We also visited the community pool for a swim with the local kids.  Beautiful big pool and when the kids went home we had the whole thing to ourselves.  Met an interesting couple from the Gold Coast here and enjoyed a night with them.  Decided to have a meal at the Ironclad Hotel but were shocked when we looked at the menu and it was $42 for a parma that had come from the supermarket and a steak was $48.  After a drink each at $24, we ended up going home and having leftover chicken stirfry. 

We again changed the itinerery and headed towards Karijini NP.  This had been a favourite of ours when we were in WA in 2009.  We booked for 2 nights off grid, which was all we could get.  The route options  from Marble Bar to Auski Roadhouse were 460 kms via Port Hedland or 230 kms direct.  The direct route had 60 kms of dirt but we had been guaranteed the road was in very good nick.  It really was a good drive but when we arrived at Auski Roadhouse, just 86 kms from Karijini, for the night the van was full of dust.  

The roadhouse had an aura of dust from all the trucks and vans passing through.  I immediately got the dusting glove out and Stephen hosed down the van.  We had great TV reception and watched Melb squash Geeeeelong.  As Maxie Gawn was on a rampage in the 3rd quarter we had a laugh as we looked up from the TV to see a coating of dust on the inside of the windows, yuk!!  The following morning we drove into Karijini.  Found our alotted space and set up the van.  We spent the rest of the day at Fortesque Falls, the Fern Pool and Circular Pool.  Had a lovely swim at the Falls.  

This is amazing part of WA, with 5 gorges that just drop away from the surrounding land.  The rocks are a deep red with incredible colours running through the stone in waves.  Its rugged scenery and ancient geological formations make Karijini a unique part of our beautiful country.  A must see for all Australians.  However, some of the amazing walks are quite challenging but satisfying once completed.  Day 2 we put on our walking boots and drove an easy round trip of 200 kms to Hammersley Gorge.  As we passed a mine entrance our phones started dinging and we had internet coverage.  Stephen pulled over and accessed the AFL site to see who had one the Doggies/Port game.  I must admit we were very pleasantly surprised that the Bulldogs had not only won but trounced Port Adelaide. We spent the rest of the day swimming at the beautiful Hammersley Gorge then continued onto Weano, Joffe and Knox gorges.  A long but spectacular day then home to remove our shoes (first time we had worn shoes since June) and make dinner.  Dinner was prepared on the gas cooktop but we had plenty of onboard water and had planned our meals for our time here. Sat out under the stars that night and took in the wonder of the outback.

Another rejig of the plan and we headed back to the coast for some beach time.  Denis Grant has arranged for us to use his access to grandfinal tickets so we are now heading for Perth in two weeks time to barrack for the Western Bulldogs.  Thanks Den, we'll do you proud I promise.  After a night at a roadhouse, without dust, we headed for Exmouth.  We are now in a very nice CP with a pool and grass.  Stephen has been feeling a little under the weather so we have had a couple of quiet days hanging around the pool.  

Tomorrow we are off to Coral Bay, a favourite place of ours, for a couple of days of snorkelling around the coral and spying of the fish.  The current plan is to go onto Carnarvon then inland over the next two weeks to see the wildflowers.  We've just seen the weather forecast for Perth, Thursday 15th Sept and a top of 15C is a bit scary for us.  Might have to visit an Opp shop or two for some warmer gear for the GF.

We are grateful that we are here and not suffering like you all with lockdown fatigue.  

So, its goodbye from me and goodbye from him.

Love and hugs to everyone

WEEKs 5 - 11, 15 June - 1 August

Well, its been awhile since I last wrote about our adventure. We have been holed up in Broome doing the hard yards. By hard yards I mean relaxing and enjoying all that Broome has to offer.

It didn’t take long for us both to settle into “Broometime”. Within the first week Stephen had joined the gym and I started going to water aerobics at the leisure centre. This has been a three time a week occurrence for us both. I don’t think Stephen has made any friendships at the gym, or if he has he hasn’t told me about it, but I have made some acquaintences at water aerobics which has been nice. I also joined the local Bridge Club where I play each Tuesday afternoon. It is not an affiliated club as it only runs during the tourism season but the numbers are around 36 so you at least get some competition and I am still on my ‘game’ so to speak. My bridge buddy, Anne, and I have had a few games online as well. I have been paired up with a lovely lady named Wendy and although she is a beginner we have had some good afternoons at the table.

The weather has been great since we arrived, although the first week we were here was a little cool by Broome standards and we even had one evening where some rain fell. Since then we have had a steady 27-30 degrees with full sun each day. I know a lot of you are thinking, how boring, but we are trying to cope with this hardship as best we can. We have a sheet showing us when the tide is on its way in or out and we adjust our trips to the beach accordingly. The first couple of weeks we alternated between going to Cable Beach or the pool at the caravan park. Unfortunately we are about 1.5kms from the beach which is a little too far to walk and cart all our stuff, chairs, towels, sunshelter etc. So as it is much easier to take the car, we now drive to Gantheaume Point where we can drive the car onto the beach and put our awning out from the car. This has been a much better option and we can while away the time swimming or sitting in the shade of the awning while drinking cool drinks from the Waeco fridge in the back of the car. Yes, yes, I know it sounds just so boring but someone has to do it so it might as well be us. Some days we can’t be bothered even going to the beach so we go down to the pool at the caravan park for a quick dip to cool down then back to the van for a spot of reading or watching the Olympics.

It has been great to be in WA for both the Tour de France and the Olympics as they are on at a civilized hour and we can still be in bed by 9.00pm. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that the whole park is asleep by 9pm. At first we were horrified but now we just go with the flow with the rest of the old people. Unlike other sites we have only one neighbour. The first two weeks we were here there was a couple from Pinjarra (that’s somewhere down south!!!) who we got on famously with and shared drinks on a number of occasions. They then left for Darwin and were replaced by Bernard and Marion, the Scots, from Mandurah. They are also very nice and while Marion is very quiet, Bernard is a bit of a character. We are in an area of the caravan park where most of the ‘residents’ are here every year and have the same sites so we are the interlopers from Victoria. The CP population changes sporadically but mostly stays the same. I should say that Broome has a population of 15,000 but is now teeming with 60,000. If this CP is representative then many tourists are from the south of WA (Mandurah in particular), quite alot from Queensland and a few scattered from NSW and Victoria.

The supermarkets are struggling to keep up with stocking the shelves and you often have to get there before 10am or you miss out on the produce. I swear some days you would think you are in Melbourne the roads are so busy. I remember the first time we came to Broome and it was a quiet little outback town. Not anymore. The suburbs are booming and industry is thriving. However I think most of the locals holiday in the wet as they say it is unbearable here during that time. There are some beautiful homes throughout Broome, Kerry Stokes has a house, or should I say property, nearby to where we are.

We have made use of the Sun Theatre, an outside picture theatre, to see The Dry and the Black Widow. Last week we went to Cygnet Bay, 200kms north of Broome, for two nights of glamping, a gift from the family for Stephen’s 70th birthday. We visited Cape Leveque, or Kooljaman as it is now known, while there and had the privilege of paying $20 each to have a swim at the beach as it is now owned by the local indigenous people. When we visited in 2009 it was free, but a lot has changed since then. Our second night of glamping we went to a long table dinner at the restaurant at Cygnet Bay. We had a wonderful night, the food was delicious and the company most enjoyable. I even got to try on a string of pearls worth $29,000. That won’t be happening again anytime soon, or at least that is what Stephen said.

So now we are back at Broome hanging out and writing this. Stephen has rushed to the carwash as his precious blue car was covered in pandan dust and he was having a mild seizure about it. He doesn’t seem quite so concerned when the caravan floor needs sweeping or the dishes need cleaning. We have decided to stay at least an extra week, maybe two, so that we can be sure South Australia is covid free as we have to travel through there to get back home. There has been some crying and gnashing of teeth from the family as they are missing the babysitters but they will just have to hang tough for another couple of weeks. Stephen has arranged to have both the van and the car serviced over the next two days so we will just have to make do with the pool to keep us amused.

So until we are back on the road it is once again goodbye from me and its goodbye from him.

WEEK 4 8-14 June

A short drive to Katherine with lots of vans on the road this morning. We have been on lesser roads over the last week and certainly noticed the extra traffic once we hit the Stuart Hwy. Our allocated site was a nice shady spot under a tree at the caravan park and thank goodness it was as it was very hot and humid. We went for a swim at the thermal springs down behind the caravan park. These were great as they seem to be not as well known as those at Mataranka so therefore there weren’t as many people. Found a great little spot where there was a natural spa thing going on with bubbles galour. When we finally dragged ourselves out of this little piece of heaven we decided to try out the park pool. Not such a smart idea as it was freezing. Stephen braved the cold but I decided a better plan of attack was to climb aboard a lounge and read my book. Once again the park was full by the end of the day. A weird night with smoke from the backburning hovering over the camp ground all night.

The following day, Wednesday, we drove to Timber Creek. One thing I haven’t mentioned before is the decorated termite mounds which have been seeing along most of the NT roads we have travelled. These have had undies, t-shirts, dresses anything you can think of, even hi-vis tops have made an appearance. I can’t imagine when you are travelling such big distances that you could be bothered stopping, getting out then ‘dressing’ a termite mound. However there are so many that Stephen amused himself by yelling “undies” everytime he saw one. I’m getting pretty sick of hearing him call “undies”. Once again it was fairly hot on arrival at Timber Creek with very little here to see or do so we settled for a swim in their pool which was still fairly cold but not heart attack cold like Katherine.

Today is the day we cross into WA. We were both a little nervous of what Smirk would throw at us at the border so we pumped up the music and enjoyed some Beatles, Enya, Led Zepplin, Kate Miller-Heike (does anyone know why “Ducks don’t need satellites”?) and of course our fav, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. A very different landscape today with lots of kapok and boab trees and eagles, kites and brolgas (why are brolgas always in groups of three?) and a huge herd of cattle, literally hundreds of them. The Pinkerton Range kept us company on our right for most of the day. With 35 kms to go before we arrived in Kununurra, there it was, Smirk’s line in the sand. With slightly trembling bodies we joined the queue and awaited our turn to be grilled. Strangely there didn’t seem to be any interogation lights glaring at us, instead we were approached by a friendly masked policeman who nicely asked for our G2G passes, scanned them and invited us across the border. OMG, was that it!! As we crossed into WA we high fived and proceeded to Kununurra. We were finally in our beloved Kimberley. After restocking our fruit and veggies we settled into the Lakeside Caravan Park for the next 3 nights. Of course a trip to Kununurra wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Ivanhoe Crossing and a drive through the water to the other end of the Crossing and back. Why, because we can. A visit to the sandalwood display and the Hoochery where we purchased a bottle of Kafir Lime Gin rounded off the afternoon.

Friday we were up early as the sun rises as 5.30am. Smirk doesn’t realise that his state is very large and the northern most part of WA is in a different time zone to Perth hence the early sunrise and very early sunset, 16.54pm. I’ll complain about this in more detail later.

Our last visit to Kununurra we went for a walk in the Mirima NP. We were not more than 15 minutes into the walk when I fell and twisted my ankle resulting in 5 weeks on crutches. Stephen was keen to complete this walk, myself not so keen. This time there were no dramas and we enjoyed a lovely walk into Hidden Valley which is a mini version of the Bungle Bungles. The rock formations were great but the view at the top was less than expected. Who wants to look over the industrial area of Kununurra, not us. Unfortunately nearly all of the NP now have entrance fees and they are not cheap,which is a new thing for us. Back to the car and onto Wyndham. Along the way we called into the Grotto thinking it would be a quick stop. There are 144 steps down to the Grotto where there is a magnificent waterhole where people were swimming. We didn’t know about this little gem so were not prepared to go swimming. We’ll know next time though. So of course there were 144 steps back to the top which required a slow, steady pace. One of the members of the party could have gone at a much faster rate of ascention but the other member of the party wouldn’t let him. The road to Wyndham has been significantly improved and the drive a lot more pleasant. We went to the 5 Rivers Lookout and were surprised at the number of people at this spot. You can’t go anywhere without hordes of tourists. Twelve years ago we had a delicious counter meal of barra and chips at the port in Wyndham. Let’s do that again!! Sorry, the pub has been trashed and I mean absolutely derelict so we had to settle for a pie at the bakery. Not quite the same. Our next stop was Marlgu Billabong and beautiful wetland area. A serene place in the middle of nowhere. Surprise, surprise there was no-one else there so we enjoyed watching the magpie geese, waders and an elegant crane among others. We had a quick stop at Parry’s Lagoon Resort then drove back to Kununurra. We decided on a night out at the Pumphouse for dinner. We had previously been here and had a great night but it was with NBFs we had met and we were in party mode. This time we went alone and it was underwhelming both in atmosphere and culinary offerings. This is when I get back to the time of sunset. Because sunset is around 5pm you find yourself eating dinner at the ridiculous time of 5.30pm. Seriously when are we supposed to have nibbles and drinks??? I’m starting to feel like a pensioner!

Saturday morning Stephen was up bright and early to climb Kelly’s Knob. I chose to be far more sensible and stay in bed with a ‘well done you’ when he returned, while thinking ‘well done me’. At 11.30am we were picked up by Triple J Tours for a day on the Ord. Our guide, Maryna (pronounced Marina), was born in Nome, Alaska. What a personality! She was a demon boat driver and took us on an exciting ride over the next 5 hours. The Ord River irrigation scheme was designed by Kimberley Durack. It started with the diversion dam being built in Kununurra then the Argyle Dam Wall forming the Argyle Dam which holds a large number of Sydney Harbours, like 22 or something (in the dry season)!! This was all very interesting but the part of the tour I liked best were the beautiful birds that inhabit this amazing eco system. You had your ospreys nesting, your rainbow bee eaters racing the boat, purple fly catchers, crimson crested jacanas, whistling kites and a rare black bittern and finally topped off with a number of fresh water crocs. We also had a wanka from South Africa and a bunch of know all poms. The grand finale was the 4.54pm sunset!! Great day.

Sunday started with an agonizing hour of Macca. Thank God the radio reception failed midway through the show and we amused ourselves with our own music, toe tapping Beoga, Afro Celt, America, the Bangles and Baaba Maal. The Cockburn Ranges were on our left for most of the day. Today we hit 6,788 kms for anyone that cares for stats. I have become obsessed with checking out creek beds, most of which are dry but occassionally you get one with water. You can imagine my surprise when we passed one with water and a man fishing in it. The surprising thing about this event was there was not a car in sight, so where had he come from! We also passed the entrance to the Purnululu NP (commonly known as the Bungle Bungles). Loads of caravans had been left in the wayside stop near the entrance and the owners then drive into the Bungles. Not a great road to take a van. Spent the night at Hall’s Creek where some others had stuff stolen.

The drive to Fitzroy Crossing was just another day in the car. We did see the start of the Tanami Track and the Ngumban Cliffs which were quite spectacular. The caravan park at Fitzroy Crossing was lovely and grassy and Stephen again plunged into the ice cold pool. It was 30 degrees after all.

Tuesday we arrived in Broome where we will be in residence for the next 8 weeks. Our site is better than we expected. They have done some work on the park and our site was one that had been extended and upgraded, so we have plenty of room even though we are right at the back of the park. It means we have a very long walk to the beach although the pool is very nice and I can visualise us spending quite a lot of time there. No, I won’t bore you with details of us sitting on the beach everyday but I will write every now and again just to let you know if anything exciting happens while we are here.

So its goodbye from me and its goodbye from him.

ps.  Stephen has finally uploaded some photos and you can see them here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nvyab4ZJHEKhG1t49

you may need to copy and paste this link into whatever browser you use.

WEEK 3 1 - 7 June

Monday night we spent at the Burke and Wills Roadhouse at Fourways. Had dinner at the pub, bad move again as the food truck had broken down and they had limited supplies. It was a lovely balmy evening and we were looking forward to a good night’s sleep before heading to Gregory Downs. Huh, the truckie who parked his roadtrain, outside the CP, but right next to our van had other ideas. After running the engine for 30 minutes after he stopped he finally switched it off and all was quiet. But not for long. He then started up his gennie so that he could sleep in his airconditioned cabin while we tried to sleep in our caravan with all the windows open, no 240v here, and his generator going full bore. I calmly said to Stephen: “GO AND TELL HIM TO TURN IT OFF” to which Stephen replied: “HE’S A TRUCKIE!!”. Then we agreed that he might just sleep for a couple of hours then take off again. No, he left just as we got to sleep around 5am.

After a sluggish start to the day we headed along the Wills Development road to Gregory Downs arriving around 10am. We unhooked the van and gathered our supplies for a day at Boodjamulla NP, otherwise known as Lawn Hill, then Adel’s Grove. The road in wasn’t too bad and we made good time arriving around noon ……. with a flat tyre. It must have happened as we drove into the parking area because we hadn’t noticed that anything at all was wrong. Poor Stephen spent the next 30 minutes changing the tyre. After a deep breath we had lunch then hired a canoe to quietly paddle down Lawn Hill Gorge to the small falls at the end. I must say it was very relaxing, apart from the paddling stuff. We had a swim then returned thankfully with the current assisting. We drove to Adel’s Grove and walked around to have a look. It is a lovely place to camp but you probably need to stay a week to really enjoy the walks and the serenity. Unfortunately we were unable to do justice to it on this occasion as it had been a last minute decision to go.

When we got back to Gregory Downs around dusk and we rang the WA covid hotline and found out that we would get into WA after all. We had a quick dinner sitting on the back of the blue lux. Frankly we were too tired to get the chairs out. A very quiet setting with NO ROADTRAINS.

Now that we can go to WA we once again headed for Mt Isa (the Isa) to continue with our original itinerery. A trip to the tyre repair man and some shopping for food completed the day. A strange thing did occur overnight while here, it rained. There was no sign of it when we went to bed so we had left the chairs outside which meant they were nicely soaked the next morning and the dust which we had all around us had turned to mud. Ahhh..... We love caravanning.

With our NT passes on our phones we headed for the boarder. Not a soul in sight when we got there. Where were the anti Victorian police? A pretty boring drive although we did see lots of eagles along the way which of course means lots of road kill. Our destination today, Barkly Homestead. I must say there have been quite a few improvements since 2009 when we last visited. The park was full which is becoming a regular thing as every man and his dog is travelling. Whilst there we made use of the phenomenal Telstra network coverage and spent time on the G2G website lying to get our pass into WA. All because of Smirk McGowan (moniker thanks to Steve via PH). For anyone that doesn’t know, my Stephen worked for Telstra for some years.

Friday we ventured along the Tablelands Highway to Cape Crawford. We travelled this road in 2009 and had the most wonderful day. We only saw one other caravan for the day although we did see a small number of roadtrains in the afternoon. The scenery was constantly changing and there were flocks of birds rising from the grasslands. There were little white wooden bridges where the cows and the birds would gather and provided many a photographic opportunity. 2021 was nothing like that. There were 9 cars, 12 vans and 5 roadtrains exactly because I counted (I even recorded the time of passing). One of those roadtrains covered our car and van in cow shit to add insult to injury. No birds and it was as dry as a dead dingoes donger. The little bridges have all been replaced by modern metal and safe bridges, no fun at all. The grasslands were spectacular but the lack of wildlife was disappointing. All in all a disappointing day and a difficult road to drive. We did enjoy music by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and the Hilltop Hoods. However, at the end of the day we did arrive at the Heartbreak Hotel where there was once again grass under our feet, and prickles. Stayed away from the pub food this time and had a lovely meal of crumbed vela instead. In the morning Stephen went to have a shower and ran across a guy on the pub verandah having a quiet beer at 7.30am!!!  We hope he was winding down from night shift.

Another development is that I now have a new name, Alexa. Stephen tried to change the radio at one point while steering the 6 tons of hurtling metal and we all know that men cannot do two things at once. After strong words from me he decided that when changes needed to be made to the temp, audio etc. he would simply announce, “Alexa, 24deg, or Alexa, USB”. God help him if he tries this at home.

From Cape Crawford we drove along the Carpentaria Hwy to Daly Waters. We had to have an early start because we knew we had to arrive early at Daly Waters or we wouldn’t get a spot. This funny little well decorated pub (thongs, bras, coins) is very popular with the travelling folk. Stephen walked to the WW2 airfield just for something to do during the afternoon. We tried to book into a park in Katherine as there are so many vans on the road we were getting concerned we might struggle to find accommodation. The lovely lady asked where we were from and as soon as she heard we were from Melbourne turned into the Covid Nazi. “You can’t come here unless you have a negative Covid test result”. So we were 2 days out of Katherine with no place to have a test unless we waited to have the test when we got there but: Where would we stay in the meantime? Crazy woman!! Stephen hung up and rang another park “sure no problem”. The Daly Waters pub is famous for its Beef and Barra (fillet steak and barramundi) dinners so we made sure we put our order in when we arrived. Finally a pub meal that didn’t disappoint. A great night with some good musicians and some good company.

Sunday took us to Mataranka, the land of the Never Never. We were feeling a little frayed today so chilled out for a while then went for a swim at the thermal pool, along with a bunch of others. There doesn’t seem to be any chance to get away from people on this trip.

Monday morning provided us with a sleep in. Stephen got a chance to wash his cow pooed car and van. During the afternoon a van pulled in next to us. Long story short, it belonged to Jeff Mears who was a teenager living next door to us when we moved into First Avenue. We hadn’t seen Jeff for more than 40 years. There was quite a bit of reminescing and catching up. There is an old pub in the main street of Mataranka that Stephen was keen to have a beer at so we took a walk in the hot sun to the pub only to find it shut. Who ever heard of a pub that was shut at 5pm?? Don’t know what was going on there. Anyway so ended the week again.

What will the next week throw at us??

Week 2 May 25-31

After a great knees up at the opera last night today we headed to Aramac and the start of the Lake Dunn sculpture trail. Milynda Rogers, the sculptor, has created over 40 pieces using mainly barbwire and metal of every shape and size. These are situated along a 200 km trail on both bituman and dirt. We started out as early as we could because it was a 68 km trip to the start of the trail. There are no distances marked between pieces and it became a game trying to spot the sculptures. We found all 40 but it took us 4-5 hours in all. We took our lunch and sat under a tree by the side of the dirt road to eat it. All in all we did 330 kms for the day, and that wasn't a travelling day. Well worth the effort. Unfortunately we were back in time for happy hour again and had to endure Ken and Annie again.

Leaving Barcaldine we headed toward Longreach then Winton where we stopped at the Age of Dinosaurs exhibition. The fly count was off the scales as was the cost of a tour $75 per person. Last time we were there it was a minimal amount and only one other couple and ourselves, this time there were hundreds. We gave it a miss as we had seen it before. From Winton we drove onto our overnight destination, Middleton, population 2. Literally out in the middle of nowhere, there is a pub that was run by an elderly couple for all their married lives. Unfortunately 8 days before we arrived, the man had a heart attack and was airlifted to Longreach and his son and wife and their two children had arrived to run the pub. He was 82 so we'll let him off the hook this time. The population of Middleton had literally doubled overnight. There were probably 6 vans camping across the road from the pub that night. We had dinner there, which was forgettable, and a chat to the other travellers before we sat back to watch the total eclipse of the moon and the resultant red moon in the clearest of skies.

We drove along the Kennedy Developmental Rd to Boulia, the land of the Min Min lights. It was here we saw our first eagles, truly magnificent birds. The way they spread their wings and literally lift off the ground is a sight to see. It was also on this road that I had a 10 minute fight with a fly, yes a pesky little sticky fly that refused to be expelled from the car. It was happy to try and crawl up my nose or sit behind my sunnies but everytime I got it near the window it would lull me into a false sense of security then take off and bother Stephen. Finally man beat the insect and I shoved it out of the car. A nice camping ground at Boulia that became very busy as the day wore on. Spent the afternoon at the Min Min Discovery Centre hearing all about the strange phenomenon where lights appear in the night, from seemingly nowhere, to follow you. There is no science that has been able to define these lights but the guide in the encounter centre guaranteed that she had seen them as a young married woman. Her family had been to a party at the Middleton pub and drove home well after dark. Her story was that as she drove into her property two balls of light followed her and bounced on top of the gate posts. She promised that she was a non drinker???? It was about now that we became aware that Melbourne was going into lockdown.

Great!!!!! As we only left Victoria on 18 May we have only been out of the state for 9 days, not the obligatory 14 days for crossing state lines, so we were pretty worried about what that could mean. Stephen has had his vaccine but I wasn’t able to have mine and was planning on having it in Broome. The lockdown has given me the boost to organise an appointment for the jab in Mt Isa. We arrived in the Isa on Friday around 1pm and I rocked up at the hospital for my 3pm vaccine. Must say we have been very lucky with neither of us having any reaction to the vaccine at all. Mt Isa is, well, a mining town (the home of Bob Katter) so, of course, Stephen went on a 3 hour mine tour. I gave no thought at all to doing such a thing and caught up with my bridge buddy online and played for a couple of hours. We spent the afternoon taking a drive out to Lake Moondarra, a pretty picnic spot frequented by the locals.

So, Mt Isa became decision town ….. what to do?? In order to enter NT we have to have been clear of Victoria for 14 days, which means we can cross the border on 1 June. All good and well for NT, however, no way says Mark McGowan. WA’s border is closed to ALL Victorians and they require 14 days of no new cases before they will change that decision.

After much discussion we have decided to explore northern Queensland more than we intended and then spend some time in NT. We have cancelled our booking in Kununurra and also the 2 days that the kids bought for Stephen’s birthday in Cygnet Bay. Very disappointing but it is no good worrying about what we can’t control, so it is what it is. We are hoping at some stage we might get into WA and, let’s face it, we’re not in a hurry.

After a brief look around Cloncurry, where we had intended to stay for a night, we decided to drive to Four Ways, a roadhouse pub on the way to Normanton in FNWQ.  Had a chat to some Taswegians who were going to Gregory Downs then for a daytrip into Boodjamulla NP aka Lawn Hill.  I have been really wanting to go here and they managed to convince Stephen that we should give it a go. Yay for the Taswegians.  We had another very ordinary dinner at the pub, think we'll be skipping outback pubs for meals in the near future, then home to watch Masterchef and our first really warm night without AC.

That concludes Week 2.  We have now been 14 clear days out of Covid plaqued Victoria without symptoms, so I think we are in the clear.

Melbourne to Broome 2021

 Week 1 18-24 May

After an uneventful departure we managed to get away around 10am. We were well prepared and didn’t really have to do much before leaving. Stopped in Strathmerton for lunch then meandered onto Finley where we stayed in the Finley Lakeside Caravan Park, it’s way to cold to stay anywhere without power for the heater yet. A bonus on booking in at the office when we were handed 4 fresh eggs for our brekkie.  A quick walk around the lake before drinks at the roaring camp fire which was so hot we had to sit back so as not to get fried.  Met a couple from Eltham, nurses, who have been in Qld for 6 weeks.  Warned us about the number of vans on the road which we had already been aware of anyway.  It did however make us consider booking ahead for the next few days to be on the safe side.

A early morning, is 10am early??? visit to the bakery for some bread, pies and the obligatory vanilla slice then we were on our way to Hillston.  We had noticed that our phones weren’t working when we got up but thought it was flaky reception., however the efpos machine at the bakery was not working and we became suspicious that all was not well with Telstra.  With limited cash on board we were a little concerned. Remember cash, that’s the stuff we use to use before Covid.  We rely far to much on our phones these days and that was about to bite us on the bum.  Thanks to the mouse plague in the Riverina those pesky mice had eaten through the telecommunication wires and the whole network was down ...... ALL DAY.  Thank goodness we have sat nav so finding our way was a okay.  The drive was a bit boring with nothing but scrub, scrub, lunch at Griffith, scrub, scrub.  I managed to read a whole book.  We arrived at Hillston at around 3pm and got the ..... last site. OMG 😳. We paid cash, of course, but I did notice that the receptionist’s phone was ringing! She had Optus, who would have ever thought that was a good thing.  I asked her if she could ring ahead to book at Bourke for us and she kindly handed over her phone for me to ring. See, there are nice people out there.  Another lakeside walk then a sit in the ☀️.  It is definitely warming up already, not super warm but no jumper in the car. It cools down as soon as the sun disappears, but hey, there is sun.  Cold nights and mornings but that will probably change in a matter of days. At 7pm our phones jumped to life and we were once again back in ‘touch’ with the world. Naughty mice 🐁 

The drive to Bourke was a little more interesting with changes of scenery throughout the day.  The distance travelled was slightly longer than previous days so we had an extended lunch with a walk around Cobar 🥱.  Arrived around 4pm at the Kidman Camp (no, not Nicole).  We have stayed here before and it’s a lovely grassy park.  Nowhere near as cold overnight and a sleep in as we are staying here for the day. We were disappointed to find that there was no Poets Night around the camp fire anymore.  They no longer have the Outback Show at the Cultural Centre either.  Covid seems to be robbing us of fun on this trip.  We did manage a walk around the township of Bourke and a trip on the paddle boat PV Jandra,  along the Darling River. Caravans started arriving around 2pm so people are definitely leaving early to get to their next destination.  Obviously a 10am start is not going to get us a site so we might have to lift our game. Beautiful day ☀️ and a warmer evening.  Shorts and T-shirts the clothing of choice now.

Left Bourke nice and early (set the alarm) and on the road by 8.30. The drive was very boring and bumpy and I wasn’t able to read.  We arrived in Cunnamulla and went the the Cunnamulla Fella Centre to watch a 25 min movie on the Great Artisan Basin.  Fascinating history and this basin covers 1/3 of the Australian continent.  If Stephen was writing this he’d give you all the facts and figures.  Had lunch then continued on the crappy road until we arrived in Wyandra.  We parked at the park behind the very colourful and interesting Post Office owned by Glen who was also very colourful.  Set up then walked down to the pub for a drink and a chat with the locals.  This place is very small only a handful of locals. Wandered back to the PO for happy hour around the fire pit with Glen, Pete and Wendy (locals) and an obnoxious couple from NSW.  After drinks we were treated to 30 min of black and white  newsreels.  While we were watching this Glen was making our dinner of hamburgers which were delivered to us.  A fun night. 

From Wyandra the drive was a bit more interesting with emus crossing the road and goats and other livestock along the road.  A short stop for lunch at Augathella arriving at Tambo around 2.30pm..  We chose a park a kilometre out of town because they had happy hour and a fire pit. Sat in the sun for a while reading then watched a little bit of the poor old Magpies. Around 4 we walked into town to the pub for a drink and ‘the chook races’.  They auction off the Chooks that do 4 laps around a short circuit following a feed bucket.  The money raised is donated to the Flying Doctors. They raised $650 for the 7 ladies.  It was a hoot or a cluck. Walked home on dusk still in our shorts and T-shirt  . The fire was roaring and I heated up some stew and rice and ate it around the fire.  Had an interesting chat to the owner who has 1000 acres out of town that he plans to turn into a tourist attraction with $5 camping and camel rides.  He is raising goats and camels on the land.  

The drive to Barcaldine was bumpy. We are now travelling along the Matilda Way and it is a very remote landscape.  We passed through Blackall, no stopping and arrived in Barci around noon.  A walk to the bakery for some bread for lunch and to check into the “i” to see what was happenen’, but it was lunchtime so they were shut! Some other campers told us that the Country and Western Opera was on at the Showgrounds tonight so we booked tickets and await with anticipation for the event.  At 4pm our eardrums were assaulted with Ken and Annie singing at the common area at the caravan park happy hour. Unfortunately it was right next to our van and as it was a balmy 26 degrees we couldn’t close the windows to stop the noise.  Two hours of really bad C&W music later they finally stopped.  Thank goodness for alcohol. A quick dinner and off to the Opera and a night of CULTURE.  The performance was by 3 extremely talented young singers from Opera Queensland. They are doing a rural tour, Are You Lonesome Tonight, and we were just lucky enough to arrive for their performance.  A really great night’s entertainment.  We caught up with Julian’s uncle Lionel and Aunty Margie at the opera. Julian’s mum grew up in Barcaldine. 

Our first week comes to an end and has been filled with rich experiences.