Lovely Litchfield, NT

Air conditioning nightmare continues…!

Thursday 31st July Monday 4th August

Two days of driving without air conditioning certainly took its toll on our sanity! We stopped in Kununurra hoping to sort out the aircon and faced our first stumbling block – the Nissan dealer has switched to Toyota!! After many attempts to get Nissan dealerships to communicate and work together we may well follow suit and switch to Toyota too lol!! We detoured to Darwin to work with the dealer there but left 2 days later still without any joy! The saga continues as we hope to have Cairns line up the parts for us to get it fixed when we arrive…watch this space!

 

Litchfield NP

 

What an amazing place Litchfield NP is! We entered through the Daly River road to the south and took a challenging but beautiful 4WD journey up to Tjaynera Falls, which had a small and secluded camp site. We spent one day exploring the park and found anywhere accessible by 2WD beautiful but overcrowded. We loved the falls where we were camping and spent 3 nights relaxing. The boys made bows and arrows, Simon attempted to make fire traditionally and I wrote some poetry. Bliss J

 

The track had just opened as we arrived

Deep water crossing justified the snorkel!

The iconic magnetic termite mounds

Tjaynera Falls

Bungle Bungles, Northeast WA

Amazing Drive

 

Wednesday 30th July

 

The road into the Bungle Bungles was predicted to be very rough but proved to be a

smoother ride than expected, with amazing scenery all the way. We set up camp with an expected 3 night stay, and chilled catching up on travel journals and blogs. The next day we set out to see the south side of the park with the classic bungle landscape. We took lots of water and set out to do a 10km hike that would take in Cathedral Gorge and Whipsnake Gorge. We were trekking on a dry river bed and the combination of sand and rock underfoot with very little shade made for very hard work. By the time we reached Whipsnake Gorge we were exhausted and desperate for a swim! But there’s no swimming in the park as it was desert like terrain.

 

Although we were impressed by the scenery, we discovered that we only enjoy walking in the heat when there is a swim at the end and without showers at the campsite we were hot and bothered. Simon and I decided to quit while we were ahead and packed up the next day!!

The closest we came to a shower

El Questro Station, Kimberly, WA

Gibb River Road

26th -29th July

Zebedee Hot Springs

After crossing the Pentacoast River behind a film crew we arrived at El Equestro Station early enough to get into the Zebedee hot springs before noon. These beautiful pools of warm water were shaded and perfect for wallowing away the hours.

 

 

Base Camp

Having booked a private riverside campsite we found setting up camp a little more challenging than we anticipated. The level ground was limited and we ended up winching the trailer into position! After we established camp we went to explore the ‘croc free’ part of the river, still wondering how the river to our right could be croc territory when ours was croc safe! Anyway it was shallow enough to see anything coming so the boys dammed it to see if they could get it deep enough to swim in.

 

Our camp across the river

 

 

Sunrise Horse Trek

It was an early start to the day but well worth it as the horse riding was an awesome experience and included several river and creek crossings with steep descents! Logan had a naughty little horse called Rusty who seemed to think the trek was a breakfast buffet! Jacob rode calm fella called Moonshine while Simon rode a big beastie called Bobcat. I rode the matriarch who liked to nip the others and keep them in line she was called Mum! The trek took about 2 hours and after we went back to camp with a bit of saddle sore, cooked a breakfast and set off to Moonshine Creek for a walk.

 

Wild West country!

Moonshine Creek

This 5km circuit proved to be hard work! We were all feeling a bit lethargic and anticipated an easy walk to some pretty swimming holes, but what we got was a tough climb over boulders with some green slimy pools! However, we persevered and were rewarded with amazing views towards the end. We celebrated with a game of cards by the fire, listening live country music and dinner in the ELQ!

 

Amazing panorama from Moonshine Creek

Cards and music in the bar

Exquisite El Questro Gorge

We set of with the intention of completing one of the toughest gorge walks this station had to offer, with terrain described as challenging and only for the adventurous; it didn’t disappoint! The gorge was stunning from the outset with lush palms and towering red walls, with sparkling swimming holes and pretty waterfalls. With some tricky climbing and unstable footings we were literally kept on our toes! The reward at the top of the gorge was a clear cold deep plunge pool fed by a droplet waterfall which we had all to ourselves. This turned out to be everyone’s favourite gorge walk, and my favourite swimming hole so far.

Wading through deep water to climb up

Waterfall hoping

El Questro Pool

 

Home Valley Station, Kimberly, WA

Gibb River Road

 Friday 25th July

R&R for a while!

We decided that we would have this as a rest day, and not get back in the car but make use of the facilities at Home Valley (HV8 is their brand). I spent the morning re-organising my kitchen and got through 3 loads of washing, while Simon organised some repairs at the HV8 workshop and managed to obtain another cow skull! The boys played ball and caught up on their travel journals.

 





Arriving at HV8

We made use of the shaded tables behind the ‘Dusty Bar’ and both boys completed a couple of hours of school work while I uploaded my blog on the slowest wifi connection ever and Simon read his survival guide! We treated ourselves to HV8 Burgers for lunch, which don’t beat the Kimberly burger at Drysdale but come pretty close.  After some serious foot washing we went for a swim in the pool and suddenly it was wine o’clock!



The water looks like hot chocolate!

 



The only swimming that guarantees NO crocs!

 



Washing day



Adding a bigger and better skull to the collection!

Dusty bar

 

Revolting Cane Toads

The boys were fascinated by the live cane toad box and every frog we found was a potential suspect which they interrogated under torchlight!

 

 

 

 

Kalumburu Road to Home Valley, Kimberly, WA

The Long and Winding Road

 Thursday 24th July

After an efficient and stress-free pack up we left King Edward River at 7.30am and headed back to the GRR a mere 250km to our next stop! Crossing the river was pretty simple but it proved to be an arduous hot journey, without aircon or conversation as no-one could be heard above the noise of the vibrations!

King Edward River Crossing - I'm driving!

 

The Gibb became steadily more winding and challenging, testament to the dangers were all the rolled cars abandoned on the side of the road. The conditions increasingly tested the car; the jockey wheel struck a rock jamming itself into the trailer and our water tank lost a drain plug and dumped all our water. So after 5 hours of driving we pulled over for a cup of tea and discovered an empty water tank!!

 

Pushing on for another couple of hours brought the welcome sight of Home Valley Station and their amazing oasis included a swimming pool, restaurant and bar, showers, washing machines and flushing toilets!! Oh how you learn to appreciate the little things! As we were setting up camp we discovered the final casualty of the day, the trailer electrics had given up the ghost!!

A little bit of indulgence!

 

 

Willy Willy

 

We stopped just prior to Home Valley at an amazing lookout point and experienced our first Willy Willy or Dust Devil! It scared the life out of Jacob who jumped into the car to escape it, but I had the camera poised for another photo and managed to snap it as it spun passed the car.

 

Freaky Willy Willy

 

The BoM defines the phenomenon as: 'local hot spots can develop on the ground, drawing in cooler air from around them and causing spiraling of the air.' So now you know!!

Mitchell Falls, Kimberly, WA

Long Drives in Challenging Terrain

Monday 21st to Wednesday 23rd July

Happy Birthday Jacob!

An early pack up saw us on the road by 7am and an unceremonious start to Jacob’s 14^th birthday! We turned off the GRR after about 60km and onto the Kalumburu Road, promising Jacob that we would stop for a famous Kimberly burger at Drysdale station as a birthday treat. The road was rough but not as bad as we had imagined but Drysdale was a welcome sight! They opened the kitchen especially for us and we had burgers all round by 10.30am, and they definitely deserve there reputation as the best in the Kimberly! Fed and watered we pressed onto the Mitchell Plateau a further 100km  on increasingly corrugated and rocky roads. Before pulling into the King Edward River campgrounds we negotiated our biggest river crossing yet and gave the car a welcome wash!

 

The King Edward River camp was great, fantastic swimming in the river and our own personal waterfall! It certainly rates as our favourite spot yet.

 

Following the rapids downstream

Wonderful swimming holes all to ourselves!

 

 

Walk In Fly Out!

The following day we set off to see the famous Mitchell Falls, the highest waterfall in WA and part of the classic Kimberly vista. The drive out was notoriously rough and it was a hair-raising 2 hour drive over severe corrugations, washouts and pot holes. The 3km walk in to the falls was beautiful and lush. The Mitchell Plateau is a testament to the powerful and rugged forces of nature that have ravaged the area and created such stunning ravines and waterfalls. We enjoyed swimming in the croc free upper pools and took an awesome helicopter transfer back.

Mitchell falls

Flying out over the Mitchel Plateau

Our personal rapids to play in!

Collateral Damage!

 

The journey took its toll on the car, first the radio antennae broke followed by the air conditioning which made for a hot and tedious return trip. However, spotting the skull and horns of a cow cheered everyone up and it was duly collected along with wood for the campfire that night! Happy days!!

 

The new member of Speedykniebe!

 

Manning Gorge, Kimberly, WA

Best Laid Plans get Canned!

Spreadsheet…What Speadsheet?

 

Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th July

Manning Gorge

Much to Simon’s disgust I was adamant that we should have 3 nights at Manning gorge and so it was agreed (albeit reluctantly) and the spreadsheet schedule was temporarily abandoned! We set off to hike the 5km round trip to the gorge, it was rocky and steep in parts with very little shade so it was a wonderful sight when the waterfall and swimming hole appeared. The swimming and waterfall were great, Simon and the boys found rock ledges to jump from and I found a good spot for sunbaking. The campsite is situated around the Manning River and we took a dip on the way home before heading back to camp. That night the boys made the fire and we cooked our first ever damper with cinnamon and raisins for pudding -yum!

The leap of faith!

 

Galvans Gorge

Galvans gorge was an easy walk and well worth the visit as it was a beautiful place, lush and tropical with refreshing swimming and a simple waterfall. Our morning was spent wallowing in the water, looking at the Aboriginal rock art and observing a black snake as it idled past.

 

After a long  soak in the Manning river (with a freshwater croc as company) we headed back to pack up camp and prepare to leave early the next morning heading off to King Edward River in the Mitchell Plateau, one of the remotest legs of our trip.

A lone boab tree overlooks the gorge