Post #13 Getting close to Darwin

You rarely see someone fishing for Barramundi without a dog by their side. I thought that was really nice; people spending the day with their dogs. However... Where there are Barra, there are Saltwater Crocodiles.
Crocs, given the choice, always go for the smallest thing first. An interesting take on "Man's Best Friend"! A standard tactic up here, I'm told.

Amazingly, I've only seen rainfall once during the day so far, north of Perth.

Looked like it might rain ahead...




It did...




Pretty amazing considering that the December rainfall here is double the monthly average. 95% humidity at 07:00 never seems to relent! The last four nights have brought varying amounts of rain but always the most incredible lightning and thunder. The lightning lasts for around an hour and is constant, as if someone is flicking a light switch in a room... The thunder, when nearby really is something else! Absolutely deafening and it feels like a shock-wave going straight through you.

After Kununnura I continued through the spectacular and dramatic scenery of the Eastern Kimberley. A motorbiking doctor specialising in emergency dive medicine had recommended I head to Lake Argyle if I wanted to pass another day whilst waiting for the Darwin Highway to reopen. I'm glad I went!

The 'town' is nothing more than a campsite. Three things you need to know about it...

1. On arrival, there was a CB radio to use to summon the owner. I was sorely tempted to open with "Breaker, breaker one nine... This here's the Rubber Duck. Looks like we got ourselves a little convoy" (for aficionados of the Kristoffersen movie!) I opted for the more English, "Er, Hello?"
2. I paid 14GBP and, as with everywhere as it is out of season, there were no more than 5 other people here.
3. Charlie, the owner, and his family are slowly 'improving' the place to try to put it on the map, as he put it. His first move was building this infinity swimming pool...





That should do it Charlie! Inspired!

The lake is a result of damming the River Ord, it's over 1000 square kilometres and it's Australia's largest body of fresh water. It was stunning...





Just along the river Ord itself I found this rather lovely spot for a bit of fishing (only harmless freshwater crocs in here) but only caught undersized Black Bream which have to be quite large before you can take them...





And from above...




Bit more of the general area...





And finally, the magnificent Victoria River





A thoroughly great area and I hope Charlie has people flocking to his place after having such inspiration to build that pool!

Now in Katherine and am told the highway is open but slow for a section. (Although a number of sceptical locals have said that the authorities often get it open for a short while so they can stem the media coverage and then shut it again to do a proper job! We'll see.)

I'm also told that the main highway that goes off to the east, into the Kakadu is open and fine so I might at least get to see a little of that area from the road. I also plan to spend at least a day or two in the Litchfield National Park which is just 90 minutes south of Darwin. Not far now!




... It doesn't matter how many you see. Every time, my first thought is "You guys are just plain weird!"

To finish, a couple of things...

1. I still really struggle with Australian supermarkets (not that I've seen many in these parts!). It's all to do with the chilled meat sections which, from left to right, go something along the lines of: chicken, turkey, beef, beef, more beef, lamb, dog food... Dog Food! Even in the smallest shops, fresh dog food.

2. I've been bitten by every insect known to Australia. The flies, which don't bite, can at times drive you crazy. They started in Perth and have been relentless. They are persistent little things and, at 100mph, aim straight for your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and don't give up. Lots of road-workers wear fly nets over their heads and I can see why. They don't bite but they are in fact very dangerous... It's very easy to pull a muscle with all the Kung-Fu style moves that you end up doing in a bid to get rid of them!

3. I've seen lots of Road Trains but last night 9 of them passed me in convoy (I was stopped), each was 4 trailers long and all of those were two tier, filled with cattle. Undoubtedly headed to Darwin for live export to Asia. Now I'm a pretty committed carnivore, and it doesn't matter where they were going, but there was something about seeing them all peering out at me in such vast numbers. Might have fish for supper!

Happy New Year


Oh, the Australian sheep shearing record was broken a couple of weeks ago by a Maori guy... 401 sheep in his 8 hour shift! It wasn't a competition set up, the guy was 'just doing his job'! He declined radio interviews as he's apparently a rather quiet chap but the farm owner was interviewed on ABC News Radio. He declared that he was very happy with his employee's work and that the Maori chap is "Very fit, looks after himself and is built like a rugby player!" He offered him a bottle of whiskey but the chap doesn't drink.

(I'm only bombarding you with blogs whilst I have Internet and I suspect the next few weeks won't be so 'adventurous'!)

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Location:Katherine, NT

Post Christmas

Left Broome on Boxing Day morning after a quick, unsuccessful fish for supper.

I drove the short 180km to Derby, which I didn't much care for, but needed to head there to start making enquiries about the Gibb River Road. Now I know how you all like the compulsory, comparative facts, so here's one... The Kimberley region (to which Derby lies on the west) is 3 times the size of England but only two roads traverse it: The Great Northern Highway skirts along the south and then the east of the region whilst the Gibb River Road goes straight through the middle...

I really wanted to drive the Gibb River Road! The 700km, former cattle, road is unmade for all but the first 100km. In the Dry season it is an easy if slightly rough undertaking and is heavily used. In the Wet season it is a little more challenging and prone to being shut due to flooding. There was a difference of opinion in town so the only solution was to head 30km or so along the first section of sealed road to the official start...



Disappointing! I'd be able to get 450km or so but that was of no use as I'd only have to back track from Kalumburu. Although I really wanted to take this route, this was far from unexpected.

However!





A consolation prize was on offer! If I drove the 100km, or so, on the sealed bit of the Gibb, I could then turn south on the Windjana Gorge road which is a mini version of the Gibb, is 170km long, and joins up with the highway to the south. Perfect! And also a real surprise as it had been closed the day before when I rang the highways agency for info.

So I formulated a plan... I would drive the sealed bit of the Gibb, turn off on the Windjana Road and then after 20km I could pull into the Windjana National Park where you can camp in designated areas. The next day would be a perfect, if little, adventure along the newly re-opened road...





The road may have be reopened but, when I got there, the access to the National Park (and camping) was not! Don't you hate it when that happens...
I had the choice of returning to Derby or pressing on, both of comparable distance so I pressed on. It was only 4:30 and how long could 150km take? There was a 24 hr 'rest area' just along the main highway I could then head to. A perfect plan...




The gorge and scenery were spectacular and the road was, well the road was interesting. It started off ok...





That's where the photo's stop because after then I was concentrating rather hard! From heavily corrugated sections to parts of the road washed away, bone-jarring gullies, gravel, deep sticky mud...





And circa 15 creeks to cross. Many were dry, some were littered with boulders, some wet sand, some muddy, some shallow and some steep, and some with branches and debris to overcome: each an interesting challenge! It was like a 4WD track back at home but for 150km. In and out of low-range constantly and I was always thinking back to the 4WD-day I did with David to remember what to do next.

I really loved it, all with a hint of trepidation. Then, I guess, there were two significant points...




I'd forgotten that, being so far north but still in the WA time zone, the sun goes down around 6. And...





This rather stopped any further progress. It was a creek crossing and, with the direct sunshine gone, I could not see how deep it was. It was also attached to further water in the creek, to the right, so there was no way I was going to walk it with a stick to see how deep it was... Salt water crocodiles! (apparently they float around in flood waters and then end up wherever pools are left!)

There was no choice (you don't drive after dusk because of wildlife activity and the rapid darkness) but to retreat 50m (crocs don't like walking more than 25m so I thought I'd double it!) and wait until morning to reassess. It was an 'interesting' night and a fantastic night in equal measure:

Interesting: miles from anywhere it was pitch black by 7. A packet of Cheezels for supper and it was 7:05 with a long night ahead. I quickly realised that although the 'windows' of the van have fly/mozzie screens the internal lights or even reading a book on the iPad meant a million tiny bugs coming in through the screen holes so it was 'lights out' by 7:15. My brain then went into action and I realised how easy it is to get stranded as there are just so many creek crossings and anyone of them could flood in front or behind to keep you there. The floods can last from hours to weeks. All fine as I have so much food and water but unnerving and now I understood why these roads are so unreliable in the Wet... Took a few hours to get to sleep!




Beautiful sunset

Exciting: The sounds in the bush were deafening at sun-down, sunset, the smells, there had been both cattle and kangaroos in the last half hour of light with me all the way... I must have seen 30 Roo's, all bounding along the edge of the road. (and then, generally, trying to cut straight in front of me). And then the stars... Quite amazing. I could see Venus looking very orange and like I'd never seen it and Beetlegeuse (sp?), a Red Dwarf star looking incredibly red. (thanks iPad star walker!)

I had a stilted night's sleep, mainly thinking that the slighest breath of wind through the van (which was in fact very welcome) was a huge storm brewing!

Anyway, the sun came up, as it does, around 4:30 and I went back to view the hurdle in question...





Still there annoyingly but now I could see it was crossable and bottomed in sand, not mud. After much recollection of the Nene 4WD course, I made across ok and indeed at the deepest it was only top-of-wheel-arch deep.

I had a celebratory bowl of cornflakes and carried on the last 40km at a more leisurely but still challenging pace with another 6 or so creeks to cross.




Morning girls! (or probably boys)




Still great scenery.





It's amazing how quickly the sun gets up here... This must have been around 6am.

And so that was that. I got a great 4WD experience and a night 'in the bush' rolled into one.

You'll maybe be pleased to know that it's Tarmac pretty much all the way to Darwin now. However (and you really couldn't make this up) cyclone Grant is currently sitting over the centre of the Kakadu National Park. I have written off seeing any of the Kakadu but yesterday storm waters washed away a section of the Stuart Highway, near Katherine, which is the only road in/out of Darwin! A freight train was also washed clean off the tracks and the whole thing has made national news with the Transport Minister flying over the region to show 'willing'. (quite unusual apparently, for the highway to be damaged rather than just flooded).

So I am currently sitting a very safe 500km away from the excitement in Kununarra waiting to hear when the road will be rebuilt! The authorities are currently saying a single lane will be re-established by the weekend but also that, with no rail access to Darwin, it will then be heavily used with freight/supplies into Darwin.

I suspect these last few days will be just about 'getting to Darwin' rather than enjoying the Kakadu region. Still the Kimberley has been amazing... And exciting enough!

All good. Happy New Year.


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Location:Kununarra

Post #11b, random thoughts

No photo's in this one...

I've only been here a couple of months and I absolutely love the Aussie way of life, their approach and attitude.

One thing bothers me though... I am sure that Australia is a thesis waiting to be written on, "White Man's Stupidity". Not today's Australians but yesterday's English. It may have already been written but bearing in mind we have only been here for, what, 200 years or so it does offer a few examples of how dumb we can be.

1. We introduced foxes here, on settlement, for 'sporting purposes'. Today, every national park I have visited is baited with poisoned meat to try to control them and the damage they inflict on indigenous species. No one can let their dog off a lead in these parks because of the bait.

2. We introduced rabbits. Very quickly we then had to build over 2000 miles (!) of fencing to try to stop them spreading because of the damage they were causing... I can't believe "breed like rabbits" is a new saying... Duh!

3. The worst. Our treatment of the Aboriginal people here. On two counts:

a) they had been farming these very difficult lands for 'ever' and their cultural beliefs held the land and Mother Nature centrally. They understood how to get a sustainable yield and the responsibility for doing so was a venerated one handed down through generations with utmost respect. We came along and displaced these guys not that long ago. Circa 25% of previously farmed land (think I got that right) is now completely unproductive due to overly intensive farming methods applied and subsequent salinity issues.

b) in our superior wisdom we decided that it was in the best interests of all concerned if Aboriginal children were removed from their families, where possible, for Darwinian, Christian, any other-ian, or just disguised slave-labour reasons. (it's worth noting that "family" too was/is absolutely central to their culture).

So at State and Federal levels, acts of law were passed to enable any state representative (or policeman) to enter an Aboriginal home and remove any child from newborn to teenager without notice or delay. It was also decided that the child should then be moved a great distance away from said family to enable them to 'integrate' into White culture more easily and learn useful skills (slavery basically). I didn't know this, not sure too many people do?

Now we might excuse crazy behaviour of many generations ago but this went on, officially, until 1969 and unofficially into the 70's! Many of us were born in the 70's!

It's crazy how the White Man always thinks he knows best, not to mention why the indigenous people are, I guess, still so angry... This was only 40 years ago and happened to people our age or their parents...

Anyway, rant over. Normal service will resume...


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Post #11 Christmas in Broome

I have a very rough plan of where I need to be by a certain date in order to make Darwin by 4th Jan to return the camper and it is written in the corner of one of the maps I have. I really enjoy that freedom of setting off in the morning, not knowing exactly where I will be that evening. However with Christmas looming I needed to plan a few days ahead to make sure I had somewhere to stay (with the humidity here it's campsites all the way with their priceless showers!)

Progress was slowed a bit by these little fellas...





I drove into several swarms of them and initially was worried that the windscreen would break with them pinging off. Then I noticed that the engine temp gauge was rising and pulled over to find them clogging up all the intakes. Little ******!


My plan was to make Broome by Christmas Eve which would mean a good distance covered and, hopefully, plenty of time to explore the Kimberley's and Kakadu National Park.

The last entry was written in Karratha and the next day I went on to Port Hedland, both of which are 'boom' towns focussed on mining and gas extraction.



Both towns are like the Wild West with cowboys replaced by miners! They are incredibly busy places with hard-hatted, heavily tanned, employees zipping about in pick ups. Above is a snapshot of BHP's iron ore port site. The infrastructure set up is incredible, over vast areas. Road trains several trucks long and real trains up to 7km long (that's nearly 700 cars long) deliver ore to the port where these little boats ship it out...




By tonnage shipped, Port Hedland is the biggest port in the world (where? I hear you ask)! Amazing to see man's endeavours first hand. Of course each 'town', which in fact are tiny have airports for the fly-in-fly-out contractors and lots of good services. Very interesting.

From there on to Broome was along Highway 1, skirting the Great Sandy Desert (not to be confused with the Little Sandy Desert nearby). Generally, it was hot. Actually, "hot" is an insufficient word... It was roasting! I drove near to Marble Bar which is the hottest town in Australia... It was a mild 59 there, that day. I know because every day I tune in to the Bureau of Meteorology broadcast at noon, on the one MW radio station you can get. In typical, laid back, Australian fashion (bearing in mind this is the equivalent to the shipping forecast) he announced the temperature there and then said, "I bet you could fry an egg on a tin hat there today".

View forward...





View left... (ooh, a cloud. That has broken the monotony of the last 300km)




View right... (more clouds, excellent!)




And so it went on for two days' driving. Aside of 'outback', i did drive through some vast cattle stations with what must have been thousands of cattle on the horizon. I say for two days... I did punctuate the journey with a stay at Eighty Mile Beach (it's amazing that you can turn off this highway and be on the coast within 30km). The place was deserted and was, as you might guess, a beach that is 80 miles long. It was stunning. Great Frigates (?) soared above and there were tracks on the beach made by flat back turtles coming in to lay eggs the night before.

Of course, in this part of the world, you are never short of beautiful sunsets...








I went back out to the shoreline a few hours later. No turtles in sight but I did get an incredible view of the magnificent southern hemisphere stars. They are something else and almost oppressive in their presence. Another magical place. (on the note of stars, there is a very special comet out there at the moment... Comet Lovejoy. It passed within a minute distance of the sun but came out the other side much to the surprise of NASA et al. It is being hailed as a miracle and so I hope to see it in the next couple of nights, if I can get up at 3:30 before dawn! Google it!)

Then on to Broome, where I am now. Those that have been here will know its slightly odd but very appealing "oasis in the desert" feel. Everyone works on 'Broome Time' which seems to equate to manyana...

The humidity here in the wet season is crippling. Utterly so, but it is also a very intriguing place and not a bad place to spend Christmas.

A feel for Broome in road signs...




Not 'catastrophic'... Good! (there are so many bush fires in Oz, it's astounding. Also, there is a blanket harvest ban on Christmas day on the basis that even driving a truck through a paddock can start a fire here and the fire services will all be drunk on their one day off!)




Hmm, not so good! (when fishing, stand well back! How about just going to the fishmonger's and not taking the chance!)




Always a good sign to see!

So. Rambled on enough. Ciao for now...

I'll close with the first-aid points on Cable Beach here... If you get stung by a Box Jelly Fish, you go to these, open them up and find a bottle of vinegar... Handy for your chips too!




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Location:Cable Beach, Broome

Post #10 Dolphins to Hot Dogs

The dolphins at Monkey Mia are famous, having been visiting the shoreline there since the 70's. In brief, one turned up back then, got fed loads by humans, would not leave. Scientists got involved and said 'this won't do' and now they are fed circa 5% of their daily food needs, only when they show up and only up to noon. (ie it's not really worth their while coming in from a food angle). They are wild creatures and no one knows if they will show up on any given day but most days they do. Extraordinary.

They are 3 or so generations on from that original one; they've provided the longest scientific study possible to date and they have integrated the beach into their daily foraging sites. They get between zero and 16 show up and females even bring their new born calf in, without fail, within 48 hours of birth!





She is at my feet in water not much above my ankles and she had her 3 week old calf with her! Great.

After getting there for 6am I fancied a relaxed afternoon so headed to a point I'd had recommended for some fishing... Stupidly got bogged on a soft sand track and so, in the mid thirties, had to do a fair bit of digging! (no Chinese in sight to help...) No fishing in the end...

In my defence I missed this sign...




Not the one about not running over small children but the one hidden in the bush telling you to deflate tyres. In my prosecution... I could see it was sand!

Moved on and had a fantastically relaxed few days at Coral Bay, Ningaloo Reef... Australia's largest fringing reef, easily accessible from the beach for fantastic snorkelling. A bit of fishing too and taking it easy! To get here I'd crossed the Tropic of Capricorn so it's getting hotter... 42 here consistently.




Crazy Ant Hills...





Some stromatolites (very very important in getting us to where we are today!) just for you Matt (these are living and only 5000 years old or so and are not the 3.5 billion year old ones in the Pilbara).





Probably my favourite fuel station so far (at least top three)...





Am now back on the road and heading towards Broome. Suddenly the landscape is very different again...





Then to the outskirts of the Pilbara...





Yesterday I crossed a number of significant bridges and beneath each was nothing but dry, sandy river beds. The rains are coming however but its impossible to think they they will all be running full very shortly or even flooding.

Yesterday the official temperature here was 53.4 although guys at the Nanutarra Roadhouse were claiming 55. Forecast for today, anyhow, is 55. Roadhouses are bizarre and fascinating places... Nanutarra yesterday was like something out of Pulp Fiction with everyone going slightly crazy in the heat. Drivers of the road trains are a hardy and slightly crazy looking bunch!





6am and got to make tracks before it's too hot to move. Spent the night in Karratha, a town built in the 60's by a mining company and lots of mining/energy business going on still.

Yesterday was pretty uncomfortable and even walking around to the fuel filler cap was a chore (on that note there were people arriving there with tanks pretty empty and the pressure build up was so great in the heat that when they opened the cap, fuel shot out for metres!)

Beyond the heat, the humidity is outrageous! Crazy people living here. Still, all good fun!

Off to Broome via Eighty Mile Beach and then into the Kimberley's.

Merry Christmas!


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Location:Karratha, WA

Post #9 North from Perth

So, a couple of statistics to start: Western Australia is bigger than the Congo (where I seem to remember they drink UmBongo...) and 3.5 times the size of Texas. However its population is only around 2.2 million with more than 75% living in Perth. Conclusion... It's bloomin' huge and you don't see many people!

Second night north of Perth I stayed in a lovely small fishing port and spent the evening with a really interesting & charming couple - retired farmers (sheep and grain) from the south (the rains down there at the moment are unseasonal and are playing havoc with harvest. After year's of drought there was a bumper crop lined up this year but the grain is now down graded significantly).

The next day I explored the Kalbarri National Park and coastline which is stunning. I'm limited to how many photos I can post easily on this connection so the easiest way is though the medium of "food"...

Breakfast...






Lunch...





Supper...





Breakfast again...







I also met another farmer who has a significant cattle station 'up north'. I met him because he had a blow-out in front of me on the highway. I pulled over to see if I could help and we chatted for half an hour, whilst he changed the tyre, over cold lemonade from my fridge (he was a tough bloke so that was the only help I could offer!)

The sparsity of population and the lack of easy communication that leads to is sometimes unnerving, coming from UK. On the radio you can only get two MW news channels for example. Today, on the usual Sunday morning "phone in" to Macca, one of the callers declared that he was 30' up a tree to make the call! They had a laugh about how bad phone coverage is, but nothing more than that...

Having to think carefully about water and fuel is also an eye-opening experience. We are used to such things being readily available or being able to "buy" our way out of trouble but such marketisation of commodities doesn't apply here... For hundreds of kilometres they simply don't exist. Needless to say I'm carrying 100l of water and 60l of extra diesel in jerry cans (bought in Perth and partly for back up and partly for hedging against crazy fuel prices up north).

On the point of communication and staying in touch, this is how they do it here (although the girl driving this beauty seems to have overdone the number of CB aerials, most only have one of the long ones)





Now I am on a peninsula called Shark Bay (of course it's several hundred KM's off the highway) and it really is a very special part of the world. It's a World Heritage Sight and, because man's activities are so slight in this part of the world, the offshore world is almost pristine. More about the beauty and the wildlife when I'm back but I will finish on today's 'story'...

I'm spending a few days here as there's so much I want to see and one of those is the north of the peninsula. This can only be accessed by "4WD Only" tracks. Basically, it's quite deep sand. Travelling alone does make you think twice about doing things but I roughly know how to drive a 4WD and how to get it out if stuck, so I made the necessary enquiries... Spoke to a guy in 'town' with a ZZ-Top beard and massive 4WD truck who confirmed the tracks were passable. (if you get stuck then you wait for someone to come by and I have food, water and fuel for about a month!)





These guys were waiting at the start of the track along with a sign that said only 3 things (along with guidance for if you get bogged in the sand):
1. 4WD only beyond this point (AWD is insufficient)
2. High Clearance vehicles only
3. Reduce tyre pressures to 40%

So with tyres deflated, and a little trepidation, I set about the 25km (40 min) drive to the first point. It was great! Like driving through treacle and in places so rutted that I was bouncing around inside so much I thought I was going to bang my head on the roof at 20kph (although there was no way I was letting off the revs for fear of bogging in the sand). [DY- really made me smile as I instantly remembered the Citroen incident!]

Anyway, exciting drive over and lagoon admired (with it all to myself) I set off back along the single lane track to the main junction to head to the next point. Interestingly, I hadn't seen anyone in 2 hours or so.





On the way back I spotted an approaching car and (with a vague level of skill, I must say, in low range) pulled into the deep stuff to let them pass. They did and then within 2 metres got stuck. By the time I'd got out they'd bogged badly by wheel spinning and were basically grounded.

Now, bearing in mind the sign at the entrance to the National Park, they were driving a Toyota AWD, low clearance and hadn't deflated their tyres. Duh!

they were a clueless chinese family of 5, ill-prepared, and I could hardly just drive on. However the 20 something son spoke English so I told him what we needed to do and he orchestrated the rest to start digging. At least I had a shovel! Anyway, long story short. After 45 minutes of trying to get this car out it was impossible, no one else arrived and neither of us had a tow rope. This was also a good reminder of what it's like trying to do physical work in the searing early afternoon sun and heat. I made the son promise to not leave the car, checked they had plenty of water and went for help... About 75 minutes back to 'town'.

A comical conversation then ensued with the very helpful ladies at the petrol station (I say comical because here everyone looks out for each other but ultimately your safety is your one responsibility and these people clearly hadn't taken that responsibility)...
Police? Nah, they won't do anything and besides you won't get anyone today.
Rangers? Nah, won't get them today. "Wait a minute", one said "What about Colin?" He's away said the other. The RAC? ... That's Colin. The AAA. ... That's Colin!
Finally they thought of another guy who sometimes "pulls the idiots out" and I spoke to him on their phone and he agreed he'd "go see them"! (Although he said his proper 4WD was out of action and he only had the wife's Land Cruiser!

The petrol station gave me free cold drinks to 'revive' me, said I'd done everything I could, and that was that. Amazing. I'm sure they've been pulled out by now but if not they've got a night in the car. A very relaxed response all round compared to what we might expect in out sanitised and over-cautious world at home.

Tomorrow, going to meet some dolphins, if they show up!

Sketchy mobile coverage now to Darwin I suspect. Enjoy the holidays!

S


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Location:Shark Bay, WA