Jo & Stephen & a 4x4

Tuesday, 28 July 2015

Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) National Park and Lake Argyle Flight (East Kimberley)

20^th July

We had to set our alarm this morning which isn’t what you want to do on a holiday however, it was for good reason. We had a 6am flight in a light aircraft – an Australian made Airvan. Wow – what an incredible experience. We took off from Kununurra airport and firstly flew over the agricultural farms of the area. With the Ord River irrigation system, the Kununurra region has lush, fertile areas where a variety of things are grown including mangoes, melons, citrus fruits, chia and sandalwood. A popular place for backpackers to come and do seasonal work.

From there we flew along the Ord River, the 6^th longest river in Western Australia and then over Lake Argyle. Lake Argyle is the largest man-made lake in Australia (2,000 square kilometres) and is often referred to as an inland sea. It was formed by damming the Ord River in 1972.

From this huge expanse of water, we flew over two enormous cattle stations and then entered Purnululu National Park (the Bungle Bungles). The Bungle Bungle Range is renowned for its striking sandstone domes, striped with orange and black like a beehive. The orange layer is iron oxide and the black layer is formed by a bacteria. Purnululu is the name given to this sandstone area by the Aboriginal people and covers an area of almost 240,000 hectares. The Bungle Bungle Range was only discovered by accident in the 70’s, have been a tourist destination since 1983 and was granted World Heritage status in 2003. Stephen and I drove into Purnululu National Park in 2001 when we were in the Kimberley and walked amongst these massive structures - quite awe inspiring. To see them this time from the air was also amazing.

Too soon we were turning around and heading back to Kununurra, passing over the Argyle Diamond Mine – a huge scar on the otherwise beautiful landscape, then over Ivanhoe Crossing and a smooth landing at the airport. Such an incredible experience – will let our pictures tell more of the story.

What's the movie on this flight?

Lake Argyle

The amazing Bungle Bungles

When I grow up I want to be a pilot

Devil’s Marbles, UFOs and lots of driving

15th & 16th July

Stephen here.
It's been a while since our last update, internet access out this way has been hard to come by and that's really not such a bad thing. Jo has still managed to find time (amidst our very busy schedule) to sit and write a few words most days about our adventure. I personally have been a little lost for words since our Wycliffe UFO Centre of Australia experience, that and at the end of the day I am quite content just to sit and enjoy a cold beer under the stars (and there are oh so many stars)

Jo Here
The temperature is a lot colder than we anticipated given where we are. In Alice Springs last night it dropped down to -2 degrees. Pleased we were staying in a hotel room rather than the tent. Stayed at the Chifley Resort on the Todd River (yes dry!) and would recommend it. Nice rooms, pleasant environment, just a short walk to town and most importantly, a very good laundry.

It has been windy every day which keeps the day time temperature down too – I’ve only ventured into shorts a few times. At least we are warmer than we would be in Sydney – we hear there has been a real cold snap back home.

I had a good run before we left this morning. There is a walking/running/cycling track all along both sides of the Todd – very pleasant with beautiful gum trees lining the banks. Running is always a great way to see parts of a town I might not normally get to.

Our original plan from Alice Springs was to get onto the Tanami Road which goes diagonally north-west from Alice to Halls Creek and once in Halls Creek to head to Kununurra in order to access the Kimberley where we plan to spend quite a bit of time. Did some reading however and the Tanami Road sounds horrific – over a thousand kilometres of poorly maintained dirt road with lots of corrugations and camping only in dust bowls on the side of the road. Not that appealing and given that we have done this drive before in the opposite direction we decided on an alternative route.
So a long day of driving – Alice Springs to Tennant Creek which is approximately 550km. Not so bad though – all on really good tar roads with an open speed limit and we are listening to our first audio book along the way to pass the time – The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowlings. Her first book for ‘grown ups’ after the Harry Potter series – we are hooked and enjoying it very much so far. Highly recommended.

Today wasn’t all driving though. We got to stop at Wycliffe Well - the UFO capital of Australia!! Didn’t see any aliens unfortunately. We also stopped at Barrow Creek which many of you will remember from the disappearance of Peter Falconio in 2001. The road house there has some information about the disappearance and the ensuring investigation and court case which saw Bradley John Murphy convicted of the assault and kidnapping of Joanne Lees and the murder of Peter Falconio. Who knows what really happened but certainly if there is a body out there it will never be found – so much emptiness here.

Most interesting was our stop at the Devil’s Marbles. The wonder of nature never ceases to amaze me. Just off the side of the road in the middle of vast, flat nothingness is a series of boulders of differing shapes and sizes rising up out of the dirt. Some are balanced seemingly precariously on top of one another looking like they could topple at any moment. This outcrop is a reminder of just how ancient a county Australia is as the formation of the Devil’s Marbles would have taken millions of years.

From the Marbles it was not too far to Tennant Creek which is quite a busy town on the route from Darwin to Alice. We got accommodation in a ‘deluxe room’ (this term is very relative) in the Bluestone Motor Inn and had dinner at Tex’s Schnitzel House with 29 different types of schnitzel to choose from (who’d have thought!). Don’t think I’ve seen so much melted cheese and chips for quite some time!!!

Our second day of driving out of AIice saw us leave Tennant Creek (unfortunately the café which claimed the best coffee in the Northern Territory was closed on our departure so this will remain undisputed until we return one day) and continue north. Not much to see on the way today so the audio book got a workout. Just over 300km north of Tennant Creek we turned left at Dunmarra, onto the Buchanan Highway (highway in name only as this is a gravel road for its entirety) in order to bypass Katherine and get onto the Victorian Highway (tar) to make our way to Kununurra. The Buchanan Highway is named after legendary stockman Nathaniel ‘Nat’ Buchanan who was one of the first to travel in these areas in the 1870’s, found droving to be practicable in the region and held a number of pastoral leases. Quite a reasonable road for gravel so we made good time and pulled in at the Top Springs Roadhouse with time to set up our chairs in the sun, have a G & T and read for a while before dinner (steak for Stephen as we are in cattle country and more chips) and a chat with the locals in the pub (quite an eclectic crowd of road train drivers, cattle drovers and aboriginals from the outlying communities) before bed.

UFO centre of Australia, whatever!

Devils Marbles

Traffic has been really bad at times

Gregory National Park

17^th & 18^th July

Left Top Springs (top spot) and continued on the Buchanan Highway till the turn off to Judbarra/Gregory National Park which covers 13,000 square km in the transition zone between tropical and semi-arid regions of the NT. The park is renowned for its 4WD tracks so we thought we’d have a look. We travelled on the Humbert Track from Humbert River Station at the entry of the National Park heading north. This track was used by Charlie Schultz as a stock route and to cart supplies between Bullita Outstation and Humbert River Station. The driving was quite rocky with some challenging bits. Did our first real river crossing for this trip and saw our first boab trees – they are really amazing. Had a pleasant walk out to the Gunturungjawun water hole where we sat in quiet contemplation for a while. Bush camping on the first night at Fig Tree Yard – flies are coming into full force – the fly nets had to make an appearance!

We often laugh when we are on the road at the ‘serious 4WDrivers’ who are up and at ‘em, driving well before we have even emerged from our tent. This morning was no different. We didn’t see any other cars but we didn’t manage to get on the road until 10.30am today – you can’t rush a good porridge!! Who cares – we are on holidays.

Not far from where we camped was a lookout that we climbed up to and could see all over the Figtree Valley. Very beautiful but there have obviously been some fires recently as lots of black patches. Continued along the Humbert Track and popped out just near Bullita Station. Worth a look as the National Parks Service have recreated the Bullita homestead with fascinating interpretive signage talking about life in cattle country – wow, what a tough life it must have been. There is also a recreation of the stock yards and explanation of how the cattle were brought in, sorted, branded and prepared to go to market.

Now on the road out of the park we took a detour on the track to Limestone Gorge were we saw tufa dams and took a walk along the calcite flow. Good to be travelling with a mad, keen Science teacher – I’m getting interesting science facts along the way to complement and explain what I’m seeing.

Not long after that we exited Gregory National Park (glad we took this route) and had a brief ice cream stop at Timber Creek to reinflate the tyres now we are back on the black top. Decided to head into Kununurra tonight so another fairly decent drive leaving the Northern Territory and entering Western Australia for the first time. This is the third time change we have had so far this trip – a bit confusing but watches are off and it is holiday time so who really cares. We also had to pass through quarantine and get rid of all our fruit, vegies and honey. We always seem to end up with food we need to dispose of at these border crossings no matter how well we plan. We ended up giving our excess to a nice couple in the road house at Timber Creek rather than throw it away.

Finally made it to Kununurra. Mixed feelings driving in here as some of you may remember we spent a lot of enforced time in this town during our 2001 trip due to various car problems. It was nice to be driving in and staying by choice. For old time sake, we decided to stay at the same hotel – Hotel Kununurra. Nice room, good pub food for dinner (yes, more chips) and even open mic night in the beer garden for entertainment. Decided an early night was a better option.

Calcite flow caused by calcium rich waters, also present in the area are stromatolites, some of the earliest living organisms on earth

The amazing and most unique Boab tree

Blue-winged kookaburra ( Dacelo leachii)

Old stockyards Bullita Homestead

Molly Springs Kununurra (East Kimberley)

19^th July

We finally seem to have made it to some warmer weather. I did a run this morning along the shores of Lake Kununurra and it was very warm even at 7am. Kununurra is a very quiet place on a Sunday. EVERYTHING was shut except one café were I managed to get a decent coffee (this shut later in the day) and Coles supermarket. With Sydney open 24/7, it is easy to forget the days when the shops shut on a Sunday, only opened till midday on a Saturday and there was no late night shopping on Thursday nights. One of the shops had on their opening hours sign – Sunday: family fun day. We thought that this was a great sentiment so we headed off to Molly Springs about 30km out of Kununurra on the road to Wyndham. This gorgeous little spring feed water hole is only a short walk from the end of the track and it was lovely to relax there in the sun for a while. I even had my first waterhole swim albeit a bit refreshing.

The highlight here was while we were sitting at the waterhole, I looked up and in one of the rock crevices saw a little rock wallaby checking us out. He watched us for some time, was very obliging for photos and then dove into an unseen hole when he grew tired of us.

Can you spot the rock wallaby?

Molly Springs

A mermaid?

Tuesday, 14 July 2015

Simpson Desert Crossing

Friday 10th July

So this is Jo writing now. We are currently sitting in the middle of the Simpson Desert on the Hay River Track after a fantastic day of driving over sand dunes and salt pans. I’ve just had a real coffee (you would be proud Sue Robbo) and the others are having ‘beer o’clock’. We haven’t seen any other people since about 10am this morning, the sky is blue, the ground is red and all is good with the world.

We left Birdsville yesterday morning after spending the night in the caravan park there and watching the State of Origin in the iconic Birdsville Hotel (the less said about that the better!!). First stop was the Birdsville Bakery for fresh breakfast pies – nothing like pies from a country bakery. We did pass up on the curried camel pies however. Birdsville is in a bit of shock at the moment having just had the Big Red Bash – 3,000 people from all over made their way to Birdsville for a three day music festival with the headliner being Jimmy Barnes. Last year the Bash had 1,500 people so numbers doubled this year and the place had run out of everything. The lady at the Bakery told us they were feeling a little ‘overwhelmed’. As we walked up to the Bakery, two locals were coming in with a joey kangaroo wearing a nappy. Apparently, the mum had been killed and they were looking after it but it had done a runner – must have been an interesting sightseeing two women chasing a kangaroo in a nappy down the streets of Birdsville.

So after that bit of excitement we headed into the Simpson Desert to begin the real adventure. About 30km into the desert you get to the famous ‘Big Red’ sand dune which all 4WDrivers aspire to conquer. Our travelling companions, Ryan, Sherran and Joel gave one of the harder ascents a try and we thought they were going to make it first go but were foiled about 5m from the top. Meanwhile, I walked up the dune (walking up a steep sand dune is surprisingly hard going – think I will pass on the Big Red ultra-marathon event anytime soon) to watch the antics from the top. Ryan, Sherran and Joel made it on their second attempt on a less steep part of Big Red but still a challenge. Stephen made it up that section too and then we watched some other vehicles attempt to come up the steepest section – they made it on the third try.

The day was then filled with 100km of driving up and down sand dunes along the QAA line and enjoying the incredible scenery. It is quite green out here at the moment and there are lots of yellow and white wildflowers which are a great contrast to the redness of the dunes. The track is fairly busy being the last week of the school holidays and we passed a lot of vehicles heading towards Birdsville travelling west to east. The traverse across the desert east to west is a bit more difficult due to the prevailing winds making the dunes steeper in that direction but everyone (except Joel) had a go at sand driving today with success.

Our camp spot was a secluded spot in the valley between a couple of dunes. The boys put together a rocket which Joel had been given as a present and set it off a couple of times (and managed to retrieve it) and we then settled in to a pleasant night by the campfire under the stars (and wow - the stars are incredible here!!!)

More dune driving to get where we are camping tonight with a detour to Poeppel Corner to stand in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory all at the same time. Now we are on the Hay River Track which is certainly the road less travelled out here. This area was used for oil exploration in the 1800’s and there are a number of abandoned oil wells on the track.

So we sit and contemplate how good life is and look forward to what else this northern section of the Simpson Desert has to offer in the days to follow.

Saturday 11th - Tuesday 14th July

What an incredible country we have and how lucky we are to experience its vastness and remoteness first hand. The past two days we have continued driving along the Hay River Track in the Northern Simpson Desert. Our travelling speed has averaged about 25km/hr and around every bend and over every dune we have been delighted at a new and different vista and often completely different landscape – hard to describe so will let the pictures do the talking

One interesting way point has been passing the Blaze Tree (M39) which signifies Camp 16 of Australian explorer and geologist Cecil Madigan who was the first white man to cross the Simpson Desert in 1939. He did it in 25 days with 9 men and 19 camels. He has beocme known as "the last of the classic explorers of central Australia". Another driving adventure for a later date may well be to follow the Madigan Line through the desert. Madigan interestingly also accompanied Sir Douglas Mawson on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition in 1911-1912.

Other highlights include climbing Mount Winneke (named after Charles Winnecke who led the Horn expedition to Central Australia in 1894), letting paper lanterns fly off into the night sky (yes Rachel Manley, the ones you gave us in Manchester), driving behind a camel on the track, standing in the bizzare moonscape that is Lake Caroline, passing the Tropic of Capricorn marked with a significant signpost and celebrating Sherran's birthday drinking Veuve champagne at our campsite on the actual river bed of the Hay River (obviously dry).

All good things come to an end however, and our last day on the Hay River Track saw us driving through Batton Hill and through to the Plenty Highway for a long trip into Alice Springs. What a fabulous start to our trip. This section was quite unknown and Stephen put a lot of time and effort into research and planning so it was great that it went without a hitch. We had a last meal with Ryan, Sherran and Joel before farewelling them as they head back to Sydney via Kings Canyon and Uluru.

And then there were two.....

Stephen here now. I have been really pleased with how well the car is performing. Sand dunes are tough on a car this size and at the beginning of our crossing we were traveling heavy with 200 litres of fuel and a lot of water an supplies yet despite this the dunes presented very little problem for the mighty patrol.

The only minor problem we had was with the UHF radio which had very limited range. This was easily fixed once we got to Alice Springs but I would really like to thank the guys at TJM Alice Springs (especially Wade) who were incredibly helpful in helping me to trouble shoot and repair the problem, they could not have been more accommodating, thanks guys.

Also must thank Matt at ARB Alice Springs who helped us to re-calibrate our fridge which was having a minor thermostat issue, don't panic, the beer remained cold at all times.