NIGE Motorcycle Club

Proposed map of trip. Heading clockwise to Adelaide then on to tip of Eyre peninsula and Coffin Bay National Park.

Across the Nullabor to Perth then down to Esperance and back to Perth via Margaret River. I’ll probably be doing that bit solo as Ivan’s wife Deb is flying over to spend a week with Ivan.

Up the WA coast to Broome.

Gibb River road to Wyndham and Kununurra.

South via Barkley Tablelands.

Down to Emerald then south with a visit to Carnarvan Gorge then home.

It will probably end up around 15000km.

The truck and Helen the evening before setting off.

All my gear and the main stuff is loaded. I hope there is room for Ivan’s stuff.

Day One July 20.

818.8km Arrived 9 Mile reserve about 5.00pm. Had the place to ourselves. Nice fire, clear skies with a bit of a breeze. Good trip with very little traffic from Cowra. Followed Lindsay Brothers truck from Blayney to Cowra and couldn’t have overtaken him. Not a cloud in the sky all day. Lots of green paddocks with newly spouting wheat. They mustn’t mind sitting on a plough out this way. Very flat before Hay.

Ready to go about 5.45am.

Green country near Hay.

Our camp on Murrumbidgee Nine Mile Reserve.

Ready to go. That was our view from campsite. It was free but the book that told me it was free cost $54!

Day Two July 21.

1467.1km Arrived Adelaide about 3.20pm SA time. Very boring and flat after Hay. Crossed Murray into Victoria at Tooleybuc and was promptly pulled over by a policeman. He was travelling the other way but as soon as he saw us put on his lights and did a U-turn so I just pulled over. He said he wasn’t going to book me although he had me doing 109km in 100km area. He just did a breath test, took my license to check in his car and did a walk around the vehicle. Came back and told us to have a nice day. Ivan did look suss in his black beanie and dark sunnies! Had lunch at Parilla SA. All mallee country with huge wheat paddocks looking very green. Uneventful rest of way. We are still surprised how green things are. From Tailem Bend through Adelaide Hills was positively verdant. Posting this from motel room in Adelaide but can’t upload photos – will try again later.

Mallee “trees” – try to pull them out and get this for a root system!

Day Three July 22.

Being the great sleeper I am I was awake during the night and I was sure I heard a fox “barking” just outside our motel room. i actually went out to have a look but saw nothing. I told Ivan about it in the morning but I’m not sure he believed me. When we were at Maccas at Glenelg the front page of local paper had a picture of a large fox that had been very bold in downtown Adelaide. A girl doing ber early morning paper round was followed and when she poked a stick at the fox it chewed on the end of the stick. So it was a fox that I heard!

This is a photo from the Adelaide Now newspaper site of the fox that has been following the newspaer girl and stealing papers.

Not a great start to the day. Went to Glenelg waterfront in Adelaide. Windy and very cold on the beach front. Wandered about – went out on pier – saw replica of The Buffalo ship that brought the first settlers into Adelaide to found the place. Got a phone call on mobile from the boat cruise people about tomorrows cruise on the Coorong. Was told we were the only two booked in and the cruise wouldn’t be happening – I explained that we had stayed an extra day in Adelaide just to do the cruise – she said sorry but no cruise. Went back to car got computer to take to Maccas to try to upload pics – didn’t work there either. Went back to truck to drive further along waterfront and noticed something under wiper blade. Yep – a f##king parking fine for overstaying by 25 mins. NOT happy with such a SA welcome. I intend to find out what happens when I don’t pay!!!

Weather got worse – heavy rain and very light pepper hail. Off to the Barossa about 50km away in the lousy weather. Got a couple of pics (which I still can’t upload) and off to meet with cousin Greg Thomson at his place at Freeling at 3.00pm. Had a great meet up and chat with Greg and partner Sharon and got the tour of his menagerie of animals. (Including two very big Great Danes!) Stayed for a lovely sausage stew made from his previous pet cow.

At least the day ended well.

I think the bastards who gave me the parking fine may have come from here!

This is the parking spot!!

The Buffalo replica restaurant shippy thing.

Some nice old absolute waterfront terraces on the foreshore heading towards Port Adelaide.

Cousin Greg and his dogs.

Greg and Sharon.

Some of Sharon’s artwork. She specialises in pet portraits.

Day Four Thurs July 23.

2018.7km

Good day. Did Fleurieu Peninsula. Down coast to Cape Jervis across to Victor Harbour and Goolwa. Saw Murray Mouth from across the Coorong on Hindmarsh Island. Saw whales cavorting off shore at Middleton. Got the traffic a little bit coming back through Adelaide but worst was going the other way. Very pretty country around Adelaide and its all very green at the present. Head for Eyre Peninsula tomorrow. Just got a picture to upload so I’ll go back and try to insert more.

Horse drawn tram on Victor Harbour jetty.

Whales at Middleton.

That is the entrance to the mighty Murray!

Some nice old buildings in Goolwa.

Day 5 July 24 Friday.

Just a transit section from Adelaide to Port Augusta. Only a bit over 300km.

Have a few pics. It is still incredibly green.

The infamous body in the barrels bank building in Snowtown.

The green country side and a couple of the 50 or so wind generators before Port Augusta. Taken from moving vehicle – hence the poor quality.

Ivan had to stop at Port Germein to see “Australia’s longest wooden Jetty”. Interesting isn’t it?

Grandkids call me Pa and I am 55 this year so I thought this pick was appropriate.

The evening meal in our Motel Room at Port Augusta. Cooked on stove on bact tray of truck by Brian.

Day 6 Sat July 25.

Bad start. Truck wouldn’t start. Moved second battery from tray to engine bay and despite running fridge all night it easily started vehicle. Will have to buy battery today. Not totally unexpected. Am at Maccas having breakfast using their WiFi as despite the promise of WiFi at motel I couldn’t pick it up.

Have lost our trip odometres as a result of disconnecting battery, Bugger!

Heading off to do our head of the gulf boat cruise.

Sunrise from Motel PA.

Our boat for top of gulf cruise being launched.

The Spencer Gulf is one of only 2 in the world that is not fed by a river or tributary. It just peters out. Other on is in Mexico. The top of the Gulf is saltier than the ocean.

Disused bridge leading to disused salt mine.

View of PA from……..

…disused water tower.

Also NO MUSIC as Cassette Radio now needs a code!!!

Bought heavy duty battery from Big W Port Augusta $172.

Motel rang Ivan to tell him he left all his medication at the motel. Luckily we hadn’t left PA so went back to get them. It was really good of them to ring.

Travelled not very far to Arno Bay as we were very tired. Tried to cook tea but stove threatened to explode. The end to a perfect day. That is sarcasm by the way.

Chucked stove away as it was getting dangerous. Had tea at the pub. BTW a schooner in SA is actually a MIDDY!

Our campsite at Arno Bay.

Day 7 Sun July 26.

Well we really can bring the rain. It started as a spinkle about 4.00am so we got up and got stuff out of what we hoped wouldn’t happen. But it poured. While trying to get back to sleep thoroughly checked manuals in glovebox. Thankfully the previous owners ignored the instruction not to leave the radio code in the glove box because – you little beauty – it was there. SO WE HAVE MUSIC again.Packed up very wet tent. Off to Port Lincoln. Bought a new stove and some spare mantles for the gas lamp and where I am posting this from in Maccas. Love the free WiFi!

For some reason my bum looks way enormous in this pic taken just before leaving Arno Bay.

We are off to Coffin Bay National Park.

Wheat to the water on the way to Port Lincoln.

Lots of Tuna boats in the marinas of Port Lincoln. Obviously big money in those big fish.

The locals came out to greet us at Coffin Bay National Park. They did get a little eager and I nearly cleaned up a few on the road. They are smarter than roos in that they helped avoid a collision as well.

It was a lousy overcast day and the water still looked like this!

More locals happy to see us at our……..

….secluded 4×4 access only camp spot at Black Springs.

Day 8 Monday 27 July.

Spent the day all alone at our own beach at Black Springs in Coffin Bay National Park. We did try a 4×4 trip further into the park to Isacc Point but I was put off by the couple of hundred metres of submerged sandy track just before Seven Mile Beach. Still did some bouncy sandy tracks and Ivan got to drive back to camp.

They have spiteful little clouds in SA. They will not pass overhead without RAINING on you. NO MATTER HOW SMALL they are!! It did get annoying – sunny day – little innocent looking clouds floats over – then it rains on you!

But what a beautiful spot. Three people visited the beach from their 4×4 for about 3 minutes and apart from that it was us and the roos and seagulls. Big seagulls!

Morning from “our” beach.

Not just sand but LOTS of shells.

Yes it was just ours!

Ivan read on the beach and Brian had a sleep in the tent. And of course a cloud came and rained on us. Yes one cloud.

The Mallee grows right onto the beach. Or the beach is encroaching into the mallee scrub.

Ivan suggested a swim. He went first. In he went. No noise , no fuss.

I went second. Got out faster than I splashed in and lots of loud swearing. It was !@#$ing freezing! Great idea Ivan.

Day 9 Tuesday 28 July.

Packed up a wet tent because of the spiteful clouds. We don’t put it in its tent bag so it should not get a chance to get mouldy and we will be using it somewhere on the Nullabor tomorrow night.

We are typing this from the toilet in the motel room as it is the only place that the wireless internet works and Ivan did fork out a bit extra just to get the internet access!

Just drove the little bit of 4×4 track back to Coffin Bay town and then up to Ceduna – the last “big” town before the Nullabor. Had a nice meal at a Pub near the jetty.

Had lunch at Streaky Bay with the gulls and some big mean looking skuas.

Called in at Murphy’s Haystacks – some strange looking granite boulders sticking out of the country side.

We are off across the Nullabor proper tomorrow!

Murphy’s Haystacks. I hope he doesn’t try and feed them to his stock!

Day 10 Wed July 29.
Left Ceduna and set off across the Nullarbor. First photo stop was Penong the town of 100 windmills.

Just after Penong we saw several white rainbows. We had never seen anything like it before so I just Googled them and they are sometimes called fogbows. I tried to photograh one and you can JUST make it out.

Then to the Head of the Bight where we spent $12 each and a good hour watching the Right Whales. There must have been a dozen in view with several very close to shore – very memorable.
More driving and then our second free camp at Moodini Bluff – nice mallee wood fire – some music and off to bed.

This is my favourite pic. It is hard to make out but the calf is upside down with flippers spread being pushed up from below by the mother.

Nullarbor cliffs.

Our second free campsite at Moodini Bluff. Great mallee wood fire.

Day 11 Thursday July 30.
More Nullarbor driving – which I will share with you in pictures. If you stare at the driving pictures for about 2 hours (each) it will give you a bit of an idea what it was like. Got petrol at Norseman which has an unhappy run down feel about it.
Decided to head to Esperance where we got a $29 unpowered site at Esperance Seafront Caravan Park – a bit expensive but good clean facilities and good little camp kitchen.
We met Carl the mad Queenslander who is cycling around Oz. He’s done over 9000km so far and is heading off to Norseman tomorrow. He says he tries to do 100km each day.
We arrived in the camp kitchen to find seasoned travellers Gordon and Meg and Don and Pam from Victoria cooking a leg of lamb complete with baked veges and mint sauce.
Had a good chat with them. I liked them because they laughed heartily at my jokes. Ivan usually just grimaces and sighs or sometimes feigns a polite chuckle.

The Nullarbor drive.

Day 12 Friday July 31.
Esperance is a really pretty little town. We were worried that all WA towns might be like Norseman but happily it is not the case.
Met Gary today – a fellow with gold fever. He came across and had a good chat. He has an idea that he will get a beagle dog that he will train to sniff out the nuggets of gold. He is heading out into middle of nowhere with his daughter near where he says a 40kg nugget was found recently.
You do meet all kinds in van parks as I am sure he will saying about me to his daughter.
The beaches in Esperance are beautiful but the beaches in Cape le Grande National Park are superb. Another magic spot in Australia!
Off to Perth tomorrow via Heyden.

Carl talking to Ivan and then heading off to Norseman.

Don and Pam and Gordon and Meg heading east to cross the Nullarbor then home to Vic.

Esperance Beaches.

Beaches of Cape le Grande National Park.

The top of Frenchman’s Peak has a hole right through.

Day 13 Saturday Aug 1.
Just another transport section from Esperance to near Perth. Ivan’s wife Deb flies in from the other side tomorrow.
Stopped to see Wave Rock – quite interesting but obviously a real tourist trap. Had trouble getting a photo of just the rock with no people on it and got roped into taking a photo of a pair of Chinese couples. One of the blokes was running and climbing so far up the wave that we were expecting a wipe out which didn’t happen as he wisely decided to remove his slippery shoes. His feet did make a nice burny rubby sound as he slid back down again.
We free camped at a roadside stop near Brookton. Had a nice fire and just toast for tea. Had a visit from a possum. We fed it some bread. Some music to annoy the old couple camped in their van about 200m away and off to bed.

Sunrise over water at Esperance – unusual in WA.

Wave Rock at Hyden.

Day 14 Sunday August 2.
Bit of a disaster with the website. All the stuff from Black Springs on seems to have gone missing. I actually was putting comments on at Maccas this morning. Wrote a whole heap of stuff about yesterday and some photos of wave rock. Went to up date the post and it said file size was too big.
Lost everything I had typed so decided to just add one pic at a time which was going well until it said one photo was too large. Went back to the site and everything from Black Springs at Coffin Bay on was missing. Disappointed!!!! I don’t know how it could have happened as I should only have been able to lose stuff back to the last update. I had hoped it was just a cached error but worst was confirmed when Helen rang to say that days comments and pics had actually disappeared.
Will go back to Maccas tonight and try again.
At least I have all the comments on Word as I have been typing them there and just copying them onto the site to save time at Maccas.
To make matters worse we had actually paid $10 for the internet at Esperance Caravan Park to add the missing posts.
Typing this in Word at Kenlorn Caravan Park. What a dive and right under the flight path to the airport.
I got a powered site for 2 nights – $50. For one person. I simply couldn’t be bothered looking around for another van park! At least the tent is drying in the sun as I type. Will go for a drive directly – hope my tent is here when I return.
Went for a loop drive around Perth. Went to Fremantle to make sure I can find ferry terminal tomorrow as I am joining Ivan and Deb on a visit to Rottnest Is.

Perth skyline.

Monday Aug 3.

Trip to Rottnest Island with Ivan and Deb then I am on my own for a week.

Rotty is Perth’s playground and you can see why.

The quokka which the Dutch thought were rats – rottnest means rat’s nest in Dutch.

Did a tour of the gun placements. This is Bob who knows his stuff and CAN talk.

We went down into the extensive system of tunnels beneath the guns.

Tuesday Aug 4.
A lot of UPs today. Travelled from Perth to free stop number 228 in the CAMPS 5 book and it is a good one. Right near a river. I’m writing this to post later sitting by what was a fire but has turned into a smoke – not sure how good this wood is. Just had to get my hat and give it a good fanning and I have some flames back. But back to the UPs – Wokalup, Dardanup, Boyanup, Kirup, Mallalyup, Balingup, Yornup, Palgarup, Manjimup. There are a lot more ups – these are just the ones I drove through today.
I am about 130km from Albany and will be there tomorrow.
If they let me stay for the Wotif price of $59 I will motel it tomorrow night.
Fitted an extra pair of cigarette plug sockets this arvo so we can have music and Navman. While checking all the fuses I again lost both the trip metre readings. Not happy! I will start noting down the main odometer readings every so often.
Not sure how it is going to be free camping on my own. A weird thing happened in the rundown Perth campground last night. A guy stopped me at the toilets and asked me to babysit his carton of beer. He said he was going into town… anyway just to get him out of my face I agreed to put the carton under the chair in front of my tent. I woke through the night with a very uneasy feeling – he could have just put the beer in his car. I had thoughts of an angry mob accusing me of stealing his beer in the morning. I couldn’t shake my unease so got up and put the carton next to the manager’s cabin. I also didn’t have a shower this morning and left about 6.45am. The guy said he would be returning about 7.30am. it was all just a bit weird. Babysitting a carton of beer!!!
My fire has come to life. The light is fading so I’ll start to organise some tea.

Muirs Bridge – my first free camp alone.

My camp as seen from the bridge.

Franklyn River from the bridge – you can just make my tent out on the left bank.

It was a long lonely night. No one else about!

Wed Aug 5.

In Maccas at Albany where I have posted the last few days. Am using smaller pics to save space on the page. Albany is quite nice. Staying in Big 4 park at $30 to pitch a tent. Motel said all wotif rooms had gone. Did a load of washing which I will go and get off the line. Looking forward to a hot shower before going off to bed. Hope to climb the big tree tomorrow near Pembeton.

Albany from the lookout tower.

Thursday Aug 6
Travelled from Albany to Pemberton.
$30 caravan park turned out to be worth it as I had a hot spa this morning. Great as I have developed a very painful right shin area – probably as a result of constant position of lower leg on the accelerator pedal.
Took a picture of the oldest Anglican church in WA for Helen and a couple of the nice old homes in Albany.
Met up with Ivan and Deb unexpectedly at the Valley of the Giants tree top walk.
Got lost on the way to Pemberton. Missed the turn off in Northcliffe and ended up at the weird little town of Windy Harbour. Over 50km detour which caused a lot of swearing! Town has all dirt streets and little holiday shacks everywhere.
Finally got to Pemberton. Went to the Gloucester Tree and got a guy to take a picture of me. Climbed up about 15m and realised the light would beat me. May have another attempt tomorrow but it is very daunting!
Have a powered site at Pemberton Caravan Park. $28. Will buy a 240v light for when we decide to go for a powered site. It means I can watch the little B&W TV and maybe watch a dvd tonight.
I am typing this in Word and will just paste it in next time I have internet.
Off to cook tea in the camp kitchen.
There were about 8 young people from Taiwan in the camp kitchen. They are working pruning the grape vines and are staying in 2 very small tents.

Oldest Anglican church in WA.

Nice old houses in Albany.

Treetop walk and ancient Tingle walk where I bumped into Ivan and Deb.

Giant Tingle tree where granddad Heaton also had his photo taken about 60 years ago!

Gloucester Tree. I only went up about 15 or 20m.

Friday August 7.
Got mugged by some ring necked parrots this morning. They climbed all over my and tent and when I fed them some jatz they climbed all over me! Very beautiful colours!
I didn’t go back to the Gloucester Tree but called in at the Bicentenary Tree – which is a little taller but has a half way platform. It is not quite halfway at 25m and tree to top is a bit over 60m. When I arrived a father was coming down from the first platform with some quite young kids – I reckon they were both under 11. I was happy to get to the first platform. It wasn’t fear that really stopped me but energy (although it was pretty scary).
To get an idea of size I had to take 4 photos to get the picture of the whole tree.
Drove through Margaret River and am typing this at Busselton where I will post it from Maccas tonight.

Mugged by Ringnecks!

That is looking down from 25m at the people who just climbed.

Looking up from platform.

This is what you climb on!

Looking up to 25m platform from the ground.

Beautiful coloured water and the Cape Leeuwin light.

Meet up with Ivan in Perth tomorrow (and will spend tomorrow night somewhere north of Perth).

Will post again when I can.

Sat Aug 8.

Trip up the road to Perth where it was good to meet up with Ivan.

Deb hopped on her plane and we had a short trip planned to Guilderton. Got there to find a notice saying the caravan park was closed for renovations. So a much longer trip to Cervantes.

Watched some Hornblower on dvd and off to sleep.

Sun Aug 9.

Interesting trip to Geraldton via The Pinnacles and Lesueur Nat Park. Two very different environments.

Stromatolites in a (one and a half times saltier) lake (than the ocean) near Cervantes.

The Pinnacles desert. Good Nat Park because you can actually stay in your car and drive around.

Lunch at Jurien Bay one of many places around this coast where they haul out their crayfish boats. Season is only 14 weeks long but still MAJOR money involved.

Lesueur Nat Park where there are no large trees. place is covered in low shrubs and blackboys but still very diverse in both flora and fauna.

The leaning trees of Greenough. Obviously caused by consant strong prevailing wind.

Staying 2 nights in Geraldton to let my leg settle down. Didn’t drive at all today. Right lower leg still swollen and now when you press it with your fingers it leaves dents! Still painful.

Mon Aug 10.

Went to Geraldton museum which contains interesting info on the Batavia and other dutch wrecks. Posting this from maccas where we are having lunch. Will post pics later. thought about flying over the Houtman Abrolhos but couldn’t find the shop front to book. Decided to give it a miss.

Leg still a bit weird. I’m wearing Ivan’s pressure sock type thing. It is OK til I start walking or sitting. Will let Ivan drive a couple of more days.

That’s not an oyster – THIS is an oyster!!

Bronze cannon from the Batavia shipwreck.

Tues Aug 11.

Camped at Wagoe Chalets just off the road to Kalbarri. Great little spot with the whales breaching and making huge splashes out in front of us. The guy gives you a key and you can drive down onto the beach. We only went part of the way as I didn’t want the hassles of deflating and reinflating the tyres. Walked about a km which didn’t do my leg a lot of good. The beach is unusual as it has a rock edge as far as the eye can see and the waves smash onto that.
We head to Denham tomorrow.

The view from our tent at Wagoe. That’s my good leg.

The beach at Wagoe. Access is by key from the owner.

Sunset into Indian Ocean at Wagoe.

The Convict Hiring point at Lynton.

Beautiful sculpture at Lynton.

This lake was much pinker in real life. It is called Pink Lake.

Beautiful beach at Port Gregory.

Wed Aug 12.
Stooped at gorge lookouts on Murcheson River.

Travelled through the empty vastness of the Peron Peninsula and arrived at Denham to find the caravan parks booked out as far as tent sites were concerned. Were told we could have a powered site for one night at the Seaside CVP but that we would have to move as it was booked for the next night. We ended up taking it. Ivan generously agreed to shout me a quite expensive but delicious pub meal. I had chicken he had red emperor which I told him was probably a slab of shark. I shouted him a lemon squash and I had a schooner of Swan Draught, which shockingly cost me $12. Ivan still pointed out that I got the better deal.
Met Mark from Gippsland whose total travel time to Geraldton was 50 hours. He drove across to surprise his wife. He told her to look for a parcel on the door at his time of arrival. Ahhhh! That’s meant to be a sarcastic sigh.
Geoff rang and said he would probably arrive tomorrow.

First campsite at Denham. That is shell grit not sand and it gets everywhere.

Sunset over Dirk Hartogg Island.

Thurs 13.
Moved our tent to an un-powered site on which we will stay till Sat.
Went for a drive around Little Lagoon. The creek that flows in through the mangroves was very pretty and clear.
Mark said he had caught some nice snapper Wed night. Will try tonight.
We were getting quite worried as Geoff didn’t arrive until well after dark probably just to interrupt my fishing – although he did look like a stunned mullet after 1154 km in the saddle.
Nige set his tent up on our site. 10 minutes later it looked like a little nuclear explosion had occurred inside his tent.

The creek that flows into Little Lagoon.

Fri Aug 14.
Awoke to the greeting of “Good morning chainsaw twins” from Nige and replied “you are heading back today aren’t you?”
We were actually late and headed off to Monkey Mia after 8.00am. We really should have been there by then to catch the first feeding.
A mother and calf were still there when we arrived and more came in which they fed. I was actually chosen to offer up a fish.
Headed back to camp for a brunch of bacon and eggs.
Went back to Little Lagoon and to snorkel in the creek. There are signs warning that stonefish were present. Given how cryptic these fish are I was amazed to actually see one. I poked what looked like a rock complete with growing plant life and it clumsily swam a few cm annoyed at having been spotted. Annoyingly both Ivan and Geoff were very skeptical about my story! I also saw a large angry blue swimmer crab and many interesting small fish. It was well worth the swim.
Geoff had arrived with a black, very sore thumb so he decided to go to the only medical clinic in town. Luckily it was one of the 2 days when doctors were present. Nurse Sandy dealt with him and lanced his gangrenous (true) thumb which he badly injured removing keys from his keyrings. He was told that it was lucky that he had it looked at when he did.
While Geoff was at docs Ivan and I went to the Ocean Park aquarium where I was able to impress the guide and crowd with my knowledge of stonefish and the fact that hot water is the best remedy for their painful sting AND my first hand knowledge of electric stingrays. Very few people have even heard of them.
Went fishing with Mark and new friend Ken who used my bait and Geoff’s light. Geoff soon terminated the friendship by telling him to “f @#%ing hurry up” when he was too slow when Geoff was holding the light for him.
I caught a keeper snapper and shortly after Ken caught a beauty.
Geoff caught nothing.
Scaled and gutted the fish which I will cook for Ivan tomorrow night.

Geoff’s out of focus gangrenous thumb.

This is me showing Geoff how big the crab was.

After carefully selecting a stonefish free landing spot I fell over and was waiting for a painful spike. Wasn’t it kind of Geoff to capture an image.

Stonefish at Ocean Park.

Electric ray at Ocean Park. He had to poke it out of the sand with a plastic rake.

Fish for Ivan’s dinner.

Sat Aug 15

Packed up and headed to Carnarvon. Called in at Eagles Bluff.
Saw a Mallee fowl on the road out but was well past before able to photograph.
Bought some groceries and rang Helen from Carnarvon as it first signal for quite a while.
Travelled to Rocky Pool on the Gascoyne River – WAs longest – for a free camp for the night. There were quite a few rigs there but no tents. There was also a No Camping No fires sign, which we ignored trusting that the Camps 5 book had got it right.
We were worried that it was going to a noisy night as there were a few generators, dogs and other loud people but we shouldn’t have worried as we were probably the loudest as we sang a few songs – Geoff even joined in.
The Gascoyne River is strange in that it flows under a bed of very coarse sand for most of its length. Rocky Pool is one of the few places where you can actually see water. It was a lovely spot.

The Navara is now carrying some of the Birdon.

Eagle Bluff.

Rocky Pool.

Sun Aug 16.

Woke up and had breakfast. The boys wanted to go down to the pool again for a walk so off we went. Before arrival back at camp we saw people around our tent. It turns out my chair had blown into the fire and caught alight! They had kindly run over to extinguish the flaring smelly mess that was once my comfortable chair!

Disappointed!
The “lady” in the quite permanent looking camp near us yelled out “Hey mister – your chair’s f@#ked!”
She later came to tell us she was retired but looking for work at a roadhouse and that she was home schooling her son. Packed up and headed to Coral Bay.
Another packed destination. We can’t believe how many people are at these places. Most caravan parks are full!
We will stay for 2 nights in a room at the Ningaloo Reef Resort. We will have to free camp a few nights to make up for the extravagance.

The view from our luxurious accommodations at Coral Bay.

Mon Aug 17.
Went for a little 150km drive up to Exmouth (where Geoff and Ivan bought some snorkelling gear) and around to the western side of the peninsula to Lakeside where we did some snorkelling on Ningaloo Reef. It was a great spot as the reef and fish were able to be accessed straight of the beach. There was a bit of a current – which we were able to use by walking up the beach and drifting back across the coral and sand. At times we were just surrounded by fish as if we were in a giant aquarium.
Ivan and I took it easy with the snorkelling to avoid our previous nausea but Geoff seems to be really taking to it. Even he was impressed by the marine life.
On the way up we called in at a spectacular coastal gorge called Charles Knife Canyon.
It was a good day spoilt a little by the fact that we had to return by the same 150km.
Saw lots of stock and wildlife on the return journey.
Had a tasty steak burger at our lodgings for tea and retreated to our room where I am posting this on Geoff’s (the legend – he keeps pestering me to mention him that way) internet link.

This shot shows where the belly of the cliff has fallen or as I like to put it “dropped its guts”.

Ivan and Geoff were standing above such a cavern when taking pics of me.

Ivan being Ivan – stylish and neat.

Brian being Brian – trying hard to hold it all in.

And yes that’s Geoff – and no you don’t want a close up.

Taking a pea – that’s photographing Sturt’s Desert Pea.

Some of the wildlife that was easy to avoid.

Tues Aug 18.
When I asked Geoff what we did yesterday he answered – “We drove all day to get to the dust bowl!”
Actually we drove all day to get to Karijini National Park but after miles of little to no traffic we arrived to find the campgrounds full. Thankfully they did accommodate us in an overflow area – which is the dustbowl Geoff was referring to.
We travelled through some spectacular Hamersley Range country.
We arrived about 5pm very tired, set up camp had dinner and watched a movie on Geoff’s computer. At about 8pm 12 Taragos arrived with at least 7 Koreans in each one. There had been a guy saving a bit of dust and rocks for them. All the campers couldn’t believe such a group arriving so late.
They set up camp and proceeded to have some sort of formal lecture. It was all VERY weird.

BIG truck at Paraburdoo.

That was a quick drive through the Pilbara. Most were taken from moving car.

Wed Aug 19.
We had hoped to spend 2 nights at Karijini but after such a lousy start we decided to go to some of the attractions and then head off to Port Hedland.
We went to Dale’s Gorge to Fortesque Falls. Geoff and I went down to the falls and Ivan decided to walk the gorge rim and meet us at Circular Pool.
On arrival at the falls a swimming guy said that Fern Pool was warmer when asked if it was cold.
We went up the further 200m and it was truly a magic spot – certainly worth the dusty camp.
We met Ivan at Circular Pool lookout and he was disappointed at missing out on memorable spot.
There were many more gorges and the place really was worth more time but we were Peed off with the Nat Park system that can’t adequately accommodate people who wish to visit such a great spot.
To make matters worse the visitors centre didn’t open til 9am AND they had locked their toilets and showers.
On the way to Port Hedland Ivan bought a book of photos of Karijini at a roadhouse. We had missed out on some great stuff but it was very spread out and you could easily spend a week doing all the gorges.
Arrived at Port Hedand. Weird place – spread out – all shunting yards and loading docks.
Staying at Point Cook CV park.

Having a seat at Fortesque Falls.

All above at Fortesque Falls.

Big spider tree on way to Fern Pool.

Dipping my footsies in the beautiful Fern Pool. We should have swum!

The spring water comes from under the cliffs.

Beautiful Circular Pool.

Ivan said he saw 2 balancing rocks on the way to Port Hedland.

Thurs Aug 20.
Quiet day with no distance driving. Had a look around PH.
Saw a ship escorted into the harbour by 3 tugs.
Saw them loading iron ore by the tonne.

Saw a very long train.

Saw a huge pile of salt!
I have 2 theories about PH.
1. That they consume the most electricity per capita and
2. They have the largest town by area per capita.
There are lights EVERYWHERE and for a town of few people it is not hard to cover 60km just looking around.
Had a great $15 smorgasbord at the Chinese restaurant opposite Maccas – including a can of drink and desert.
Heading to Cape Keraudren tomorrow.

Our camp at PH.

Ore pouring into a ship bound for Korea.

Ship and tug.

Pile of salt prodused by huge ponds of sea water evaporaating.

LONG train. We reckon over 2.5km.

Fri Aug 21.
Left PH and travelled to Cape Keraudren. Arrived at a beautiful blue watered bay only to witness the whole expanse of water disappear. 10m tides! We did see a turtle swimming just off the rocks obviously aware that soon there would be no water. Geoff and I walked across the bed of the bay. We saw octopi – small giant clams – it was very interesting. The octopi on seeing you would squirt water at you but if you got too close they would squeeze down the smallest of holes. At one stage Geoff was having a tug of war over a can with one.
I’ll have to tell you about Mick whom we met at PH caravan park. What a racist redneck of a man. He had had the misfortune of rolling his Landcruiser and trailer on the Tanami track. He insists that the aboriginals and the local police stole most of his gear before he was able to discharge himself from hospital and track down his vehicles. He was not afraid to use very colourful language in his loud conversations either. Certainly a “character”. I am afraid that most Australians share his views but at least have the veneer of manners that stops them expressing them so vocally.
I am typing this in the middle of the night in the tent to the accompaniment of Ivan’s snoring as I can’t sleep. It is breezy and the tent makes all kinds of noises from the flapping and jingling of zips. Will try to get back to sleep.

On the road out of PH.

Geoff waiting patiently for me to take the pics above. He did nearly get squished by a road train.

Our camp on arrival at Cape Keraudren.

Disappearing bay and disappearing octopus.

Looking back at our camp from the bottom of the bay.

Oyster cover rocks.

Scary view looking out of my tent.

Sunset through Navara.

Sat Aug 22.
Spent lazy morning waiting for the water to return. Saw the turtle swim in again on rising tide. Did some fishing. Only thing caught was a seagull that one guy actually hooked.
I saw an interesting bath formation high in the rocks and told Ivan we could have a spa if the water came high enough. We did.
Went to Pardoo roadhouse and bought an expensive carton of beer.
Met a couple of nice couples – Ted and Deb and Ann and Cor. We shared a small fire with them. I know they were nice because they put up with Geoff who after several beers was being VERY Geoff.
We gave them the blog address and they said they may follow our further adventures on line.

Yes that is the bay we walked across.

Our Spa!

Sun Aug 23.
Broke camp and Ted and Deb gave us some advice on places we should and shouldn’t avoid as they had come the way we were headed.
Arrived at Barn Hill campground. The short drive in from the main drag was dirt and in places sand. It caused Geoff a few anxious moments and he wasn’t too impressed.
We were amazed to see the place VERY full and some large rigs had made their way in. Some look quite permanent as you can stay for 3 months.
Walked down to the beach and had a dip in a rock pool. Saw a small sea snake on the sand.
It was their Sunday roast and band night so we opted in for $15. Again we reckon there were probably 300 people with their own tables, chairs, plates and cutlery waiting to be fed – amazing given our location.
It was 3 courses too. Soup, roast beef and desert.
Good aboriginal band doing some original stuff and all the usual covers. Talented young drummer is doing a solo as I type.
Will stay tomorrow and maybe have a game of lawn bowls on their green.

Dry spa.

To give some indication of the tides the arrow shows where the spa bath was!

Beach at Barn Hill.

The crowd for the roast.

Geoff tells me with authority that even in a crowd one can be lonely and that happiness is just a delusion.

Mon Aug 24.
Ivan is just unkindly telling me that I did very little today. Have been reading and finding Obama’s Dreams of My Father very interesting.
I did get my backside whooped at lawn bowls – score Ivan 12 – Nige 3 – Brian um let me see if can remember um um 0.
We went for a walk to the mini pinnacles on the beach.
Butcher bird sang for us down on the beach.
Both Ivan and Geoff had earlier made lone accents to the top of Barn Hill.
Had to chuck out the chicken breasts we were to have for tea as the fridge stopped working when we overtaxed the battery with inverters and other stuff at Cape Keraudren. It has only done this once so far on our trip. Ate the patties and left over stir-fry with some trepidation. Hope it stays down.
When I asked Ivan what else we did he replied, “Did you mention the bowls?”
Geoff is just calling my writing a diatribe. He is unkind!
I have now used 3 of the 150 teabags I packed so 147 teabags have seen quite a bit of Australia.
I am being berated for writing drivel so you can see what a quiet day it was.

Our bowling styles. (I think I need some coaching Mal)

Butcher Bird sang …..

from here.

This one looks a Sphinx head!

How many pricks on this pinnacle?

Where’s Wally?

There he is.

Tues Aug 25.
Arrived in Broome and went to our accommodation. They had received my wotif booking so all was good. As a bonus although we were early our room was ready and we able to empty gear out of the car so I could pick Helen up at the airport. Broome airport is right in the centre of town. I parked where I could get some pics of the plane landing but at 2.00pm I thought that somehow I had missed the arrival as it was due at 1.40. Went to the terminal and was told arrival was now 2.35 as there had been delays.
Plane arrived and Helen said it had been a pretty bumpy ride.
Drove around a bit and then back to room.
Had tea at one of the pubs on Cable Beach.

Wed Aug 26.

Went downtown and looked at way too many pearl shops.

Bought an oil pan and did an oil change in the Motel car park. Changed air filter as well.

Geoff spent morning in interent cafe trying to cure the computer probs at Bateau Bay without success.

Had lunch at Subway again.
Had a nap and watched a movie back and motel room then went to Cable beach.
Drove out onto the beach and joined the 100 or so vehicles already there.
Had a swim and watched the camels go past right on sunset.
We will take our tables and chairs and have a meal on the beach tomorrow night.

Thurs Aug 27.
Helen and I had breakfast at Maccas.
I did a load of washing. Had a swim in hotel pool.
Got some groceries for our dinner on the beach – chicken and champagne and salad.

Geoff spent day in motel room and managed to get computer problems at Bateau Bay fixed.
We drove onto the beach and set up our table and chairs. Helen and I had a swim.
Had a panicky moment when we frantically searched for the car keys. I did think I may have left them in my swimmers when I went swimming. Keys were still in the lock of the canopy I had opened to get the chairs out. It could have been bad had we lost the keys as car was on the beach where the incoming tide would completely cover!
Keys found we went back to enjoying our meal watching the sun set into Indian Ocean.

Some guy Kite carting on Cable Beach.

Fri Aug 28.
Ivan flew in a flying trike kite at 5.30am.
Helen and I went shopping again.
In the afternoon we went and looked at a Budda statue then Helen and Ivan went on their camel ride. Geoff and I drove around on the beach taking pics.
Helen and I had dinner at the Sunset Bar and Grill at Cable Beach.

Sat Aug 30.
Had some pancakes at Cable Beach. The road down on to the beach was closed because they were having opera under the stars so tough luck for the plebs who may have liked to drive down along the sand. Money talks I suppose. Saw Helen off on the plane at 2.00pm then off to the shops. I parked where Helen could see the car and took some pics of her plane taking off. Did I mention that the airport is in the centre of the town?
Headed off towards Derby and stayed the night at the Willare Bridge Roadhouse Caravan Park.

Saw this little Fiat Bambino monster truck at the shopping centre and have included a picture for my Grandson, Jacob who loves Monster Trucks.

Sun Aug 30.
Drove into Derby. Went to the wharf where people were fishing. They had caught some sharks and showed us a crocodile sunning itself in the mud. Not a place for a dip!
Covered some dirt miles to Windjana Nat Park.
Walked into the spectacular gorge. Not only saw some freshwater crocs but nearly walked onto one.
Special place.
Geoff tells me to mention his dirt-riding prowess. He did go ridiculously fast when I suggested he lead.

Mon Aug 31.
Got up early and worked out kms done – 12041km so far. We are averaging about 11.5 litres per 100km -which is a bit more than I expected but we are loaded up. It really depends how fast we want to travel.
Went for early morning walk into gorge alone – again what a great spot!
Headed off on the dirt roads to Tunnel Creek. Walked through with our little wind-up lanterns and all agreed it was also special. (Geoff does tell me not to over use that word but it applies!)
More dirt to test out the Blackbird but when we hit the tar it was the Navara that had lost bolts holding the bullbar and also a spot light glass. Pulled off the road and tightened the one remaining bolt on the drivers side of bulbar – we will be doing very little fast dirt roads from now on so hope all will be OK.
Got into Fitzroy Crossing in time to do 3.00pm Geikie Gorge boat cruise.
Thought about dining out in the town or going to the pub but the place really is a dive. Ended up getting a pretty lousy take-away meal at the roadhouse.
Coles is burnt down and the place has a siege feel about it.

Our camp at Windjana.

The entrance to Tunnel Creek.

Hugging a tree root in the tunnel.

More pics from tunnel.

Having a geek at Geikie Gorge.

Tues Sep 1.
Hot today. And it was hot last night. And the night before that. And it’s hot tonight.
We are camped at Spring Creek free camp near the turn off to the Bungles.
Will head out on a day trip to the Bungles tomorrow and stay here again tomorrow night.

The three miscreants.

Our camp at Spring Creek. Did I mention it was HOT!

Wed Sep 2.
Got up early and drove to Purnululu Nat Park. Pretty rugged road with some water crossings. 53km took about 2 hours!
More dirt roads once in the park to Cathedral Gorge and Echidna Chasm.
Both GREAT! Ivan and I sang our grace song in Cathedral Gorge – not the best we have done with only 2 parts but still brought a tear to my eye. Geoff hopefully caught it all on Ivan’s video.
Met the family group of 5 – three oldies and 2 young adults – who we had met previously in Tunnel Creek. I remembered them well as one of the 2 older ladies had called us miscreants! (Hopefully in jest.) We conversed with them again and I did mention this previous insult so this time on parting the patriarch of the group farewelled us with “Goodbye you very nice people” and he even said it twice.
They were really a nice group.

We can’t believe how determined the termites are! I call them determites.

Entering the Cathedral.

Thurs Sep 3.
Drove from Spring Creek (boy were the nights hot and airless) to Kunanurra. Got a blow out in rear passenger side tyre very early in the journey. Obviously it had been damaged on the rocky rough roads into Bungle Bungles yesterday but waited to surprise us today!
Kunanurra seems quite a neat little town pop about 5000.

Fri Sep 4.

Ivan treated me to a flight back over the Bungles, Lake Argyle and the big diamond mine. Ivan was taking lots of video and got quite ill as did 2 others of the 6 paying guests. I clutched my little paper bag grimmly but did manage to return with the bag unused.

Had lots of interesting conversations in the pool. Have met quite a few Vietnam vets on our journey. Met one today travelling Aust with his misses and his cat named Brian – that’s the bloke not the cat.

Took lots of pictures of the wing strut on the plane which I will share shortly. I was too afraid of illness to aim well.

The lower Diversion Dam wall. The one that holds the huge dam back is way less impressive.

The main crop of the Ord river scheme at the moment is sandlewood – a parasitic aromatic tree.

Sat Sep 5.
Drove out of WA and into NT.
Just a bit over 500km to Katherine. Staying at Riverview CV park right near the hot springs which we somehow missed out on in our 1988 visit. They are great – crystal clear and under the little falls better than a spa.
We will stay 2 nights and head up to Edith Falls tomorrow (which we also missed on our last visit).

Victoria River – largest in NT.

The Just Warm Enough Springs at Katherine.

Sun Sep 6.
Have I mentioned at all how hot it is up here? Real hot.
Went to Edith Falls – it was nice. Geoff swam across to the falls and made it back. A bus-load of Pommy tourists swam across to the Falls and despite some concern on our part as to their swimming ability they also made it back. Ivan and I snorkelled around a bit but didn’t swim across to the falls.
Swam in park pool and in springs again.
Tried luring some fish with no success.
Went to Katherine Country Club for tea and got a MASSIVE rump steak all of which I couldn’t eat.
Even saw the end of NRL Broncos vs Raiders game.
Thanks for Father’s Day message Curt.
Got phone calls from Net and Clint, Kate and the Grandkids.

Going to head home reasonably quickly so Geoff is staying in Katherine to do the Gorge and will head up to Darwin so it looks like it may be the parting of the ways.

Including this pic because at one stage the Caldwell family car was just like this.

Mon Sep 7.
Went down for our final swim in the Katherine Springs, which, after visiting Bitter and Mataranka Springs today, are our firm favourite.
Bitter was almost completely natural with only entry and exit steps. It was too deep to stand and very few sitting places. It required some solid swimming to get to the exit ladder and without goggles was quite spooky as the vegetation on the bottom was very dark. With goggles it was clear and beautiful in its own way.
Mataranka has just been spoilt by the flying foxes. The smell was terrible and all vegetation and trees strewn with debris and or flying foxes. Very different from the pool I remember in 1988.
None had the beautiful invigorating spa effect of the little falls at Katherine.

Said good bye the last of the two comfy chairs I brought for the trip as one one the frame bars had snapped. 🙁
Ivan and I are really enjoying our air conditioned motel room at Territory Manor. My family and I stayed here in 1988 when it was being built using rammed earth methods.
The little en suites for the campers are looking their age but the motel rooms are still holding up well.

Watched the guy feed the barra by hand in the dam at the motel. Boy to the barra strick with lightening speed!
Met Wayne and Sue – retired teachers who are tutoring remote area kids – they get some petrol money and food and lodging. It is organised through a web site called VISE apparently.
Wayne was pretty full on – he had been retired for 7 years and was STILL talking school!

Farewell to the last of a comfy pair of chairs.

Hand feeding the barra.

Relatively undeveloped Bitter Springs. Just some entry and exit ladders.

Mataranka Pool.

Tues Sep 8.
Fair bit of driving today – from Mataranka to Barky Homestead.
At the “Homestead” we have our own fenced off camp site and enjoyed a $12 roast at the pub section. Had 3 games of pool which went Ivan’s way 2 to 1.
Would you believe we had to put on long sleeves and actually slept inside our sleeping bags!

Daly Waters pub. Interesting!

Sometimes spelling is just a pain!

Ivan turned the public bar into a milk bar.

Our campsite at Barkly Homestead

Wed Sep 9.
Another big day of driving – left NT and into Qld to overnight at Winton.
Followed the huge tray of a mine truck on a semi for a few kms. It was swaying pretty bad and took up the whole road.
Was going to do a post from Maccas in Mt Isa but the battery ran out.

Thurs Sep 10
More driving – from Winton to Emerald.
Staying at Motel 707. Will head to Carnarvon Gorge tomorrow. Have covered over 2500km last 3 days.
Apparently they have the world’s largest painting here in Emerald – it is a copy one of Van Gough’s sunflower pictures.
Managed to catch a picture of the Cobb and Co coach going down the main street of Longreach when I was putting our groceries in the car.
We have just been sitting in the car last 3 days so some walking in the nat park should be good.

Street scenes in Longreach.

The Tree of Knowledge in Barcaldine – supposedly the place where the Labor Party was born.

It is a good labor town as they have lots of pubs including these 4 within a couple of hundred metres.

The little truck that did.

Apparently this is the biggest sunflower painting in the world.

Fri Sep 11.
Had hot breakfast at the motel and headed off about 8.00am. It was about 200km to Carnarvon Nat Park and of course the last 20km was dirt thoughtfully strewn with sharp stones on many of the corners. With the numbers of visitors this park gets it really is a disgrace that the roads in are not tar. Despite there being hectares of camping grounds inside the park they are only used during Qld school holidays so we had the privilege of paying $32 to camp in an un-powered dirt site at Takkarakka Resort on the outskirts of the park – the most expensive of our whole trip!
The park is all walking only including the 350m from the dusty car park to Park HQ.
We decided to go up the gorge as far as Ward’s Canyon – named after a couple of hunter brothers who kept their skins there because it is so cool – and do the side trips in to The Amphitheatre and The Moss Garden on the way back out. A bit over 12km all up.
The bed of the gorge is flat and easy walking with neatly placed stepping stones over the many crossings of the creek but the short trips into the side features were steep and taxing.
Well worth the walk though and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
A ranger came and presented an outdoor slide show at the resort, which topped off a good day.

Roos at the beginning of the Gorge track.

The entrance to The Amphitheatre.

The falls in the Moss Garden.

We saw 5 of these little fellows

Sat Sep 12.
As Carnarvon Gorge was the last of the places we really wanted to see Ivan and I decided that we would just keep driving until we got home. When I keyed it in to the nav man it showed 1257km.
Had breakfast of bacon and eggs on the bbq in the camp kitchen. An old guy borrowed the little wire toaster that Geoff bought early in our trip – he was so impressed he offered to buy it – I told him it had cost over $4 but he could have it for $3. He went back to his camp and returned with $4. Ivan wasn’t impressed with my dealing and said I should have given it to him but after reading this I am sure that Nige will be asking for his money.
The toaster guy (at least 70) and his brother who is 79 were going to try and walk as far as the Moss Gardens, a 7km return walk.
I did notice in the slide show that the rangers got around on quad bikes.
We drove and drove swapping drivers when we became fatigued.
Ivan found that Deb was at Musswellbrook so I dropped him off there and did the last 120km alone.
I arrived home at 10.15pm.
The total kilometres of the trip – 17890km.
The little truck literally did not miss a beat and did a great job!

Navara home safe.

Damage noticed so far – one lost spot light and 2 missing bull bar bolts.

We used about 12.5 litres to go every 100km. That’s about 2300 litres and about $3000 on fuel.

I’ll give it a thorough going over when I give it a wash – it has not been washed at all on the trip. It may have a few new squeaks and rattles.

The Waeco fridge worked fine – it only cut out 3 times due to low voltage and I had to pull the 12v plug apart and fiddle with it – it may have been the plug that caused the cut outs. We had cold food and milk the whole trip. My $100 eBay battery (100 amp hour gel) held up well but we did have to replace the starting battery early in the trip.