Week Commencing 01.08.10
Very Important Month, Birthdays include:
03.08.10 Harley Entink 15.08.10 Cecilia Copeland 17.08.10 Jenny Purtill (60 big one) 18.08.10 Jason Kluver 25.08.10 Josh Potter 26.08.10 Melissa Marchetti (my little baby) 29.08.10 Mine (very important) 31.08.10 John & Wil’s Wedding Anniversary
Sunday 01.08.10 - Here we are another month gone, wow August is here. We are up early after a restless night of storms hitting Broome. We are lucky to be able to hitch up in a break in the weather. Today we leave Broome after 22 days here. We are heading for Barn Hill Station stay. Barn Hill is situated on Thangoo Station, which is a working cattle station. Alf and Maria Grey purchased Thangoo in 1960. The property is approximately 43000 acres and stretches 85 kms along the coast between Broome and Port Headland. The property runs 8000 head of Brahman cattle which are marketed to the live export trade through the port of Broome. Barn Hill is an Eco based park. Activities include, fishing, lawn bowls and general resting and walking along the beautiful beach. We have set up camp and can finally use our generator, so yes we can have foxtel tonight. It has been a very stormy afternoon with heavy rainfalls as the band of storms move over us. We were able to go for a long walk along the beach late this afternoon. Hoping tomorrow will be fine and we can hopefully catch some fish for dinner. We did indulge today as they were selling freshly baked Custard slices, yum very very nice.
Monday 02.08.10 - Woke to windy weather which made things a little miserable. We headed down to the beach to try our luck with the fish. After about four hours still no luck. Back to camp to have some lunch and decided to have a rest and then a big walk along the beach before dinner.
Tuesday 03.08.10 - Today we packed up cam to head to Port Smith. We have been told many different things about this area. Thought we would go and make up our own mind. We have not been disappointed, it is different but we both think we will enjoy it here. The park itself is well presented, no grass all red gravel, the actual site is big and we have a nice shady spot. We are told the kangaroo’s come to visit and not to leave your door open as the help themselves to your bed. After settling in we head down to the beach. The lagoon is set among lots of mangroves and when the tide goes out you can actually walk to an island but you must be off it before the incoming tide or you are stuck there until the next low tide. We are going on a boat over to the island tomorrow around midday and then they come back and get you 4 hours later. We thought there was no phone service, but another traveller told me to go over near the tractor in the paddock and you can get service. We were able to speak to the girls tonight.

Wednesday 04.08.10 – Today we get on the boat to go over to the island for fish four 4 hours. We all met at the shop and they pick us up in the really old rust bucket of the 4WD. Our driver was a black fellow called Mully. He is a very special person, he is very witty and lots of fun. We then transfer onto a small dingy which is overloaded and off we go to the island. John and I walked along the beach and decided to try our luck amongst some rocks. Fished all day without any luck, but he did catch a turtle who gave quite a struggle. Poor fellow, but we did manage to release him without injury. Just before we were due to go home , John brought in a small flathead. All in all we had a fun day and met some lovely people. By the time we got back to camp it is near 5.30 time for showers dinner and an early bed.


Thursday 05.08.10 – We have a lovely couple next to us, Kerry and Trisha, they are regulars here come to Port Smith every year and have done this for many. Kerry and his mat Ron invited John and I to join them to go fishing today at M>>>>>>>>>>>. We set off on yet another adventure. We head out the back of the camp along dirt roads, instructions like turn right at the old car and left at the patch of trees. Lucky for us we had Ron and Kerry driving ahead in their car. We travelled about 10kms to this special spot. It is like a lagoon that is tidal and we arrive on low tide and fish the incoming. We have to walk over rocks and oyster shells to the special spot where you fish. John and I were very happy we had our reef shoes with us. We got a good feed of fish for all of us. We were surprised with how many species were here. We caught, bream, trevelly, cod, mangrove jack and a couple of others nobody knew what they were. Here is Western Australia you make sure you only keep legal fish. Fisheries are always around checking. When we arrived back in camp with our catch we were told the Fisheries had just been in. The fish was filleted and shared between everyone. Tonight the Park puts on a Fish and Chips night for $5, donations going to the Royal Flying Doctors. They also have raffles and the local aboriginal band plays. They were fantastic and we were all up dancing and enjoying ourselves. Once again a great night was had by all and we met some lovely people. It seems alot of folks from Perth area come here for two or three months in the winter. What a great place to do this.

Friday 06.08.10 – Today we were up early as we were all going fishing at 8am, only to find someone must have had one too many last night and we need not go until 10am. Another cup of coffee was in order and some more tackle to be made. Off we go and we run into Tony and Faye who we met on the first day over at the Island. They were going over there again today but realised they had missed the boat (another one with one too many the night before). Anyway I jumped in their car and was going to show them the way hehehehe! I was doing ok for awhile buy luckily John and Kerry had forgotten something and they found us. Once again we went to the special fishing spot and today John was the lucky fisherman, 1 golden trevelly and 3 legal size bream. All in all we got a good catch and the fish was shared around. Tonight we are having fish and chips (fresh only out of the ocean a few hours) yummy yummy. At present have a nice glass of wine and watching the Carlton Essendon game on telly. I almost forget today and yesterday we saw a flock of Broglas, just beautiful. I feel so lucky to be seeing and doing all these wonderful things. Life is good.
Saturday 07.08.10 – Lying in bed enjoying a sleep I hear a knock on the door, it is Kerry who’s up for fishing. John tells Kerry I am sleeping, but no I am not going to miss out on another adventure. Up and ready to go within the hour. This morning we are going to Gordon Bay to try our luck. We travel along a very narrow track for about 10kms and then out of the car and walk up a sandhill and then over the rocks to the beach. Once again my rod is too small so I go walking and shell collecting while the boys fish. Not a very successful day for us, Kerry got a nice Golden Trevelly which he donated to me (Thankyou Kerry I will enjoy). After about four hours of fishing we head home. The afternoon spent relaxing , reading my book and John watching his AFL and Races. Kerry and Trish joined us for the later game. John then cooked a yummy dinner of fresh fish and chips and salad.

Sunday 08.08.10 – This morning we went off to The Point by ourselves, lovely views and lots of rocks. We took the wrong road and came across an aboriginal family and they gave us directions, just keep veering left and you’ll be right. We eventually found our way back to the old burnt out car. John threw a line it but no luck today. We have had a relaxing afternoon. We are heading off to the cliffs with Kerry and Trish and some of their friends for a barbie and watch the Sunset.

Around 4pm we set off to the Cliffs. We enter a road where the sign says NO Entry on we go along this very narrow track. The track then takes us over the plains and then we hit the sand dunes, change into 4WD and up and over the dunes we go. We stop at one point to build a marker so we can find our way out (very re-ensuring). Then over some rocks and here is this beautiful plateform where we are going to sit and watch the Sunset. To the left is a sandstone cave, Trish tells John to climb inside and he will get some great shots. We watch the sunset and then the boys cook dinner. We are about 20mtrs up from the beach and as the tide comes in it starts splashing up to where we are sitting – time to leave. We then cart all the stuff to our cars and head off home. We find the marker and so we are on the right road. Things are so different driving through this country at night. We thank Trish and Kerry for sharing this special spot with us. Wow it was fantastic and we are so grateful to both of them for sharing Port Smith with us.

Week Commencing 25.07.10

Sunday 25.07.10 – Up early and put the van in storage so we could head off on another Camping adventure. On the road early and we were both very excited about this trip. First stop was Whalesong Bush Camp. To get to this beautiful place we had to leave the bitumen and travel 100kms on dirt road, reasonable condition. Turn off to Whalesong took us on another half an hour on a sandy road to the campsite. We were not disappointed when we arrive, very eco friendly. There was only four other campers so very quiet and private. We set up camp at the top of a cliff which overlooked the bay. Stunning views. Not long before the whales gave us a special show. After setting up camp we headed to the cafe of a nice cuppa – which I must say was delicious – yum hot chocolate. We then went for a walk along the beach, as it was low tide the rocks were exposed and we were able to climb over them. It seemed that we were the only humans on this beautiful beach. Back to camp to this time watch the moon come up and this was fantastic. Even the shower was something to remember, a bush shower which was delightful. The toilet was different also, the whole place was great. See the pictures attached. John got the fire going and once again cooked meal a fantastic meal. I think I am the only traveller out here who has her own special chef nearly every night. I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful husband. Love him so much. Thanks Johnny for all you give me.
Description of Whalesong Cafe, Campground
Whalesong, Cafe, Campground and Camels Munget Aboriginal Community;c/- Cape
Munget Aboriginal Community is located on the Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia. It is the largest bay on the western side of the Peninsula; there are whales, sea eagles, migratory birds, water birds, beautiful shells and hermit and ghost crabs. There are spectacular views of the coast line with pindan cliffs and amazing sandstone formations. Join them as you ride the camels through the bush to the beach; learn from local guides about bush tucker, the trees and their uses to Aboriginal people. Experience the country - learn the culture.


Monday 26.07.10 – After breakkie we decamp and continue on our adventure. Today we are heading to Cape Leveque Resort for two days. Once again we travel back down the sandy track to continue North to Cape Leveque. We arrive and this time we find ourselves at a full one resort environment. Here they have cabins on the beach, cabins, camp sites. We are given a site on the cliff edge overlooking the ocean. We are very pleased to hear this, until we see our site, no shade, not a tree in site. Here we are 30degs and no shade. Anyway we set up camp in the heat and then head to the beach. The Western beach is not available for driving you can drive down to the rocks but not on the beach. John tries his luck at fishing but once again unsuccessful. I enjoy the afternoon walking along the beach collecting shells and sitting the shade of the car reading my book. (I am very proud of myself that I am reading books). We drive over to Eastern beach, you can drive on the beach here. We find a shelter and I make a nice lunch, we are joined by an 84 year old lady who is on a tour and doesn’t want to do the walk along the beach. We share some of our water with her and spend the next hour listening to her life story. You met all sorts of folks out here in the world of travel and holidays. She was a lovely lady and both John and I enjoyed her stories. We then decided to go for a swim and a walk. We walked for about an hour, over rocks and found a little rock pool to have a swim. Just lovely! John then wanted to head down to the beach to once again try his luck at the fishing. I spent the afternoon collecting shells and reading. John caught himself a nice flathead which we enjoyed for dinner that night. When the sun was on its way down we headed off back to Western beach to catch the Sunset. This was one of the most beautiful sunsets we have seen so far. We headed back to camp to cook dinner shower and hit the sack, it had been a long hot day. We were awaken about 4 hours after we went to bed to find that the airbed had a leak, so John had to get up and pump it up. Four hours later he had to do the same thing. Bugger!!!
Tuesday 27.07.10 - We awoke to find there had been a very heavy dew and everything was wet. Eventually the sun came over and dried things. We were out of camp by 9am as it was very hot and we had no shade. We spent the morning on the beach fishing and reading, walking and collecting more shells. We then came back to camp to have lunch at one of the joint shelters, while we were enjoying our lunch the whales decided to put on a show for us, even though there is no shade at our camp it is a very nice place. We started talking to an English couple who came to Australia in 2003 and decided to buy a 4WD, campervan do a 4WD drive and travel around Australia until they found somewhere they would like to live. They have a house at Paroo (near Tin Can Bay) they tell us they work for a few months and then take to the road again. This has been their life since arriving in Australia. It was great talking to them as Denis knew alot about fishing and they also gave us some information about place down the west coast. We then headed off to at place called One Arm Point, now when we arrived here they wanted $10 each to just drive through the town. John thought this was crazy so we turned around. We then took a track into another campsite just for a look and was told it would cost us $5 each to drive around the campsite. Once again we declined. Anyway we had a nice afternoon and returned to camp to see another beautiful sunset.
Description of Cape Leveque

Kooljaman at Cape Leveque is a wilderness style luxury camp which is surrounded by a diversity of natural wonders. The amazing wildlife, the vast array of marine life and a stunning coastline which allows unrestricted views of magnificent sunrises and sunsets, makes this a truly unique experience.
Kooljaman is the Bardi Aboriginal name for the land at the tip of the Dampier Peninsula north of Broome. The two surrounding indigenous communities of Djarindjin and One Arm Point jointly own Kooljaman and have developed the facility in line with the community’s aspirations and their inherent knowledge of the land. Kooljaman at Cape Leveque has been established for 20 years and has won numerous state tourism awards and recently won four Australian Tourism Awards.

Wednesday 28.07.10 – Today we decamp and head to Middle Lagoon. Middle Lagoon is about an 1 hour south along the bitumen and then along the same sand track we took to Whalesong, they are neighbours. Arriving a Middle Lagoon we were hoping for a shady spot. When shown our campsite we were delighted, shade shade and more shade, not much grass but we could live with that. We set up camp in no time and headed straight to the beach for a swim. The water was fantastic, it was very salty and we both just floated and enjoyed the cool. We spent the afternoon exploring the area. You could not drive on any of the beaches here but we found some great tracks up on the cliffs. We found a bay with a beautiful beach, John walked down but I gave up halfway as it was very steep. John found another way down and we decided we would come back here tomorrow and fish. Back to camp and then an hour walk along the beach to complete the afternoon. John collected some wood so we could have a fire after dinner. Once again a fantastic meal and then a few drinks around the fire before bed.
Thursday 29.07.10 – Up nice and early as the bed isn’t as comfortable the one in our van. Also John had to pump up again during the night. After breakfast we headed to our private beach we had found the day before. John had some luck here fishing, caught about five fish in all, unfortunately they were all undersize and we had to kiss them and give them back to grow bigger. Anyway I had a happy Johnny as he said he really enjoyed bringing them all in. Especially one fish called a Long Tom, they are very long fish with very sharp teeth, but John says they are fun catching. We spent about four hours here, really a nice place. Back to camp and headed straight to the lagoon for another swim before lunch. We spent the afternoon reading, collecting wood for yet a bigger fire and watching the going ons of the camp. We got some new neighbours, about 12 people from a cattle station on a two day broke. They were lovely people, made themselves known to us. The guys dressed in their jeans and riding boots and then later changed into board shorts and tee-shirts. They headed off to do some fishing and the kids played footy on the beach. We also met another couple who were farmers from the big Tam (Tamworth), they were a real nice couple on a three month holiday in a 4WD and tent. We enjoyed dinner and then we had a huge fire for our last night. All in all it was a fantastic five days. Really like the camping thing.
Friday 30.07.10 – Once again up early and heading back to Broome as we have the car in for a Ming service at noon. We have a good trip back along the 100kms of dirt road, sure is nice to hit the bitumen. Back to Broome Caravan park, move van to site and tackled the washing etc. Busy afternoon.
Saturday 31.07.10 – Still washing, nearly finished. John and I head off to buy me a fishing rod as we will be fishing all the way down the coast and I thought I should get in on the act. Dropped John at the TAB and I headed to town to once again check out the markets and do the shopping for our next adventure.
Description of Middle Lagoon
Middle Lagoon is an Aboriginal operated camping area. Wulgarding is the name of the dream-time snake that protects the area. Middle Lagoon is also the name of the Aboriginal Corporation.

Located approximately 182 km from Broome via the Cape Leveque Road & 65 km from Beagle Bay, Middle Lagoon is 31 km off the tar along a sandy track. The 20 hectare camping area is located on a black rocky headland overlooking beautiful crystal clear water.

Commonly referred to as "Natures Hideaway", Middle Lagoon has great fishing with boat launching access, Accommodation includes a few cabins, beach shelters and bush camp sites some with water nearby. You could set up on the dune overlooking the beach but to avoid the wind there are sites among the trees, this is truly a Kimberley cruising getaway!

Week Commencing 19.07.10

Week Commencing 19.07.10
Monday 19.07.10 – Lazy morning and then the weekly shopping. I had a lovely browse and John took himself for a long walk.
Tuesday 20.07.10 – We had a lovely adventure today, left home around 9.30 and arrived back at 5pm. Covered approximately 230kms on dirt roads. First stop was Willie Creek Pearl Farm, very interesting. Unfortunately all the pearls I liked were well out of our price range. We took a side track and found a lovely spot on the beach to have our picnic lunch. Back through the sand dunes and back on the road to James Price Point. We took the left road which took us along a track which didn’t seem to go anywhere. We came across a couple camping in the bushes, stopped and had a chat he had just been down to the ocean diving for fish. She had a pet budgie sitting on her shoulder they adopted back in Alice Springs. After leaving them we found the place where our friends Garry and Deb must have camped. There was only one camp set up. We walked on the beach, I collected more shells while John scrambled over the rocks. We then headed back home and stopped in at Quondong, here we found lots of campers, some in vans, some in tents , the view was to die for. You are allowed to camp at these spots for three days only. We drove down onto the beach, it was just lovely. Further down the road we decided to check our Barred Creek, once again more campers here. We spoke to a couple who were about to go out fishing in their boat, she was fishing while waiting for hubby to sort the boat and while we were there she caught a lovely whiting. She said she had spotted a big shark in the creek. Apparently the creek is dry when the tide goes out. This place was a little eerie. Once we hit the highway we decided we should see where yet another dirt road took us. Crab Creek Road took us down to Roebuck Bay and we could see Broome from this point. Once again another fantastic day, I thank John for all his driving and keeping us safe.
Note: We came across these birds, would appreciate if anyone knows what they are

Wednesday 21.07.10 – Spent morning with Allyson enjoying nice morning tea as John and Alex went to golf. Did some shopping with John in the afternoon. Nice peaceful day.
Thursday 22.07.10 – Rest Day.
Friday 23.07.10 – Rest Day
Saturday 24.07.10 - Dropped John off at the Rowie TAB for the afternoon. I spent the afternoon looking at the shops and exploring Broome town.

Week commencing 12.07.10

Week Commencing 12.07.10
Monday 12.07.10 – Not much today but rain rain rain.
Tuesday 13.07.10 – John and I enjoyed a nice lunch in town. We then went for a drive around Broome. We visited the Port boat ramp at high tide. Then we took to the road, ROAD CLOSED , not us we followed two other vehicles, reason road closed it was mostly covered with water. We continued on and enjoyed some beautiful sights of the coastline along the way. They have huge tides here in Western Australia 1m low to 9.5m high. We joined John & Judy for nibbles and drinks to watch the Sunset once again. Just amazing. We did do a one hour walk along the beach. When we got back to camp, John put on a roast lamb and we had some more drinks with our neighbours Alison and Alex.
Wednesday 14.07.10 – John and Alex got up early and went to golf. Alison is a hairdresser so she cut my hair. I now have a bob. We are heading off to Cable beach for a barbeque dinner with John and Judy.
Thursday 15.07.10 – We spent the morning fishing and John got a lovely bream which we ate for dinner. We met John and Judy for drinks and watched the Sunset.
Friday 16.07.10 – Once again we spent the morning fishing unfortunately no fish today. We enjoyed a lovely meal on the beach with John and Judy.
Saturday 17.07.10 – John took himself to golf to play in the comp and then meet John at the Broome races. Judy picked me up and we went to the markets, then to the movies followed by lunch and afternoon tea. She helped me with some facebook lessons. All in all I had a lovely day.
Sunday 18.07.10 – We relaxed around the camp. In the afternoon we went to the Vistors centre and made arrangements for our camping trip next week. We met John and Judy for farewell drinks at Cable beach as they are heading south on Monday.

Week commencing 05.07.10

Week Commencing 05.07.10

Monday 05.07.10 – We left Fitzroy Crossing in bleak conditions. Eight kms of the highway was a gravel road as they were doing road works. (we were lucky to get through as this section was closed for the following two days due to rain). Setting up in the drizzle was not a pleasant task. Once again the caravan park is very full and we got one of the last four spots. We are overlooking the tidal mud flats.

Tuesday 06.07.10 – Today we spent in the van as the rain came down around us. We now have water views, those tidal mud flats are now covered with water. During the morning a big tractor had to come in tow four caravans and cars off the area behind us. They were flooded and could not get out. A little bit of excitement.
Wednesday 07.07.10 – The rain has gone, so John took me for a two hour walk to the Jetty and back through town. I was exhausted but felt much better after lazying around the day before. We went and saw Derby’s main attraction the Boab Prison Tree and the longest cow trough in Australia. We checked out the golf course, which is also part of the race track. So if a race is on the golfers have to wait before they can hit their ball.

Thursday 08.07.10 - John celebrates his 56th birthday. We had Barra and chips on the wharf which was delicious. Went back around 4.30pm, for the incoming tide to do some fishing. No luck, we caught a small catfish but enjoyed the evening. I hope John had a nice birthday.

Friday 09.07.10 – Woke to more rain, so we had to pack up in the pouring rain. It rained nearly all the way to Broome. Just when we arrived at our van park the sun decided to show its face. Fantastic, we managed to set up with no rain. This didn’t last for long the sky opened in the afternoon and it rained for the rest of the day and evening. We were lucky to get a slab and the water was running like a small creek on either side of us. We were the lucky ones, our fellow campers had water up to their doorsteps.

Saturday 10.07.10 – We caught up with John and Judy, the boys spent the afternoon at the TAB and Judy and I did the lady thing, a nice lunch and afternoon tea and a browse around the town of Broome. We met down at Cable Beach to watch the sunset, unfortunately still some nasty clouds – not a good sunset.


Sunday 11.07.10 – We met up with John and Judy around 2pm and drove down the beach for about 20kms. A little bit of really soft sand gave us a scare but we were both fine. We drove back down the beach to have the afternoon tea we had prepared. Johnny put the kettle on for the coffee and we all enjoyed homemade piklets and carrot cake. Yummy!!! We then waiting for the Sunset and tonight it was very beautiful. We even got some lovely shots of the camels walking past. Hope you enjoy the pics this week.

Week Commencing 28.06.10

Week Commencing 28.06.10
Monday 28.06.10 – Left Kununarra at 10.30ish after saying farewell to Michael and Sarah (they were heading North to Diggers Rest) and then back to Bungle Bungles. We drove to Turkey Creek Roadhouse where we had booked the last powered site. We spent the afternoon packing the car ready for our adventure to the Bungle Bungles the next morning.
Tuesday 29.06.10 – After putting the van in storage (see pic) we headed down the highway 50 kms to the turnoff, this takes us into private property Mable Downs Station. The 53km track was not as bad as we had been told, I think John enjoyed the challenge. Some of the turns are very blind and you also have to be careful as it is difficult to see what is coming over the hills. It took us about 1.5 hours. We then had to drive a further 13km to Walardi Campsite. Here we quickly set up camp and headed to Cathedral Gorge. This is a 3km return walk. You walk passed striped sandstone beehives, creek beds and potholes, looming cliffs, evidence of waterfalls that cascade down steep rock faces during the wet season, honeycomb weathering, opening into a huge amphitheatre. Very impressive! On the way back to camp we stopped in at the Airstrip to book our helicopter flight. So at 11am Wednesday it is up up and away for John & Willy. There were alot of folks camping at Walardi Campsite so we settled in for dinner and an early night. Forgot to say there are no shower facilities at Bungles, but John rigged up a great shower for us both.
Wednesday 30.06.10 – Wished Carmel a happy birthday. We decided to pack up camp at Walardi and after hiking the Southern end of park we would find a spot at Kurrajong Campsite. We arrived at the Airstrip about an hour before takeoff. Our pilot, Anthony gave us a great commentary , during our 30min flight over the Bungles. The Bungle Bungle Range is almost 99 times the area of Uluru, there are more stunning features and spectacular formations. We fly over Red Rock Gorges of the northwest tip, Piccaninny Gorge from end to end, and the unique beehive dome formations that have contributed to the listing of the Bungle Bungle range as Australia’s newest World Heritage Area. This was a fantastic way to see Purnululu National Park. John and I thought this was the best and yet another highlight of our trip. Seeing all this from 2,000 feet gives you an idea of just how big this place is. When we finally came down from the high we were on, we decided to tackle Cathedral Gorge again. This time it was like Queen Street, people everywhere. We also did the Dome walk , this trail winds around sandstone domes that rise majestically from the Spinifex-covered sand plains. After a nice lunch we set off to our new campsite of Kurrajong. We found a lovely spot on some grass. Camp was set up within half an hour. A doctor of science asked us to fill out a survey, she also commented on how well organised we were at setting up camp and that there were not fights. I felt very proud of her comments, we are a good team. This camp was much bigger and seem nicer than the previous one. While we were passing time we both set back enjoying the coming and going of folks. A group of about eight people pulled in on dark and it was very entertaining watching them set up and get their dinner organised etc. All in all we had a pleasant evening and once again enjoyed dinner and a couple of nice reds.
Thursday 01.07.10 – Pinch and Punch 1st Month - Wow 1st July I can’t believe it. Anyway yet another busy day. We pulled down our camp as it was a very overcast day and raining slightly. Our first hike was to Mini Palms. This walk takes you over pebbly, dry creek beds leading to high cliffs, undulating over fallen blocks of cliff face before you ascend to the first viewing platform reaching a vortex of rocks and palms. Another ascent leads to the top platform for an awe-inspiring view into a high, narrow amphitheatre – the Mini Palms Gorge. Wow this was a fantastic place, getting there was quite challenging for me we had to climb up rocks and through tiny crevices, you had to remove your backpack to fit. Well worth the effort to see this gorge. Our next walk was not quite so challenging, Echidna Chasm Walk but it was the best just beautiful. After walking the creek bed you are faced with a spectacular long narrow chasm, which yields striking colour variations depending on the angle of the sun beaming into the chasm, with Livistona palms waving from the 200 metre high ridge above. Once in the chasm, there is a further area to climb ladders to reach the very end – a wall of rock. When you look up there are boulders that have fallen and are squashed between the walls. This end of the park is very very beautiful. We really enjoyed our experience at the Bungle Bungles. We then had the 53km drive back to the highway, this time with the rain to add to the adventure. There was alot of traffic on the way back we were behind at least five cars the trip took about 1hr 40mins. Our little van was sitting in the lock up waiting for us. We hitched up drove over to the roadhouse, John gave the car a quick wash and we headed down the highway and stayed at the Free Camp called Leycesters Rest on the Ord River. We were both very tired after a couple of big days hiking and camping. After organising dinner it was an early night for both of us.
Friday 02.07.10 - Up at 6.00am , yes we saw the Sunrise. This rest area would have about 40 vans, tents, campers staying there. We have been told people leave their vans here and at Spring Creek and travel into the Bungles. Left camp early , next stop Halls Creek well we only got fuel and kept going not much in Halls. We arrived at Mary Pool (Mary River) around lunchtime and decided to stay the night. We have a lovely spot under some trees and really just having a lazy time. We have been down the river edge and collected wood as we plan on having a fire this evening. We have finally got a chance to use the generator. There would be at least 60 caravans. Tents, vans and even a couple of buses. Lots of folk looking for a free night. John cooked a beautiful dinner and we ate this in front of our fire with a couple of glasses of red. Very nice.
03.07.10 – Saturday – left camp around 8.30am and drove the 180 km to Fitzroy Crossing. Lucky we were early as the sites filled up quickly and only unpowered left. Lots of washing to do, we also washed the van and car. Went into town for some bread and milk, had to go to the school as the IGA had burnt down. We watched a bit of a local footy game. Unable to pick up either Foxtel or TV so some ready and computer updates to do this evening. We are at the Fitzroy Lodge Van park , very nice. John had a swim but l chickened out as the water was freezing.
Sunday 04.07.10 - Visited Geikie Gorge this was a pleasant walk and very pretty place. On the way back to camp we came across a Rodeo, both of us had never been to one. It was fantastic we had a great afternoon. We saw some bull riding, these guys have lots of guts to get on these animals. Two of the bulls crashed through the closed gate and another one jumped straight over. Wow this was an exciting afternoon.