After Lake Argyle we headed to Kununurra – we bought loads of fruit and veg here (you aren’t allowed to carry veg into Western Australia for Quarantine reasons). Dave & Mike decided that they wanted to do the Ivanhoe river crossing outside Kununurra. I sat beside the river and watched. I couldn’t believe it, they stalled twice – right in the middle of the river. I was kind of nervous, but not as bad as the boys who thought I was going to kill them. Luckily after a lot of sweating they got the car started and brought it back in one piece. It looks like the Pajero could be allergic to water!!!

We made it to Purnululu National Park (home of the Bungle Bungles) after two hours of driving of driving over some rough stuff and a few creek crossings – Heart and Car stopping!
We stayed in the Echinda Chasm Campsite, which I can honestly say is Shite!! $9 for absolutely no facilities and a hole to crap in! We all slept under the stars, I was on the roof of the Pajero. Wow, all I can say is that I have never seen so many stars in my life before. They are completely different to home and when you are in such a remote area, you don’t have any light pollution. I don’t know what time I fell asleep, I just passed out after an hour of staring at the stars – Frayed nerves forgotten (I was feeling a little worse for wear after the drive in). I also discovered that out of the ten of us – at least five snore!!! All you could hear were insects and us snoring!

The following day, we walked Echinda Chasm. It was, as usual, amazing – you walk along at the botom of two cliffs about three feet apart from each other. Later in the day we made our way to Cathedral Gorge – also spectacular.

Click here to see:

The two boys attempting the Ivanhoe crossing

A curious spectator I nearly knocked down

The Bungle Bungles – Cathedral Gorge

Mike, Dave & I doing another Tony pose in Cathedral Gorge

In Katherine we did a big shop-up. We got ten days worth of supplies, a fuel can, a Shovel, an Axe and a Tarpaulin.

Tony left us in Katherine – he is off to go Diving on the west coast. Fair play to him for putting up with us for this long!!!

We left Katherine via Tindal RAAF Airbase for an open day. It was pretty small, but we saw a few fighter planes (FA 18, FA 111 and a US F18 ) and two Hercules transport planes. We also got to Handle a Steyr (with Grenade Launcher and Laser Sight), a Minimi (with a huge battery powered sight) and a Mark III Glock. The Glock was interesting – it had a plastic Stock and Barrel case – light weight for use by fighter pilots. The weight is important so the gun doesn’t break the pilots ribs during high G maneuvers!

After the open day, we made our way to the awful Big Horse Creek Campsite to meet up with Marcus and Co. From here we would travel, almost in convoy through the Kimberley.

Our first stop in convoy was Lake Argyle – a beautiful place, but not a lot to do there!

Hello all,
We arrived in Katherine last night after two days in Kakadu – it was amazing!
But we are not waisting money here, so we are heading straight over to the Kimberleys.
I’ll be out of contact for about ten days – so don’t panic unless you hear about us on the news!!!

Take care & talk soon,
Denis

From Darwin, we took a short trip to Kakadu National Park. On our first day we saw some Aboriginal rock paintings. That night, we camped about 10 Kms away from Jim Jim Falls. We left the campsite the following morning, heading for Jim Jim and Twin Falls. The road (or lack thereof) went from unsealed to non existant – pretty exciting stuff. We got about 4 Kms down the track to Jim Jim Falls when we got bogged down in some soft sand. The boys pushed the car out, we tried again, got bogged down again. This time we were stuck! A nice couple from Perth stopped and pulled us out with their Landcriuser. They gave us a few tips and advice – with that we were sorted! We were able to carry on.

We went to Jim Jim Falls, which was amazing. We decided not to go to Twin falls as it involved a pretty big river crossing & we felt we weren’t prepared enough (and we were getting low on fuel). So we headed to Maguk, another waterfall. This was a good call. After a bit of a trek we got to the top of the waterfall – there we found a few rock pools that the river flows through before it goes over the falls. Time for a swim! There was a few nice jumps – one was into a deep rock pool that you have to dive into, go through an opening under water and then swim out to a bigger pool. There were a few 4 and 7 metre high jumps – where you couldn’t touch the bottom even if you tried (and we did)! The water was a good 20 degrees – absolutely amazing.

From Kakadu we headed to Katherine to get ready for the trip into the Kimberley!

After catching the sunrise at Uluru, we legged it to Kings Canyon on our way back to Alice Springs. We were only going to stop to do a short walk, but luckily we decided to do a 6Km walk around the Canyon rim. It was so amazing that I managed to take about 140 photos!

After a late arrival in Alice, we checked into Annie’s Place, a nice hostel. It was a nice change from the cold camping of the previous nights. I managed to pick up a second spare wheel for the Pajero from an odd guy in a scrap yard. He seemed harmless enough, but some of his stories were very disturbing.

After our day off in Alice, we were back on the road again – destination Darwin. The drive was pretty uneventful (which is good). We stayed in a place called Daly Waters. Daly Waters could be best described as an oasis in the desert. Basically it is a pub with a campsite attached. For a place that is out in the middle of nowhere (about half way between Alice and Darwin), it was busy – very busy. They had everything you need after a long day in the car:- Music, a Pool table & cold beer… like I said, an oasis in the desert. Daly Waters is also home to Australia’s most remote traffic light – which is permanently stuck on red! I couldn’t believe my luck, I was stuck at a red light for ten minutes in the middle of nowhere!

The remainder of the drive to Darwin was also uneventful – no complaints here though.

We left a very wet Cairns on Saturday the 31st of July and headed straight for Atherton. The road to Atherton was amazing. It has the potential to be the longest, greatest hillclimb in the world – I would love to take the blue Avenger up there. The road pretty much starts at sea level and winds it’s way up through the clouds to the Atherton tableland. The road snakes through the rain forest, changing direction to meet the contours of the mountain side. When you get to the top, the rainforest disappears and turns into open green fields. It made for a rather spectacular start to the trip.

As we approached Georgetown, the roads came as a bit of a shock. On the map, Route 1 looks as if it is a six lane highway. In reality, you get a single narrow lane (of bitumen) with half a lane of solid dirt on either side. You drive on the bitumen until you see a car coming towards you. Then you put two wheels on the dirt and drive on. Of course, when you are out in the middle of nowhere, you salute the person coming towards you (you mightn’t see anyone for an hour). This involves raising the index finger of the more visible hand on the steering wheel (apparently).

At one stage we stopped for a short break, we stood out in the middle of the road for half an hour and not one car passed by – that was a little wierd at first.

We encountered quite a bit of wildlife on this leg of the trip; a large black snake (I didn’t want to get close enough to find out what it was), huge Ant hills some over two metres tall and a few hundred Wallabies (at last, a living one).

As we left Normanton (heading south), the land flattened out. All you could see was yellow grass in every direction as far as the eye could see. I’ve never felt so small in my life!

After a short stop in “Burke and Wills” road house, I was driving when I noticed the temperature gauge rise, which was funny because it doesn’t work! Then the battery light came on. The fan belt was broken and the radiator was boiling. Luckily there was no major damage. I put on a new fan belt and we were back on the road within ten minutes.

We were greeted on the border of the Northern Territory by a small “Speed limit no longer applies” sign ; ). Normally this would make me grin from ear to ear, but the Pajero isn’t a sports car! : (

After a great nights sleep on the roof of the Pajero in Tennant Creek (I only have a three man tent, so we take turns in the car… but it was too warm that night), we headed off down the Stuart Highway towards Alice Springs. We made Alice by lunch on Tuesday the 3rd… ahead of schedule. After a quick commitee meeting, we decided to bomb on. At the current rate, we could make Uluru (Ayers Rock) by sunset.

As it happens, we couldn’t have timed it better. We arrived at the rock with five minutes to spare. I’ve never taken so many photos of one rock before! It is amazing how it’s colour changes so much.

Tired after the 1020Km trip, we made our way to the campsite via a service station. I mention the servo because it seems utterly daft that we would go there when there was a bush fire just a few feet away – never mind hanging around for photos!

On the morning after Daves birthday, I found myself running across the city helping a friend with her bags to try and catch a bus to Airlie Beach (Hi Nadine, hope your trip is going well). Unfortunately she missed the bus, but on the other hand she was early for the next bus.

I was feeling rather stale (best description) as I left the bus station – one eye half open (the other still closed completely), tired, a little hung over, I had no voice and I was out of breath after the sprint across the city center. I decided, in all my wisdom, that it would be a good idea to get a bottle of Orange Juice and sit on the esplanade to watch the sun rise over the mountains.

All was going well for about an hour, I was sitting on a bench right at the edge of the wooden boardwalk over the edge of a large mud flat, when my phone rings. I was wearing a hoodie at the time, I leaned back to reach into the pocket, stretching out my right leg at the same time (to allow easy access to my phone).

I got my phone out, wondering who would call me at such a strange hour of the morning. I answered the phone – it was Denis Snr. (Katie, Anne and Mar – you know him as dad!). That’s when it happened… I went to put my right foot back on the esplanade, but I hit my heel off the edge of the boardwalk. This in itself is nothing worth giving thought to, however, the fact that my flip flop took flight during the collision meant that dad was greeted with a very stressed (and not so polite) “Ah F@#k it!” – Sorry about that by the way dad!!

There it was, gone. My flip flop came to rest (half buried) in the mud about six feet below me. I was faced with a problem – The tide was coming in, I couldn’t afford to buy a new pair of flip flops and there was no way down to the mud to retrieve it. I had to work fast!

So, with the other flip flop in one hand and my phone in the other, I made my way to the car. I got my fishing rod out, tied on a large hook (didn’t bother with bait or a float on this occasion) and made my way back to the scene of the accident.

After a few minutes, being the fishing expert I am, I had the flip flop back on dry land – just before the incoming tide claimed it!

See parents… I’m well able to look after myself!!!!

When we got to Cairns, Dave and I spent ages looking for work (too long in fact). For a finish we found work, thanks to Dave, promoting and running pub crawls.

Basically, all we had to do was promote the pub crawls i.e. Talk to cute girls all day and try to convince them to come along. Then on Wednesday and Friday nights, we helped guide the customers from bar to bar while having a few drinks ourselves.

We got to know the managers and security guys of a few of the bars. We were sorted – Free entry to niteclubs, free food, free beer… it was hard living like a rock star (yes, I know I’m dressing it up a little)! Unfortunately we couldn’t save any money at this job, all it did was help cut down our spending and give us two free hangovers each week.

Cairns is a nice place but there is nothing there! It is a hub from which you do activities. From Carins we went to Crystal Cascades, Trinity Beach, Port Douglas (for ice cream) and Cape Tribulation.

I must say that overall I liked Cairns. We stayed in a nice hostel (Caravella 149), generally had a great laugh and met loads of great people (including some people from Airlie Beach – The boys from Jersey, So long and Thanks for the fish – Canadian Dave nutter with a beautiful bike, hope you got the knee down at last – Leanne, hope Bali is going well – Josie and Chloe, hope ye got home alright girls).

We also picked up two new traveling companions – Mike and Tony.

Hi,
I’m leaving Carins tomorrow morning. We decided to make a slight change to our plan over breakfast this morning… we are still heading for Darwin, but now we are taking a shortcut via Ayers Rock! We figured that it is quicker to get there from the north than the south (i.e. it is just a day off our route across the north!). It should add another three days in total onto our trip to Darwin. Can’t wait to get going again!

Dave and I have two new passengers (we haven’t told them that they will have to do some driving yet)… Tony from London (Ilford to be precise) and Mike from Galway. We are getting ready to go, should be great craic!

I’ll be putting up a post on our time in Cairns soon… watch this space!

Den

P.S. Family this means you won’t be able to contact me for upto eight or nine days… don’t panic!

The final leg of the first part of the journey was definitely the toughest one to date. 741Kms (give or take a little) from Airlie Beach to Cairns.

We left Airlie at roughly 11a.m., sharing the driving as usual (I did the pedals, Dave steered… only joking). The challenge on this leg was for the navigator (who actually had nothing to navigate) to stay awake! The landscape was pretty much featureless – it changed from huge sugar cane fields to dead open fields and back to sugar cane again.

On the map, the road looks like it snakes it’s way north. In reality, there are slight kinks in an otherwise straight road. This is enough to keep the driver busy, the navigator is bored into a kind of waking-sleep. The most exciting part of the trip was in Ingham when Dave was stopped at a police checkpoint and breathalized… he actually had to use the clutch and the brake. Wow! And if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times… the Police here are so professional. I’ve never been a fan of the shower at home, but they are really shown up (and completely out-classed) by the police in Australia. You are not subjected to the stupid questions (or general ignorance) here – just a polite greeting, a simple question or two, a please and thank you – and finally a simple goodbye. As we drove away from the checkpoint, we were both stunned and speechless – Wow, this is what Police are supposed to be like! The Gardai really need to get the thumb out.

We reached Cairns at about 9p.m. and checked into the hostel. Tired, Grumpy and Hungry, we got some dinner and headed straight for bed!

We have been searching for work since. I walked around every block in the city yesterday, I didn’t find a job, but I slept well! There seems to be more people looking for work here than there are jobs. I also tried all of the car rental companies – no joy.

From Roslyn Bay, we made the hop to Airlie Beach, we went sailing aroung the Whit Sundays on the “New Horizon” (check out this for a picture of the boat ) – well, we motored around the Whit Sundays. There wasn’t a puff of wind! I never knew such a large body of water could move so little – it was dead flat, like a mirror… as you can see, I’m still having trouble getting over just how flat the water was.

The trip was well organised, with lots of activities (snorkeling and diving) and good food. Unfortunately I was not allowed to do the introductory dive because of my damn asthma. We got to see some whales way off in the distance, we also saw a mother and baby Dolphin swimming side by side.

On the final day there was a good breeze and we got about an hour and a half of sailing in on the way back to Airlie. I really enjoyed the trip, everything went smoothly and there was a great crowd on board. I must say that I was more keen on going out on either a Maxi or Americas Cup yacht, but again due to budget limitations we went twith the cheaper alternative. In this case it definitely worked out for the best. I imagine I wouldv’e been very disappointed if I had paid the extra few hundred dollars only to find that we had to motor everywhere due to a lack of wind!

Mar, didn’t get a chance to call into the Bush Village, sorry!

After leaving Noosa, we headed towards Hervey Bay for a spot of Whale watching. Unfortunately, there were no whales there! So, after a fifteen minute break, we were back on the road – destination Rockhampton. We stayed overnight in Rockhampton and from there we made the short hop to Roslyn Bay, where we caught a ferry to Great Keppel Island.

Great Keppel is a relatively undeveloped island. Although it isn’t actually on the Great Barrier Reef, the Island has a few small reefs and some beautiful beaches. Because Great Keppel isn’t really on the backpackering map, the island is not crowded – which gives it a deserted tropical island feel.

We stayed in a very quiet “open” hostel. Open in that there is no crime (or police) on the island, so you don’t get keys to your cabin – there isn’t any need to lock them. The generators shut down at nine p.m. and there is a radio ban in the hostel… it’s quiet, very very quiet. I like it.

The hostel provides free snorkeling gear, so we took advantage and headed for the nearest reef. This was my first time snorkelling in years, it was so much fun. The coral was so colourful, some of it is solid, some of it sways in the currents like grass in the wind – a different world. We saw a few Stingrays and swam along with a large turtle, who seemed quiet happy to have us there!

After a stressful days snorkelling, we headed back to the hostel and lay around in hammocks for a few hours (to help us de-stress!). This is the sort of place where you could happily spend a few weeks doing absolutely nothing at all. But unfortunately, due to budget and time restrictions, we had to leave the next day.

Thanks for suggesting this place Mar!