Kununurra to Broome

Kununurra to Fitzroy Crossing – Wednesday 24 August 2011

Well here we go, on the road again up by 6am as the sun is high in the sky, very different to NT where it was still dark until 7am.  The first thing I noticed at 6am was a group of guys skiing on the river outside of the park, so of course being a good Dad I rang Ryan to rub it in, he was not impressed, at least it was 8am at home.  All that aside we were eventually on the road by 8am, I was too busy watching the skiers.

The plan was to do 360km to Halls Creek and see how we were going then decide where to stay, so off we went.  The weather was warm and the road was good.  Only about 2 hours out of Kununurra we crossed the Bow River, all the Cold Chisel and Ian Moss fans will know the significance of this, if not google it.  The area through here showed big signs of the wet season where the road had been washed out and rebuilt temporary, fairly rough in places but OK, we came through a little place called Turkey Creek where we bottomed the car heavily on a very rough patch, luckily no damage was done. 

The mountain ranges about 100km from Kununurra

Then within another 100km it is flat as

We arrived Halls Creek about 1pm and picked up fuel, only 7 litres left in the tank, Marlene was not aware of this, we decided to move on as Halls Creek is not a tourist destination.  There was a free camp called Mary Pools about 100km west so we headed there, by the time we got there it was very busy and dirty so we voted on doing the extra 200km to Fitzroy Crossing, arriving about 4:30pm.  It ended up being a big day 650km, but we had a clean place to stay the night.  And of course we fuelled the car again.

A welcoime sign only 288 to go out of 650km before I could have a beer

Fitzroy Crossing to Broome – Thursday 25 August 2011

Back in the car and off again, even though this main sound tedious, I can assure you neither of us are anywhere near sick of travelling, every day is something different.  We headed west to Wilare Bridge Roadhouse for fuel then an easy couple of hours into Broome. 

Nearly into Broome after 2 big days

The distance between places is something to get used to

and were we have come from are big distances as well

Well what a place, this is a real oasis in the desert, the place is very different to most tourist areas it is flat spread-out with no high rise but plenty of RED dirt, it really adds to the character of the place.  We are staying at the Palm Grove Caravan Resort just down the road form the Cable Beach Club Resort.  Our friends from home, Stuart and Jill are staying at the Cable Beach Club Resort so we visited them and swam in their pool and went to the bar to watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean, just sensational, but every sunset is special and by now we have seen a few.   

Waiting for the sunset with Jill & Stuart

Something special

very special

Broome – Friday 26 to Monday 29 August 2011

No travelling today, went in town to look around and visit the Kimberley Wild Tours office to confirm our trip that starts next Tuesday.  Had a look around town and the shops then headed back for a swim and wait for Stuart to come back from a fishing charter.  He turned up with a huge load of fish, mackerel, golden trevally and some others that just looked like fish. We had a great fish meal that night and enough for the next 5 nights.

No we didn't buy this pearl

Stuart and his catch

Our meal of Mackeral

Saturday is another easy day, went to the Broome Markets and had a look around, very busy and very hot 33+deg.  We helped out the local economy just a little, then of course came back for a swim, just because we can. We headed off to the Sun Outdoor theatre to watch Red dog, the theatre is the original outdoor theatre and was used in the movie Bran Nue Dae, it was interesting sitting out in the hammock style chairs with the stars shinning above.

The Sun Outdoor Theatre

Ready for the movie to start

 Sunday, quiet day started with a walk along the beach then started to get organised for our trip.  All the washing is up to date, bills paid and blog written, not a bad days work.  We walked up to the beach bar and watched the sunset and had fish for dinner.

Cable Beach

Cable Beach Camels

Cable Beach gets very busy with 4WD it is like a Woolies Carpark 

More great sunsets

Beer and sunset nothing better

Monday, packing and cleaning day, we have to store he van and car while we are away so it was cleaned and the fridges defrosted and cleaned ready to move it off site by 6am tomorrow as we are being picked up at 6:30am.  All the bags are packed and we think we are ready for our 9day Kimberley Trip, up the Gibb river road, for 2 nights then on to El Questro for 2 nights, Lake Argyle, Bungle Bungles for 2 nights, Geikie Gorge before we are back in Broome.  More on this next time we blog.

Talk to you all after we get back from our Kimberley Experience.

Trip Facts at our Third Milestone

We have now been on the road for just over 9 weeks, and we are still having so much fun. We have just headed west for the past month, we will soon need to turn left again and head south for a few weeks.

Distance Travelled: 11,693km                     Average Fuel Consumption: 14.93 l/100km

Fuel Used: 1,746.2 litres                                Most Expensive: $1.96                   Average Fuel Cost: $1.59

Hours in the Car: 191.3 hrs



Roughly Halfway