Darwin to Kununurra

Darwin – Wednesday 17 August to Friday 19 August 2011

Todays the day we say goodbye to Ryan, as he heads home this afternoon.  We started the day by cooking up a big breakfast for him then had a last swim (just because we can swim in the middle of winter, before Ryan headed home.  His plane left at 2:30pm, it was sad to see him head off, we have had such a great week with all the family.  Catherine and Tim had arrived in Vietnam safely and now Ryan was heading home to the cold and work, but all’s good he was happy with that or so he said.

Thursday was clean-up day, the car and van got a big clean inside and out and all looked good again.  Nearly everything was back to how it was before the family arrived. 

Friday was an exciting day, we started with a tour of the Darwin on the “Ride a Croc” amphibian vehicle, it goes through the city then into the harbour for a look around, heaps of fun.  Then back home for lunch and to pack a bag before we meet Gavin at the airport. 

Ride a Croc on the road 

Ride a Croc in the water

Those who know us can imagine how excited Marlene was for Gavin to be in town for 24hours to introduce the “Legends of Rock” at tonight’s NT Music Awards.  Gavin arrived  and we headed off to the Vibe Hotel for a few drinks before going to the awards.  The NT Music awards are an annual event held during the Darwin Festival, they are staged in the amphitheatre in the Botanical Gardens just a great setting.  We arrived and had tickets in the VIP area, it was a great night and was just fantastic to see Gavin in the zone, he is widely accepted and respected within the indigenous community.  We met so many people during the night it was just a blur, but something very spectacular.  After a brief session at the after party we were back at the van by 1am.

On our way to the NT Music Awards

Darwin to Katherine – Saturday 20 August 2011

The day started early packing the van, but leaving it at Free spirit while we headed back into Darwin city one last time to pick up Gavin for breakfast then drop him to the airport.  We ended up at Cullen Bay and the Boatshed Café for breakfast where Gavin and I had the “Boatshed Fatty Boom Busta” breakfast served in a fry pan.    Just brilliant and the coffee was by far the beast on the trip so far, better than the winner so far at Mission Beach.

Boatshed Fatty Boom Busta breakfast

Cullen Bay with a friendly croc

After breakfast is was time for a walk or waddle – then off to the airport to say goodbye to Gavin, this was difficult for Marlene she thoroughly enjoyed the past 24 hours with him.  We headed to the van park to pick up the van and on the road to Katherine, saying goodbye to Darwin.  Easy trip only 320kmto Katherine into the wind all the way, picked up fuel at Adelaide River and arrived Katherine abut 5pm.

Katherine to Kununurra – Sunday 21 august 2011

On the road by 8:30 a little later than we wanted but all was fine, headed out along the road for a 514km day, best trip ever left at 8:30am did 514km and arrived Kununurra just after 1:30pm, the Falcon was flying.

Soon arrived at Victoria river roadhouse, we voted it the cleanest friendliest roadhouse so far on the trip, and the landscape and changed from this flat sandy base with scrubby trees to huge rocky outcrops and massive canyons, just sitting up out of nowhere, just incredible.  We were now driving through Gregory National Park, a rugged landscape but just brilliant, it was also the first of many Boab trees, after a while they were everywhere.  Lunch and fuel at Timber Creek, not a place I would stay but we needed fuel.

Victoria River Roadhouse

You soon get used to these prices

Gregory National Park - just spectacular

Soon back on the road for the final 200km to Kununurra, we crossed the border to WA abut 150km out and also the quarantine station, were they go through everything.  They searched the car, and all through the van, we gave them half a jar of honey and a lemon, which we had forgotten about, as we finished off all salad and fruits in Timber Creek for lunch.  We also gained 1.5hours as we crossed the border, for those who didn’t work it out this is why the trip was so quick.  We still had half a day to look around Kununurra, get some groceries from Coles and visit the Old Pump house for a beer and watch a group water-skiing on the Ord River, which has crocodiles in it, so you don’t fall off.

Crossing the border, just 50k east of Kununurra

Lake Argyle – Monday 22 August 2011

Went for a day drive to Lake Argyle to check out this massive expanse of water, they built a dam wall on the Ord River to create this lake and it is incredible.  A huge expanse of water way out in the back on no-where, but it is used for irrigation throughout the area.  Unless you see it you cannot imagine how big it is, I remember from years ago that my mum just loved Lake Argyle it was a favourite spot of hers, so it was special to see it for ourselves.

The swimming pool at Lake Argyle Caravan Park

Lake Argyle  - a very small part of it

The release rapids 70,000litres per second  - hard to believe

We had lunch at the Lake Argyle café, while we were sitting there our friends we caught up with in Darwin (Jim, Emma, Harry & Olivia), walked in, they are on a couple of weeks holiday before heading to Nhulunbuy for a 2 year posting.  We helped pitch their tent and had a beer and chat before we headed back to Kununurra.  It was a real surprise and great to see them again, I also did my best to sell them a camper trailer in place of the tent, an Outback Swan would suit them fine, (watch out Michael).

Kununurra – Tuesday 23 August 2011

Nice easy start to the day, write the blog and relax before heading off on our 110km return trip up Lake Kununurra (the Ord River), we left Kununurra at midday travelled up the river to the base of the Lake Argyle Dam wall them back down the river stopping for afternoon tea, fresh scones and coffee on a little island on the way back, catching a great sunset on the way home.

Our cruise boat

Looking up at the Dam wall

Ord River rapids

Ord River gorges

The Lake Argyle, Lake Kununurra and the Ord River combination is an incredible waterway, they release 70,000litres of water per second from the lake downstream for the irrigation system, this waters 36,00 acres of improved pastures, of which 40% sandalwood forest that takes 15years to mature, the remainder is made up of vegetables and tropical fruits.  During the 2011 wet season Lake Argyle peaked at 41 times the size of Sydney Harbour and within 12 hours the lake levels rose 1.6 metres, incredible figures that are hard to comprehend.

Friendly Croc sunning himself

The Ord River has one of the highest population of freshwater crocs

Sunset across the Ord River - Lake Kununurra

Just spectacular all the way up and back we travelled this beautiful river full of wild life, more fresh water crocs than you would ever want and steep rocky outcrops all the way, the fact that the boat had 3 x 350hp outboard motors on it  just made the trip better, unfortunately they didn’t need my help to drive!!

Back home and off to the Pump house for dinner on the water, just another great day on what is just a fantastic trip.  

Darwin - Kakadu - Katherine - Litchfield Park

Darwin – Friday 5 to Thursday 11 August 2011

We have now settled into Darwin life, this has been the longest we have stayed in the one spot since leaving home in June.  All our tax returns are completed and we have received a minimal return so we now don’t need to avoid the tax collector!

We started our Darwin experience with a drive around the city and surrounds.  One very interesting place we came across was the NT Museum and Art Gallery, a very special place to visit. They have an incredible display on Cyclone Tracy, with real audio and video of what it was really like, very scary stuff.  They have also many static displays on place, environment and habitat around the area, along with a very special Aboriginal art display.  Well worth a visit when in Darwin.

After this it was into the city with a rough mud map written on a napkin on how to find a good hairdresser, Jess had kindly provided his assistance.  Both of us needed a trim to get us through to Perth, and with the family arriving we needed to look our best. Haircuts all done drove around town and down to Cullen Bay to visit the Buzz Café.  Another iconic spot to visit, especially the outlook from the men toilet, just sensational and enough said, those who have been there will know what it all about.

Saturday was a quiet day of rest and cleaning, car, van and washing. All done we did the shopping ready for the family and also checked out a special spot for dinner on Monday night.

Sunday provided more opportunities to relax, it’s a good life, with a trip into Bunnings to get some bits to fix the TV, enough said here too, but all is good now, wde also pitched the kids tents ready for their arrival tomorrow.  On the way home we found this great club, the Darwin Trailer Boat Club, right on the water edge, what a view.  So of course it deserved the time to have a beer and relax.  Once home again it was a trip to the pool, as it was a warm day, 30+, we spent the afternoon yep relaxing. 

Ready for our special visitors

Monday is Family day and also car service day, that was the first job.  We had this all completed by 10 and last minute shopping completed it was time to get ready to go to the airport.  I must admit we were both very excited about seeing Ryan, Catherine & Tim, in fact we were at the airport early just in case they arrived early!!!

Well it was great and the afternoon got even better, we took them all back to the Van to have a drink and get ready for dinner.  We had booked a special Sunset Dinner Cruise for them just in case we had something to celebrate.  On the way there we stopped off at Cullen Bay to allow Catherine & Tim the opportunity to look at the beautiful beach and of course the rest is now history with Tim proposing to Catherine and of course she said YES.  So the cruise was well worthwhile, this was the biggest secret Marlene and I had ever kept.  Tim had talked to us about a week before we left, thankfully we were not in Canberra and to make it more exciting we had the ring packed in the safe in the van for the past 6 weeks. It was a great evening and Catherine is just over the moon.

The Happy Moment

Happy as

All together celebrating - we were so proud of our family

Sunset on the Cruise

Well back to travelling and tourist stuff now, Tuesday we went to the Military Museum, the actual place where they protected Darwin, it was a very interesting couple of hours.  Then down to the NT Museum for lunch and a look around.  Back home in the afternoon to spend time by the pool, very relaxing.  That night we all went to the Darwin Trailer Club to have dinner with one of Marlene’s work colleague from FAHCSIA, where we bought Cooper Ale by the bucket full, great stuff and you can see what the buckets were used for.



Boys will be Boys - one was smart enough not to have their picture published!



Our first waterfall, they got better as the week progressed!

Wednesday saw us up very early, much to Ryan’s disgust, as we were being picked up at 7am for a big day trip to Kakadu.  What a day we travelled 280km to Yellow Waters for a river cruise, saw plenty crocs, wildlife, waterlilies and bird life.  Had a look around there and lunch then travelled up to Ubirr Rock to look through Aboriginal Art Gallery and across to Arnhem Land, a very special place.  After a big day it was back in the bus for a 3 hour trip back to Darwin.  We all got home about 8pm tired, but enjoyed the day.

Yelloe River cruise Kakadu

One of the friendly locals

Looking out from the top of Ubirr Rock

Thursday was a sleep in and catch up day, a trip to the shops and a drive around Darwin then back to the park for a swim and cocktails by the pool.  In the afternoon we caught the bus to the Mindil markets, 2 weeks in a row.  Spent the evening watching a great sunset across Darwin Bay, while sitting on the beach eating dinner. 





Dinner on the beach at sunset - along with a 1000 others

Darwin to Katherine – Friday 12 August 2011

Up and on the road to Katherine, about 340km, with 5 in the car and a load in the van the car worked all the way but of course it did it well.  We set up at the Knotts Crossing Resort, then went for a swim at the Katherine thermal pools, busy but refreshing.  That night we celebrated our time together by cooking the fish we caught in the Gulf and opened a bottle of the finest Champagne, it has been great having the family with us for a while.

Family dinner - nothing better

Katherine – Saturday 13 August 2011

Up and out to Katherine Gorge by 9am for a 2 Gorge Cruise up the river, just fantastic, the scenery is very special.  Saw 1 little freshwater croc on the way, along with plenty birdlife and beautiful palms and trees.  The gorges are very spectacular, about 30mtrs wide and the rock face would be up to 20 to 30 mtrs high.

Walking between the Gorges

Me and my best mate at Katherine Gorge

Katherine Gorge

Back to the van for a quick lunch then back in the car for a 60km drive to Edith Falls.  Now this is a nice place and a must for anybody travelling in the area, there is a 1km walk through the bush before arriving at this beautiful water fall and pool, we all swam before the 1.7km round trip back to the lower falls and pool, another quick swim and back home. 

Edith Falls  - just fantastic

Boys will be boys 2 - planking at Katherine

Catherine and her sign - pity they spelt it wrong

Katherine to Litchfield National Park – Sunday 14 August 2011

On the road back up the Stuart Highway to Bachelor and Litchfield Park, we stayed just outside the national park and Litchfield Tourist Park, with plenty of shade and grass.  Took a short drive to visit Florence Falls and Buley Rockhole as we heard they were pretty special.  Florence Falls has a short walk and 140+ steps into the pool, at the bottom you find a great waterhole and 2 waterfalls.  The place was very busy but the swim was nice and refreshing, then the 140+ steps back up the carpark.  We then came back to Buley Rockhole and found a serious of plunge pools all linked by little waterfalls, just spectacular.  Each pool is about 4+ metres deep, it was refreshing and just great, we all decided that we would back here tomorrow.

Florence Falls

Buley Rockhole

Ryan about to leap

Back at the caravan we had a drink or 2 at the bar and a couple of games of pool while Marlene watched the final episode of The Block, there is no TV reception or phone or internet  connection so it was back to basics.

Litchfield National Park – Monday 15 August 2011

The start of week 8 and the 50^th day away and sadly the last full day with the family, so we are determined to make the most of it and throw ourselves into as many water holes as possible, seeing that it is 34deg it doesn’t seem like a bad idea.  We also woke to the exciting news that our good friends, Rosanne and Noel became grandparents over night with little Caleb James coming into the world safely, congratulations to Krystal and Greg.

A leisurely start to the day, catching up on the washing and a bit of resting before we enter the park for more waterholes. We headed out into the park to the Tolmer Falls, this is not a swimming area but very spectacular view of the falls dropping 150mtrs into then a massive pool, then onto the Litchfield Café for lunch and the “World Famous Mango Cheesecake”.  We all rated the cheesecake as fair, it didn’t really live up to it name.

After this it was down to the cascades and a big rugged walk 1.2km to find them, they were nice but we decided not to swim here and moved on.  On the road again down to Wangi Falls, beautiful big waterfall dropping 70mtrs into a huge swimming hole, and a stack of people.  It was just sensational, we swam here for a while then back down the road to Buley Rockhole for one last dunk in the pools. Back to the van by 6pm ready for a drink and dinner, totally exhausted.  We all agreed that Litchfield is the place to visit the waterfalls and swimming pools are just fantastic.

Wangi Falls

Litchfield National Park to Darwin – Tuesday 16 August 2011

On the road by 8am back to where our great week with the family all began, we were at the Free Spirit Resort all set up by 10am, giving Catherine and Tim a chance to get organised before they take off to Vietnam this afternoon.  It also gave me a chance to sort our internet issues out, as our Telstra Wifi thingy spat the dummy in Katherine, so no internet or blogs.  But we are now back on air.

All set up we headed off to the Buzz Café for lunch then to the Airport, to see Catherine and Tim off, we left them about 5pm it was sad to say goodbye but they are off on their own adventure now which is great.  We still have Ryan for another night he flies home tomorrow then it is back to just the 2 of us.

Mount Isa - Mataranka - Katherine - Darwin

Mt Isa to Threeways – Sunday 31 July 2011

Up and on the road by 7:15am, we had 637km to drive to get anywhere, and I mean anywhere as there is nothing in between or even when we arrived there was nothing there.

The first step was to Camooweal, arriving about 10am, a town with a population of 500, and 188km from Isa.  This was our first fuel stop for the day, we set off again, and about 25km out we came across a van on the side of the road with one wheel missing, the wheel went travelling down the road.  A wheel bearing gave up and it all went bad, no damage and they had the parts coming from Camooweal, so we headed off.  Soon crossing the QLD / NT border and gaining 30 minutes.

Camooweal Road sign

NT border sign

Just to prove we crossed the border in a clean car

Our next stop for fuel was Barkly Homestead, don’t be fooled it is just a rough fuel station nothing else, a fill up at $1.88 a litre, lunch then on the road for the final leg to Threeways.  We had covered 400km by lunchtime so all was good.

We arrived at Threeways about 4ish, and yep refuelled again, cheaper here $1.81, the difference here is you have to hand over your drivers licence before the bowser is activated.  Threeways is a roadhouse at the junction of the Stuart and Barkly Highways, there is caravan accommodation here and also roadtrains come through all night.  So if you are looking for a nice out of the way holiday destination, go elsewhere.

Road Train passing us

Our outfit looks minature against a road train

Threeways to Mataranka – Monday 1 August 2011

We picked up the trophy again today for being first on the road, leaving abut 7:30am, with only 540+km to go up the road.  If you are travelling in this region there is a private campground 70km north of Threeways called Banka Banka, a far better spot to stay, it even has some green grass.  We kicked ourselves for not going the little bit extra yesterday. 

We fuelled up at Elliott an aboriginal town of about 100, nothing else there then set off for final 340km to Mataranka.

and another road train passing us - they cruise at an easy 100kph

We stayed at the Mataranka Cabins and Caravan Park, a private property with only a short walk to Bitter Springs thermal pools.  Just what the doctor ordered after, what was for us, 2 big days of driving, travelling just over 1100km and 182litres of fuel.

Here we are at Mataranka

The thermal pools were just great, a constant 32deg with crystal clear waters, we spent some time in there just soaking up the beautiful waters.

Bitter Springs - just so natural

Marlene at Bitter Springs

Ken in the pools

Mataranka – Tuesday 2 August 2011

Easy day today, a bit of washing and then hit the thermal pools for the afternoon.  We went for a drive over to the Barramundi feeding, Marlene was chosen to feed the fish then off to Mataranka Thermal pools.  These are pools are very commercial and busy, it is just like going to the local pool.  so back to Bitter Springs they were much nicer.

Check out the Barramundi

Mataranka Thermal pools

Mataranka to Katherine – Wednesday 3 August 2011

Another easy day today with only 120km, we were very slow and we were on the road by 10am, arriving in Katherine by 12:30. On the way we stopped off at the Daly Waters Pub, one of the oldest pubs in the NT and they say the first international airport!!.

Ken outside of the Daly Waters pub

A nice clean car at the Daly Waters pub

We called into the Katherine Information Centre, where it was Caravan Pitt Street, there was easy 50 vans in the carpark and in the general area of the information centre and fuel station.  Katherine is the stop off spot for vans travelling north, south and from the west, very busy.

We stayed at the Shady Lane Tourist Park, a nice place with a little bit of grass and cement slabs, pure luxury.  Went for a drive down to the Gorge then across to Springvale Homestead for a look.  Saw 2 fresh water crocs sunning themselves on the backs of the Katherine River.  We finished the day off with a swim in the thermal pools then home for dinner.

Croc on the banks of Katherine River

Katherine to Darwin – Thursday 4 August 2011

For all those tracking us we are a couple of days in front, but that is fine as we now have time to see a bit of Darwin and get organised for our visitors on Monday.

It was a nice easy 350k up the highway to Darwin, more traffic than we have had for a while and lots of livestock road trains running south.  We have booked into the FreeSpirit Darwin Resort, about 20k from town, nice park with a cement slab and green grass, more pure luxury.

We caught up with friends (Jess and Angela) we met in Mount Surprise, seems so long ago now, and had a great evening with them at the Mindil markets, saw the sunset over the bay, ate great food from the markets it is a true tourist attraction.



Mindil Markets Darwin



Sunset across Darwin Harbour

A perfect Sunset

Trip Facts at our Second Milestone

We have now been on the road for just over 6 weeks, and it is so much fun.

Distance Travelled: 8,213km                        Average Fuel Consumption: 14.8 l/100km

Fuel Used: 1,217.8 litres                                Most Expensive: $1.90                   Average Fuel Cost: $1.57

Hours in the Car: 130.4 hrs