Days 21-22 Way up West in Wyndham

Day 21-22 (July 24-25)

Sitting here tonight swilling a class of chilled Sauvignon Blanc, courtesy of two Dutch women. I’m wondering if we can keep up the level of drama in our blog; never fear, there is more here. Except this drama was the misfortune of others. On exiting the Bungle Bungles, we stopped to put air in the tyres, etc. before re-entering the sealed highway. Dave was approached by a lady who had a flat tyre, and could not get the jack out of the car. Dave being the handy man he is, offered them sound advice and then offered to change the tyre. Listen, most of us ladies do in fact know how to change a tyre, but we’re not silly enough to subject ourselves to it if a man is around. Savvy? As they soon informed me, they had “borrowed” my husband and found him to be “a very nice man” (but we already knew that).

One of these poor ladies was also sporting a broken wrist, which was definitely a liability when attempting to change a tyre. I asked what had happened. She had taken a fall in a gorge in the Karijini National Park about two weeks before and broken the wrist quite badly. She was lifted out to Port Hedland, and then flown to Perth (altogether a distance of nearly 2,000km) for surgery. She was in the operating theatre less than 3 hours after landing in Perth. No insurance required! Apparently Australia has a reciprocal medical agreement with the Netherlands. Gotta love our country’s medical system!! She then flew back to Port Hedland and they went on their merry way across the remote north. They insisted on pressing a bottle of wine our way, which was declined to no avail. I am enjoying it very much. Dave is enjoying watching me enjoy it very much.

Talking of alcohol, we (ok, me) are feeling the remoteness of the far north. In most places up here, alcohol can’t be purchased without a tourist permit or identification. Or at all if the shop is closed when you pass through (very restricted opening hours). Driver’s licences have to be surrendered to cashiers on a bond before you can fill your car with fuel. Today I saw lots of signs. An ATM - “sorry no cash left”, a coffee machine  - “out of order”, a cold water dispenser – “sorry, doesn’t work”, a petrol station window sign – “No EFTPOS, cash only”. And then I waited for the newsagent to open, only to discover they don’t actually get newspapers up here. NOT KIDDING! Where are we? Wyndham, the furthest northern town of Western Australia. Both devastatingly depressing and breathtakingly beautiful at the same time. Out on a limb in no man’s land, much of the former industry has closed down, as have a number of the tourist businesses. The bay recedes into mudflats and salt lakes, and is an ugly muddy brown, not blue. All of the surrounding water is teeming with man-eating crocodiles anyway. The buildings all have barred windows and many have fences topped with razor wire. 

But go to the town lookout – a mountain peak – and see five rivers converging into the ocean. It also has a 2,000 year old boab tree (!!!) and gorgeous wetlands. We spent sunset today at the Marlgu Billabong, watching brolgas, sea eagles, ducks, cormorants and ibises, not to mention 3 salty crocs on the river bank. When the sun set there was a wild shaking of water lilies as dozens of frogs moved out of the water and started ascending the banks of the river.

We came here for the night and decided to stay two. We met Greg and a few members of his family sitting at the town entrance as he carved boab nuts and spent a bit of time chatting with them. They were able to advise me which of the wild fruiting plants I’d seen were edible, and which were poisonous. They also advised it is ok to smile at a crocodile, but not to pat one – a friend of theirs lost her arm doing that (they indicated she was a real animal lover but that feeling was apparently not reciprocated). “At least she didn’t try to kiss him!” said Greg, grinning broadly.  

Bungles under the galaxies (Dave)

Wyndham Five Rivers Lookout (Dave)

Wyndham Five Rivers Lookout (Dave)

2,000-odd years old boab with two 2 x 20 odd year olds (Dave)

Wetlands at Sunset (Dave)

Wetlands at Sunset (Dave)

Crocs & Ducks at Sunset (Dave)

Greg carved us a boab nut (Dave)

Days 14 - 21 Adrenalin fueled adventure in the Bungle Bungles

July 17 (Day 14) – We finally crossed the border and headed straight for Lake Argyle –the man-made water storage facility which holds 21 times as much water as Sydney Harbour. It stretches for 741 square kms. We also dropped into the Argyle Downs (Durack) Homestead Museum, which was a thrill for me currently reading about early Australian pioneering in “Kings in Grass Castles” by Mary Durack.

We headed to Kununurra the following day to catch up on shopping and washing. We also needed a replacement tyre after one on the car suffered a puncture and was looking much depleted each day. A visit to the bank was interesting – I found a wall with signage but no door. Then I noticed a doorbell in the wall which I duly pressed, and a panel of the bank frontage slid open. I guess they noticed on the CCTV I wasn’t armed. No eggs in the supermarket - and we left all our ducks at home! We’ll have to settle for pancakes with our bacon. Are there any eggs in Canberra? How wide is this hen strike?

A phone call to Jayco informed us that the bumper fix would have to wait for Broome – over 1,000kms away. That’s a short distance up here, but we won’t be there for another 2 weeks at least. Dave did an admirable job of attaching the bumper in its rightful place with many lashings of rope.

I was very excited to finally see a real live boab tree. Why they are in the top west corner of Australia is an intriguing mystery. They also appear in Madagascar and a few other parts of Africa. Countless pictures of boab trees to follow.

July 19 (Day 16) – We headed south to the Bungle Bungles (Purnululu). And have since spent four days hiking incessantly, mostly in temperatures above 30 degrees. All of it is awe inspiring, as will be seen from Dave’s photos. The Echidna Chasm, where sunlight reaches the very bottom of the gorge only momentarily at midday was spectacular enough, but we managed to turn it into an adrenalin filled danger sport. The chasm consists of several very long narrow corridors, opening into larger rooms at various places. We made it right to the end, a dead-end room, before turning to go back down one of the narrowest corridors, about 2 feet wide at ground level. The only thing more interesting than traversing back down a 2 foot wide corridor where the walls ascend vertically for hundreds of metres, is encountering a deadly brown snake coming the other way. I had my snake bite kit strapped to my waist, but it suddenly seemed cold comfort when confronted with an actual snake, especially when, after an unfortunate incident 9 years ago at the nearby Mini Palms Gorge which saw Dave inadvertently step on a snake’s head, we were acutely aware there is a snake in the area on a vendetta against him. There was now a bottle neck of people on each side of the snake – and we were the front line of where he wanted to go. He seemed as scared as we were, so Dave inched his way slowly past, having the advantage of a long tripod to hold between him and the snake. I took the option of making like a tree and being rooted the ground while the snake passed me. The lady next to me opted to do the same, but as it slithered abreast of us she started whimpering, and despite my suggestions she make no sudden movements and reassurances that, while extremely venomous they are ‘mostly bluffing’, she lost her nerve and fled back up the tunnel, causing the snake to rear in fright. Fortunately my feet and legs were much stiller and quieter than my racing heart, and it ignored me and followed her. We felt a bit for all the people still in the dead-end, but as far as we know, nobody died that day. On Friday we hiked nearly 20kms – following Piccaninny ‘Creek’ up the gorge to a permanent waterhole, Black Rock Pool; so named because it is a pool located amongst black rocks. Much of the trudging was through sand and loose stones, so we were both blistered on the feet, but Dave’s post-infection knee and my post-fractured knees all held up to the challenge admirably. We even managed another 10kms the following day up Whip Snake Gorge; which ironically did not contain any snakes, though Echidna Chasm does.

Very basic facilities here; only bore water taps and pit toilets. We, however, to the envy of our fellow campers, have the luxury of an ensuite tent with a hot shower, courtesy of brother Paul’s portable gas instant hot water shower system (it works, Paul!). Words cannot describe the relief of having a proper shower after covering oneself in suncream and hiking all day in very hot weather.

We pack up camp in the morning and head for the Gibb River Road. Next stop – El Questro!

Cathedral Gorge (Dave)

Picaninny Creek waterhole (Dave)

Picaninny Gorge (Dave)

Pretty Sure It's a Brown (Liz)

Dave in Echidna Chasm (Liz)

Black Rock Pool (Dave)

Day 13 - The Wheels have come off the Wagon

Day 13 – 16 July

I wouldn’t exactly say the wheels have fallen off the wagon, but that is kind of what has happened, well at least one has. We spent last night at Charlie’s Crossing at Jasper Gorge on the very picturesque Buchanan highway. We thought the caravan was travelling well on the dirt road, corrugations and all, and despite getting a little dust inside, made our way without incident to the Victoria Highway, heading west through Timber Creek towards the WA border.

Stopped at a rest area shadowed by huge escarpments, we were finishing up our lunch with bread and jam when there was a knock at the caravan door. A couple were enquiring whether we had “lost something”. We hadn’t lost anything that we were aware of, and besides, even if we had, how would this couple of complete strangers even know it was ours? But we had the distinct feeling they were about to enlighten us.  Our bewildered gaze followed as they pointed to the roof of their car. There, strapped to the roof rack was one standard issue Jayco Starcraft bumper with spare tyre still attached. Our now even more  bewildered gaze then shifted to the rear of our van, to reveal only the jagged stumps of where a bumper might once have been attached.

They’d discovered it on the roadside some 50kms back, and this very kind couple had strapped it to their car and were searching the highways and byways for a bumperless caravan. Alas, they found one.

Dear Jayco. Remember you mentioned there had been a bumper bar recall on our model caravan but that you forgot to order it for us? Perhaps you could fly it in to Kununurra or Broome. We were previously informed that the recall was to do with “the paint coming off”. Well, the paint has certainly come off ours courtesy of skating along the Victoria Highway at speed after parting company with the van.

The next day or two has some more R&M in store – as well as dealing with the bumper & spare tyre issue, Dave needs to do an oil change, and there is the little matter of an air leak in one of the car tyres. Holidaying is so busy, I don’t know how we ever found time for work.

On the up side, we are now camped in the Keep River National Park, and did a spectacular walk up to the Jarnem lookout this evening. We are finally well, finally warm and finally heading west. WA tomorrow! If we make it.

Devil's Marbles (Liz)

Jarnem Lookout - Keep River NP (Dave)

Lost in Transit (Dave)

Buchanan Highway (Liz)

Day 11 - Camped under the African Mahogany

Day 11 – 14 July. North yet again as far as Dunmarra, near where the Stuart intersects with the unsealed Buchanan Highway, hoping to take this route tomorrow – finally westwards!

The stretch of the Stuart from Alice to Tennant and beyond has many amusing roadside characters –the selfless work of kind Aussies willing to sacrifice their t-shirt, cap and even sunglasses to clothe a termite mound. This trend is resulting in such a surge of compassion towards otherwise impoverishly underdressed mounds that there is now a veritable city of mound citizens lining the roadsides. North of Tennant Creek we also passed a few very keen cyclists loaded up with long haul saddle bags, heading south, who are still nearly as far away as you and me from crossing off their bucket list “Do Stuart Highway by bike”.

There has been surprisingly little road kill along the Stuart. We came across a few eagles working on the slim pickings during the day. Just out of the Dunmarra this evening a water buffalo meandered across the highway in front of us; fortunately we saw her well in advance.

Camped tonight under a large African Mahogany tree in the Dunmarra fuel stop/shop/pub/caravan park which has warnings out the front to not pat, feed or play with the wild buffalo. A large aviary sits in the middle of the campsite. On my enquiry about its lack of inhabits, Trev the park guy said “Nah, last parrot died yesterday. Pythons keep killin’ em”. I hope all the caravan people who travel with their little dogs keep them inside at night, less the yap-less creatures become python fodder.

Medical report – Dave is still alive and can now bend his knee more than 90 degrees. Pain and swelling from the staph infection are reducing very gradually, but there is improvement each day. He can now even hobble fast enough to make it into his own timer set photographs.

Day 10 - To Track or not to Track

Day 10 – We decided to tarry in Alice another 24 hours while anxiously watching the weather reports and trying to make an informed decision on whether or not to brave the Tanami Track. We were camped next to Jim and Peta from Belconnen in their bright yellow VW campervan.

Trivia for the day – how to muster cattle in vast areas with no fences, dogs, horses, motorbikes or helicopters. Have an enclosed area with a one-way gate and water source. Cattle always remember how to find their way back to their own water source. In they go via the one-way gate, and voila! Mustered cattle (this information brought to you courtesy of Peta from Belconnen).

We spent some time at the Old Ghan Railway museum and National Road Transport museum (highly recommended by Dave who spent several hours looking at all manner of trucks, buses and other various vehicles, but mostly the buses).

18mm of rain fell that night near Hall’s Creek, and the Tanami Track was closed at the WA border the next day (I’m sure that State is always keen to stop us Easterners entering). So we sadly closed the chapter on the Tanami for this trip and headed further north instead. One advantage was seeing the Devil’s Marbles again. Beautiful scenery, but appalling weather. We had our goose down jackets on for the wind chill factor which must have been blowing straight up the corridor from the snow falls in Canberra that day – please close the door down there!

Day 8 - Ayer's to Alice

We arrived at Yulara on Saturday and managed to nab a spot in the overflow paddock. It was exceptionally gusty, blowing up a bit of a red dust storm which soon coated our caravan interior in a red gritty film. With Dave's gammy leg and Liz's head cold, neither of us felt very sprightly, and did very little over the weekend, not even climbing the Rock. Dave caught up on work stuff and Liz visited the local coffee shop staffed by youth under an indigenous training program, which was very encouraging to see. We finally made time to wander around the base a little on Sunday afternoon. And did some sunset and sunrise shots, of course. Well, Dave did. Liz stayed in bed at 6am.

It rained most of the night on Saturday, finally clearing on Sunday afternoon to a very fine night for our outdoor wining and dining experience at the Field of Lights. This art installation of 50,000 solar lights spread over an area the size of 7 football fields is a sight to behold. Despite the optimistic forecast of a mild night, it got very cold, which was rather unfortunate for our pre-dinner entertainment of male aboriginal dancers wearing not much. But the fine dining under a million stars in view of the Field of Lights and overlooking the Rock was quite special (pics below).

Monday morning we departed Yulara and eventually hit the Stuart Highway again, heading north to Alice Springs. Did you know that parts of the Stuart Highway double as a landing strip for aircraft? Look for the markings that appear suspiciously like pedestrian crossings. We're not sure what they do with cars in the area during these landing events.

We are also deep into unfenced cattle property, the areas out here just being too vast to think about fences. So we keep an eye out for wandering cattle as well as wildlife, though so far we've only seen (apart from plenty of cows) a few brumbies and the odd emu. Travelling after dark is always a bad idea, so we avoid that.

We arrived in Alice today to top up on fuel, food and Dave's antibiotics before heading north again, this time on the infamous Tanami Track tomorrow. This is dependent upon not too much rain forecast and road conditions being favourable. A final decision is yet to be made, but Dave is chomping at the bit to get off-road. There may be some exciting adventures in store.

Quote of the day: Australian Petrol Station attendant at Yulara to young Asian man inquiring on the location of the toilets - "Yeah, round the back, down the dark alley, just watch out for the dingoes and drop bears". (Australians in queue all biting their cheeks to maintain straight faces.)

Best sign of the day: Erldunda Roadstop Tavern: "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Entry". Tough dress codes, these outback pubs.

We're going remote now, so you won't hear from us for a week or two. You can track our progress via our satellite navigator here!  https://share.delorme.com/aroundthewestin90days   Hopefully we'll emerge into the warmer climes of the Kimberley region on the flip side. Or we'll be trekking many miles back to Alice. Or we'll be stuck along the track somewhere until it dries out.

PS - Some have been wondering how to leave comments on the Blog here. Just click on the "No Comments" (or "1 Comments" etc.) and post a reply from there. We'd love to hear from you!

PPS - Most days we're not sure what day it is or even who the Prime Minister is... wait ... nobody knows that??! What is going on back there in Canberra since we left town?!

Ayers Rock (Dave)

Canapes & champagne on dinner arrival make Liz a happy camper (Dave).

Field of Lights from viewing heights (Dave)

Field of Lights Walk (Liz)

Day 5 - Almost Beyond South Australia

We spent Wednesday night in the beautiful and quaint town of Burra, SA. While there, our excellent physician from Mildura rang to confirm his suspicions were correct – Dave has a staph (cellulitis) infection in his toe and knee. No wonder it was been so painful. However, the pain and swelling are gradually reducing on antibiotics. I knew things were looking up by Wednesday night when Dave finally decided to pull out his camera – he hadn’t taken a single shot since Murrumbateman!

Since Dave was a little laid up with his bad leg - especially on Tuesday after his little knee operation  - I have been forced to drive the rig more, a crash course in manoeuvring and reversing through various parking lots and caravan parks. Fortunately Dave is very good at directing and both our caravan and marriage are still intact.

Burra (Liz)

Burra (Liz)

Thursday night was spent at a rest stop near Lake Hart, alongside the railway line. The Indian Pacific came through at about 7.30am, much to Dave’s delight (yes, of course he was up doing sunrise shots.)

Dave & Liz at Lake Hart (Dave)

Lake Hart Rest Stop AKA campground (Dave)

Lake Hart (Dave)

Lake Hart Sunrise (Dave)

Today we passed through Coober Pedy, stopping only for lunch and fuel. For our overseas friends – this is pretty much the wild, wild west of Australia, albeit situated much nearer the middle of the country. A hard core mining town in one of the hottest places in Australia, many of the dwellings are built underground to deal with the heat during summer. Digital signs light up on the approach, warning visitors to lock up valuables and not leave anything unsecured under any circumstances. All shops and residences have bars on the window, even the town opp shop. You get the picture. The place is a strange juxtaposition of wealthy miners, many tourists passing through in their large rigs, and the largely underprivileged indigenous population. If you ever want to purchase one of Australia’s famous opals – this is the place to come. It is reasonably safe for people – just not so much for their possessions.

Entrance to Coober Pedy (Dave)

Tonight (Friday), we have made it to Marla, planning the run into Yulara (Ayer’s Rock) tomorrow. Camping sites are booked out, but we should be able to fit into the campground’s overflow paddock. All the cheaper "Field of Lights" event tours are also booked solid, so we had to secure one of the more expensive "A Night at Field of Lights" packages, and Dave will have to endure a fancy gourmet feed - advertised as "A carefully curated 3-course bush tucker inspired buffet menu". We bet the jolly swagman never had such a menu. We are especially  looking forward to the paperbark smoked crocodile frittata (canape) and dukkha seared kangaroo loin on quandong cous cous (main). Dave is a bit suspicious that the warm flourless chocolate and wattleseed slice won't be as good as mudcake. 

We are both still struggling with minor colds, but all else is going reasonably well, Dave’s leg infection notwithstanding (hmm, literally).

Signing off, Liz.

Day 2 - Repairs & Maintenance

We made it to Mildura. We are still are Mildura.

Despite most doctors being booked out a few days in advance, a kind receptionist took pity on our plight and we were able to get Dave an appointment on 40 minutes notice to an excellent clinic where, after a brief consultation, Dave was ushered into a mini theatre for an impromptu operation under a local on his swollen knee. In attendance on Dave - doctor, nurse, student doctor and Liz. It was rather crowded. Despite Dave's immense aversion to anything medical related to knees, we all remained conscious. After the draining of fluid and very thorough bandaging of knee and infected toe, we left armed with a list of medical supplies and antibiotics and the hope of better days ahead. Still hobbling painfully, Dave says "I hobble around the caravan park in a way that makes the host of grey nomads twice my age look positively athletic."
 On to Jayco, where another impromptu operation occurred - this time to one of the brake cables that had been catching on the underside of the van.

We feel very blessed for all the immediate attention we've received at very short notice, and many prayers our way. We might even make it a little further tomorrow!

Liz.

Day 1 - Canberra to Not Quite Mildura

The Mission: 15,000km around the West in 90 days. From Canberra, we plan to head west to South Australia, up thru the middle (Stuart Hwy) to Broome  - via the Tanami Track - and then the Kimberley, looping down the West Coast of WA and back across the Nullabor.

Day 1: The sun refused to shine today, which made great travelling weather. But the suppressed mood of the weather was also a good barometer of our suppressed beginnings - not quite making the planned distance to Mildura this first day. With hot van brakes on one side, we decided not to push on, stopping at Balranald.

Dave has been struggling this past week with a swollen and sore toe, and more lately a very swollen and sore knee. As we headed off on our trip he strove for the stiff upper lip and struggled valiantly on. However, the knee has become excruciatingly painful with any movement. Dave even succumbed to not one but two painkillers (!!), and on cutting the journey for the day short, fell immediately asleep once we parked the van.

Tomorrow looks to be a quiet day, limping towards Mildura where we hope to visit a van doctor (Jayco) about the brakes, and a human doctor about the driver's brake-application leg. We are assuming, so far, that the two are not related.

I'd like to say we just had the glitch for this mission, but history has taught us that is not a good thing to say!!

Liz.