Townsville to Bowen

Day 75


Townville waterfront is full of construction activity and development.

The climate is cooler now that we have arrived on the east coast and Kim was itching to ride her motorcycle again. She re-started riding from Townsville.

Our first day with the motorcycle again was a fairly easy one from Townsville to Bowen through the sugarcane fields - a bit over 200 klms. We arrived in Bowen late morning and headed out for a snorkel and swim at one of the more remote beaches nearby.



Bowen was a lovely spot which featured fairly strongly in the recent Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman film "Australia". We only stayed 2 days but could have spent alot longer exploring the beaches and sorrounding area.

Alice Springs to Townsville

Day 73
Wednesday 15 April 2009

We left Alice Springs on day 65 and travelled about 500 klms to Tennant Creek for the night stopping along the way at Aileron, Barrow Creek and Wycliffe Wells. Another 500 klms the following day brought us to Mount Isa. As soon as we crossed the border from Northern Territory into Queensland we noticed the roads deteriorated and travelling became less comfortable. If you look closely at the photo below you will see the uneven road surface that started as soon as you crossed the border.



Mount Isa is a hub of activity being the single largest producers of silver, lead, copper and zinc in the world. Signs of mining activity is evident even in the centre of town with huge chimney towers that dominate the landscape.



Day 68 -70

We travelled from Mt Isa to Townsville (another 500 odd klms) and stayed for the easter weekend. We found a caravan park as close to the city centre as possible and commuted back and forth to the centre of townsville several times. Unfortunately, we felt a bit out of place in the caravan park which was a bit upmarket, very busy, very noisy and (I must be getting old) with too many children.

Day 71

We drove north to a rainforest and mountainous area called Paloona. Fortunately, we left the trailer behind as the roads were extremely windy with little clearance. We enjoyed the forest and waterfalls and had lunch at a cafe in Paloona. On the way back to Townsville we had a few annoying incidents -I brushed the camper against a roadside sign on the way down the mountain and then a rock was thrown up and seriosly cracked the windscreen. The following day we left from Townsville for the trip south.

Alice Springs

Day 64
6.4.09

Today we visited the Desert Park. I'd been here previously when I visited Schulzie about 5 years ago. Although it was good, I was a little disappointed as it didn't have any aboriginals talking about their food and medicine etc. like they did previously. The highlight, however, was the birds of prey. A ranger talked about them, and as she did, the various types would fly in and be fed by her. It was great. One of my favourites was a buzzard who wandered off to pick up a stone so it could break an emu egg. In the pic you can see the stone in it's mouth and then on the ground next to the egg.





In the afternoon, we caught up on some shopping, washing and ironing etc.

That night, we had dinner with Schulzie and her 2 sons. It was really nice catching up with lots of laughter.



Day 65
7.4.09

Today, we were supposed to head back towards Tennant Creek but Chris was a bit on the tired side so we're staying in Alice for another night. I went into town to have a proper look around which was really nice. From about 6:30 a.m. until roughly 11:00 a.m. though, all communications in Alice were down. No landlines, no mobiles, no internet, no ATM and no EFTPOS. Most banks were closed because of it and shops could only accept cash. I was really worried about Kieran because he hasn't been well and it was awful not being able to ring him. Fortunately, everything seems to be back to normal now.

Tennant Creek to Alice Springs

Day 63
5.4.09

Today was Palm Sunday.

A little over 100 kms south of Tennant Creek was Devils Marbles. They were really interesting. I don't understand how they were formed but they are great. This was the first time we've really seen many tourists around.



As we travelled further south, we passed areas where UFO sightings have been made, Peter Falconio was killed and a pub where his dad and brother left a $5 note (signed) so Peter could buy a drink if he turned up. Really very sad. I'm hoping to take photos on the way back. I did, however, take a pic of one of the walls in the pub which is covered in money from all over the world.



Booked into a caravan park at Alice and it really wasn't that hot for an incredible change.

Katherine to Tennant Creek

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Day 62
4.4.09

Today we drove from Katherine to Tennant Creek. It seemed like a very long way. One of the most interesting places we stopped was called 'Fran's' at Larrimah which was a little homemade place to stop for a cuppa, lunch, break etc. We had a Devonshire Tea each which cost $24. A little expensive but worth it for the experience. Fran, herself was a real character and we had our tea under the small shed's awning with 2 other couples. One was from Holland and they were riding a Harley around. Fran had bullock and camel pies and snags. I was going to buy some bullock snags but after getting stung for the Devonshire Teas, completely forgot.



Once at Tennant Creek, we stayed in another caravan park on the outskirts of town.

Kakadu

Day 60
2.4.09

Today we headed for Kakadu. We arrived in Jabaru and had a look at the caravan parks but they were quite expensive and not much chop so we kept moving. I loved Kakadu but didn't like Jabaru at all. We headed for the info centre and art gallery. The info centre was a total waste of time but the Art Gallery was lovely. We ended up a free camp spot heading south and although still hot, it was great. There were signs up about crocs again so I didn't particularly want to get to close to the river.



Day 61
3.4.09

I really enjoyed parts of today. We say some great aboriginal rock art and just beautiful vegetation.



We passed through lovely areas of wetlands but unfortunately, almost all the roads were closed. I also saw the Cultural Centre which I really enjoyed.

We travelled to Katherine for the night where I rang a friend who lives in Alice Springs, Schulzie, and organised to have dinner with her family on Monday night.

Katherine to Darwin

Day 57
30.3.09

Today was Chris' 50th birthday and Dad's 75th birthday. Chris didn't want to celebrate in any way, shape or form until he got home, so this day was pretty much a non event, which I found extremely disappointing. Dad seemed to have a much nicer birthday.

We drove to Darwin and booked into a caravan park only about 7 kms outside Darwin. Darwin seemed to be lush and beautifully kept. We had a look at a motorbike shop down the road and ended up buying Chinese take-away for dinner.

Day 58
31.3.09

We had the truck booked in for a service, so we left pretty early to get it in by 7:30 a.m. A lovely man then drove us into town to have a look around. We walked around but it was hot so we spent more time trying to find cool places. We eventually caught a taxi back and picked up the truck. We drove around the wharf area which was quite interesting. Frequently as you drive around Darwin you see signs, monuments and airstrips all relating to WWII.

By late morning we were back at the caravan park. I had really wanted to see a place called Crocodylus Cove so after lunch I jumped on a bus and went back into Darwin to see it. It was wonderful. They had a huge croc in there called Bert who was the star croc in Crocodile Dundee. He's now 80 years old. I also saw a pignosed turtle and tried to get over my fear of snakes by holding a small python. It was well worth the visit.






Day 59
1.4.09

Today we went out to Casurina Shopping Square. It was massive and had a cinema so we had a good look around and saw a movie. This took up quite a lot of the day and was a nice change.

Kununurra to Katherine

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Day 56
29.3.09

Time is running away so these next few posts will probably be quite brief as I want to catch up.

We travelled 512 kms from Kununurra to Katherine. We moved into the Northern Territory which was exciting but very undramatic.



The roads changed and weren't as good as W.A. I loved the Kimberlys - very beautiful and lush. We pulled in for fuel at Timber Creek but were told we'd have to wait an hour as they were fixing the electricity down the road, so we had a cuppa and then kept moving. We finally made it to Katherine and booked into a caravan park. As usual, it was still very hot.

One thing we had a good laugh about was the speed limits - as soon as we entered N.T. there was a large sign saying the speed limit in N.T. was 110 km unless posted differently. Just a few meters behind it was a posted sign of 130 kms. All through the N.T. it seemed to be 130.

Broome to Camp 594 (Camps 4)

Day 54
27.3.09

Today we left Broome and travelled to Camp 594, Spring Creek, 107 km NE of Halls Creek still in W.A. It was a lovely camp spot even though we had to be wary of crocs. If you want the picture larger so you can read it, just click on it.



There were beautiful boab trees quite often. We saw young ones and old ones. I'd love to find out more about them.



On our way, we passed through Fitzroy Crossing - it was the scariest place I have ever been! Chris got out at a roadhouse to fill up and that was bad enough being left in the car by myself, but it was even worse when he went into pay and I was totally alone with aborigines walking all around the place checking me and the rig out. I felt like I was just waiting to be badly beaten up.

Halls Creek was a little better, but when we pulled over for tea, aborigines were staggering out of the bush as drunk as skunks, or high as kites, wandering all over the road.

After Halls Creek, the drive was quite lovely. We saw heaps of cows. When we finally pulled in for the night, we even had cows greeting us there. It was a lovely, peaceful, but hot camp spot.



We also passed the turnoff to Wolfe Creek, so this pic is for you Kier :)



Day 55
28.3.09

From Spring Creek we travelled to Kununurra. Once again we saw heaps of cows. I loved them. Every now and then we would go through a small patch of grasshoppers which would fly all over the place. Chris was not interested in doing/seeing anything because of the heat. He spends his time just trying to stay cool which is very difficult unless we're driving.