Broome

We are now enjoying some lush time in Broome after what feels like weeks in the dust. We have had a huge adventure trekking down the Gibb River Rd - a little more adventure than we'd planned on having but overall it was worth it and we have been to some incredible places to swim and see gorges. Would not recommend doing this road without really preparing for it though - we thought we had and still had problems. Met some great people along the way and re connected with Many & Liam and the boys again at Silent Grove (Bell Gorge). We are still cruising in generally the same direction together, spent a night at Windjana Gorge & Tunnel creek together are all now 'regrouping' here in Broome before heading up to Middle Lagoon and Cape Leveque tomorow. Meant to be sensational up there so looking forward to that. Unfortunately our Gibb River delays meant we missed Danny & Simone Gilligan (from Arthurs Seat) who were at Middle Lagoon for their annual couple of months.
Had moonlit fish & chips on Cable Beach last night to celebrate having 'made it'. The full moon on at the moment means we will get to see the staircase to the moon on Roebuck bay tonight. Car in for a well deserved service today to hopefully survive the rest of our trip.
More photos soon.

Tunnel Creek

Tunnel Creek was an amazing experience with so much to see in the dark. Josh spotted a fresh water lobster, another family had a close encounter with a small fresh water crocodile and there were plenty of fish (Should have taken the fishing rods)

One of the stops along the way to Broom.

Beautiful Bell Gorge

We had a very relaxing time at Bell Gorge after our long drive from Ellenbrae and enjoyed the sun set. For a time we had the place to our self.



Beautiful location, soaking up the sounds of the water fall.

Gibb River Road (The Journey Continues)

Our journey continued on the Gibb River Road as we returned back to Ellenbrae Station. We had travelled back from Kununurra after picking up the new camper springs and had them in the back of the car. It was a long journey to Kununurra and back but we all travelled well.





While we were at Ellenbrae the kids did a spot of fishing with Lachy catching the only fish. It was a beautiful water hole and the kids also enjoyed a swim and mud fight after the fish stopped biting.







Brian and Pete working on replacing the broken springs on the camper. Two and a half hours later we were all set to go again. We could now put the tents and swags away and start sleeping in the camper.

We said our farewells to the Ellenbrae folk who had provided us with wonderful hospitality during our various stays there while we sorted out the camper and headed back down the Gibb River Road on our way to Silent Grove.

more of Kurundjie track: Wyndham to El Questro

Wyndham & drive down some of Kurandjie Track

Still in the Kimberley

Have just spent the last few days tripping down the Gibb River Rd. Didn't quite go exactly as planned but suffice to say that these back tracks are not for the faint hearted! Never a dull moment at least not in our case anyway. The new camper has been great but we can now confidently say we have explored some of its limitations (long story will fill you in another time). We made it on from El Questro and 'stopped in' at Home Valley station and Ellenbrae station. At this point we waved goodbye to our travelling companions Mandy, Liam,Christopher & Luke as they headeed up towards the Mitchell Plateau and we reassessed our options. We had a great time travelling together and hope to find them again further on.
From there we went on to Manning Gorge for a night and a swim and then on to Old Mornington Station for 3 nights. Its an old massive cattle station now owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy to preserve habitat. The drive in alone takes 1.5 hrs off the rd. We really enjoyed Old Mornington and met up with a lovely family from Northcote who'd shared the same maternal & child health nurse, swimming teacher and kinder as us when we were in Thornbury. They had 2 boys the same age as Josh & Lachy. Spent a day canoeing down another gorge with them. Also met a nice German family in there too and swapped some English/German vocab for a bit. The drive in & out gave us the opportunity to check out our spare tyre and puncture repair kit. Now back in Kununurra again taking the less conventional route through this area, picking up supplies and a couple of parts before heading back off and (all going well!!) on towards Broome and or Cape Leveque.

Kimberley Update

Hi, We are in the Kimberely travelling along the Gibb River Rd. Just a quick update while I have 15 mins of internet access. We're at Home Valley Station. Stayed here last night. Kids had a ball in the pool and on first real playground for a while. Still travelling with Mandy, Liam & the boys. Before that we had 3 nights at the incredible El Questro - again kept thinking about Sally & David Hawkins/Barnett being here with Max & Maddy. Pete caught his first Barra ( 6 cm long). Visited Zebedee springs, Moonshine Gorge, El Qestro gorge and Emma Gorge while we were in there. Huge river crossings. Before that we had left Kununurra together headed up to Wyndham and then took the Kurundjie track onto Gibb River Rd. Track was an amazing drive accross mudflats, through mega-bulldust (very close to being totally bogged) through herd of cattle and then camped beside the croc infested King River (not recommended). River was seething with them , or so it seemed, in the morning so we made a hasty get away. Now heading up to Drysdale Station & King Edward River on Mitchell Plateau (+ or - Kalumburu). Will put more pics up of this amazing area when able.
Wish us luck.
Alx

Thurs 29/7 - Sun 1/8 Now in Kununurra

The last few days have beenreally good. We are back on the road again and so far so good. We managed to finally leave Darwin on Thursday afternoon and we travelled about 15o k's south to stay at a free overnight camp spot at Bridge Creek a bit south of Adelaide River (where I nearly stepped on a snake last week).
The boys instantly befriended another family of 3 boys and had a great fun on their bikes together.
Then on to Gregory National Park where we saw the 'Gregory tree' a massive & ancient boab that he inscribed his initials into in 1855 & they are still there.
Next night we went into the Keep River National Park. Very beautiful. Kept thinking of Sally & David here as they had mentioned this spot to us. Drove 30 k's up a gravel trackl to camp at Jarnem campsite at the base of the amazing beehive-shaped rock formations. We loved this place and would have liked longer. Woke to rain here next morning and a nice cool spell. After a slow morning of scrabble & fried eggs we packed up and headed for the WA border. Donated all of our fruit & vegies to the quarrantine station and then went on the the humongous Lake Argyle. Biggest man-made lake in world and really a sight to see. We spent the day exploring the lake and trying to comprehend the engineering design of the Ord River dam wall then headed in to Kununurra.
We've just had 1 night here for now to wash up, tidy up and straight out our gear. Today we are heading into the Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) & hopefully to meet up with our friends Mandy & Liam & their 2 boys. They've just been up the Tanami track.
We've had to rationalise all our camping gear into the car as the track into Purnululu is rough and unmaintained so not risking the camper in there. Can leave it locked up at Warmun (Turkey Ck) near turn off to Purnululu entrance. Will spend the next few days trying to decide whether to tackle the Gibb River Road through the Kimberley.

Camper update (Darwin cont)

Ok so here's what happened. As you may have gleened from the blog, we've had 1 or 2 challenges thrown at us by our camper. First the rear lights failed rendering her unroadworthy. We managed to over come that hiccup with help from Kev at Woomera and our friend Nick who was travelling with us at that point. Sorted that out then the winding mechanism failed and we had to prop her up with bits of wood for our Uluru stay (not sounding good is it..). Took her in to Alice Springs to workshop there and after leaving her there for a day and leaving with a much lighter wallet, we had the winder sorted. Two days later the winder mucked up again. Pete manged to sort that one out with a big kick and a bit of WD40 (+ quite a bit of swearing). So we were Ok but when we hit Darwin the lights failed again making her re-unroadworthy AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So at that point we stopped joking about trading her in and decided to use the time in Darwin to seriously reconsider our options given that we still have 2 mths of travelling to do and ideally enjoy.

To cut a stressful and anxiety ridden story short we have traded our camper in to a dealer in Darwin and upgraded a bit to a newer (but still previously loved) camper. We spent 3 extra days in Darwin sorting this all out and wacking on some new tyres and having a few things checked over on the newie. So we've lost some time but we hope that the changeover will mean we can get back on with enjoying the trip and minimising the dramas. Of course I could be speaking too soon so stay tuned................................

Extended Stay In Darwin

Fish feeding at Darwin Aquascene - the fish swim in at high tide to be fed.

Leanyer waterpark. The boys had a great time at this free waterplayground with all sorts of spouts, tipping buckets, faucets, water bombers and sprinklers. Next to it were 4 big waterslides. The kids also hooked up with 3 Indig. kids and had a great time tearing round the place and sharing morningtea together.

Hard place to have to do homework but not so hard if you get to have a swim before you start, in the middle of it all and then again when you've finished!

Notice anything different about our 'rig'?