Broome to Katherine NT

Wed 3 July – As we only planned for a short trip today, we returned to Cable Beach at Broome for another couple of swims in this great surf. After lunch we headed north for 110kms to a rest area and sat in the shade. Caravans arrived all afternoon and we had a drink with a couple from the Hunter Valley.

Thurs 4 July – Everyone had gone before we left. Most people are doing 600kms a day. NOT US however!! Lots of roadworks today and a head wind (E). We drove thru different country with boab trees, grasslands and termite mounds. We thought it must be very much like the African plains and almost expected to see zebras or giraffes wandering by. Our overnight stop was at a rest area beside a huge Boab Tree. Look carefully. I am in the picture at the bottom!!

Fri 5 July – Another short drive but again the country is beautiful. We stopped at one of the two small towns between Broome and Kununura at Fitzroy Crossing. As suggest by the name this is where we crossed the huge but dry Fitzroy River. In the wet season this is one of the largest rivers in the world! Fitzroy Crossing is an Aboriginal town and there have been trouble with kids throwing rocks lately. We chose the flashest resort to camp in! They even had a great swimming pool which we made use of. In the evening we went to the bar for a pizza and were joined by a couple of miners from a lead mine 1 ½ hours flight time from Darwin with interesting tales. They were having their break (15 days on, 13 days off) and were doing a “roadie” around the Kimberley.

Sat 6 July – It was much cooler this morning, back on the road east towards the other town in this area, Halls Creek. We stopped at the Mary Pool rest area before the town. The bridge has been replaced and the old road provided a great camping area away from the main road. There were a huge number of campers, vans and motorhomes in the shade of the gum trees on the banks of the river. We sat in the shade and listen to the Crusaders win the Super Rugby final on I-heart radio. Most campers here were more interested getting their generators going to watch the AFL West Coast Eagles v Fremantle Dockers game!

Sun 7 July – Fuelled up at Halls Creek and drove on to a much smaller rest area much like last night. This is not an official 24 hour rest area so there were very few here to share the flies and some dust. The country has changed to low hills and the odd red rocky outcrop. It is 1000kms from Broome to Kununurra and the only 2 towns on the trip are tiny about Waikuku size!

Mon 8 July – Another great drive thru undulating country with larger hills all around. We went over a pass and down to the Warmun Roadhouse for the night. The small camp out the back was full. This roadhouse had a small pool and we cooled off as the it was around 34C.

Tues 9 July – More lovely country with more hills and the road was quite windy. (Aussie windy not NZ windy!) Our last overnight stop before Kununurra was at the Dunham River rest area. We found a nice shady site and joined a couple from Melbourne for drinks. They were heading south and we swapped best overnight stopping places. They also gave us some tips for places not to miss on the east coast.

Wed 10 July – Just a short drive to Kununurra. What a great drive this has been from Broome, with the scenery changing all the way. We went to the visitors centre and checked out the sights to see, shopped, pick up alcohol, fuel and went to our pre-booked camp. The town was busy and it was good to get out of the heat and onto our site overlooking Lake Kununurra. It is the school holidays and were lucky to get a spot. We will spend 2 nights here.

Thurs 11 July – I wiped the red dust off our bikes and we rode along the lake and thru the town to the Mirima National Park. We locked our bikes and walked into the Hidden Valley. This is called the Kununurra version of the Bungles. We missed the real Bungles as the only way to get to them is either by air or a long 4WD drive. The short walks thru the park were great with views into the red rock valleys. Back at ‘Andy’ we relaxed in the shade.

Fri 12 July – We set the alarm as we are driving to the Lake Argyle Resort, where you cannot book, and the suggestion is that you arrive early to secure a site. We were meeting Marty and Lyn Cunninghame from Kaiapoi and have been co-ordinating a stay with them. They are travelling from Darwin south in their mini Winnebago motorhome and we are going north and it all worked out at Lake Argyle where we met. The camp was able to give us adjoining sites. After a swim in the amazing infinity pool and lunch, we rode our bikes for some views of the lake and the gorge. Lake Kununurra and Lake Argyle are man-made for irrigation of the area. Marty used my ladder to wash his roof and I cleaned ‘Andy’. We all cooled off in the pool before drinks.

Sat 13 July – An early start again today as we are all (Marty, Lyn, Val and I) booked on the early morning boat cruise on Lake Argyle. A bus took us a short drive to the boat. The camp is away above the lake and it was a steep downhill access road. The boat was about ½ full (25) and we cruised firstly to an area of rock wallabies who live on a very steep cliff. In another bay we saw fresh water crocodiles. There are about 25,000 in this lake and the largest we saw was around 2m. We then fed fish from the boat. The fish spit at the offered bread to make it land in the water. The lake is huge (60kms long, 45kms wide) and we eventually cruised to a cliff area and jumped in for a swim in the warm water. (No crocs in this area seemly!) Marty jumped off the cliffs (about 20m high) I did not! Lyn stayed on the boat as the official photographer. Back at camp we relaxed and compared notes on the best overnight camping sites. Before evening drinks Marty and I had another swim in the spectacular infinity pool.

Sun 14 July – We farewell Marty and Lyn, they were heading south west to their son’s family in Karratha. It has been great spending a couple of days with them. We drove out of Lake Argyle and crossed the border between Western Australia and The Northern Territory. We have been in W.A. for 4 months total when we crossed the border in Eucla, on the Nullabor last year and back into the N.T. today. We stopped at a dusty rest area for the night and wound our clocks forward 1 ½ hours to Aussie Central Time. Sunset is now at a decent time! (6:30pm).

Mon 15 July – We are now following the Victoria Highway driving towards Katherine. We drove 100kms to Timber creek, fuelled up and continued for 60kms into the Gregory National Park following the large Victoria River to an overnight rest area beside a lovely billabong. It was a small camp and soon filled up.

Tues 16 July – Another 170kms on to Katherine where the Victoria Highway meets the Stuart Highway (the main road between Darwin and Adelaide). We got the last unpowered site in the camp and continued into the town to shop. This is a very busy town with caravans and campers taking up all possible parking places. We stored the food away and had lunch waiting for the bottle store to open at 2:00pm, police and all the usual security checks! (Welcome back into the Northern Territory). Eventually we got back to the camp and Val caught up with the laundry. We have a week before we are booked into Darwin and have a couple of National Parks we will visit.