There's no place like home

Days 26-28

Today's goal was to make our way back to Duff Creek, our second night's camp and the one where we got rained out, but as you can see by the first photo the Oodnadatta Track was slow going. At least it was open - although only high clearance 4WD's were allowed.

Most of the time if the water got deep and boggy there was a chicken track around it, but a couple of times the road just disappeared and there was no option but to go forward. I thought we might get stuck in one bit, especially when the car dropped on my side and all of a sudden I was a lot closer to the water than I had been, but reverse did it's job and we found another way round. I think Chris is still secretly thinking that we would have got through if he'd been allowed to give it another go!

After a quick fuel and toilet stop in Oodnadatta, and after purchasing of a couple of pink stubby holders from the infamous Pink Roadhouse, we were off again.

Because it was such slow going we didn't get quite as far as Duff Creek but found a nice place off the side of the road to spend the night and get rid of all the leftover canned food we didn't need (tinned capsicum, tinned tomatoes and a whopping tin of baked beans that made a loud sound but not much spark)!

The next day was the second to last day of the trip and we were aiming to camp near the beautiful bridge over the Aroona Creek just out of Leigh Creek. The road was a bit easier to drive on, much drier (and dustier) but still a couple of nice creek crossings every now and again. After a bit of a game of hide and seek (long story don't ask) we all made it to Leigh Creek before the shops shut and got a few essentials for our last night. With

Terrayaki chicken and rice for tea (everyone's favourite) and a roaring fire it was a great last night.

Making sure the trip lasted as long as it could we decided to take the long way home through the picturesque Flinders Ranges rather than driving straight down the black top. First stop was to pay our entry fees then we took the drive through Brachina Gorge and then onto Bunyeroo Gorge. I reckon we saved some of the best till last. Sometimes you don't really appreciate what's on sitting your doorstep but after driving through the Kimberleys and Litchfield I reckon that the Flinders still holds its own as one of the most beautiful places in this country.

One by one our fellow Plan B'ers all went their separate ways. First to say goodbye were Tim and Mimi in the Reverand. Next were Matty & Sylv in the Blue Rocket and then finally it was our turn to say goodbye to Simon & Em in the Puma. After four weeks away we still haven't decided on a name for our Landy although the Blue Wolf is probably the closest we've got so far.

After

9400 km we

're home safe and sound with no real car problems to speak of, and no problems with the house thanks to Craig's superb house sitting. All the new camping equipment worked fantastically and I think it's one of the best packing jobs we've done so far. Everything that can be stored for the next trip is slowly being washed and repacked ready for next time, while everything else has been cleaned and put away. Waiting for a sunny weekend to set the tent back up again and give it a thorough cleaning and make a list of some repairs we need before we use it again.

I found this trip much easier that the last one. Not sure if that's because we knew what to expect this time, or if it was because the kids were older, or simply because I had a couple of weeks off work to unwind before we left. Whatever it was it worked and I had a fantastic time. We've already started planning for the next trip. Looks like we'll be doing the Simpson Desert Crossing from East to West this time next year - fingers crossed for the weather!!

Thanks to all the Plan B crew for an awesome adventure. Loved spending every minute with you guys and I miss you all already. I feel a Wine/Cheese Reunion coming on soon!

To everyone else, thanks for following us on this journey. Till next time............

Who turned off the heat!!!!!

Day 24

We headed off nice and early so we could stop in at Devils Marbles on the way. Rumour had it that there was a toilet nearby (not sure what got more attention!) The kids had a really great time climbing and exploring the rocks. The days keep getting colder and colder as we get further from Darwin. Not really looking forward to getting back to SA.

The rest of the trip to Alice was uneventful and we arrived safe and sound. Lots to do with restocking the food crates for the final leg of the journey, washing last nights dishes in warm soapy water and warm showers. Bliss! We also got to do a bit of last minute tourist shopping buying gifts for the family. Last night out on the town before we get home. We ate at the Memo (Alice Springs Memorial Club) which was a really nice place that had a games room for the kids!

Day 25

Woke to ice on the tent, car, fence, table and everything on the table including a cleaning cloth that was frozen solid. Had to wait a while to get going to get some sun on the tent to dry it out a bit before we could pack it up. The fence was so cold that as the sun hit it, it started steaming.

Today's destination was Mt Dare. Nearly had our plans thwarted again but our luck changed and one of the roads was open - although rather wet and muddy. Just how we like it. Drove down to Kulgera then across to Finke (Aputula Community), where they hold the Finke Desert Race, but there was not a sole in sight so we kept driving.

The Mt Dare Station is just 10km over the SA border and we hit there at sunset. After everything we've seen over the past three weeks - was great to see that SA is still as beautiful as the NT. Mozzies galore at the campground, and many other campers, so it was a pretty early night for me as a day in the dust got up my sinuses. Total km about 540km from Alice.

It's interesting what you find on the side of the road

In all honesty I've lost count of what number day it all. All I know is that we are heading south and it is growing colder by the minute.

It's about three nights since we left Darwin and we've had some great times along the way as well as some more Plan B deviations. We were nearly going to have to give Litchfield NP a miss as the southern area had been closed due to heavy rainfall. But as luck would have it Lisa and her husband from the fishing charter had just come from that area and said that all the tracks were open. Unfortunately when we got there we found that all the camp sites were taken at both campgrounds so we weren't not able to stay the night. However, we had a wonderful swim at Surprise Falls, and some ledge jumping into a really deep waterhole, before moving off.

There were some fantastic creek crossings on the way out which were still full of water. A couple of them we just had to go back through and then drive through again to get photos of the vehicles. ...just can't help ourselves. After leaving Litchfield behind we drove a bit further down the road and found a nice little space off the side of the road where we stopped for the night. Tim & Mimi organised a ceremonial cooking (Master Chef style) of our beautiful jew fish in garlic butter with chips which we all shared. It was delicious and both kids cleaned their plates. Looks like we'll be trying more fish meals when we get home.

It pretty much poured all night and we spent ages trying to get enough pegs into the rocky ground to make sure the tent wouldn't blow away or fill up with water. I don't think anyone slept well that night.

The next day was pretty uneventful and after driving another 400-500 km we found another place to camp away from the road. This time it was our turn to play Master Chef. We'd all tried some fried Camembert Cheese one night in Katherine and really enjoyed it so we thought we'd give it a go bush style. We took a wheel of Camembert Cheese and cut it into triangles then dipped it in egg (thanks Tim & Mimi) then dipped it in Kelleogs Cornflake crumbs (bought from the shop). The coating didn't look thick enough so we redipped them in the egg and crumbs again then deep fried them in hot oil in a saucepan. YUM!!!!!!! They were a big hit with everyone, even the kids, but went too quickly. Need to buy two wheels of cheese next time.

The next day was again pretty uneventful and would be our last night before hitting Alice. We had decided to given the Davenport Ranges a miss, get to Alice a day early and then try our luck going home via Mt Dare which we missed on the way up. We did however stop in at a famous pub - famous for its collections of things donated by its patrons. The walls and ceiling were decked out with name badges, id cards, business cards, signed t-shirts, stubby holders and bras as well as money of every currency you can image. Best of all we arrived just in time for Happy Hour where you could win a pot 0f Coopers by correctly guessing 'heads or tails'. Chris was lucky enough to win two!

Our final roadside stop before Alice was in a fairly open area and all night we we're buffeted by some fairly strong winds, although it didn't rain too much and we had a fire so life was good. Of course since we hadn't had a fire in such a long time, it was decided that it was again time to put a can in the fire, although this time they created a separate fire for the can well away from the campsite and anything flammable. Three extra shovel loads of coals and an hour later I couldn't be bothered waiting any longer for it to explode so I went to bed and in the morning found out that it never went off. Not sure why - but that was soon rectified and we were again on or way - one can of tinned tomatoes lighter.

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy!

Days 18-20

Darwin feels like home away from home. Apart from it being rather muggy ALL THE TIME. Some days you feel like you need to carry a wet flannel around with you to wipe your face off every five minutes and this is the dry season.

That being said we love visiting Darwin. This is our second visit and it has changed heaps since we were here 6 years ago. They've built a waterfront area with a wave pool and a swimming lagoon so that you can now swim in the sea. Normally you can't due to jellyfish, sharks and croc's.

We always book a motel for Darwin, which makes us feel like we're having a little holiday within a holiday. Lots to see and do in Darwin and it was Timmy's Birthday on the second day. Happy Birthday Timmy!!! We still have your birthday card. Maybe we'll post it home for you.

We stayed at the Vitina Motel with Simon and Em, while Tim & Mimi and Matt & Sylv stayed at the Freespirit Darwin Resort. We didn't get to see their place but apparently it was pretty good.

We had a lovely time in Darwin, eating out every night (Shenenigan's, Alaturka and the Lizard Lounge) and exploring during the day. We found a park called Leanyear Reserve which had a water playground, three water slildes and a swimming lagoon. I'm not sure who had more fun the kids or the 'big kids'. Best of all it was totally free and you could stay as long as you like.

Day 2 for me was taken up with an all day deep sea fishing charter with Tim & Mimi for Timmy's birthday. I love being surrounded by nothing but water, soaking up the sun and feeling the wind in my face. I could have gone again the next day, except my arms were aching. Apparently the day before they hadn't caught anything but at our first location we started reeling in some big Jew Fish. I caught the first big fish which was about 12 kilo and over a metre long, and they just kept getting bigger from there. Tim's birthday present was a 15 kilo Jew Fish and a lovely Golden Snapper that Mimi caught. In the photo above my fishes are the two on top. The biggest fish was caught by Lisa from Victoria and was 23 kilo!!

Thanks heaps to Captain 'Jack' Charlie and Deckie Adrian from Darwin Reef n Wrecks Fishing Charters for an awesome day. Thanks also to our European and NZ backpackers who provided all the entertainment (including falling/jumping from the boat into the lock for a dare)! At the end of the day we headed off to the Mindl Beach Market to watch the sun go down then ate at Alaturka Turkish Restaurant for dinner. I had the best mushroom sauce on my chicken I've ever had but the fried icecream was quite strange and not what we're used to. Bring on Kublai Khan fried icecream any day!

We finished off our mini holiday with a sunset cruise on the Darwin Harbor on the Spririt of Darwin. It was a bit cloudy to start with and I was worried that we wouldn't get a nice sunset and any good photos but we were not let down.

Back at the motel we started to pack up all the food crates and put on the last load of washing but that all got interrupted when I could smell marshmallows cooking and we discovered that one of the crates on the kitchen counter had been put on top of the stove and it had accidentally been turned on. Needless to say we now have a perfectly round hole in the bottom of the crate and had to throw out quite a few things. The nutrigrain container also melted and there was burnt nutrigrain left on the stove. I think we were lucky that the weetbix box was in a tin as I'm sure it would have caught fire.

With everything repacked in a replacement crate, we're just putting the finishing touches to the rest of our packing before we leave Darwin and head for Litchfield National Park. Surprise Creek Falls - here we come!!!

El Questro & Katherine

Days 12-16

When we stay in one spot for a couple of days I end up with too many photos to fit them all in and forget to take notes for the blog so if things seem a big hazy that's because this bit was over a week ago. First photo is the view from our campsite at El Questro then Zebedee Springs then a lookout on the Explosion Gorge Track, then Emma Gorge and finally the caravan park at Katherine.

After leaving the beautiful Bungles behind we drove back to Kununurra for a quick restock then headed off again to El Questro Wilderness Park which is a private Pastoral Lease.

According to the information the owners provide, El Questro doesn't actually mean anything. The story goes that the two brothers who pegged the claim for the land in the mid 1950's were reminded of stories of the red bluffs of New Mexico and the Rio-Grande and wanted a spanish sounding name. Apparently a mate wrote down some words that roughly translated to 'land of great beauty and big mountains'. However apparently the two brothers then hit the town to celebrate and lost the piece of paper before they lodged the claim, and ended up coming up with a spanish sounding name instead.

El Questro is around a million acres in the Kimberley's and contains some spectacular scenery. There is a township with a store, restaurant, shower, toilet & laundry facilities and general campground then there are quite a few private campsites along the river named after Australian birds and animals. We were lucky to get the last one which was called Kite and was quite a way from the township on the other side of the river. I've included a photo of the view from the campsite. Image driving down your driveway and having to cross a river every day. :-)

We managed to fit quite a bit into our couple of days. After spending the first night settling in and the first morning doing all our washing and making good use of the lovely warm showers, we drove a couple of 4WD tracks to Pigeon Hole and Branco's Lookout as well as a bit of Explosion Gorge. We also got to spend a morning at Zebedee Springs, a series of warm springs surrounded by palm's, very tropical. We had dinner at the Steakhouse on Friday night which was very nice then joined in the township BBQ Dinner on the Saturday night.

On our last afternoon we drove to Emma Gorge but unfortunately it had closed for the day. Also one of the drives we had planned to do, which was a 100km round trip passing through private property, was also closed so we rejigged the trip itinerary yet again (Plan B 4.0?) to fit Emma Gorge in the morning, a final quick stop in Kununurra (third time this trip) and then camp somewhere on the side of the road as close to Katherine as we could get. I didn't do the walk but waved my family off with the rest of the group and settled in for a lovely morning reading my book under the palms at Emma Gorge Resort.

On our previous trip I did a good number on my ankle, tearing the tendons on both sides of my foot when I fell, ending up at Halls Creek Hospital for x-rays and crutches. Unfortunately my foot has started to cause me some grief on this trip as well. It doesn't hurt too bad when I walk on flat ground but when I walk over rocks or on paths that go uphill or downhill (stretching the tendons) I can guarantee it will be throbbing by the end of the day.

That night we found a fantastic little spot just off the side of the road and decided that we would have an 80's night. With Simon's ipod hooked up to our stereo we spent a great night singing along to 80's music and trying to remember as many 80's films as we could. This carried on the next day over the CB as we drove through Timber Creek, Victoria River Downs and onto Katherine.

We stayed at the Big4 Katherine Low Level Caravan Park and it is a fantastic park to stay at. After setting up the tents and doing a bit of shopping we spent lots of time just lazing by the pool. Unfortunately we weren't able to canoe Katherine Gorge like we'd planned as that morning they had found two salt water crocodiles in the river and it was closed. Hundreds of fresh water crocs inhabit the river but they are more docile that the salties, so we had to make other plans.

We had dinner one night at the Park's Fig Tree Bistro and listened to a bit of bush poetry and country music for entertainment. We got to explore Cutta Cutta caves which are really, really nice and made me think we should go and explore the Limestone Caves in our own backyard down in the south east at Naracoorte, SA.

All in all a very pleasant week.

The Bungles

Days 9-11

Just short of Kununurra is a quarantine inspection point as you are not allowed to take fruit and vegetables, plants, soils and some nuts into Western Australia. After eating half a dozen apples on the drive in we gave up and handed the last three over to the inspectors along with a squashed tomato and a handful of lettuce and several apple cores.

We stocked up at Kununurra with both petrol and food then headed off towards the Bungles in Purnululu National Park.

The Bungles are something you really have to see for yourself some time. As you can see from the photos there are some great gorges to walk through. We started with the Mini Palms Walk which was 5km return and ended with several flights of stairs leading to a viewing platform. Most of the walk was easy going through dry rocky creek beds or sandy paths but the further into the Gorge you go, you start climbing around, between and over boulders. Great fun.

We skipped the Echidna Chasm walk in the afternoon to spend some time back at camp with our feet up enjoying the sunshine. Also had a lovely shower in the re-tardis (Em’s pop up change/shower tent). No one was really hungry that night so we just had sausages for tea.

The next morning we headed out a bit earlier so we weren’t walking through the heat so much, although it was certainly cooler than the day before. As we drove towards the other side of the National Park much of the landscape actually reminded us of the Flinders Ranges with the exception of the massive termite mounds and bee-hive shaped domes.

After a quick stop at the airfield to book our helicopter flights for the afternoon we headed to Piccaninny Creek Carpark for the walk to Cathedral Gorge, which is about 3km return. The family photo I’ve included was taken inside Cathedral Gorge (thanks Matty).

After lunch back at camp we headed back to the airfield and took a 30min helicopter flight over the Bungles. Joshie, Simon and I were in one cute little helicopter with no doors, and Chris, EJ & Sylvia were in the other. WOW – words can’t describe the feeling and the view. Sometimes it was like we were just floating over the ranges then a gust of wind would shake the copter and remind you how high up we were and open everything was. I’m glad it was a 30min flight as it took me a while to feel at ease with the wind blowing us around. Joshie loved it…..”I can see my house from here!!!!”

Back at camp – pasta and blog sauce for tea – then lots of packing ready for an early morning start. Back to Kununurra to top up food/petrol then off to El Questro.

Goodbye NT……..Hello WA

Today’s destination was about 460km away at Keep River National Park, and would be our last night in the Northern Territory for a few days. We spent most of the day driving on dirt roads, which of course are our favourite, second best only to wet dirt roads!!!

Our drive took us through Jasper Gorge and we started to recognize some of the scenery, in particular one of our campsites from the last trip, as well as the unusual Kimberley Rose. We hit the bitumen just short of Timber Creek where we took our first photos of the lovely Boab trees that frequent the NT and the Kimberley’s.

After an altercation with a bee, not sure if Simon’s tongue will ever be the same again, we headed to Keep River NP which was really crowded and we were lucky to find a spot to fit us all. Tuna Mornay and salad for tea as we had to use up all our fruit & veg before crossing the border the next day.