7th Sept

Back to the flight again and this time  we leave the Lake behind and close in on the Bungle Bungles.
I wont put many words in as the photos speak for themselves,so here goes.

                              The other Aircraft owned by Kimberly Air below us.

They are spread over a huge area which means you only see a very small part of them from the ground. From the air you get a better perspective of their size.

                                         From here it was over to the Argyle Diamond Mine.

A vast complex and an interesting story behind the discovery of Diamonds here and the formation of the mine.
Then it was back to Kununura Airport after an enjoyable 2 hour flight.

                                 Our trusty Cessna 210 that carried us on our flight.

 Helen with Pilot Tim from Newcastle who had been working for Kimberly Air for 3 months.
That's it folks,till next time.
Regards Dave and Helen

6th Sept

We travelled toward Kununurra and decided to stay at Lake Argyle Motor Camp, as it have been recommended to us and told it was worth a look. We weren't disappointed,even though it was a 35 km trip in off the main road.
The scenery was spectacular and the camp was an Oasis in the dry Countryside.

The highlight of the camp, was the edge pool,situated on a cliff overlooking the lake. The only problem, was the water was a bit cool (22deg)

Very spectacular and once you got used to the cool water, it was nice to just float and look out over the lake,very nice around Sunset. The Air temps were still in the high 30s.
While there we decided to do the flight over Lake Argyle,the Bungles and the Argyle Diamond mine.
It was a 2 hour flight that left from Kununurra, which meant we had to drive in there the next day,about a 70km trip.
The first thing you notice about the Town , is how modern and green it is. Its the newest Town in Western Australia  and you realise why its so green when you get in the air, its surrounded by water.

This is due to the Ord river scheme, the reason for Lake Argyle.

This is the Ord river Dam that supplies all the water for the irrigation of the area which is very comprehensive with all sorts of crops grown. The main one is the Sandalwood Tree used for perfumes and other assorted things.
Once over the lake you could see the size of the thing. It was huge,about 35km wide and 75km long and that's in the dry season. It gets to 75 times the size of Sydney harbour in the Wet season.

This last photo shows how remote the camping ground was. It was originally the construction camp for the workers on the Dam project. The swimming pool is about dead centre of the photo. Click on the photo to enlarge it.

There are a lot of Islands in the lake, which go under in the Wet season when the Lake reaches 200% full.
The land past the lake on the way to the Bungle Bungles was interesting with seismic activity evidenced by the uplifting of the surface in ridges. A feature most Kiwis would relate to!!

The flight continued on to the Bungles but that's for next time.
See Ya
Dave and Helen

5th Sept

It was goodbye to Kakadu and onwards to Katherine where we would top up with Fuel and Groceries then carry on.

We left our camp site and hit the road. We made good time to Katherine, then after a bite to eat and shopping we headed Westward.
We travelled most of the day through pretty ordinary country until we got to timber Creek and decided to call it a day and book into the local Caravan park. It wasnt a hard decision as it was hot and the park had power so we could run the A/Con. The bonus was we didnt have to un hook the caravan

The Famous!! Timber Creek Hotel.
The next day we headed off and stopped at the Victoria river for a leg stretch and a look. A big River with a large bridge leading to a Military training area.

From here the countryside changed and became very Hilly and spectacular in places.

                                        Until we came to the West Australia Border control.

Here we had to wait while they inspected the car and Van for illegal fruit and Veg. We had to hand over some Oranges,a couple of wilted lettuce leaves and a pot of Honey with about 2 mm in the bottom. We were prepared and had eaten all the Apples and most of the Oranges and left the Honey so they had something to grab to justify their jobs.
Then we were on our way into Western Australia.
We started seeing Baob trees which we had never seen before, beside the road. Apparently they had come to Australia as seeds from Madagascar across the sea hundreds of thousands of years ago and spread across the Northern part of Australia, by Wallabies and Birds.

These are the trees they say grow upside down as they shed their leaves in the dry season and the branches look like roots sticking up. Not hard to imagine when you see them. There are some Historic ones later on in the trip.
Next stop Lake Argyle,but that's for next time.
Regards
Dave and Helen

4th Sept

In the afternoon we decided to check out the Maguk Gorge and Waterfall. This was about 60 km down the road South from the camp and then a 10km drive in on a dusty gravel road. It was worth the drive as the area was very spectacular.
The walk in to the Falls was a bit rough over Boulders and through the river in places but worth the effort.

Once you get in there after scrambling over all the rough stuff you are confronted with this!!

Well when we got to the pool there were lots of people swimming in there so we decided to take the plunge as well. We were hot and the water looked inviting and we couldn't see anything ominous floating around so in we went.

 The water was a bit cool but when you got in it was great,very soothing. There were a lot of fish swimming around the pool as well, no Crocs though!
On the way in I noticed these two Ant hills so thought they would make a good photo oportunity.

They are a good size and there was plenty of other ones around as well.

Next time we leave the Park and head for Broome via Katherine.
Cheers Helen and Dave

Sept 11th

We have finally made it to Broome and Internet coverage so a bit of back tracking is required to get the Blog up to date.

Sept 3rd
We left Lee point Caravan park and headed into Kakadu National park and had to pay the $25.00 each entry fee. What a rip off, as most of the roads hadn't been graded so they were so rough they were nearly impassable without doing damage to your vehicle. We kept driving through to Jabaru where we stopped and got  some lunch from the local Bakery which was very nice, more than you could say about Jabaru. We kept going as there wasn't anything to see until we got to Coolinga which was on the road out of the park.
Here we stopped at the Gagudju Lodge and caravan Park as this is where the Yellow river cruise started from.
A lovely green park with a fantastic swimming pool.

A bit hard to see in the photo but there is a big waterfall at the back and a nice big pool area.

Sept 4th

We booked in for the Sunrise cruise on the Yellow river as the general consensus was this was the better one to see the native animals birds etc.as the Sun rose.
11 weeks in Darwin without a cloud in the sky and this morning it was not only cloudy but misty as well.

Oh well you cant control Nature. It cleared away pretty quick but the Sun had already risen by then.

There was a lot of bird life around but you needed a big lens on your camera to catch them.

                                          Some were easier than others to get a photo of.

The Crocodiles were the easiest as there was plenty of them. "More Crocs" just about seen enough of them by now.

What was spectacular were the Water Lilies,they were massive and the flowers were fantastic.

The rest of the area was very pretty in the early morning light and it is a major breading ground for many species of bird and Fish.

                          The brooding South Alligator river in the early morning light.

Next Maguk swimming hole and Waterfall.
Regards
Dave and Helen

5th Sept

Just a little bit more on Darwin before I finish with it and carry on to Kakadu.
The Friday before we left we staged a huge!! going away party.
We invited the Arnold's,who used to be our neighbours in CHCH along with Allan and Shirley, friends of the Arnold's and nice people, Allan and Chris from the big bus, Jack and Sue, Alfred who was our next door neighbour and Warwick and Di.

                          The drunken gang waiting for Ray the Master chef to finish cooking

                                A well loaded barbie simmering away nicely.

These are more of the locals. Hundreds of them in the park,some kind of Ibis I believe. The other Locals that you cant see but bite you all the time are the Midges. They are a constant curse and you have to spray yourself every day to fend them off. Some sprays work better than others. Bushman's seems to be useless,green or Brown but Rid seemed to work for us. Helen tried Baby oil and Dettol with limited success until she was told to put Meths in as well. After that it didn't work at all!!

Chris and Allan are a couple of guys living in a Bus while they work up in Darwin and we all celebrated  Allan's Birthday ,any excuse for a drink?

The mighty Bus all set up,what you cant see to the right is their garden complete with Tomatoes,capsicums and a good selection of Herbs. Nothing like making yourself at home.

              The night of the Party. Notice the Balloons and happy birthday banner.

                   Allan the Birthday boy with Chris taking the photo in the background.
                                                  A nice night had by all.

                                           The crew enjoying the festive occasion.

Monday the 3rd Sept and we were on our way, all packed and ready to hit the road

Next time Kakadu and on.
Cheers Dave and Helen