Author: Tanya Phillips

Wow- it’s hard (and sad) to believe we’ve made it to the last leg of the roadtrip, Broome. 3 months has gone in a flash. We had originally planned to go up the Stuart Hwy, then across to WA, down the WA coast, and back home through the Nullabor. I think it was by Day 2 or 3 we realised that we wouldn’t cover as much ground as we had thought, not if we wanted to stop at different locations and enjoy them for a while. For example, we thought we’d only stop in Kakadu for a couple of days, but that turned into a couple of weeks. Same with Darwin etc. So three months goes pretty fast, without covering much ground at all. A couple of the families we’ve met in Broome have been on the road for 19 months, another for 4 years!!! All are doing long distance education and have fallen into a really enjoyable routine of study in the morning, beach in the afternoon.

We met up with a friend from Melbourne Tif, who has been living in Broome for the past 10 years. She took us out mud crabbing, (along with her 2 kids) which Jett absolutely loved. We then drove over to Crab Creek and BBQ’d it for breakfast, and I gotta say, it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in awhile!!

Broome’s been all beautiful beaches, camels and pearl farms. Cable Beach was shut for 24 hours due to a croc sighting- yikes!! But apart from that it’s been very relaxing, and a nice way to finish the trip.

Thanks for reading my blog. I’ve had fun writing it, and for once, it’s been nice to document some travels. I’ve been reading through earlier entries, and had already forgotten half the stuff we did! See you all back in Melbourne Xx

Spent the day yesterday at One Arm Point. Interesting fact- One Arm Point has the second highest tides in the world, after Nova Scotia.

Started off visiting the Trochus Hatchery. Barry, who runs the joint, also has an aquaculture centre going. He had a stone fish in one of the aquariums which terrified the kids (and me). He has really pretty Trochus shells and jewellery which he sells there too.

After that we went to the Malaya Native Title Determination. Our friend Tif works for the Kimberly Land Council, and for the past 20 years the KLC have been working with the Bardi Jawa people to win back native title. They finally got it yesterday!! There was a Federal Court set up on Middle Beach with a judge and a bunch of lawyers flown in for the day to legally hand back the land. Some of the Elders got up and gave emotional speeches about their ancestors and what the give back would do for them.

Had to come back to One Arm Point today. The beaches here are just magical. Beautiful water, and fresh oysters you can pick off the rocks.

Kooljaman is a wilderness camp located at the tip of the Dampier Peninsula, 220km north of Broome. Kooljaman is the Bardi Aboriginal name for Cape Leveque- where we’re staying for three nights. We couldn’t bring our caravan here, as the roads are pretty corrugated. No matter, as no caravans allowed anyway!! We’re staying in a unit here, although we would like to come back and stay in one of their Beach Shelters, which overlooks the water.

The camp was developed by two surrounding Bardi Aboriginal communities of Djarindjin and One Arm Point, and it is designed to be a low-key, low-impact wilderness retreat. The Cape Leveque lighthouse is situated behind our unit, and at night we like watching the light it projects out.

Beautiful beach.

Getting BOGGED wasn’t fun!

From El Questro, we had planned to continue on to the Bungle Bungles. However there had just been a fire out there, and that along with the heat, and the corrugated roads we kept hearing about (many people turning back due to corrugations) made us think twice. Emma Gorge was also out of the question due to fires. Time to head to the coast!! Broome’s still a bit far, so we got up early, packed down, and drove 730 kilometers to Fitzroy Crossing. Took us about 8 hours to get there.

The Fitzroy River Lodge was a welcome relief once we got there. Nice, big caravan park with lots of greenery and wallabies bouncing around. (Great showers too)!

We had one full day to explore Fitzroy Crossing. We firstly checked out the old river crossing. Obviously closed for a reason!

Next we checked out Geike Gorge, and did the River Walk which led us downstream to the junction of the Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers. This junction is called the Sandbar and there were people swimming there. By this stage it was nearing 40° and was getting way to hot to be outdoors so we went to Mangkaja Arts. The artists here are a meeting of desert and river cultures. Different art again to what we’ve seen along the way. Glad we went there, as they told us about the Garnduwa Festival starting that night!!

After a swim to cool down, we got some fish and chips and headed for the local oval for the festival. The official part of the festival was just getting underway, with the organizer talking about some of the Stolen Generation who were sitting on chairs at the front of the makeshift stage. Next they performed a smoking ceremony to clean the oval, the players, and all who had passed away since the last festival. The elders asked all the spectators and visitors to walk through the smoke, and shake hands with everyone. Then it was time for a game of footy.

We also met Jimmy, a lovely guy from Perth, who was on a trip to photograph mammals, in particular, quolls. He was happy because he’d managed to photograph quite a few of them. He’d made the trip now, as its expected that within 2 wet-seasons time, the cane toads would have made their migration to the area, and thus begin their devastation to local wildlife. In particular quolls and monitor lizards are greatly affected, and some species are completely wiped out.

No whirly-whirls en route to El Questro, but there were a couple of bushfires on the side of the road, including a big one at Emma Gorge, which saw the tourists have to be evacuated there.

El Questro Station which covers an area of 700,000 acres is full of river crossings, hiking, thermal pools, fresh water springs, and of course, grazing cattle. There is so much to do here. Some excursions you can do are by helicopter only, so it gets pretty pricey. Unfortunately the horse riding I was looking forward too didnt happen, as they sent all the horses away at the start of September due to the heat. A lot of places and tours are shutting down now for the season, so it’s definitely time to start heading for the coast.

Zeebedee Springs thermal pool was our highlight here. We had to head straight back there again the next day.

l Questro Gorge hike was a great walk, albeit challenging!! To get to the hike we had to 4 wheel drive through a deep water crossing. Here’s the crossing- Dean checking how to deep it is first before driving across. (It got to about thigh deep level).

El Questro Gorge

Station campgrounds.

Really sad to leave the Northern Territory behind. I absolutely loved it. The remoteness, the peace & quiet, and the quirkiness of it all. It’s like nowhere else. Timber Creek was a beautiful spot for our last few nights there.

Heading into WA and the Kimberley, we stopped at the border crossing/checkpoint. Meet two lovely retired men who were on a mango run (travelling to different cattle stations and collecting the mangoes.) They called themselves ‘the birdos’. They like they’re bird watching. One of the birdos had just made a fresh batch of dried mango, which he passed some on to us. So delicious!! And we got to keep it going through quarantine because it was dried. Everything else had to be thrown out at the checkpoint.

First stop in WA was Lake Argyle, its described as the “Jewel of the Kimberley”, and as soon as you get to the caravan park you can see why.

We hired a dinghy and went for an exploration of the lake.

Had a fish. Boys hooked on within about 30 seconds! Unbelievable. The lake was full of catfish. In all we caught & released about 60 fish. Lots of fun!!

After a few days in Lake Argyle, we headed to Kununurra. During the drive we noticed some mini-tornadoes, known as “whirly-whirls”. Had a drive out to some waterholes, but they’re drying out now as the dry season comes to an end. Supposedly its about 5° warmer than usual, and a lot of the campers have packed up and gone home due to the heat. Still looks pretty busy to me though.

Caught the preliminary foot finals at the Kununurra Hotel. Fun to be in WA when West Coast won, the locals were loving it!

Kimberyland Caravan Park.

Spot of fishing turned into a spot of croc spotting at the caravan park!

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After a big 8 hour drive from Florence Falls yesterday, we needed a relax day, and the Timber Creek Hotel Caravan Park was just the right place for it. Timber Creek is a remote, small town a couple of hours from the border of WA. It is situated on the banks of the Victoria River. There are boab trees dotted around the landscape.

Theres a lot of police history in the area, dating back to when pastoralists were warring with local Aborigines over land and cattle, and thus the need for a police station in Timber Creek was established. The historic police station is a fun attraction on the Heritage Trail.

Further on from the historic police station, you can drive down a 2km corrugated road and come to Policeman’s Point, a quiet spot along the Victoria River where you can fish. We didnt- it was way too hot.

Instead we drove to the Nackeroo Monument and Lookout, which is a memorial dedicated to the Northern Australian Observation Unit and the Aboriginal volunteers who worked to provide warning of a possible Japanese invasion.

Spent our last full day in Darwin at Crocodylus Park. Lots of fun, with jumping crocodiles and reptiles to hold. (Python and baby croc).

For our last night in Darwin, we had to head back to Mindil Market. Leo was pretty chuffed to have a personal whipping lesson. Umfortunately he didnt get it to crack.

Next morning we headed out to Litchfield for some camping near Florence Falls. The best way to cool down in the stifling Top End heat is to just sit in a cool swim hole, preferably one with a waterfall. In the case of Florence Falls, twin waterfalls will do just fine! Lots of fish swimming around. Loving the freshwater snorkeling. (Not loving the fish nipping at me though- it hurts!!)

After thinking we’d stay a few nights in Kakadu, we ended up staying for almost 2 weeks, partly due to the hospitality of Justin and his lovely family, partly due to the fact that Kakadu is amazing. Almost 2 weeks and I feel we barely scratched the surface. (Didnt make it to Jim Jim falls- Kakadu’s greatest highlight, didnt make it back to Arneham Land either).

We saw some ancient rock art on the Nourlangie hike. At least 10,000 years old, most likely more.

Went hiking and swimming in Maguk. Maguk is about one of the only waterholes you can safely swim. The hike was not the easiest, but well worth it.

There are various cultural activities on at different times. My favourite was the traditional painting class. In the heat of the day, sweat dripping, children whingeing, I forgot everything and purely enjoyed my turn at traditional painting. The kids eventually got into it too.

Best way to cool down is a dip in the pool. The pool in Cooinda was a good one.

The visitor centre in Bowali was interesting, with some information about the history of mining. The areas that have deposits of Uranium, are known by traditional owners as “sickness areas.”

Tried to fish for some barramundi at Cahill’s Crossing, but had no luck, much to Jett’s disappointment.

We’ve come back to Darwin to relax for a few days after the adventures of Kakadu, and to stock up on some necessities before we head off into the WA wilderness. We’re staying at a Big 4 (my favourite)! and not doing too much for the next few days.

In the mornings a muster of peacocks parade past our caravan to say good morning. One of the males put on a bit of a show this morning. (They’ve been coming past again in the early evening too)

We went to Howard Springs Nature Park in the morning and fed the giant barramundi that live in the springs there.

And some Big 4 fun.

One week on and we haven’t moved from Kakadu yet, still settled in at the caravan park in Jabiru. It’s been hot. 40° yesterday. Slightly cooler today, 38° at the moment and a bit of a breeze.

Over the past few days, we’ve been to different sites like Nourlangie, where you can hike and look at some rock art, that dates back about 10,000 years. (Need to download photos).

Yesterday we went on a Yellow Waters Cruise across the floodplains at sunset. Spotted lots of animals; water buffalo, cattle, wild pig, crocodiles, ducks and lots of different birds. Jett counted 26 crocodiles on the tour.

The boys have made friends with Justin’ s kids (brother of friend from Melbourne), and they went to their school for a few hours today. Leo went into the preschool and Jett went into Jabiru Area School. It’s a remote school with about 250 kids. Jett loved it because shoes are optional and he got to go barefoot (as is pretty normal here). Leo was happy he was made lunch monitor and won an award for being “most useful.”

Who had more fun hanging out in the pre-school? The kids, or Dean?