As we had already contacted the mechanic in Derby as soon as we arrived we booked ourselves straight into the nearest caravan park and had a SHOWER! I can say I’ve never been so glad for fresh water and to wash my hair! This also meant we could get some groceries and in Alexs case a well earned beer or a case of well earned beers! I must say I think as soon as we got into reception we called everyone to tell them that we were alright and finally near civilisation!
The next day we had to waste sometime while the car was being fixed so we decided to go for a walk. This may not have been such a good idea as our walk lead us to a local notice board which contained information about these rescue puppies! Well it just got better from there, we went to have a look at the puppies just to “check them out” and suddenly next thing we new we had a new puppy! Her names Cooper and she is the cutest thing ever! Well we thought she was the cutest thing ever that is until bed time. We had decided to free camp all the way home which was lucky because with the amount of noise cooper made i think we would have been kicked out of any caravan park! She cried all night and I must say there was a lot of second thoughts coming from the tent! How could something so cute make so much noise?!?
After a restless sleep we both woke up very very early to escape the free camping spot before someone realised it was our dog that had kept them awake all night! We continued onto Broome where we were booked into a hotel for 3 nights. Which I must say I was looking very forward to! The first night we dropped cooper off at the kennels and I don’t think I’ve ever felt such guilt in my whole life! The puppy dog eyes she gave us where intense! Although it was good to have a full night sleep i must say I don’t think I could have sleep another night without her! So the next morning after picking her up as early as we could we went down to the dog beach to go swimming! The beaches in Broome are amazing! I’ve never seen such clean white sand and light blue ocean in my life! Alex and cooper were straight in the water which I must say was very cute to watch. We decided that we couldn’t possibly let cooper stay at the kennel again so we snuck her into our hotel room and she slept in the cupboard next to us for the next 2 nights which was hard because she was still settling in to being with us and so crying at night very loudly was to be expected.
After our 3 nights in Broome which were defiantly a high light we started our long journey home. It was back across to Katherine and then down the highway to Uluru. Were we had to sneak Cooper in! Going from Katherine to Cooper Pedy were in all honesty a wake up call. There are a lot of things that people that live in the main citys don’t see and I must say I felt very naive at some points during our trip. We meet a lovely couple at the road house on the turn off to Uluru who actually paid for us to stay at the road house as we couldn’t afford it. Which was one of the nicest things anyones ever done and just shows you how there are such kind people in Australia. After passing Cooperpedy we were on the home straight! We keep on heading home as fast as we could turning off just before Adelaide and heading home to Canberra!
I must say this journey was amazing! I would recommend doing it 100%. The things we did and saw, the memories we made are unforgettable. This has to be one of the best things I have ever done in my life and if I could do it again I would a thousand times over.
The end.. for now.
For the next 5 days we were stranded in the middle of the Kimberley’s 230km away from the nearest mechanic at least until wed when the mechanic was due back. We ended up camping next to these really nice springs about 1km down the road from the local store and pay phone. So we spent a lovely 5 days chillen there going for swims in the little creek beside us collecting firewood and going for walks up to the shop to call people or get food. The first night of being stranded the gas run out on our stove so we were real bush camping from then on in. We also didn’t have a shower covering so that meant showers we taken under the tree nearby naked in broad daylight Alex was fine with this, I on the other hand was very quick when it came to shower time! The day before the mechanic was due back a friendly couple pulled in to see if we were ok turns out that the guy was a mechanic and he pulled the wheel of for us and told us what was wrong! We’d done a wheel barring great and no one around here would have those parts accessible. Luckly for us Max the guy that stopped new a wrecker in Broome and told us to call and get the parts straight away. We got the parts sent to us from Broome and they arrived the next day which was very lucky for us as the delivery truck wouldn’t have come till the next Wednesday if we’d missed the truck. It looked like luck was still on our side the mechanic agreed to put the axel in for us for only $100 which out here is very very cheap. He charges people around $700 -$800 just for a new tyre imagine what he was going to charge us for a brand new axel! So after getting the axel fixed we headed straight to derby to the mechanic. As the part was second hand we were advised to go and get some new bearings put in as the one we were sent had some play in them this meant that unfortunally we missed out on the rest of the Kimberley’s. To Derby we headed and got straight into a mechanic there.
Time to walk Manning George today. My second favourite gorge in the Kimberly! Elquestro still takes first place if u ask me.
The walk was an interesting one to say the least. To start off you have to swim across a river. A bit interesting when we had a 1500 dollar camera! There are foam boxes where u can put all your stuff in. So after stripping down to your undies (or swimmers) its time to take the plunge and swim across the river, pushing the box as you go. Luckily Tays camera didn’t end up at the bottom!
After about an hour walk we made it to manning gorge. Magic spot with a waterfall cascading onto the most inviting swimming hole you’ve ever seen! Absolute perla! Cliff jumps up to about 15 metres to jump of, large slabs of rock to sunbake on. Only thing that could make it better would be an ice-cold beer!
The afternoon saw us aiming to get to Bells Gorge and a mechanic on the way. The closest mechanic was Imiji Store in the small aboriginal community. About a km away from the mechanic things went pair shaped and after a few clunks bonks and smoke coming from the back wheel t was time to pull up and check things out.
After a quick look it was hard to tell weather the leak coming from the drum brake was brake fluid or diff oil. Turns out it was a mixture of both! Not so good.
While I was busy trying to take off this drum(which was a pain in the arse) Tay walked up the road to the store. Bad news. Mechanic is away. Next closest mechanic 230km away, in Derby.
We were going no-where any time soon.
This morning after a bit off a sleep in we were off! We ended up having dinner with this really lovely couple from the Coffs Harbour region. They ended up being quiet a laugh, they even convinced the local reptile handler to show us all his snake! Which Alex was first in to have a hold. It was a black-headed python and considering this thing had been brought in from the wild only a week before it was very tame! Alex then decided that he would go looking for some crocodiles that night and was told the perfect spot to go. Although I didn’t go with him as I have more than half a brain! Lets say there was a small dispute about the matter, never the less he came back half an hour later with only one leg… kidding he came back bragging about how he’d seen three crocs! So after farewelling our friends this morning it was time to hit the road, on our way to Manning gorge. We arrived around lunchtime and when we arrived we had noticed that something in the rear right hand wheel didn’t feel right. Never the less we cautiously continued on down to the George were we stayed the night and had our second campfire!
We woke up in the morning a little disappointed. A blanket of smoky haze had blown across the area. Visibility up on the top of the escarpments was very poor. We drove up this gnarly steep track just to find we couldn’t see much at all. A shame so we decided to check out the ‘El Questro George itself.
It was a 4x4 track to get to the entrance of the George. Gotta love a bit of 4x4ing! The main obstacle was pretty intimidating. It was a water crossing about 60m across. Not the shallowest of all crossings either. The sign before the crossing read ‘ River crossing, Access by High clearance 4WD is recommended. Not to worry a quick wade through croc territory and we were good to go. Too easy!
There were 2 walks in the George. A 2-hour and a 5 hour return walk. Obviously we chose the 2-hour walk! What kind of Muppet wants to go on a 5-hour walk?? We turns out that we’re Muppets! After scrambling, rock hopping our way we reached the end of the 2-hour return track. We could either turn around and go back, or push on and reach the end of the George. Our eagerness took the better of us so we pushed on. This meant we had to wade through chest deep water and climb up a ledge. Now the boulders we getting bigger and more water to cross. We walked for a good hour and half further until we reached the end of the George. Pretty much the best dead end ever. Picture perfect waterfall with a little waterhole with the crystal clear water. After a quick dip and relaxing we rock hopped, scrambled and climbed our way back to the truck. After more exploring we left ‘El Questro Station’ heading to Home Valley Station. A short 30km down the Gibb River Road.
Its quiet a nice little place. Lush green grass with a pool and all that. Spent the afternoon swimming and Chilin.
We’re going to the bar tonight for dinner and beers. Sleep in tomorrow that’s for sho!
The morning saw us leave Lake argyle at sparrows fart! Now the 2 hour time difference may not sound like much but it sure tripped us out a bit. We thought we woke up at 7 ready to leave at 8.
Turns out we woke up at 5 left at 6 in the morning!! A bit weird arriving in Kununurra at 7am.
We did a quick early morning shop to pick up last supplies before the Gibb River Road. We were there way to early tho as the bottle shop doesn’t open until lunch!
We were on the Gibb River Road before lunch and drove a short way to ‘El Questro’ Station. The place was expensive!! 36 bucks a night and then another 36 bucks to just check out the place! We spent the afternoon lazing around swimming and fishing. Didn’t manage to catch any fish though, maybe the big Barra had already eaten?
We did manage to spot a grumpy goanna. It was hissing and looking generally grumpy so we got the pic and got outa there! They’ve got pretty nasty claws so best left alone.
Leaving Victoria river road house we aimed to camp on the boarder of WA. Cant remember the name of the National Park but we were told by people coming from the campsite that it was hot, dusty and the river was dry! Defiantly a no go!
We drove a little further down the road to the boarder. Getting our car checked and throwing out a whole bunch of fruit and veg! Such a waste!!
Arriving at Lake Argyle was our stop for the night. This Lake is massive!! I don’t know how it stacks up to other lakes in Australia but all I can say is it would take you a few weeks to walk to the other side! No joke!
Pretty little spot though. It had a resort style pool looking over a corner of the lake. Lush green grass and the people were pretty friendly! Only bad thing is they wouldn’t let me set my hammock up in the trees. Now that’s just un Australian! Oh well.
This random sheila finished off the night with some live entertainment. She kept saying,
“Now I do this for free, but give me some money if you like it”.
Pretty much quilting the audience into paying her!
