AWOL Around Australia...

[Rufant]

The Kimberley. Part 1.

West Australia.

So we drove the rest of the highway to Broome. Nice and quiet, good for making sure there are no untoward noises after the service. Also, really great to get so much done and really just peace of mind to know everything you can visually check, seems to be A OK. Especially as after Broome we would be exploring the Kimberley, so more rough and ready tracks and trails coming up, no doubt.

I’m going to skip a little here. As another tropical cyclone was forming off the coast of north Australia meant we had to wait to see what would happen with that before deciding exactly where to go next. So a few days in Broome, which isn’t so bad. We were here twenty years ago on our first road trip around this part of the world. It felt like a very cool town back then, in a shabby chic kind of way. Many say that has been lost with the resorts and posh new houses that have sprung up in the meantime, maybe so, but that’s the world we’re in now. To me it still retained enough of that character and is still a place you could have a really great time. Although, were travelling out of season. Most locals we interacted with just assumed we were also locals. I know a mate who came here in peak dry season, and hated it.
So the original plan was to head up the Gibb River Road and then up Kalumburu, at the northern tip of the Kimberley. However the cyclone delayed this too, after local advice was not to go for a few days till any possible torrential rain has subsided. Same local advice said a road was open, which then appeared closed. Next day we found out it was probably just the signs hadn’t been taken down yet. But at $1000/wheel for being on a closed road... I should have just called Main Roads on the sat phone like the co-pilot suggested. Anyway, there was another day gone. So we pounded bitumen to Wolfe Creek. (So I didn’t really skip anything, just summarised I guess).

Some pictures anyway.

Inquisitive Manta Ray, off Cable Beach.

'Camping'

Some kick-ass Balinese food we had whilst in Broome.

Matso's is the local brewery, serving up all sorts of delights for hot and humid weather. You can ge the mango beer just about everywhere, shame you can't get the others too. Not many Australian brewers have so good a touch for balance, in their beers.

Spring clean time!

Wolfe Creek had been on my radar after obviously watching the movie.

[sidenote; feel free to skip this if you want... When the movie Wolf Creek was released in Australia, I was away with the Army. So despite the massive hype around this film there was no way for me to watch it when it first came out. By the time I got back to civilisation the movie had been out literally months, and had probably had more publicity than any other movie for a long time (it’s a horror movie, based in the outback if you don’t know). The only cinema left showing it in Brisbane was one of those full on Art House jobs where you get your own armchair and the theatre maybe seats about 40 people. Despite all the publicity, still about halfway through (when the movie turns from being a backpacker type movie to a proper horror movie) at least half the cinema got up and walked out! I’m like, I’ve been living in the bush for the past 3 months and even I knew that was going to happen. I also tried to dissuade my mother from going and seeing it when she emailed me to say she was going to watch it. Too late, she got up and walked out too!]


So we head out to the crater, just like the movie... On the southern edge of HEMA’s Kimberley map, it feels more like the outback than the Kimberley, but anyway.

A sometimes smooth-ish and sometimes rough-ish dirt road takes you the 130km from the highway out to the crater. The land around is very flat, helping the crater to stand out, as opposed to say the Hickman crater, which you have to be standing on the edge of to make it out from the surrounding hills.

We, and the flies, make camp.

...

I notice we're starting to wake earlier, around 5am this morning. I presume we are suffering the opposite effect when we were having heading west, now we are heading back east.

On my morning checkover I find a spotlight bracket broken. So I take it off. The other one is cracked but still holding at this point. Barely use the bloody things anyway...

Quick pack up and we drive over to the crater. It is a spectacle, and easily the most perfect circle of the craters we have seen. Second largest in the world apparently. Australia hates coming second...

Skin on this fella/sheila looked almost translucent, maybe he/she had just shed its skin.

 

[Rufant]

We take the same Tanami Road back out, this road runs all the way to Alice Springs to the south, and where we were camped is the edge of the Tanami Desert. Hence it felt more like the outback in South Australia were used to rather than the Kimberley per se. You won't find me complaining.

Apparently ants outnumber humans, not only by number but also by mass. I believe!

Weirdly this road feels smoother and easier going out, I guess that’s the effect of hitting it in the morning, with a fresh start, rather than hitting it later afternoon after 500km? of driving already done for the day. Worth remembering that for sticky situations late in the day, sometimes it’s best to park it and look with fresh eyes on the morrow.

Anyway, back on the bitumen and into the town of Halls Creek. Not a bad little place, we topped off fuel again and bought a couple of pies for brunch. From here we would keep heading east. Firstly to a couple of local sights and then taking another unknown minor track we could see on the map.

China Wall.

The rough and winding road out of town showcased all different ages of abandoned cars off the side.

The wheels told me this was a Discovery. Looking later at the photos, the melted aluminium bodywork confirmed the diagnosis!

We got a bit carried away looking for Sawtooth Gorge, until this minor obstacle stopped us in our tracks.

Anyway, we were on the wrong track as it turns out. We needed to be the other side of that range, see the gap in the rocks?

Ta dah!

Palm Springs.

These spots were all along the main dirt road and signposted, so had a corresponding amount of crap around them... Time to get off the beaten track.

 

[Rufant]

We followed a trail off into the Ord River Regeneration area. Firstly skirting the fence line for this station.

I don't think many people come down here...

We stop for a spot of lunch. Saying g'day to old mate.

I whip out the compressor and blow some grass seeds out of the radiator.

These ant hills guarded the horizon against the moody sky.

The road ahead.

We cross many dry rivers.

We can see a few bushfires on the horizon. The smoke is going straight up which is a good sign. No wind means they will spread slowly.


The trail is completely overgrown in sections. We see one set of tyre tracks long ago dried in a patch of mud, but that's it. No one has been down this way in a long time. N carefully watches the GPS to make sure we are staying on the right track.

We skirt round Turner Hill and check out the abandoned Turner Station. As usual I would love to know what happened here? Maybe just a very dry wet season like the one we are travelling in, there must be a few worried farmers up here, as it's almost guaranteed not to rain now for six months.

I find a spanner! Sidchrome too, good quality - half inch, useful size!

Turner Hill.

So we're still mowing stuff down, like a lite version of All 4 Adventure.

 

[Rufant]

The sun pokes out from behind the clouds.

There are small bushfires intermittently around, some smouldering up to the track but nothing moving with any speed.

We finally cross some water, stagnant and a bit soft, despite the rocky surface.

Deeper than it looks!

As we drive out the other side N says "we're going in the wrong direction" "lets just give it a minute" I say, known that there are often small discrepancies in the exact position of the track on the map. But no, this track goes the wrong way. We back track to the water crossing, seems we might have missed a junction a short while back.
We find it. Easy to follow our own tracks back, we back on the route marked on the map, then...

I walk, but only so far. Not cool crashing through this thick undergrowth. We drive down a bit, but it's literally a sea of overgrown, and more importantly there isn't any sign of where you cross the water, and it's getting dark.

Weirdly the map had been spot on, all day, right up to this point. No choice though, than to hang a u-bolt.


We backtrack, cross the water again. Switching to the the topo map we can see this track does eventually lead out. As we had been on this track for about 200km already, I was expecting to camp out here tonight anyway. Although with the fires, actually making it back to the main dirt road would be a good idea.

So we follow this track and make it back to the main dirt road - Duncan Road, just as the light is gone. Remember that spotlight I took off this morning....?

Anyway, one is a lot better than none.

Bushfires still doing their thing, about 100m off the road.

We drive on. Eventually at the NT border we find a clear enough spot in the Spinifex to camp. Quick chicken and rice for dinner and call it a night. I can see a few bushfires, but a long way away, still no wind. I wake every so often and have a look out the mesh of the tent, see if the light from the fires is any brighter, seems N was doing the same.

Our old man dog Rollo needs to go out for a whizz at 2am. I go out with him and then turn all the lights off and have another look at those fires. The breeze is up now, not windy but steadily blowing and in our direction. I stare at the brightest light, I think I can just see the direct light of the fire, not just reflected in the hazy night sky. Time to go.

No rush, we're not in any immediate danger, no point in waiting though.

It's about 200km back to the bitumen, this road is actually in pretty good condition, but no rushing from us. Unfortunately a few birds and one small kangaroo decides to hop back across the road into our path, nowhere to go... On the plus side we avoid many many others, such strange behaviour these creatures, many will just stop and sort of crawl away even though the truck is stopped right behind them. We also pass a really big snake, just down the road from a hopping mouse. Lots of wildlife on the road at night.

Sunrise just before we hit the main road.

We roll into Kununurra. Feeling pretty wasted.

 

[Riversdad]

Amazing pictures of the Ray.

 

[Rufant]

Amazing pictures of the Ray.

Thanks, that was our first morning in Broome, strolling along the beach. It was like ‘ok, now we’re in the North!’.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

Thanks for posting, and also including the links ( like with he critters we arent familiar with). I look forward to following along, and was able to add a few places to my list.

Happy Trails & Safe Travels

 

[Rufant]

Thanks for posting, and also including the links ( like with he critters we arent familiar with). I look forward to following along, and was able to add a few places to my list.

Happy Trails & Safe Travels

Thanks for commenting! Always good to get a bit of feedback.

Cheers

 

[vbc1_75]

The Kimberley. Part 1.

West Australia.

So we drove the rest of the highway to Broome. Nice and quiet, good for making sure there are no untoward noises after the service. Also, really great to get so much done and really just peace of mind to know everything you can visually check, seems to be A OK. Especially as after Broome we would be exploring the Kimberley, so more rough and ready tracks and trails coming up, no doubt.

I’m going to skip a little here. As another tropical cyclone was forming off the coast of north Australia meant we had to wait to see what would happen with that before deciding exactly where to go next. So a few days in Broome, which isn’t so bad. We were here twenty years ago on our first road trip around this part of the world. It felt like a very cool town back then, in a shabby chic kind of way. Many say that has been lost with the resorts and posh new houses that have sprung up in the meantime, maybe so, but that’s the world we’re in now. To me it still retained enough of that character and is still a place you could have a really great time. Although, were travelling out of season. Most locals we interacted with just assumed we were also locals. I know a mate who came here in peak dry season, and hated it.
So the original plan was to head up the Gibb River Road and then up Kalumburu, at the northern tip of the Kimberley. However the cyclone delayed this too, after local advice was not to go for a few days till any possible torrential rain has subsided. Same local advice said a road was open, which then appeared closed. Next day we found out it was probably just the signs hadn’t been taken down yet. But at $1000/wheel for being on a closed road... I should have just called Main Roads on the sat phone like the co-pilot suggested. Anyway, there was another day gone. So we pounded bitumen to Wolfe Creek. (So I didn’t really skip anything, just summarised I guess).

Some pictures anyway.

Inquisitive Manta Ray, off Cable Beach.

'Camping'

Some kick-ass Balinese food we had whilst in Broome.

Matso's is the local brewery, serving up all sorts of delights for hot and humid weather. You can ge the mango beer just about everywhere, shame you can't get the others too. Not many Australian brewers have so good a touch for balance, in their beers.

Spring clean time!

Wolfe Creek had been on my radar after obviously watching the movie.

[sidenote; feel free to skip this if you want... When the movie Wolf Creek was released in Australia, I was away with the Army. So despite the massive hype around this film there was no way for me to watch it when it first came out. By the time I got back to civilisation the movie had been out literally months, and had probably had more publicity than any other movie for a long time (it’s a horror movie, based in the outback if you don’t know). The only cinema left showing it in Brisbane was one of those full on Art House jobs where you get your own armchair and the theatre maybe seats about 40 people. Despite all the publicity, still about halfway through (when the movie turns from being a backpacker type movie to a proper horror movie) at least half the cinema got up and walked out! I’m like, I’ve been living in the bush for the past 3 months and even I knew that was going to happen. I also tried to dissuade my mother from going and seeing it when she emailed me to say she was going to watch it. Too late, she got up and walked out too!]


So we head out to the crater, just like the movie... On the southern edge of HEMA’s Kimberley map, it feels more like the outback than the Kimberley, but anyway.

A sometimes smooth-ish and sometimes rough-ish dirt road takes you the 130km from the highway out to the crater. The land around is very flat, helping the crater to stand out, as opposed to say the Hickman crater, which you have to be standing on the edge of to make it out from the surrounding hills.

We, and the flies, make camp.

...

I notice we're starting to wake earlier, around 5am this morning. I presume we are suffering the opposite effect when we were having heading west, now we are heading back east.

On my morning checkover I find a spotlight bracket broken. So I take it off. The other one is cracked but still holding at this point. Barely use the bloody things anyway...

Quick pack up and we drive over to the crater. It is a spectacle, and easily the most perfect circle of the craters we have seen. Second largest in the world apparently. Australia hates coming second...

Skin on this fella/sheila looked almost translucent, maybe he/she had just shed its skin.

Did you walk into the centre of the crater amongst the trees, a mini ecosystem of little birds, finches etc.

 

[Rufant]

Did you walk into the centre of the crater amongst the trees, a mini ecosystem of little birds, finches etc.

I didn't this time. Co-Pilot's fly patience was somewhat limited that morning...

 

[Rufant]

The Kimberley. Part 2

West Australia.

We stopped in Kununurra for a couple of nights. Not much got done that first day as we were somewhat bushwhacked after the last few days exploits. First night was a bit wild, with a carry on all night and the sound of someone determinedly trying to break into the local shops (no shops have exposed windows overnight).
The park manager said that was a particularly bad night and probably people from out of town, coming in, getting carried away and trying to trash the place. Next day the town carried on as normal. Kununurra is the main centre for the East Kimberley region, and when any local around here refers to ‘town’ this is where they mean.
Seems the manager was right as the next night was far more normal.

I evacuated as many grass seeds from the radiator as possible.

Running an air line from the compressor got rid of some, but a micro fibre cloth on the end of a long screwdriver was by far the most effective. Plus another good check over of the Cruiser. Reliability would be as important as ever, now we were be in the north of Australia for the foreseeable future.

Fish and chips from ‘The Barra Shack’ that night. Barramundi is a great eating fish in the north where it can be caught fresh and large. Not so much in the rest of the country where it is either frozen or farmed.

Time to hit the road. The road to Kalumburu should be open by now, so we can take a nice easy two days to get there. Or not.

Hmmm...

No phone reception here.

There are many properties and places to stay along the Gibb River Road, nearly all were shut this early in the season (or really late in the wet season according to the calendar). However I knew El Questro was open, and only a short drive from this eastern end of ‘the Gibb’. We can check local advice there, and make a plan. If not, I can get on the sat phone.

El Questro is by far the most slick and commercial operation in the Kimberley by all accounts, so I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise when we got there to find out there was 3G phone reception. So I put a call into Main Roads WA. Who advised they had no road closures,but advised they couldn’t help with smaller, shire roads - makes sense, the clue is in the name... Feeling a bit thick I googled the local shire office and called them. Yep it’s definitely shut, no information on when it will open, they’ve had rain up there. Please check back on the roads page of our website for the latest updates.

Rightyho. Might as well book in for a night here. I was planning to spend a few nights here on the way back anyway. Let’s see how tomorrow (Friday) pans out, if it’s not open then it probably won’t open till after the weekend. No worries, we can spend our nights here now and head out Monday.

So that’s how it played out. Plenty of people bag El Questro but (crucially) at this time of year it was a great place to kill a few days. Easy but scenic 4x4 trails planned out for you. Someone else to cook. Happy hour. DJ playing Toto - Africa on Saturday night! Reminding me of our mates Venturesome Overland who named their African touring Land Rover after that song.

Some shots from our time there.

There are no real challenging tracks at El Questro. However, about half the 4x4's we saw were hire cars, so better safe than sorry with the signage. Not to mention there are plenty of people with tricked up 4x4's who haven't done much off road driving, as N was chatting to the couple in a 200 series Cruiser who did this hill after us and they said how challenging it was, lucky N didn't mention you could clearly see where the grader had been up it...

The below track was the only on that was really off road, loose and rocky, we did bump the rear bar coming down it but coming back up (where it is easier to see the line) I could see I just picked a poor spot to drop off, I had a good reason for not getting out of the car and looking first I might add!

 

[Rufant]

Superb hiking trails, easily mapped out.

Speaking of...

Climbing out of this rock pool, I slipped, falling maybe half a metre with my big toe taking the full brunt of stopping me falling any further. This is the ‘halfway pool’ on the El Questro gorge hike. I had already tried wading through here with all my gear, and even though it doesn’t look it, it is too deep to do with stuff strapped around your neck. Both the camera bag and my other bag were getting wet. Not particularly wanting to sacrifice my camera gear or satellite telephone I stashed them and went back with just my phone and the PLB. I wasn’t sure which side you were meant to climb out. The waterfall looked easier until I swam closer and realised I couldn’t touch the bottom at all that side, so pulling myself out could prove troublesome. The steeper side I could at least get my feet on the side of the rock (makes you realise how photos change the perspective, the above pool doesn't look anywhere near deep enough for a 6 foot man not to be able to stand in it hey?). All was going well, till my foothold, held no longer and down I went.
As ever, could have been worse, banged head, water, etc... Anyway, pulled myself together. Foot was definitely painful, but just channeled a small bit of Toby Price, and hobbled out.

Toe at time, and 24 hours later.

Looking a bit bent in the above photo, also shows how long I was in the water as my skin has started to go wrinkly.

Below, the full technicolour glory. Plus Roxy.

So, that’ll put a lid on this for a while. It has been sometime since I injured myself, but it just comes with the territory, if you’re an outdoors sort of person it’s just going to happen every now and then. Hoping it was just badly bruised and not broken, I just tried to stay off it, put some ice on it and N did most of the stuff I normally do. Whilst I watched movies and took over the laser pointer.

We got chatting to some Kununurra locals up for the weekend, they advised that the Kalumburu road was unlikely to open before Thursday (this was Saturday), and she being ex pat English like us, gave us a snapshot of what it was like to live in the north - HATES the wet season, loves the dry season. Something I’ve heard many times before.

Well between the bushfires, busting my foot and this bloody road closure I had the growing feeling that Kalumburu wasn’t meant to be. Why did I want to go? About 10 years ago I had spent three months of my life there. Cooking up a storm as part of the Australian Army AACAP project. I got some amazing experiences out of that time and was keen to revisit. I’d also been recommending The Kimberley as THE Australian destination after that trip. I might revise that now, it seems the crazy numbers that come in peak dry season now, have definitely changed the experience up here.

Kimberley-Australia newsletter sealed the deal at least in my mind. Time to move on and explore other areas. First though, I had seen the backtrack to Wyndham recommended as worth doing, not far from here. Just before the crossing of the Pentecost River which we did anyway.

Seems interesting.

Or not.

That just about sums up how it went in the Kimberley for us. It would be churlish to say we didn’t have a good time, we got to some cool places for sure. But my expectations were high, and sometimes it’s just not meant to be. Maybe a few weeks later would have made all the difference. Hey ho, first world problems!

[In reality, with N being crook back in January we were about a month ahead of when we were originally planning to be here. However with how hot January was, we might well have ended up heading home then anyway. Might, but, if, you can only plan so far into the future]

Back to Kununurra, and onto one of my favourite places in the world. Once again we would be back in the Northern Territory!


WA - some observations. Wow! What a State. Covering about a third of the country, its scale and diversity are unsurpassed. You could spend a lifetime exploring here (we had been here about eight weeks).
However, the coast is now a very busy tourist route (I could keep harking back to how it was twenty years ago, but I hate it when people do nothing but spout off about the good old days, that clearly aren't coming back). So be warned. Heading into the outback interior definitely gives more of a sense of vastness and toughness of the environment. Although with so much mining it is maybe more inhabited than you might expect, which gives it its own character.

It’s expensive. This in itself, I don’t have a problem with. Distances are huge, transportation costs have to be factored in, businesses are there to make money. Be glad they are there.
However, there is virtually no free camping. Ok there are many, many roadside ‘rest stop’ camping areas, and we used these on multiple occasions. When you just need somewhere to stop because you are never going to get to the next town before dark, fine, great. But I mean there are virtually no goodfree bush camps, where you might want to stay a bit longer. Even out in the middle of nowhere (which is a real shame, because there is a whole heap of that, and you really need to camp in it to experience it best). It’s not only that they are not free, but they are just not there. It’s pretty much either stay in the towns, national parks or stay be the roadside. Possibly with more research or more local knowledge, it is different. However we traveled the same here as we did through NSW, VIC and SA. Noticeable difference. Maybe it is just because many humans are pigs and can’t clean up after themselves - no offence to pigs.

 

[Rufant]

Apologies for radio silence... Not much phone reception up here.

Back in the NT.

Northern Territory, Australia.

Stocked up, back in Kununurra we headed out first checking out Australia’s second biggest man made lake, Lake Argyle.

Also round here is the worlds biggest diamond mine. Which is why as you walk into Kununurra's small shopping centre, there is a diamond jewellery store, seemingly on holiday from inner city Sydney or somewhere.

Crossing the border into the NT, we instantly 'lost' an hour and thirty in time. I was a little concerned we might be a bit late getting to Timber Creek, where we were planning to overnight. So for the first time in, well, quite sometime. I stoked the Land Cruiser up over 100km/h to knock over some miles, felt bloody fast too, ha!

As you may have noticed I like to cook all sorts of things, from all sorts of cultures. However, sometimes you happen to have everything for steak and potatoes, so you have steak and potatoes.

...

Next morning, the plan was to explore drive down through Gregory/Judbarra NP, and then press on from there, but no.

Easy to get disheartened with all of this, but I put myself in perspective on the next couple of hours of bitumen drive to the town of Katherine. We are probably somewhere between a fortnight and a month too early. The frustrating thing is the country is easily traversable with our set up, with the lack of a proper wet season. However, everything up here is geared around nothing being accessible, and no one being here till May at the earliest. There are a number of reasons while we are here now, and as ever the regulations are generally necessary for the 5% of travellers who can't be responsible for themselves. Anyway, it is what it is.
At the end of the day, we are still travelling through some awesome country with almost no tourists, so let’s check ourselves and think positive. Right, NT, my old mate, what have you got?

Victoria River Crossing.

Plus some cool pictures from inside the Victoria River Roadhouse (give you an idea what a proper wet season is like).

Rolling into Katherine I spy the Northern Land Council office and pop in, so I can apply for a permit to head out to East Arnhem Land. Application lodged for about a week’s time, let’s wait and see.

We track north. Wiki camps suggests a bush camp on the road out to Edith Falls. It looks fine but a sign I glanced on the start of this road makes me hesitate. Back at the sign I read it properly, seems we did the right thing.

To say most of non indigenous Australians don’t get indigenous Australians is an understatement. To be fair, it’s sometimes easy to arrive at a negative impression. However, many communities have come a long way, in a very short time. Also the more you take time to learn about the traditional ways, the more you realise we imports have a whole heap to learn, especially about how to relate to, work with and live in this country, from the first Australians. All the amazing birds you see up here in the north, were originally found throughout Australia till we started grazing cattle on the native vegetation, think about that next time you grab some steak or mince in the store, I know I do... In some ways I think what has happened here the last couple of hundred years, is a microcosm of what is wrong with the world in general.

Being back in the NT, also meant we could get the infamous NT News, if we so desired...

On to the charming little town of Pine Creek. I felt I was back in the zone now. Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do... As I planned where we would go from here.

The other spotlight bracket had also let go now, so I took them all off.

Buy once, cry once. I give that as advice all the time... The lights themselves actually seem reasoanbly well made. However, stainless is probably not a great material for a heavy spotlight bracket on the bull bar of a vehicle that spends much of its time on rough dirt roads. Looks pretty though.
This trip has been very good at distilling down exactly what gear we need, and what stuff has performed well and what hasn't.

This caught my eye rolling in yesterday.

Lovely chat with this couple and their internationally travelled Defender. Travelling Australia since November, they were loving the north “it’s like a different country” I said, and they agreed. I said I missed the Land Rover community, and they explained how they had been in touch with many Land Rover clubs in Australia. The proudly showed me the modified driveshafts on the rear axle “Australian made! Very good” he assured me. They quizzed me on moving to Australia, or he did, she explained that children and grandchildren would probably keep them in Denmark. Same as my parents I explained.
I told them about the Pilbara region, as they were heading west through the Kimberley, and driving away after saying goodbye I remembered my Hema map of the area was tucked under my seat, so I stopped and hobbled (toe) back to their camp and gave it to them. I’m not going to be needing it anytime soon, and there is loads of good information on it.

Flying over the camp at sunset and again in the morning was a spectacular colony of flying foxes. I found their hang outas we drove out of town.

 

[Rufant]

We took a picturesque dirt road rather than the highway that morning.

You always find stuff taking the road less travelled. More boom and bust goldfield relics. Being just at the end of wet season this area was pretty overgrown, it didn't really entice me into wandering around in the bush.


I had seen one of these, Mertens' Water Monitorwhilst at El Questro. It had been sun bathing at the side of a water crossing, its wet skin had glistened like many small jewels. I had stopped the truck mid crossing and was just about to take a photo, when as soon as my hand came out of the window with the phone, that's it! It was gone, into the water.
This one, sun baking on a bridge crossing moved a little more slowly.

Then crossing back over the highway to head out west to Daly River.

A small ramshackle town that shares its name with the river it is on. We check in at the pub and make camp.

3 people consider water crossing and turn back...

I take the Cruiser down to the river for a fish. Nothing happening with the fishing but have an interesting chat with a bloke who lives 80km further down the road, and is on his way back from Darwin, but has to wait for some recent water to subside before he can get home. He assures me where I’m fishing is a good spot, someone pulled four fish out yesterday afternoon, and he then shows me the pictures of the metre six (1.06m) barramundi he landed on the opposite bank. He said he was desperate to get the lure out before other blokes came running over with a tape measure, so they couldn’t see what it was. Then goes ahead and shows me what he used to net ‘the horse’, “and don’t worry about those other things” (crocs) “it’s only the people who don’t fight back who get eaten!”.
Anyway, we chat about how the north has changed, “never used to see people out at my place, now they’re always up there in their boats, bloody annoying!” he’s been up here thirty years but is ready to sell up - too hard to visit the grandchildren from where he is.
He offers us to follow him out to his place tomorrow for a fish, I say we’re heading up to Darwin in a couple of days “let the missus take the Toyota, and come anyway!” obviously not overwhelmed with company at his place. Anyway, always good to have a chat with the locals.

I was captivated by the north of Australia when I first came here, and always recommend it to anyone who is coming to visit. But it is over 10 years since I’ve been here properly and I realise that I need to work towards more regular visits up here. Life is what happens while you’re busy making plans or something...

Another day of lazing and fishing. After following some local advice I get a big hit on my line, something powerful runs out about ten metres of line and then is gone. “Maybe a shark” says one of the locals. Well, I don’t want to catch one of them. That’s it though, luckily the pub is well stocked with locally caught Barramundi!

The pub here is surprisingly busy and vibrant. The food was excellent. This community seems to work well, and I notice how much more people talk to each other here. Here, where there is no mobile phone service, coincidence...?

Which of course means the 'quick fix' of the internet isn't there. I've read more books on this trip than I have in the last ten years, about a 50/50 split of fact and fiction. Bloody enjoyed it too. Easy to forget the simple pleasures in this world.

...

Moving on, we headed north to Darwin. With a steady stream of 4x4’s and boat trailers coming the other way. Ah, Good Friday, start of the Easter long weekend. We would hole up in a caravan park for the next few days, as every regional campsite for miles is going to be packed for the next few days.
We did rest day stuff and spent sometime in Darwin. One of my favourite Australian cities. I realised every other time I had been here was always for work of one sort or another, and I always had a good time, so that says something about the feel of the place.

Having the dogs with us meant we couldn’t do as much as we wanted. Nay mind, this will make a nice long weekend getaway for N and I at some point in the future.

So we grabbed a few things that you can only get in these bigger places. Then pushed on.

...

Heading north east of Darwin I was keen to check out a couple of potential bush camps out this way. Streaming long weekend traffic coming the other way, looked like a good sign. Although all the police vehicles mixed in with it was odd. The bitumen turned to a dirt track, a bit rough in places with some bigger holes from being driven wet, as usual we were just going nice and easy. A Prado came rushing up behind us, next opportunity I pulled over and let him go, plus the Nissan Navara that was following a few hundred metres behind. I get that most people are on a more normal and rushed time schedule and we’re not, so I never try to hold anyone up.

A couple of km’s later and the bush closes in drastically, with only a single vehicle track through what is now think jungle.

We plunge in just as the Navara is backing out, but he immediately goes forwards again. We follow until we meet the traffic jam in the middle. Prado guy is pulled over, a Holden Colorado is also backed up in the bush and a Pajero has manoeuvred itself out of the way (coming the other way). I stop at the back and get out to see what the go is...
Pajero guy has turned around as he is not confident of making the second water crossing further up the track “not so deep, but not worth it”, “how far up?, I’ve never been up here” I say, “about three hundred metres”, ok, not so far to look then.
The Prado guy and the Navara guy who know each other talk about going on, “pull in behind me, let this guy (me) go first” says Prado guy to Navara guy. So gracious, not in so much of a hurry now then...? Whatever, I’d go first, I know mine and Bertha’s limits pretty well by now. But Navara guy gallantly says he’ll take the lead, and Prado guy follows.

We so splash through a couple of small water crossings and then a deeper one. I feel the Cruiser sink hose extra six inches or so when the bottom is not good. I stop and watch the guys ahead do a couple more puddles and then stop. That’ll be the crossing then.
The Prado is stock from what I can see, but the Nissan is lifted, fresh KO2’s on it, but he’s not keen to go further. More to the point I can now see the coast out through the trees, mud flats and mangroves. I walk to where Prado guy has stopped “what’s at the end of this track?” I say, “dunno, never been this far he says” well there is no indication that the camping is going to be any way worth it, so I walk back to Bertha and we do twelve-ish point turn and head back.
Risk vs Reward as I explain to N, would we had made the creek crossing? Yeah probably, but why risk it? I didn’t see anything that suggested we would find a good campsite, and if we didn’t make the crossing? Well that’s one muddy afternoon on your hands, plus who know how much ruined gear, plus prime croc country. Weekender with the lads is one mindset, these longer trips, very different.

A Honda CRV or something was on its way in as we were coming out, I wound down my window for a chat, but the other driver didn’t and kept going, I'm sure they’ll turn around at the first big puddle...

So we back tracked. There was an abandoned prison to go check out, we took a more minor but direct track there. Wet but it looked ok.

That’s a bit more serious.

I walked (the start of) this section and prodded around with a stick, base actually felt good. We drove in carefully. The trail dropped down a step as we got to the deeper water. I stopped.

Looking closely, now we had sent down a little bow wave, you could see the middle of the puddle was running water. So this was a swollen creek, not just a puddle. The muddy water revealed nothing. We backed out.
Off the track was swampy soup, so we back up maybe two hundred metres, before it was dry enough to do another twelve-ish point turn, and headed out.

 

[Rufant]

We found the prison, and the remnants of a bush-doof (rave) party that had obviously been going all night (all weekend?) long - this would explain all the police vehicles we had seen earlier. A few sorry looking souls were still getting the most out of their drugs

There was a track in out of here, rough and washed out. A Triton was struggling up it so we waited. Bloke pulled over with his window down, as was mine “anything worth it down there?” I said “not really”, came the reply “ we got to one major wash out and decided it wasn’t worth it”, “fair enough” I said. We drove a short way down the track but there were heaps of people camped here. U bolt again.

I said to N that you can divide off-road drivers into two categories, those that stop to chat through the window, and those that don’t. Why you wouldn’t want to quiz someone who is coming out of the track you are just about to drive down totally beats me. Blind faith maybe?

We eventually got out to the other bush camp, but just another coast camp where the tide goes out for miles.

Not for us, a spot of lunch and we initiated Plan B, and headed back to the highway and then west, out towards the (Mick) Dundee area. We rolled into Bynoe bush camp in late afternoon.

Had a good chat with 'Bones', the caretaker. We talked about communities up here. He had worked in Gunbalanya, and had driven some of the north road to Nhulunbuy. He said it had been pretty wild back then, just a beer can on a branch if you're lucky then you get round the corner and road is just gone.... Impossible to get a permit to go that way now.

Best thing about the NT so far? The people. Territorians so much more laid back and chatty, in an already laid back and chatty country.

Kevin (Bacon) the pig.

Roxy having her lie in, on me.

...

This was a nice spot but I felt like we should make some distance towards Katherine to hopefully pick up our permit tomorrow.
First out to Dundee Beach, a small town down the end of this westerly road. At the beach was Dundee Lodge, a busy fishing lodge judging by the amount of 4x4’s there with empty boat trailers attached. We had a drive around and down to another bit of the coast, the sea here is murky, the same as it was where we were yesterday on the coast east of Darwin. Good for fishing it looks like, but that’s about it.

We started to track back towards the highway. I tried a few cross country tracks I could see on the topo map, but all met with private property or no access of one sort or another. The wild and free north Australia I remembered from my time in the Army seemed pretty sanitised now. Maybe it has changed. Maybe it is just my perception that has changed, or maybe we just haven’t hit those parts yet. A bit of each no doubt, but let’s hold out for the latter hey?

So back to the highway and back to the charming town of Pine Creek, for a nice early camp. This would allow us to get to Katherine in good time tomorrow.

...

I was apprehensive pulling up outside the Northern Land Council office. In my gut I had a feeling that this permit wouldn’t be ready. Just the way things had gone the last few weeks, plus the fact that when I’d applied for it I hadn’t realised that Easter was ********** bang in the time I had asked for it to be approved. Well, my concerns were completely unfounded, a bit of rustling around and I was presented with a very official looking piece of paper “just sort out the other permits when we get there?” I asked “I would do the general permit online beforehand” the helpful lady replied, as they tend to close quite early out there. Good information. I bashed that out in the car outside whilst we had good service. The specialist permits could wait till we got there.

Feeling mildly triumphant, we grabbed a few groceries, emptied half the worlds refined petroleum supply into the tanks and hit the road. 50km out of Katherine came the turn off.

Right, time for some bloody adventure.