We spent two days in Adelaide and then drove from Adelaide to Melbourne where we spent a further two days, again visiting relatives.
From there it was a day's drive back to Canberra, arriving home on Friday 18/9 having travelled a total of 21,000 kilometres in our World Tour of Australia.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Shortly after Nundroo you come to the Head of the Bight and this is where they have a marine sanctuary and between June and November you can see whales. The park has a series of boardwalks that take you down over the sand dunes and right to the cliff edge and there just below you are about 70 whales, mothers and their babies frolicking in the ocean. What an absolutely awesome sight. You hear them bellow and blow a spout of water. Watch the protective mothers circle their babies if the stray too far and the young calves slap their tails in the water, breach and roll in the water. Some of the whales were just floating in the water upside down.
It was so difficult to leave and press on but we had to get back on the road.
We are now in Streaky Bay in SA on Eyre Peninsula. It is a very pretty little spot.
It was so difficult to leave and press on but we had to get back on the road.
We are now in Streaky Bay in SA on Eyre Peninsula. It is a very pretty little spot.
We set off early this morning, well that’s a little confusing because WA is 2 hours behind but between Belladonia and Eucla they have adopted a non official time which is 45 minutes ahead of WA then when you arrive in SA you change time zones again.
Along the highway today are several lookouts, the Great Australian Bight Marine Park which stretches for hundreds of kilometres. Stunning views all along the rugged coastline.
We stopped at the roadhouse at Nundroo where very near the petrol bowsers was a small aircraft for scenic flights. It’s not often you see a plane at the petrol station.
The other thing you don’t see very often is the signs that tell you that the highway also doubles as a Royal Flying Doctor runway for landings for emergencies. Every so often along the road you will see the white lines painted on the highway and a sign to say it’s a landing strip for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Along the highway today are several lookouts, the Great Australian Bight Marine Park which stretches for hundreds of kilometres. Stunning views all along the rugged coastline.
We stopped at the roadhouse at Nundroo where very near the petrol bowsers was a small aircraft for scenic flights. It’s not often you see a plane at the petrol station.
The other thing you don’t see very often is the signs that tell you that the highway also doubles as a Royal Flying Doctor runway for landings for emergencies. Every so often along the road you will see the white lines painted on the highway and a sign to say it’s a landing strip for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
We have travelled across the Nullabor Plain and once again it has been a big surprise to us. We have driven the section which is the longest straightest bit of road in Australia or was it the world. It has been more interesting that we expected. We saw signs to watch out for camels, emus and kangaroos. We have seen quite a few emus,some kangaroos but no camels. We have seen lots of large lizards sunning themselves in the middle of the road or crossing it very slowly.
It was quite a surprise to drive over two passes, the first, Madura Pass, has a lookout at the peak with views forever over the plains and the second pass is at Eucla where we stayed at the one and only motel there.
We ventured out from Eucla and clambered over the sand dunes to see the old Telegraph station, the jetty and the beautiful beach with its pearly white sand and beautiful turquoise water.
There is a lookout at the top of Eucla Pass with a travellers cross which is lit up at night. From the lookout you can see miles of beach and the white sandstone cliffs.
It was quite a surprise to drive over two passes, the first, Madura Pass, has a lookout at the peak with views forever over the plains and the second pass is at Eucla where we stayed at the one and only motel there.
We ventured out from Eucla and clambered over the sand dunes to see the old Telegraph station, the jetty and the beautiful beach with its pearly white sand and beautiful turquoise water.
There is a lookout at the top of Eucla Pass with a travellers cross which is lit up at night. From the lookout you can see miles of beach and the white sandstone cliffs.
The following day we travelled to Menzies, Broad Arrow and then on to Kalgoorlie. Broad Arrow was so named because the man who discovered laid a trail of broad arrows for his son to follow him. At the height of the goldrush there were 15,000 residents but it is now a ghost town. The old Broad Arrow Tavern is noted for having almost every wall covered with handwritten notes from past visitors but is now closed.
Menzies is another goldrush town with a number of fine sandstone buildings. The town hall has a clock with an interesting history. The clock is actually 4 clocks, a master clock inside the building and 3 slaves on the face of the tower. The town bought a clock in the early 1900’s and the ship carrying the clock was sunk in a storm and the clock was never recovered. It wasn’t until 1999 that Menzies finally got it’s clock. What really struck me, was after waiting 100 years to get a clock why would you have a clock that showed the 3 faces all with different times and all of them were wrong.
We finished our day with a stop in Kalgoorlie to look at the superpit, a gigantic open cut mine which is still operational and a visit to the Miners Hall of Fame. We also stopped in Boulder and Kambalda before heading on to our overnight stop in Norseman at the Roadhouse motel.
Menzies is another goldrush town with a number of fine sandstone buildings. The town hall has a clock with an interesting history. The clock is actually 4 clocks, a master clock inside the building and 3 slaves on the face of the tower. The town bought a clock in the early 1900’s and the ship carrying the clock was sunk in a storm and the clock was never recovered. It wasn’t until 1999 that Menzies finally got it’s clock. What really struck me, was after waiting 100 years to get a clock why would you have a clock that showed the 3 faces all with different times and all of them were wrong.
We finished our day with a stop in Kalgoorlie to look at the superpit, a gigantic open cut mine which is still operational and a visit to the Miners Hall of Fame. We also stopped in Boulder and Kambalda before heading on to our overnight stop in Norseman at the Roadhouse motel.
Sandstone has a number of lovely old historic buildings and also has a spectacular display of wildflowers at this time of year.
We stopped overnight in Leonora in the middle of the Northern Goldfields just down the road from the now ghost town of Gwalia.
Abandoned virtually overnight in 1963 when the Sons of Gwalia mine closed down, it remains as a monument to the WA gold rush. People just up and left, leaving behind their belongings, cars and furniture where it mostly remains today.
The houses are corrugated iron humpies. Inside these miner’s shacks, jackets hang from coat hooks and kerosene-tin drawers sit intact on the floor amongst the pots, pans and broken crockery.
It is quite eerie wandering around the deserted town and peering into the lives of the inhabitants.
In Gwalia is also Hoover House which is been completely restored to it’s former glory as the home of Herbert Hoover who was the 31st president of the United States and manager of the Sons of Gwalia mine. The house is now part of the museum but also operates as a B&B on weekends.
It is a stark contrast to the iron humpies that the miners lived in. The dining area of the house was the site of the famous gold bar dinner, where four large bars of gold were placed on the table to celebrate a years worth of gold mined which would in todays money have been valued at over a million dollars.
We stopped overnight in Leonora in the middle of the Northern Goldfields just down the road from the now ghost town of Gwalia.
Abandoned virtually overnight in 1963 when the Sons of Gwalia mine closed down, it remains as a monument to the WA gold rush. People just up and left, leaving behind their belongings, cars and furniture where it mostly remains today.
The houses are corrugated iron humpies. Inside these miner’s shacks, jackets hang from coat hooks and kerosene-tin drawers sit intact on the floor amongst the pots, pans and broken crockery.
It is quite eerie wandering around the deserted town and peering into the lives of the inhabitants.
In Gwalia is also Hoover House which is been completely restored to it’s former glory as the home of Herbert Hoover who was the 31st president of the United States and manager of the Sons of Gwalia mine. The house is now part of the museum but also operates as a B&B on weekends.
It is a stark contrast to the iron humpies that the miners lived in. The dining area of the house was the site of the famous gold bar dinner, where four large bars of gold were placed on the table to celebrate a years worth of gold mined which would in todays money have been valued at over a million dollars.
Not far from the Brewery is London Bridge, believed to be about 350 million years old. The old sandstone has been weathered into a “bridge” that at one time you could walk over and even take a horse and cart but it is now very thin and it is estimated it will fall down in the not too distant future.
We spent the night in Meekatharra and the next day we visited the towns along the Goldfields highway, Cue, Mount Magnet, Sandstone, Leinster, Leonora and at the end of highway Kalgoorlie.We visited the delightful gold mining township of Sandstone. Not far out of town is the Brewery which was constructed in the early 1990’s. The Brewery was constructed above an enormous cave which was used to store the beer in the summer months to keep it cool. The brewery supplied the local hotels up until 1910. The brewery itself is gone but the cave is still there.
Port Hedland is interesting. It is in the Pilbara and there are a number of huge mines there, mostly mining iron ore. The whole town is covered in red iron ore dust. Every car, house, path, road and even the trees are covered in red dust.
3 billion dollars worth of iron ore is shipped out of Hedland every year. BHP and Rio Tinto both have big mines there. Rio has minerals and there are large piles of salt as you come into town.
There are enormous ships coming and going through the very narrow port right in the middle of town. Road trains longer than any we’ve seen so far carry buckets of iron ore and nickel to and from the ships and the nearby mines as well as the train.
We also had the opportunity to go down to the beach and watch the Stairway to the Moon again, this time over the mudflats of Cooke Point.
From Port Hedland we drove to Newman in the heart of the Pilbara through the most picturesque countryside with huge gorges on either side of the highway that are part of the Hammersley ranges.We will have to come back to this area and spend more time there
3 billion dollars worth of iron ore is shipped out of Hedland every year. BHP and Rio Tinto both have big mines there. Rio has minerals and there are large piles of salt as you come into town.
There are enormous ships coming and going through the very narrow port right in the middle of town. Road trains longer than any we’ve seen so far carry buckets of iron ore and nickel to and from the ships and the nearby mines as well as the train.
We also had the opportunity to go down to the beach and watch the Stairway to the Moon again, this time over the mudflats of Cooke Point.
From Port Hedland we drove to Newman in the heart of the Pilbara through the most picturesque countryside with huge gorges on either side of the highway that are part of the Hammersley ranges.We will have to come back to this area and spend more time there
We have spent four days in Broome. We have fortunate enough to be here for the stairway to the moon phenonomen which happend on two consecutive nights. The first night was a non event due to some cloud. Tonight however there was no cloud and the full moon rose spectacually, a bright orange in the inky darkness reflecting it’s light over the still glistening wet mud flats exposed at low tide thus resembling a staircase to the moon. This phenonomen happens every 28 days during the dry season only as it rises over the land during the wet season.
We have loved Broome. Cable beach is stunning with it’s amazing azure blue water and white sand stretching for miles. Sunset over Cable beach is amazing. A popular pastime is to take a camel ride on the beach at sunset
We visited the pearl luggers museum and learnt all about Broome’s pearling industry history. We learnt all about the divers who risked their lives first by diving just holding their breath and later in rubber suits, copper boots and copper helmet that all together weighed hundreds of pounds. There were many deaths.
Tomorrow we leave Broome and our next port of call is Port Hedland.
We have loved Broome. Cable beach is stunning with it’s amazing azure blue water and white sand stretching for miles. Sunset over Cable beach is amazing. A popular pastime is to take a camel ride on the beach at sunset
We visited the pearl luggers museum and learnt all about Broome’s pearling industry history. We learnt all about the divers who risked their lives first by diving just holding their breath and later in rubber suits, copper boots and copper helmet that all together weighed hundreds of pounds. There were many deaths.
Tomorrow we leave Broome and our next port of call is Port Hedland.
From Fitzroy Crossing we travelled to Broome via Dalby.Dalby has a colourful past with it’s prison and prison tree, a boab tree with a large hollow used to house prisoners. Dalby is also a busy port and has a large commercial jetty which is also famous for the sheer number of very large saltwater crocs that inhabit the waters around the jetty, presumably drawn to area by the amount of fishing that happens there.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Early this morning we did a tour of the Geike Gorge. It is very beautiful but we have now seen several gorges and I think I am gorged out.
Geikie Gorge is a little different because you can easily see where the level of the water reaches in the wet season. The limestone rock is bleached white by the water, so for about 10 metres above our boat we could see white limestone which then changes to a deep orange colour stained with black. The black is from rain water pouring down in the crevices.The limestone has become carved out by the water and resembles honeycombe and forms small holes, crevices and huge caves, some shapes hanging down into the water resembling icicles. The tiny Fairy Martin birds make an ice-cream cone shaped nest hanging under the rock ledge from mud. These nests get washed away every wet and the birds return to the same spot in the dry and start the labourious process again to rebuild these mud nests, year after year in the same spot.
Geikie Gorge is a little different because you can easily see where the level of the water reaches in the wet season. The limestone rock is bleached white by the water, so for about 10 metres above our boat we could see white limestone which then changes to a deep orange colour stained with black. The black is from rain water pouring down in the crevices.The limestone has become carved out by the water and resembles honeycombe and forms small holes, crevices and huge caves, some shapes hanging down into the water resembling icicles. The tiny Fairy Martin birds make an ice-cream cone shaped nest hanging under the rock ledge from mud. These nests get washed away every wet and the birds return to the same spot in the dry and start the labourious process again to rebuild these mud nests, year after year in the same spot.
Our next stop was at Fitzroy Crossing, so named because it crosses the mighty Fitzroy River. The old crossing was an old concrete ford across the river which would have often been flooded sometimes for months on end and residents used a flying fox to cross the river.
Now a large modern bridge spans the river.
Another must see is the old Crossing Inn, an historic hotel dating back to the 1800’s. That was quite an experience.
Now a large modern bridge spans the river.
Another must see is the old Crossing Inn, an historic hotel dating back to the 1800’s. That was quite an experience.
Throughout the Kimberley is the boab tree. They are truly majestic trees found only in the Kimberley and Madagaskar. At the moment the trees have no leaves and first impression is you think the tree has died. The bare branches have a large nut, still green so that’s the only sign of life. The boab tree flowers, huge white highly fragrant flowers which last only one day.The boab tree is actually edible. Cows are often know to eat branches that fall from the tree.
We did a trip which took us to Lake Argyle and then on to boat for a trip along the Ord River which was fantastic. We also visited the Durack Homestead. The Durack family migrated to Australia from Ireland in the early 1800’s and settled in the Kimberleys.
You may know the novel Kings in Grass Castles about the Durack family, written by Mary Durack.
The boat trip along the Ord River and the gorge was on a very fast craft that darted around rocks and trees in the river as it raced along in sections. I didn’t like that so much when the boat lurched from side to side at speed. The scenery along the way was absolutely stunning. Towering jagged mountains on each side of this massive river form a deep gorge. The water at the beginning was very fast flowing It has lots of lush pandanus ferns, reeds and lily pads. We saw a few freshwater crocs sunning themselves on the rocks. They’re not nearly as aggressive as the salties and are often timid and will disappear under the water when a boat approaches.
We moored the boat at a little inlet and climbed up the embarkment to a spot with some tables and chairs and we had some afternoon tea before getting back on the boat.
A little further along the river widens dramatically and it is no longer visibly flowing. It is a deep emerald green colour and as smooth as glass. As the sun begins to go down, the mountains, trees and lush foliage at the edge all reflect magnificently in the river. A truly awesome sight.
During the wet season the river can rise by more than 10 metres and becomes extremely dangerous with high waves and a torrential flow, ripping out trees and plants and sweeping them into the torrent.
You may know the novel Kings in Grass Castles about the Durack family, written by Mary Durack.
The boat trip along the Ord River and the gorge was on a very fast craft that darted around rocks and trees in the river as it raced along in sections. I didn’t like that so much when the boat lurched from side to side at speed. The scenery along the way was absolutely stunning. Towering jagged mountains on each side of this massive river form a deep gorge. The water at the beginning was very fast flowing It has lots of lush pandanus ferns, reeds and lily pads. We saw a few freshwater crocs sunning themselves on the rocks. They’re not nearly as aggressive as the salties and are often timid and will disappear under the water when a boat approaches.
We moored the boat at a little inlet and climbed up the embarkment to a spot with some tables and chairs and we had some afternoon tea before getting back on the boat.
A little further along the river widens dramatically and it is no longer visibly flowing. It is a deep emerald green colour and as smooth as glass. As the sun begins to go down, the mountains, trees and lush foliage at the edge all reflect magnificently in the river. A truly awesome sight.
During the wet season the river can rise by more than 10 metres and becomes extremely dangerous with high waves and a torrential flow, ripping out trees and plants and sweeping them into the torrent.
Colin did an early morning scenic flight over the Bungle Bungles (I wasn’t feeling well, the heat I think), Lake Argyle, Argyle Mine,the Ord River and the little island where zebra rock is mined. Zebra Rock is unique as it is only found in this one place, an island that can only be reached in the dry and the rock is a creamy colour with brown zebra like stripes.
Lake Argyle is enormous. It is 64 kilometres long and 40+ kilometres wide with the Ord river flowing into as well as Lake Kununurra.
Lake Argyle is enormous. It is 64 kilometres long and 40+ kilometres wide with the Ord river flowing into as well as Lake Kununurra.
Leaving NT we drove along the highway and soon noticed the scenery change dramatically to towering jagged mountains and winding roads. Even the termite mounds changed from tall pointy mounds to fat round ones, resembling beehives.
The Spinifex grasses are back again and these often resemble pin cushions carpeting the landscape and sometimes on the mountains.
We visited Wyndham, an historic port town, the busy port services the Argyle diamond mine, exports live cattle, sugar and molasses as well as fuel and other goods.
They apparently sell the cheapest fuel there in the Kimberley, pity we didn’t know that before we filled up.The lookout, sitting on top of the Bastion Ranges has the most amazing views of the sea and the five rivers as well as the Kimberleys.
The Spinifex grasses are back again and these often resemble pin cushions carpeting the landscape and sometimes on the mountains.
We visited Wyndham, an historic port town, the busy port services the Argyle diamond mine, exports live cattle, sugar and molasses as well as fuel and other goods.
They apparently sell the cheapest fuel there in the Kimberley, pity we didn’t know that before we filled up.The lookout, sitting on top of the Bastion Ranges has the most amazing views of the sea and the five rivers as well as the Kimberleys.
This morning we took a two hour cruise on Yellow Water, part of the South Alligator River floodplain to view the wildlife at Kakadu, gliding almost silently amongst the giant lily pads. We saw rare birds, wild horses, white sea eagles, rare red lilies with giant waterproof leaves and at least 20 crocodiles, several more than 3 metres in length. We were amazed to learn that there is around 60 to 80 thousand crocodiles just in Kakadu, that’s saltwater crocs, the really aggressive ones.
It has been extremely hot the last couple of days, 39 degrees with 100% humidity.
Tomorrow we will farewell the Northern Territory and drive to WA spending the next couple of nights in Kununurra.
It has been extremely hot the last couple of days, 39 degrees with 100% humidity.
Tomorrow we will farewell the Northern Territory and drive to WA spending the next couple of nights in Kununurra.
Our highlight so far has to be the one hour scenic flight we did this afternoon. Our flight took us low over the East Alligator river where we spotted a number of large crocs. We saw the rock we had climbed from the air and I marvelled that we had actually climbed to the top and back down again.
We flew low over the Ranger Uranium mine and then onto to the plains of Arnhem Land and swept low over the vast wetlands before returning to Jabiru.
We flew low over the Ranger Uranium mine and then onto to the plains of Arnhem Land and swept low over the vast wetlands before returning to Jabiru.
We have spent the last couple of days in Kakadu. We have done a number of walks and have seen some amazing Aboriginal rock art.
Last night we went to Ubirr to view the rock art and to climb up the escarpment to watch a stunning sunset over the Nardab floodplain.
We climbed up the rocks, following a barely discernable path to the top of the escarpment which had the most amazing views of the wetlands.
Climbing back down the rock was much harder than climbing up.
Last night we went to Ubirr to view the rock art and to climb up the escarpment to watch a stunning sunset over the Nardab floodplain.
We climbed up the rocks, following a barely discernable path to the top of the escarpment which had the most amazing views of the wetlands.
Climbing back down the rock was much harder than climbing up.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
We spent four days in Darwin. We did a day trip out to Litchfield National Park to see the waterfalls, billabongs and waterholes.
Whilst in Darwin we visited some of the WW2 sites such as the underground fuel tunnels and museums. Did you know that Darwin was bombed more times than Pearl Harbour. Something like 62 times in 22 months. 243 people were killed, mostly on ships. Eight ships were sunk in Darwin harbour. This was kept quiet at the time to avoid panic.
Parliament House now stands on the spot where the Post Office was. It was bombed and all 10 people living and working there were killed. A part of the original Post Office wall is still standing inside Parliament House.
We also did a tour of Parliament House which has a magnificent view of the ocean from almost every window.
The waterfront area is very pretty. Cullen Bay has lots of shops, restaurants and marina. The wharf area is under development and has a couple of new pools, a large wave pool and another with it’s own beach sand.
A highlight was a visit to the Mindil Beach Markets, a night market with art, craft, food and entertainment. A huge crowd gathered on the beach to watch the stunning sunset over the water.
Whilst in Darwin we visited some of the WW2 sites such as the underground fuel tunnels and museums. Did you know that Darwin was bombed more times than Pearl Harbour. Something like 62 times in 22 months. 243 people were killed, mostly on ships. Eight ships were sunk in Darwin harbour. This was kept quiet at the time to avoid panic.
Parliament House now stands on the spot where the Post Office was. It was bombed and all 10 people living and working there were killed. A part of the original Post Office wall is still standing inside Parliament House.
We also did a tour of Parliament House which has a magnificent view of the ocean from almost every window.
The waterfront area is very pretty. Cullen Bay has lots of shops, restaurants and marina. The wharf area is under development and has a couple of new pools, a large wave pool and another with it’s own beach sand.
A highlight was a visit to the Mindil Beach Markets, a night market with art, craft, food and entertainment. A huge crowd gathered on the beach to watch the stunning sunset over the water.
Today we went on a 2 hour boat tour of Katherine Gorge. Another 36 degree day. The trip up the gorge was excellent. We did two gorges. We had to change boats at one point and get out of the first boat and walk over the rocks, stopping along the way to see the aboriginal rock art, to the second boat that took us up the second gorge. Then repeat the process in reverse to come back again.
Coming back the guide took the boat close along the shoreline looking for some freshwater crocs but we didn’t see any today.After our cruise we took a drive out to Edith Falls. It is a very picturesque waterhole with some waterfalls where lots of people were in swimming today.
Coming back the guide took the boat close along the shoreline looking for some freshwater crocs but we didn’t see any today.After our cruise we took a drive out to Edith Falls. It is a very picturesque waterhole with some waterfalls where lots of people were in swimming today.
The next day we headed for Katherine stopping at the thermal springs at Mataranka along the way. We didn’t go in the water as the pool is about 2 metres deep. The water there is a constant 32 degrees.
We found another thermal pool in the Katherine river and it wasn’t deep, so we spent a couple of hours in the lovely warm water there (32 degrees again) cooling off from the current August heatwave. It was 36 degrees.
We found another thermal pool in the Katherine river and it wasn’t deep, so we spent a couple of hours in the lovely warm water there (32 degrees again) cooling off from the current August heatwave. It was 36 degrees.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Today we left Alice very early this morning and drove to Daly Waters. We are staying at the Hiway Inn, a roadhouse at the junction of the two highways. Just down the road is the famous Daly Waters pub which we visited this evening. The historic pub houses a collection of bras, undies, caps, hats, thongs and other knick knacks. Funny signs,such as “angle parking, any angle will do”.
There’s not much to see along the highway but we stopped at a couple of the roadhouses along the way, Aileron where they have a gigantic statue of the Aileron man on a hill and then Wycliiff Well, home of the most UFO sightings in Australia, strange lights in the sky, a bit like the Min Min lights near Boulia. We stopped briefly in Elliott and then we went to Newcastle Waters an old historic town where the highway used to go. There is a school and a park with statue of a drover stockman.
The next day we headed for Katherine stopping at the thermal springs at Mataranka along the way. We didn’t go in the water as the pool is about 2 metres deep. The water there is a constant 32 degrees.
We found another thermal pool in the Katherine river and it wasn’t deep, so we spent a couple of hours in the lovely warm water there (32 dgrees again) cooling off from the current August heatwave. It was 36 degrees.
Today we went on a 2 hour boat tour of Katherine Gorge. Another 36 degree day. The trip up the gorge was excellent. We did two gorges. We had to change boats at one point and get out of the first boat and walk over the rocks, stopping along the way to see the aboriginal rock art, to the second boat that took us up the second gorge. Then repeat the process in reverse to come back again.
Coming back the guide took the boat close along the shoreline looking for some freshwater crocs but we didn’t see any today.
After our cruise we took a drive out to Edith Fall. It is a very picturesque waterhole with some waterfalls where lots of people were in swimming today.
Tomorrow we will leave here fairly early (to beat the heat) and make our way to Darwin.
There’s not much to see along the highway but we stopped at a couple of the roadhouses along the way, Aileron where they have a gigantic statue of the Aileron man on a hill and then Wycliiff Well, home of the most UFO sightings in Australia, strange lights in the sky, a bit like the Min Min lights near Boulia. We stopped briefly in Elliott and then we went to Newcastle Waters an old historic town where the highway used to go. There is a school and a park with statue of a drover stockman.
The next day we headed for Katherine stopping at the thermal springs at Mataranka along the way. We didn’t go in the water as the pool is about 2 metres deep. The water there is a constant 32 degrees.
We found another thermal pool in the Katherine river and it wasn’t deep, so we spent a couple of hours in the lovely warm water there (32 dgrees again) cooling off from the current August heatwave. It was 36 degrees.
Today we went on a 2 hour boat tour of Katherine Gorge. Another 36 degree day. The trip up the gorge was excellent. We did two gorges. We had to change boats at one point and get out of the first boat and walk over the rocks, stopping along the way to see the aboriginal rock art, to the second boat that took us up the second gorge. Then repeat the process in reverse to come back again.
Coming back the guide took the boat close along the shoreline looking for some freshwater crocs but we didn’t see any today.
After our cruise we took a drive out to Edith Fall. It is a very picturesque waterhole with some waterfalls where lots of people were in swimming today.
Tomorrow we will leave here fairly early (to beat the heat) and make our way to Darwin.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The following day we drove back to Alice Springs and stayed again at the same place as previously. We had two nights in Alice and yesterday we drove out to see Glen Helen Gorge, Ormiston Gorge, the Ochre Pits, Serpentine Gorge and Ellery Big Hole, all of which are accessible from the same highway so we went to Glen Helen first. It is very pretty but a little disappointing as a lot of the things to see are beyond the waterhole and there was no way to get there. Next we went to Ormiston Gorge which was much bigger than Glen Helen and the big surprise was the Ochre Pits. We weren’t sure whether or not to go and see them. We are so glad we did. They are amazing. The ochre pits, still used today, are at the site of a dry river bed and the cliffs beside the river, are coloured red, orange and yellow in waves of colour, reminding me very much of a marble cake.
You don’t realise just how far away you are from the things we usually take for granted. We went shopping in a Coles Supermarket and all the fresh foods sections were almost bare. I heard a lady say that the truck hadn’t been this week and to be careful of the use by date on the few perishables on the shelves.
Also, tonight at our motel they had put the biscuits in the fridge. They were individually wrapped packets and when we opened one a pile of ants came crawling out of the little holes in the biscuits, yuk. One way to ensure you stick to your diet I guess, as I certainly wasn’t eating the biscuits after that.
Today we left Alice very early this morning and drove to Daly Waters. We are staying at the Hiway Inn, a roadhouse at the junction of the two highways. Just down the road is the famous Daly Waters pub which we visited this evening. The historic pub houses a collection of bras, undies, caps, hats, thongs and other knick knacks. Funny signs,such as “angle parking, any angle will do”.
There’s not much to see along the highway but we stopped at a couple of the roadhouses along the way, Aileron where they have a gigantic statue of the Aileron man on a hill and then Wycliff Well, home of the most UFO sightings in Australia, strange lights in the sky, a bit like the Min Min lights near Boulia. We stopped briefly in Elliott and then we went to Newcastle Waters an old historic town where the highway used to go. There is a school and a park with statue of a drover stockman.Tomorrow we headed for Katherine stopping for a swim at the thermal springs at Mataranka.
You don’t realise just how far away you are from the things we usually take for granted. We went shopping in a Coles Supermarket and all the fresh foods sections were almost bare. I heard a lady say that the truck hadn’t been this week and to be careful of the use by date on the few perishables on the shelves.
Also, tonight at our motel they had put the biscuits in the fridge. They were individually wrapped packets and when we opened one a pile of ants came crawling out of the little holes in the biscuits, yuk. One way to ensure you stick to your diet I guess, as I certainly wasn’t eating the biscuits after that.
Today we left Alice very early this morning and drove to Daly Waters. We are staying at the Hiway Inn, a roadhouse at the junction of the two highways. Just down the road is the famous Daly Waters pub which we visited this evening. The historic pub houses a collection of bras, undies, caps, hats, thongs and other knick knacks. Funny signs,such as “angle parking, any angle will do”.
There’s not much to see along the highway but we stopped at a couple of the roadhouses along the way, Aileron where they have a gigantic statue of the Aileron man on a hill and then Wycliff Well, home of the most UFO sightings in Australia, strange lights in the sky, a bit like the Min Min lights near Boulia. We stopped briefly in Elliott and then we went to Newcastle Waters an old historic town where the highway used to go. There is a school and a park with statue of a drover stockman.Tomorrow we headed for Katherine stopping for a swim at the thermal springs at Mataranka.
The start of the walk is a set of stairs carved out of the stone walls of the canyon. It’s called heart attack hill and when you stand at the bottom at look up you can see why. It appears to be an almost vertical set of stairs. You are only allowed to go one way. You must complete this most challenging part of the walk at the beginning.
For today we chose to walk along the creek bed of Kings Creek. It’s an easy walk and climbs a little to a lookout platform where you are surrounded by the canyon walls.
First thing this morning Colin set off alone to do the rim walk. I decided not to do it. I didn’t like the look of the steps at the beginning. It is very steep and there is nothing to hang on to. I did a little practice on them yesterday and felt that as it got higher it would be scary.
Colin returned about 2 hours later from the rim walk. He thoroughly enjoyed the walk, was exhausted after the initial climb but after a short rest was ready for the remainder of the walk. He took lots of photos.
After the rim walk we went and did a couple of other walks in the area. We went to Kathleen Springs. That was a lovely easy walk and finishes up at a very picturesque waterhole. The inky black water reflects the white gum trees and surrounding deep orange domes of the canyon.
After the recent rain the wildflowers have begun to bloom and along this walk there were many pretty flowering shrubs and bushes. Also around the waterhole there were several clusters of ferns, not something I expected to see out here.
For today we chose to walk along the creek bed of Kings Creek. It’s an easy walk and climbs a little to a lookout platform where you are surrounded by the canyon walls.
First thing this morning Colin set off alone to do the rim walk. I decided not to do it. I didn’t like the look of the steps at the beginning. It is very steep and there is nothing to hang on to. I did a little practice on them yesterday and felt that as it got higher it would be scary.
Colin returned about 2 hours later from the rim walk. He thoroughly enjoyed the walk, was exhausted after the initial climb but after a short rest was ready for the remainder of the walk. He took lots of photos.
After the rim walk we went and did a couple of other walks in the area. We went to Kathleen Springs. That was a lovely easy walk and finishes up at a very picturesque waterhole. The inky black water reflects the white gum trees and surrounding deep orange domes of the canyon.
After the recent rain the wildflowers have begun to bloom and along this walk there were many pretty flowering shrubs and bushes. Also around the waterhole there were several clusters of ferns, not something I expected to see out here.
By the time we returned to the lookout all the Variety Bash cars had arrived in droves. There were vehicles done up like fire engines, another one with a house on top, one with bulls horns and people everywhere in whacky costumes.As you drive along the road towards Kings Canyon you can see the walls of the canyon on your right towering up alongside you. We drove into the car park and went to check out the rim walk. It was a bit late in the day to begin the walk as it takes a few hours to complete.
Today we left Uluru early but not before having another look at the rock. We then set off in the car towards Kings Canyon. It was raining again and in some sections along the road it was raining quite heavily.
Helen & Trevor had told us to make sure we stopped at the lookout at Mt Connor and climb the sand dune on the other side of the road. They didn’t say why and we expected it was to get a better look at Mt Connor. It was raining and cold but we set off up the sand dune. Boy, are we glad we did. Thank you Helen & Trevor. Over the top of the sand dune is Lake Armadeus, a salt lake with a small island in the middle. It is stunning. The salt turns the landscape a pinkish colour. Oh, and you do also get a better view of Mt Connor. There are no signs about the lake so it comes as a big surprise, one we wouldn’t have discovered if we hadn’t been told.
Helen & Trevor had told us to make sure we stopped at the lookout at Mt Connor and climb the sand dune on the other side of the road. They didn’t say why and we expected it was to get a better look at Mt Connor. It was raining and cold but we set off up the sand dune. Boy, are we glad we did. Thank you Helen & Trevor. Over the top of the sand dune is Lake Armadeus, a salt lake with a small island in the middle. It is stunning. The salt turns the landscape a pinkish colour. Oh, and you do also get a better view of Mt Connor. There are no signs about the lake so it comes as a big surprise, one we wouldn’t have discovered if we hadn’t been told.
We got up early this morning to view a sunrise and there was not a cloud in the sky. The gale force winds of yesterday were gone. It is an icy cold morning and the huge crowd that had gathered were heavily rugged up against the cold. Some people had little portable gas stoves and were cooking sausages and eggs etc.
We waited and eventually Uluru began to change colour and become a brilliant orange colour as the sun lit it up. Quite an awesome sight.
We left Uluru and headed over to the Olgas or Kata Tjuka. There are a couple of walks that you can do. We chose one walk that takes you up over some rock and you get a magnificent view back over the valley and the walks continues on to Walpa Gorge, a small picturesque waterhole. From there we went to the Valley of the Winds walk. We didn’t complete the walk but went as far as the first lookout.
We then returned to Uluru and found a nice picnic spot for lunch and were soon joined by some fellow travellers. We have met a lot of people along the way and often see people several times along the route. Everyone is very friendly. Most people wave as they pass you on the road.
I cant get over how green everything is. I expected it to be so much drier with much less vegetation. I thought it would be just sand dunes and Spinifex. You’ll see from the photos, there’s one section on the walk around the base of Uluru that is very lush and green. I was very surprised.
Uluru is amazing when you get up close to it. It has caves with drawings and paintings, a waterhole and huge gouged out holes, the inside of which look like honeycomb. There are gentle folds and creases and deep crevices. There are small shrubs and bushes that grow somehow in a crevice or a hole. You can see where water has cascaded down and left a darkish stain. At any time during the day and from any angle the rock is for ever changing colour. The most dramatic changes are of course, at sunrise and sunset.
The more you walk around the rock and get up close to it, the more shapes, textures and colours you see.
It rained quite heavily overnight which surprised us.
Our first day at Uluru was so windy that the climb to the top was closed. I only needed to look at it to know that there was no way I was going up there. Colin thought he would probably climb, however the next day when the walk was open we watched people climbing. The first section has no rail to hold on to and people were crawling on the hands and knees. Some people coming back down were really struggling with this non hand rail portion, several people sat on the rock and “bottom” walked down. After watching these people Colin decided not to climb either.Today the temperature climbed to 34 degrees and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky so we knew that sunset would something really special tonight. Hundreds of people lined up along the fence at the sunset viewing spot. Eventually the sun began to disappear on the horizon and the shadow crept up over the rock until it was completely in shadow
We waited and eventually Uluru began to change colour and become a brilliant orange colour as the sun lit it up. Quite an awesome sight.
We left Uluru and headed over to the Olgas or Kata Tjuka. There are a couple of walks that you can do. We chose one walk that takes you up over some rock and you get a magnificent view back over the valley and the walks continues on to Walpa Gorge, a small picturesque waterhole. From there we went to the Valley of the Winds walk. We didn’t complete the walk but went as far as the first lookout.
We then returned to Uluru and found a nice picnic spot for lunch and were soon joined by some fellow travellers. We have met a lot of people along the way and often see people several times along the route. Everyone is very friendly. Most people wave as they pass you on the road.
I cant get over how green everything is. I expected it to be so much drier with much less vegetation. I thought it would be just sand dunes and Spinifex. You’ll see from the photos, there’s one section on the walk around the base of Uluru that is very lush and green. I was very surprised.
Uluru is amazing when you get up close to it. It has caves with drawings and paintings, a waterhole and huge gouged out holes, the inside of which look like honeycomb. There are gentle folds and creases and deep crevices. There are small shrubs and bushes that grow somehow in a crevice or a hole. You can see where water has cascaded down and left a darkish stain. At any time during the day and from any angle the rock is for ever changing colour. The most dramatic changes are of course, at sunrise and sunset.
The more you walk around the rock and get up close to it, the more shapes, textures and colours you see.
It rained quite heavily overnight which surprised us.
Our first day at Uluru was so windy that the climb to the top was closed. I only needed to look at it to know that there was no way I was going up there. Colin thought he would probably climb, however the next day when the walk was open we watched people climbing. The first section has no rail to hold on to and people were crawling on the hands and knees. Some people coming back down were really struggling with this non hand rail portion, several people sat on the rock and “bottom” walked down. After watching these people Colin decided not to climb either.Today the temperature climbed to 34 degrees and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky so we knew that sunset would something really special tonight. Hundreds of people lined up along the fence at the sunset viewing spot. Eventually the sun began to disappear on the horizon and the shadow crept up over the rock until it was completely in shadow
Saturday, August 15, 2009
From Mt Isa we travelled to Tennant Creek where we stayed overnight before heading on to Alice Springs.
We stayed in a motel in Tennant Creek and they had a sign in the room advising to keep the door shut as lizards, spiders, gecko’s, ants and other insects would enter the room. Don’t think they mentioned snakes, but that’s more than enough creepy crawlies there to ensure I kept the door closed.
Not very far out of Tennant Creek are the Devils Marbles. You cant miss them, they are almost at the edge of the highway. These giant granite boulders are known as Karlu Karlu and are sacred to the aboriginals. The boulders sit atop one another in piles and side by side, some balanced so precariously you think they will topple over any minute.
We arrived in Alice Springs yesterday and we are staying at a nice resort with little villas. It’s a bit of an oasis with green lawns and palm trees. At the end of the street the East McDonnell ranges rise dramatically. Across the road is the Todd River, well river bed to be exact. It is just sand. We have seen many completely dry rivers and creeks but none as big as the Todd.
Today we have visited Hermannsberg, Standley Chasm and Simpsons Gap. We drove out of Alice towards Hermannsberg with the West McDonnell Ranges looming around and ahead of us. The deep red mountains with sparse vegetation rise dramatically and tower above us as the road snakes alongside these mountains.
We arrived at Hermannsberg an old Lutheran Mission. The historical buildings are whitewashed German farm style buildings. Hermannsberg was home to Albert Namitjera and there is an art gallery with a large number of Albert and other member of the Namitjera family paintings as well as other artists.
Our next stop was Standley Chasm. The best time to be there is midday and one hour before and one hour after. It was nearly 1pm by the time we got there.
A short relatively easy walk scrabbling over some rocks, past the snow white gum trees and you reach the chasm, a small gap between these giant towering mountains. The sun shines on the walls of the chasm turning them a blaze of fiery red. The mountains tower above you and you feel like an ant standing there.
Then it was on to Simpsons Gap. If you are very lucky you may see some black footed rock wallabies but we didn’t see any today. Possibly scared off the hoardes of school kids on an excursion. This is another beautiful spot with a dry river bed, the Fincke River and where the gap is, is a large picturesque waterhole and the towering walls of the gap are reflected in the still waters of the waterhole.
Our drive back into Alice with mountains all around us, we notice they have changed dramatically in colour in the different light. Some have changed from the vibrant red to pinkish colours, some are purple and some are quite blue in colour.
The scenery is absolutely breathtaking.
Our next place to visit is the Old Telegraph Station in Alice and alongside the Todd River. Established in 1872 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide, it is the best preserved of the 12 stations along the Overland Telegraph Line. It was a telegraph station for 60 years and then became a school for aborigal children. The township of Alice Springs takes its name from the waterhole a short distance from there.
We then went up to Anzac Hill to await the beautiful sunset. I got some good sunset photos.
We set off early this morning from the Alice for the long drive to Uluru. There’s not a lot to see, a few roadhouses along the way and that’s about it.
It was extremely windy today. There was a crosswind and we had Spinifex barrelling across the road in front of us and red sand drifting across the road. Huge clouds of red dust could be seen for miles from vehicles using the unsealed roads nearby.
We stopped at a parking bay with picnic benches for lunch. It was blowing a gale and we had salad for lunch. It was so windy, the lettuce was being blown out of our bowls. You are probably thinking “why didn’t they just sit in the car” well, after nearly 4 hours couped up in the car anything was preferable to being in the car.
Not long before we arrived in Uluru we came to Mt Connor, often mistaken for Uluru. It is a large rock all by itself and it’s easy to see how it could be mistaken for Uluru.
Finally Uluru comes into view, dominating the landscape this deep red rock takes your breath away as you view it for the first time.
The wind is still gale force and as we went the National Park we are informed that the climb up the rock is closed due to the wind. We drove all around the rock, parked the car and got out to get a closer look but we didn’t walk all the way around it. We will do that tomorrow after watching the sunrise and hopefully it wont be as windy as today.
We watched the sunset tonight but unfortunately there was a lot of clouds. We have another opportunity tomorrow night to see a sunset.
We stayed in a motel in Tennant Creek and they had a sign in the room advising to keep the door shut as lizards, spiders, gecko’s, ants and other insects would enter the room. Don’t think they mentioned snakes, but that’s more than enough creepy crawlies there to ensure I kept the door closed.
Not very far out of Tennant Creek are the Devils Marbles. You cant miss them, they are almost at the edge of the highway. These giant granite boulders are known as Karlu Karlu and are sacred to the aboriginals. The boulders sit atop one another in piles and side by side, some balanced so precariously you think they will topple over any minute.
We arrived in Alice Springs yesterday and we are staying at a nice resort with little villas. It’s a bit of an oasis with green lawns and palm trees. At the end of the street the East McDonnell ranges rise dramatically. Across the road is the Todd River, well river bed to be exact. It is just sand. We have seen many completely dry rivers and creeks but none as big as the Todd.
Today we have visited Hermannsberg, Standley Chasm and Simpsons Gap. We drove out of Alice towards Hermannsberg with the West McDonnell Ranges looming around and ahead of us. The deep red mountains with sparse vegetation rise dramatically and tower above us as the road snakes alongside these mountains.
We arrived at Hermannsberg an old Lutheran Mission. The historical buildings are whitewashed German farm style buildings. Hermannsberg was home to Albert Namitjera and there is an art gallery with a large number of Albert and other member of the Namitjera family paintings as well as other artists.
Our next stop was Standley Chasm. The best time to be there is midday and one hour before and one hour after. It was nearly 1pm by the time we got there.
A short relatively easy walk scrabbling over some rocks, past the snow white gum trees and you reach the chasm, a small gap between these giant towering mountains. The sun shines on the walls of the chasm turning them a blaze of fiery red. The mountains tower above you and you feel like an ant standing there.
Then it was on to Simpsons Gap. If you are very lucky you may see some black footed rock wallabies but we didn’t see any today. Possibly scared off the hoardes of school kids on an excursion. This is another beautiful spot with a dry river bed, the Fincke River and where the gap is, is a large picturesque waterhole and the towering walls of the gap are reflected in the still waters of the waterhole.
Our drive back into Alice with mountains all around us, we notice they have changed dramatically in colour in the different light. Some have changed from the vibrant red to pinkish colours, some are purple and some are quite blue in colour.
The scenery is absolutely breathtaking.
Our next place to visit is the Old Telegraph Station in Alice and alongside the Todd River. Established in 1872 to relay messages between Darwin and Adelaide, it is the best preserved of the 12 stations along the Overland Telegraph Line. It was a telegraph station for 60 years and then became a school for aborigal children. The township of Alice Springs takes its name from the waterhole a short distance from there.
We then went up to Anzac Hill to await the beautiful sunset. I got some good sunset photos.
We set off early this morning from the Alice for the long drive to Uluru. There’s not a lot to see, a few roadhouses along the way and that’s about it.
It was extremely windy today. There was a crosswind and we had Spinifex barrelling across the road in front of us and red sand drifting across the road. Huge clouds of red dust could be seen for miles from vehicles using the unsealed roads nearby.
We stopped at a parking bay with picnic benches for lunch. It was blowing a gale and we had salad for lunch. It was so windy, the lettuce was being blown out of our bowls. You are probably thinking “why didn’t they just sit in the car” well, after nearly 4 hours couped up in the car anything was preferable to being in the car.
Not long before we arrived in Uluru we came to Mt Connor, often mistaken for Uluru. It is a large rock all by itself and it’s easy to see how it could be mistaken for Uluru.
Finally Uluru comes into view, dominating the landscape this deep red rock takes your breath away as you view it for the first time.
The wind is still gale force and as we went the National Park we are informed that the climb up the rock is closed due to the wind. We drove all around the rock, parked the car and got out to get a closer look but we didn’t walk all the way around it. We will do that tomorrow after watching the sunrise and hopefully it wont be as windy as today.
We watched the sunset tonight but unfortunately there was a lot of clouds. We have another opportunity tomorrow night to see a sunset.
We also visited the underground hospital today. In the grounds of the hospital an underground shelter was built during the war, after the bombing of Darwin, just in case Mt Isa was bombed. It never was, but the shelter was used many times during air sirens, patients were moved from the main hospital to the underground hospital.
It has been restored with the help of photographs taken at the time to exactly how it was during the war. The original 1920’s hospital is still there today as well in the grounds of the current hospital and next to the underground hospital. It now houses a collection of medical and dental equipment that make me glad we weren’t around then for what looks like it be more at home in a torture chamber.
We have been in a motel here that has had not had hot water since the day we checked in. I mentioned this of course, every day hoping that it would be resolved. The plumber came and said they needed the gas man, the gas man came, did something I think but there is still no hot water. The manager told me tonight that the gas man is no longer answering his phone. So it looks like a cold shower again in the morning. The water was slightly warm, not icy cold thankfully.Anyway, the manager has given us a discount, one free night’s accommodation and a further $45.00 reduction off the other night so we are very happy with that.
It has been restored with the help of photographs taken at the time to exactly how it was during the war. The original 1920’s hospital is still there today as well in the grounds of the current hospital and next to the underground hospital. It now houses a collection of medical and dental equipment that make me glad we weren’t around then for what looks like it be more at home in a torture chamber.
We have been in a motel here that has had not had hot water since the day we checked in. I mentioned this of course, every day hoping that it would be resolved. The plumber came and said they needed the gas man, the gas man came, did something I think but there is still no hot water. The manager told me tonight that the gas man is no longer answering his phone. So it looks like a cold shower again in the morning. The water was slightly warm, not icy cold thankfully.Anyway, the manager has given us a discount, one free night’s accommodation and a further $45.00 reduction off the other night so we are very happy with that.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Today we visited the School of the Air. That was fantastic. We were there for just over an hour and were able to listen in on two lessons, one for Year 1 kids and the other for Year 3 kids. The on air, (it’s actually a telephone and a computer link up), lessons go for 30 minutes. The rest of the time the kids are working on their computer and/or books by themselves. A lot of the kids have a governess to assist as home tutor or the parent does it. The school in the Isa looks after 160 kids in a 2000km radius, that’s the largest area covered by one school in Australia.
The school looks like just any other school, with projects, drawings, photos, posters etc plastered all over the walls, it just doesn’t have any kids. I always think of the kids whose parents own the station as being the pupils which of course they are but there’s also an awful lot of kids whose parents are fencing contractors, sheep shearers and itinerant workers. There was a photo on the wall of one little boy whose “classroom” was a table under a tree and a satellite phone. Apparently you have to remain perfectly still with no background noise for the sat phones to work.
Workbooks and lesson materials are packaged up and sent out to students in the mail every 10 weeks, 10 weeks in advance as some of the very remote stations only receive their mail once a month, others may have to drive 200-300 kms to go and collect their mail.The cost of educating a child in a remote location is about $18,000 per year. Families often have to pay over $100.00 a month for their internet connections. There’s no broadband for most of these students.
The school looks like just any other school, with projects, drawings, photos, posters etc plastered all over the walls, it just doesn’t have any kids. I always think of the kids whose parents own the station as being the pupils which of course they are but there’s also an awful lot of kids whose parents are fencing contractors, sheep shearers and itinerant workers. There was a photo on the wall of one little boy whose “classroom” was a table under a tree and a satellite phone. Apparently you have to remain perfectly still with no background noise for the sat phones to work.
Workbooks and lesson materials are packaged up and sent out to students in the mail every 10 weeks, 10 weeks in advance as some of the very remote stations only receive their mail once a month, others may have to drive 200-300 kms to go and collect their mail.The cost of educating a child in a remote location is about $18,000 per year. Families often have to pay over $100.00 a month for their internet connections. There’s no broadband for most of these students.
The next day we went on a tour of the Hard Times Mine, an underground mine tour which involves getting into orange overalls, a hard hat, a thick belt to which you attach a very heavy battery pack and a light that is clipped onto your helmut, oh yes and a pair of gumboots. Of course this took some time to get organised with a group of about 20 people. We got in the cage and descended down into the mine. Our tour was very comprehensive, our guide Trevor has been an underground miner for many years. He showed us the various drills that are used and even turned them on and let everyone have a go at drilling. There are a lot of trucks down there that will never come to the surface again as it’s just too expensive to bring them up.
It was a terrific insight into the life of an underground miner and how hard it used to be and even today with all the technology and a lot of the trucks being driven by remote control it’s still a lot of hard and dangerous work.
After the mine tour we took a short drive out to Lake Moondarra. The locals call it the outback ocean. There were some boats out on the lake and some people in swimming. It is very picturesque. The lake is huge and has several islands in the middle. There is also a dam and we walked out along the dam wall for an even better view.
The rugged red mountains that surround the lake intensify the sparkling blue waters of the lake and the surrounding green parklands with picnic tables and bbq’s.
It was a terrific insight into the life of an underground miner and how hard it used to be and even today with all the technology and a lot of the trucks being driven by remote control it’s still a lot of hard and dangerous work.
After the mine tour we took a short drive out to Lake Moondarra. The locals call it the outback ocean. There were some boats out on the lake and some people in swimming. It is very picturesque. The lake is huge and has several islands in the middle. There is also a dam and we walked out along the dam wall for an even better view.
The rugged red mountains that surround the lake intensify the sparkling blue waters of the lake and the surrounding green parklands with picnic tables and bbq’s.
We arrived in Mt Isa on this the last day of the Mt Isa Rodeo. We planned it that way. We had been told about the rodeo and knew accommodation was hard to get but we also wanted to see a rodeo so we planned to be here on the last day.
We spent this afternoon at the rodeo, looking very much like a couple of city slickers amongst the RM Williams moleskins, checked shirts, boots and akubra hats.
I had a ball. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if watching cowboys being bucked off a bull or a horse was my thing but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It gets quite exciting watching them hang on and willing them to stay on the bull. It’s pretty dangerous stuff, one guy almost got gored by the bulls horns and the audience gasped. After the rodeo we went up to the city lookout to watch the sunset
We spent this afternoon at the rodeo, looking very much like a couple of city slickers amongst the RM Williams moleskins, checked shirts, boots and akubra hats.
I had a ball. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if watching cowboys being bucked off a bull or a horse was my thing but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It gets quite exciting watching them hang on and willing them to stay on the bull. It’s pretty dangerous stuff, one guy almost got gored by the bulls horns and the audience gasped. After the rodeo we went up to the city lookout to watch the sunset
We headed out on the highway again this morning headed for Mount Isa. The scenery around us was almost completely flat expect for a few hills that are called jump ups. There are quite a few trees and we learnt from Charlie that they are mostly cassis trees and gidgee. Gidgee is a noxious weed that the farmers try to control the spread of. The deep red parched earth grows mostly only Spinifex. It too, is useless as cattle feed and we saw few cattle.
There are two towns between Winton and Cloncurry, Kynuna and McKinlay. The McKinlay pub is famous as the pub used in the movie Crocodile Dundee.
We stopped in Cloncurry and then headed on towards Mt Isa, stopping briefly at the Burke & Wills memorial just outside of Cloncurry.The landscape changed dramatically as we switched highways from the Landsborough Highway to the Barkly Highway. The road was no longer flat and straight, but curving and hilly and all around us were towering jagged peaks of rough red mountains all the way into Mt Isa.
There are two towns between Winton and Cloncurry, Kynuna and McKinlay. The McKinlay pub is famous as the pub used in the movie Crocodile Dundee.
We stopped in Cloncurry and then headed on towards Mt Isa, stopping briefly at the Burke & Wills memorial just outside of Cloncurry.The landscape changed dramatically as we switched highways from the Landsborough Highway to the Barkly Highway. The road was no longer flat and straight, but curving and hilly and all around us were towering jagged peaks of rough red mountains all the way into Mt Isa.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Today we went on a day tour to Carisbrooke sheep and cattle station and the Lark Quarry dinosaur trackways. Our guide for the day was Charlie, the owner of Carisbrooke Station. He picked us up at 8am this morning and drove us about 120kms out to Carisbrooke. I would have to say today has been a real highlight.
Charlie took us onto his private property. He drove us up to a gorge with the most breathtaking views of the valley below and the rugged red mountains of the gorge. He showed us the rugged mountains called the three sisters, Mary, Maude and Kate.
We stopped at the old opal mine and while Charlie made a pot of billy tea we all fossicked for opals. I found three rocks that have some opal in them. I was quite excited with my find.
We drove all around the gorge, taking in the many viewpoints and at some spots climbed down the very steep and rough pathways deeper into the gorge.
Charlie knows every inch of the property He was born in Winton nearly 80 years ago and has owned Carisbrooke since the early 1960’s. He took us to all the best viewpoints. We had a picnic lunch at a lovely spot overlooking the three sisters. We saw the old homestead of Old Cork Station which is now abandoned dilapidated ruin.
Our next stop was Lark Quarry which is home to the dinosaur trackway where we saw the footprints of hundreds of dinosaurs running away from a much bigger dinosaur and dates back to one hundred million years ago. The footprints, fossils and dinosaur bones were discovered in the 1960’s and is still being uncovered.
Then Charlie drove us back to Carisbrooke and down to the grazing low lands where their sheep and cattle are. We then had afternoon tea and he drove us back into Winton.
We arrived back in town just in time to join in with the caravaners for a campfire roast dinner and listen to the bush poet who happened to be a former Canberra girl who was the boss of the Public Service Union for about 15 years and now travels the country in her motorhome performing her bush poetry/comedy routine at caravan parks around the country. She was very good. It was a good evening.
Charlie took us onto his private property. He drove us up to a gorge with the most breathtaking views of the valley below and the rugged red mountains of the gorge. He showed us the rugged mountains called the three sisters, Mary, Maude and Kate.
We stopped at the old opal mine and while Charlie made a pot of billy tea we all fossicked for opals. I found three rocks that have some opal in them. I was quite excited with my find.
We drove all around the gorge, taking in the many viewpoints and at some spots climbed down the very steep and rough pathways deeper into the gorge.
Charlie knows every inch of the property He was born in Winton nearly 80 years ago and has owned Carisbrooke since the early 1960’s. He took us to all the best viewpoints. We had a picnic lunch at a lovely spot overlooking the three sisters. We saw the old homestead of Old Cork Station which is now abandoned dilapidated ruin.
Our next stop was Lark Quarry which is home to the dinosaur trackway where we saw the footprints of hundreds of dinosaurs running away from a much bigger dinosaur and dates back to one hundred million years ago. The footprints, fossils and dinosaur bones were discovered in the 1960’s and is still being uncovered.
Then Charlie drove us back to Carisbrooke and down to the grazing low lands where their sheep and cattle are. We then had afternoon tea and he drove us back into Winton.
We arrived back in town just in time to join in with the caravaners for a campfire roast dinner and listen to the bush poet who happened to be a former Canberra girl who was the boss of the Public Service Union for about 15 years and now travels the country in her motorhome performing her bush poetry/comedy routine at caravan parks around the country. She was very good. It was a good evening.
There is an open air deck chair movie theatre with the largest deck chair in the world. There’s a few museums and a musical fence, which is a wire fence that can be played as a musical instrument and the only permanent one of its kind in the world. I would love to have heard it being played properly.
Winton was originally called Pelican Waterhole, not sure why. The towns water comes from the Artesian Basin and it has a strong odour of sulphur. When you first smell the water it is quite off putting. They suggest you fill a container, let it stand and chill the water for excellent drinking water. It is excellent drinking water and I have some chilling now for our onward journey tomorrow.
Winton has a number of attractions and Arno’s wall is one of the wacky ones. It is contructed from concrete and rock and is studded with old lawnmover parts, boat propellers, old machinery, old typewriters, several complete motorcycles, just about everything you can imagine including the kitchen sink.
Winton has a number of attractions and Arno’s wall is one of the wacky ones. It is contructed from concrete and rock and is studded with old lawnmover parts, boat propellers, old machinery, old typewriters, several complete motorcycles, just about everything you can imagine including the kitchen sink.
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