Week 11 – Coral Bay to Perth – 1625 kms
Day 71 we left beautiful Coral Bay behind and headed for Shark Bay and Monkey Mia. On the way we detoured into Carnarvon for a quick look, a large service town for the Coral Coast. Finally we reached Shark Bay, a fantastic peninsula with white sands and lovely turquoise water. As time was getting away from us, we decided to only stop at the Hamelin Pool Stromatolites and Telegraph station. Stromatolites are the oldest living organism on the planet. The water in Hamelin Bay is twice as salty as usual sea water, caused by a sand bar across the bay’s entrance and rapid evaporation from the shallow water. Stromatolites are composed of bacteria and algae and animals that feed off these substances cannot tolerate such salty conditions, as a result stromatolities grow here undistributed. They are extremely slow growing and only grow at a maximum of 0.3mm a year. Our stop for the night was the Monkey Mia Dolphin resort, an outdated resort located on a beautiful clear turquoise bay. Thus we quickly set up the van and then watched the sunset over the bay.
Day 72 we participated in what Monkey Mia is famous for, the daily beach feeding of the wild dolphins. This consists of a very orchestrated show, commencing with entry into the water to approximately 40cm depth of approximately 200 people in a straight line to watch the rangers wade in the water being followed by the dolphins along the line for all to see, whilst explain all about the history of the dolphins visiting the beach and the dolphins habits. After approximately 40 minutes of this five people at random, are chosen from the crowd to hand feed one dolphin each. Luckily for Adelaide she was one of the chosen ones. This is repeated up to 3 times a morning depending on how often the dolphins decide to come in. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the resort; playing beach volleyball, riding a pedal boat, watching the dolphins and turtles playing in the water, swimming, participating in happy hour and reading a book, life is pretty tough.
Day 73, again it was time to move on, this time to Kalbarrie. However, prior to leaving Shark Bay there were still a number of attractions to visit. The first was a quick visit into Francois Peron National Park to visit the old station shearing shed and shearer quarters and to learn about Project Eden, a project to try and eradicate feral animals in the area to allow the native flora and fauna to once again thrive. Secondly it was into Denham the only town in Shark Bay, a town that in the next few years I am sure will double if not triple in size to support the increase in tourism. Finally Shell Beach, shell beach is made up of countless tiny cockle shells up to 10m in depth in places and stretching some 120kms. The shells were once quarried and used as building bricks in some of the early buildings.
Day 74 am, was spent learning about the locals wildflowers through a guided tour at the local wildflower centre, which is contained within the Kalbarrie National Park. There is over 8,000 different species of wildflowers in the surrounding area. The afternoon was spent exploring Kalbarrie National Park and relaxing at the caravan. The exploring of the national park took shorter than expected as we are all feeling very gorged and lookout over exposed and given the weather was very warm elected not to even undertaken the short walk to Z-bend lookout. However given that we had driven to the park we did make the effort to visit Natures Window and the Loop lookout. Natures window was well worth the short walk as through a natural rock arch the gorge of the Murchison River below is beautiful framed.
Day 75 saw us all wake up flat, the mornings are cold and today is to be our last night on the road before Perth, which signals the end of our trip. Not looking forward to another long day driving and the approach of Perth we slowly packed up and headed off. First stop on the way to Jurien Bay was the Principality of Hutt River. The Principality of Hutt River is not considered to be part of Australia and has its own ruler Prince Leonard, passport, currency and stamps. Leonard Casley a farmer who was appalled by new wheat quotas, succeeded from the state of Western Australia in 1970. Leonard understood the Australian constitution to a tee and managed to negotiate his way through a number of loop holes to form the principality. Leonard and the other citizens of Hutt River are no longer required to pay any taxes to the Australian Government as they are not considered to be Australian citizens. We were fortunate enough to be given a guided tour of the Principality of Hutt River by Prince Leonard himself and his lovely wife Princess Shirley. Prince Leonard was a very interesting and unassuming man now in his mid-eighties. The children thought this experience was great and loved buying stamps and obtaining the required visa to enter Hutt River. The second stop was the Pink Lakes, the water of the lakes is pink due to the naturally produced carotene in the water. Final stop for the day was Jurien Bay, a small seaside village approximately 250kms from Perth.
Day 76 saw us pack up the van for the final time and head off to the Pinnacles, natural limestone formations formed many of million of years ago contained within a sandy like desert environment in the middle of nowhere. Then it was onto Perth, specifically Coogee Beach, the car and van hand-over location. The afternoon was spent walking along the beach, setting up the van for the final time and watching the AFL grand final, go The Saints.
Day 77, a day spent exploring Fremantle and cleaning and packing up the van, ready for the hand-over to the Jefferies. The signal of the end of the van experience, an experience that hopefully gives all of us, especially the children long lasting happy memories, that’s living the dream.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Week 10 – Karijini National Park to Coral Bay – 1450 kms
Week 10 – Karijini National Park to Coral Bay – 1450 kms
Day 64 was again spent exploring Karijini National Park. This time we headed off to the western side of the park and went on an exhilarating walk in Hancock Gorge. Hancock Gorge was probably the most spectacular gorge walk we have been on, that’s saying a lot as we were starting to feel very Gorged out (just like the Church experience in Europe). The walk started with a steep cliff descent, followed by a ladder to get you to the floor of the gorge. Just a few meters from the bottom of the ladder Octavia came face to face with our first live snake for the holiday, an olive python which was approx 4 foot long. Without a scream but backing away very quickly and with a very shaky voice, she quietly explained what she saw. Once a suitable path was found we all moved loudly past the snake, keeping a very close eye on its movements. The next part of the walk was along the side of the river bed, often requiring our rock climbing skills or alternatively the need to swim through some very cold water. The gorge opened up into a beautiful natural amphitheatre. Next for the adventurous ones there was a spider walk through a very tight section of the gorge into Kermit’s pool, a breathtaking rock pool. For well equipped mountaineers the walk could continue, for us it was too challenging and thus Kermit’s pool marked the end of the trial, After the strenuous morning walk Pete and Fred decided to spend the late afternoon resting whilst the girls and I headed back to Dales Gorge, this time exploring Circular Pool. The national park has a wonderful junior ranger program and thus the children participated in the required activities diligently to ensure that they would earn their Junior Ranger badges, Thankfully, there was success all around and we now have 3 Karijini junior rangers.
Day 65 saw us depart Karijini and start to head towards Exmouth. Given the drive was about 8 hours long, we decided to break the trip at Nanutarra Roadhouse, an interesting experience. The woman working in the restaurant was a true delight, as I witnessed her tell an elderly German tourist as he was having trouble explaining his order, to not mess with her. I suppose living in the middle of nowhere can bring out people’s best qualities. On the way to Nanutarra we detoured to Tom Price and went on an Iron Ore mining tour. Pete was fascinated by the money the train drivers make and thus I can see that if anything anything happens to Geoffrey Thompson’s he will be heading to Tom Price!
Day 66 we left Nanutarra early and completed our journey to Exmouth. After setting up and all feeling quite drained from the 2 days of long driving, we headed to the local beach and swam and snorkeled the afternoon away. The early evening was completed by a visit to the wreck of the SS Mildura, a cattle ship which was wreck in bad weather in the early 1900’s and the lighthouse. We then enjoyed one of our best meals of the holiday, Indian curries prepared by Sri Lankan chef in the local Exmouth pub.
Day 67 was spent exploring Ningaloo Reef from Cape Range National Park. We all enjoyed some great swimming and snorkeling straight off the beach at Turquoise Bay and Oyster Stack, including a very pleasant drift snorkel at Turquoise Bay. Oyster Stack was fantastic, great coral and a wide range of marine life all in under 1.5 metres of water.
Day 68 saw us move off to Coral Bay to explore a different section of the Ningaloo Reef. Coral Bay is a tiny seaside town on the edge of this wonderful reef. We can only hope that Coral Bay can keep its quaint seaside charm in the years to come. Once again we spent the afternoon relaxing by swimming and snorkeling off the beach. There were two highlights to the afternoon the first was participating in the daily feeding of the Spangle Emperor off the beach and the second was once again catching up with the Dagassan family.
Day 69 saw us head off on a Quad Bike snorkeling tour, the children especially Fred think that it is the best thing we have done for the whole trip. The tour involved Pete and I each riding a quad bike with a child as a passenger, the third child went with the guide though sand dunes and along the beach. We stopped at Oyster Bridge and The Lagoon for a snorkel. Oyster Bridge was a great little cove, very protective and only about 2 meters deep with lots of coral and marine life. Fred voted Mum as the safest driver, Dad as a crazy driver and the Guide as a very crazy driver. We were fortunate to be the only ones on the tour and thus we had the beach and the bay to ourselves. The afternoon saw us again snorkel off Coral Bay’s main beach at Bill’s bay and take a stroll to see the Reef Shark at the Shark Sanctuary approximately 1km along thee beach. As the sun was setting on the water, shark spotting was difficult but we did manage to see a number of dark shark shadows in the water and some flying fish.
Day 70 again saw us head off on a tour, this time a boat tour to the outer reef for some more snorkeling and in Pete’s case a scuba dive and the highlight of the tour, swimming with a Manta Ray. Snorkeling on the outer reef was great, lots more colourful and bigger coral and marine life, including 3 reef sharks. Unfortunately the wind was quite strong so the snorkel was spoiled somewhat by a very choppy sea and low visibility. The second part of the tour was the highlight, being in the water whilst a Manta Ray of a wing span of some 6 metres quietly swims below you is quite an experience. Unfortunately the Manta Ray wasn’t in a stay and play mood and thus even with 2 swims we only got visibility of the Manta Ray for about 5 minutes, on well there is always next time. The evening was spent sharing a meal with the Dagassan’s at the local pub, the last time we would be sharing each others company on this trip as we would be heading off in separate directions. The children all played together happily on the pub lawn watching a movie on an outdoor inflatable movie screen, that’s living the dream.
Day 64 was again spent exploring Karijini National Park. This time we headed off to the western side of the park and went on an exhilarating walk in Hancock Gorge. Hancock Gorge was probably the most spectacular gorge walk we have been on, that’s saying a lot as we were starting to feel very Gorged out (just like the Church experience in Europe). The walk started with a steep cliff descent, followed by a ladder to get you to the floor of the gorge. Just a few meters from the bottom of the ladder Octavia came face to face with our first live snake for the holiday, an olive python which was approx 4 foot long. Without a scream but backing away very quickly and with a very shaky voice, she quietly explained what she saw. Once a suitable path was found we all moved loudly past the snake, keeping a very close eye on its movements. The next part of the walk was along the side of the river bed, often requiring our rock climbing skills or alternatively the need to swim through some very cold water. The gorge opened up into a beautiful natural amphitheatre. Next for the adventurous ones there was a spider walk through a very tight section of the gorge into Kermit’s pool, a breathtaking rock pool. For well equipped mountaineers the walk could continue, for us it was too challenging and thus Kermit’s pool marked the end of the trial, After the strenuous morning walk Pete and Fred decided to spend the late afternoon resting whilst the girls and I headed back to Dales Gorge, this time exploring Circular Pool. The national park has a wonderful junior ranger program and thus the children participated in the required activities diligently to ensure that they would earn their Junior Ranger badges, Thankfully, there was success all around and we now have 3 Karijini junior rangers.
Day 65 saw us depart Karijini and start to head towards Exmouth. Given the drive was about 8 hours long, we decided to break the trip at Nanutarra Roadhouse, an interesting experience. The woman working in the restaurant was a true delight, as I witnessed her tell an elderly German tourist as he was having trouble explaining his order, to not mess with her. I suppose living in the middle of nowhere can bring out people’s best qualities. On the way to Nanutarra we detoured to Tom Price and went on an Iron Ore mining tour. Pete was fascinated by the money the train drivers make and thus I can see that if anything anything happens to Geoffrey Thompson’s he will be heading to Tom Price!
Day 66 we left Nanutarra early and completed our journey to Exmouth. After setting up and all feeling quite drained from the 2 days of long driving, we headed to the local beach and swam and snorkeled the afternoon away. The early evening was completed by a visit to the wreck of the SS Mildura, a cattle ship which was wreck in bad weather in the early 1900’s and the lighthouse. We then enjoyed one of our best meals of the holiday, Indian curries prepared by Sri Lankan chef in the local Exmouth pub.
Day 67 was spent exploring Ningaloo Reef from Cape Range National Park. We all enjoyed some great swimming and snorkeling straight off the beach at Turquoise Bay and Oyster Stack, including a very pleasant drift snorkel at Turquoise Bay. Oyster Stack was fantastic, great coral and a wide range of marine life all in under 1.5 metres of water.
Day 68 saw us move off to Coral Bay to explore a different section of the Ningaloo Reef. Coral Bay is a tiny seaside town on the edge of this wonderful reef. We can only hope that Coral Bay can keep its quaint seaside charm in the years to come. Once again we spent the afternoon relaxing by swimming and snorkeling off the beach. There were two highlights to the afternoon the first was participating in the daily feeding of the Spangle Emperor off the beach and the second was once again catching up with the Dagassan family.
Day 69 saw us head off on a Quad Bike snorkeling tour, the children especially Fred think that it is the best thing we have done for the whole trip. The tour involved Pete and I each riding a quad bike with a child as a passenger, the third child went with the guide though sand dunes and along the beach. We stopped at Oyster Bridge and The Lagoon for a snorkel. Oyster Bridge was a great little cove, very protective and only about 2 meters deep with lots of coral and marine life. Fred voted Mum as the safest driver, Dad as a crazy driver and the Guide as a very crazy driver. We were fortunate to be the only ones on the tour and thus we had the beach and the bay to ourselves. The afternoon saw us again snorkel off Coral Bay’s main beach at Bill’s bay and take a stroll to see the Reef Shark at the Shark Sanctuary approximately 1km along thee beach. As the sun was setting on the water, shark spotting was difficult but we did manage to see a number of dark shark shadows in the water and some flying fish.
Day 70 again saw us head off on a tour, this time a boat tour to the outer reef for some more snorkeling and in Pete’s case a scuba dive and the highlight of the tour, swimming with a Manta Ray. Snorkeling on the outer reef was great, lots more colourful and bigger coral and marine life, including 3 reef sharks. Unfortunately the wind was quite strong so the snorkel was spoiled somewhat by a very choppy sea and low visibility. The second part of the tour was the highlight, being in the water whilst a Manta Ray of a wing span of some 6 metres quietly swims below you is quite an experience. Unfortunately the Manta Ray wasn’t in a stay and play mood and thus even with 2 swims we only got visibility of the Manta Ray for about 5 minutes, on well there is always next time. The evening was spent sharing a meal with the Dagassan’s at the local pub, the last time we would be sharing each others company on this trip as we would be heading off in separate directions. The children all played together happily on the pub lawn watching a movie on an outdoor inflatable movie screen, that’s living the dream.
Week 9 – Cape Leveque to Karijini National Park – 880kms
Week 9 – Cape Leveque to Karijini National Park – 880kms
Days 57 and 58 were spent exploring Cape Leveque and the surrounding Dampier Peninsula. First stop was at Cygnet Bar Pearl Farm, a family run pearling operation which has been operating since the early sixties. It was very informative to learn about the process used to culture pearls. However the highlight of the visit was trying on a $53,000 pearl necklace, unfortunately Pete wasn’t feeling very generous and thus I had to hand it back. I spent the afternoon lazying around the safari tent, whilst the others went on an Aboriginal spear making tour. The children got to cut down the branch for their spears, strip the branch, fire the spear, shape it and then final paint it. Once the spears were finished they were given a demonstration on how to catch fish using their spears. Their guide was successful in his fishing attempts and thus they then all sat around a camp fire cooking and then eating the fish. Unfortunately upon their return they got bogged in the sand and had to be pushed out, this set the theme for Cape Leveque. Whilst they were getting themselves out of trouble, I was relaxing with our new friends the Hopton’s and DeGasson’s having a quite wine watching the sunset.
The next day saw us visit the One Arm Point Hatchery where they culture Troche shells for sale to Italy to be made into beautiful buttons. This was followed by a wonderful swim at Cape Leveque and final a mud crab tour. The mud crab tour turned out to be the tour from hell. First we got bogged getting into the mud crabbing location and had to be pulled out, secondly mud crabbing involved wondering through mangroves digging for mud crabs whilst being eaten alive by sand flies and mosquitoes. Our Aboriginal guide took off without providing any instruction on what we were looking for, how to catch them and finally where we meant to go. After 1.5 hours covered in mud and bites we decided to call it quits and walked ourselves back to the car. The first group was already back cooking their catch over a fire, disgusted with the tour I was in no mood to hang around and thus we headed off home ahead of the group. This plan back fired as only about 5 minutes later we became seriously bogged and had to wait for over 45 mins for the rest of the group to arrive to tow us out. Tail between our legs we kindly accepted their help and then ventured home without further incident. The one highlight was catching up with Roger Chomley an old acutance who now runs specialized tours to Cape Leveque.
Day 59 saw us have a relax morning swimming again in the beautiful bay at Cape Leveque before heading back to Broome to pick up the van and to settle ourselves once again into the Cable Beach Caravan Park. After 6 nights out of the van, we were all very pleased to be back in our home away from home.
Day 60 saw Adelaide and I treat ourselves to a horizontal falls tour. After getting up at 5am, we were picked up and driven to the airport to board our seaplane for a 1hours flight to King Sound to experience the horizontal falls. The tour was fantastic. It started with landing on water which was like landing on marshmallows’, next we were transferred to a cruise boat where we were served breakfast whilst motoring around King Sound, Beside our tour group of 10 there was no-one else around, it was so beautiful and untouched. It would be wonderful to be able to spend more time just cruising around the area. Next we were transferred onto the mother ship to go swimming with the sharks. They lowered an open shark cage approx 5 foot into the water and then we swam next to Lemon Sharks. Next was the highlight of the adventure, speeding through the horizontal falls on a 500hp boat. The horizontal falls are caused by the large tides in the area being squeezed through two narrow gorges, causing very turbulent water with whirlpools and rapids. Final it was the flight home, a very scenic flight over the Buccaneer Archipelago, Cape Leveque, the Dampier Peninsula, and finally Cable Beach. Over Cape Leveque we managed to spot our friends and take a wonderful photo showing their camp sites. Whilst Adelaide and I were off being adventurers the others were relaxing at the caravan park and writing their daily journals.
Day 61 saw Pete once again head off on a Fishing Charter and come home as the successful hunter/gatherer. He proudly again fed our friends and we spent a very enjoyable evening sharing a meal, whilst the children watched a movie. The children and I completed the items on our things to list and relaxing around the pool.
Day 62 started with a walk out to the Flying Boat wrecks in Roebuck Bay, which are only visible on low tide approximately 3 times a year. In 1942, many Dutch people were being evacuated out of Indonesia via Broome to Freemantle as the Japanese were fast approaching. Given Broome’s limited accommodation, they were often kept on the Flying Boats in the bay overnight. Moored in the bay overnight were also a number of fighters. The Japanese struck early and bombed all boats moored in the bay, unfortunately approximately 150 women and children were killed. Broome had no defence as it was believed that the Japanese would not be able to attack so far south. After our lovely morning stroll we settled in for the long drive to Port Hedland. A short lunch stop was taken at 80 mile beach a great fishing stretch approximately 300kms south of Broome. In Port Hedland we faced rain for the first time since the end of week 3 and the need for jumpers, a real shock to the system and strong signal that we were entering the final stage of our adventure.
Day 63 started with a tour of Port Hedland and its large shipping port where we watched a ship being loaded with Iron Ore bound for China. The whole town centres around the mining industry and every second car is owned by BHP Bilton. Packing up in the rain was unpleasant and we hoped that this was not to be a signal of the weather to come. The majority of the day was spent driving to Karijini National Park, reportedly the best national park in WA. After setting up the van we went on a walk of Dales Gorge, swimming in Fern Pool and Fortescue Falls returning along the Gorge rim walk back to the van whilst the sun was setting, that’s living the dream.
Days 57 and 58 were spent exploring Cape Leveque and the surrounding Dampier Peninsula. First stop was at Cygnet Bar Pearl Farm, a family run pearling operation which has been operating since the early sixties. It was very informative to learn about the process used to culture pearls. However the highlight of the visit was trying on a $53,000 pearl necklace, unfortunately Pete wasn’t feeling very generous and thus I had to hand it back. I spent the afternoon lazying around the safari tent, whilst the others went on an Aboriginal spear making tour. The children got to cut down the branch for their spears, strip the branch, fire the spear, shape it and then final paint it. Once the spears were finished they were given a demonstration on how to catch fish using their spears. Their guide was successful in his fishing attempts and thus they then all sat around a camp fire cooking and then eating the fish. Unfortunately upon their return they got bogged in the sand and had to be pushed out, this set the theme for Cape Leveque. Whilst they were getting themselves out of trouble, I was relaxing with our new friends the Hopton’s and DeGasson’s having a quite wine watching the sunset.
The next day saw us visit the One Arm Point Hatchery where they culture Troche shells for sale to Italy to be made into beautiful buttons. This was followed by a wonderful swim at Cape Leveque and final a mud crab tour. The mud crab tour turned out to be the tour from hell. First we got bogged getting into the mud crabbing location and had to be pulled out, secondly mud crabbing involved wondering through mangroves digging for mud crabs whilst being eaten alive by sand flies and mosquitoes. Our Aboriginal guide took off without providing any instruction on what we were looking for, how to catch them and finally where we meant to go. After 1.5 hours covered in mud and bites we decided to call it quits and walked ourselves back to the car. The first group was already back cooking their catch over a fire, disgusted with the tour I was in no mood to hang around and thus we headed off home ahead of the group. This plan back fired as only about 5 minutes later we became seriously bogged and had to wait for over 45 mins for the rest of the group to arrive to tow us out. Tail between our legs we kindly accepted their help and then ventured home without further incident. The one highlight was catching up with Roger Chomley an old acutance who now runs specialized tours to Cape Leveque.
Day 59 saw us have a relax morning swimming again in the beautiful bay at Cape Leveque before heading back to Broome to pick up the van and to settle ourselves once again into the Cable Beach Caravan Park. After 6 nights out of the van, we were all very pleased to be back in our home away from home.
Day 60 saw Adelaide and I treat ourselves to a horizontal falls tour. After getting up at 5am, we were picked up and driven to the airport to board our seaplane for a 1hours flight to King Sound to experience the horizontal falls. The tour was fantastic. It started with landing on water which was like landing on marshmallows’, next we were transferred to a cruise boat where we were served breakfast whilst motoring around King Sound, Beside our tour group of 10 there was no-one else around, it was so beautiful and untouched. It would be wonderful to be able to spend more time just cruising around the area. Next we were transferred onto the mother ship to go swimming with the sharks. They lowered an open shark cage approx 5 foot into the water and then we swam next to Lemon Sharks. Next was the highlight of the adventure, speeding through the horizontal falls on a 500hp boat. The horizontal falls are caused by the large tides in the area being squeezed through two narrow gorges, causing very turbulent water with whirlpools and rapids. Final it was the flight home, a very scenic flight over the Buccaneer Archipelago, Cape Leveque, the Dampier Peninsula, and finally Cable Beach. Over Cape Leveque we managed to spot our friends and take a wonderful photo showing their camp sites. Whilst Adelaide and I were off being adventurers the others were relaxing at the caravan park and writing their daily journals.
Day 61 saw Pete once again head off on a Fishing Charter and come home as the successful hunter/gatherer. He proudly again fed our friends and we spent a very enjoyable evening sharing a meal, whilst the children watched a movie. The children and I completed the items on our things to list and relaxing around the pool.
Day 62 started with a walk out to the Flying Boat wrecks in Roebuck Bay, which are only visible on low tide approximately 3 times a year. In 1942, many Dutch people were being evacuated out of Indonesia via Broome to Freemantle as the Japanese were fast approaching. Given Broome’s limited accommodation, they were often kept on the Flying Boats in the bay overnight. Moored in the bay overnight were also a number of fighters. The Japanese struck early and bombed all boats moored in the bay, unfortunately approximately 150 women and children were killed. Broome had no defence as it was believed that the Japanese would not be able to attack so far south. After our lovely morning stroll we settled in for the long drive to Port Hedland. A short lunch stop was taken at 80 mile beach a great fishing stretch approximately 300kms south of Broome. In Port Hedland we faced rain for the first time since the end of week 3 and the need for jumpers, a real shock to the system and strong signal that we were entering the final stage of our adventure.
Day 63 started with a tour of Port Hedland and its large shipping port where we watched a ship being loaded with Iron Ore bound for China. The whole town centres around the mining industry and every second car is owned by BHP Bilton. Packing up in the rain was unpleasant and we hoped that this was not to be a signal of the weather to come. The majority of the day was spent driving to Karijini National Park, reportedly the best national park in WA. After setting up the van we went on a walk of Dales Gorge, swimming in Fern Pool and Fortescue Falls returning along the Gorge rim walk back to the van whilst the sun was setting, that’s living the dream.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Week 8 – Fitzroy Crossing to Cape Leveque via a number of very lazy days in Broome – 1,400 kms
Week 8 – Fitzroy Crossing to Cape Leveque via a number of very lazy days in Broome – 1,400 kms
Days 43 to 48 wind down time in Broome, the holiday within a holiday.
Day 43 saw us leave the dry and dusty Kimberley region behind us and head for the slightly cooler weather on the coast at Broome. Desperate to see the coast and unwind the family voted to skip the side trip to Derby and to push on as fast as we could to Broome.
Ah, five and half days of just relaxing. The first 3 nights in Broome were spent in the Cable Beach Caravan Park, we then ditched the van and headed into pure luxury, the Oaks apartments for the next 3 nights. Fred couldn’t believe his luck 3 TV’s and 2 DVD players. Besides TV and DVD, the apartment had 2 bathrooms, 3 rooms and no red dust. To top it off the apartment block had 2 very big swimming pools.
Occasionally we managed to pull ourselves away from the pool and the apartment and venture out. The family went exploring for the Dinosaur footprints at Gantheaume point, watched the sunset over Cable Beach and star gazed with our friendly APT tour guide, Sam, that we befriended in the Bungle Bungles, The girls and I wandered through the Courthouse Market and rode camels along Cable Beach. Pete went off on a fishing charter adventure and caught more fish than he had in all previous fishing trips in total over the last 45 years and brought home 3 very large fish to eat. Given the rest of the family doesn’t really eat fish, Pete fed two other families, that we had become friends with, over the next two nights and was proud of being able to fulfill the Hunter role. Fred got his TV and DVD fix, often refusing to see daylight. All in all everyone had a great time and left Broome ready for our final 4 weeks of adventure.
Day 49 we left the luxury of the Oaks behind and headed into the luxury of the Safari tents at Kooljaman, Cape Leveque. The safari tents aren’t quite the Oaks apartments but who can complain as I sit here on the balcony starring across the white sands and blue waters of the Dampier Peninsula. On the way to Cape Leveque we made 2 small detours, one to Beagle Bay to see the church built by the Pallotive Monks around 1918, which has a beautiful altar made from pearl shells and the second to Middle Lagoon for a refreshing dip. As the sun was setting we spent the early evening collecting shells and swimming in the beautiful clear still waters, that’s living the dream!
Days 43 to 48 wind down time in Broome, the holiday within a holiday.
Day 43 saw us leave the dry and dusty Kimberley region behind us and head for the slightly cooler weather on the coast at Broome. Desperate to see the coast and unwind the family voted to skip the side trip to Derby and to push on as fast as we could to Broome.
Ah, five and half days of just relaxing. The first 3 nights in Broome were spent in the Cable Beach Caravan Park, we then ditched the van and headed into pure luxury, the Oaks apartments for the next 3 nights. Fred couldn’t believe his luck 3 TV’s and 2 DVD players. Besides TV and DVD, the apartment had 2 bathrooms, 3 rooms and no red dust. To top it off the apartment block had 2 very big swimming pools.
Occasionally we managed to pull ourselves away from the pool and the apartment and venture out. The family went exploring for the Dinosaur footprints at Gantheaume point, watched the sunset over Cable Beach and star gazed with our friendly APT tour guide, Sam, that we befriended in the Bungle Bungles, The girls and I wandered through the Courthouse Market and rode camels along Cable Beach. Pete went off on a fishing charter adventure and caught more fish than he had in all previous fishing trips in total over the last 45 years and brought home 3 very large fish to eat. Given the rest of the family doesn’t really eat fish, Pete fed two other families, that we had become friends with, over the next two nights and was proud of being able to fulfill the Hunter role. Fred got his TV and DVD fix, often refusing to see daylight. All in all everyone had a great time and left Broome ready for our final 4 weeks of adventure.
Day 49 we left the luxury of the Oaks behind and headed into the luxury of the Safari tents at Kooljaman, Cape Leveque. The safari tents aren’t quite the Oaks apartments but who can complain as I sit here on the balcony starring across the white sands and blue waters of the Dampier Peninsula. On the way to Cape Leveque we made 2 small detours, one to Beagle Bay to see the church built by the Pallotive Monks around 1918, which has a beautiful altar made from pearl shells and the second to Middle Lagoon for a refreshing dip. As the sun was setting we spent the early evening collecting shells and swimming in the beautiful clear still waters, that’s living the dream!
Week 7 – Home Valley to Fitzroy Crossing
Week 7 – Home Valley to Fitzroy Crossing – 868 kms
Day 43 saw us move on from Home Valley to El Questro station. The first stop was Zebedee Springs, a series of small rock pools fed from a hot water spring, a great spot to refresh ourselves. Next it was onto the station village to select a campsite and pitch the tents. Given the sweltering night we had just experienced in our tents we had very little enthusiasm to repeat it again, however given we had no other accommodation choices, we all sat around pulling long faces watching Pete complete the set-up. All suffering from the heat, we quickly sought a waterhole which didn’t require a hike to get to, Moonshine Gorge river was the choice. After feeling suitable refreshed and rested we tackled Emma Gorge, a beautiful walk through a gorge to a very large water hole, a great reward after the 1 hour walk. We had a lovely dinner in the restaurant at the village and then retired to our special accommodation and once again spent a night sweltering in our tents through the heat.
Day 44, time to leave El Questro, head back to Kununurra to pick up the van and drive to Turkey Creek/Warmun to spend the night prior to heading into the Purnululu National Park, the home of the Bungle Bungles. Prior to leaving El Questro we had one more gorge to tackle, the El Questro gorge. This was a beautiful 4.5 hour return walk through another gorge with a number of great swimming holes along the way and of course a fantastic one at the end. The walk was very challenging for the last 1 hour with lots of large rocks to scramble over and a waterfall to climb, the children thought it was a great adventure. Unfortunately the walk was somewhat soured with Octavia getting stung be a bee on the toe, thankfully after a few tears, and no sign of a reaction we were able to continue without issue.
Days 45 and 46 involved exploring the Purnululu National Park, and treating ourselves to some home comforts by staying in the Bungle Bungle Wilderness Safari Tents run by APT. The safari tents had an ensuite and both breakfast and dinner was provided, so after life in the van it was pure luxury. Once again we tackled a number of walk; Echidna Chasm, Osmond, Kungkalatayi and Piccaninny Creek lookouts, Cathedral gorge and the Domes walk. Unfortunately our usual reward of a swim in a beautiful waterhole at the end of a long walk was not to be as the National Park at this time of the year is dry so we had to settle for a nice clean shower instead. The highlight of this part of the trip was the helicopter ride over the park especially the Domes.
Day 47 was once again a travelling day back to Turkey Creek to pick up the van and then onto Halls Creek just for an over night stop. Halls Creek was just hot and dirty and unfortunately the caravan park is very close to the hotel so we had loud music playing away to 1am and then the locals entertaining themselves on the street until about 3am, a pleasant spot to stay!
Days 48 and 49 were spent at Fitzroy Crossing and exploring the National parks nearby. Geike Gorge National park was first, where we took a boat cruise along the Fitzroy river and had many animals especially freshwater crocodiles pointed out and a very informative explanation of how the area was formed by the local Aboriginal ranger. The next day saw us drive to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek National Parks. The Windjana Gorge walk was quite disappointing, after the first 15 minutes the walk was through scrub and you couldn’t get a good look at the gorge or the river so we decided to turnout back after about 1 hour of walking, our decision was also prompted by the fact that there was no swimming. The one highlight of the walk was the number of freshwater crocodiles you saw sunning themselves on the banks of the river. As a contrast Tunnel Creek was fun, a walk through sandbanks and a river contained within a 750m tunnel. The tunnel got very dark in parts and due to the strength of our one and only torch (we forget to bring the other 6 which were back in the van) at times we could only see about 2 feet in front of ourselves, which led to a lot of screams from Adelaide. Along the way we saw some small fish and many bats, apparently there was also eels and 2 small freshwater crocodiles that we missed due to our torch strength. I am sure if we had seen them we would have been joining in the screaming with Adelaide. In the evening the girls and I ventured out to the Tin Can Cinema, on old galvanised iron shed set-up as a theatre for a private viewing of “Bran Nue Dae”, no-one else turned up. Bran Nue Dae is a story based in Broome, which was totally appropriate given it is the next stop on our itinerary. The boys stayed back at the van watching a Simpsons DVD, that’s living the dream!
Day 43 saw us move on from Home Valley to El Questro station. The first stop was Zebedee Springs, a series of small rock pools fed from a hot water spring, a great spot to refresh ourselves. Next it was onto the station village to select a campsite and pitch the tents. Given the sweltering night we had just experienced in our tents we had very little enthusiasm to repeat it again, however given we had no other accommodation choices, we all sat around pulling long faces watching Pete complete the set-up. All suffering from the heat, we quickly sought a waterhole which didn’t require a hike to get to, Moonshine Gorge river was the choice. After feeling suitable refreshed and rested we tackled Emma Gorge, a beautiful walk through a gorge to a very large water hole, a great reward after the 1 hour walk. We had a lovely dinner in the restaurant at the village and then retired to our special accommodation and once again spent a night sweltering in our tents through the heat.
Day 44, time to leave El Questro, head back to Kununurra to pick up the van and drive to Turkey Creek/Warmun to spend the night prior to heading into the Purnululu National Park, the home of the Bungle Bungles. Prior to leaving El Questro we had one more gorge to tackle, the El Questro gorge. This was a beautiful 4.5 hour return walk through another gorge with a number of great swimming holes along the way and of course a fantastic one at the end. The walk was very challenging for the last 1 hour with lots of large rocks to scramble over and a waterfall to climb, the children thought it was a great adventure. Unfortunately the walk was somewhat soured with Octavia getting stung be a bee on the toe, thankfully after a few tears, and no sign of a reaction we were able to continue without issue.
Days 45 and 46 involved exploring the Purnululu National Park, and treating ourselves to some home comforts by staying in the Bungle Bungle Wilderness Safari Tents run by APT. The safari tents had an ensuite and both breakfast and dinner was provided, so after life in the van it was pure luxury. Once again we tackled a number of walk; Echidna Chasm, Osmond, Kungkalatayi and Piccaninny Creek lookouts, Cathedral gorge and the Domes walk. Unfortunately our usual reward of a swim in a beautiful waterhole at the end of a long walk was not to be as the National Park at this time of the year is dry so we had to settle for a nice clean shower instead. The highlight of this part of the trip was the helicopter ride over the park especially the Domes.
Day 47 was once again a travelling day back to Turkey Creek to pick up the van and then onto Halls Creek just for an over night stop. Halls Creek was just hot and dirty and unfortunately the caravan park is very close to the hotel so we had loud music playing away to 1am and then the locals entertaining themselves on the street until about 3am, a pleasant spot to stay!
Days 48 and 49 were spent at Fitzroy Crossing and exploring the National parks nearby. Geike Gorge National park was first, where we took a boat cruise along the Fitzroy river and had many animals especially freshwater crocodiles pointed out and a very informative explanation of how the area was formed by the local Aboriginal ranger. The next day saw us drive to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek National Parks. The Windjana Gorge walk was quite disappointing, after the first 15 minutes the walk was through scrub and you couldn’t get a good look at the gorge or the river so we decided to turnout back after about 1 hour of walking, our decision was also prompted by the fact that there was no swimming. The one highlight of the walk was the number of freshwater crocodiles you saw sunning themselves on the banks of the river. As a contrast Tunnel Creek was fun, a walk through sandbanks and a river contained within a 750m tunnel. The tunnel got very dark in parts and due to the strength of our one and only torch (we forget to bring the other 6 which were back in the van) at times we could only see about 2 feet in front of ourselves, which led to a lot of screams from Adelaide. Along the way we saw some small fish and many bats, apparently there was also eels and 2 small freshwater crocodiles that we missed due to our torch strength. I am sure if we had seen them we would have been joining in the screaming with Adelaide. In the evening the girls and I ventured out to the Tin Can Cinema, on old galvanised iron shed set-up as a theatre for a private viewing of “Bran Nue Dae”, no-one else turned up. Bran Nue Dae is a story based in Broome, which was totally appropriate given it is the next stop on our itinerary. The boys stayed back at the van watching a Simpsons DVD, that’s living the dream!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Week 6 – Darwin to Home Valley
Week 6 – Darwin to Home Valley – 1114 kms
Day 36, time to leave Darwin. After the sadness of the last 2 weeks the whole family was glad to be back on the road and re-settled into our living the dream routine. Unfortunately the stress of the last 2 weeks and the Victorian weather had taken a toll on me and I returned from Mt Martha with one of the worst flu’s I had experienced in the last 10 years. Feeling like death we packed up and headed off to Liitchfield National Park. On the way we stopped at Berry Springs for a beautiful swim in a warm freshwater spring, despite feeling poorly the area was beautiful and the swim lifted my spirits and helped me forget about the past 2 weeks and to focus on the rest of our family adventure that we still had in front of us. We set up camp at Wangi Falls campground and quickly headed off to the beautiful Wangi Fall waterhole for a refreshing swim. The afternoon was spent exploring the national park in particular the remains of the Blyth homestead, which was occupied by the Seargant family from the late 1920’s through to the 1960’s, reading their family history was just fascinating, you just can’t imagine living in the conditions that they did. It was wonderful to spend a night where there was no lights and just the noise of the bush.
Day 37 was again spent exploring Litchfield National Park and the wonderful safe waterholes it is renowned for, The day started with a lovely 1.5 hour walk to Tyaetaba falls along Greenant creek, followed by a visit to Buley rockhole, which is a series of small plunge pools joined by waterfalls. The afternoon was spent again at Wangi Falls trying to keep cool.
Day 38 saw us leave Litchfield behind and head to Katherine. On the way we stopped to view the magnetic termite mounds which are up to 2 metres high and all aligned north south, a natural phenoneum that no-one really understands. The second stop of the day was at Adelaide River where we visited Australia’s largest war cemetery. Over 200 people who lost their lives due to the bombing of Darwin in 1942 are buried here. When we arrived in Katherine the children were very excited to catch up with their friends Rachel and Ryan again.
Day 39 was time to say good-bye to the Northern Terrority and head off into the Kimberleys in the far north of Western Australia. Between Katherine and Kununurra there is very little, only two very small towns with really nothing to offer but fuel. The excitement of the drive was passing through the Quarantine station on the Western Australian border where both the car and caravan were searched and all fruit, vegetables and honey had to handed in.
Day 40 was spent exploring Kununurra and the surrounding area. Of course the first stop for any girl is Kimberley fine diamonds where the range of Argyle Diamonds was closely examined. Unfortunately the pink diamond ring I fancied was over $30,000 and thus I left the store empty handed. Next on the schedule was a visit to the Zebra Rock gallery. Zebra Rock gallery was a fascinating gallery on the edge of the Ord river, the stone they carve is mined from a quarry below the Argyle Dam and thus they can only access it for approximately 6 weeks a year when the water level drops low enough. The stone is striped in formation hence its name and was formed some 600 million years ago and is only found in this area. The gallery also had a great pier over the Ord where you could feed the fish and turtles. Next was a tour through the Ord Valley irrigation area, the reason the Argyle Dam was formed. They grow a range of fruits, vegetables, herbs and interestingly Sandlewood. The Sandlewood plantations are the largest commercial plantations of Sandlewood in the world. The Sandlewood is grown for its oil which is predominately used as incense or a base for perfumes. Next was the Hoochery Distillery which produces a range of rum from sugar cane. The final points of interest were 3 waterholes marked as swimming spots on the town map, unfortunately they were either stagnant or dry, however the drive to visit them required us to drive through the Ord river which was just a little scary as a croc was perched half way waiting for motorists to stall their cars.
Day 41 was spent on the Triple J tour of Lake Kununurra, the Lower Ord river, Argyle Dam and finally a tour of the Durak homestead. The tour down the river really put into perspective the size of the water flows the area experiences in the wet season. Pete was seriously jealous when he heard of the water rights the Ord farmers are allocated along with the price they pay per megalitre, however was smiling we he heard their transport costs. Visiting the Durak homestead was great as I had only just finished reading “Kings of Grass Castles” by Mary Durak which describes the Durak family’s settlement of the area. The evening was spent watching the Federal election count unfold, what a fizzier, when will we know who will form the next government?
Day 42 saw as head for Home Valley Station, a station run by an Aboriginal community. We decided to take the longer off road route to Home Valley as we weren’t towing the van to allow us to get a good feel of the isolation of the area. The first stop was the “Grotto” a waterhole at the bottom of 140 steps, once again a real disappointment as it was stagnant. Obviously the local tourism branch is trying to make something out of nothing. Second stop was Wyndham, the furthest north town in WA, obviously it is just too hard to provide facilities this far north, as it was seriously lacking in any attraction or services. We then headed off to the prison boab tree, a huge boab that was used to house prisoners on their way to Wyndham. Then it was beautiful drive along the Kiljamini track through bush scrub and sand flats, circling the Cockburn Ranges and finally along side the Pentecost river. The night was spent squashed into two 2 man tents sweating the hours away,, that’s living the dream.
Day 36, time to leave Darwin. After the sadness of the last 2 weeks the whole family was glad to be back on the road and re-settled into our living the dream routine. Unfortunately the stress of the last 2 weeks and the Victorian weather had taken a toll on me and I returned from Mt Martha with one of the worst flu’s I had experienced in the last 10 years. Feeling like death we packed up and headed off to Liitchfield National Park. On the way we stopped at Berry Springs for a beautiful swim in a warm freshwater spring, despite feeling poorly the area was beautiful and the swim lifted my spirits and helped me forget about the past 2 weeks and to focus on the rest of our family adventure that we still had in front of us. We set up camp at Wangi Falls campground and quickly headed off to the beautiful Wangi Fall waterhole for a refreshing swim. The afternoon was spent exploring the national park in particular the remains of the Blyth homestead, which was occupied by the Seargant family from the late 1920’s through to the 1960’s, reading their family history was just fascinating, you just can’t imagine living in the conditions that they did. It was wonderful to spend a night where there was no lights and just the noise of the bush.
Day 37 was again spent exploring Litchfield National Park and the wonderful safe waterholes it is renowned for, The day started with a lovely 1.5 hour walk to Tyaetaba falls along Greenant creek, followed by a visit to Buley rockhole, which is a series of small plunge pools joined by waterfalls. The afternoon was spent again at Wangi Falls trying to keep cool.
Day 38 saw us leave Litchfield behind and head to Katherine. On the way we stopped to view the magnetic termite mounds which are up to 2 metres high and all aligned north south, a natural phenoneum that no-one really understands. The second stop of the day was at Adelaide River where we visited Australia’s largest war cemetery. Over 200 people who lost their lives due to the bombing of Darwin in 1942 are buried here. When we arrived in Katherine the children were very excited to catch up with their friends Rachel and Ryan again.
Day 39 was time to say good-bye to the Northern Terrority and head off into the Kimberleys in the far north of Western Australia. Between Katherine and Kununurra there is very little, only two very small towns with really nothing to offer but fuel. The excitement of the drive was passing through the Quarantine station on the Western Australian border where both the car and caravan were searched and all fruit, vegetables and honey had to handed in.
Day 40 was spent exploring Kununurra and the surrounding area. Of course the first stop for any girl is Kimberley fine diamonds where the range of Argyle Diamonds was closely examined. Unfortunately the pink diamond ring I fancied was over $30,000 and thus I left the store empty handed. Next on the schedule was a visit to the Zebra Rock gallery. Zebra Rock gallery was a fascinating gallery on the edge of the Ord river, the stone they carve is mined from a quarry below the Argyle Dam and thus they can only access it for approximately 6 weeks a year when the water level drops low enough. The stone is striped in formation hence its name and was formed some 600 million years ago and is only found in this area. The gallery also had a great pier over the Ord where you could feed the fish and turtles. Next was a tour through the Ord Valley irrigation area, the reason the Argyle Dam was formed. They grow a range of fruits, vegetables, herbs and interestingly Sandlewood. The Sandlewood plantations are the largest commercial plantations of Sandlewood in the world. The Sandlewood is grown for its oil which is predominately used as incense or a base for perfumes. Next was the Hoochery Distillery which produces a range of rum from sugar cane. The final points of interest were 3 waterholes marked as swimming spots on the town map, unfortunately they were either stagnant or dry, however the drive to visit them required us to drive through the Ord river which was just a little scary as a croc was perched half way waiting for motorists to stall their cars.
Day 41 was spent on the Triple J tour of Lake Kununurra, the Lower Ord river, Argyle Dam and finally a tour of the Durak homestead. The tour down the river really put into perspective the size of the water flows the area experiences in the wet season. Pete was seriously jealous when he heard of the water rights the Ord farmers are allocated along with the price they pay per megalitre, however was smiling we he heard their transport costs. Visiting the Durak homestead was great as I had only just finished reading “Kings of Grass Castles” by Mary Durak which describes the Durak family’s settlement of the area. The evening was spent watching the Federal election count unfold, what a fizzier, when will we know who will form the next government?
Day 42 saw as head for Home Valley Station, a station run by an Aboriginal community. We decided to take the longer off road route to Home Valley as we weren’t towing the van to allow us to get a good feel of the isolation of the area. The first stop was the “Grotto” a waterhole at the bottom of 140 steps, once again a real disappointment as it was stagnant. Obviously the local tourism branch is trying to make something out of nothing. Second stop was Wyndham, the furthest north town in WA, obviously it is just too hard to provide facilities this far north, as it was seriously lacking in any attraction or services. We then headed off to the prison boab tree, a huge boab that was used to house prisoners on their way to Wyndham. Then it was beautiful drive along the Kiljamini track through bush scrub and sand flats, circling the Cockburn Ranges and finally along side the Pentecost river. The night was spent squashed into two 2 man tents sweating the hours away,, that’s living the dream.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Week 5 – Darwin to Mt Martha return – (by Adelaide)
Week 5
Day 29 – Today we had a look around Darwin We went to one of Darwin’s greatest attractions the Darwin wave lagoon. At the wave lagoon we rode the Big Blue Humpies on a boggie board or a donut. We were at the wave pool for around 3 hours and not once did we get out. After the wave pool we started to get a bit hungry so we had lunch at a café and then we went to the Darwin museum were we saw Sweet heat a 17 foot crocodile found in Darwin water. We also saw an exhibition on Cyclone Tracy. Cyclone Tracy was a devastating natural disaster that occurred in Christmas Eve 1974, the cyclone wiped out most of Darwin. After the museum we drive back to the caravan, we swam in the pool until dark and that’s living the dream.
Day 30 to Day 32 (Mt Martha) – Elia – A quick divert off the Living the Dream tour for the family to attend Dad’s funeral. A beautiful ending for a wonderful father.
Day 33 – Today we had a really lazy day which included having a big sleep in and staying at the caravan park the whole day. This morning was the only time we went out, we went out for breakfast at Cullen Bay. We had a quick look around Cullen Bay but Tav wanted to eat so we had to go straight to the café. After breakfast we went for a quick food shop and then we went back to the caravan park where we spent the rest of the day playing with Rachel and Ryan swimming in the pool that’s living the dream.
Day 34 – Today we went to Crocosaurus Cove where we got to hold and get our picture taken with a baby croc and swim with juvenile crocs, but there was a glass wall between us, At Crocosaurus Cove we also got watch the Barra feeding and the Big Croc feeding. We got to feed the juvenile crocs from the end of a fishing rod. After Crocosaurus Cove we had lunch and then went to a small but really fun waterslide park. At the water park there was 3 big waterslides, a swimming pool and a water playground. We went on all 3 slides over and over again, the red slide was pitch black and you had to go in a tube with a partner but the yellow and blue slides you went by yourself. My favourite slide was the yellow slide because it was the fastest, but the blue slide twisted and turned around in. After the water park we got changed and went out for dinner at the Darwin Sailing Club, that’s living the dream.
Day 35 – Today we had a good look around Darwin finding out a bit about the history of Darwin. First we went to the World War 2 oil storage tanks. The oil storage tanks were built during the second world war after the Japanese bombed the city of Darwin in 1942, just 6 weeks after pearl harbour was bombed. After the oil tanks we had a quick walk up to a lookout and then had lunch at Stokes wharf. After lunch we went to the Fannie Bay jail, were we found out about the history of the jail and the prisoners that were kept there until the jail closed in 1979. After the jail we went home and swam in the pool until it was time to go to the Mindil markets. At the market we had dinner on the beach and watched the sunset on the beach, that’s living the dream.
Day 29 – Today we had a look around Darwin We went to one of Darwin’s greatest attractions the Darwin wave lagoon. At the wave lagoon we rode the Big Blue Humpies on a boggie board or a donut. We were at the wave pool for around 3 hours and not once did we get out. After the wave pool we started to get a bit hungry so we had lunch at a café and then we went to the Darwin museum were we saw Sweet heat a 17 foot crocodile found in Darwin water. We also saw an exhibition on Cyclone Tracy. Cyclone Tracy was a devastating natural disaster that occurred in Christmas Eve 1974, the cyclone wiped out most of Darwin. After the museum we drive back to the caravan, we swam in the pool until dark and that’s living the dream.
Day 30 to Day 32 (Mt Martha) – Elia – A quick divert off the Living the Dream tour for the family to attend Dad’s funeral. A beautiful ending for a wonderful father.
Day 33 – Today we had a really lazy day which included having a big sleep in and staying at the caravan park the whole day. This morning was the only time we went out, we went out for breakfast at Cullen Bay. We had a quick look around Cullen Bay but Tav wanted to eat so we had to go straight to the café. After breakfast we went for a quick food shop and then we went back to the caravan park where we spent the rest of the day playing with Rachel and Ryan swimming in the pool that’s living the dream.
Day 34 – Today we went to Crocosaurus Cove where we got to hold and get our picture taken with a baby croc and swim with juvenile crocs, but there was a glass wall between us, At Crocosaurus Cove we also got watch the Barra feeding and the Big Croc feeding. We got to feed the juvenile crocs from the end of a fishing rod. After Crocosaurus Cove we had lunch and then went to a small but really fun waterslide park. At the water park there was 3 big waterslides, a swimming pool and a water playground. We went on all 3 slides over and over again, the red slide was pitch black and you had to go in a tube with a partner but the yellow and blue slides you went by yourself. My favourite slide was the yellow slide because it was the fastest, but the blue slide twisted and turned around in. After the water park we got changed and went out for dinner at the Darwin Sailing Club, that’s living the dream.
Day 35 – Today we had a good look around Darwin finding out a bit about the history of Darwin. First we went to the World War 2 oil storage tanks. The oil storage tanks were built during the second world war after the Japanese bombed the city of Darwin in 1942, just 6 weeks after pearl harbour was bombed. After the oil tanks we had a quick walk up to a lookout and then had lunch at Stokes wharf. After lunch we went to the Fannie Bay jail, were we found out about the history of the jail and the prisoners that were kept there until the jail closed in 1979. After the jail we went home and swam in the pool until it was time to go to the Mindil markets. At the market we had dinner on the beach and watched the sunset on the beach, that’s living the dream.
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