Showing posts with label caravan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label caravan. Show all posts

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!

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.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Week 1 - Shepp to Coober Pedy

LIVING THE DREAM - 81 days of pure bliss!

Week 1: Shepparton to Outback South Australia – 2,140kms

Wow, week 1has already passed, only 11 to go. The first week has seen us travel from Shepparton to William Creek, which is on the edge of Lake Eyre, outback South Australia.

In typically Griswold style or I should say in Pete’s style, the start of the trip commenced about 3 hours behind schedule. The family was packed and all ready to go by 8.30am, but Pete just had to squeeze in a few more hours of work and get a last minute check on the caravan done, of course all jobs which should have been completed the week before. At 11am, the Living the Dream adventure commenced.

Day 1 saw us travel from Shepparton to Mildura, which was home for the first two nights. The cold weather was definitely not left behind with Mildura having a maximum day time temperature of only 7 degC. Thankfully we had the foresight to take along a couple of fan heaters, which has made life in the caravan very comfortable. The first of many caravan set-ups went without a hitch, however it did take its toll on us that we needed to eat out.

Day 2 was spent exploring Mildura. Pete had visited numerous times previously to see grape and orange growers, but it was a first time visit for the rest of us. The morning saw us tour the mighty Murray River on the last steam driven paddle ship the PS Melbourne. Both Pete and I were amazed by the loch system, with levels being controlled in excessive of 3 meters along this part of the river. The afternoon was spent topping up on supplies, a microwave dish to cook porridge and buying nuts to replace the one already lost on one of the stabliser legs (it must have shaken loose), Pete visiting an Orange buyer for old time sake and the rest of us indulging in hot chocolate and playing board games on a cold and wet afternoon. With more time to prepare the first of many caravan park meals was prepared and cooked without issue.

Day 3 saw us on the road again travelling to Broken Hill. The sight seeing stops included the junction where the Murray and Darling rivers combine in Wentworth and the Perry Sand Hills, an unique sand hill formation in the middle of nowhere which were formed some 40,000 years ago. The sand hills were definitely a highlight for the children who just loved to run up and roll down the orange sanded dunes. Broken Hill was a stark contrast to tree lined Mildura, just dirt everywhere, not a tree in sight and only small scrubs less than 0.5m high in the middle of dirt fields. For a city which has been responsible for so much of Australia’s wealth, the town looked very poor, lots of corrugated iron houses with old couches on the front verandahs and empty retail fronts. This is with the exception of the main street which has a number of beautiful late 1880’s & 1890’s buildings which have been fully restored.

Day 4 was consumed exploring Broken Hill and the surrounding area. Broken Hill to make up for the decline in mining has turned itself into a very interesting tourist town with plenty of art, history and countryside to explore. First visit for the day was the Living Desert, where we visited the Sculpture Symposium (in 1987 12 sculptures from around the world were invite to carve a sculpture from local rock representing an aspect of local Aboriginal life). We saw Sturt’s Desert Pea (hopefully it will grow in Shepparton and become a feature of the Clarke Crt garden) and other native flowers. Next was a visit to the (Kevin) Pro Hart gallery, a hit for the whole family. Through the great advertising medium of TV the children are familiar with his work and were fascinated to see the dragon fly that Pro Hart painted on the carpet for the carpet cleaner ad and that his grandson now emulates on the latest ad. Pro Hart’s work has many different styles, all which I truly enjoy. The children kept commenting how Aunty Andrea would have enjoyed the gallery {especially the large female derriere painting). Next it was onto Silverton, an old ghost town which was a very wealthy area before the bigger deposits of silver, zinc and lead were found in Broken Hill. Silverton has also featured in many movies including Mad Max 2 and A Town Like Alice. The finally stop for the day was the Miners Memorial a terrific tribute to those who have lost their lives mining in the area. A great reminder on how dangerous mining was - there were so many cave ins, electrocutions, and falls. Fred was excited to see some many miners called Frederick.

Day 5 was again a travel day leaving Broken Hill behind for Woomera. The planned stop was Port Augusta but given we had made good time, Port Augusta became our lunch spot and we pushed through to Woomera. Our pre-packing in preparation for an early get away really paid off. The landscape was bare and really offered no interesting stops, although the bush toilet stops are causing lots of angst. Woomera was established to be a rocket testing facility for the defence force just after the second world war, in collaboration with the English forces, Over the years it has had a very interesting history developing rockets, bombs and satellites’ in joint ventures with other nations, Today there are very little programs in process due to costs, however as late as June the area was closed as a Japanese satellite re-entered earth and landed in the surrounding area. As a contrast to Broken Hill, Woomera is exceptionally well kept, very neat and tidy. It is amazing what a difference government dollars make. Woomera has a great rocket park and museum and I would recommend a visit to all.

Day 6 Woomera to Coober Pedy.
Once again we started early and made it to Coober Pedy just prior to lunch. The only stop was a very quick photo of Lake Hart. Coober Pedy is a real outback town; very run down, very little there and our first sighting of Aboriginals’ just hanging around town. The landscape is very bleak lots of dirt sand hills everywhere and no vegetation at all. The afternoon was spent learning about Coober Pedy’s history at the Umoona mine and museum. The tour was fantastic and to date has been a family highlight. The tour involved exploring a miner’s underground house as it would have been in the 1950’s, a modern day underground house and then a mine tour where the evolution of opal mining techniques were explained. An opal seam was also shown on the tour. The tour concluded with a film on how opals were formed. The museum was also excellent explaining the discovery of opals and the creation of Coober Pedy as it is today. In addition, it housed a collection of fossils which were found just outside of Coober Pedy in the 1970’s of a plesiosaurs.

Day 7 saw us continue our exploration of Coober Pedy, with a visit to two underground churches, to a noddling area to try and find our own opals and finally a demonstration of the equipment the miners use to excavate and recover the opals. Unfortunately as we were taking our lunch break bad news was received from Mt Martha, Dad had taken a turn for the worse and was rushed to hospital, he had developed an infection. The next 6 hours were just a waiting game as we waited to hear whether or not the antibiotics were going to be effective. We decided as there was nothing we could as we waited for news, that we would continue with our planned itinerary and headed out to William Creek (after we confirmed what flights were available out of Coober Pedy the following day). William Creek is the smallest town in South Australia with a population which ranges between 6 and 12 and is one of the gate ways for Lake Eyre north. William Creek has a charming pub, with great outback character and is always full of outback adventurers, just like us. The children were amazed at the lack of facilities, no shops, no drinking water or mobile phone reception and only a couple of houses. The lack of mobile phone reception was a real issue as I was desperate for news from home, but thankfully there was one public phone booth and I managed to make the dreaded call and found out that Dad was as good as he could be but the next couple of days would tell. We spent the evening tucked up in our cabin playing board games and having a wonderful family time, that’s living the dream.