Day 46 Lake Argyle Day 3

 We are now time wise, half way through this big adventure.🥲. Time certainly has flown while we have been having fun. Today was a quiet day, Matt and I ventured out to the Durack Homestead museum and read up about the Durack family and the history of the ideas behind the dam and the construction of the Lake Arygle Dam. We took 0 photos I just realised so you’ll have to deal with a publicity shot 

The homestead was relocated before the dam filled up with water, and stone by stone was reconstructed and made back into the house and became the museum in the late 1970’s. It was all very interesting. There was a video about the construction of the dam, which included footage of how they used explosives to get rock used to build the dam wall, and the fuse was lit by a cigarette- as you did back in the day in the early 1970’s!

After our history lesson, Matt worked on some maintenance and preparation of Bridget for our upcoming adventure on the Gibb River Road, no photos of that either. Just imagine a bloke in overalls rolling around in the dirt ,getting dirt in his eyes, whilst also simultaneously getting grease everywhere except where it’s supposed to go, cause all the greasing points are disguised in dirt… while I baked my famous triple chocolate brownies for the group. A chilled afternoon, we rested and chatted with a few of our kids before heading off to the sunset viewing area with most of the others staying at the caravan park. We enjoyed another spectacular and picturesque sunset over Lake Argyle, with all the colours of the rock changing as the sun lowered in the sky. The water was glass like, as was the infinity pool. Another enjoyable evening of chatting and laughing with our friends. We head to Kununurra tomorrow.

Day 45 Lake Argyle Day 2

 We are still adjusting to WA time, and an early sunrise. 5am. A slow morning, then we headed out as a group in the Trailways Clipper, a 1948 American Clipper. We toured around the dam wall and all the lookouts together. We headed back and went for a walk down to the water’s edge, but going down on the way, means the return trip was uphill, and I just take my time. The water was clean and clear in the lake, and the majestic red cliffs, with spinifex grasses across the hills. The dam has a hydroelectric system with the water coming out at the dam wall. At 35000 litres per second  The electricity powers Lake Argyle, Kununurra and Wyndham and when the Argyle diamond mine was in action, it was powered by the dam. The water expanse is 18 times or more of the capacity of Sydney Harbour when its full, yet they can’t find a way to send this water to the drought stricken SA

We headed out in the afternoon on the cruise on the Lake Argyle, and toured around spotting the freshwater crocs and Wallaroos and hearing about the creation and history of the lake. There was an opportunity to go for a swim, knowing there was 25,000 odd crocs in the water but also knowing that the freshwater crocs don’t eat things they can’t swallow in a mouthful and humans are not normally in their diet. I was attached to my pump so couldn’t swim, but Matt and our friends did enjoy a paddle in the 26 degree waters. They then served drinks and antipasto platters, while we watched the sun set and in awe of the spectacular colours of the rocky and rugged escarpments and cliffs surrounding us. A wonderful way to spend the afternoon and evening. It was dark by the time we got back, and we headed back to our Clippers for dinner and chat.

Day 44 Lake Argyle

 We had a slow morning today, literally. Bridget wouldn’t start, one of the bus batteries has died.🙁 we hadn’t repaired anything for 12 hours so it was bound to happen.

Luckily our travelling mate Ian, had a battery jump starter and we were able to get her running (but she will need this until we can source another battery hopefully in Kununurra). First stop of the day was a drive up an escarpment at Timber Creek, much better than having to walk it like we had yesterday at Victoria River. There was a memorial to the WWII battalions and Nackeroos (Indigenous assistants to the army) who had to patrol a very vast, thick bush and coastal areas after the bombing of Darwin, to hunt down any Japanese spy’s or army. The views towards the canyons, rivers and gorges were pretty amazing, with distant views of the Pinkerton ranges on the horizon.

Next stop was lunch and madly finishing off all the fruit and veggies that weren’t allowed into WA. Matt was happy to oblige. I noticed that boab trees were now prevalent on the landscape, as well as the amazing rocky escarpments of the Gregory National Parks. From there we headed to the WA border and through the quarantine without a hitch. This is my first time into WA, so now we have to adjust to the new time difference. Sunset is now at 5pm but sunrise is at 5am.😳

It’s a great place.  It says so on the sign.  

We headed straight out to Lake Argyle caravan park, and met back up with David and Brenda, and the 3 couples and their Clippers will do the Kimberley together. The drive into the area was majestic. Views of amazing rocky ranges on either side. You almost didn’t quite know where to look. I knew where to look. At the road, otherwise I’d collect a road train, it’s not a bad road but it’s rough in sections and quite lumpy which throws the bus around a bit, I also couldn’t look backwards cause it makes my seniors concession neck hurt.  It is breath taking (must admit we both find this more spectacular than Kakadu). The caravan park is perfectly located to appreciate the aspects of these rocky ranges with views of the lake below. The park has an infinity pool, that blends into the views of the water below. It’s a spot where you wait your turn to take the photo of yourself in the pool with this amazing backdrop, (unfortunately for me I can’t get into water that deep😔). The water was freezing and not that deep really. That’s why she didn’t get in.   Sal reckoned they had laced the pool with ice cubes to keep the numbers down…We also enjoyed watching the sun set along with many other campers and the amazing colours of the rock being brought to life by the lower position of the sun in the sky. We have also enjoyed catching up with our friends and planning what we need to change in our itinerary for the next few days and on the upcoming Gibb River Road, because of road closures and the like. Lots to look forward to

By this stage of the Trip we have a steady following of other travellers who are logging our progress and telling us every time we pull up somewhere “we saw you in Mataranka” or “west macdonnell ranges” or “in Litchfield National park” “my friends wanted to know if Bridget was going to Broome and if they’d see her there” things like that. Every stop. We are becoming a mobile thing to see in the top end. Bridget desperately needs a bath although, it’s sort of pointless.  

Day 43 Victoria River

 A slow morning, and we packed up and prepared the interior with closing windows and putting in the rods to stop them self-opening and covering the bed and tops of the contents of our clothes drawers, ready to go back on the dirt road. This will become our regular routine once we get on the Gibb River Road. Matt decided as we were driving along, that he should film the bull dust. So he opened his window and filmed the bus with his phone. This was all very well until I turned around and noticed the whole bus was filled with dust! 😩. So Matt dutifully closed his window and I also noticed that his beard and hair was now a shade of red😜! The whole right side of me was red really. I filmed out the window cause the passenger refused to stand on the side of the road and film me going past. Something about needing to breathe… either way we ate dust. A small two trailer road train came the other way at one point, I knew he was coming cause I saw his dust cloud in the distance above the trees for about two minutes before I saw him. I had to stop when he went past as I could see nothing but orange dirt for about a minute.  We saw a dingo strolling along the road casually, and a few cows and even the odd water buffalo. Eventually we returned to the Victoria Highway and headed towards the west. We arrived at Victoria River and did a little drive around and checked out the river, before finding a 3km return walk to the escarpment of the ranges around us. Despite it being the worst time of day to embark on a walk uphill, we headed out on this walk (I was hooked up to my IV, as today is a 20 hour infusion day, so that helped in the heat). It started out ok, but the path was quite rough and rocky, and it became steep and we had to walk between rocks and over rocks. But despite the heat, the walk was worth all the effort. The views were breathtaking, as we looked down from the top of the escarpment, you could see the Victoria River winding through the ranges, the road coming through the valley of a gorge, a birds eye view of the road house and a nearby farm. All around us there was dark orange, almost red, rocky escarpments and mountain ranges with a smattering of trees and golden grasses. I took the time to stop and listen and be present; the buzz of the jumbo sized native carpenter bees, the whirr of the flies, the breeze whispering through the trees, breathing on us and cooling us down, the drone of distant engines. Eventually it was time to leave this moment behind and in my memory, and head back down the winding, rocky trail. Half way down, we could see the carpark in the distance and noticed that pulled up alongside Bridget was fellow road companions Ian and Meredith, in their Clipper ‘Trailways’; they had caught up with us, to do the WA adventure together. By the time we had reached the carpark, they were sitting enjoying a cup of tea. We headed back to the Victoria River roadhouse and parked up for the night. Matt had to get back under the bus to work on the water pump, again, so he could have a shower. It seems bull dust gets into electrical switches and clogs them up. Lucky I bought three switches, I’ve taped this one up to try and stop the dust getting into it. He found a spring was missing and after  me searching for a spring, and only finding a pen spring, Matt being Matt resized the spring and got the pump going again. When it’s all you have you make it work. He then had to readjust the hot water system before he could have his shower, but eventually all the systems were working properly again, and he could wash the red dirt out of his hair and beard. I am now temporarily grey again. He got to sit and chill and catch up with Ian and Meredith and we enjoyed dinner together before retreating to our respective buses when the mozzies came out. Tomorrow we will reach the WA border.

Day 42 Flora River (Giwining)

 We didn’t spot our 2m or so croc from the night before when we checked the creek this morning. So we packed up and headed back onto the scenic route we were driving on. The Douglas Hot Springs were also closed, so we headed back onto to the Stuart Highway and went to Pine Creek, to empty tanks and try and sort out the alternator warranty claim. It turned out that something so simple as organising a delivery location for the alternator, was going to be anything but. By the time we reached Katherine, we then sat on hold to Australia Post, as the Broome Post Office didn’t have a phone number, and the option for a locker wasn’t suitable as they only hold the parcel for 24 hours and the the collect option, they only hold the delivery for 10 days, and not knowing how long it would take for the replacement alternator to reach Broome, means it  may need to be held for longer. The caravan park wasn’t answering their phone, so I left a message but their website had their postal address as being the post office, and we were still on hold to Australia Post, so Matt rang the auto electrician in Broome, hoping he would be willing to accept the delivery. They said no, as pretty much there was nothing in it for them.😔 Finally the caravan park returned my call and were more than happy to have the parcel sent there and they would hold it until we arrived. Phew! They confirmed that the Broome post office doesn’t have a phone as well. So we opted to give up being on hold to Australia Post, after more than 40 minutes of waiting and no one answered. Pretty poor Australia Post! ☹️

After resolving that issue, we were able to move on from Katherine, after Matt posted the faulty alternator back to Katoomba. We headed towards WA, and took a dirt road down to Flora River (Giwining) and camped here for the night. Just a dirt road. 45km of dirt , I know it’s just a short stint compared to what we are going to be doing in 2 weeks , but this road started out well then started to descend into bull dust. If you’ve never encountered bull dust before, well it’s like umm, ok imagine the soft sand at the beach, then exchange all that sand for red self raising flour. You drive into it and it sort of moves around under you and everything behind you vanishes for the next 10 minutes. It’s not too rough a ride , but It gets into places you didn’t think it could get into, which is pretty much only the fridge in the clipper.. I’m pretty sure it got into my drink bottle…

 We went to check out the river and 2 water falls, Djarrung and Kathleen Falls. They more short cascades than a water fall, and due to overgrowth, we didn’t have a great view. As this river may contain crocs, you are always on the lookout. Would have been an idyllic swimming spot on any river south of  Alice Springs… but no standing near the river bank with cloudy water just there makes you think that maybe it isn’t my natural habitat. Bit like when I went snorkelling with king fish on lord Howe island. I’m just not meant to be in some places. We think we spied some croc like objects across the fortunately very wide river, and didn’t get too close to the river edge. Otherwise we have just enjoyed another quiet evening and day.

Day 41 Daly River and a day of challenges and disappointment and some highlights

 The day started off with Matt enjoying pancakes with maple syrup and mixed berries, before we packed up and left Robin Falls. We headed out to visit the Daly River, and as we explored, we spotted two salt water crocs sunning themselves on the beach beside the river. We found the old river crossing weir and cautiously went to the riverside and had a look at the river, which was flowing over the weir. We didn’t spot anymore crocs there. We then drove to the town which housed an inn and a police station.

As we headed back down the road, aiming to see if the Douglas Hot Springs had been opened up, Matt suddenly lost the tacho and the ampmeter was reading zero, and the volt gauge didn’t look right; immediately concerned he pulled over. He raced down to the engine bay to check on the alternator and found it was hot. This alternator was brand new and had been installed before we left Sydney. So we decided to limp the bus to the nearest town, being Adelaide River. The bus still runs, it just uses the battery and the battery isn’t charged anymore, and as we drove along the radiator cooling fans were draining the battery and after an hour of driving the battery got to the point where things like the indicators weren’t working. Matt started to call around a few auto electricians in Darwin, but alas, no one either touches 24 volt alternators, or doesn’t carry parts. So then Matt contacted the auto electrician he bought it from in Katoomba, but he was taking the day off, but would work on a warranty claim tomorrow hopefully. So then Matt called the Darwin office of the supplier of the alternator and they didn’t have any in stock and said the closest one was in Perth, Melbourne or Launceston. So Matt decided it wasn’t worth our while to return to Darwin. He had fortuitously brought the old alternator, something told me I would need it. I guess I know my luck and the quality of aftermarket parts, even if they cost $800. The old alternator still works but wasn’t as big and capable as the new one, to charge as much as he wanted to charge. So he removed the new alternator, and noticed a small blow out hole in the side of the regulator component on the alternator. He then installed the old alternator; and 2 hours later, phew the bus was able to run and charge.  I did get to see the Ghan train go by while I waited for Matt to do the work. By then it was late afternoon and so we headed back down the road and to another free camp ground just further down the road from Robin Falls. 

We had the campground beside Burrell Creek all to ourselves, and as we pulled in, Matt noticed what he thought was a movement on the sandy beach beside the lower part of the creek. So I stood there for a bit and stared and thought I saw some underwater movement further up the lower creek. We pulled out our chairs and Matt got out the fishing rod and lure out and he fished in the upper part of the creek, while I cooked his dinner. It was nice for him to chill out with a beer and fishing. I joined him with dinner and we sat there and enjoyed the serenity, birds were flying home for the night, the sun had set, and the crickets were chirping. I took a short stroll to look at the lower creek again and lo and behold, I saw a floating log near the sandy beach! Matt went and got the camera out and zoomed in and the photos confirmed our suspicions - it was a crocodile! So we moved out chairs and sat them closer to the lower creek and the croc and watched it, and we suspect it was watching us. There was a steep, rocky bank on our side of the creek, so we weren’t worried that it would come near us, (apparently they don’t like climbing on rocks, as they have a sensitive underbelly). As the almost full moon lit up the sky, and the stars started to appear, we watched the croc. At one point, we heard a couple of strange noises which we suspect were the croc snapping at something. Soon it became too dark to see him, and we headed back to Bridget for the night. It was good to end the day surrounded by God’s creation, and to see a croc without being on a tour. It was a small consolation for the concerns we have now with the alternator. Matt is hoping it might be possible for a quick process with the warranty claim and a new one could be sent out to us either at Kununurra or Broome, but we suspect they will want to assess the broken one before they replace the broken one. So Matt will have to hope the old one lasts the distance and the load for the rest of the trip. We will keep you posted on what happens.

tonights campspot

tonights neighbour... we watched him he watched us...

Day 40 Robin Falls

 After Matt installed the bracket he made for the new battery, we left Darwin and headed back south. We went past Adelaide River and turned off to go to Robin Falls. There must have been some event at the Adelaide River show ground as there was a police drug and breath testing operation, as people were leaving the Showgrounds and every car that left the Showgrounds was getting tested. Lots of horse floats and trucks. Looking for horsey people on horsey tranquillisers. We got waved on through. We weren’t horsey enough.  It wasn’t far to reach the campground and we found a flat spot to camp up for the night, and it was free too, bonus! Matt had an early lunch and then we headed further up the road and to the falls. The walk took us past the creek, which had multiple dam walls built out of rocks, presumably by people who had been camping here, and each created a little rock pool. The walkway up to the falls was very rocky and full of tree roots, but worth the effort. We had to do some rock climbing to make it up the falls to check out the rock pools beneath each of the falls. We climbed up to the top pool and sat there for awhile. Matt decided to climb further and up to the very top of the falls, despite how steep the climb was. He found up the top was just a small creek that fed the water falls beneath. He had an even steeper climb back down but made it safely. I was being careful. 

While we sat and enjoyed the cool, a lady made it up to where we were sitting, along with her very playful Border Collie, and the dog loved anyone who would throw her toy stick into the water and she would go and swim out and return with it for more. The water was quite stirred up and murky but cool and refreshing. Neither of us felt like a swim. Eventually we headed back down the rocks and to Bridget and I had a nap, while Matt chilled. We returned to the creek later and Matt opted for a soak in one of the rock pools and I watched the little fish. Matt sent leaf boats to me. Most of them sank. I’ll stick to making busses.  Again, we both just enjoyed absorbing the beauty around us and relaxed. We headed back to Bridget and Matt enjoyed a BBQ dinner, and I got my IV fluids. We sat outside and watched the birds return home, the almost full moon shine between the tree branches above us 

and slowly as the sky darkened, we watched the stars start to appear. Before long the biting insects came out and we retreated into Bridget to write this up. Nice to have a slower day.