Around Australia in a Land Rover

[Iain_U1250]

My wife and I are on a three month trip across Australia, to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and to take her away from "normal life' that has been particularly hard for her over the past 18 months. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in March last year, and has undergone a mastectomy and various other operations, reconstructions and treatments over the past 18 months. She is well on the way to recovery physically, and improves daily mentally as we travel to some of the most remote places in Australia.

We left Brisbane on the 7th August, driving 1100km to Bowen for our first really getaway. We spent three days there unwinding from the frantic packing and last minute dramas. A great way to spent the first few days without stressing. We spent some time at the towns nudie beach, and took some photos.



I am compiling a book called "Naked Outback" - I used to run a glamour/art nude photo studio with my wife,and she was my muse and main model for years.) We have a website so if you are really interested, PM me and I'll send you a link.

From Bowen we headed up to Cape Tribulation Nation Park - Noah Beach. This is where we really start camping. Out site was about 30m from the beach, and there are only a few sites.



It is a magical part of the world, we went for a walk each morning and Trish meditated whilst I took photos.





We did a photos shoot for the book each morning as well.

My new double-cardan joint front prop shaft for the Land Rover finally arrived in Cairns - a week late but worth backtracking to fit as it has always had a slight drive line vibration which got worse when we fitted upgraded springs to compensate for the increased load we would be carrying on this trip. The new drive shaft fixed that and is a whole lot tougher that the OEM one. We got it fitted and then headed west.

We bush camped a few nights along the way to Lawn Hill National Park, where we stayed for three days but should have been there for a week at least. Unfortunately, like Noah Beach, there are limited camp sites and they are booked weeks or months in advance.

We did a number of walks up around Lawn Hill. We climbed up to the top of a hill, and since there was no one around, Trish decided she did not want any tan lines so she did the rest of the walk without a shirt.



The views are magnificent, there are a quite a few place sacred to the local traditional owner where they request not to take photos, so we didn't but it is well worth the climb.



We had a 5.5m inflatable canoe in our Land Rover, so we paddled up the gorge ( can't use our outboard here) and spent the day at the waterfalls. The water was cool, and the sun warm. Trish has to increase her Vitamen D levels as part of the treatment and to combat the side effects of the anti-cancer drugs. It was pretty warm up there - around 36 degrees, so we spent a lot of time swimming in the cool water then warming up on a rock.



The waterfalls at Lawn hill are great, and run all year round since they are spring fed.



We bought a "Life Saver" bottle and jerry can for this trip, as we found getting drinking water was always a pain to have to carry loads of water on hikes. We decide to test it out on the river water. It was great, tasted better than normal water.


Trish also had a taste, and loved it.


So from now on, we don't have to buy drinking water again, and a long as we are going to a waterhole, we only have to carry enough water for the trip there, no more 3-4 litres of water in the backpacks anymore.

 

[HumphreyBear]

Subscribed. Good luck with the trip. Great photos - a beautiful model/muse in an amazing backdrop. And a Defender! What's not to like. I look forward to following your trip.

Humphrey

 

[mandingo]

Definitely following this one.

 

[Iain_U1250]

Lorella Springs - a bit of paradise in the Northern Territory

We were sitting in Boroloola, updating blogs and saw the advertisement for Poppy’s pool, a thermal hot spring on Bahinia Station, and decided that it would make a great place to spend the night. So we set off down the road again. We looked at the map found the turn off to Bahinia station but about 100m in was a sign saying this was Aboriginal Land and $1000 fine for entering without a permit. So we just turned around and headed up to road to Limen Nation Park. On the map was a place called Lorella Springs, and I remembered a 4WD Action video about the fishing, and the 4wd tracks and I thought it was something like LandCruiser Park, full of bogans in their 5” lifted Nissan Patrols showing how tough their truck is doing stupid things. Not the type of place we wanted to go to, but they had a thermal hot spring, and Trish really wanted to swim so we headed off on the 30km road to Lorella Springs, expecting to have a swim, then head back up to the main road after a quick swim and stay at the Lost City again.
We arrived after quite a bumpy track, loads of corrugations and pulled up outside a tin shed. As the dust settled, a young lady approached the car and introduced herself and said “welcome to Lorella Springs” It was such a surprise that anyone had met us at the car and given us such a friendly welcome.
We got out and Maria began to tell us about the station. It is is around 1 million acres, stretches from the Limen road to the Gulf, it has around 1000km of tracks, and you can camp anywhere on the property, but the main homestead had toilets and hot showers. There are six major routes, that have a lot of waterholes, waterfalls, rock formations. You can drive allt eh way to the Gulf, but the last 600m is a walk to the beach as they have not finished the road. She showed us video clips of the various water holes, and they were beautiful. We decided that we will spend the night here, and asked what a short track would be to do in the afternoon. She recommended Tarwallah Water hole, and a few others as an afternoon drive and a swim.
We headed out and followed the photocopied map she had given us. We got to a fork and saw the new track she said would not be ready for a few days, but it looks driveable. We headed up the bumpty track, came to a water hole with a few large rock in it. Trish said we should turn back, convinced we had gone the wrong way, so we did. We took the other turn off, but that ended about 50m up the road. It was around 37 degrees, so I decided I would rather not walk the 600m in the heat, so we headed back up the track, moved a few rocks out the way and drove right up to the waterhole.

It was an amazing place, the water so clear and cool. We spent the rest of the afternoon there, swimming me taking photos of Trish for the book, we headed home in the later afternoon, getting back to the camp just at sunset.


We headed out the next day with a Adrienne and Guy, the couple we met at Lawn Hill. They had decided to stop of Lorella as well.

We headed up to a place called the Arches - another amazing place. We told them about our nude photography, and how we were producing a book etc and asked if they were comfortable about it. The said they were fine, so after a few photos for the blog, just stripped off and we took loads of photos, it was an amazing place.



This tree was growing out between the rocks - the truck goes right back under the rock, the roots head into every crevice, looking for water. Things sure are hardy in the Outback.



Adrienne and Guy left us to take more photos, and they headed off to the next place on the trip - the Waterslide. It was not that easy to find, we spent half and hour wandering around but then I found an arrow - a stick with three rocks showing the way, and we rock hopped up the dry creek bed. We had given them the second of our Garmin GPS radios, and it proved to be vary useful as they had headed off looking for the track, and we could keep in touch and see where each of us were. Great little devices, we used then on every bushwalk after that, sure makes it easy to find your way back. Just after the shot below, I saw a small green snake and it slithered over to the left of me. I told everyone about it and the approached, but the snake had decided it was trapped and headed back the opposite way - right towards Trish! She screamed and jump out the away as it made it's escape. Trish said it was a brown colour, but my sunglasses have a strange tint to them so I thought it was a green colour. Looking on the website, it turns out the snake was pretty deadly, so we were all quite lucky.



This is what we found at the end of the dry gulley. A great little waterhole and a smooth rock slide from one waterhole to the next. We all had a go, like big kids. I got it on video - first time trying out the video mode on my new camera. I'll set up a YouTube account when I get time to edit the videos etc.



We sat around chatting for a while, then Adrienne and Guy headed off, and we took a load of photos for the book at this place a well.

We then headed out to Nanny's Retreat. Adrienne and Guy headed back to camp, and we headed up the 40km - the road was pretty good, but the last 500m was a walking track through the bush - but we must have misread it, as it turned out to be a 1.5km hike through the bush. To make matter worse, Trish saw another snake - this on chased a lizard, it was really quick, it was also a venomous snake - two in one day! A little pink ribbon on a tree, and the flattened grass were the only hints of where the path was. Sometimes we had to stop at a pink ribbon and search for the next one before setting off. At this point Trish's courage departed, and she was jumping at every rustle in the grass, wanting to turn back at each turn but we pressed on. Nanny's Retreat was fantastic, another cool waterhole with crystal clear water. We took a whole load more photos for the book. There were loads of great rock formations on the way, so many opportunities for photos that we have to go back there one day.




Here is one for the book, I got Trish just to relax, close her eyes and listen to the sounds of the bush, whilst I took some great photos.



By the time we were back at the car, the sun was going down. The lights on the Defender are great - the roof lights especially, the actually exaggerate the bumps.



This is the results of the lighting we have.




The next day we headed out in the opposite direction, to a place called Teardrop falls. The road was pretty bad, some long bulldust holes, but the car was great, not hesitating for a minute. The last 5km was very rough and rocky, first and second gear low range all the way.



It was quite a climb up and over the mountain, I thought Trish would not be willing to try, especially after all the dramas on the track with snakes yesterday, but she climbed up without complaining ( much) it was pretty steep, and the rocks were very loose.



This is what we found when we got there.




We both went for a swim, then I did another photoshoot with my favourite model.


too be continued:

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

:lurk:

Great pics. I got my bag of popcorn. Watching...

 

[Iain_U1250]

On the way back, we followed the creek downstream to see the last pool before the waterfall.

The view was amazing. The pool was very inviting, but you would need a rope to get back out if you jumped in.




The one thing Trish hates - opening gates, which often means getting her clothes back on, especially when next to the camp ground. Most of the time, she does not bother, just jumps out in wherever state of undress she may be at the time. You can see other cars coming from quite a distance, but I'm not sure if she would just stand there with the open gate and let them through or come running back to the car if on did surprise her. Trish took a few photos of me coming through a bull dust hole, She didn't want to get her clothes dirty, so stripped off and went on ahead and took this shot.



Shortly afterward she was enveloped in a cloud of dust. So much so we had an impromptu bush shower next to the track before she was allowed back in.

We decided to do some washing on the last day - the bulldust was everywhere. The washing water was so dirty.



We decide to wash all of our clothes we had out, so did I mention we stayed in the Nudist Camp section of Lorella? We were the only ones there, at least we were able to wash everything.



The toilet block was brand new in the nudist section, and it true nudist fashion, completely open.

We did a great photo shoot there and Trish got very clean, here's one suitable for the public viewing

.

Lorella is full of surprises, people come for a visit and end up staying. One of those is "Crusty ********" We got a couple of loaves of bed baked by Crusty ********'s bakery - he bakes in a wood fired oven. This is the best bread we have had in a very long time, and we were 700km from the nearest town as well.



That afternoon we left Lorella, but we will be back in the Unimog - this time we will spend a week or two there, exploring all the various waterholes and rock formations.

We left Lorella and headed back up the road, to Linmen Nation Park and the Southern Lost City, a wonderful series of rock formations.

Trish is getting the hang of this photography stuff. Here's one of her shots at the Lost City.





Trish wonders why I let her go ahead most of the time. This shot explains it. :Wow1::Wow1:



We did another photoshoot at the Lost City again - I used some charcoal from an burnt tree to do some "creative make-up" for the shoot - that's what the black stripes are on the photo above.

It was a lot of fun - the Southern Lost City is a great place.





Trish did not want to get her clothes too dirty with the charcoal, so in the end she just carried them, and I could not resist taking this photo



We decided to push on to Butterfly spring, the next camp site up the road, but it was so crowded, if the people did not know each other when they got there, they sure would know each other well by the time the left. We found another gravel pit off sufficiently far off the road and bedded down for the night - not before I saw something move out the corner of my eye.

Too be continued......

 

[samuelclarke]

Great photos and ongoing trip reports Iain! Good to see another AULRO guy here.

The Gordigear RTT isn't bad for the money aye - we've got one too.

 

[larcie]

Great Story Iain,
Trish is looking well and her recovery coming along;-)
Cant wait for the next installment on the Mog build.
But while you are strolling around in a Landy, enjoy yourselves,
the rest can wait, smooth travels matey.

 

[Iain_U1250]

Katherine and Edith Falls

What we saw at the gravel pit was a large Dingo.

I got the camera out, and our catapult. Lucky for us he was really shy, and every time I got closer than 100m, he would move back. The 300mm lens has great resolution this is a crop of a photo of him frim about 100m away.



We reached Katherine the next day, after staying the night at Mataranka camp ground. Not much to say about it, just another camp ground. We overheard one thing that really irritated me from the camper in the adjacent site - he was telling someone how he managed to get himself a Workcover claim and is hoping to get on a disability pension and now they are travelling around Austral, paid for by the Government ( In other words, the taxpayer like me) He was bragging that now he can travel around as much as he wants, and since they don;t know where he is, it will be difficult for them to catch him. There appear nothing wrong with him when he was pulling his camper trailer into position, and setting up the tent etc.

We moved on early, and went to Katherine, the biggest town we had been in since Cairns We spent the day as planned, buying groceries etc. We have been going through around 1.5lt of mik a day, so we decided to really stock up, and bought 15 litres of long life milk, and two litres of fresh milk for the next two days. We also bought a nine litre bag of powdered milk as well. We might just have enough for a few days now. We decided to get some smaller plates, some better knives and forks, and a proper bread knife. I discovered that the 10 litre jerry can had a very small cap – too small for a diesel pump nozzle, so we bought another 10 litre jerry can so we can have a bit of extra reserve for our trip up to Gove. We also bought a stick blender – to make milkshakes, smoothies and to mix up things. Finally, we got our transit permits from the Northern Land Council office, so we can now travel up to Gove.

We were passing a leather shop, and remembered that the leather on the chairs was getting a bit stiff, so we stopped in and got a tube of leather conditioner, and since we were going to do some work on the chairs, also bought some Brasso for the fittings and some poilish for the wood. The sporting goods store next door had Crocs shoes, something that Trish had been looking for since she saw some in Bowen – and they had her size as well. She bought two pairs, to replace her thongs and her orthoheel shoes that were looking very tatty; so much so I threw them in the bin where we got back to the car, much to Trish’s amazement and protests.

We then went to the Coffee Club for lunch and blog updating, and were there for around three hours. We decided to stay two nights in Katherine, and found a cabin at the Knots Crossing Resort. It was basic, but cheap. Best thing was we could park right next to the cabin. We unpacked the whole car, and sorted out all the food, clothes (three full loads of very dirty washing) and did some work on the chairs which are now looking great. I backed up all the photos ( and filled the portable hard drive so will have to get another one tomorrow) and posted up a lot on the Deviant Art website. We had to dress for dinner at the restaurant, no shorts and singles, so I got Trish’s white dress down from the roof storage, she looked great, and turned quite a few heads in the restaurant. The food was good, but the service very slow, so we finally got out of there pretty late.

Katherine Gorge
Our plan was to get up early, and be at Catherine Gorge when they opened at 6:30am as we had heard they only give out a fixed number of permits for canoeing on the gorge and they go quick, but we spent a bit more time in bed this morning and only got there at 8:30, but decided to see if they still had any permits anyway. The girl at the desk said that they had slowed right down this week – it got to 37 degree a few days ago and everyone must have left. We got permit number six for the day. We drove to the boat ramp, and I dropped of the boat and Trish stood guard whilst I parked the car. A few people had stopped and told us that we would have to be be quick a the Park Rangers don’t like people using that area. I came back to see here being chatted by one of the young Park Rangers, she was only wearing her tiny boardshorts and tiny black bikini top, and she was really looked good, so instead of chasing us off, her was very friendly. We stayed and chatter for a while, he had a Range Rover and was pretty impressed by the Defender. Then we inflated the boat, which drew a few curious looks at it’s size, then headed off up the Gorge. First thing we saw were all the tour boats, four big boat, each could hold about 40 people. We paddle up the gorge, right into a strong headwind.



The going was pretty slow, and when Trish helped paddle occasionally, we would sometime got off course as her strokes were a bit weedy, and I’d have to paddle on her side for a few strokes to correct our heading, so we zigzagged up the river, in the end it was easier just for me to paddle, and I did not want her to hurt her wrist again. The gorge is great, but not really a match for Lawn Hill in my opinion, we only went as far as the first set of rocks, blocking the river. After that you have to carry your boat about 100m over the rocks to the next section. It was pretty hot, and we would have to deflate the boat for me to carry it, and we decided just to explore the rocks and look around this section. We saw that the hired canoes had a plan, they had green canoes on the upstream side, so all they had to do was carry their paddle and gear over the rock, leaving the yellow canoes on the beach. Quite a good idea, and we were tempted to take one of the canoes but decided that would not be fair to anyone who had paid for the trip and found no canoe on the second crossing.
We found a great place to take photos, with only one problem, all four boats with about 100 passengers were hanging around.

We did a few shots on a rock outcrop, which had some old chains bolted down to the rock. Trish got really hot, and had to cool off in the water, and we did a few more photos just out of sight of everyone. We packed up and were about to head off when we saw the boats start to leave, and within a few minutes, we had the whole area to ourselves.



It was great. We headed off to the opposite bank where all the people used to be, and out to a large rock shelf the overlooked the gorge. We spent about an hour taking photos, it was great. Then we saw the next wave of paddlers start to come up the river, followed by a tour boat. We packed up and headed back. The trip back was a lot easier, downstream and with the wind, which occasionally picked up enough so that when Trish held her sarong out, it worked like a sail and we sailed along on wind power alone for a minute or so, then back to paddling. Trish’s Ranger came up to us in his motor boat, and we chatted for a bit, then we headed back to the boat ramp, and packed up our boat back into the Land Rover, with another bunch of curious onlookers as we deflated it and packed it behind the seat. We headed off back to our cabin, and I decided to get something to wash our poor Defender – it was so covered in bull dust that every time we got something out, we would end up with dirty marks on anything that touched the car.

We had two days before heading up to Gove - and after consulting the guide books, we decided on Edith Falls - it is supposed to be the “must do” thing around Katherine, so we headed 65km up the road, getting there around 12:00. The camp ground looked nice, the sport were far enough apart and the place was fairly empty. We chose a nice spot, and pulled out the side awning as it was by this stage very hot, around 36 degree according to our thermometer. We got the chairs out and had a raspberry smoothie with our new stick mixer and just relaxed We then headed off to the water hole for a swim, not expecting much, but it was great. The water hole is massive, with a nice little waterfall at one end, and a rocky island on one side. We got in at a nice set of steps, were all the oldies were hanging around, and went for a swim to the waterfall – about 100m away. I was surprised that Trish made it, we swam around a bit, then followed the rock wall back to the steps, another 200m or so. Trish was pretty tired at the end, but enjoyed it. We sat in the shade of the trees around our campsite, reading our e-Readers ( Trish had her Nana Nap). At 5:00pm we headed up to the top pool at Edith Falls, looking for a location for a photoshoot. It is a 2.3km walk up and over the hill to a fantastic series of pools, there were still quite a few people there, so no photo shoot today, but we saw another track – a 8.6km walk to the Sweetwater Pools – that would be our destination tomorrow.

I went for a quick swim, and Trish took a few photos




When we got back to our camp, just as the sun went down, the whole place was full – loads of people had arrived but we had a great spot, far enough away from everyone. We went to bed early, ready for a long walk the next morning.

Edith Falls and Sweetwater Pool.
We got ourselves fully kitted up in hiking gear and headed off around 7:30am, hoping to have an hour or so for a photo shoot before the masses arrived. It was quite a hike – the track was clearly marked most of time, but we had to search for the markers occasionally. Good thing we wore our hiking boots, as there were plenty of loose rocks and it would have been easy to sprain an ankle in normal shoes. We followed the river for a short while, the water was crystal clear. Around the halfway mark, there is "Long Pool" also very pleasant, we decided to go fro a swim there on the way back.

We got to the Sweetwater pool, but there was another couple there, they must have left at sunrise to beat us, but they were packing up and heading back. We waited for them to go, took a few landscape shots, then we stripped off and swam around the pool, it was cool, but it was already starting to get really hot, even at 9:30am. I got my camera, and Trish swam to the opposite site of the pool and started posing. We were busy about 10 minutes when another couple arrived, Trish was on the opposite side of the waterhole, and since they did not look too concerned, we just carried on shooting.



They hung around for a while, the man stripped off and skinny dipped in the top pool, but his wife was a bit shy, and kept her bikini on the whole time. She spent a lot of time over in the waterfall in the photo below, and we wondered how she could handle to cool for so long as the water was a bit cool.


That section of the waterfall turns out to be pretty warm, Trish spent about the same amount of time there, she enjoyed the massage from the water.



I also took a turn at being a "model" and Trish took some photos. Some were OK, but it was a good exercise as we sat and went through what she did right and what was wrong.



Trish was starting to get a "shorts tan" so she claimed, her butt was looking a bit paler than the rest of her due to constantly having to wear shorts. So on the walk, once we had gotten past the first turn off, she stripped off the shorts and walked the rest of the way their and back in her tiniest g-string. Unfortunately I had to go in front most of the time, to clear the way of snakes.



I think she needs to do this more often.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing, then as the sun was going down, we headed up to the top pool at Edith Falls again, and this time we had the whole place to ourselves. We got some great photos, like these.



We then headed back to camp and had our red fin salmon we bought at Linmen Bight fishing camp, it was great. Trish make fish cakes with the rest of the fish, then we cleaned up and packed up ready to roll to Gove the next day.

We were just packing up when I realised that we had not taken any photos of the lower waterhole at Edith Falls, so I grabbed the camera and took a few quick shots, just as the sun was coming up. I tried out the panorama feature on the camera. Worked great.




Edith falls was much better than Katherine, and we would definitely recommend it if you are fit enough to do the walks

 

[Iain_U1250]

Central Arnhem Land and Gove

Central Arnhem Land and Nhulunbuy
The road to Gove was full of adventure - well not so much, it is pretty boring and since you get the impression you are not welcome almost all the time. There are very few turn off ( most have a big sign saying "no entry without a permit") and there was only one lookout in the whole 650km.



One highlight was the roadhouse at Mainoru, it was great and the two ladies who run it were very friendly. We did have one drama, we got our first puncture - not sure what we hit but it made a nice hole and the tire pressure alarm went off quickly, and by the time we found a safe place to pull over about 150m up the road, the temperature in the tyre had also started to increase. I tried to put a plug into the hole first, but it was to hard with the tyre in place, so we changed the tyre, getting covered in dust when taking the spare wheel cover off. Then we were on our way again. This is the first puncture we have gotten with the BFG KM2 tyres, in more than 40,000km of gravel and off road driving. The shale rock they us is razor sharp, and we had to dodge so many rocks sticking straight up that it was probably inevitable that we got a puncture. Lo0king at the tread, it is pretty badly cut up all over the rear tyres, but the fronts show harly any wear, and are not cut like the rear ones

The camping spots on the map are supposed to be the only place you are allowed to camp, but they are literally right next to the road, and there is no way we are going to camp where any passer by can see us. We eventually found a little track off to a gravel pit ( after trying two or three other tracks) which we thought was safe enough and far off the road. Not exactly paradise but no one could see us. One thing that we did notice was how quiet it was, hardly any bird calls in the morning. It was pretty weird



There were a few huge termite nests on the side of the track to the gravel pit. We last saw them this big in Cape York.



We arrived in Nhulunbuy around midday and straight went to the motel to check in and get our permits. The whole of Arnhem land is Aboriginal land, and the town of Nhulunbuy is part of the mining lease, but everything else around it is not. Your need a permit to go to the beach, go to the yacht club, the golf club, to do basically anything outside of the town, you need a permit. We applied for ours weeks ago, and got it emailed to us, but asked if they could send it to the motel, as their office is closed on weekends. The permit was waiting for us, but the instruction of what we can and can’t do are pretty vague at best. The town is like any other mining town, and it seems like everyone drives a Toyota, there are hardly any other make in town, however we did see five other Land Rover Defenders!

Permit in hand, we headed to town to have a look around, went to Woolworths to get some milk ans stuff Trish needed to make another fruit cake and since the motel manager said the sand flies were really bad, and we should use baby oil and Detol as it is the best repellent, we got some of that as well.

On Sunday, we decided to find a nice beach and do a photo shoot. Rainbow Cliff was recommended by the hotel manager so we headed out there and found a nice beach, white sand and a large red cliff which is sacred to the local people and your are not allowed on it, but you can go close to it. We walked up the beach to the opposite headland, Trish picking up shells along the way.




We were now pretty nervous about whether we are allowed this far up the beach or not as the map was not clear. We half expected to have some of the traditional owners coming up to us and tell us we are not allowed there, and to go away. Anyway we found a nice rock shelf and tried to take a few photos, but we saw a big 4wd arrive at the end of the beach about a kilometre away, it stopped people got out and then they got back in the car and headed straight towards us on the beach. We both thought that it was one of the traditional owner coming to tells we have broken some custom or rule, so grabbed out stuff and we just about to head back, when the 4wd turned around and stopped. Through the camera, I could see the people, they were not aboriginal, and they just walked around a bit, then got in the car and headed back. We took a few more photos but the rocks were just too sharp, and we were constantly thinking about permits and permissions and decided to just go back to where we knew we were allowed to go.


We found a nice spot, right next to the parking lot but with a large overhanging rock that prevent anyone for seeing anything until they were basically on top of us, and I could see the parking lot when I was standing up. We had not seen anyone other than the 4wd, we decided this would be great for a photo shoot. The water was nice and warm, so Trish lay half in and half out the water for most of the shoot, and we got some great photos this time. I saw a guy arrive on his dirt bike. He had ridden through the poles in the parking lot and was just getting off his bike at the picnic table on top of the overhang. Trish went back under the overhang, where he could not see her and we did a few more photos and waited for him to go. He spent about 5 minutes the eating something then got back on his bike and rode off. We did a few more photos, and then we both went into the sea to wash the sand and sunscreen off before we headed back.



The motel was basically deserted when we got back, so we spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool, reading and catching up on blogs etc. It was nice and peaceful. . I had asked the manager where everyone was, and he explained that the Sunday flight arrives around 9:00pm, so he has no other guests until then. When the sun went down, it was time to make the fruit cake, Trish kept on making me go to the car as she needed something extra for the cake. I had to go back to the car to dig through the boxes, eventually unpacking the entire car to get more flour as she had run out. , In penance, Trish had to remove an item of clothing each time she sent me to the car, so in the end she had very little on and spent most of the evening like this.





We cooked the cake on our gas stove outside our door for 1 hour, and then into our Ecopot. We did some more washing, and then I repacked the car, ready for departure the next day.

The next morning, we checked on the cake – it was still not cooked. Trish had doubled up the recipe but we must have it on too low a heat. I boiled up some more water in the kettle, and filled up the Ecopot with boiling water and put the cake back in to cook some more. We dropped our tyre off to get repaired, and had to hang around until after lunch for it to be fixed. We drove out to Yirrkala, looking for the art and crafts centre, expecting a bunch of little stalls, with some beads, some baskets etc. We were wrong, the Yirrkala art centre is world famous for some of the best aboriginal artists in Arnhem land. The bark paintings and the totems were just brilliant, we wandered around the gallery for about and hour, and saw some great stuff. We looked at some of the prices on some of the pieces we like - $5500 on one and $15,000 on another. One of the guys there started chatting to us, explaining how they are done, how the artist uses human hair for paintbrushes, crushes up the ochres themselves and how the bark is stripped off and prepare. There is a lot of work in each painting. Some of them reflect on traditional stories, some are the artist own style. We wanted to buy one, but could not afford the work of the recognised artists, so I asked about any young artists that he though had a lot of potential, but their work was not too expensive. He introduced us to one young guy, who was busy fixing up some of their older works. He had just won a commendation in one of the latest Aboriginal art competitions, and had been commissioned to do another piece by the National Gallery of Australia. He had two pieces left, ll the rest had sold. We looked at them and we both thought they were really good and within our price range. The one was too big but the other one was just the right size, so we bought it. The photo does not do justice to it, but here it is.




Packing and shipping home was only $50 – they ship worldwide as well. Hopefully he goes on to become very famous.
We went back to Nhulunbuy, picked up the tyre ( the guys said he only needed a patch, it looked OK structurally) and we headed off to find a place to camp for the night.

We drove to Turtle beach, and what a great place it is, and tiny little beach, which we have all to ourselves for the next two days, this is our campsite, about 20m from the beach.



We set up camp, and had a fairly relaxing evening, a few sand flies, and mosquitos made us retreat to the tent for the evening. The next morning we decided to go for a walk up the coast. We made it about 1km and then the track entered a area fo loads of overhanging trees. All of a sudden, Trish started jumping and shouting up ahead, a green tree ant had fallen onto her, and gotten squished by her back pack, it died, but stung her and it must have released some sort of signal chemical as all the other tree ants started attaching her. They left me along, even though I also had a few on me, they did not sting me, but the sure attacked Trish. We beat a hasty retreat, with ants all along the route dropping of the trees to attach Trish.

We returned to the campsite, and I put some homoeopathic cream we had bought in Port Douglas for insect bites on her back where the worst of the stings were, and it soothed them quickly.

We sat around the camp, and the wind really picked up. It was really strange, but around 11:30, we both looked at each other and said, let pack up and go. So we packed up, and did a quick photoshoot on the beach, and a few landscape shots as well. The rocks on the southern side of the beach swere total different to those on the northern side..



These ones were razor sharp, it was really weird



We both think it was worth going there, but not worth going there again. Maybe it was us, but it just felt like we were not welcome, and we should not be there.

The drive down was the same as the one up, pretty boring. We decided not to camp on the road but push on through the night to Katherine. At around 6:00pm, pulled up to let the sun go down, have some fruit cake which had been cooking in the Ecopot since we left the hotel the other night. Then when it as dark, we hit the road again, intending to push on through the night. We stopped around 8:00pm for another break, and used our satellite phone the motel in Katherine and booked a room, telling them we would be late. Driving at night was OK, we have more than enough light, and we kept to around 80kph, in the end it was easier than during the day, the lights really show the rocks and the dips better than during the afternoon when the shadows from trees hide tyre killing rocks until the last minute. We made Katherine by 10:00pm, and I was pretty tired, as the Red Bulls I have been using to stay alert had worn off. We were soon asleep.

The next morning, we decide to head to Western Australia, and since we had to dump our honey and vegetable, Trish made a nice stew in the Ecopot, and found a really interesting way to get rid of some of the honey It was nice to have her back to her old self.

 

[Iain_U1250]

Onwards to Western Australia and the Gibb River Road

We left Katherine around 11:00am, heading for Kunanara. I pumped up the tyre for tar road driving - 60PSI int he rear and 35PSI in the front, almost double what they had been for the past few weeks. The road is pretty boring drive, we cruised on the bitumen at around 95kph, since we had a pretty strong headwind. Along the way started to see the Boab trees, first scrawy little ones, then some massive older trees.



We found a rest stop, with a whole lot of Boab trees, but they had been vandalised with people carving their names and spray painting them. In the distance I saw a massive Boab tree, along a track, so we drove out to it,



It was fantastic, so we did another great photo shoot for the book.




We stopped at Keep River National Park, just before the Western Australian border. It was a great place, with a nice 10km walking track around their version of the "Bungle Bungles" We started out in a grassy track, and since there was no one around, Trish soon stripped off so as not to get any tan lines - she wore her bikini bottoms for some blog photos though.



We saw some great scenery, loads of wonderful rock formation and off course, did another photo shoot.


Trish got into photographing the scenery as well. She is getting pretty good with her camera now. We talk through each photo she takes, what worked and what doesn't. I really enjoy taking photos of her taking photos





Here are a few panoramas I put together,







We headed back, and Trish got dressed just before we got to the camp, and we had not reached our car when another couple arrived also having completed the walk. Trish got dressed just in time.


Then we headed out to Western Australia, and had to dump all of our fresh food etc at the border. It was like going to another country, the officers did a bit of search of the car and fridge as well, even our raspberries were taken, We then headed back out on the road,to Lake Argyle - wow, it is a dam engineer's dream to be able to stop that much water with such a little dam wall.




They went a bit over the top with their warning signs on the road down below the dam wall, having then about 10m apart, "No Stopping - Danger - Falling Rocks" - but we listened and didn;t stop to take photos of their signs.

When we got down below the dam wall, there was a bit of commotion, some British back packer had just seen a crocodile. We did not see it, but they seemed pretty excited - and there was someone with less clothes than Trish on this time.




Trish insisted on taking a photo of me, so I took one of her as well.



At the base of the dam was a very pretty garden, sprinklers going everywhere, I suppose they have plenty of water to spare. Here is the obligatory Land Rover photo - has to be at least one in each post




We then went to Kunanarra, and spent an hour or so in the coffee shop updating blogs, and posting photos on the Naked Outback site. It was really hot in Kunanara, so we decided to move on quickly, we had gained two hours, so started out Gibb River Road adventure by stopping at the most commercial camp ground on the road - El Questro

 

[Iain_U1250]

The Gibb River Road - Part 1

El Questro, the "Butlands" of the Gibb River Road. Happy staff organising tour and activities for every possible trip. If you are too afraid to drive your new 4x4 up a dirt road, you can tag along, or join one of their guides in their cars. Helicopter rides, boat trips, canoes trips, guided walks, you name it, they can organise it - for a price, and what a pretty price it is. Cheapest was the $160 tag along drive to the gorge, or $1800 per peron per night at the homestead ( min two nights
-

We stayed their only because we spent too much time in Kunanara, The road was sealed all the way to El Questo, so there were plenty of tourists and Winnebago all round. We decided to pay the extra for a "private" camp site - total cost of entry and one night was $70.

We asked for a quiet camp, and the gave us the one cloest to the camp, "it's over a kilometre away from the main campground, itis really quiet and peaceful, and the only one with a swimming hole next to it" the girl at the desk had said. We set up and everything seemed fine, until the wind picked up and we went up to the tent - the main diesel generator was about 800m away, and instead of the peaceful bush sound we had gotten used to, we could hear the rattle of a large diesel engine the whole night.



After a not so restful night, we got up before sunrise and started get ready for the day. I was getting the camera out when I notice that one of the memory cards was missing! I searched the whole place, the last place it had been was on the table, we both searched, then I remembered the metal detector, I took it out and ran it over the sand near the table, and within a few seconds had found the missing card as it beeped like mad when it went over a patch of sand next to the table.

Panic over, we packed up and then since it was getting pretty warm, we decided to go for a swim, and just as we were about to strip off, I saw three young girls in exercise clothes walking past the camp. So much for a private camp, they walked past us, then tried to cross the creek in their running shoes, but one fell in and got her feet wet, so they headed back down the access road.

We stripped off and swam, then I did another photo shoot with Trish.




It was great, the bottom was sand, with a few rocks, and the water was nice.


We then packed up and headed back to the main camp - our complaint about the noisy generator got a "Sorry about that" with the sincerity of an Australian politician, and "tell someone who cares" look.

.
We headed off to El Questro gorge, it was quite a challenging little gorge, very narrow and high, so we were int he shade most of the time, even at 11:00am


The gorge itself was unique, there were ferns growing out of the sides, and small pools every 100m or so. There was no track as such, you just hopped from rock to rock, with occasional markers to give you an idea which side you should be on.




All in al a really nice place, very different from all the other gorges in the area.



We eventually came to the middle swimming hole, there a very large rock has blocked the gorge, and you have to climb over it to continue. We stripped off and went for a swim, and had just gotten out when we heard voices coming from over the rock, and then more voices from the other side as well, I qucikly put on my shorts, and Trish got her shirt and short back on as well- another close call

The people on the other side of the rock started climbing over, and threw their boots over the rock to find dry lnad, but they missed, so I fished their boots out of the water for them before they sunk.




We decided not to climb over the rock - just too dangerous with Trish's sore wrist and we did not fancy getting out boots wet either.

We headed back down, and found a nice pool with ferns behind it and did another photo shoot. Just as Trish stripped off and threw here clothes at me, we heard voices from down the gorge, there was just enough time fo me to give Trish her shirt, her shorts were further away. so we sat down and said hello as the people passed. Not sure what they saw, but they just carried on up the gorge and when they were out of sight, "It someone sees, they see," said Trish as she threw her shirt back and we carried on, we got some lovely photos as well. It is great that she is becoming so relaxed, like she used to be.

Here are some with her clothes on we did for the blog.



WE walked back to the car, and then headed out on the Gibb River road. We were in two minds whether to go to Mitchell falls or not, we had heard at El Questro that the water was not flowing so it was not as spectacular as it show be, but had 7 days to see what we could. We had just come around a bend when we saw a guy pulling a cart - he was walking the Gibb River Road - in 35 degree plus. We stopped and offered him some water, but he had plenty and we chatted for a bit, He said walks a desert or major road every year, and then he recommended stopping for scones at one of the stations. We wishes him luck and were off again.

We took his advice and went to the Station and had coffee and scones, very nice indeed, we chatted tot he owner and a few other couples, asked them about Mitchell Falls, as they had just come back from it. They said there was plenty of water, and it was well worth the trip. Two graders were working on the roads, so they would be in better shape by the time we got there, as they said it was very rough when they went up a few days ago. We decided that we would give it a go, and headed down to the turn off. There is a camp ground at the Gibb river, just a few kilometres up the turn off, so we headed there, but were warned about the angry bulls that live there. We found the camp ground, there was someone else on the southern side, so we looked at the north side, but it was too sandy, and after trying all the available areas, we when over to the south side.


We parked as far as we could away from the other people, then noticed that it was a pretty unusual truck, with Left hand Driv, a "CH" sticker and European number place - our first Overlanders we had seen. I had to go over to them and say hello, they were a Swiss couple, who had been driving around Australia for quite a while. Their truck was unique, and they had built it themselves.

We offered then some coffee, from the Nespresso, which they greatly appreciated. We told them about our Unimog, and showed them the photos. It was so good to be able to talk to someone which similar dreams and how they are living theirs, it made us almost want to go straight home and finish the truck then head back out.

This is the Gibb River campsite at sunset, a really nice place, but beware of the bulls.




We talked with Peter and Susanna around the campfire, they are really nice people who have been travelling all of their life. They work for a few years, then head out for a few years. A really nice lifestyle.

In the morning we went to see their truck. It is a Bremach cab/chassis with their own designed and build camper box on the back. The workmanship if fist class, and even though small, everything works well.



Their truck is a lot more modern, lighter and smaller than the Unimog, it fits in a sea container and weight less than 3.5tons, about the same as the Land Rover almost. There a loads of clever features, and some great ideas. Their website is www.ufbrechopf.ch

We Left the Gibb River camp site and headed up to road. We stopped in at Dysdale Station, filled up with diesel ( $2.50 per litre!) as the trip to Mitchell Falls and back is around 500km. Drysdale is a really nice place but unfortunately the cafe was closed, we bought a packet of biscuits from the shop, and had some coffee from the "special saches" which was not to bad in fact.

We then continued up the road, as advised it was pretty corrugated and had loads of rocks, but we eventually reached the section were the grader had smoothed things out, and finally to the turn off to Mitchell Falls. There are signs, "unmaintained road, high clearance 4wd." and they are not wrong, the fist 5km is pretty rough. We stopped at a river crossing intending to do some more photos and as I was crossing over, I slipped and the camera went underwater - all I can say is, it is insured but the photo shoot ended pretty quickly as I tried to rescue it. . Luckily it was not my new one, and we have more than one camera and lenses.

After that we just drove up a fairly rough road to Mitchell Falls camp ground. We got there around 2:00pm,, from a 8:00am start - 6 hours for 200km. The camp ground is nothing special, but it was pretty quiet and since we were staying two nights, we set-up the awnings and shade cloth as well.

We just relaxed the rest of the day, it was really hot, but we had a nice breeze and shade. It was a fairly peaceful night, but then I head al sort of commotions outside - something was after the dustbin bag we had hung up on the pole at the back of the car. I shone the tough out, then got out to have a look but it was too fast.

The evidence on our chairs from the creature - a bandicoot.



The good news was that despite their best efforts, they only made a few holes on the plastic bag, but could not get it down. Other isn the camp ground were not so lucky, judging by the amount of cleaning up that was done the next morning.

We headed out to the falls early - around 7:00, as it was going to be really hot and its a 10km walk if you add the extra bit to see the whole of the falls, not just the "safe" path. There are loads of markers - all with this guy on it showing the way, not sure whether he is a friendly spirit or not.



too be continued....

 

[Iain_U1250]

The track to the falls is not easy. It has some pretty rocky section: - this is the track.





It was well worth the walk, what an awe inspiring place




We went around to the end of the falls, climbing over the rocks and walking on ledges with a 100m drop below. We did another photo shoot - just had to and I must admit being pretty scared at one stage, as I had to cross a very narrow ledge to be able to take photos of Trish on another ledge. Nothing like standing up on a rock about 1m x 1m, with a 100m drop below you.




We did a three more photo shoot on the way back, and got some great photos and Trish had the GoPro on a chest mount to take video most of the way. When we get time, we will start making videos as well.



At every water hole, we just took our boots off and walked in clothes and all, it was great to cool off.





There is another waterfall on the way there - Big Merton Falls, quite a drop but not much water, the real falls is another 500m further down the track.



When we got back, Trish was exhausted and soon fell asleep, I made up some extra shade with the sarongs as it was still really hot.



We packed up the next day and headed back down the track, what a great place, and well worth the detour and the effort.

 

[Iain_U1250]

Hi Samuel, the RTT is great, the only thing we did is we swapped the mattress for a self inflating one, way more comfortable and lighter, and it squashes down nicely.

All our stuff is Gordigear, rear and side awning, even have the side room as well. Great stuff for a reasonable price.


Sitting up and Cape Leveque at the moment - first time we have had an internet connection for longer than a few hours in weeks. Time for bed, but I'll try and catch up on posts tomorrow - I just write them in the evenings, and then cut and paste - the photos take the longest. We move on on Tuesday, with no likely internet for a week or so.

Great photos and ongoing trip reports Iain! Good to see another AULRO guy here.

The Gordigear RTT isn't bad for the money aye - we've got one too.

 

[Iain_U1250]

Mornington Wilderness Camp

After leaving Mitchell Falls at 6:00am, we were back on the Gibb River road by lunchtime. We stopped in at Drysdale again, and had a chat to the manager. There were rumours that a lot of the gorges were now closed, due to bush fires.

We drove into a little gorge just off the road, I think it was the Barnett River Gorge, the guide book said you can swim there, but it was a very long walk to where the end of the gorge, and we were not sure about the waterholes closer to the road, they looked a bit stagnant. We took some quick photos, and then headed back to the aircon in the car, it was really hot now.





We could see the bush fires around us, and stopped at Mt Barnett Roadhouse for fuel and lunch. There we looked at all the possibilities, and Mornington Wilderness camp looked good, and was far away from the bush fires.

We decided to play safe, and instead of a creek crossing, we found a large gravel pit and parked up for the night. We heated up loads of water as Trish wanted to wash her hair, and have a bush shower, we are getting pretty good at it, and out rubber mat help keep the mud off our feet.




Since I took photos when she was showering, Trish said she wanted to take some as well.




It was a really nice evening, just relaxing after the long rough roads. We were far away from a water hole, so no mosquitoes that night either. The bush fires had us worried, as it was pretty windy, but we did not smell any smoke or see any glow on the horizon, even though, we pack up most things in the car, ready for a quick getaway.

We woke up and the car was leaning a bit, I was wondering why Trish kept on leaning on me and I was leaning on the side of the tent. I got down, and the left rear tyre was flat. The patch must have let go I thought, but after pumping upt he tyre, it was obvious where the puncture was - a Tek screw was in the tyre, It did not take long to plug the hole with our tyre repair kit, faster than taking it off and after pumping it up and watching the pressure on the tyre monitor whilst we had breakfast, the plug was good so we set off to Mornington Wilderness camp, about 90km off the Gibb River Road.

We had to radio ahead to let them know we were coming, and the said they had plenty of accommodation and camp sites left - they were practically empty. Along the road we came across this fat Boab tree, and reversing under the branch, I was able to grab a nut. Maybe we can have a Boab tree in our back yard




The road was very good for the first 80km, and the last 10km had a few rough patches, but a lot better than the Mitchell Falss road. We arrive there and found a really great place, and the showed us the safari tents, and the special deal they had on them, and we decided it was time for a bit of luxury. I don't think I could have gotten Trish off the bed if I had not agreed.





We had read in the guide book, that Sir John Gorge was the best one on the Gibb River Road. What is most special about it is that only have one canoe to access it, and only allow one couple on the river at a time. They had no bookings that day, but were booked up the rest of the time, so w just had to try it.

Sir John Gorge was amazing, there are three sections, you have to paddle 1km up to the first portage point where you park your canoe, and go and find the one on the other side of the rocks that block the gorge.



The gorge is really special, and since we were the only ones on it, clothing is optional, but it was pretty hot as we had started only at 11:00am, so were covered up and kept ourselves cool by wetting our shirts. There were times that we just floated along in silence completely awestruck by the place.


The gorge itself is beautiful, we paddle right up to the end. By then the sun was a bit lower, and we could paddle in the shade.



After a swim, we did not bother covering up, a nice gentle breeze had come up, and it was great just to paddle along. We did a whole series of photos for the book, a really beautiful place for photo shoots.




We did not bother getting dressed until we were close to the end, Trish saw some people sitting on a rock where the canoe is kept, and we put on clothes and headed back in.




The receptionist had said we need to take a torch so we can watch the sun go down over the gorge. We sat there, another couple arrived and we chatted for a while and just relaxed, taking some more photos.




The next morning, we had breakfast at the main camp, and then decided to go to the other gorge - Dimond gorge. This one ahs 10 canoes, so as the receptionist said with a smile"You might have to keep your clothes on". On the way back to the safari tent, we saw a pair of Gourdian Finches, they are super rare, and we had just learnt about them the evening before, and there were two in a tree. I grabbed the camera with the 300m lens, but they had disappeared.

Dimond gorge was a bit of a let down after Sir John gorge, but maybe it was because I managed to drop the car keys in the lake, from there on, things seemed to get worse. There was a really strong headwind, and the canoe we had taken, a 3 man canoe were a lot more unstable than the one yesterday. The gorge was nice, but with the strong wind and the no shade, we paddle to the end. We had lunch on the rocks, and watched the ants clean up the crumbs realy quickly- it was amazing to see a tiny ant pick up a biltong scrap 10 time shis size, and start dragging it back to the nest, more an more nats joined in to help and soon the piece of biltong was heading down their anthole.

We walked up the rocks at the end of the gorge up to a large volcanic rock formation to do a photo shoot but by the time we got there, Trish was too hot, so we went back to the canoe to cool off and get more water from our LifeSaver bottle,

On the way back we took a few photos, but with the strong wind, the reflections that would have made it great were not there. I have some photos of the gorge, but they look pretty sad when compare to Sir John gorge. All in all, it was not a great day, but you get the highs and lows. We took it easy the rest of the day, just reading and sleeping.

The next morning we re-packed the car, and after another nice breakfast, set off back down the Gibb River road.