Port Hedland to Karratha and Dampier

Well, that campsite at Cooke Point, Port Hedland certainly was a bit in the pricey side, but, there is washing to be done and I am in dire need of a really hot shower after Barn Hill. A good site with green lawn and NO DUST. Swiss couple in next bay but not talking a lot. I have some minced beef in the fridge that needs to be processed. Cooking pasta with spaghetti, even Parmesan still there too.

At 6.00 am I get up and get my washing started, turns out, this mob charge $4.00 when everyone else charges $3.00, now have to see if someone will change some money for me at this hour. Lucky, once again, lady who works at PH also up to wash some work clothes and helps me out with the correct coinage. While the washer does what its supposed to do, I go and make some coffee and sit down for brekkie, wash my dishes and check if my load of washing is through, it is. As I have no further change for the electric dryer, it all needs to go onto one of the clothes lines. The sun is coming up and I hope everything will be dry before I check out. At 9.30 I check and take down the lot, some is completely dry, the rest I am leaving draped over my seats in the van. They will certainly dry completely underway.

I check out just before 10.00 am, enquire about the next supermarket and head off in that direction in South Hedland. I also pick up a battery operated vacuum cleaner (mostly useless) so I can get rid of some of the debri on my carpeted floor. It does the job, but only just.

As last night was a bit expensive, I am now aiming for a freebie, the book says 464, Miaree Pool on the Maitland River, supposedly with all sorts of facilities like BBQ and Toilets, which turns out not to be true, but a pretty place, just above the river - and its free. I meet a fellow camper who has been on the road for over 2 years!! It is windy at the site as well, but at least no dust as all grassy and lots and lots of spinifex. Dinner and a long talk with the neighbor, hit the pillows about 10.

Sunset by the river

A cold night it was, both doonas are coming in very handy.

I get up early to catch the morning light for some photos, the spinifex 'pillows' look so soft in the early morning light, you could be fooled into thinking they were nice and soft, instead of them being spikey and scratchy if you walk past them close enough.

Morning light by the river

Breakfast and on to Karratha and Dampier, right on the coast. This area is also heavily industrialised with large plants for the processing, liquefication and storage of huge quantities of LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) destined for export, mostly to Japan. I go and take a look at their Visitor's Centre and come away very impressed by the sheer size of this operation. The security is in place, I am not allowed to walk back the short distance from the parking lot to the Visitors Centre and get picked up by a mini bus instead. Fair enough, not a good idea to have unknowns wander around the premises with all this highly explosive Methane about in huge storage tanks.

Our Shadow Treasurer, Mr Turnbull is also here, must say, he looks younger in real life than on national TV. There is a whole tross of people with him and he keeps talking on the Mobile, would have liked to say hi, but not to be. I am told there is some more rock art not too far away on an unmarked dirt road.

I do find the road, walk uphill for about a kilometre but fail to find any rock art, but I am rewarded with some excellent sights to take photos of.

Hard to believe "anything" will grow between all these rocks


Especially, a flower as delicate as this. Its only about 8mm across.


They are red on the outside but split to reveal a grey inside


Tree in the middle of a rock slide

I drive on back to Karratha to re-fuel so I am starting out in the morning on a full tank. Half way between Dampier and Karratha is a salt mining operation along the road, over a length of about 3 km long evaporation lakes can be seen, their surfaces bright white reflecting the sun light, actually looks a lot like ice, have a look to judge for yourself.

Yes, I've been saying, the nights are cold --- no, its not ice. It's salt.

Barn Hill Station to Port Headland

Just before daybreak the wind is starting up again. My sunsail, which I did not roll-up before turning in last night, is banging away as I wake up. Don't want to lose it, so get up, pull the support line, roll it up and stow. Fixed!

The wind is starting in gusts and trails of red dust are starting to swirl across the site. I am leaving this morning anyway, though still undecided about my destination. Eighty-mile-beach is on my way south, then Sandfire Roadhouse and further down the track Pardoo Roadhouse.

I have some breakfast, two mugs of coffee, pack up and leave. As I get in the car, I notice that the clothes I am wearing have a definite red tinge to them, in need of a wash, hopefully at my next stop.

The 10km of dirt road, back to the Highway are easy to negotiate, just watch the speed humps which are not that easy to see in the early morning light, coming sideways through the tall grass by the road. I open and close both gates that I have to drive through and arrive at the main road leading either North, back to Broome, or South, on to Port Headland, the direction I am going to go. I turn right to go South.

The wind seems to have picked up some, also quite gusty, coming from the East. As my direction of travel is actually south-west, the wind gusts from my left side are trying to push me over to the other side of the road. This keeps up at varying strength, depending much on the height of the scrub. When I get to Sandfire, I re-fuel. Its really just a truckstop with a dusty campsite and some units for overnight stay, everything right by the roadside. Not a good choice to stay. I have a drink of lemonade, eat some more Pecans and decide to drive on to Port Headland today. From Sandfire onward, the road turns almost due west and the wind gusts that have been trying to push me sideways before, are now pushing from behind, the ride much more stable now, none of these constant corrections any more. Caravans going the opposite direction all seem to be traveling slower than usual, as they are being punished, driving into a strong headwind.

Flat Land with nothing but burnt grass

The landscape has opened up, wide grass lands now with views again to the horizon. This is much more interesting to travel than the close-to-the-road scrub which prevents any wider views of the land. I go past the turn-off to Eighty-mile Beach as I think, I will be in the same dusty situation as it was at Barn Hill.
Since coming back onto the Highway, I need to cross cattle grids every so often, all of them with associated wire fence lines indicating property boundaries, the grids preventing cattle to cross over into the neighbor's property, are made up of a metal grid, often rail tracks welded onto a steel frame and spaced about 10 cm apart so cattle cannot step on it, as they would fall into the space underneath each grid and so stay away from them. Crossing any of them with my van is usually accompanied by a loud "brrrrrt" and occasionally, a bit of a bump. Looks like I am crossing several property lines on this stretch of road, the space between grids about 40 - 50 km.

Properties seem to be fenced along the road, but I do account for a number of strays grazing near the roadway. Sadly, I also see 5 dead cows in various locations, all of the relatively fresh road kill, as none of them appear to be bloated or being harassed by eagles.
At Pardoo Roadhouse the direction of the road changes again to south-west and I am being pummeled again by the gusts of wind as earlier on, probably more so, as there is only grassland between me and the wind. 50km on, the road changes direction again to west, being pushed, once again by a tailwind.

Some more rocky stuff besides the road

Apart from some rocky outcrops along my road, the land remains flat all the way into Port Hedland. I cross several riverbeds over long bridges, but only one of them has water flowing, all others are dry. There is also a rail line and a sheer endless row of High tension Power Posts that seem to be marching along the rail line. As I get closer to my destination I am beginning to realise, that Port Headland is a giant terminal of multiple modes of transport, for a variety of goods and cargoes. Coming into town there are huge facilities for loading and unloading, to my right, several white mountains, that turn out to be salt. I am heading into town first to check "Tourist Info", but discover that the signage is not correct, no tourist info where the signs say it should be.

I turn around and drive back the way I came into town when I noticed a sign pointing to a caravan park in a more remote location, away from all this heavy industry surrounding me. I turn left toward Cooke Point and I turn out to be lucky (once again) to score a site for the night. All my red coloured clothes need a wash, myself, I am looking forward to a hot shower to get rid of my own red surface.

Broome and 'escape' to Barn Hill Station

Well, had thought I would stay a bit longer in Broome. Nice town and business is booming! Lots of new developments going on, including great, modern infrastructure, like excellent, wide roads and large round-abouts, similar to what I saw at Cairns, back on the East Coast. After checking out the shop window of a Real Estate Agent I note that I might be in Sydney when I look at the asking prices.


How is that for "Red Earth"? Taken just outside before getting to Broome

I did go for a two and a half hours bike ride across downtown yesterday, but in principle to pick up a couple of groceries and soft drinks at Woollies. Broome looks stylish, even the 'old' china town with its many up-market shops, mostly jewellery incorporating the famous and beautiful pearls harvested in this area.

One of the streets in Chinetown in Broome

All buildings have the same basic look, walls made from painted corrugated iron, the way buildings were constructed in the old days. Mind you, they are all painted the same off-white so it all looks fairly modern. The only exceptions are chinese pagoda-like structures with curved roofs and main constructs in bright red for good luck. At this time of the month, Broome has even more visitors than usual because of the so-called "Stairway to the Moon", an occasion when at full Moon, the tide is still out and as the Moon rises out of the ocean it leaves a trail of its light across the shallow sand flats on Cable Beach. The patterns then visible across the wet sand looks kind of like a ladder that leads to the Moon.

Cable Beach at Broome - pretty good. When you look at that Palm tree, you can see just how windy it is.




Sign on Cable Beach, telling you all the things you are not allowed to do...

Long story short, all trailer parks in Broome chock full - no vacancies either for the next few days, so I ended up in a church yard of the "Seventh Day" Mob. Nice enough and quiet too. Chatted with my neigbors till about 10 last night before hitting the sack. I was rudely disturbed though, in the wee hours, when my van started to shake with the wind howling outside. Had to get up and to be safe, dropped my pop-up roof before going to sleep again. The wind still persisted all morning, dust everywhere despite me keeping doors next to closed there was still plenty inside. I did not want to stay under those conditions and as there are no other spots available, except way out of town, I decided to move on instead and move on to Barn Hill, down the road about 130km.

The drive down, out from Broome for the first 40km mostly just brush either side, nothing to see. This gives way to plain grass land, cattle country, some of them lying around in the grass behind wire fence on my right, wide open views to the horizon. The road ahead ending in a shimmer of heat that looks like water, despite the fact, that I have a fairly strong headwind to content with, the same shimmer on my right about 3-4 o'clock and on my left about 10 o'clock, the grassland to the horizon ending up in this shimmer, the same colour as the blue sky. Up ahead, cars kind of materialise out of this water-looking blue haze, slowly come closer, then pass. Then scrub again, smaller now, some termite mounds, grey or red coloured depending on the ground they are built on.

Finally, the turn-off, on my right, 10km of dirt road to "Barn Hill Station", a private property that offers camping facilities, directly above the ocean.

The road in to Barn Hill, 10km of dirt.
It is windy here also but nowhere near as bad as it was in Broome as the scrub seems to slow down the gusts. As a precaution, I have tied down my sun-sail on the windward side with 2 extra ropes and pegs in the ground.

My "spot" at Barn Hill

Tonight they are cooking a dinner, which I have registered and paid for. They call it "Christmas in July", a tradition that has been held for many years at Barn Hill Homestead, many of the eating guests come every year, this year about 250 guests. This is the drill: Bring your own plates, cutlery, chair and table and hoe-in. It is starting at 5.30 pm so I still have a bit of time before I need to head in that direction.

Looking at the shower arrangement, up close. Good ventilation and the 'hot' water was just a bit warmer than 'cold'.


This is what the "hot water system" looks like


The amenities block. On the right, 4 shower cubicles and on the left, 4 toilets. No discrimination between men or women either, which means you could be taking a shower or a sh.. next to a person of either sex. Great, seems to work.

Last night's dinner was a great event indeed, great 3-course meal, an Aboriginal band providing great sound and some entertainment. The wind has dropped overnight, but re-started this morning, trailers of red dust around, settling on everything if you keep anything open. Luckily my van is resonably well sealed but I can wipe down any surface and there will be red, fine dust settled. Naturally, it will also settle anywhere else as well, so, looks like I will need to invest in a good portable vacuum cleaner in the next larger town, probably Port Headland, where I will be in a few days time.

This property has several kilometres of beach front and some absolutely beautiful beaches, white sand, turqoise waters, just lovely to look at.

One lone angler trying his luck...


How is this for a backyard???

I went for a long walk along the beach this morning, just enjoying to be there, only 2 or 3 other people fishing or lying in the sand.

Fitzroy to Derby

It does have advantages when I get my bum out of bed early while the day is still cool, naturally, arriving early at the destination improves likelyhood of good camping spot.

Anyway, here is a question for you: Why is it an advantage to transport any beer or soft drink cans standing on their head? No, not bullshit, it’s a real question and there is a definite reason. I will tell you at the end somewhere….

The drive this morning from Fitzroy Crossing to Derby was much like the previous days, except that the way the road was layed out, was quite different. Most of the roads so far in WA were full of gentle long curves meandering their way through the Australian landscape. This was particularly noticable, coming out of Halls Creek. This morning's drive was very different, long straight stretches, then eventually, a slight turn, then another long straight stretch and so on, all the way to Derby. Maybe it was constructed by a different road engineer who preferred straight roads, or maybe the beancounters back at the office won the case, i.e.: "..a straight line is the shortest way between 2 points…" (we need to save money)

Those straight roads are a lot less interesting to look at though, the only visual 'events' being the occasional stand of Boabs, which do stand out quite strongly from the remaining vegetation of the Australian Savannah & Brush landscape. The closer I get to Derby, the larger some of these Boabs are becoming, some of them absolutely gigantic. The only other visual was the crossing of the Erskine Range, about half way to Derby. Everything else, just flat country.


Also, lots of Termite Mounds, some really bizarre looking creations - there are literally thousands of them to the horizon.

Sure does look funny, like a giant mama with lots of tits... (pardon the pun)

Oh, about the tinnies, I have initially been told this story by Jim and Sally, real hard-core offroaders, who did the Canning Stock Route several years ago. Its total off-road over a distance in excess of 1700km, connecting Willuna and Halls Creek, where for many years in the past, thousands of cattle have been herded to market. There are many many water bores on the way, each of them has been allocated a number, so one knows the exact location of each bore…, anyway, I digress. When you put your beer cans into your storage container, the usual way up, dust gets into the box while you are travelling on dirt and the dust having so much grit it acts as sandpaper, with all the shoving and jolting, with constant vibrations which rubs through the bottom of the aluminium cans and the beer comes out. What a shame on a hot dry day when you find some beer cans floating in their own juice!! If you turn the cans over, there is a re-inforced Aluminium ring at the top which is much more sturdy than the bottom of the can, which has the desired effect. (Keep that beer) While I have no reason to doubt Jim and Sally, someone else at another campground confirmed this, as he lost some beer the same way.

Since I started early this morning I am arriving at Derby about 10.30 am. Although, less than 300km from Fitzroy, I am now on the coast, humidity noticably higher and the sensation of heat more pronounced. They are a friendly bunch at the info centre, passed on a load of brochures and some advice about where and what. I am going to stay in the shade though for the moment and decide later what I will look at.

Took a drive on my bike down to the jetty. No, its not somewhere IN town. Derby is surrounded by mud flats going out to the horizon. This means that a jetty had to be built way out there where ships could anchor in deep water. Its about 1.5km from shore, had a look around, found lots of fishing guys with lines in the murky water - none of them had caught anything while I was there. They tell me, this kind of sport takes lots of patience. I would say, the word luck would also be applicable.

A look out to sea from the Jetty at Derby

In Derby, many of the streets have a line of large Boabs planted along the centre of the street, also about 50 metres from my campsite are two large trees as well, one of them must be very old indeed.

An old Boab at my campground


This is a close-up of the tree bark, looking at it you would swear its cement, but no, just tree bark of a very old tree.

I'm sure, you can tell that this bloody tree does fascinate me, mostly because its so different to most other trees. I understand that you can also eat its roots, either as an addition to salad or cooked. I haven't tried yet, but when I do, I'll let you know.

By the way, that campground at Jabiru I went to in Kakadu National Park, remember, the lot that refused to sign my rental form (management directive) well, here is a short update:

This was a reply I received from them to my query:

From: gmklodge [mailto:gmklodge@kl.auroraresorts.com.au]
Sent: Tuesday, 8 July 2008 10:42
To: peter.pilhofer@iinet.net.au
Cc: General Manager AK
Subject: Centre link


Dear Mr Pilhofer,



Thank you for your email and comments.



We have again today called Centre link, Rennee’, and have been advised the same. They have advised, as we are unable to confirm that the Caravan is your permanent place of abode, we are best not to sign.

We have also asked for that information to be given to us in writing. As you will understand we are only doing as we have been instructed by Centre link, and that the form is a legal document.

Regards

Kaye Duncan



Andrew & Kaye Duncan,

General Managers, Kakadu Lodge & Caravan Park

AURORA Hotels - Resorts - Attractions

in association with Travelodge Mirambeena Resort, Darwin.

e gmklodge@auroraresorts.com.au t +61 8 8979 2422 f +61 8 8979 2254

w www.auroraresorts.com.au



to which I replied as follows:

Dear Mrs. Duncan,

thank you for your informative reply. As the information given sounds very starnge to me, I have gone to Centrelink myself to investigate. What I got was a shake of heads, incredulous looks and the remark: "... Centrelink will never give such advise.." as stated by you in your email. The reason obviously being, that its Centrelink who decides, who is entitled to receive that subsidy, not any of the organisations providing accommodation (in this case a campsite at Kakadu Lodge). Your signature merely indicates that I was there and that I paid the stated amount (in this case $22.00), then the ball is back at Centrelink's court - let them decide.

What you are stating sounds actually a lot more like "passing the buck" (its Centrelink's fault) to me and as far as I am concerned, adds insult to injury. Please also note, that the "Grey Nomads" are a pretty close-knit group of people. Information does get exchanged on a daily basis, in the course of which, often places-to-stay are actively recommended, others are not. I am quite sure that you draw your conclusions from that. I am also not telling you how you should run your business, but please don't try to tell me a truly unbelievable story, as this will not help you to grow your business.

Having said that, I would like to remind you that I am still waiting for a Receipt/Tax Invoice for my records, that I asked for in my initial email to your organisation, a request, you seem to have chosen to ignore. Please have it emailed to my email account.

kind regards

Peter Pilhofer

The long and the short of the story is, they never bothered to comment, said they were unable to email and would I provide mailing address so they could post the receipt.

Surrounds of Kununurra and on to Halls Creek

Can you believe it? I got up at 6 this morning. Looks like the holidaying is getting to me. I did want an early start, left the campsite just after 7 am, returned my passkey at reception and go to have a closer look at the agriculture around this area.

With the construction of the Ord River Dam that holds back lots of water from the wet-season, forming Argyle Lake. Kununurra supports large agriculture, mostly fruit growers, producing fruit like Mangoes, Citrus, Papaya, Melons all of it growing in large irrigated fields. The soil looks dark and healthy.


Roads into the orchards at Kununurra


Quite surprising to see so much greenery in what appears to be an arrid landscape, naturally, all due to the irrigation system that has been put in place. There are many water channels that supply all the water needed to grow a large variety of fruit that gets shipped by road and rail to the large cities in the south of the country.


I travel down some back roads, through and around orchards, my vehicle being the only one anywhere. By the side of the road in between fruit orchards, a farmer has put up a stall as self service, a box you put your money into in exchange for a (very) large bag of Grape fruit, the ones with pink flesh. Delicious, I can honestly say, the best Grape fruit I have EVER eaten. Juicy and sweet, yes, not like those sour ones the big stores made us get used to back in the Big Smoke.

I get back onto Ivanhoe road, turn left to continue my exploration. Finally, the road ends at a river crossing, a concrete road has been built across the river, with concrete pillars on the downstream side of the ford, indicating the depth, today about 30cm. I am not at all sure if my van would be ok to cross.

Ivanhoe Crossing built in 1953


I take a few pictures with a 4-wheel-drive coming across to my side, then decide to turn around to check out some more fields.

Finally, I arrive back at the town centre and buy some fresh bread and some yoghurt for tomorrows breakfast. I hit the road towards Wyndham as I want to check if I can drive the Gibb River Road, which is dirt, but I'm told it is driveable. After about half an hour's drive I pass the turn-off that leads to Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. Another turn-off 7 km ahead is the Gibb River Road. Yes, it is dirt but appears driveable - at first - about 2km in the corrugations start, shaking the living daylight out of my van and out of me (back teeth rattling and all…). I continue on for another 4 or 5km and decide, that no matter how fabulous the scenery should be, I am not prepared to pay the price of a bone-jarring trip. I pull off the road and turn around in a cloud of dust. I turn right on the highway, retract my path and turn right to go on toward Halls Creek.

The scenery is much varied as I drive along, a range of red-earth hills on either side, somewhat in the distance. These diminish in size as I drive further south-east, they have changed from red escarpments to gentler hills, coming ever closer. Finally, the road starts to rise, taking me onto the high country. Looking at my GPS I learn that I am now at more than 400m above sea level. It also feels just a touch cooler.

Wide open views in the higher regions...


Red rocks in other places along the road

Still the odd Boab, but I also notice lots of Termite mounds again, this time climbing the hillsides as well. In the past I have only ever seen them in flat terrain. The campsite I am looking for comes up. Quite nice actually, lots of shady trees but right next to the highway. As I, like most people I know, want to sleep during the night, without constant noisy interruptions by road trains thundering past, give that one a miss. Its only just after 1.00pm by now and I decide to drive on to Halls Creek, 97 km ahead. I arrive there at 2.30pm, find a camping facility and stop for the day.

A bird's eye view, Bungle Bungles and Lake Argyle

That town has a good feel to it. People are friendly and uncomplicated, also, not such a big sprawl so its easy getting about there with my bike. No hills, all flat country, no major effort required. I enjoy that too, particularly in the absence of what I would call 'traffic'.

Yesterday afternoon I hop on a flight in a fixed-wing aircraft and take a 2.5 hour flight down to the Bungle Bungles, Argyle Diamond Mine and of course, twice across Lake Argyle.
There are 7 passengers, six in the back and me besides the pilot - the only way to fly. I promise, not to touch any of the controls and we are off charging down the runway. The views are extraordinary, the variety in scenery, the colours, the whole atmosphere, you need to be there to appreciate all of that.

Code: "Canyon"


Code: "Bungle Bungles"


Code: "Rift 1"


Code: "Rift 2"


Code: "Lake 1"


Code: "Lake 2"


I am still speechless at all that colour and in order to share some of my images in a reasonable size, like near screen-filling, I will attach a code with the description of each picture, so, if you like some of them, just email me and quote the code so I can forward a large image to your email. I think they will make great screen savers.


Contacts:
email: peter.pilhofer@iinet.net.au or
peter.pilhofer@gmail.com or
Call / SMS to ---> Cell / Mobile: +61414 69 8434

Timber Creek to Kununarra via Lake Argyle

I did get away early this morning. It was also quite fresh this morning, so I could only face the world with my woollen Jiffy and a jacket to keep out the chill. Right on-queue, the sun rose into a blue sky and helped to warm the morning chill. That hot cup of coffee helped tremendously as well.


I leave about 8.15, heading further west, the sun behind me lighting up the scenery coming towards me as I ride along. Little change in scenery at first, except, that today I see many Boabs, usually in lots of several at a time, the lone one, on its own is rare. Gradually, the scrub recedes, my view extends and I am beginning to get a view of another rocky escarpment on my right in the distance, all of it lit-up brightly by the morning sun, reds and ochres softened by the morning light.

Heading towards Western Australia

This day is beginning to look and feel better by the minute. The hills and rocks seem to rise higher and higher the closer I get to the border of WA (Western Australia).

When I arrive at the border my van is checked for any fruit and vegetables I have. I hand in a small bag of potatoes, two onions and one lonely tomato from my fridge. The lady who does the checking also gives me a new box to replace the one I had on the floor, as that one used to contain fruit. All this checking is done to keep out potential diseases that are not present in WA.

A few kilometres after the check point I see the sign: "Lake Argyle", so I turn left to run down the 34km to the lake.

Side road to Lake Argyle

It has been on my plan of-places-to-see. The scenery gets more beautiful and dramatic the further I travel down this road. That there will be a lake at the end of this road is going to set the jewel in the crown. I am not disappointed. The word 'grandiose' does not do justice to the spectacular sights!!



Some views across the lake and the Dam

Should any of you ever get into this part of Australia, a definite "MUST SEE". As I am fairly early in the day, there are only a half dozen Japanese tourists who didn't seem to be too interested to communicate, but that may also be due to their lack of English.



I am spending about 2 hours there before more tourists are rocking in with their caravans and 4-wheel drives, so I head back out and continue on to Kununarra. I have to re-stock a few items from Coles which has a very good and comprehensive selection of products, also, the spuds and onions confiscated at the border need to be replaced. My campground is at the edge of a wetland and there is a lovely breeze coming from there, keeping me cool.

Tomorrow I will have a closer look at the sights at Kununarra.

Katherine to Timber Creek

Well, the planned flights did not happen after all. Ihang around, getting everything ready, filling my in-vehicle-water tank. This is the first time I am adding water, surprisingly it does take quite a bit of time to re-fill. Then I drive down to the camping shop and get for myself a toaster, which is just a metal frame with fine wire mesh at the bottom, once placed over a gas flame it will glow red and toast the slice put at the top, easy peasy. I pick up another container of 10 litres of drinking water at Woollies and because I see it, also pick up 2 packets of German Rye bread (Vollkornbrot) as I refuse to eat all that white stuff that is on the shelves, (nothing but air, wrapped in plastic) then hit the road.

It is Savannah country all the way with a variety of trees growing right through it, mostly Silvergums and some Redgums. The view does change a bit, lots to look at, but gets much more interesting about 40km out of Victoria River, where an escarpement rises, mostly red-coloured rocks.

Just outside Victoria River looking at the escarpment.

Driving out of Victoria River, I round the escarpement, drive past truck-size rocks that must have come down off the mountain range and serving as a reminder that there is a distinct possibility, it can happen again anytime. The road follows the Victoria River on its right, the mountains rising on my left as I keep going west.

Halfway between Victoria River and Timber Creek some cattle musteriing is going on and I watch as the cattle are being chased by the Helicopter. Flying cowboys. A few minutes later, a lizzard takes its time to leisurely cross the highway about 100 metres ahead, shifts into high gear as it hears my car and disappears in the tall grass on my right.

As I get closer to Timber Creek, the mountain range on my left runs out, flat country now, but shortly after hills are beginning to rise on my right and in the distance some more, a little higher. I note that the grass on the hills going halfway up seems to be distinctly green rather than the usual, sunbleached white. There has to be moisture in the ground otherwise it would have a different colour.

I pull into Timber Creek, top up fuel at $2.25. In Katherine it was $1.90. The place I want to camp at tonight is only about 9km ahead. I pull in there, find a nice shady spot and sit down to write my stuff for today.

This campground is surrounded by Boab trees of all shades and sizes. Am going for a walk to take a few shots at the Boabs as these are the first I have ever seen in 'real life'. Quite an interesting looking plant. At this time of year they have no leaves but many of them bear fruit, about the size of a Mango, a hairy looking shell on the outside and judging from the broken ones lying around under the tree, seem to contain a white, powdery kind of flesh.

Boabs at the camp ground

Just as I want to relax after today's drive I find out that there will be a river cruise leaving in about 15 minutes, so I decide to tag along, get some warm gear to take along and pack my camera. It turns out to be quite interesting. The boat is packed except for one vacant seat. We go downstream, the guy at the helm kicks open the throttle, two powerful outboards propel us along at quite a clip.


View along the River

There are no other boats on the river as we go downstream, occasionally we pull to one side to have a look at the smaller Freshwater Crocodiles or the much larger Saltwater Crocs which seem to either bask in the sun, on the mudbanks of the river or just float close to the shore with only their eyes showing above water.

A 'Salty' in the mud

Some we notice, are just lying still and motionless near the shore, waiting for the Wallabies on the shore to come closer and get a drink from the river. One of the Wallabies does and quick as lightning its life is ended as the croc drags it under water.

Its still warm out on the river, our guide pulls over to the river bank, brings a bag of meat that he opens and puts the contents out on the shore to the great delight of some hawks and one sea eagle. As the sun is beginning to set we need to turn around and go back up-river.

Colours from the setting sun on Victoria River

Nice soft colours start to develop on and around the water, so I take a few more shots to take away with me. We are back at out jetty well after dark. The day is beginning to cool off and as it was quite windy on that high-speed boat, I have already put on my sweater and a jacket and I am not feeling cold. Always good to remember, that in these parts night temperatures can drop severely from the high 20s to 5 degrees at night or even less.