Monday 29th
September – Tuesday 30th September
Now we were going south, down to
Katherine and then further on into Western Australia - apparently the most
magnificent state in this country.
In Katherine Erik arranged to get our aircondition
re-gassed. It has needed to be re-gassed since we bought the car. We haven’t
desperately needed it before, but considering the warm temperatures, we
couldn’t survive without it now. It was a fantastic feeling to now sit in the car
and not being soaked in sweat within 5 minutes.
In the afternoon we uploaded
our blog, by using the wifi in Katherine’s one and only shopping center, we
headed south/west. We had about 460km to the WA-NT border, but needed a good
night sleep before driving that distance. We drove just 231km this day.
The
next day we calculated on our autogas consumption and figured we would make it
to the next autogas pump in Kununurra, if we just started to drive on petrol
for the first 70 km. Unfortunately we had calculated a bit wrong… In the
afternoon we were running out of gas and the car was too hot to use the petrol.
Bummer!
My little mechanic says that the problem is when it gets too hot in the
engine compartment (40 degrees outside temp+midday+hot engine) there’s a
component in the petrol injection system that shuts down. That’s the reason why
the car won’t run on petrol, but the autogas injection system apparently don’t
use the signal from that component, so it works fine all the time, no matter
how hot it gets.
Anyhow, we pulled in to a rest area and tried to cool it down by
parking in the shade and opening the hood. We considered staying there for the
rest of the day, and drive when the weather would get chilly at night. After an
hour or so, Erik tried to start it and it seemed to be working fine, so we took
the risk and continued our journey. We drove just about 20km and then it died
again, this time in the blazing sun. We cooled it down and drove another 20km.
Then it died again. This story repeated itself one more time, after that we
used our last autogas, and we finally reached Kununurra (Western Australia, WA)
115km later.
Just as we thought our problems were over, we discovered that the gas station in Kununurra, had had a leak on their gas tank, so the hose wasn’t in use at the moment, and hadn’t been working the last couple of weeks. They didn’t know when they would get it fixed – things takes time in the isolated world! So there we were... We had about 400km to Halls Creek (the next auto gas station).
We got a bit concerned on how that journey would turn out, but there was nothing else to do than to try and drive in the night time. Maybe the car would be cold enough to let us do so!
To our big luck it worked fine for the first 100km, but died just 5km before our planned break at Doon Doon Roadhouse. A friendly local towed us the last 5km. We cooled the car down for a bit and afterwards reached Turkey Creek (93km south) with no further issues. So one thing is sure now – it is the heat that’s the issue.
We saw countless wildlife on the roads from Turkey Creek and south. It was amazing to experience horses running free on the roads, cows hanging out with kangaroos and countless big (red) kangaroos jumping across the road. We love driving at night time, since it’s the best time to experience wildlife. All locals warn us about night driving, but it’s just a matter of driving carefully enough, so you don’t risk hitting the wildlife. Even with a unhappy car we still managed to drive 706km this day.
The next morning after a good night sleep we reached Halls Creek and Migaloo - our jeep, got the autogas that he had been thirsty for – the same with our wallet. Ha ha, cause autogas is only around 2/3 of the petrol price.
It was a bit of a shame that we missed out on Lake Argyle and the Bungle Bungle ranges in Kimberley - both places is supposed to be spectacular, but with the car problem in the back of our minds, we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy them anyway.
We reached Derby tuesday afternoon and did a station stay 20km out of town, at Birdwood Downs. They offered sunset horseback riding and riding lessons – something that Erik has been dying to try since we left home. All tours were regrettably fully booked – and by the way very costly. So it suited us okay that they couldn’t fit us in. Total km = 685.
Wednesday 1st October – Saturday 4th October
Just as we thought our problems were over, we discovered that the gas station in Kununurra, had had a leak on their gas tank, so the hose wasn’t in use at the moment, and hadn’t been working the last couple of weeks. They didn’t know when they would get it fixed – things takes time in the isolated world! So there we were... We had about 400km to Halls Creek (the next auto gas station).
We got a bit concerned on how that journey would turn out, but there was nothing else to do than to try and drive in the night time. Maybe the car would be cold enough to let us do so!
To our big luck it worked fine for the first 100km, but died just 5km before our planned break at Doon Doon Roadhouse. A friendly local towed us the last 5km. We cooled the car down for a bit and afterwards reached Turkey Creek (93km south) with no further issues. So one thing is sure now – it is the heat that’s the issue.
We saw countless wildlife on the roads from Turkey Creek and south. It was amazing to experience horses running free on the roads, cows hanging out with kangaroos and countless big (red) kangaroos jumping across the road. We love driving at night time, since it’s the best time to experience wildlife. All locals warn us about night driving, but it’s just a matter of driving carefully enough, so you don’t risk hitting the wildlife. Even with a unhappy car we still managed to drive 706km this day.
The next morning after a good night sleep we reached Halls Creek and Migaloo - our jeep, got the autogas that he had been thirsty for – the same with our wallet. Ha ha, cause autogas is only around 2/3 of the petrol price.
It was a bit of a shame that we missed out on Lake Argyle and the Bungle Bungle ranges in Kimberley - both places is supposed to be spectacular, but with the car problem in the back of our minds, we wouldn’t have been able to enjoy them anyway.
We reached Derby tuesday afternoon and did a station stay 20km out of town, at Birdwood Downs. They offered sunset horseback riding and riding lessons – something that Erik has been dying to try since we left home. All tours were regrettably fully booked – and by the way very costly. So it suited us okay that they couldn’t fit us in. Total km = 685.
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| Erik is trying to become friends with kangaroo's.. They were too shy and jumped away straight after this picture was taken. |
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| The Kimberley is full of these beautiful Boab trees. |
Wednesday 1st October – Saturday 4th October
We arrived
in Broome, the western edge of the Kimberley. It had been a short day on the
road, only 248km.
Broome is a magnificent town that exports pearls around the
world, produced on sea farms. It’s a good 2000km to the nearest capital and is
a true nature wonder. It’s got mangroves, mudflats and crocs on one side, the
other side has got turquoise waters and a beautiful long wide beach stretch,
called Cable beach.
We had been told that there was one caravan park in the
town that could provide accommodation in trade for a couple of hours work. So
we drove around and asked at the different park entries to find the right one.
Eventually we found it.
It’s located close to Cable beach and an unpowered site
is usually $35 per night, but for 1 hour and 15 min. leaf raking we could stay
there for free. For us it was a great deal.
It was a beautiful area to stay in,
and we relaxed and enjoyed the facilities at the campground. Even in the shade
it was ridiculous hot, and due to the almost unbearable hot weather, we finally
pulled ourselves together and got our mosquito net sorted out – which meant
that we now could open both front windows and the back during the night,
without getting eaten alive by mosquitos and other small devils.
Cable beach
was amazing, although we weren’t big fans of all the stingers in the
water and on the beach. They are or can be really dangerous. There were a lot of people in the water that didn’t seem to care
about them, but I couldn’t drag myself into the mystic water – I just didn’t
want to be stung by one. Erik had a quick dip and was lucky to survive! Haha! It isn’t
the season for the deadly ones at the moment (the box jelly fish), but anyway!
We
enjoyed a few drinks and the view from the beach bar, and later on we splashed
out, and ate unhealthy burgers.
Friday we drove out to Gantheaume Point - a
lookout point with fabulous red sandstone rocks overlooking the turquoise
waters of the Indian Ocean.
In order to reach Karijini National Park on Monday,
we had to leave Broome and work our way down there, and hopefully the guys at
the park would be able to fit us in, on the canyoning trip, we tried to book.
We drove most of saturday and planned to stay at the Eighty Mile beach. A
corrugated dirt road led us to the caravan park and it was beautiful out there,
but we found the campground to be kind of a rip off. Before we left and hit the
road again, we accidentally bumped into the family that towed us, the first
time Migaloo was complaining about the heat. It was odd to meet them again
about 2000km from the last place we met, and about 4 weeks has gone by since…
After all we just got confirmed that Australia isn’t as big as everybody says!!
Back on the empty road we were surprised by the great wifi connection, so Erik
skyped with Ib his friend, for a long time, actually most of the night. We go
to bed so early when we sleep in the car, it’s getting dark early, like around
7-8pm, and since we can only hang out either in the car or outside with all the
weird bugs, we prefer to go to bed early, and then get up with the sun in the
morning. It’s impossible to sleep in anyway. To damn hot and bright!
We pulled
in north of Port Hedland and stayed there during the night. Saturday = 572km.
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Ready for a night with air and without mosquitoes in the car. Working hard......  |
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| Cable beach |
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| The stingers on Cable Beach |
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| Playing with my camera |
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| Gantheaume Point... |
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| Eighty Mile Beach... |
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| The beach is that way... |
Sunday 5th
October
Most days
on the roads we plan to sleep near by a roadhouse or town, where we most likely
can get a liter of fresh milk in the morning. We love our cereals in the
morning. Out of all our food and beverage it is the only thing we actually aim
for as being cold, when we consume it. So we are really not asking for a lot!
We got our $2 FRESH COLD milk in Port Hedland.
The town itself isn’t tempting
to explore, I would consider it as a ghost town. The only people living there
is miners. So we quickly ventured south and inland towards Karijini National
Park.
We got a message saying that they would fit us in on the adventurous
tour, so we were happy and excited. The trip down there was horrible, due to
all the road trains going the other direction and hitting our windshield with
stones. Very annoying!
We stopped at Munjini roadhouse, just before the park.
We spend some hours there, because Erik really wanted to watch the Formula 1 on
their TV. When that was finally over, we had shared a big meal and none of us
were hungry for dinner.
We drove into the national park, paid the entrance fee
and slowly worked our way up to the Eco Retreat Resort (the place where the
tour started form the next morning). We drove on a very badly corrugated road
for about an hour, in the glare of the sun, which almost made us blind. We
couldn’t see anything in front of us! It was awful!
Since we already paid for the entrance
fee and the canyoning trip was $255 each, we took the risk and camped for free
on one of the parking spots in the park, even though we knew it was illegal. We
figured that the chance of getting caught was very small since we haven’t seen
a car for over an hour. And who would patrol those bad roads anyway! Km = 477.
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| Breakfast with cows walking around the rest area |
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| A lot of the grey nomads live in their motorhomes, and they've got everything with them on the roads! Impressing, but slow! |
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| Salt mineral mine in Port Hedland |
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| Everything is the same colour in the outback.. The red dust colour!! |
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| Worst gravel road ever.
Monday 6th
October
It was a
big day for us. We were excited about the canyoning adventure (called The Red Gorge
Adventure). It was time to test if our adrenalin pump still was working, or
needed a recharge! Canyoning is a mixed up word for canyon/gorge, abseiling,
climbing and rafting!
The day started early when our guides kitted us out with
wetsuits, outdoor shoes, harnesses, helmets and inner tubes. We ventured into
the first gorge (Knox Gorge) and dipped our warm bodies in the freezing pool.
After a sunny stroll we were off to the restricted area, with the gorge
shrinking rapidly to a single body width. We met one of the guides, who had set
up a 5m abseil. Awesome. We walked carefully on a rough, steep and slippery
surface before we sat down on a natural slide, pushed off and over a 3m drop
into an enclosed pool. It was a lot of fun and we would love to do it again,
but once over the edge, there’s no way back up.
We controlled our own abseiling
the second time, down to the next pool. It was shady and cold, we escaped by
crawling up and in between some rocks and on the other side, we jumped into our
tubes and paddled towards a little sunny “island”. Time for lunch.
Soon we were
back on our inner tubes, and we paddled across long and tranquil pools. Our
surroundings were absolutely spectacular - the vertical red gorge walls raised
100m above us. It was magnificent. We had a little break before we headed into
the Hancock Gorge, the guide sat up a rope leading through the Centre of the
Earth (as they call that place), and we climbed up the steep, tight and
slippery cascades. We walked though small pools on narrow edges. As we ascended
the 9m climb we were all a bit exhausted. A traverse along the cliff with our
security ropes clipped into the anchor rope, we slowly left the restricted area
and entered Kermits pool, our final swim.
Soon we were through the final gorge
and finished at the car park. It was 4pm, we had been out all day, and it’s
been an action-packed and adrenalin-charged adventure. It’s without a doubt the
best day we have had in a long time.
Afterwards we socialized with a family we
met on the tour – they were great. They were from Perth, a good contact for us
to have, since we are heading that way soon. We were actually pretty exhausted
from the long day and the drinks we had, but we didn’t want to sleep illegal
again or pay the camp fees in the park.
We drove just outside the park and got
our beauty sleep, on a free campground 70 km away.
Ready for a adventurous day
     
Red Gorge Adventure Video
Tuesday 7th
– Wednesday 8th October
We were
meant to do a mine tour, near Tom Price. Would be great to learn about all
those mines, we pass all the time, but unfortunately they don’t run the tour
for less than 10 people. And since we were the only ones there, there was no way
they would do the tour. Instead we started our journey further towards the west
coast.
We reached Exmouth in the afternoon. I skyped and catched up with my
friend Musse, meanwhile Erik was busy and searched for information about the national
park and the dive sites. Australia’s largest fringing and most accessible reef,
Ningaloo Reef is located just north of the town. It’s stretching 300km south.
There are a number of snorkel sites only 50m offshore, and it has more than 500
species of fish, which makes it a must-see for snorkelers, divers and nature-lovers.
Erik planned our stay in this area. We started close to the Cape Range National
Park by watching the sunset from Vlamingh Head lighthouse. At the top of the hill
we had a brilliant view, all though the sunset wasn’t anything special. We
drove into the national park straight after. The wildlife that we experienced
on the road was going beyond our wildest imagination. We really didn’t think
that the amount of kangaroo’s could be so big in one “little” area. It was
crazy and we loved it!
When we got to our beach campsite we were joined by a
kangaroo mom with her little joey (that’s what the babies are called) in her
pouch. She stayed around our campsite most of the night, together with a lot of
glowing spiders in the low grass. The weather got chilly at night again, and
we’re pleased with the colder temperatures – the same is the car – no more
“running on petrol” problems. We drove 732km.
The next morning we snorkeled
with colourful fish at popular Turquoise Bay. We drifted with the current along
the beach, but had to take care and make sure we got out of the water in time,
before the current carried us away. At noon when we got signal on the phone
again we booked a dive at Navy Pier. It’s in the top 10 of best shore dives in
the world! It sounded very promising to us.
The dive site was quite small, easy
to navigate and apparently we couldn’t get lost. We all got the opportunity to
go self-guided. We found it as the perfect opportunity to try it for the first
time, together off course! Under the pier we saw an amount of marine life,that
we have never seen before, in such a little area.
There’s a bunch of big
groupers that always hang around there. One of them is called George, he’s very
friendly and used to divers. It’s the only fish that we were allowed to touch,
if we got the change. George likes to be tickled on his chin, and sometimes
won’t leave you alone, if you don’t tickle him. It’s the weirdest fish ever,
but off course we wanted to meet this guy. Unlike all the stories he wasn’t in
the mood for a tickle, even though we tried to tempt him. During the dive Erik
was mostly focusing on filming and I was navigating us around the pier. We had
an amazing dive and simply loved to be in control of our own dive.
That
afternoon we continued our further travels south and away from the costly national
park.
Km = 138.
Our house
Unfortunately a common sight on the roads
Emu is an uncommon sight.. But definitely more enjoyable than the road kills.
 
Curious kangarooo
Australian Bustard.. A huge bird!!
Navy Pier Diving Video
Thursday 9th
October
We rose
early in order not to be caught sleeping illegal on a rest area. We drove to
Coral Bay, an absolutely stunning bay, very family minded and very idyllic. We
spend half of the day on the crystal clear beach. The most fantastic thing
about this place is that there is world class snorkeling just off the beach
(Ningaloo Reef) and at the same time white sand and shallow water in the bay.
It’s a perfect place and we wished that we had the time to stay longer, but the day before we got confirmed that we could work as volunteers with dolphins further south. So in order to reach Monkey Mia (the dolphin place) in time, we had to get back on the roads again the same afternoon. We stocked up with food and supplies in Carnarvon and then worked our way down south. Thursday it came to 412km. Friday we reached Monkey Mia just in time for our induction. We planned to volunteer for 5 days there. Distance this day = 281km 
Coral Bay
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