Monthly Archives: April 2026

Darwin

The drive the next morning to Darwin was bumpy.  So many potholes as a result of the ‘Wet’ and cyclones.  It would normally have been a three hour drive but it took us longer.

 

We were pleased to get to Kyran and Vanessa’s house; it had been a 4,000 km trip from home. The first leg of our trip completed.

 

We are in Darwin to housesit for Kyran and Vanessa whose house here has been rented out for a couple of years. The tenants have now vacated and Kyran, Vanessa and the boys will move here in June.  Until then John and I will stay.  There are two reasons why we are here.  First because it wouldn’t be good for the house to sit empty that long (the pool needs regular cleaning!), and secondly John wanted to do a last trip in the caravan away from Kalbarri in winter. Our friends find this funny because most people come to Kalbarri for the winter because the weather is mild. But not mild enough for John who wants hot! The temperature here is 34 degrees every day and he is happy with that.

 

The house is lovely and it’s nice that, after all their years of working in a remote community, they will reap the rewards. They have only just begun to furnish the home,  something they will enjoy after making do for so long.  It feels like a resort actually with the electric gates, the lush green bushes and palm trees that shut out the world. The water in the pool is warm, perfect for a daily swim.

 

 

It has taken us a couple of days to get used to all the fancy mod cons here – the electric gates, fancy coffee machine, robotic vacuum that also mops the floor and everything else that young people fill their home with. To me it feels like the year 2050.

 

Unfortunately things can go wrong. Like on day one when we drove to the local supermarket to buy food. We did not know there was a power cut so when we arrived back at the house, the electric gates wouldn’t open. It meant we couldn’t get in! We called Kyran who told us the only way in was a lever on the other side of the 7ft fence. With John’s age and vertigo,  there was no way he was climbing over.  Kyran rang a friend but I thought that was too much of an inconvenience so, with John’s help pushing me up, I managed to get over the gate. I just hope there was no footage on the home security camera because it wasn’t very lady-like and I’ve got some lovely bruises now. The main thing was we got in. Of course, with none of the twelve ceiling fans nor the six air conditioners working, we sweltered until the power was restored a few hours later.

 

The electric gate I had to climb over!

 

We have also not been able to work out how to operate the fancy induction stove but, luckily, there is a terrific outdoor kitchen with a barbecue and smoker in the entertainment area we can use – or, more likely, our caravan cooker!

 

The outdoor kitchen

 

Today we ventured out to the Casuarina Shopping Centre, the biggest in the Northern Territory I believe. It was a four minute drive. Nothing is far away at all. I will definitely go back there when John is golfing! Not only are there lots of shops,  but the cinema is there too.

 

Next weekend, our grandson, Tommy, is playing football at half time in the AFL game in Darwin – St Kilda v Gold Coast Suns so the family will be coming ftom Gove for the weekend.  Can’t wait to see them all. It’s been too long.

 

I think we are going to enjoy our two or three months here!

 

 

Katherine, NT

When we arrived in Katherine,  we booked into the Boab Caravan Park which seemed close to everything.  Our next stop was the golf club so John could organise a game. He had missed out at Broome because of vertigo. Then we drove into town and spent as little time as possible there. Katherine, Kununurra,  Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek all come under the same umbrella for me: they are all gateways to incredible national parks and gorges, but the towns themselves leave a lot to be desired.

 

What I do like about Katherine though are the Hot Springs and the Pop Rocket Cafe beside them. I was disappointed to find out the springs were still closed for the wet season. However, we thought we would go and have a coffee as the Cafe was open.

Then we wandered down to look at the Springs.  Other than evidence of how far the water had risen in the recent floods, it all looked as it did last time we were there. We were surprised there were no chains or signs saying they were closed. When we walked back through the cafe, I asked someone when the Springs would open and he said ‘today, just opened!’. So we went back to the van and changed into our bathers. We had a lovely soak and were the only people in the water.

 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the caravan, catching up on our reading and watching the football on TV! I did take a dip in the pool too. The weather is perfect swimming weather.

 

The next morning, I dropped John at the Katherine Golf Club and went to look at the Stockmans Pioneer Memorial in town. This beautiful sculpture is of a stockman on his horse, recognising the contribution rural and regional communities make to the Australian identity.

 

 

Of course, the next thing I did was head back to the Hot Springs for another soak!

 

When I went to collect John after golf, he was sitting in the beer garden chatting to two men he’d golfed with, so I joined them. The area was quite busy. Both men said they’d lived in Katherine for years, they had come for work but lived well out of town.

 

When we returned to the caravan park we were invited to join the other campers for Anzac Day celebrations but we decided against it. Instead I had a quiet afternoon reading while John watched another football game on TV.

 

 

 

 

Into the NT

We had a pleasant stay at Ivanhoe Caravan Park but left early to look around the town of Kununurra.  That’s the problem with going to bed when the sun sets. Although we read for a while,  we still wake early.

 

We found a nice cafe in town, The Wild Mango, and enjoyed coffee. Then wandered around the few shops  there. We were back in the car and heading towards the Northern Territory before 10am.

 

 

The roads in the Kimberley and in the Northern Territory are quite badly damaged from the recent floods. There are pot holes everywhere.  In WA they have mostly been repaired or marked for repair but in the Territory so far they look like they have been filled in for a temporary fix. I did notice on the news that the NT government has set aside money for the repairs.

 

The drive from Kununurra to Timber Creek, where we decided to camp for the night, was a pleasant three hours. The scenery was lovely. It changed as we crossed into the Territory, as it became more rugged.

As we got closer to Timber Creek, we drove along close to the Victoria River which was very pretty, although showed evidence of recent flooding. This area is part of the Judbarra/Gregory National Park.  We stopped at Gregory’s Cairn on the side of the road. Augustus Gregory was part of a very long expedition that explored this area in 1855. I can’t imagine how those explorers survived back then. It is so hot and remote. They must have been very tough.  In case they didn’t survive the expedition,  Gregory carved the dates they were in the area into a tree along with details of where they left a letter. Unfortunately we weren’t able to check out the tree because the road was just mud. The story had a happy ending anyway because the explorers did survive and returned home safely.

 

We arrived at Timber Creek around lunchtime and were glad to stay put for a relaxing afternoon. It is a very small, remote town of about 270 people and is the only settlement between the Western Australian border and Katherine,  our next stop.
The caravan park was very nice with lots of beautiful trees for shade, a small pool and a surprisingly large outdoor bistro/bar. It was very quiet with very few campers. We enjoyed a peaceful afternoon reading and catching up with laundry. We thought we’d have a quiet swim in the pool around 4pm to cool down but forgot that we had changed time zones. When I checked my phone, it was already after 5pm! So we headed over to the pool. John dived in right away but I was shocked to find the water really cold so I sat on the side dangling my feet to at least cool them. All of a sudden the gate opened and about ten large men took a run and jump into the pool without spilling a drop of the beer they were each holding! They were builders who had just knocked off work after a hot day and I guess this was what they looked forward to. They began splashing and ducking each other. That was my cue to avoid swimming in cold water so I quickly got out and grabbed my towel.  John wasn’t far behind me. The guys apologised and said they hoped they hadn’t scared us away but I told them their need was greater than ours.
Instead we dressed and walked over to the bar for a drink. Suddenly it wasn’t so quiet any more. The bar was filling up,  the music started pumping and several more  caravans arrived for the night.

 

When we walked back to the van, we noticed a few people looking at the river so we wandered down too to have a look. What we weren’t expecting was to see some crocodiles on the riverbank! Luckily they were fresh water crocs so not likely to eat us. Apparently it was quite normal for them to come onto the bank of the river at the caravan park.

 

We got to thinking that we have not seen a lot of wildlife on the trip because we are driving a lot. We have seen snakes and goannas crossing the road in front of us, wallabies, eagles, brolgas, praying mantas, frogs in one caravan park that were so big I thought they were cane toads, and, as well as the crocodiles at Timber Creek, there were dozens of fruit bats above us that squabbled all day!

 

 

So our quiet time at Timber Creek turned into party central with music and laughter coming out of the bar. It must have been the 270 residents come out to play on a Wednesday evening. But it was nice. It was so hot, we just sat back outside the van and enjoyed the atmosphere.

 

 

 

The next 1,000kms

We enjoyed our few days in Broome but it was time to move on. We packed up, cleaned up, and popped into town to get a few supplies before heading off.  We planned to drive towards Fitzroy Crossing although we wouldn’t camp there. (Fitzroy Crossing is a remote town in the Kimberley with mostly indigenous residents.)

 

We had a change of scenery on this part of the trip as we drove the Savannah Way. This is a very remote part of Australia that traverses the Kimberley, with national parks and gorges. The purpose of this trip is to drive to Darwin; on previous trips it was to see as much of the country as we could. So we did not head onto the legendary Gibb River Road nor visit the amazing Bungle Bungles as we have enjoyed them before.

 

After filling up with fuel at the Willare Roadhouse, we did make a point of stopping to look at a very old Boab Tree on the way. I don’t know how old it is. We have seen the Boab Prison Tree in Derby that is apparently 1,500 years old! (https://flannerysfootprints.com/2021/06/20/derbys-dark-past/)

 

 

 

 

We stopped in Fitzroy Crossing for fuel. This is not a town that exudes safety! There are bars on all the shop  windows,  and you have to hand over your driving license before getting fuel. I’m always happy to drive out of Fitzroy Crossing.

 

We arrived at Ellendale Rest Area about 90kms further on, around 3pm. This is where we planned to camp for the night. However, there wasn’t a lot of shade and, as it was still 40 degrees, we decided we might as well keep going. One of our very favourite free camps on our last big trip was Ngumban Clifftop. We both remembered the spectacular view of the sunset from the top of the cliff. We thought we could get there just in time for sunset this time. And we did – just. Unbelievably,  there was no-one else there so we had the pick of the spots. (We have found most caravan parks and free camps empty because it is still technically the wet season and cyclone season). We didn’t have to wait long for the most spectacular sunset.  The colours were stunning and the sky stayed colourful for more than an hour. We had dinner under the most amazing sky.

 

Of course, the next morning we woke to sunrise on the other side of the cliff.

 

Sunrise

We were up and gone early the next morning with an idea of camping at Turkey Creek Roadhouse, now called Warmun Roadhouse.  We shared the driving and enjoyed the scenery – the Savannah, with its scattering of termite mounds, many taller than me, and the  sudden rise of the Kimberley and Bungle Bungle Ranges.

Since leaving Broome we had had no phone reception and very little radio reception.  I felt like giving a big sigh of relief not hearing about all the world’s problems, although we were reminded of them every time we stopped for fuel.

 

In fact, as we drove into Warmun Roadhouse, the fuel gauge was just teetering on red. John reminded me that last time we came to this roadhouse, they had no fuel. Low and behold, our worst fears were realised when we were told that, once again, they had no fuel! It was 97kms to the next roadhouse- Doon Doon – but we were told we could enter a nearby aboriginal community and they would allow us to buy fuel from them. Unfortunately,  we couldn’t find the turnoff to the community. With only enough fuel left for 60kms, it was lucky we had 10 litres in a Jerry can for emergencies!

 

We made it to Doon Doon Roadhouse by the skin of our teeth.  We had decided to camp here but John mentioned it wasn’t that far to Kununurra so, after  fuelling up,  we kept going. So much for our agreement not to drive more than about three hours each day. By the time we arrived in Kununurra,  we had driven over 1,000kms in two days, 3,000kms since leaving home.

 

We booked a powered site at Ivanhoe Caravan Park which was very green and shady. John talked ME into having a swim. Then it was nice to have a long shower and check our phone messages, though not so nice watching the SBS News on TV.

 

 

 

Around Broome

Our second day in Broome was spent at the van having a quiet time and hoping John’s vertigo and sore back would improve.  He was very unwell and we cancelled our plans for the day and postponed leaving as well. I did persuade John to have a swim in the pool in the afternoon. It was very hot (too hot to be inside the van) and we had sought shade all day.

 

The pool was close by and we walked there slowly. We were pleased at how nice it was, how pleasant the water was, and that there was only one other couple in the water – and they left shortly after we arrived. It was great to feel the cool water on our hot, sweaty bodies!  John usually avoids pools but he definitely benefited from our swim.

 

We enjoyed the pool at the caravan park

 

 

Thankfully he woke on day three with no vertigo.  What a relief! We took it easy in the morning though, just reading and pottering at the van. By midday John felt much better and suggested Matso’s for lunch. Matso’s is a local family run brewery that is quite an iconic venue in Broome. It makes craft beers and the most refreshing alcoholic mango and ginger beers. It was only about a five minute drive from the caravan park.

 

It was a good decision.  The brewery wasn’t too busy and there was parking.  We sat in the beer garden under the shade of the mango trees and enjoyed a cold drink and a shared Ploughman’s lunch. It was very nice.

 

Matso’s

 

<span;>John watched the football in the afternoon while I read, then we wandered over for another swim which was just as lovely as yesterday’s.

 

John was very tired so, after a simple dinner, we retired to bed early. We usually go to bed on dark and read for a while.  Tonight we had no choice. After a very hot day,  the heavens opened and lovely, cool rain came down. It was so nice lying in bed in the caravan watching the lightning through the windows and listening to the rumble of the thunder.