Hi again to all you avid bloggers and welcome to another update.  After a great few days in Timber Creek and looking through the Judbarra/Gregory NP we have moved onto Katherine.  I have put some more photos in from Keep River NP and Judbarra/Gregory NP for you to look at.  These were really great parks and worth stopping off if you have the time.

 

Judbarra/Gregory NP – Bullita Homestead Stockyards

 

Judbarra/Gregory NP – Bullita Homestead

 

We have been in Katherine for the last week, the car was due for a service and we had to book a week out to get it in at Katherine Toyota so we decided that was a good enough reason to stay around for a while and have a good look around the area.  We are staying at Manbullo Homestead about 10km out from Katherine.  Its a very nice park with lots of shade.  One thing we have noticed change in the last week here is the weather.  The days are certainly starting to get more humid and there are a few clouds around as well now.  They mentioned on the radio yesterday that the dry is over and the season is changing.

Katherine has a few good sights to see with the obvious one being Katherine Gorge.  We were a bit disappointed when we got there as they had closed the swimming area and you had to hike for 6km’s to the nearest waterhole for a swim, obviously we weren’t that desperate so we walked to the lookout and then had lunch on the grass area where we were joined by a fairly tame kangaroo for part of our lunch.

 

 

Katherine also has markets every Saturday but I wouldn’t rush to get to these very early.  I was a bit surprised as I thought they would have been a bit bigger but they filled in a couple of hours.  After the markets we went to the Cutta Cutta Caves and these were very interesting and well worth a look.

 

The best part of our time at Katherine was going to Leliyn Edith Falls for the day.  The swimming at these wonderful waterholes and the set up in the area is first class.  The Leliyn Edith Falls swimming area is really nice but the walk to the top pool was the highlight.  This was a 2.6km loop walk and at the halfway point you reach the top pools and have a swim in some excellent water holes.  When you have had enough you finish walking the loop and then have another swim when you get back.  How good is that.

 

 

 

Without a doubt though the highlight of the time spent in Katherine has been the visit to Rundle Park.  If this is not in the top 10 on your bucket list then you should put it there.  I was really amazed that there could be such an oasis in outback Australia but there it was, a vision  splendid that you just have to see to really appreciate.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Mataranka which is just over 120 km’s so hopefully the drive won’t be to trying.  Take care and safe travels if anyone is heading off soon……regards…….

 

It’s a another big hello to all you avid adventure readers and another exhilarating update of the Trundle Adventures.  After a few unforgettable days in Derby we decided to spend a week in Kununurra to  allow ourselves some time to relax and chill out for a while.  It is strange how you can be on a holiday with all the time you need to get somewhere, with no deadlines on when you have to be there but still find you need time to have some down time to rest and relax.

Kununurra is not a bad place to spend a bit of down time in and we did have a very relaxing week that allowed to do some very strategic planning on the next phase of our trip as we were going to cross the border and really had nothing planned.  While in Kununurra we did do some tourist type activities that included driving around the irrigation areas, buying cheap roadside fruit and driving to Lake Argyle and Wyndham.  Of all the northwest towns Wyndham seems to be the one that has missed out on any development which is a pity as it does have some great areas to look at.

After the great relaxing week in Kununurra we decided to go to Zebra Rock which is just over the border into the Northern Territory (approximately a 70km drive from Kununurra).  Zebra Rock is where they mine the actual Zebra Rock from and make into jewellery, display pieces or table tops if you have up to $15K to spare for a big table top.  The road in is very dusty but only approx. 10k’s in from the highway.  The camp site is not bad when you get there and the showers are “refreshing”(no hot water).  We decided to stay for three nights and this included us leaving the caravan at Zebra Rock and going into the Keep River National Park for a night and roughing it in the roof top tent.

While at Zebra Rock we booked onto the Wetland Safari sunset cruise and I would really recommend this trip to everyone.  Max the skipper was a great host, really knew his stuff and included a swim in Lake Argyle, free flowing beer, wine and nibbles.  We also pulled up on the bank of a river and you could do some fishing for the local “silver perch”, we called these catfish but then Max explained to us by calling them silver perch you could get double the price at the local fish and chip shop in Kununurra.  The cruise was 4 hours in total and at the end we did have the fish and chips which were surprisingly really good, (this may have something to do with quantity of alcohol consumed), but as I said it was a great trip and we would do it again.

The Keep River National Park is a great park to visit and could quite easily be done in a day.  But as we have the roof top tent we now spend extra time looking around and walking the trails.  We stayed the night at the Jarnem campground and did a couple of walks in this small but excellent park.

After Zebra Rock/Keep River it was on the road again to Timber Creek for a huge 170km road trip where I am updating this blog from.  We have decided that we will only update the blog when we have full signal as when we have tried with less it is a real P in the A.  We booked into the shadiest caravan park we have had so far at Timber Creek for three nights and have gone into the Jubbarra/Gregory National Park for one night in the roof top camper again. The roof top camper is giving us a lot of versatility for going off and looking at places without having to worry about a van or another set of wheels behind you.  Thoroughly recommend these to anyone and after a few goes they do not take very long to set up and then pack up when you leave.

The Jubbarra/Gregory National Park is really interesting and it would be great to spend more time looking around.  Some of the scenery is fantastic and a better photographer would do it justice.  We were very surprised to see how much water was still around considering how dry WA was when we were walking to some of the supposedly permanent water holes in our National Parks.  The other good thing about the NT National Parks is that it is only $3.30 each per night to stay and that includes park fees, though some of the roads a pretty crap so that may explain why it is so cheap.

The Bullita Homestead it self is worth the drive just to look at.  They have done an excellent job of restoring this homestead and the stockyards for you to look at.  The stockyards are really impressive and very well restored.  After the night spent at the Limestone Gorge campground we then drove along the Tuwakam Track heading for Jasper Gorge.  This track is only 20 kilometres long but took us nearly 1.5hrs to do.  Around 10k’s was over rocks etc that really slowed you down.  we did see some wild donkeys and brumbies along this track so it made it a bit interesting.  The brumbies were very flighty and galloped of into the scrub before we got very close to them but the donkeys were quite curious and let you get within about 25 metres from them before backing away and maintaining that distance.  Jasper Gorge is absolutely huge and you drive through it for about 20 kilometres to a great billabong at the end – absolutely fantastic if you like that sort of thing.

Hello all again and welcome back, if you have looked in for a second time then hopefully life is not to boring for you.  After a few relaxing days in Derby we headed off for the Bungle Bungle National Park.  On the way there we decided to stop off at Larrawa Station for an overnight stay.  This was a good choice as you could park anywhere, they have water you can connect to and you can also have a fire if you have your own wood.  After settling in and setting up the camp we went for a walk to the “dry” river bed and then after we walked to the hill to look at the sunset.  It is uncanny the people you meet in remote places.  While waiting for the sun to set, (which wasn’t really anything special – no offence to Larrawa), we saw Richard from Austria who I worked with during the upgrade works at Cape Lambert, he was travelling around Australia for three months deciding on his next stage of life. Being the sociable people we are we invited Richard back for tea and had a few wines and ports around the camp fire as you do in the bush.  If you are ever passing Larrawa Station I would consider it for an overnight stay.

The “river” at Larrawa Station

After Larrawa it was up early and heading off to the Bungle’s.  This was a quick trip up the road to the caravan park and booking a good spot to set up camp.  We decided on a site down the back with no power or water as we are pretty self sufficient.  The plan was for a four night stay with two nights at the Bungle Bungle’s.  After setting up the “camp” we then prepared the car for the trip as this was going to be the first time we had used the roof top tent we had put on for this type of trip.  Early the next morning after Princess had her tea in bed we then headed off for the Bungle’s.

The road in was a little bit rough but if you sped up a bit then the bumps smoothed out a bit and the road was slightly bearable.  It took us 80 minutes to get to the Bungle’s which was about the speed that most others seemed to be doing that wanted to have a smoother trip.  After arriving at the info centre and picking up the booking information it was off to see these wonderful formations.  If you haven’t been to the Bungle’s and want something to add to your bucket list then these should be on it.  We saw them from the air a few years ago and walking into them was also something quite special.

 

After a great two days it was the great drive back on the access road to the Bungle Bungle caravan park.  A nice surprise was that there was a grader on the road so the last 25 kilometres back to the caravan park was like driving on a highway which was a nice change.  After a good shower and sleep it was on the road again for Kununurra.  We are staying in Kununurra for a week to relax as all this touring is hard work and sometimes you just need time off to relax and re-energise.

From Kununurra we are heading to Zebra Rock in the Northern Territory.  Not sure when the next exciting update will be so until then all keep safe and if you are still part of the working class keep on working, pay lots of taxes so Kaye and myself can keep this lifestyle.  Until next time………….