This morning we awoke at anchor beside the biggest of the beautiful Trobriand Islands. For almost 50 years I have told Jo of the friendly people here so we were really looking forward to our day here. At 7:00 am we set off in the chopper for a short sightseeing flight then landed at a village where met the paramount chief of the islands. Again the villagers were very welcoming and one guy who Jo chatted to for 10 minutes gave her a carved mask in appreciation of her friendship.

Later in the morning I enjoyed a 700m swim in 27 deg, 135m deep water to the beach where I joined the shore excursion around the local village. We received a colourful dance ceremony performed by scantily clad young men and women then had an hour to shop at about 50 small stall selling hand carved goods.

Welcome to the Trobriand Islands

The array of goods included bowls, tables, walking sticks, shields, face masks, and many small ornamental items. Of course we bought a few.

A small girl and her Mum selling craft goods

For the afternoon shore excursion I paddled a SUP to the beach and was met by a large group of young children and teenagers who were waiting on the beach when they saw me coming. For the next 1 ½ hours most of our group participated in a game of traditional cricket, which is based on English cricket but has been modified significantly and is used as entertainment and a means of dispute settlement throughout the “Trobes”. It was great fun for all with the locals enjoying it as much as the visitors. While that was going on I spent about an hour giving SUP rides to the kids, who adapted very easily to the SUP because of their canoeing experience. Great fun for all.

Then back on board it was interesting to see a slide show of the snorkeling trips over the past few days, especially to see the colours and variety of fish and coral. I’ll try to get a copy. Before we knew it another great dinner was served and then it was time for bed before 9 pm.

Cruise Day 2 has been a great day in the Ferguson Islands. Straight after breakfast we took a one-hour helicopter ride on True North’s its own chopper, a seven seater with the pilot and 2 passengers in front and 4 passengers in the rear. Everyone gets a good view so it doesn’t really matter where you sit. We flew along river valleys, into gorges, over mountains, mainly dormant volcanoes but some still venting sulphurous gases, along beautiful palm tree lined coastlines, over coral reefs and lots of subsistence farms on both flat land and steep mountain slopes. It was a spectacular flight and the scenery was stunning.

Mountain scenery from the chopper

One of many islands in the Ferguson group

After breakfast Jo and I enjoyed a 30 minute chat with a local guide and his 3 year old son before the 10:30 start for a jungle walk. We took 3 tenders to the beach where we were met by about 30 young kids, teenagers and adults who smiled happily to meet us. They accompanied us through their village, some practising their English, some too shy and all enjoying the experience of seeing such strange looking people as us. Almost as soon as we started walking rain started. We crossed the nearby creek a few times, then walked in it as the rain became heavier.

A creek crossing, PNG style

2 guys, 2 umbrellas, 1 bush knife – that’s all a girl needs

Local adults and children helped those who were not sure footed, even offering us palm leaves to use as umbrellas. We scrambled over rocks and along slippery muddy tracks until we came to quite a fast flowing water fall about 50 to 70 metres tall. Some passengers showered under the water but we just enjoyed trying to talk to the kids. Rain continued for the 40 minute walk back to the village so we were absolutely soaked by the time we caught the tenders back to the True North.

Oops! Look what happens to white shirts and light hair when rains falls on your pink cap.

True North staff keep us very busy and this afternoon some chose fishing while I chose snorkeling. Jo chose the chat-on-board option.

Embarking on a snorkeling tour, Ted in red

The snorkeling was the best I have ever experienced; a 10 minute boat ride then an hour in the water. We had a dive master and 3 swimmers so we had a real personal snorkeling experience. The reef was generally 2 to 5 metres deep with a very deep drop-off along the side of the reef. There were many different kinds of coral with brown, green, blue and purple colours everywhere. The sky was cloudy and we could only wonder how good the coral must look in sunshine. There were small fish of every colour and shape but not many big fish. During the swim 4 local kids came out about 400 m from the beach in 2 small dugout canoes to interact with us. They couldn’t speak English and we couldn’t speak their language but is was interesting to see them and they were interested to see us – these strange beings with coloured skulls, face masks, breathing pipes poking out from our heads and long rubber feet. The kids were only about 3 to 6 years old. Snorkeling photos will have to wait until we get a copy of the dive master’s photos.

Back on board we watched a 90 minute video on the Kokoda Track, a very moving film about the Kokoda campaign during World War 2. Suddenly it was dinner time, another delicious meal, giving us the opportunity to compare stories about the day’s activities. Just before bed we heard that the weather forecast for tomorrow is not looking good, which is a pity because tomorrow is the day for us to fly to Isurava Memorial on the Kokoda Track. We are scheduled for a 5:30 am flight so we decide on an early night.

Yay! We are on our way again, this time to Papua New Guinea, cruising on the True North.

I, Ted, first visited PNG in 1968/69 when I was posted there during National Service (more about that later) and for almost 50 years I have wanted Jo to be able to experience this wonderful country. Of course I am very excited and I am thrilled that, at last Jo has decided to come with me. Jo is less excited because she is a little nervous about doing a small boat cruise, especially as she has had back and hip problems and there is no lift to travel between the boat’s 3 levels and she is not as keen on water activities as I am – but she is happy to do it because she knows how much it means to me. I just hope she enjoys it.

We started with a 3 am wake up call before a flight to Melbourne for a second flight to Cairns. We met another Adelaide couple on the first flight and a Melbourne couple on the second flight who are booked on the same cruise.

True North have a scheduled cruise that they call Sepic Soirée South and this particular cruise has been fully booked by a travel company called Latitude 33, who have added some extras for only a small additional price. Instead of flying into Cairns to immediately start the cruise Latitude 33 have booked us into the Niramaya Resort in Port Douglas for 2 nights. The resort is quite luxurious, with large villas, each with large breezeways, tropical style open lounge and bedrooms and its own plunge pool in a lush garden setting – very nice. Complimentary dinner and breakfast were scrumptious. There are 36 passengers from all over Australia and we enjoyed the chance to meet and get to know the others. We were able to spend a few hours with friends from Cairns during the spare day.

After another early start a coach took us to Cairns airport where we were met with True North staff for the beginning of our cruise. Instead of boarding a boat we boarded a plane for a 1 ½ flight to Alotau on the south eastern end of PNG where we were greeted by a small group of islanders playing drums, singing and dancing. It was a nice gesture and many of the staff had not seen that before.

Trobriand Islands dancers welcoming us to Papua New Guinea

A ½ hour later we boarded True North for welcome drinks, followed by lunch and more drinks, then a safety briefing, a tour briefing, a snorkeling briefing and a helicopter briefing – we are all briefed out. Then, as the sun was setting, it was time for drinks and dinner. Drinks with meals are included in the fare so we could enjoy “free” drinks with dinner.

Today was Jo’s birthday and the crew made her feel quite special all day. She had hugs on arrival and all day from most of the crew. There was a delicious birthday cake served as desert for everyone.

On board True North; Happy Birthday Jo

Following the meal we registered for tomorrow’s activities then hit the beds, all agreeing that we were exhausted.

The Nullarbor crossing was not the best. The weather was cold and damp – not decent rain but foggy with drizzling rain and heavy dew. Between Westonia (west of Kalgoorlie) we did only about 300 km on 5 of 6 days because we needed to wait for rough weather in South Australia to pass through the state. We did have one longer day of 470 km because stopping while it was raining was not enjoyable. By the way, although Nullarbor is Latin for “treeless” the part of Nullarbor Plain that the highway crosses is really only treeless for about 40 km and it is much more interesting than people think.

Happy hour at Nullarbor Roadhouse

A highlight, as usual, was a visit to the whale watching centre at Head of the Bight, about 20 km from the Nullarbor Roadhouse. This time we saw at least 20 whales, mainly females with their calves. Some came very close to the boardwalk.

Head of the Bight

Mum guiding her calf along the base of the cliff

Our final stop for 2 nights was at Crystal Brook where we spent a few hours cleaning both the inside and outside of the caravan before taking it to storage. The delaying tactics worked and we missed the really bad weather. Here the daytime temperature rose to 17 deg but at 7.00 am it was zero, glad we have an insulated van with a heater.

For those interested in statistics (rough figures), during the 92 day trip we travelled 13,000 km, being 11,000 km with the caravan and 2,000 km on side trips. We relocated the caravan on 43 days at an average of 250 km each time we moved; the van did 400 km or more on 7 days and less than 100 km on 9 days. We used 3,000 L of diesel at an average cost of $1.72, making a total of $5,100, or $55 per day. Average fuel consumption was 23 L/100.

It was a very enjoyable trip, allowing us to see and experience places that we hadn’t visited before. We spent time with old friends and met lots of interesting new friends – a special Hi goes to Kate, Ben, Jasper, Flynn and Leo whom we met several times up north and again at our local caravan park at the end of our trip

Until our next holiday, keep safe.

From Ted and Jo

2200 km after leaving Exmouth, we are at Fraser Range Station, about to start the 1100 km Nullarbor Plain crossing to Ceduna. So far it has been easy driving, 5 days at an average of 440 km per day. For the first couple of days, via Carnarvon and Geraldton, the maximum temperature was 27 deg, then suddenly, as soon as we left the coast it dropped to 19 deg at Dalwallinu, then 15 deg at Westonia, Kalgoorlie and Fraser Range. The overnight temperature was down to 2 deg by the time we arrived at Kalgoorlie. If we didn’t have friends, rellies and a nice home in Adelaide we would be tempted to turn around and head north again.

Nevertheless we have enjoyed the drive. At first the terrain was flat, coastal plain, with low vegetation and a few flowers. Eventually we got into wheat country and there has been some rain over winter. The crops are low but at least it is green everywhere to be seen for hundreds of kms. The little towns of Dalwallinu and Westonia are tidy, proud towns and looking quite prosperous. Westonia (never heard of it? We hadn’t.) on the edge of the wheat belt and goldfields, still has an active gold mine providing ongoing employment for lots of people. The whole area since Carnarvon is starting to show the beginning of the wild flower season. We saw it later in the season a few years ago and it is spectacular and even this early in the season it looks good, with lots of colours on the ground and in the trees.

Out favourite vegetation would be the salmon gums. Now they are shedding their dark grey winter bark and displaying the beautiful orange coloured fresh skin, with orange tips on the new leaves. For hundreds of kms the look wonderful beside the road and further afield.

This morning we had dense fog and at 9 am it hasn’t lifted yet. Visibility is now ok for driving so we’ll be leaving soon.

As always, we hope you keep safe and healthy. From Ted and Jo.

As expected the 1400 km trip from Broome to Exmouth was easy and relaxing. We did have a bit of excitement when we stopped for coffee about 30 km from Broome to find that the cover on the front window of the van had come open. Luckily it must have only just happened and we were able to fix the brackets before any damage was done.

About 150 km south of Broome we stopped for 4 days at Barn Hill Station, where a large caravan park has been established. We had a shady powered site about 100 m from a steep beach with a sunset viewing platform. The waves made it difficult to swim but that didn’t matter. Park patrons, many of whom come here for 3 to 4 months every year, organise card games, a market, a quirky dice game called left/right/centre that was good fun, a craft circle and even bowling tournaments on a 2-rink concrete green with fake grass. A cafe sells pies, pasties, sausage rolls, cake and delicious vanilla slices. The park is dry and dusty but is great fun for a few days – it’s important though to not use a chair or table or bit of shade that the regulars think they own. We saw an interesting exhibition of horse skills and riding skills by a young station hand and her two quarter horses , worth $35,000 each. One nice feature of BHS was the range of resident birds, butcher birds with their fabulous songs, finches, honey eaters, corellas, black cockatoos and more.

At Barn Hill Station, next to a tiny caravan of the same brand, 35 years old

Jo in Kymberly colours, Barn Hill Station

Sunsets at Barn Hill are always beautiful

Next stop about 200 km further south was 80 Mile Beach, another large park separated from the beach by a sand dune about 5 m high. This park is unusual because it has lots of green grass, the first time we have had such luxury since leaving Renmark. We were allocated a non-powered site only a few metres from the walkway and viewing platform, also the fish cleaning station which we didn’t need but it was interesting to see people returning with their catch. We saw a small python slithering along the ground near the toilets; that gave us something to think about when visiting the toilet at 4 am. No swimming here because the beach is very shallow with sand flats about 200 m wide at low tide. With good sunset views and beach walking, 80 MB was another good stop. The pie night was good too.

Fishing trailer at 80 Mile Beach, check out the sign

Our van, with the green plastic tub, was one of 300 at 80 Mile Beach

We by-passed Port Headland and drove to Indee Station, about a 30 km detour. The station has 3,000 cattle, run by an 80 year old couple, a full time station hand, a volunteer caravan park caretaker and cleaner and others as needed, e.g. a grader operator who was there at the time. 3 mine railways lines run through the property and they probably make as much money from that as from cattle grazing.

At Indee Station, our van at the right

Fortescue River Roadhouse consists of a roadhouse, 200 huts for mine and road workers, a tavern that opens from 6.30 to 10.00 pm for the workers, and a small, dry, dusty but clean caravan park – and butcher birds that sing beautifully all day.

Another detour, this time 80 km each way, took us to Onslow, a nice town on the coast. Two caravan parks are occupied mainly by long term fishing enthusiasts and we were lucky to get the last site in the overflow area. It was a large and shady site and had both power and water so we were happy. This was just a one night stop because we found that we had a night to spare and were pleasantly surprised; 2 pubs, a couple of cafes, a museum, a nice boardwalk around the headland and huge salt works with mountains of salt exported through a deep sea port.

300 km further on we checked into Bullara Station, looking forward to a roast dinner and desert but we missed out because it was fully booked. We had also missed out at Barn Hill and 80 Mile Beach so obviously we are destined to go without a roast. The weather was good, the damper provided to all was the best (we have the recipe now) and company around the campfire was good. We haven’t had many fires on this trip so that made a nice change. While at Bullara we visited Coral Bay for snorkelling, which was very good, right off the beach and also for a visit to the bakery (another one! How can we lose weight?).

A few days ago we arrived at Cape Range National Park, near Exmouth, one of our favourite places. We are at North Kurrajong camp area (site 34 for 2 nights and site 28 for 2 nights, having to change because we didn’t book early enough), just 2 minutes walk from a beautiful beach. We have seen lots of whales a few hundred metres away on the outside of Ningaloo Reef and 4 dolphins about 100ms from us. The reef fringes WA for hundreds of km and is quite spectacular. We have snorkelled with fish, rays and turtles and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It has been quite windy but the temperature has been about 30 deg and the afternoons/evenings have been calm. The camp area has only 9 sites so it is quiet, no power or water but there are 3 shared long drop toilets. We have visited other beaches for snorkelling and sightseeing, all within 25 km; an amazing place.

Happy Hour takes 2 hours at Cape Range National Park

We will leave in a couple of days to drive steadily back to Adelaide, arriving about 16 August. Not looking forward to the cold weather but it will be good to back home again.

Love to all. Keep healthy and safe. From Ted and Jo

From Broome we took a short 210 km drive north to Cape Leveque. Sounds easy but it took 5 hours as 90 km was along a sandy, corrugated road that was as rough as any of the Gibb River Rd so we were often driving at 20-30 kph. When we arrived at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm we knew it was worthwhile.

This was the reward for driving to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm

We were among only 5 caravans at a bush camp site (powered with water, toilet and shower) and had a great time with new friends.

Bush camp, 1 km from a bar, restaurant and pool

Had a couple of wonderful Japanese influenced seafood meals at the Cygnet Bay restaurant.

We took 2 boat cruises while at Cape Leveque, firstly a 2-hour cruise to see a waterfall reef. This is caused by an outgoing tide receding over a reef. The tides in this area are very big, with a rise and fall of up to 12 m, and very fast, up to 30 kph, so the sights are amazing.

We were right beside this 2-3 m tidal water fall

The 2nd cruise was an 8-hour trip to the Buccaneer Archipelago. It was called the 1000 island cruise and we certainly saw lots of islands, visiting 4 and 2 beaches and one water fall. We picked delicious oysters off the rocks at one beach.

The bottom pool is tidal (“we haven’t seen a croc here for awhile”) so we climbed about 8m up the steep rocks to the 2nd pool

This crystal clear fresh water, croc free, was our reward

Back at the pearl farm we learned how to grow pearls then opened 2 pearl oysters to find 2 pearls worth $900 and $1300 each.

This was the $900 pearl. The other is under the white flesh near the “high” knuckle of the left hand

We decided not to buy this $300,000 necklace, made from natural pearls

We had to move on because Cygnet Bay was booked out so we went 10 km to Gumbanan camp site, a large area with some shade, a couple of toilets and showers and lots of fine grey sand, very dusty. We were lucky to get a site right on top of a rocky cliff, about 8 m high, overlooking a large, beautiful blue bay. At low tide a huge sand bar took up most of the bay but at high tide the water was 10 m deep, amazing.

Camped beside the bay at Gumbanan

Life is tough at Gumbanan – check out the feet

We had lots of visitors because we had one of the best sunset views

After a week at Cape Leveque we are now back in Broome, relaxing with our friends from Perth and enjoying the relentless blue skies, sunshine and warmth. Just for something different Broome turned on a 6.9 earthquake yesterday. We were in a rickety grandstand at the races when it hit. The stand shook violently and it was a bit scary for a couple of minutes before everything settled down again. We got a text message from BOM quite quickly to say that there was no tsunami coming so we could relax. Apparently there have been lots of after shocks and this morning we felt a 5.5 after shock.

This little grandstand and the bigger one at the back shook violently

We will leave Broome on Wednesday for a 2-week, 1400 km drive to Exmouth, camping on beaches and a cattle station along the way.

Hope everyone is healthy and safe, as we are.

Ted and Jo

It’s hard to believe but it has been 3 weeks since our last post; it has taken that long for us to drive the Gibb River Road and for virtually the whole time we have been out of phone and internet service.

The GRR leg of our trip has been great. The road has been very rough and often we have driven at 20 – 30 km per hour for hours at a time. Jo has decided that she has had enough of corrugated roads. As we mentioned earlier the past wet season brought less than 50% of the average rainfall so the whole area is very dry. Creek crossings are dry, water falls have only a little water, water levels in gorges are lower than normal and the roads and camp grounds are very dusty.

The Kymberly scenery has still been amazing. We have enjoyed lots of 4WD tracks, hiking in gorges, swimming in water holes, eating out at a couple of bush restaurants and meeting new friends. The GRR is officially 660 km long but we went into most of the stations along the way so we did about 1100 km, about 1000 km on rough gravel road. Some people do the trip quickly but we deliberately took it slowly. The car and caravan performed well, although one of our 3 water tanks did come loose because the nuts unscrewed on the corrugations. The tank dragged along the road and had to be tied up with rope for about 300 km, but not before the road scraped a couple of holes in the plastic tank, causing the loss of about 90L of water. Ted fixed it this morning so hopefully it will be ok now.

We stopped for 1 to 3 nights in:

El Questro – a large camp ground with a bar and a large restaurant and several hiking, 4WDriving and swimming options.

El Questro Gorge, after a 1 hour hike, clambering over large rocks

Home Valley Station, where we camped beside the Pentecost River, with salt water crocodiles.

Sunset over Pentecost River, Home Valley Station

Ellenbrae Station, famous for its scones, and with a very nice swimming hole.

A swimming hole on Ellenbrae Station

Gibb River Station, the least interesting of the places we visited.

Mt Elizabeth Station, 20 km from the GRR, swimming in a gorge a further 20 km away on a rough 4WD track.

Manning Gorge, probably our favourite spot on the GRR, with great swimming in a large water hole beside the camp ground.

Charnley River Wilderness Camp, 40 km from the GRR, with green grass and shady trees, managed by Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

Mornington Wilderness Camp, 80 km from the GRR, another favourite spot, with 4WD tracks and several places to swim.

Sir John Gorge, Mornington Wilderness Camp; good swimming

Bell Gorge, where we hiked for an hour to the stunning Bell Gorge, with some water flowing over the falls.

Windjana Gorge, 40 km from the main road, where we counted 70 freshwater crocodiles in the beautiful gorge only a 15 minute walk from the camp ground before walking through the amazing Tunnel Creek.

Entrance to Windjana Gorge

We counted 70 Freshies in Windjana Gorge

About to enter knee deep water in Tunnel Creek

A Freshie waiting for us in Tunnel Creek

A male Bower Bird, closest to the camera, inviting his girl friend into the bower that he built

The end of the GRR was at Derby, a small town where we saw the ocean for the first time since leaving home 6 weeks ago. Lunch at the cafe beside the jetty provided an opportunity to relax and enjoy the end of the red dust (for awhile).

Now we are Broome for 6 days, trying the get the red dust out of our clothes, shoes and bedding. We won’t worry about cleaning the caravan because we will soon be hitting the dusty road again.

Celebrating the completion of our GRR trip, beside the ocean at Broome

Love to all, hope everyone is safe and well

Ted and Jo

After leaving Katherine we drove over 2 days to Zebra Rock Mine camp ground, near the border between Northern Territory and Western Australia. This was the beginning of the Gibb River Road leg of our trip. We will probably spend 4 or 5 weeks traveling 1500 km to Broome WA so there will be lots of 2- or 3-day stops and short driving distances.

Zebra Rock mine is apparently the only place in the world mining Zebra rock, a fascinating brown and white striped rock. Once mined and cut it can be fashioned into a range of ornamental products as large as table tops and statues and as small as earrings. Once polished it looks beautiful. The mine, operated by a nice couple, their 6 year old daughter and their 3 employees, is not allowed to make money from tourism so visitors are there to learn about mining and to assist in production by polishing a few rocks. Sitting in the middle of a large pastoral lease the owners are constantly fighting the grazing company over their right to be there. We took an interesting 15 km 4WD trip to a Lake Argyle then a 2 hour sunset cruise. It was surprising to see that the lake is lower than it has been for the past 25 years or more. We drove across mudflats before cruising in creeks that would normally be several metres under water. We saw freshwater crocodiles and swam in 26 deg fresh water in Lake Argyle before having sunset nibbles and drinks and returning after dark – a good tour with only 7 passengers and 3 crew.

Sunset cruising on Lake Argyle

Bluey the pet Blue Tongue lizard at Zebra Rock camp ground

Keep River National Park was only 40 km away, along a very dusty road, our first for this trip but certainly not our last. Although a small (730 sq km) Park, it is very interesting. This year has been very dry so we couldn’t see it at its best. The park ranger told us that water levels in the river and creeks and the condition of the vegetation are currently as they would normally be in August. Sandstone formations are spectacular, similar to those in the Bungle Bungles, just not as big. We were pleased that we spent 3 nights here.

Sunrise in the Keep River National Park; parked in front of a sandstone rock.

Boab trees can be hundreds, even 1000 years old

2 metre high savannah grass in the national park; no cattle grazing to reduce it to stubble.

Amazing sandstone formations and Livistonia palms during a 2 hour bush walk

Only 40 km further and we arrived at Lake Argyle Resort. Yes, it’s called a resort but it’s really a caravan park, a few glam tents and cabins and a bush restaurant, with an infinity pool. The view over the lake is great. The lake is actually a man-made reservoir, built in the late 1960’s to provide reliable water for the Ord River irrigation system and the town of Kununurra that was built to support fruit, vegetable and sandalwood production. It was an amazing project, resulting in a lake 19 times the size of Sydney Harbour. Cruising on this vast waterway, with mountains around it’s edge and between other mountains that are now islands, is an unforgettable experience.

Infinity pool at Lake Argyle Resort, late afternoon

Lunch in luxury on the shore of Lake Argyle

Sunset over Lake Argyle

Then to Kununurra which we visited several years ago. This time we did a couple of long 4WD trips, one on a back road to Wyndham and one to the lower reaches of the Keep River where we saw several large saltwater crocodiles. Unusually the weather has been quite cool, with maximum temperatures in the mid-20’s and a strong south easterly breeze. It’s comfortable for tourists but the locals are feeling the “cold”.

We drove across the Ord River here, at Ivanhoe Crossing, north of Kununurra

Imagine the surprise when putting sandals on, after leaving them outside overnight

Tomorrow we start the Gibb River Road. Everyone tells us that the region virtually missed out on its annual wet season so this is not an ideal year to be doing the Gibb, but we are still looking forward to it.

Hope everyone keeps well and safe. We do enjoy your comments but we prefer to reply individually rather than publicising them.

Love to all.

Ted and Jo

This is our second attempt at going to the iconic Gibb River Road at the very top of Western Australia. When we tried 3 years ago we had fridge trouble so we went east to Queensland instead. We are better equipped now so we’ll try again.

To start, instead of heading north from Adelaide, we took a detour and went east to Renmark to help friends celebrate a couple of special occasions. It was wonderful catching up with lots of old friends again.

Even in drought the River Murray at Renmark is still beautiful

From Renmark we travelled west for a few hours then north for 2800 km over 6 days, with overnights stops in roadside rest areas. We chose rest areas with long drop toilets but no other luxuries,very basic but we enjoy evenings under the stars rather than in towns.

Typical roadside rest area, 220 south of Katherine.

The terrain varied from irrigated fruit country near Renmark, to desert areas near Coober Pedy, to rugged gorges around Alice Springs, to savannah grasslands north of Tennant Creek. Already we have met several really nice people at Happy Hour. Caravan traffic has been a bit lighter than normal but there are still plenty of huge road trains to keep us interested. We have seen eagles, emus, wallabies, sheep, cattle, horses and a dingo.

Road trains such as these are 53 m long and usually travel at 100 kph.

After 6 days of fairly “routine” driving we are now at Katherine for a couple of days, preparing for our trip westward into Western Australia.

Relaxing at Shady Lane caravan park, Katherine

Cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast at Katherine.

Our itinerary ahead is for about 6 weeks traveling about 2000 km to Broome, WA. There will be lots of short day trips, relaxing, bush walking, swimming, sightseeing and relaxing; looking forward to some new sights and experiences.

Hope everyone keeps, safe and well

Ted and Jo