Home

After a cold night we woke to a glorious morning, the sun was trying to warm up the cold air (6 DegC) but didn't have much of a chance.

This morning Ron was taking Vicki to hospital in Bendigo, so we left together around 9am but we headed into Echuca to refuel and then along the Murray Valley Highway back home.

The kids were very excited about returning home and getting back to their Lego collection. The weather today was very nice with a sunny day to remind us that spring is only a couple of weeks away.

We parked the caravan in front of the house and unloaded absolutely everything as we expect to sell the caravan over the next few months.

I was a little bit weird for the first few hours in the house where we have so much space compared to the 20sqm we occupied for the last three months. Now that the caravan is empty we have lots of stuff lying around the house and the next few days will be spent stowing things away and getting used to the rain which is forecast to fall for most of next week.

Later in the afternoon we dropped that caravan back it's usual spot at the office and that brought our trip to an official closure.

I suppose one day we'll return back to Broome where the weather is nice and the lifestyle is uncomplicated but for the time being we better start enjoying the cold and the rain.

Almost Home

Early this morning, as I paid a visit to the ablutions, I was washing my hands and talking to the fella next to me without looking at him before I realised it was one of my customers from Albury. I suppose that's a reminder that we're getting close to home.

We tracked back through Mildura onto the NSW side of the Murray to follow the Sturt Hwy to Eusten. This stretch of road was the worst we've seen on our trip, much worse than the outback roads of WA. It is limited to 110km/h but the side of the road has holes that are 1ft deep in places and no sign to warn drivers.

At Robinvale we finally crossed back into Victoria where the road was generally better but there was clear evidence that the road has suffered with recent rains. We stopped at Lake Boga for lunch and, once again, marvelled at the lake which was a dustbowl back in 2009.

On the East side of Kerang we found a detour as one lane of the Murray Valley Hwy looked like it was washed away by floods. The map shows "Dry Lake" beside the why but it was full to the brink.

SHortly after Torrumbarry we turned South to Lockington and by 1:30pm pulled in at Ron & Vicki's place. Unfortunately Vicki had just returned from Hospital with one leg in plaster. Ron, Ilse and I took over Vicki's kitchen to prepare tonight's dinner.

Tonight's tucker reminded us very much of the good times in Broome where we had Mango every day and where we caught tonights' fish.

This was fitting meal for our last night in the caravan, in exactly the same spot where we had our first night over 3 months ago.

Here is the link to today's travel map

Mildura

We woke to an overcast sky and that's exactly what we encountered for most of our way South until we got closer to the big rivers where it started to rain.

After some 300km we crossed the Darling and short while later the Murray as we approached Mildura. Crossing the Murray also meant that we were back in Victoria and the end of our trip is near. Our Track took us through Mildura to Irymple where we found a little Caravan park.

For the first time since leaving Victoria 12 weeks ago we are in Caravan park that isn't absolutely full to the brink. It must be the fact that it's cold and raining here.

After lunch we went for a drive to the Mildura Chocolate Company where they handcraft chocolates using local ingredients. The whole outfit is a not-for-profit organisation employing and supporting disabled people.

For the first time ever (other than at home) we have had hot chocolate made with real chocolate.

Next we went to Lock 11 and were lucky to see it in operation as a boat went through the lock. Due to high flow levels the difference between across the lock is only 1.5mt but normally, with less flow, it's more like 3 or 4mt.

We a bit of exploring along the river and ended up at Allseasons Houseboats where we checkout the luxury houseboats they have available for hire. Maybe, later in the year, we could have a few days on a houseboat.

A quick trip past the supermarket was in order as we've lost some food due to the caravan fridge running too cold - I should have turned it down when we came back South.

Here is the link to today's travel map.

Silverton

Our first trip this morning was out West to the Umberumberka reservoir which provides some of the water for Broken Hill. Along the way we stopped at a lookout which gives a great view over the Mundi Mundi Plains which stretch out for an eternity.

Just below the lookout is the location where some of the scenes for Mad Max 2 were filmed. Although right now the plains don't like the dusty, sandy outback landscape from the movie but instead, represent a lush and blooming wildflower area full of grass bushes and other plants. We have also come across a number of flood damaged river crossing as a reminder of the recent floods.

This location was also going to be used for Mad Max 4. A 4km track has already been graded for filming, over 150 vehicles are stored (under lock and key) in Broken Hill and film studio was also built there. However, the landscape is too lush and green for the movie and it was announced very recently that filming will take place in another location - probably Namibia.

On the way back we called into Silverton to see the Mad Max 2 museum which has only been open for a year or two. Adrian and Linda, both Mad Max fanatics, have migrated over here from Yorkshire and opened up the museum in this remote location.

Half way back to Broken Hill we turned off onto a dirt road for 13km which took us to the Daydream mine, an Silver mine which commenced operation 130 years ago with miners from Cornwell. We went on an underground mine tour which took us nearly 100ft below the surface where we saw a couple of silver deposits.

In this area they mine Galena which contains Silver, Zinc, Lead and Gold. Around Broken Hill township, the major content of Galena is Zinc and Lead but around Silverton its primarily Silver.

Back in Broken Hill we had a Milkshake and Waffles at the iconic 50's style Bells Milk bar. Our next stop was the Minerals Museum where we learned about the Broken Hill Lode (the underground ore body) and how it came into being. It was amazing to see that the underground mining area is much larger that Broken Hill itself and located right beneath the town. Apparently the underground blasts can be heard in the town every day.

On our way back to the caravan we stopped at the supermarket, refuelled and finally arrived very tired after a big day out.

Silver City

It was nearly 7am when sun finally came up and after a quick breakfast I replaced the thrust bearing the jockey wheel. Before too long we were on the move again and had left Port Augusta behind.

We noticed that this time round it was very green from Ceduna onwards whereas in 2009 everything was dry until we came into Port Augusta.

It was sunny when we left this morning but as soon as we got to Horrocks Pass, in the hills East of Port Augusta, we were in cloud and rain. Once we left the hills behind and drove through Wilmington we were back in the flat country which was overcast but only with a few sprinkles of rain.

On our way to Peterborough we passed through Orroroo - now there's a name made up with only two letters of the alphabet! In Peterborough we refuelled before heading for the 285km track to Broken Hill.

After travelling a total of 415km we reached Broken Hill just after 1pm, checked in, had lunch and then off to the tourist information, a drive around town and the lookouts to get an overview of the town.

The street names are all mining related, Cobalt Street, Wolfram Street, Crystal Lane. Even chemical compounds are used for street names: Chloride Street, Oxide Street, Sulphide Street and Bromide Street.

I also found it interesting that small, old, miners cottages can be found on the side of a hill and have excellent views. Mind you, the view is onto a huge heap of dirt where the old silver mine used to be.

The last activity for the day was a visit to the local Royal Flying Doctor Service base which is the Head Quarters for the South Eastern region. They provide a little tour of the facility and the hanger combined with a film and a museum which illustrates the history of the RFDS.

By the time it got dark we were back at the caravan ready to for quiet night.

Here is the link to today's travel map.

Port Augusta

After a good night's sleep we got up just before sunrise which was nearly 7am local time.

We saw three cars with dog trailers full of Huskies stopping a few times and found out that they are on their way to the sled dog races at Falls Creek. That's very keen to drive over from Perth just to participate in the races, but I suppose they don't get a lot of opportunity sled dog racing in W.A.

With the heater going for the first couple of hours we made it to Ceduna where they took all remaining fruit and vegetables from us at the Quarantine check point. A quick refuelling stop on the outskirts of town and then back on the road heading towards Port Augusta.

As usual, when we go across the Nullarbor we always have rain (or hail) and this trip was no exception. Although they were only brief showers with sunshine in between they were pretty intense.

The landscape after Ceduna is very hilly for little while but then turns into pastoral land with sheep and lots of crops. The colour of these paddocks was a very deep green and reminded me of English country side meadows. I bet the farmers are very happy over here with the upcoming crop.

We pulled into a rest area at Minnipa and enjoyed a hot soup for lunch. The next refuelling stop was Wudinna and then we continued through Kimba and past Iron Knob into Port Augusta.

Iron Knob (photo 2) is an open cut mine where they are digging away the mountain. A small mining township is located the foot of the Knob.

In Port Augusta we pulled into the Shoreline caravan park where we've stayed a couple of times on our previous trip. While we set up the caravan another maintenance issue raised it's head - the jockey wheel thrust bearing has disintegrated. Although I do have a spare bearing with me, the job will have to wait until the caravan is hocked up to car so I can pull down the jockey wheel.

Having been here twice before, we know Port August quite well and went straight to the supermarket to restock with fruit and vegetables, filled up the car and back to the caravan to settle in for the night.

Here is the link to today's travel map.

Nullarbor

This morning was very fresh, only 3DegC, but we braved the cold, got going early and were on the road by 6:45am.

After only 90km we stopped at Balladonia and refuelled. The cloud cover in this area kept the morning temperatures to a more reasonable 10DegC but we were still using the heater in the car.

Our next refuelling stop was Cocklebiddy roadhouse and then Mundrabilla. We went straight past Eucla and crossed the border into S.A. around 1pm. A short distance after the border we had our lunch break at a rest area that overlooked the Great Australian bite.

It was only a couple hundred km's to the Nullarbor roadhouse where we pulled up for the night. To our great surprise we found phone reception and hence this blog update.

Today I also discovered the reason for all those motorbikes on the road. Apparently they all go to the Border Village on the SA/WA border, have a drink, and then drive back the next day. This event is attended by riders from SA and WA. I suppose it's an excuse for 4 days motor bike riding.

Although we've been at the Nullarbor roadhouse before we never stayed overnight. As we rolled up we saw something rather novel - there was a small single engine aeroplane taxing around between trucks in front of the [car] fuel bowsers. If you have close look at the 2nd picture you can see the plane.

From our caravan window I can see the sun setting over treeless plain and the sky taking on a golden coloured glow. We are now in the S.A. time zone and I have adjusted all our clocks forward by 1.5hrs. I just wish it was as easy to adjust my body clock!

Fraser Range #2

This morning was a cool but not the 3DegC they mentioned on the radio. We had Baked Beans and Eggs on toast this morning but still managed to get going around 8am.

Today's track took us South to Norseman where we saw a lot of motor cycles which seemed to be on their way somewhere - I wonder if they're going to Victoria.

At Norseman we start to retrace our track and basically go back the same way we came over. For this reason we wan't be stopping too much and try to get to Port Augusta as soon as possible.

The total distance of the Nullarbor is a bit over 1600kms which is stretch of road between Norseman on the Western end and Port Augusta on the Eastern end.

After refuelling in Norseman we turned East for another 100km and pulled into Fraser Range station before lunch. We stayed at this station for a couple of nights in May, so this is really our 2nd stay on this holiday.

Today we only travelled 280km so we can have a good rest before we get on the Nullarbor in earnest. We're planning on an early start tomorrow with the intention to cover about half of the Nullarbor distance.

Here is the link to today's travel map.

Boulder

This little caravan park at Menzies is one of the nicest we've seen and by far the cheapest at $20 with no extra charge for the kids. They had really well thought out showers and everything was still brand new.

We left the park around 8am and had a short drive to Boulder, the twin town of Kalgoorlie. By 10am we arrived at the caravan park and got the only available site. Unfortunately, the previous nights' occupants were a bit slow and hadn't left by checkout time so we have to wait a little bit before we could park our caravan.

After a quick setup we went shopping to Woolies. This was our last shopping trip in W.A. as there are n more super markets until we get into S.A.

We have to do a bit of food planning now as we'll be crossing the S.A. border where we can't take fruit and veg. Furthermore, there will be no more shopping until we get to the other end of the Nullarbor.

This morning was quite cold with only 9DegC and a top temperature of only 15 DegC during the day. I think back home the forecast today was 20DegC, somewhat warmer than over this side. The light summer covers are now stowed away and our warm sleeping bags are back in action.

Our plan is to stop at Fraser Range station tomorrow night and then head across the Nullarbor on the weekend. With a bit of luck we'll pop out the other side sometime next Monday.

Although there is no phone/internet across the Nullarbor, our current position will be available live by clicking on this link.

Here is the link to today's travel map.

Menzies

Those clouds we saw yesterday turned into showers during the night but it wasn't quite as cold as I expected. We had breakfast and hit the road at 7:30. To our great surprise we pulled out just in front of the two 6.5mt wide loads we overtook yesterday. They stopped just up the road at Cue and got going at first light.

We pulled in at Mt Magnet to refuel and so did the wide loads. That's where we found out that they are going to Norseman where the haul packs are to be used in a new mine. We pulled out of the service station before the wide load and then turned East onto the Sandstone road.

Once we were on the Sandstone road all the trucks and other traffic was gone only a car or road train every now and then but we mostly had the road to ourselves.

We were driving under puffy clouts today and I never saw the temperature gauge go above 17 DegC. We've come long way South since leaving Broome three days ago, nearly 12 Deg of latitude has now taken us well and truly out of the tropics. We travelled from the Kimberley through the Pilbara and Gascoyne and are now in the Central Western Goldfields region.

We didn't stop in Sandstone as we've heard from another traveller that they got dirty diesel there and ended up with a blocked fuel filter. We did stop in Leinster for diesel and then turned South again, continued through Leonora and pulled up at 2pm in Menzies' brand new caravan park.

Menzies is a very small settlement and most people stop there to visit Lake Ballard where artist Antony Gormley placed 51 sculptures on 10sqkm of this salt lake. However, the lake is 51km's away from Menzies and with recent rains has turned into mud. We decided not to go and have an easy afternoon.

Our total travel distance today was around 550km.

Here is the link to today's travel map.

Mt Whaleback

This morning was our tour of the Mt Whaleback iron ore mine. At 9:30 we left on a bus which took us into the mine site and to a lookout which provides a great view over the largest open cut iron ore mine in the world.

Mt Whaleback was named by it's shape but since then well over 600ft have been taken off the top and a huge hole dug beside it, so today it bears no resemblance to the back of a whale.

The large dump trucks ("haul packs") carry 240,000kg of ore and have all up loaded weight of well over 400,000kg. They use 380 lt of diesel per hour on idle. The whole mine site uses 5 Million litres of diesel every month and that doesn't include the diesel for the trains. No wonder the mining industry doesn't want a carbon tax!

The ore in this mine varies from high grade (68%) to low grade (60%) all of which is crushed and screened, the mixed together and shipped out at around 65% on 2-3km long trains. The carriages are loaded with 125,000kg each and a train with 230 carriages carries $5 million worth of iron ore. Every day 12 to 14 trains leave this mine site. That $60-$70 million turnover every day.

Mining is an expensive undertaking with wages for haul pack drivers starting at $112,000 per year and train driver around $200,000 per year. OH&S is big and there are many layers of safety to prevent injuries.

At the end of the tour we were allowed to fill a bag with the various type of ore mined on this site. I took a little rock of hematite which appears blue and contains the high grade iron ore. It's a very heavy rock due to the ore's high specific gravity of 4.

After the tour we hitched up the caravan and continued our trip south around lunch time. There are big expansions going on at mines around Newman and the road South of Newman is the main transport link to Perth. The road was stacked full with road trains and oversized loads most of which were travelling to Newman.

However, the widest load we encountered w

as two trucks loaded with haul packs and measuring 6.5 meters wide. They were travelling the same direction as us and believe me, there is not much room left on the road when 6.5 metres are already occupied. With lots of instructions over the radio we managed to sneak past but the overtaking manoeuvre was an adventure by itself.

We tried to go as far South as possible today and, although we only had half a day, managed nearly 600km. Our timing for stopping tonight was very much borderline and relied on twilight as we weren't able to stop before sunset.

The caravan park at Cue had no powered sites available so we rang ahead to Mt Magnet only to find out they were full too. About 5km North of Mt Magnet is a rest area called "The Granites" and we arrived there just as we were loosing light and by the time we parked the caravan it was dark.

Tonight we are the only caravan in this parking area and there is no water or power, but we are not far from Mt Magnet and we do have phone reception.

We are now well below the tropic of capricorn, and today we have had a top temperature of only 24DegC. Driving towards Mt Magnet we have seen clouds for the first time in a few weeks.

Here is the link to today's travel map.

Heart of the Pilbara

The kids got up early and went outside to crack open some of the red rocks that are so plentiful in this region. Almost everything on the ground is iron ore or contains some form of it.

By 8am we got on the road which winds through the undulating landscape of the Pilbara. The hills in this region have a very distinct shape and a lack of trees. Some of the soil surface shines in a deep purple colour and has a almost oily look about it.

There is a distinct lack of wildlife in this area, we didn't sight a single Kangaroo, not even a dead one on the side of the road. However, there are countless mines in this area and the roads are filled with mining vehicles and trucks.

This morning's trip was fairly short, only 180km and we arrived in Newman. Mount Newman towers prominently over the landscape on the approach into the town. We drove straight to the tourist information and booked in to attend a tour of the mine tomorrow morning.

Then onto the caravan park for a site, tonight with power and phone reception so we can update the blog and check emails.

Ilse did a load of washing and we had a bite to eat before going off to explore the town. Newman is quite large and everything has BHP Iron Ore plastered all over it - I guess BHP basically own the town.

We drove to the Radio Hill Lookout to get an overview of the town - it is situated right next to the Mt Newman mine which towers over Newman is many times the size of the town.

We met some fellow travellers at this lookout and as we got talking found out they come from Rutherglen!

Some more chatting to travellers at the caravan park and the day was over. Today was the first day of August and we are counting the days left till we have to return back home.

Here is the link to today's travel map.

Big Driving Day

The time had finally arrived to say good bye to Broome and to our friends, Judy and Alan, which have been an integral part of our stay. It's hard to believe that we were camped together last night but by the end of the day we'll have over 1200km between us.

We got up early and were on the road just after 7AM when the air was nice and fresh but our awning dripping wet from the overnight moisture. A short distance West to Roebuck, then we nearly missed the turnoff to Port Hedland. From Roebuck it was all South, past those places we'd visited on our way up, Barnhill Station, Port Smith, Pardoo Station and so on.

He pulled into Sandfire Roadhouse, with the "Fuel Low" indicator on, and refuelled the car. Over these early morning hours we watched the temperature climb from 16 DegC at 7am to 30 DegC at 9:30am.

One the way to Port Hedland we marvelled at the changing landscape as we transitioned from the Kimberley into the Pilbara. The changes in earth colour are quite pronounced and the typical Pilbara hills suddenly rise out of nowhere.

About 100km before Port Hedland we are back with the Mining Road Trains, which, I'm sure, have multiplied many times since our last visit in 2009.

We were lucky enough that DeGrey Station were mustering near the Highway as we went past. We could hear the action on the UHF radio for many kilometres and saw two helicopters and and one fixed wing aircraft working with the ground crew to round up cattle. We saw large mobs that had been gathered near the road and whole lot more in their yard.

Next refuelling stop was Port Hedland where we pulled into the Shell Roadhouse on the way through. We continued through to the Newman turnoff on the Southern side of Port Hedland which is were our backtracking ended and out inland track started.

A quick lunch stop on the side of the road and then straight through to Auski Roadhouse to refuel for the third time today. The track to Auski is interesting as the picturesque Hamersley ranges slowly build until we finally reached Minjina gorge just South of Auski.

On the other side of the gorge is a fabulous free camp called "Albert Tognolini Rest Area" (photo) which overlooks a gorge and is 2200ft above sea level. We pulled in, found a spot, dried out the awning and admired the sunset.

We travelled over 850km today and are now a full 3 degrees of latitude further South than were we were last night. By tomorrow we'll be back on the 23rd latitude (the tropic of capricorn), which means we'll be leaving the tropics and heading for the cold.

Here is the link to today's travel map.

Last Day in Broome

Unfortunately today was our last day in this great place.

I dropped off Ilse and Andrea at the market whilst I got a couple of bolts for Alan and picked up our frozen fish from Val, Cameron's wife. With the frozen load I made my way back to camp to transfer the fish into our freezer.

Then back to the market to get my last Fruit Thingy for this trip, catch up with Astro Greg and say goodbye to Caitlin (see picture). A quick dash back to Kimberley Camping for some more frozen Mango then back to pick up Ilse from the market and drive her to the supermarket whilst I head back to camp to get the Mango's in the freezer.

A quick dash back to pick up Ilse and get another kilo of Mango's from the shop, drop Ilse and shopping back to the caravan, and back to Astro Greg's home where I had to do a bit of faultfinding on a telescope. After I had successfully located the fault Greg rewarded me with a couple of fresh Paw Paw's from his tree.

On the way back to the caravan I filled up the car ready for tomorrow's departure. It was 3pm by time all my running around was finished and I could relax. Later on we cleaned and packed up the fishing gear and got the caravan ready.

It's a bit sad that we have to leave now that we've met many of the locals. They all seem have a very relaxed approach to life and are very friendly. This weekend the Mudcrab races are on in Derby but unfortunately we'll be travelling in the opposite direction.

Tomorrow we will leave early and head south, hopefully as far as Auski Roadhouse and then onto Newman, Kalgoorlie and back across the Nularbor, a total distance of 5400km which we hope to cover between now and the 14th of August.

Astro Greg

We are starting to think about our departure and how to make our way home. This morning we cleaned the caravan to get rid of the red Pindan dust which had covered the whole caravan. With a bit of luck we'll have bitumen for most of our way home.

Most of the morning was spent with work and study while Ilse did a bit of washing. After lunch I cleaned out the car fridge and went to the shop to fill it up with 10kg of frozen Mangos to take back home.

The afternoon went fairly quick as Alan and I installed a fridge slide and some cabinet work into the back of his Mitsubishi Challenger. A bit of carpentry work, some drilling and few bolts saw the jib completed by 4:30pm, just in time for bite to eat before our next appointment.

We spent the evening with a fellow by the name of Greg Quicke who runs Broome Astro Tours. At a site a few km's away from the caravan park he presented a very educational talk and gave people a look through his telescopes. The main theme of his presentation was to bring the rather complex concept of the movement of stars to a layman's level and make people realise how it all works.

Back at the ranch we enjoyed our usual Mango and Ice cream dessert before we fell into bed ready for a good night's rest.

Work Day

We had a sleep in this morning as everyone was still tired from yesterday's day out on the water. The kids got stuck into their school work and I had to attend to some work matters while the rest of our camp went out shopping.

By the time they were back it was afternoon and a lady from a couple of caravans up gave us demonstration on how to use a Thermomix kitchen appliance. This demonstration involved making a Mango smoothie, just what we needed on a warm afternoon in Broome.

The kids had a great time at the pool in the afternoon and I got a bit more work done. The days just seem to flash by and we know that the time to leave is coming near.

Birthday fishing

We left camp at 6:45am for Alexander's and Alan's delayed birthday surprise. They had no idea what they were in for when we arrived at Gantheaume Point to meet up with Cameron from Sentosa Charters.

We hired the Cameron and his boat for the whole day to go out fishing. First we trolled through the Mackerel area and both birthday boys got to land Mackerel. While Alan was holding one Mackerel in the water to wait for Alexander to finish with his Mackerel a large shark popped up and took the Mackerel. Once the big shark was on the line there was no hope of moving him anywhere so the line was eventually snapped off. With 3 Mackerel on ice we decided to move on.

After a bit of brekkie we did some reef fishing and bounced our bait on the bottom. This resulted in various Emperor species, Trevallay, Crimson Sea Perch and a few others. However, the sharks were thick and fast. As we fished we could see about half a dozen large sharks hanging around the boat with the intention of stealing our catch. We lost probably half of our catch to sharks.

during lunch we headed northwards for some game fishing. Using the switch bait method we trolled a couple of teaser lines to bring up some sailfish. Once a sailfish appears on the surface, the teaser is switched for a bait fish with hook and let out to the sailfish who will whack it with it's bill. The baitfish then needs to stop (let line run free) and the sailfish will come back to eat it.

This is very interesting fishing with a 10kg line to catch a 15-40kg fish. Ours (see picture) was 20-25kg and Alexander got to reel him in with great care. To more precise, the boat actually reverses towards the fish rather than the fish being reeled to the boat.

These sailfish perform spectacular jumps and this type of fishing is the most exciting we have ever done. Once the photo's were taken, the Sailfish was carefully held in the water while motoring and, once fully recovered,

was let go to live another day.

During the day we saw plenty of whales and sea snakes as well. By the time we returned to the caravan and had fresh Mackerel for dinner we were worn out and ready for bed.

Birthday Cake

The days just seem to zoom past here in Broome. Maybe it's the holiday routine the we have fallen into for the last couple of weeks. The days are over in no time and we haven't really done much. I wish the work days would pass as quickly.

After a leisurely breakfast we sat down to prepare some fishing rigs. Our neighbour, Rudi, joined us, got a lesson in rig making and got his rigs ready for the afternoon.

Ilse and Judy went into town for some shopping and by the time they were back and we finished the rigs it was noon. We left for the jetty after 1pm and called into the tackle shop on the way.

We fished for a couple of hours but apart from small Trevalley and cod there was nothing worthwhile. Back at the caravan we had a visit from Beate and Uwe, the German globe trotters. Together with neighbours Rudi and Cheryl we had little birthday celebration for Alan and Alexander. Ilse and Judy even made a birthday cake during the afternoon.

Dinner was a none event tonight as we've had birthday cake in the afternoon but a few Nachos were appreciated by the crowd.

Double Birthday

We had two Birthdays today - Alan and Alexander. The birthday surprise activity planned for them didn't happen due to circumstances beyond our control and has been postponed to Wednesday.

After breakfast and the early birthday phone calls we dropped the girls into town for some food shopping whilst Alan, Alexander and I went to the tackle shop. Alan picked out a new fishing rod for his birthday and I purchased another family rod since Alexander has broken one back in Port Smith. We also picked up a couple more kilos of frozen Mango for tonight.

We went for another visit to The Mango Place at 12 Mile where we stocked up with freshly baked Sourdough bread and enjoyed Mango Smoothies. Back at the caravan for lunch followed by a bit of rigging up to go fishing in the afternoon.

Our timing today was a bit better than last time as we managed to arrive an hour before high tide. We certainly caught a number of very colourful fish but none to take home. Alexander caught most of them but Alan, while christening his new rod, had a BIG hit but eventually lost it as the fish bit through the 60lb leader - we should have put on a wire trace!

The fish in the photos is a Bluebone, often targeted for it's fine eating qualities.

Back at the caravan we enjoyed another Chicken-Mango salad for dinner and tasted the Mango wine and Mango port we bought earlier in the day.

Lazy Sunday

We didn't do much today, apart from eating and enjoying the great climate here in Broome. I didn't even go to the market today but instead spent most of my time working on the computer. The kids went swimming and the day was gone in no time.

The nights have been cold with temperatures as low as 12 DegC during the night. Interestingly the overnight lows occur at all hours of the morning, like 2:30am last night, and by the time the sun rises the temperature has already gone up. This is quite different to home where the lowest temperature occurs just after sunrise.

The daytime temps are always the same - 30 DegC, with variations of one or two degrees either size.

Another day at the Broome market

Saturday is market day so we all headed to the old Courthouse to soak up the atmosphere of music, food and Fruit Thingyz. This place is starting to feel like home, so much so that on our visit to the market we ran into 8 people we know! This time we tried something new - we took a Fruit Thingy back to the caravan by storing it in a container inside our freezer in the car.

We got back to the caravan and had a quick lunch followed by the Fruit Thingy which kept very well in the freezer. Another hour was spent tying knots on hooks and preparing rigs for for our afternoon fishing. We were a bit late getting out to the jetty and missed the incoming tide. Although Alexander and I caught a fish each we didn't take any home. Apart from getting snagged not much was achieved this afternoon.

Back at the caravan we had a quick dinner and went back into town to visit the museum where the historical society put on a couple of short films about Broome. One was "Living in Broome" by Malcolm Douglas and the other was "Ship of Dreams" by Mary Durack. Both movies showed what Broome was like 30 and 50 years ago. Most fascinating was the mixture of cultures from China and Japan to Middle East and European all living in harmony with local Aboriginal population.

We also found out why they've got camels on cable beach - apparently a middle eastern chappy walked a train of camels from Alice Springs to Broome (2500km) to give people a ride on cable beach. Mind you, back in 1968, the year of the Mary Durack film, the population of Broome was only 2000 and there were no 4WD's on cable beach.

After returning to the caravan and eating our daily dose of Mangos it was well after 11pm when we finally hit the sack.

Willie Creek

We left at 8:45 and drove a few kilometres North on the Cape Levique road, then turned West and followed the dirt road all the way to Willie Creek, a Pearl Farm tourist display.

However, we have been on the Pearl tour before and decided to do a little bit of fishing instead. Willie Creek is a very scenic inlet with turquoise waters in zany beaches. Although crocs live in the Willie Creek we were informed that they haven't seen the resident croc for about 8 weeks and the word was the croc caught at Cable Beach in Broome a little while ago was the one from Willie Creek. We are still careful and stand a few meters back from the waters edge, just in case!

The fishing didn't net anything worthy of a report but we did find a couple Pearl shells which Andrea had to retrieve from the water whilst we kept a lookout for crocs. One of the shells is still closed and Ilse is hopeful that it contains a big pearl. We'll find out as soon as we can work out how to open the shell.

On the way back we stopped at the James Price Point protest site (see picture) and got a briefing by the protesters about the dirty tactics employed by government and Woodside Petroleum to turn this region into a mine site. The issue is not getting a lot of media attention in the Eastern states, but it's certainly big over here.

Back in Broome we had lunch and then Alan and I went shopping for a roof rack for Alan's car and were once again impressed by the friendly locals which are very helpful - quite different to many of the other places we've visited. By the time we finished our shopping trip it was nearly dark and another day in this great place has come to an end.

Broome's Economy

Since we've been here in Broome we have followed the news on local radio and been fascinated by the stories. Since our last visit two years ago a lot of tourist operators have gone bankrupt yet all caravan parks packed full. For example, in 2009 there were three operators flying to the horizontal falls, now there is only one, the other two have gone.

These businesses are not exactly small, the one we went with last time had assets worth over $10 Million, now they're gone. Somehow this didn't make sense until this morning when I heard an interview with a Broome business woman who said that customers are just not spending money.

There are two distinct tourist typer here, the long term caravaners and the short term holiday makers which fly-in for their one or two week holiday and spend accordingly.

The caravaners are on a budget which needs to last between three and twelve months. In addition, most of the grey nomads are self funded retirees which have to cope with the increased prices of goods and services and the lower income from thier investments.

The fly-in holiday makers are not coming as the high Australian dollar encourages them to go overseas instead.

The result speaks for itself, the typical tourist shops fall by the wayside and the more basic tourist services survive. People are certainly not parting with their had earned cash.

Not much else to report, we have had a fairly lazy day today with a little bit of shopping and time at the pool during the hot part of the day. Our Broome days always end with a a dessert of locally grown Mango.

A girls day out

After a light brekky this morning we took the girls into town for a day without kids and men. Alan and I made good use of the time and did some shopping in the tackle shop and in the supermarket.

One of the products we've discovered in the tackle shop is frozen Mango, which is normally only available at the markets on Sat & Sun. The frozen Mangos make a great snack or can be thawed out to be used for all sorts of things. Yesterday we made our own Mango dessert sauce and poured it over ice cream. At this stage we are going through 1kg of Mango every day.

The caravan park had two resident chooks which grazed amongst the caravans and sometimes even entered caravans and cars if there was food to be had. Unfortunately, the other day, after a bit of commotion under a caravan a few doors up one of the chickens was found dead, apparently killed by a snake. Although we haven't found out what type of snake, we have it on good authority the the tree areas next to the caravans are home to a number of snakes.

By the time the girls had finished their shopping and I picked them up it was nearly 3pm. I spent a bit of time at the pool and we've had a very relaxing afternoon before settling down to a Mango Chicken Salad for dinner.

Sun Princess

Alan and I got up early to get pictures of the jetty at low tide around 7am. Alan's car wouldn't start so took mine for a drive to the port. The tide was so low that there was no water for the first half of the jetty, a distance of 400mt (see 1st picture). We took photos and talked to the fishermen on the jetty who had their lines busted off by rather large fish.

Back at the caravan Alan rang for roadside assistance which arrived soon thereafter but the car had to go back into the workshop by tow truck. The workshop is very busy but will hopefully fix the car tomorrow.

Later in the morning we left to go back to the port and watch the arrival of Sun Princess, a large cruise liner with over 2000 passengers. There were lots of people and media out to watch the spectacle which happened just on high tide around midday.

I took a few more photos of the jetty at high tide (see 2nd picture) to get a comparison with the low tide. On the way back we had a couple of quick shopping stops including the purchase of local frozen Mango (not in season). The frozen Mango makes a fantastic desert and is very good for smoothies.

Back at the caravan we spent the afternoon relaxing but didn't have enough time to go to the swimming pool. In the evening our German friends, (Uwe and Beate) called in to say hello and catch up on some more travel information. By the end of the night the 1kg pack of frozen Mango's was gone and we've also finished our tub of ice cream - looks like we need a shopping trip tomorrow.

Broome Crocodile Park

We've really settled in here at Broome. The lifestyle is great, the water is nice and the air is warm. The locals are very friendly and there is lots to do. This is our 3rd night in Broome and I haven't even had a chance to put up the TV aerial on caravan!

By the time we got organised this morning it was after 10am and we headed out to 12 Mile (a locality east of Broome) for a visit to "The Mango Place". This place is real touristy thing with all manner of Mango food to taste but the main attraction for me was the sourdough bread baked in their wood fired pizza oven.

On the way back we stopped at the Malcolm Douglas Wildlife park but not for visit, just to pick up a couple of shirts for Alexander. Back at the caravan we a bite to eat and then drove out towards cable beach where the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park is and where Malcolm Douglas used to live.

This place is up for sale as the whole operation is moving out to the Wildlife park but it is the original park, established in 1983 by Malcolm Douglas, to educate the public about crocodiles. At 3pm we joined the feeding tour and then admired the cute little crocs at the end which were handed from person to person to take photos.

We also saw the famous croc named Fatzo which came to the public's attention when a drunk climbed the fence during the night and tried to ride on this croc. As the croc wasn't hungry the intruder survived, albeit with server lacerations, and, after the attack, went back to the pub for some more drinking but was picked up by the ambulance instead.

From the crocodile park we split up, Judy and Ilse went shopping to Woolies whilst Alan and I got a few other things organised including the purchase of some Mango beer. Back at the ranch we tasted the Mango beer but it was just as bad for me as any other beer so Ilse will have to drink the remaining bottles.

No Gas Hub in the Kimberley

We started cooking the traditional Sunday breakfast before 8am but by the time we were finished and got going to the market it was 10am. A quick market stop got me another fruit thingy and Ilse purchased a couple of things for friends and relatives.

From the market we went to the jetty for a bit of fishing. We fished over the high tide but as we have experienced before, the flow under the jetty remains strong even on top of the tide where one would normally expect slack water. Very strange how the water flows in a circle at Roebuck bay.

We finished fishing around lunch time (no fish) and made our way into town to buy bread. We bumped into Jan and Nancy, a couple from Canberra, which we first met at Fraser Range station in May and few times since.

By the time we got back to the caravan and had a bite to eat we had to leave for Cable beach. Whilst I'm not a great fan of Cable beach, today was a beach concert in support of the Broome communities effort to keep Woodside Petroleum out of James Price Point. As this is a fairly controversial topic which has caused large police contingents to come to the area, the concert was not advertised as an anti gas hub event but ran under the banner "We love Broome - Families, Culture, Country".

The band (The Pigram Brothers) played on the aft deck of a very large sailing catamaran, called "Karma IV", anchored just beyond the low tide line, with the stern facing the beach where thousands of people had congregated. I have never seen anything like this concert. People were dancing in water, swimming between the catamaran and the shore and on smaller boats surrounding the catamaran. The atmosphere was great and the crowd was made up of all cultural sections from the community.

As the tide went out the crowd got closer to the catamaran and by the end of the concert the cat was fairly close in shore. At the end of the concert we signed a petition to protect not only the Kimberley but the unique life style of Broome residents which would be destroyed if oil and mining business was to move in.

Back from the concert for a brief rest and then off to see the famous "Staircase to the Moon" at town beach where they also hold a Staircase market. Tonights dinner came from the market and to my great delight I could also buy a fruit thingy for desert. The staircase was a non-event due to cloud cover on the Eastern horizon so we were back at the caravan by 8:30pm, very tired and ready for good night's rest.

Jandamarra

We knew it was going to be busy at the famous Broome markets today so we had a minimal breakfast and arrive at the market before 9am. My first procurement was a Fruit Thingy (finely minced frozen fruit) with Mango and Coconut, a bit like ice cream but much better and healthier.

We also tried some of the asian foods, listened to the many buskers and watched the wildlife demonstrations.

At 10:30 I took Alexander to Gantheaum point where we met with Cameron, the owner of Sentosa Charters) who has been Alexander's idol ever since he took us on a fishing charter in 2009. Cameron was kind enough to have Alexander work as a trainee deck hand on today's whale watching charter. At 11AM Cameron and his regular deck hand arrived and took Alexander out to the boat (Kai-Aura, a 50 foot twin hull) to start work and prepare the boat for the passenger which arrived at 1pm.

I went back to the market to pick up the others and then back to the caravan where we spent the afternoon chatting to the neighbour who is a retired agricultural researcher. After a late lunch we made our way back to Gantheaum point around 5pm to pick up Alexander but we had to wait until after 6pm and watched another sunset.

Alexander was very exited and had an excellent work day (first ever). The only bits of "real" work was vacuuming and polishing, the rest was just having fun on a boat - what a job!

We went straight to St.Marys school to watch an Aboriginal theatrical production called "Jandamarra". The production is touring the Kimberley and tells the story of an worrier from the Bunaba, his friendship with the white settlers and the way he was torn between the two worlds. The production was fantastic and one of the best I have seen in a long time.

Here is a link to the Jandamarra website.

Back at the caravan by 10pm we had a late dessert of ice cream with mango sauce followed by coconut milk which we drained from a coconut found in Broome earlier in the day.

Broome

Alexander's alarm was set to 5:30AM and we got up before 6AM, packed up and left just as the sun was rising above the horizon to greet the new day.

The track out of Barnhill Station is a bit slow with some badly corrugated areas, speed humps and 3 gates. After the 10km track we were back on the bitumen highway heading for Broome - the last destination on our journey before we turn around to come home.

Listening to the radio on the way we heard that this week is the busiest week of the whole year in Broome.

Three factors are responsible for this scenario:

1) best time of year, dry and warm but not too hot.

2) middle of school holidays in W.A. and N.T.

3) Staircase to the Moon visible Sat, Sun and Mon.

All caravan parks are fully booked for weeks so we went to Broome Caravan park on the outskirts of town which had been recommended to us by other travellers. The has a number of sites which can be booked but others which they don't book at all.

We lobbed up at the park just after 8AM and were second in line. As other people packed up and left they those sites became available to us. It didn't take very long and they showed us a site where other people were just pulling out. By 9AM we were parked and as luck would have it Alan and Judy got the site next to us.

We set up a great little camp with a communal area between out two vans. Although the site is not directly shaded, it does have shade from nearby trees in the afternoon. The park has a great swimming pool - kids are very very happy.

The first job in Broome was to visit Kimberley Camping (shop), then the jetty and then Woolies and Brumbys. It was mid afternoon before we got back to the caravan. After a bit of a rest we were off to see the Dinosaur footprints at Gantheaum point which are only exposed at low tide.

On the way there we picked up Caitlin (here for 12mth) and her sister Melissa (visiting for 1 week), both from Kiewa, as they don't have their own transport.

Gantheaum point was busier than Burke street - it seemed everyone in Broome was out there watching the sunset. We walked out to the footprints and admired the sunset then drove to the jetty and walked out to the end chatting with the fishermen (and woman).

Back at the caravan we had a quick, late dinner and then joined a friendly group of neighbours playing guitar and singing until late in the evening.

Rest & Recreation

Another fresh night (16DegC) gave way to a glorious day with blue sky and sunshine. The caravan next to us moved out and I immediately alerted Alan who was on an unpowered site at the other end of the park. As soon as the office opened (9am) the changed their booking and moved into the shaded and powered site next to us.

Mornings are quite busy with queues at the office for site changes and at the shop for the fresh bread which arrives at 9am. School holidays means the place is buzzing with people. Many of the long term holiday makers from Perth have their sons and daughters with grand children staying here for the holidays.

Apparently Broome is also very busy as this coming weekend people can see the Staircase to Moon for about 3 nights. Caravan sites are very scarce but we will try our luck tomorrow morning and see if we can find a spot.

Most of our day was spent around the caravan as the phone signal was very good all day which allowed me to do some work on the computer. Although it was rather warm in the afternoon, a slight breeze kept us very comfortable.

For the evening we went back to the beach again admiring the sunset before retiring back to our caravan for dinner, packing up and then of to bed so we can have an early start tomorrow morning.

Barn Hill Station

We had a few spots of rain overnight and the red dirt has become even stickier than before. Now that we've been in the red (so to say) for nearly a week everything has a red tinge. The red dust from the road even penetrates the caravan windows and sits on the inside of the van. We're using our annex matt under the awning to give us a "clean" area before we enter the caravan.

This morning started out overcast with a few raindrops but by 8am it was partially sunny as we drove the 20km dirt track back to the highway. Back on the highway we headed North, towards Broome, for another 15km and then turned West onto a 10km dirt track into Barn Hill station.

Barn Hill is fairly small station with only 43,000 acres where they run about 5000 head of Brahmen destined for the live export market in Indonesia. On the 10km track into the station we saw many caravans heading out. When we arrived at the caravan park section, just on 9am, we expected plenty of sites but to our surprise we got the only available powered site! Alan, who was just behind us, had to take unpowered and ended up right on the other end of the park. Powered sites have only 6 Amps available, just enough to run the basics but no Kettle or Aircon.

We've stayed at Barn Hill on our last trip and I seem to remember that it wasn't anywhere near as large as it is now. I'm not sure how many sites they've got, but I'd say between 100 and 200. The unpowered areas have generators in use and ca be a bit noisy at times.

Typical Broome weather now with 30 DegC during the day and nice warm evenings. Although yesterday was a bit cool with only 25 DegC due the cloud. The close proximity to Broome (about 100km on the road) also means that we can get patchy phone reception in certain area. Back at Port Smith I had to drive to a small hill and stand on car to get phone reception but here it seems to be quite good near the beach.

We got freshly baked bread from the station for lunch and spent the afternoon lazying around - can't do too much in this heat!

Later in the afternoon we ventured to the west facing beach and admired the glorious colours of the sun setting over the indian ocean.

Fishing Spots

Tonight was a bit cool and we woke to an overcast sky. We lazed around for most of the morning and every now and then a few spits of rain fell on the awning but the ground never got wet.

After lunch we drove to the lagoon and once again launched Alan's inflatable so him and Judy could go for paddle out to the lagoon mouth.

The time was very near low tide and the lagoon has nearly emptied and only a few deep water holes are left.

We crossed an outrunning channel in a shallow area and walked out along the edge of the lagoon. From the oyster covered sandstone cliffs we could look down in the water and see the fish. We spotted a few turtles a few large fish with their dorsal fins out of the water.

A few fisherman were catching Travelly and Mangrove Jack. We found the remains of a shark on the beach. He was caught about an hour before we got there. Once a shark is caught the fishermen immediately remove the fins and head, apparently this is to prevent ammonia from the fins going into the flesh.

We manages to get back over the channel before the tide got too high and walked back looking at the big fish chasing the little ones on the incoming tide. This area is really fascinating, just walking along the edge of the water can provide hours of entertainment.

We returned to the caravan park where I refuelled the car at $1.95/lt before staring the pickup process. The sky was looking very ominous and I didn't fancy packing up wet tomorrow morning.

At 5pm we went to a Bush Poetry performance in the caravan park. One of the long term guests, Roger Cracknell, presented some very funny and well presented yarns and tall stories which had us laughing for about over an hour.

Later in the evening we could hear a little bit of rain on the caravan roof. I just hope we don't get too much rain as this would turn fine red dust on the road into a soupy slurry.

Sailing

The nights are very temperate in this climate and around 3 or 4am a little breeze kicks in and with 15DegC its almost cool in the early morning hours.

By 8am the sun has warmed things up to 20DegC and today we reached 29DegC in the afternoon.

Life revolves around tide times and we left an hour before low tide to get to the lagoon. Yesterday we inflated Alan's kayak and this morning we launched it and explored the lagoon. The wind was keeping the temperature very nice but made the paddling a harder. I was very much hoping that we wouldn't find any crocs during our exploration or any other large marine life such as sharks which could easily sink the inflatable.

After a bit of paddling Alan had the great idea that we could rig up sail on the kayak and use it to cruise around the lagoon with the wind helping us. As we are both sailors it didn't take long to produce a makeshift spinnaker using a paddle for a mast and broomstick as a pole to hold up our poly tarp sail. A bit or string to hold it all together and to be used for sheets and we were off.

Although our plan was to sail on a beam reach across to the other side some unforeseen technical issues with the rig meant we ended up somewhere downwind and no way to sail back. We pulled down the rig, got out and pulled the kayak back to where we started. Although the mission was declared a partial success we decided to abort until some improvements to the rig could be made.

The kids did a bit of paddling, some swimming and lots of exploring in the sand but the turning tide soon reminded us to go back before were cut off.

We had a late lunch, meet some people from Albury, had a bit more of chat and the day was over.

When I returned to the caravan Alexander had been missing for some time and was last seen heading to the toilets. Just as I set off to search for him, he turned up and told us that he was locked in a toilet/shower cubicle with the door jammed and couldn't get out until someone else came to open the door.

There are quite a few Kangaroos living in the caravan park and they apparently are not scared of going into caravans to find food.

The Port Smith area is also home to an Aboriginal community located just south of the caravan park It is said to be one of the largest communities in Australia with a population between 1000 and 5000 depending on the time of year and what's on. They have no shops in the community, just a takeaway and a police station.

Tidal Island

Sunday morning is always great as we lie in bed listening to Macca on the radio. We slept all night with windows wide open and nice breeze coming through to keep us at a nice temperature.

After a fairly late breakfast and the usual morning chat with others around us the time got away and we arrive a little bit late at the lagoon to start exploring on foot. The lagoon is big and has a mostly sandy bottom with tidal channels where the water rushes in and out. A mangrove covered island is located on the northern end and can be reached by crossing a couple of tidal channels.

As we walked out onto the sand the tide was still running out and we (Alexander, Alan and I) decided to explore the island. We had to cross water but it was only ankle deep. Once on the island we found a track through the mangroves and came out on the other side where we found deep pools surrounded by rock.

The whole island was covered in oysters. They were even hanging of the mangrove leaves. The rocks were covered in oysters all over and therefore very very sharp. I'd hate to fall over or slip on these rocks - servere cuts would be guaranteed.

As we explored along the island we saw a number of turtles with some coming up very close and playing happily in the shallow water. A blue spotted sting ray (photo) made an appearance and showed us his brilliant blue colours.

We slowly made our way back to the land side of the island by climbing along the rocks. When we finally caught a glimpse of the sand flat we used to get across we found the sandlot gone. A reasonably strong tide had been running in for some time and we didn't notice the tide turning as we frolicked on the other side of the island.

Once we realised the error of our ways and decided that we didn't want to spend the night on a mangrove island, we got a move on across the remaining rocks and then picked what looked like the shallowest water to walk back across (photo) in a rather hurried pace due to the continuously rising tide. We made it just in time but got a little bit wetter than anticipated. Just as well the tides a low at the moment, if they were any higher we'd have been "swimming against the tide".

When we got back to the caravan we booked another two nights so we'd have more time to explore further. After late lunch and a rest we went to the evenings entertainment which was provided by a couple singing and playing Ukelele. It turns out the entertainers come from Wangaratta but we've had to travel to other end of the continent to meet them!

Port Smith Lagoon

After another late night we packed up reasonably early but then got talking to a few people before we finally got going after 9am. We did invite the German globe trotters to visit us at home when the they reach that part of the country - very interesting people full of hands-on knowledge about the world. Here is a link to their [very interesting] website.

Our first stop today was Pardoo roadhouse, only 45 kms from Pardoo station, where we refuelled. We battled into a strong headwind and fuel consumption was over 26lt/100km. The landscape has now changed from the undulating Pilbara to wide plains covered with low trees and shrubs. We've also seen large patches that have been hit by bushfire recently.

It seems strange that we are well into the tropics here yet with rainfall totals of 300mm/year this area is a lot drier then Albury - and I always thought tropics are wet.

However, this area is actually classified as "tropical-arid" which seems somewhat of an oxymoron.

Now that we have seen a few cattle stations I realise that out here some of the century old skills are still in high demand. A man who can ride a horse and muster cattle can always get a job in the bush around here, just like a hundred years ago.

We saw a few mobs of cattle by the side of the road and they seemed to be chewing on the small trees which are very green and plentiful. The temperature is now well up with 32DecC today but the air is fairly dry. The soil is orange-red and ground up into very fine dust which penetrates every little crack of caravan and car.

After driving 140km from Pardoo roadhouse we arrived at Sandfire roadhouse around lunch time and topped up with fuel again before continuing on for another 170km before turning onto a dirt road. The road took us another 20km to Port Smith Lagoon caravan park where we set up camp.

The park is quite nice but grass is a rare commodity and most sites at just red dirt. The water in this park comes from a bore 5km up the road and is very nice with no salt whatsoever.

A short trip down the road is the lagoon which is suitable for swimming - they tell us there are no crocs here. I'm not sure if I should believe that so I'm not likely to try it.

Here is the link to today's travel map