Port Hedland – Darwin

21 November – 1 December

Sunday:

It’s so hot last night that we have to take the cover off our tent and sleep with just the inner bit (after a cold shower).  By 5.30am the sun is up and so am I.  By 6.30am I’ve got a cap on and have broken a sweat.  Oh, and I’ve just realised that the little bugs which have been flying all about me bite.  I’m going to be itching all day...

I’d read about the striking colours of Broome and it didn’t disappoint.  After days driving through arid semi-desert, Broome is suddenly lush, green and tropically overgrown.  The streets are lined with baobab trees and mango trees laden with fruit are everywhere. 

I love it.  After a little look around, we get a campsite right on Roehampton Bay.  The waters are milky turquoise and fringed with mangroves.  Not a bad view to have from your tent:

Once we’ve set up camp we wander into town for a drink at Matso’s, Broome’s micro-brewery. 

Sitting under a fan on the veranda sipping ice-cold mango (!) beer - I’m in heaven.

Janet adds: Broome has a mango festival…
Nick adds: Definitely on the list of places to live if we could get used to the heat.

Monday:

Gorgeous it might be, but Broome is also hot. The temperature is in the mid-thirties all day and doesn’t drop much at night.  It’s not so bad not sleeping when you can lie in bed and stargaze.  Shortly after 5 we’re woken up by the sunrise:

By the time we’ve had breakfast and put some laundry on we’re drenched in sweat.  Luckily we only have a short stroll to the waters edge and the need to cool off wins out over our fear of stingers.  (Broome has stingers year round, but it’s only a real problem in the wet.  We asked up at reception and were told it was never 100% safe, but it seemed ok for now). 

Suitably refreshed we set off to explore town on foot.  It turned into a mini-endurance test, but we’re still liking Broome.  In the evening we go to Sun Pictures – the world’s oldest operating picture gardens – to watch Despicable Me on canvas chairs under the starry sky.  There are geckos running across the screen and bats swooping overhead.  It’s great.

Janet adds: my sandfly bites from Port Hedland have come up all nasty and I’m dying of itchiness – I stopped counting at 130 bites…

Tuesday:

We’ve decided to have another night in Broome so we can take things slow.  We take a drive out to Mango Place, which does all things mango, have a little wander along Cable Beach and then spend the afternoon seeking shade.  

Later on we head out to Gantheaume point where at very low tides you can see 120 million year dinosaur footprints. 

We stay on to watch the sunset over the red cliffs and back at camp we catch the most beautiful moonrise (yes, that bright orange blob is the moon).

Janet adds: we finally bought a fan for our tent today – check out our new ‘air-conditioned’ bedroom:

Wednesday:

A driving day today.  We thought about stopping at Fitzroy Crossing to explore Geikie Gorge, but as the temperature is hovering around 45 degrees we decide to keep going.  Then we were going to stop at Halls Creek, but it is still 41 degrees so we keep going.  Eventually at Turkey Creek, nine driving hours and 850 km’s later we run out of daylight and have to stop.  We’re driving through the Kimberley and the scenery has been getting more and more beautiful as we go, the vast flatness finally crumpling into hills and mountains.  We camp at a roadhouse – apart from the roadhouse and a small Aboriginal community, we’re pretty much in the middle of nowhere.  A huge handsome bull is in the field next to us, but doesn’t seem to keen on posing for a photo.   The little green frog is a little more obliging.

The sun goes down and we’re sitting under the starriest sky we’ve ever seen.

Janet adds: saw my first wallaby today – another check.
Nick adds: it’s 9 p.m and the temperature has just dropped below 40

Thursday:

We’re woken up sometime after midnight by a storm coming in.  We get up to batten down the hatches.  Mildly paranoid after Broome stories of 7/8 inches coming down within an hour, I insist that we watch the storm out from the car.  A lot of lightening but a whole lot of nothing else later I shame-facedly admit that it’s probably safe to return to the tent…

After our massive drive yesterday we don’t have much distance to cover today, so we’ve got a bit of time for side trips.  We head for Wyndham to see a 2000 year old baobab and the point where 5 rivers flow into one.  Its an awesome view, but would be more impressive (though probably inaccessible) if the rivers were in full force. 

We have another quick stop at the Grotto, a natural swimming hole and amphitheatre, on the way to Kununurra.  Kununurra is still really hot, but makes up for it a bit by being leafy and green.  We have a little look about, then check into possibly our nicest campground so far.  It’s really quiet, so we have the facilities almost to ourselves.  The bathrooms are gorgeous, there’s a swimming pool (!) and someone has left a box of free mangoes on the table in the kitchen (!!).  Predictably enough the afternoon is spent swimming and eating mangoes.

Nick adds: can’t believe I was dragged from my sleep because “we’re going to die in this tent, a storms coming” in order to sit in the car for an hour with a no show on the rain!

Friday:

Shortly outside Kununurra we enter the Northern Territory and a new time zone: we lose an hour and a half (which puts us 9.5 hrs ahead of UK time).  The speed limit also rockets up to 130km at the same time that the roads get narrower, windier, with even longer road trains (I think we’re up to 50m+ now, not fun).  I’m not enjoying the driving so much anymore, but I think Nick is enjoying getting to test out the car a little. We also had to drive through the first real storm we’ve seen so far. We could see the cloud blackening in front of us for about half an hour but with the road winding around we were not sure if we were going to have to drive through it or not.  As we rounded a corner the temperature dropped from 38 to 26 in matter of seconds and the rain hit us. Visibility disappeared and I panicked, not knowing what to do.  Nick made me drive on, slowly, saying that if we stopped now we could be stuck here for a while. I drove on.

We arrive in Katherine in the afternoon and our first impressions aren’t great.  It looks very run-down and uninspiring.  Nevertheless, we find a gorgeous campsite full of palms and yes, more mango trees.  I think there are 4 other people staying there in total, so again we have the place pretty much to ourselves.

Saturday:

We have a slow start to the day, feeling slightly ‘jet-lagged’ by our time change yesterday, then head to Katherine gorge/Nitmiluk.  It’ not too hot (only lower 30s) so we have a bit of a walk to a lookout point.  3km later we’re dying a bit, so stop to picnic in the shade with some resident wallabies. 

After lunch we head out for a cruise up the gorge.  The scenery is stunning and we get to view some 5000 year old rock art along the way. 

Janet adds: I discovered yellow water-melon today.  Yellow?!

Sunday:

On the way up to Darwin today we stop to see Edith falls.

It’s open for swimming, but as no one else is in the water we ‘re not feeling quite brave enough.  It’s considered perfectly safe here to swim with freshwater crocodiles, which ‘only’ grow to about 3m and are pretty shy.  It’s only the salties you need worry about.  Still, the idea of swimming with any crocs is something I’ve yet to get my head round.

We head into Darwin and set out trying to find some internet – we’re going to be travelling up the east coast in prime school holiday time and unless we do some booking ahead we’re going to be sleeping in the car a lot.

Monday:

The plan today is to get cracking online, so we set ourselves up on the laptop.  Then it starts to rain.  And then it starts to chuck it down, with ear-splitting thunder and lightening everywhere.  There’s no doubting why it’s called the Wet and we end up seeking shelter in the camp laundry for a few hours (watching episodes of the Inbetweeners on the computer!).   There’s a flash of lightening nearby - a tree branch about 20m away comes crashing down and the smell of burning fills the air.  It’s quite exhilarating, and if Nick tells you I was terrified and hiding behind him the whole time, don’t listen to him.  Eventually it stops raining, so we decide to go for a swim (we were wet already, so why not?).  Our little tent has done us proud and is still dry inside.

Janet adds: I tried doing a bit of pilates outside the tent this morning, and would’ve instantly become the camp freak if not for the psychotic ‘night-screamer’ in the caravan next to us.  We’re not sure if it’s nightmares or domestic violence…

Tuesday:

We’re feeling a little stir-crazy from being cooped up all day yesterday, so we drive to Litchfield Park.  First stop is Wangi falls – you can normally swim here, but swimming has been closed due to the risk of salties coming in.  We take a walk through the monsoonal rain forest around the falls, and by the time we come back the water looks so inviting that we’re just about willing to chance it with the crocs.

Next we drive to Tolmer falls, which are absolutely gorgeous but also not for swimming.  We stop to eat our sandwiches and Nick wilts in a patch of shade.  Finally we arrive at Florence Falls and swimming is open!  It has to be one of the best (and most anticipated) swims we’ve had.  The water is clear and cold, with two waterfalls dropping into a plunge pool. 

Once we feel human again, we head to Buley Rockhole, which is a series of spa-like rockpools.  Sheer bliss.

On the way back we stop for a few essentials for the camp: a cheap ($9 each!) kettle and toasted sandwich maker later and we’re well made up.  No guesses as to what we’re having for breakfast for the next 2 months. 

Janet adds: a possum stopped by our tent tonight for a cheeky look around – another check.

Wednesday:

Today we set off to have a look around Darwin as we’ve not seen much of it so far.  It’s a really nice little city, with lots of green open space, lush gardens and miles of beach frontage (you just can’t swim in any of it because there are too many things that could kill you).  Nick is worryingly obsessed with the wave pool, but stops short of making us go in.

Another quick shopping trip on the way back – mostly for some groceries, but also to pick up some cheap DVDs to beef up our ‘home-entertainment’.  This camping business is getting quite civilized

Nick adds: could live in Darwin, never liked swimming in the sea anyway.