Last night on the road

After leaving Mount Isa we are now desperate to get to the coast.  We overnight in a small caravan park at a tiny place called Pentalnd and next morning head to one of our favourite places...Mission Beach.
In Townsville we start to enjoy the greenery and the drive north is just beautiful.  It is obvious there has been unseasonal rain and the countryside is vastly different to what we have been driving through. I am grateful every minute for the safe journey so far.
In Mission Beach we stop for lunch and spot an elusive cassowary on the way to our B and B. And there it is tucked into the rainforest, a peaceful place surrounded by beautiful gardens. We are greeted by a delightful host who delivers a lovely cup of tea in fine china with some homemade cake, on a deck that takes in our gorgeous surroundings.
We take in a deep breath and begin to relax.  I can't resist a dip in the pool. Steve has done all the driving...presumably becaue it's safer, and I feel he needs a good rest.  We opt to buy a pizza and just enjoy our cosy room. This is bliss!
Tomorrow it's off to Cairns and then home to Cooktown...at last!

Queenland here we come!

Out of Darwin and on the road again, southbound back through Katherine. We find a little gem of a place to pull up for a cold drink and are entertained by birds we've never seen. The male has a pink plume at the back of his head and likes to show it off....typical male! First he turns this way, then that, and finally he turns around and I don't quite capture the pink frill emtirely but we are both impressed with his display.
Onward to Mataranka for the night, which naturally includes a dip in the crystal clear thermal pools..divine!
The next day is huge.  I am desperate to get into Queenland and we drive hour after hour, through cattle country as the sun sets, until finally I see the border sign....YAY!!! We are in our home state.
We are exhausted and hope to find some place to stay at Camooweal.  Unfortunately it's Friday night and as we arrive in this small outback place we notice people are spilling onto the streets, the police are out in force and the only accomoodation looks risky.....Oh no, it's dark, we are tired and we have to drive another 2 and a half hours to Mount Isa....

Crossing Borders

Leaving behind the amazing Kimberleys, we trek on over the border...our first time into the Northern Territory. We are staying in another van park in Katherine with our good friends and their travelling companions.  It's a good place to stock up on some food and that night we all sit around (wine in hand!) and listen to a dutchman playing the accordian.A woman who also has an accordian joins him and although they have never met each other, they play their music as if they've been doing it together for years.  They draw a good crowd and Julie and I sing along to some great Aussie favourites.  I think of my Mother who would have encouraged the whole crowd to join in.
Next day we say goodbye to our mates promising to meet in some other part of Australia, and Steve and I venture North and do a loop through  Litchfield National Park.  We stop at Wangi Falls and although it's pretty, there are a lot of tourists and quite frankly we have equally beautiful falls around Cooktown...without the people!  When we stop for our morning coffee  under a bridge we notice the debris from earlier flood waters....not hard to see that an incredible volume of water flows through the area in the wet season!
Onward to Darwin where we take in some of the city and settle in to a nice B and B for the night.  Am loving the tropics, especially the frangipanis, and throw some in my hair as we make our way to dinner at a great Italian restaurant overlooking the marina.
Kakadu was on the agenda but we decided to leave that till after a big wet and also when we are not short of time.....we are eager to get into Queensland.

Bungle Bungles

Unbelievably we get a text meassage from our good firends Darryl and Julie who happen to be just 4 hours ahead of us.  This is amazing as they live in Victoria, but have a charmed life travelling all over Australia when they can get away from the Motel they have in Daylesford. We meet them in Kununnarra and they have booked us a fabulous cabin looking  directly over the river.  It's great to catch up and share our stories and we all agree that the Kimberleys are awesome! But I really wanted to see the Bungle Bungles and as we couldn't risk driving over any rough terrain we decided a flight would be the best way to see it.
Steve calls this his "View and Spew" experience.  The plane was tiny, a six seater, and the 2 hour flight was too much for him.  On the other hand I am blown away by the mighty Ord River Dam...the size of about 30 Sydney harbours, the mountain ranges, Argyle Diamond mine and of course the famous Bungle Bungle mountains.

Broome and beyond

It's Cup Day when we arrive in Broome and I think we get the last bed available in the area.  It is a little B and B/farmstay with very basic accommodation but wonderful ambience. Suddenly we are starting to feel closer to the tropics......aaaahhh hello warm weather!
Dinner on Cable Beach is a must so we unload the trailer and drive onto the sand to wander and watch the sun setting, the last time for us, over the Indian Ocean.....a perfect evening.
Next day we head East for the first time. Again the landscape changes and I am loving the gorgeous boab and bottle trees...one is so massive and hollow from the inside, that after close inspection I imagine I could make quite a comfortable home out of it.
Getting off the beaten track is not an option as we are fully loaded and our tiny 6 by 4 home made trailer would not cope well with endless corrugations and rough track.  So we opt for the great northern highway and pledge to come back another time to experience the Gibb River Road.
Ducking of the highway we decide to have lunch at Geikie Gorge, near Fitzroy Crossing. A superb oasis in this harsh land and I happily dip my toes in the water forgetting for a moment that we are now in croc territory...Whoops!

First days on the road

With barely room to slide a piece of paper either in the truck, in the trailer or on the roof of the Toyota, we leave a cold, wet and windy Dongara and begin our very long journey home.
All day the wet weather follows us north to beautiful Coral Bay where we finally get some respite from the rain.  It is still overcast as we book into our cabin accomoodation and explore this very pretty piece of coastline.
Next day onward  with a quick stop at Wickham because our good friends over east spent many years here....it's not hard to see why they left!
The countryside on this part of the west coast has barely changed after a day and a half of driving, but the subtle changes are there, and it's joyful when we spot some colour on this amazing red dirt.  So red in fact that even the usually clean white corellas have changed colour! Imagine how surprising then, to find a lovely white peacock during one of our stops.
At South Headland we book into a motel owned by Fortesque metals and although the rate per room is expensive, 3 meals are provided so we take the opportunity to load up with enough good tucker to last a few extra meals.We make a decision not to camp on this journey....a comfortable bed and a shower proves to be a blessing after long hours driving.