Kristy's Chat Darwin-Derby



First 1000kms

I think in my last blog I signed off saying “we look forward to the mountain views”.  Well that was true but after driving through them for 1000km in 38degree heat I’ll be happy if I never see another escarpment again.  The Pentlands have discovered that we are coastal travellers, not country.  Having said that, the first 1000km weren’t too bad.

 



Second 1000kms

Litchfield Caravan Park swimming pool

Our first day of driving west took us out to Litchfield National Park.  Everyone, and I mean everyone says Litchfield is better than Kakadu but I have to disagree.  Perhaps it was just the high expectation we had built on so many comments.  It’s very different to Kakadu in that all the attractions are quite close together.  I loved all the aboriginal history in Kakadu and found Litchfield had much less ancestry attached (or at lease accessible).  To be fare we were also arriving at the end of the dry so some of the waterfalls were only barely falling.  We were provided with plenty of laughs as we pulled up at the Litchfield caravan park.  It was so barren and old fashioned, I’m sure it stands today exactly as it was constructed in the 70’s.  The sign out the front boasted many of its qualities including a pool.  Check out the photo, I’m sure you’ll understand our amusement.

Wangi Falls was brilliant, finally some genuine cool water to swim in.  After a refreshing dip we headed to several other falls and viewpoints but the best was Buley pools.  This is a succession of about 15 rock pools forming a cascade down about 100m.  Some of the pools were incredibly deep and provided a very refreshing cool down while others were shallow and allowed you to bask in the sunshine and warmth like an outdoor bath.  Initially we thought we’d stay at Litchfield for a few days but after getting everything done in a day we headed west, way, way out west.

After a quick pack up we drove south for a couple of hundred k’s before finally turning right.  Through vast farmland (hang on I think it has to have a fence to be considered a farm), vast open grazing land where suicidal cattle stand bravely/stupidly in the middle of the road.  Our only amusement for hundreds of kilometres was the stench of a rotting carcass and the occasional cow playing chicken!  Roadhouses were few and far between so we soldiered on across the country with one mission, get to WA TODAY.

After chucking out all of our fruit and veg at the quarantine station Taz and I decided that we’d had enough driving so we walked to WA instead.  SO many people had told us about Kununurra so we were looking forward to a few days of rest before another 12hr driving stint.  Boy were we surprised.  After settling into a caravan park on the outskirts of town we drove in to the central shopping area to grab some dinner.  The roads were littered with drunken people.  I don’t know, perhaps Mardi gras had just finished and this was the hangover but something about Kununurra told me that they weren’t the Mardi gras type.  At one point we had to step around this fella who was unconscious/dead on the path.  Usually I would have felt compelled to help but all I felt at that moment was Ry squeezing my hand and trying to pull me past faster.



The El Questro Lookout



Thankfully our caravan park was brilliant and after a good night sleep we headed out to yet another highly recommended tourist attraction on the Gibb River Road.  Apparently If you want to see the best of the Kimberley’s the Gibb River Rd is an essential part of any WA trip however the prospect of dragging my new van 400km across a dirt, heavily corrugated track with several river crossings and very high chance of getting flooded in didn’t appeal to me.  That and the fact that we are feeling a little “gorged out”.  Nevertheless, we headed off to see many spectacular gorges at El Questro.  We drove into the settlement and paid our visitors fee only to find out that more than half the areas had already been closed for the wet season.  Bugger, there goes $50 out of the budget.  We attempted to drive out to one lookout only to be confronted with a huge river crossing, sharp rocky terrain and a depressing outlook.  With all our newly developed 4wd skill we decided that we would push on through, right until we saw just how sharp the rocks were then we reversed back 20m and left.  AT this point we were thinking that our great friends Scotty and Trace had set us up and would be laughing their hearts out at home (most beautiful place in Aust yeah right).  Our second endeavour involved what we were told would be a 50cm river crossing.  “No worries”, we declared as we head out to El Questro Gorge.  Now I know I’m not good at maths but I’m sure the bonnet of the Patrol is higher than 50cm.  Thankfully we made it through.  Finally we were rewarded for our efforts as we hiked in through the narrow gorge.  Butterflies danced in the hundreds through the shady cliff faces and little fish frolicked in the shallow stream.  It was a great relief to get to the swimming hole were we all had a private swim, cooling off in the 38 degree heat.



One of the many shallow crossings.



We waved farewell to Kununurra with the hope of making in to Derby.  Some 11hrs later we pulled up in the fading light at the front of the famous Derby Boab Jail Tree.  Sometimes I surprise myself with the things that appeal to me but the tree was one of those amazing historical places that I’ll remember forever (just in case you were wondering I did not leave any of the kids in it).  A quick bite to eat and we continued our drive west finishing the night at a roadside stop 80km out of Broome, 13 hours after we started the day!

Just 80 more k's and we're back to the beach.  Yay.

I'm sure next weeks chat will be a little more refreshing.

xox Kristy.