The next day we left early to go to Edith Falls, north of
Katherine. We stopped for morning tea in Adelaide River. I took
a photo of Ronnie on the Guzzi standing in front of a huge road
train.
From Adelaide River we took the tourist drive past Robin Falls
and Daly and Douglas rivers. The 68 km was terrible, lots of
potholes and the road was very bumpy. We arrived at Edith Falls
and put our tent up on the nice camping area. We went to the
falls and Ronnie had a swim, too cold for me. Our neighbours
invited us to sit near their fire and offered us yummy fresh
damper. When Ronnie went to get another beer he found a cane
toad near our tent, ugly creatures.
Ronnie got up at half past one that night because there were
some drunk French girls in the shower block making a lot of
noise, he scared them off with his loud voice. We only had to
ride 62 km to Katherine the next day, it was a bit cooler and it
was great to put on a long-sleeved top.
We had a nice relaxing day at the caravan park and planned the
rest of our route because Huw wanted to meet us in Exmouth or
Coral Bay.
The next morning we packed up in the rain, it’s a bit early in
the year for it to rain in Katherine but that is what this trip
has been like; everywhere we go the weather is unusual. We left
early and it was still pretty dark and cold! We had some rain
along the way but soon the sun came out and the temperature was
pleasant.
The landscape near Victoria River is absolutely stunning, we
really enjoyed that ride. In 2002 we drove the Kombi through
this area but it was October and so hot and humid, I didn’t
enjoy it very much back then and I can’t even remember driving
through this landscape.
Near Timber Creek the boab country starts, my favorite tree, we
often had to stop to take photos. Ronnie and I stopped to camp
near the Bullo River turnoff, Andrew and Wendy decided to head
to Lake Argyle where we would catch up with them in the morning.
We drank a beer or two and had some bikkies and cheese watching
the stars and the satellites. Hard work these road trips…
We packed up early the next morning and rode across the border,
back into W.A. where we had to turn our clock 1½ hours
back. We had a coffee at Andrew and Wendy’s and went for a ride
along Lake Argyle. After a visit to the Durack homestead, Ronnie
and I left to go to Kununurra. We booked a site on the caravan
park and met a New Zealand couple who were travelling two up on
a BMW offroad bike. They had some great stories to tell about
their trip and the breakdowns they had.
The next day we rode to Wyndham and had a look at the Five
Rivers lookout. Back at the caravan park we saw 7 motorbikes in
the caravan park! Andrew and Wendy had arrived and also 2
travellers from Tamworth, a couple from New Zealand and the NZ
couple we had met the previous day. It’s a busy caravan park
with heaps of backpackers who are staying there for weeks on end
to do fruit picking.
People from all over the world gather in the campers’ kitchen
at night and I loved listening to the different languages and
accents. I never sleep well in a tent but ever since we crossed
the border I have slept like a log. Maybe it’s the time
difference or maybe I’m very relieved to be back in W.A?
It is light at 5.30 in the morning up here and dark at 6.00 pm.
The days are hot but luckily it’s a much drier heat. We left
early because we were going to ride a lot of kilometers. There
is not much to see and to do in places like Turkey Creek and
Halls Creek so we wanted to travel as fast as possible through
these towns. Before you fill up with fuel in Turkey Creek
(Warmun) you have to give your licence, eftpos or credit card to
the person in the roadhouse; they had a lot of problems with
people driving off after they filled up with petrol.
We spend the night at the Mary Pool rest area and left early the
next morning to make it to a rest area 75 km east of Broome.
Andrew and Wendy turned off to spend the night in Derby and we
would catch up again in Broome. A German couple with a toddler
and a brand new baby arrived in a 4 wheel drive. The baby
screamed so much, it drove us insane. We were hoping they would
make the right decision to go somewhere else but of course they
didn’t. The baby screamed even more when it had to sleep in the
tent. We were very happy to find our earplugs.
When we arrived in Broome we were amazed at the changes the
town had gone through, it had grown heaps since 2002. All the
caravan parks were booked out, the only available spot was at
the pistol club where we booked a sandy site for two nights. It
was blowing a gale (normal for the time off year?) Soon
everything inside the tent was covered in a thick layer of red
dust.
We spend some time sightseeing in Broome and went to Cable
Beach and Gantheaume point. The next night we spend on the rest
area near the DeGrey river, a great spot. There were brolgas and
Brahman cows walking around the rest area.
We went to Port Hedland the next morning to get a new front
tyre fitted. In the Whim Creek pub we had a yummy BLT burger and
we arrived nice and early at the Roebourne caravan park. The
park was run by good friends of Wendy and we had a great time
catching up with them. Ronnie bought a fishing rod in Karratha
and he did some fishing near Cossack.
We had 4 nice nights in Roebourne and left to go towards
Exmouth. Andrew and Wendy stayed for another night and we would
probably not see them again on this trip. We wanted to stay in
Exmouth for a couple of days and they wanted to go to Onslow and
Coral Bay. We also wanted to go and stay in Kalbarri and they
wanted to go to Denham.
We were back in more civilized areas so it didn’t really matter
to travel separate. We spend the night at a rest area not far
from Nanutarra roadhouse and caught up with the New Zealand
couple, there were some more stories to tell. They travel mostly
on gravel roads and two up that is quite a challenge.
The rest area is a very popular stop, heaps of motor homes and
caravans. It looked like it was going to pour down with rain and
there were lots of thunder clouds in the sky. Luckily we only
got a very light shower that night.
We had to rug up the next morning because it was very cold when
we rode towards Exmouth. We just made it in time to the visitor
centre when it suddenly bucketed down with rain. I received a
text message from Huw and Elina that Huw couldn’t meet us
because he had fractured his ankle! What a shame, we were really
looking forward to his company.
We stayed in Exmouth for 3
nights and spend a day at Ningaloo reef national park and Ronnie
went on a fishing charter and caught heaps of fish. We had a
great time relaxing and I caught up on some washing, went
swimming and went for walks. When we came back to the caravan
park one afternoon, we found the 4 wheel drive with the Germans
and the screaming baby right next to us!
We decided to leave the next morning. The weather had turned
beautiful again after the rain and we planned the last couple of
days of our trip.
After a night on the Nerren Nerren rest area we rode to
Kalbarri and stayed there for 2 nights. The nights had gotten
colder and on the second day it started to rain. I think we both
had enough and it was a nice end of a great trip so we decided
to leave early the next morning and ride to Perth to stay with
Huw and Elina.
How good was it to sleep in a bed and to eat Elina’s yummy
homemade pizzas at the dinner table sitting on normal chairs!
The bike made it safely back to Albany although when Ronnie
checked the engine he found the crankshaft was blocked and the
rings were completely worn.
We rode nearly 14,000 km. All up we paid $893.20 in
accommodation, nearly $1100 in fuel, the cheapest fuel was $1.16
in Kelmscott and the most expensive was $1.97 at Renner Springs
roadhouse.