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| Darwin to Broome |
zondag 18 november 2007
Photos Darwin to Broome
Please click on the link below and then click on the 'diavoorstelling' button, just above the photo labelled 'Small lizard in Darwin'.
Wyndham to Broome via the adventurous Bungle Bungles – 12-15 November
Today we drove from Wyndham to the Purnululu National Park. We had heard the road into the Park had been closed due to heavy rainfall a couple of days earlier, but were still disappointed to see that the entrance was still locked when we arrived. As luck will have it, we decided to have a quick break at the parking lot, and a few minutes later the Park Rangers appeared with another rental vehicle in their tow, to re-open the park. What we didn’t know yet was that this trip would be the most challenging so far.
The road into the Bungle Bungles is a 53 km long hard core 4 WD track, which took us 2 hours to complete. We nearly gave up already after a mere 15 minutes, when we were presented with a rather scary looking river, but after seeing the other two vehicles in front of it, cross it succesfully, we decided to give it a go as well. After arrival at the Visitor Centre, it took us another 30 minutes to drive to the campsite from where we decided to visit the first major atttraction of the park, the famous Cathedral Gorge. On the way there, we were confronted with another big river crossing, only this time, another Landcruiser was stuck in it, or ‘bogged’ as the Ozzies say. The driver was laying in the water with his head under the vehicle, trying to put some stones under the wheel, but without much success until so far. It turned out the unfortunate passengers were a deaf French couple, which rather complicated communication, but after a 10 minute hands and feet conversation, we agreed to pull them out. The vehicle had gotten so stuck in the mud, that we only succeeded on the fifth try. Not wanting to tempt faith, we decided to give Cathedral Gorge a miss and drove to Echidna Chasm, from where we also witnessed a beautiful sunset.
The next morning we decided to give the river crossing another go, together with a German couple, which we met on the campsite. This way, we reasoned, we could pull each other out in case one of us got stuck. Upon arrival at the river, they understood why we were so keen to embark on this journey together when we were confronted with a tourist truck (twice the size of our Landcruiser) which had got bogged at exactly the same place. After pulling them out, we proceeded to try the crossing by taking a detour around the water… and then it turned out our 4WD wasn’t working and we got stuck as well. However, with a little help from a couple of big guys from the tourbus, we got the car going again and managed to get to the beautiful Cathedral Gorge at last. On the way back, even after careful examination of an alternative route, we had again quick sunk into the wet, sandy gravel all the way upto the rear axel. Thankfully, we were pulled out by our German friends which we continued to follow for the rest of the way out of the park. And then we had a flat tire, so that had to be changed in the soaring heat, again with the help of our German friends (so there are also friendly German couples - see last travel journal). We managed the last river crossing succesfully on our own and were able to breath again.
Until, the car started making a strange noise, around the front left wheel, and a very strange noise when we turned to the left. We made it to Halls Creek, another 130 km down the road, went to a local garage and found out our front differential was damaged, disabling the 4WD and making the rumbling and scraping noises. Not wanting to wait for another week in this horrible place until the relevant spare part had arrived, we decided to take a small gamble and drive down to Broome (another 700 km from Hals Creek) as soon as possible, only stopping over in Fitzroy Crossing, to see the Geiki Gorge. Our car was fixed 4 hours after arriving in Broome, thanks to a very friendly staff member of the local car rental branch. We are now hoping to continue down south tomorrow with a car that really does 4WD and does not make any more noise.
The road into the Bungle Bungles is a 53 km long hard core 4 WD track, which took us 2 hours to complete. We nearly gave up already after a mere 15 minutes, when we were presented with a rather scary looking river, but after seeing the other two vehicles in front of it, cross it succesfully, we decided to give it a go as well. After arrival at the Visitor Centre, it took us another 30 minutes to drive to the campsite from where we decided to visit the first major atttraction of the park, the famous Cathedral Gorge. On the way there, we were confronted with another big river crossing, only this time, another Landcruiser was stuck in it, or ‘bogged’ as the Ozzies say. The driver was laying in the water with his head under the vehicle, trying to put some stones under the wheel, but without much success until so far. It turned out the unfortunate passengers were a deaf French couple, which rather complicated communication, but after a 10 minute hands and feet conversation, we agreed to pull them out. The vehicle had gotten so stuck in the mud, that we only succeeded on the fifth try. Not wanting to tempt faith, we decided to give Cathedral Gorge a miss and drove to Echidna Chasm, from where we also witnessed a beautiful sunset.
The next morning we decided to give the river crossing another go, together with a German couple, which we met on the campsite. This way, we reasoned, we could pull each other out in case one of us got stuck. Upon arrival at the river, they understood why we were so keen to embark on this journey together when we were confronted with a tourist truck (twice the size of our Landcruiser) which had got bogged at exactly the same place. After pulling them out, we proceeded to try the crossing by taking a detour around the water… and then it turned out our 4WD wasn’t working and we got stuck as well. However, with a little help from a couple of big guys from the tourbus, we got the car going again and managed to get to the beautiful Cathedral Gorge at last. On the way back, even after careful examination of an alternative route, we had again quick sunk into the wet, sandy gravel all the way upto the rear axel. Thankfully, we were pulled out by our German friends which we continued to follow for the rest of the way out of the park. And then we had a flat tire, so that had to be changed in the soaring heat, again with the help of our German friends (so there are also friendly German couples - see last travel journal). We managed the last river crossing succesfully on our own and were able to breath again.
Until, the car started making a strange noise, around the front left wheel, and a very strange noise when we turned to the left. We made it to Halls Creek, another 130 km down the road, went to a local garage and found out our front differential was damaged, disabling the 4WD and making the rumbling and scraping noises. Not wanting to wait for another week in this horrible place until the relevant spare part had arrived, we decided to take a small gamble and drive down to Broome (another 700 km from Hals Creek) as soon as possible, only stopping over in Fitzroy Crossing, to see the Geiki Gorge. Our car was fixed 4 hours after arriving in Broome, thanks to a very friendly staff member of the local car rental branch. We are now hoping to continue down south tomorrow with a car that really does 4WD and does not make any more noise.
Victoria River to Wyndham via Keep River National Park – 10&11 November
Today we travelled to the Keep River National Park, just a stonethrow away from the West Australian Border. Keep River National Park is a small park compared to most of the national parks. After 30 km unsealed road we arrived at the campsite to find out we’re the only ones there. A private campground just for the two of us. It was actually the first time that no other people were around and it was quite a strange feeling being completely on our own. I was also rudely reminded of the need to always check the pit toilets first before you use them when a smal gecko crawled out from between my legs. When the campervan was set up we went out for a walk to see the sunset. Again a very very nice view over the surrounding area, a spectacular sunset illuminating the hills to bright orange. After the walk it was almost dark and we had built up quite a sweat, so we decided it was time to try out our solar powered shower (we already prepared it while setting up our campervan). It turned out to work very well, with one of us standing on a stone picnic table holding the shower and the other standing underneath it. Nice warm water, enough to take a short shower each.
The next morning we got up at 6 and left our campsite. It is the only way to do some walking and not get scorched by the heat. On the way out of the park we did another walk to see some aboriginal art painted on the rocks. On our way to Wyndham, we stopped off at Lake Argyle and the Ord Dam, and got a brief taste of the Gibb River Road to find out El Questro was closed.
The next morning we got up at 6 and left our campsite. It is the only way to do some walking and not get scorched by the heat. On the way out of the park we did another walk to see some aboriginal art painted on the rocks. On our way to Wyndham, we stopped off at Lake Argyle and the Ord Dam, and got a brief taste of the Gibb River Road to find out El Questro was closed.
Kakadu to Victoria River via Katherine Gorge – 8&9 November
When you are travelling for a long period of time, you start noticing that there are different types of travellers.
The first category, the Bum Traveller, seems to hang around in hostels with no specific purpose for indefinite amounts of time. Because they are often there for quite a while, they may start to act a like they own the place with little regard for the other guests. A good example of this was a guy that stayed in our hostel in Darwin. His entire body covered in fluff, this guy never wore anything but a pair of shorts, and seemed to do little more than spend hours fiddling on a guitar, cook, watch TV or hang in the swimming pool. In the evening, he would treat everyone to very loud heavy metal, which he played on the DVD player in the living room.
Then there are the Young Travellers. In their late teens or early twenties, these travellers do exactly what they would do back at home. Surrounded by their peers, they talk about supposed ‘cool stuff’, drink beer, and most importantly, do nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. There were quite of few of these kind of travellers in our hostel in Adelaide, which reminded me a little too much of living in student halls. There was a Dutch girl who told us that she didn’t like Asia, because “her Australia tour had stopped over in Hong Kong for 1 day and the people were too rushed and everything was in Chinese”. And a German guy, who had decided to grow his first beard, which resulted in a very blond, very fluffy goaty.
Then there are the Hardcore Travellers, of which we met quite a few in Malaysia. These people find any place that is too clean, easy to travel or slightly Westernised ‘boring’ and always seem to be looking for the most uncomfortable off-the-beaten track experience, which they can then boast about afterwards. They also make a point of carrying as little luggage as possible (around half of the luggage that any other backpacker is carrying), including only 1 t-shirt and 1 pair of shorts. If you’re lucky, they will wash these overnight, otherwise you just have to cope with the smell.
The final, and to a certain extent, most unpleasant type of traveller, is the Unfriendly Couple. Unfortunately we have come across a few of these since we embarked on our own 4WD adventure. Seeking independence and solitude by travelling around in their own vehicle, these couple seem to take it as a personal offense that you have decided to take the same walk, stay on the same campsite or travel the same route. We reasoned that they are probably on a short holiday from their busy, hectic lives at home and are therefore looking for privacy, but that it still no reason not to greet someone back. There was one couple that we came across at least 6 times in 2 days, but even the sixth time, when we thought it was getting quite funny and absurd, they could barely utter hello. Or our German neighbours on the campsite in Kakadu NP. When we saw them again on the Yellow River Boattrip and accidentally touched his arm, he could only hiss irritatedly for ruining his perfect photo opportunity. You can imagine we weren’t particularly thrilled when we spotted them again on the campsite at Katherine Gorge, but thankfully we haven’t come across them again since.
However, most people that we have met are very friendly and fun, and we often find ourselves chatting away for a few minutes with complete strangers, exchanging travel tips and experiences.
On Friday morning we decided to do a half day canoo trip through the beautiful Katherine Gorge, which offered plenty of fantastic swimming opportunities. We then continued onto Victoria River, where we stayed at the campsite of the Victoria River Roadhouse. After a bit of relaxing in the afternoon, we walked to a lookout point which offered an amazing view over the red sandstone clifs of the Gregory National Park. At moments like that Australia is just so huge, and it was really awe-inspiring when we were standing there with just the two of us. Even though still hot, it is much less humid here and at night it even got quite pleasant. Combined with the fact that the campsite offered electricity, this inspired us to set up our own open air cinema and watch a couple of episodes of Scrubs on the laptop under the starry sky!
This morning, after I nearly dislodged an electricity and water point by driving off with the cable still plugged in, we set off for the Keep River National Park, just on the border with West Australia, where we’re hoping to see some more awesome nature and maybe meet some friendly travellers.
The first category, the Bum Traveller, seems to hang around in hostels with no specific purpose for indefinite amounts of time. Because they are often there for quite a while, they may start to act a like they own the place with little regard for the other guests. A good example of this was a guy that stayed in our hostel in Darwin. His entire body covered in fluff, this guy never wore anything but a pair of shorts, and seemed to do little more than spend hours fiddling on a guitar, cook, watch TV or hang in the swimming pool. In the evening, he would treat everyone to very loud heavy metal, which he played on the DVD player in the living room.
Then there are the Young Travellers. In their late teens or early twenties, these travellers do exactly what they would do back at home. Surrounded by their peers, they talk about supposed ‘cool stuff’, drink beer, and most importantly, do nothing unusual or out of the ordinary. There were quite of few of these kind of travellers in our hostel in Adelaide, which reminded me a little too much of living in student halls. There was a Dutch girl who told us that she didn’t like Asia, because “her Australia tour had stopped over in Hong Kong for 1 day and the people were too rushed and everything was in Chinese”. And a German guy, who had decided to grow his first beard, which resulted in a very blond, very fluffy goaty.
Then there are the Hardcore Travellers, of which we met quite a few in Malaysia. These people find any place that is too clean, easy to travel or slightly Westernised ‘boring’ and always seem to be looking for the most uncomfortable off-the-beaten track experience, which they can then boast about afterwards. They also make a point of carrying as little luggage as possible (around half of the luggage that any other backpacker is carrying), including only 1 t-shirt and 1 pair of shorts. If you’re lucky, they will wash these overnight, otherwise you just have to cope with the smell.
The final, and to a certain extent, most unpleasant type of traveller, is the Unfriendly Couple. Unfortunately we have come across a few of these since we embarked on our own 4WD adventure. Seeking independence and solitude by travelling around in their own vehicle, these couple seem to take it as a personal offense that you have decided to take the same walk, stay on the same campsite or travel the same route. We reasoned that they are probably on a short holiday from their busy, hectic lives at home and are therefore looking for privacy, but that it still no reason not to greet someone back. There was one couple that we came across at least 6 times in 2 days, but even the sixth time, when we thought it was getting quite funny and absurd, they could barely utter hello. Or our German neighbours on the campsite in Kakadu NP. When we saw them again on the Yellow River Boattrip and accidentally touched his arm, he could only hiss irritatedly for ruining his perfect photo opportunity. You can imagine we weren’t particularly thrilled when we spotted them again on the campsite at Katherine Gorge, but thankfully we haven’t come across them again since.
However, most people that we have met are very friendly and fun, and we often find ourselves chatting away for a few minutes with complete strangers, exchanging travel tips and experiences.
On Friday morning we decided to do a half day canoo trip through the beautiful Katherine Gorge, which offered plenty of fantastic swimming opportunities. We then continued onto Victoria River, where we stayed at the campsite of the Victoria River Roadhouse. After a bit of relaxing in the afternoon, we walked to a lookout point which offered an amazing view over the red sandstone clifs of the Gregory National Park. At moments like that Australia is just so huge, and it was really awe-inspiring when we were standing there with just the two of us. Even though still hot, it is much less humid here and at night it even got quite pleasant. Combined with the fact that the campsite offered electricity, this inspired us to set up our own open air cinema and watch a couple of episodes of Scrubs on the laptop under the starry sky!
This morning, after I nearly dislodged an electricity and water point by driving off with the cable still plugged in, we set off for the Keep River National Park, just on the border with West Australia, where we’re hoping to see some more awesome nature and maybe meet some friendly travellers.
Darwin to Litchfield and Kakadu National Park – 5-7 November
On Monday 5 November we left Darwin to embark on a 33 day journey to Perth, via Lichfield NP, Kakadu NP, part of the Gibb River Road through the Kimberleys and all the way down the coast from Broome. During this time we should cover more than 6000 kilometres, which, at a fuel consumption of 5km per liter, will cost us more than half of our daily budget on diesel. The gas guzzling machine that we’re taking on this journey is a Toyota Landcruiser, a vehicle which René has dreamt of driving since Top Gear showed how indestructible its even sturdier sister, the Hilux, is. This particular Landcruiser has been converted into a so called ‘bush campervan’, which means that you should be able to cook, eat, live and sleep in it. However, we have hardly any storage space for luggage as the a roof that folds up to reveal a ‘double bed’ needs to be folded back again when you’re driving. As a result, ‘bush campervanning’ is such a cramped space has already turned out to be quite a challenge, although we are getting more of a hang of it now. This challenge is made even greater with temparatures of around 35+ Celsius that hardly drop during the night, and a humidity of between 70 and 90%. So when we’re trying to do anything inside the van, such as cooking or making the bed, sweat will be pooring off our bodies like the water trickling down the Gunlom falls during the dry season. No wonder that whenever you ask an Australian in the Northern Territory whether they think it might rain later they all reply ‘I hope so’.
The first day we travelled to Litchfield National Park, about 170 km south of Darwin, and home to some beautiful waterfalls and massive termite mounds. Water, unfortunately, also brings musquitos, so after 2 blessed itch free weeks, we are now covered in bites again. The first night we stayed on a rather primitive campsite near the Wangi Falls, which offered cold showers, but no electricity or light. So when we wanted to have a wash before going to bed, we took turns in shedding light with our headtorch, which the other was taking a shower.
Because the sun sets around 18:30 and it’s pitchblack by 19:30, we have slightly adapted our daily routine by setting alarm at 6:00, so that we can enjoy some of the slightly cooler – or more appropriately: slightly less scorching - hours of the day. Depending on how long we are able to entertain ourselves outside in the dark, we go to bed between 21:00 and 22:00. Reading inside the campervan with the lights on is too hot, unless you open the doors, which means hosting an insect disco within minutes.
So after getting up very early on Tuesday morning, we took a short walk to the beautiful Wangi falls, and saw a Kookaburra (a strange bird with a ridiculously large head), a large white Cackatoo and a tree full of Flying Foxes (bats). Whilst continuing our journey to Kakadu NP, we came across lots of kangaroos and wallibis, who were munching on the fresh new grass along the road which comes at the beginning of the wet season. Kakadu is the largest National Park of Australia and home to an amazing variety of birds, as a result of the many permanent rivers and billabongs (small waterholes). During the wet season the freshwater from the rains collected in the river clashes with the saltwater brought in during high tide. As a result, the large plains next to the river are completely flooded, blocking many of the roads and tracks. The park is also renowned for its cultural heritage, with lots of Aboriginal rock drawings, some of which go back thousands of years. We went to see some of these rock drawings at the end of the afternoon at Ubirr, and climbed to the viewpoint, from which we had an amazing view over the park and the floodplains and the border of Arnhemland.
On Wednesday, we went for an early morning walk through layered sandstone outliers, before continuing to the visitor centre near Jabiru, where we viewed a very interesting film about the wildlife in the park and the culture of the Aboriginal people that still live here. To be honest. until so far, we hadn’t been too impressed with the Aboriginals, as most encounters had been in the cities, where you see many unemployed, drunk and/or slightly crazy Aboriginals. The visitor centre, aboriginal culture centre and ranger talks in Kakadu have brought a much better understanding of these people and their way of life. Their knoweldge about the bush, and their ability to live in such close harmony with nature is impressive and it made me realise how far removed we are. If I were put in the bush for 1 day, I would have no idea how to make a shelter or create a fire or what plans to eat and where to hunt. It made me really sad to hear how most of the Aboriginal culture will be lost very soon, as their are no new generations to learn from the elderly.
After the visitor center, we put our Landcruiser to the test by taking a real 4 WD track to the Sandy Billabong. We then decided to take it easy and choose a campsite with a nice swimming pool, where we spent the rest of the afternoon.
On Thursday, we took a 2 hour sunrise boattrip on the Yellow River, where we were presented with an amazing variety of birds – the white-bellied Sea Eagle, the Pied Heron, the Egret, the Black-Necked Stork, the Azure Kingfisher and the Comb-crested Jacana, whose toes are so long that they can walk on waterlillies, and, lots of Saltwater Crocodiles! We then continued our journey towards Pine Creek, before taking a detour to the Gunlom Falls (made famous by Crocodile Dundee!), again a pretty challenging track. We are now on our way to Katherine, where we’re planning to get the shopping, re-fuel the car and spend the night.
The first day we travelled to Litchfield National Park, about 170 km south of Darwin, and home to some beautiful waterfalls and massive termite mounds. Water, unfortunately, also brings musquitos, so after 2 blessed itch free weeks, we are now covered in bites again. The first night we stayed on a rather primitive campsite near the Wangi Falls, which offered cold showers, but no electricity or light. So when we wanted to have a wash before going to bed, we took turns in shedding light with our headtorch, which the other was taking a shower.
Because the sun sets around 18:30 and it’s pitchblack by 19:30, we have slightly adapted our daily routine by setting alarm at 6:00, so that we can enjoy some of the slightly cooler – or more appropriately: slightly less scorching - hours of the day. Depending on how long we are able to entertain ourselves outside in the dark, we go to bed between 21:00 and 22:00. Reading inside the campervan with the lights on is too hot, unless you open the doors, which means hosting an insect disco within minutes.
So after getting up very early on Tuesday morning, we took a short walk to the beautiful Wangi falls, and saw a Kookaburra (a strange bird with a ridiculously large head), a large white Cackatoo and a tree full of Flying Foxes (bats). Whilst continuing our journey to Kakadu NP, we came across lots of kangaroos and wallibis, who were munching on the fresh new grass along the road which comes at the beginning of the wet season. Kakadu is the largest National Park of Australia and home to an amazing variety of birds, as a result of the many permanent rivers and billabongs (small waterholes). During the wet season the freshwater from the rains collected in the river clashes with the saltwater brought in during high tide. As a result, the large plains next to the river are completely flooded, blocking many of the roads and tracks. The park is also renowned for its cultural heritage, with lots of Aboriginal rock drawings, some of which go back thousands of years. We went to see some of these rock drawings at the end of the afternoon at Ubirr, and climbed to the viewpoint, from which we had an amazing view over the park and the floodplains and the border of Arnhemland.
On Wednesday, we went for an early morning walk through layered sandstone outliers, before continuing to the visitor centre near Jabiru, where we viewed a very interesting film about the wildlife in the park and the culture of the Aboriginal people that still live here. To be honest. until so far, we hadn’t been too impressed with the Aboriginals, as most encounters had been in the cities, where you see many unemployed, drunk and/or slightly crazy Aboriginals. The visitor centre, aboriginal culture centre and ranger talks in Kakadu have brought a much better understanding of these people and their way of life. Their knoweldge about the bush, and their ability to live in such close harmony with nature is impressive and it made me realise how far removed we are. If I were put in the bush for 1 day, I would have no idea how to make a shelter or create a fire or what plans to eat and where to hunt. It made me really sad to hear how most of the Aboriginal culture will be lost very soon, as their are no new generations to learn from the elderly.
After the visitor center, we put our Landcruiser to the test by taking a real 4 WD track to the Sandy Billabong. We then decided to take it easy and choose a campsite with a nice swimming pool, where we spent the rest of the afternoon.
On Thursday, we took a 2 hour sunrise boattrip on the Yellow River, where we were presented with an amazing variety of birds – the white-bellied Sea Eagle, the Pied Heron, the Egret, the Black-Necked Stork, the Azure Kingfisher and the Comb-crested Jacana, whose toes are so long that they can walk on waterlillies, and, lots of Saltwater Crocodiles! We then continued our journey towards Pine Creek, before taking a detour to the Gunlom Falls (made famous by Crocodile Dundee!), again a pretty challenging track. We are now on our way to Katherine, where we’re planning to get the shopping, re-fuel the car and spend the night.
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