The Australian part of our trip is drawing to a close.

It's been great, all of it! The camping, driving on remote roads, catching up and staying with friends, visiting and re-visiting places,....
We arrived in Sydney on Sep 1st and fly out of Perth tomorrow, Oct 22nd.

Destination: Indonesia. First stop: Seminyak, Bali. Flights and first 3 nights of accommodation are booked, after we'll play it by ear.

Our dear Sterlin gets dropped off later today to sail straight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It proved too difficult to try and get him to Indonesia. We will re-unite in about 4 weeks time over there.  Before being shipped, Sterlin underwent a service at a gargage that specialist on Land Rovers. So, Sterlin now has new air filter, new oil filter and new oil. The gargage felt the oil leak from the transfer case was so minor, that they did not even consider repairing it. Which is good and bad at the same time. When I picked up the car, the person taking my money said the car was in "immaculate condition".  Now that is not something you hear everyday from a gargage. We travelled nearly 8,000 miles or 12,500 Kms on some pretty nasty roads, and it seems Sterlin didn't skip a beat. Well there was that issue with the auxiliary battery, but it seems to have fixed itself. Asking a fridge to cool hit hit is 40 C temperatures is probably asking too mich. And it should be noted that it took several days to clean him.

Sterlin Loaded into Shipping Container

Fremantle (Perth). October 9-22, 2013.

Around lunchtime on October 9th we reached the northern suburbs or Perth.
Our first stop en route to Fremantle was in Scarborough. Back in 1996 we lived there for a some monthe for Stephen's work. We had lunch at 'Zanders / the Sandbar' we used to frequent often while there. the memories of it where better than the real thing today.

In the afternoon of the 9th we arrived at Louisa and Besim's in Fremantle, where we have been since. It has been fantastic catching up: re-connecting with Louisa and getting to know Besim (and the kids). Lovely being in Fremantle. Walks, memory lane drive around Perth, coffee, wine, old friends, new friends, art (we are bought our 2nd piece of Aboriginal Art at  Japingka Art Gallery), lunch, dinner, movie,.... very civilized.

Zeke, Besim, Louisa, Flora, Luan, Caroline and Stephen.

We have met some lovely people and caught up with people from the London and Sydney years. Also very nice to be in a city again for a while (I'm still a city girl at heart).

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse.

This last week we spent 3 days / 2 nights touring around the Margaret River wine region. On the menu: Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, Vasse Felix and Evans & Tate Wineries, Simmo's, Gloucester Tree, Canal Rocks and a number of art galleries. We stayed 2 nights at The Bridgefield Guest House in the township of Margaret River.

Busselton jetty.

Stephen and Besim had way too much fun playing Candy Crush!

Meanwhile getting our car to Indonesia is proving a tad more challenging than expected, albeit not impossible according to some emails we got in the last few days. We have however decided not to chance it and will ship Sterlin to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia while we go 'back packing' in Bali and surrounds for 3-ish weeks. We will then go and meet Sterlin in KL and take it from there. So Sterlin gets dropped off at the Port in Fremantle on Monday, Oct 21 and we fly to Denpasar on Wednesday (most likely).

Northampton, Jurien Bay and Pinnacles. October 6-8, 2013.

We took our time getting to Perth from Gnaraloo.
The frst night we all ended up staying at The Edge Resort in Kalbarri. We got a deluxe spa suite at a discounted rate and discovered we had a washing machine in the bathroom. Pure luxury after 14 days of camping!!! Dinner with Louisa, Besim and kids at the local pub.
We went for a couple of short walks in Kalbarri National Park, and of course it was stinking hot again.

'Nature's Window'.

Next stop for us was Northampton which boasts some nice historic buildings, but was a tad sleepy for us. The campground was surprisingly nice though, with personal touches everywhere.
The night before getting to Perth we stopped in Jurien Bay where it started pissing down around 5pm and didn't stop until after we were heading out the next morning. At least most of the accumulated dust from the past 2 weeks got washed off Sterlin.

After the rains kinda stopped the next morning we headed to the The Pinnacles, a surreal looking bit of desert. It had just stopped raining which meant the colors were very intense. You can do a 4.2km loop by car and get out and walk between the Pinnacles. The Visitors Center is worth a look as well.

Pinnacles Desert.

Gnaraloo Bay. October 4-6, 2013

Friday, October 4th

So here we get to the purpose behind the long drives of the previous days: getting to Gnaraloo 3 Mile Camp in time to catch up with our friend Louisa and her family (Besim, Zeke and Luan). Very nice to see her again after about 14years!!!!! All the driving meant that we could spend 2 nights there, catch up, relax and watch the humpback whales swim (and breach) by.

Just like 14 years ago!

View from our shares camping spot.

So a lot has happened in 14 years, but it did not take too long to catchup up on the going-ons of friends far and wide.  And while things change, it is nice to see that Louisa has not changed (except that she has two wonderful boys now).

Lunch at The Blowholes on the way out of Gnaraloo.

Sterlin has developed a small leak in the under-carriage.  So will have that looked at seriously once we are in Perth.

To Carnarvon. October 2-4, 2013

Wednesday, October 2nd

Wow, that was a long and boring drive.  Day 1 was from Broome to Port Hedland, some 600kms. Day 2 was from Port Hedland to a place called Milinya Roadhouse and a further 800kms. Day 3 the last 285kms. All this driving had a goal.

But first, a recap of the three days driving.  The scenery was pretty darn boring.  Low scrub punctuated by ugly roadhouses every 250kms.  So lots of sitting in the car, listening to music and watching out for road trains and oversized vehicles.  It is mining country in this part of Western Australia, so lots of white toyota trucks screaming around doing mining stuff.  Port Hedland is a total mining town, but they seem to be working hard to find things for tourists to do.  We did not stay long as we were heading South with a purpose.  Milinya was the roadhouse that we got to before the sun started to set and the road became too dangerous to drive.

Thursday, October 3rd

Day 2 was a long day starting at 8am and finishing around 6pm, so 10 hours on the road.  And just to make it a little enjoyable, the temperatures peaked at 40C again.

Friday, October 4th

Day 3 was shorter. From the roadhouse we drove into Carnarvon to fuel and stock up to go the Gnaraloo Station 3 Mile Camp.

Broome. September 30 - October 1, 2013.

Monday, September 30th

The drive from Derby was short and easy so we arrived before lunch. A quick tour of the town and retail shops made us realize that today was Queens Birthday.  So about half the shops were closed.  But we found a nice cafe to have lunch.  So good to have real cafe food again ;)

In the afternoon we headed to Cable Beach, rented an umbrella and two deck chairs and plonked ourselves down for a little sunbathing.  Yes, we did go for a dip in the Indian Ocean as well.

Tuesday, October 1st

On day 2 we headed to the Northern beaches via an extremely rough unsealed road.  We stopped into Willies Pearl Farm and retail store, before heading to James  Price Point, Barred Creek and a few other beaches along Manari Road. The beaches were rugged and beautiful.  The deep red banks in contrast with the white sand made for some interesting scenes.  But no swimming due to the risk of saltwater crocs and jelly fish.  Not sure there were any, but wasn't going to take the risk.  And no one else was in the water anyway.

Broome's Northern Beaches.

On the way back to the campground we made yet another unsealed road detour to the Broome Bird Observatory.  Bit of a flop really.  No birds to be seen, except one white one about 250 meters away. So, back into town for an evening meal and beers at the local tavern

We had a wonderful time in Broome.

Derby. September 29, 2013.

Sunday, Septemebr 29th

Not a lot going on in Derby.  Described in our guide book as a sleepy town, and it certainly did not disappoint in this regard.  Ok, it was Sunday, but still.  We found a nice cafe at the wharf where we had "Barra" for dinner and watched the sunset over the water. The next morning we got lattes from a nice coffee shop. Was is possible that Derby could 'grow on' one?
 The very nice thing about Derby was the temperature.  At last we had hit the coast and got some relief from the 40C temperatures we had been experiencing.  

Tunnel Creek and Windjana National Park. September 29, 2013.

Sunday, September 29th

We started our day with a coffee.  Very nice.

The unsealed road to Tunnel Creek was in excellent condition and we made good time to this

National Park.  The 750m long cave-like tunnel through the hill-side was wonderful.  It was very cool being hidden from the sun, but the extra bonus was wading in the creek.  Very refreshing.  At the halfway point bats were coming and going from the cave through a large opening.  They were making a racket while the sound of their leathery wings when flying was very impressive.

The Bat Cave.

Bat Sign.

Another hour along the King Leopold road and we arrived at Windjana National Park.  The rock structures here are similar to coral and used to be a reef some 350 million years ago, so yes under water.  Now they provide a home to freshwater crocodiles and numerous birdlife.  The blistering heat made the 2km round trip walk hard work, but seeing the crocodiles in those amazing surrounds was worth it.

Windjana Gorge.

Windjana Gorge is one of the best spots to see freshwater crocs up close.

We then headed west to Derby and the coast.  At last some relief from the heat with a very pleasant 34C.

Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. September 27-28, 2013.

Friday, September 27th

There is not much to Hall's Creek.  But there was a bakery with latte coffee, and it was good and we were happy.  During coffee, Stephen noticed a sign offering the public a chance to see a weather balloon launch.  So, we "the public" made our way to the Bureau of Meteorology where we were welcomed with open arms.  Not sure that they get many tourists through the Hall's Creek office.  The officer on duty explained the various computers and instruments monitoring the weather and then launched the hydrogen balloon.  We were able to track it by radar.

Headed west in the direction of Fitzroy Crossing.  We made it halfway to Larrawa Homestead where we had exclusive use of the campground for the night.  The showers were good and boy did we need them.

Hydrogen Weather Balloon launch.

Larrawa Station campground.

Saturday, September 28th

Up early with the sun as we had a big day planned.  The first task for the day was to drive 150kms (90 miles) to Fitzroy Crossing for our morning coffee.  Had a little trouble finding a place that actually sold latte-style coffee, but eventually stumbled across the Fitzroy River Lodge.  For our mid-morning activity we headed to Geikie National Park to see the white cliffs over the mighty Fitzroy River.  The 2km walk to the cliffs was a bit too much for us in the blistering heat.  So we retreated back to Fitzroy township.  The plan was to drive onto Tunnel Creek national park (another 150kms on unsealed roads), but the green grass, swimming pool and cold beers of the Fitzroy Lodge made us change our mind, so we checked into the campground of the lodge.  Also meant we could watch the grand final of the Australian Rules Football League.  A very strange game.

Bungle Bungles. September 26-27, 2013.

Thursday, September 26th

We decided against proceeding along the Gibb River Road as originally planned.  The lack of water in the rivers means many of the attractions are dry and without the spectacular scenery for which The Kimberley is known.  The excessive temperatures and corrugated roads helped our decision.
On the way out from El Questro we visited El Questro Gorge (1hr walk), Zebedee Springs (30 mins) and popped into Emma Gorge Resort.

Once on the Great Northern Highway we headed to Purnululu National Park which is home of the Bungle Bungles.  The park is accessed via a very rough 4WD track.  Maybe even rougher than the Halligan's Bay track.  But the drive was rewarded with a wonderful "bush" camp and placed us in prime position to visit the park the following day.  Purnululu National Park gained World Heritage status in 2003.

Friday, September 27th

Up early the next day (5:20am) to visit Cathedral Gorge, one of the main features.  Then back on the road towards Halls Creek.

Walardi "Bush" Camp.  Wonderful! 

Cathedral Gorge.

Termite Hill.  They are everywhere.

El Questro Campground. September 25, 2013.

Wednesday, September 25th

We travelled a short distance along the "famed" Gibb River Road to the "famed" El Questro resort.  The section of the Gibb River Road was sealed, so it really does not count.  The resort is a nice campground and we decided to park ourselves for the afternoon, chill out and do some much needed clothes washing.  We spent time reading and listening to the squawks of cockatoos and other noisy aussie birds.  Extremely pretty birds but unfortunately with no beautiful accompanying bird-song.
Stephen went for a drive to Chamberlain Gorge and explored briefly up the road to Explosion Gorge.  While the gorge was nice, it was hard to enjoy it in the oppresive heat.  So a hasty retreat back to the campground was made.

To quote our guide book, "The days are warming up in September, but maximum temperatures are still reasonably comfortable".  Well, today it hit 43C (that is 109F for the Americans).  As the sun sets it was a reasonable 34C (93F).

This morning we woke up to find our fridge was not holding it's 4C temperature setting.  The assumption was that is working hard to stay cool in these hot conditions and merely draining the auxiliary battery in the process.  After the drive to El Questro, all was good again.  With some luck, nothing is actually broken, just the setup can't handle the conditions.  However, I suspected that the problem is a little more complicated with a partial failure of our split charging unit.  Further investigation is required in the next few days.  For the meantime, we might need to face the possibility of no fridge until we can work out the problem.  More to come in a future post.

Chamberlain Gorge.

El Questro Gorge at sunrise.

Boab Tree

Kununurra. September 24, 2013.

Tuesday, September 24th

Another hot driving day with tempertures reaching 40C outside the car.  But inside the car we measured the  temperatures at 45C under the glass.  We are not using the air conditioning system to help keep the engine temperature as low as possible as well as ensuring we do not get a shock once we get out of the car.  The overnight temperatures of 29C are the real challenge however, and humidity to also rising.  So not a dry heat.

Enough about the temperature.  We have arrived in Kununurra which is on the eastern side of The Kimberley's and also just inside Western Australia.  The drive was through open woodlands and where we saw some pretty miserable cattle.  A chat with a local at the roadhouse in Timber Creek confirmed that the hot temperatures we are experiencing are not meant to start until the end of October.  Looks like our visit to The Kimberley's is going to be hot and humid with dry waterholes and waterfalls.  Ok, it is all about the temperature.

At the campground we met a German couple who have travelled extensively in their amazing looking 4WD truck, which is totally kitted out.  They have come through the Silk Route including South East Asia, Indonesia and Timor Leste to get here to Kununarra via Darwin.  Good news, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and to a lesser degree Cambodia and Laos are not a problem to get our car into.  The not so good news, Vietnam seems to be quite impossible (at the moment and according to them).

View from our roof-tp tent.

Wycliffe Well and Katherine. September 22-23, 2013.

Sunday, September 22nd

The morning was spent shopping in Alice.  We are now the proud owners of our first piece of Aboriginal Art, currently being shipped back to San Francisco.  Then headed North up the Stuart Highway.  The temperatures are soaring and the roads are long.

Wycliffe Well claims to be the "UFO capital of Australia".  We stayed the night but unfortunately did not see any green men.  The campground was wonderfully decorated in 70's style UFO paraphernalia.

Pink Galahs in the campground.

Monday, September 23rd

Up early to see Devil's Marbles.  At 8:30am it was already 31C.  The Marbles were well worth the visit.  The rest of the day was 800kms (500 miles) of wide open plains on a long straight road.  Not much to entertain us on the drive to Katherine.  The peak temperature for the day was 40C and the temperature did not start to drop until 5:30pm.  The overnight low is expected to be 24C here in Katherine.

Split Marble

Conquered Marble

Twin Marbles

Kings Canyon. September 21, 2013.

Saturday, September 21st

Up early to hike Kings Canyon. First stop however was the gas station to get a permit to "enter and transit through Haasts Bluff Pass Aborginal Land Trust along the Mereenie Loop Road between Katapata Pass and Watarrka National Park".  Or put another way, to take the back roads and short cut from Kings Canyon to Alice Springs saving several hundred kilometers of road.  With permit in hand we headed off to start our hike.

Desert Flower.

Kings Canyon hike is a 6 km track (or 4 mile) unto and around the rim of the canyon.  The estimated duration for the walk is a massive 3.5 hours.  Which seems incredible, only 1 mile an hour.  But the scenery is beautiful so it is good to be enjoyed.  And although we were on the trail at 7:45am, the temperatures were already rising rapidly.  We were in for a hot morning walk.
As advertised the scenery was quite magnificent.  Spoilt only by the hordes of other tourists.  Temperatures probably peaked at 36C.

In the afternoon we hit the dirt roads again for the trip to Alice Springs via the West McDonald Ranges or Watarrka National Park. The highlight of the park for us was Ellery Creek Hole. Imagine a waterhole in the middle of a vast and arid desert, hidden away among the rocks where people are sunbathing and swimming. The water was very cold.  But a little Oasis in an otherwise pretty harsh land.

Alice Springs greeted us with air conditioned supermarkets and shops.  Time to get some fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, which had run out about 5 days ago.  Tonight we eat well.