Lake Argyle to Alice Springs

Day 61 (Sept 15) Lake Argyle caravan park to Bungle Bungle caravan park.

Our next planned stop was the Bungle Bungles. While we were on the sunset cruise we heard that there had been a fire there but we were unable to find out any info about it. We decided to head for Kununurra as planned and find out from the information centre whether it was open or not. We were told it was so after stocking up on a couple of items and updating the blog while we had mobile coverage, it headed down the highway. We decided to do a day tour into the park instead of taking the car and camper. We read some bad things about the road and with the Tanami Road to do we didn't want to risk and damage. Unfortunately, when we checked in we were told that the tours were running every 3^rd day and there had been one that day. So, did we wait until Tuesday and take the next tour, or did we take the car in. We checked in for the night and had a talk about it. In the end we decided to do the day tour. Not much to do here so we will go and have a look at the free camp which is just down the road before we book for more nights here. Left over fish curry for dinner. 

358Km travelled

Day 62 (Sept 16) Bungle Bungle caravan park to Spring Creek Free camp.

Went and had a look at the free camp area after breakfast. Looked good down by the creek so we booked the tour for Tuesday back at the caravan park, then packed up and moved over there. Got a really good site, nice and shady. Spent the day doing some internet stuff and updating the blog. The area was quite full by night fall. 

The caravan park people did a cruise through late in the afternoon. We wondered if they moved people on if they stayed more than 24hrs. Butter chicken for dinner 6km travelled.

Day 63 (Sept 17) Spring Creek Free camp to Bungle Bungle caravan park.

Lazy morning. Had a cooked breakfast, the last of our black pudding from the Rockingham butcher. It looked like there were 2 lots of people with caravans who had driven into the Park early in the morning,leaving their caravans in the camping area. I re-glued the seals on the windows of the camper, I re-stuck them at Barn Hill but apart from the one that I glued they had all moved again and weren't sealing properly. Moved back up to the caravan park about 3, ready for the 6:30 start in the morning. There was another couple with a Tvan who had stayed over the road last night as well and were also doing the tour next morning. Cooked sausages and sweet potato chips on the camp BBQ and ate it around the fire. Sitting well back mind you, it was about 36deg but the fire was a nice place to socialise with a couple of cold beers. 

Got told about a couple in a Ford Ranger with a slide on camper that had broken their chassis on the way in to the park this morning. Glad we have decided not to drive in. 3Km travelled.

Day 64 (Sept 18) Purnululu National Park.

Up at 5:30 for breakfast and to pack what we needed for our trip into the park. On the bus at 6:30 for the 2 hr trip into the park. 

It's only 52km so that says a lot about the condition of the road. 21 on the bus, and a mix of nationalities by the sound of things. First stop was the info centre then on to the southern side of the park and morning tea before doing the Piccaninny Lookout walk and the Cathedral Gorge. It was a fairly hot day, predicted to be 36deg so lots of water. The domes are quite amazing, very iconic I think. Cathedral Gorge was great too, nobody burst into song although I was tempted.

One of the people from the bus, a Swiss lady had found the heat too much and was suffering a bit of heat stroke. She was given lots of water and helped back to the bus where she was kept cool. After lunch it was a trip to the northern end of the park and a walk in Echidna Chasm. This was different again, quite shaded which was nice and by the end it was very narrow with very high walls all around.

Some afternoon tea and back on the bus for the 2 hr return trip back to the caravan park. Everyone was pretty stuffed after the walks in the heat. Time for a shower (cold) and a beer at the communal fire pit before a lovely dinner which was part of the trip. The caravan park is on Mabel Downs Station, so we expected beef on the menu. We got instead chicken on skewers with satay sauce, chick pea curry, a spaghetti salad and a green salad. All of it delicious and followed by a lovely desert of chocolate tarts, or apple tarts and ice cream and fresh fruit salad. we shared a table with the Swiss woman who had been ill on the trip and her husband. They were a bit older than us and were on their second trip to Australia and travelling in a motor home. It was an interesting night comparing the Swiss model for retirement with the Australian one. 0km travelled (driven).

Day 64 (Sept 19) Bungle Bungle caravan park to Wilson's Camp (Tanami Road).

The company that Carol worked for in Perth, and is still doing some work for while we are on the road, has a mine site on the Tanami Road and carol was keen to visit it. She had been in touch with her boss to get directions and it turns out that he and James, a Geo that Carol also worked with, were on site but would be leaving today. Bad timing all round I'd say. Her boss said we could call in, there would be a couple of people there and we were welcome to stay the night. It was going to be a long day if we were going to make it today. The site was over the border in the NT so we will lose an hour and a half on top of the distance. We decided to get up early this morning and see if we could get there. It will be entirely dependant on the condition of the Tanami Road which we had heard conflicting reports about. So it was up at 5:30 and on the road by 6:30. Made Halls Creek by 7:45, the only mishap being hitting a Galah that obviously ducked when he should have dived. Our first road kill and a smudge on the windscreen to show for it. Stopped at the IGA for some cheese and mandarins and we started the Tanami Road just after 8.

We planned to stop at Wolfe Creek crater which was 165 or so km in, about 2 hrs if the road was good. The road was indeed good and we made good time. Reports about the road into Wolfe Creek gave it a “bloody rough” rating so we were pleased to see it looked like it had been freshly graded when we went through the first gate. This was confirmed further on when we passed the said grader and from there the road lived up to it's rating. Just a quick stop for some pics of the crater and we were on our way out again. Very corrugated until once more we passed the grader and had a smooth ride back to the gate and the Tanami.

We didn't have to open the gate, 2 lots of travellers had stopped and opened it for us, in return for a road report. Told them it was smooth for about half way then very rough passed the grader. When we left they were discussing leaving their caravan and camper trailer at the gate and just taking a car in. Sounds sensible to us! Stopped for lunch at a river just passed Billiluna.

Was pretty hot, lots of rubbish around but 4 4wds turned up just before we left, looked like a school outing from Billiluna come to clean up a bit, well done . From there it was about 21/2 hrs to the border. The road wasn't too bad, some very corrugated parts but lots of nice smooth bits too.

Stopped at the border for the obligatory pics. We have been on the road for just over 9 weeks, done 9645 km and we were finally leaving WA. We've been here just over 10 years and I have to say you've been very good to us !!

Had a chat to a young couple from Victoria who were heading the other way. They were lucky time wise, they'd just gained 1 ½ hrs whereas we had lost the same. Never mind, the turnoff to mine site was about 24km and then the road in to the camp was another 35 or so. We found the turn off without difficulty, it was sign posted, then down the entry road to the end to find..........no one there. The guys who were still on site had had truck problems apparently so would be back about 7. We set up and had just finished a quiet drink when Stuart and Luke arrived. 

Was good to meet them and they certainly made us feel at home. They'd had a big day and so had we. Strange for it to be light still at 7pm whereas we were used to it being dark by 6 or so. Was definitely cooler too which was nice. Left over spag bol for dinner. 

563.8km travelled.

Day 65 (Sept 20) Wilson's Camp (Tanami Road) to Renahans Bore (Tanami Road).

Up later this morning because the sun gets up later. Plus it was overcast and Stuart thought maybe it would rain. Had breakfast then offered to have a look at the ice machine which was on the blink. Got it started and ran it for a while, seemed to be working OK but dumping the water it was pumping over the plates to freeze. After down loading the manual I worked out that the water going in was too hot, it was supposed to be between 4 and 32 deg C. After going through a couple of cycles and dumping the water, it finally started to make ice because all the hot water from the poly pipe had been used and there was now cooler water coming in. I left it running while I check out the dish washer to see if I could fix that. Not quite so successful although I did manage to get it washing. I needed to download the manual but the internet was on the blink and nothing would download. Checked the ice machine and it was going strong and half full. Good to have one win. While I was busy with these, Luke the fieldie, had got the air filter out and given it a good blow out with their compressed air as well as the pollen filter for the Air Con which was much appreciated.

It was after 12 by now so we packed up and got on the road. Stopped just before the Tanami road and had some lunch. We decided to make for Renahans Bore which was about 250km away. The road was pretty good until we went passed Granites gold mine. It was very corrugated in this section, not helped by the fact that there is a pipeline going through and there's lots of traffic from that as well.

Reached Renahans bore and we were the only ones there. Drove down behind the stopping area and made camp. There was a bit of a fire pit there so we didn't have to use our own, nice to have a fire again. 

It was still overcast and a bit chilly so it was early to bed after a dinner of spaghetti bolognaise. 

305.4km travelled.

Day 66 (Sept 21) Renahans Bore (Tanami Road) to G'day Mate caravan park Alice Springs.

Still overcast this morning, not up until 7. It's lighter later this side of the border. Some spots of rain while we were packing up so quick breakfast and pack up. Put the diesel from the jerry cans into the car which should get us to Tilmouth Well. A truck went passed just as we were about to pull onto the road, so we slowed down to let him get ahead a bit. The road was OK, with some rough patches but certainly not relentless corrugations. Went passed a grader which augured well but the surface didn't improve to much. Just up the road was a young lady in a Landcruiser who was bogged in the soft sand on the edge of the road. I stopped and got her to reverse, then drive forward again. It was her granddad's Ute (apparently he's the boss she said) and the tires were still up and the hubs not locked in.

Got to the sealed road just after Yuendumu, it had been raining most of the way so it was nice to see the end of the gravel, the last bit of which was as bad as we had been on since Halls Creek. Fuelled up at Tilmouth Roadhouse and had a toasted sandwich for lunch. It was still cold outside. Not long after, the road changed to single lane. Every time a car came the other way we had to get one wheel off the seal and if a road train came the other way it was everything off the seal, because they didn't even slow down!! To add to the interest, there were loads of kangaroos on the road drinking the water from the puddles, so that meant slowing down until they decided to head for the hills, some of them slipping over in the process. All in all, it was quite stressful, more so than driving the gravel I think.

Got to Alice Springs and checked in about 3:30. Must be THE check n time because there was a bit of a line up. First impressions after 20years, Alice Springs has definitely grown and is much busier! It was still cold although the rain had eased and after a shower we dragged out long pants and jerseys to keep warm. Steak and sweet potato chips cooked on the camp kitchen for dinner.

474Km travelled.

That's the first part of the trip done. We've been on the road for 66 days so far. Sometimes it seems like forever, other times it seems like not long at all. Overall, we're loving it!! It's been a huge learning curve for us as regards to driving on corrugated roads. The weight issue that I was concerned about when we left, came back to bite us on the Gibb River Road but it didn't delay us for too long and wasn't too big an expense.  It has made us look at other options for a tow vehicle but there's probably not much we can do until we reach Potato Point and have a permanent address again. It's something that we will have to manage for the rest of the trip though.

Having said that, we have been hugely impressed with the way the Pajero has gone. Apart from the rear shock failing, it has handled everything we have thrown at it in the way of gravel roads with ease. As I mentioned in and earlier post, it almost seems to be relishing them. The Mitchell has also been great. The issues we have had so far have been more quality issues than anything and it's still doing its job superbly.

As far as where to from here. Our options were to head back into WA via the Great Central Road, or down to South Australia and explore the Eyre Peninsula. At this stage the Eyre Peninsula is looking most likely Carol is certainly over long stints on gravel roads plus we have the weight issue to think about.  Either way we will be heading for Yulara and Uluru which Carol has never been to.