Pender Bay escape to Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary

Day 32 to Day 36 Pender Bay Escape.

Lovely cloudless days, the breeze normally getting up around 9 or so. A very relaxing time, fishing (very unsuccessfully !) walking on the beach, swimming and watching the whales. There's been whales every day, some of which have put on a great display of tail and fin slapping and some even breaching several times. One was just floating on or near the surface for a few hours one day and we eventually decided that she was giving birth, apparently something they do here. There has been a very small one playing around for the last couple of days as well so we think we were right. We've also seen a dolphin and while fishing one afternoon a 2 mt shark went cruising passed on his way to who knows where. Carol also saw a stingray fly which was pretty special.

Went for a drive on Tuesday up to Koojaman (Cape Leveque) on Tuesday. Quite a nice spot, much more commercial than here and their camping ground doesn't allow caravans which we thought a bit odd. $10 ea entry for the day, $35 if you wanted to take your car in. We elected to walk and had lunch down by the beach. 

Also visited the church at Beagle Bay which was definitely worth a visit. 

Our maps showed a road going out the back of Beagle Bay and linking up with the road into Pender Bay Escape which would have saved us quite a few kms but all the roads out that way had signs up saying “Locals Only” so we came back out on the highway up the sealed road and back in the way we came out this morning. 

We'd put 15lts of diesel in at Djarindjin/Lombadia roadhouse which was a credit card facility, $1.97/lt so our dearest fuel so far. The whole peninsula is going to get much busier when the road in is sealed. It is scheduled for the next few years with the first stage underway now. Watched the whales when we got back to camp about 4, wanted to put a load of washing on but the machine was in use so had to wait until the morning. We've had fires most nights and used the last of our wood, some of it has been on board since Rockingham and the rest since we left Mt Augustus nearly 3 weeks ago. Hasn't been any opportunity since then to have fires so it's been nice sitting around one at night. 

 Our dinners since we got here have been leftover butter chicken & Penang Chicken, cold chicken and salad, pizza, sausages and veges, Moroccan Chicken salad and tonight pizza again. Fish was on the menu on a few nights but had to be taken off due to lack of supply. 285Km travelled.

Day 37 Pender Bay Escape to Broome Gateway Caravan Park.

Up at 6 and on the road by 8. Andrew the manager at Pender bay told us that the Cape Leveque Road was going to be closed tomorrow by FESA for burning off. Just as well we are coming out a day early. Aired up at the seal, then down again at the gravel. The road hadn't improved any and to add a bit of spice to the trip, the fuel light came on about half-way along the gravel section. We have a rule that if we run out of fuel, whoever is driving has to walk to get some. We've never had to do it so far and luckily for us we didn't have to do it this time either. We got to the seal OK and the fuel map app showed us the nearest service station was only 12km more. We ended up going into town and filling up at the Caltex next to the shopping centre. The tank only took 72ltrs which means there was 16ltrs left, something not quite right there. Even though it looked like the tank was full, I suspect it wasn't, because the consumption figures weren't right. It wasn't a high flow pump so not sure really what was happening.

Next stop was Ali Workx to get the camper kitchen latch fixed. I'd called them on the Monday previous and they'd said to just bring it in. They were great, we left the camper while we did some shopping and called back a couple of hours later to find it all done. Only cost $50 as well, so a bargain! It doesn't seem to be a great design feature of the camper, so we have decided to put something against the door to stop it moving and stressing the weld again. After a bit of scratching around in the back of the car I found just the thing..............a piece of foam noodle that I'd thrown into the back, thinking it might come in handy for something. I put a slit along it and slipped it over the kitchen handle and it's a perfect fit, sometimes it pays to be a hoarder!!

Got to the camping ground around 3:30, nice big sites and good amenities. Well priced too, the camping grounds in town are all at least $50/ night whereas this one was $30. About 30km out of town but we'd done all we needed to do in Broome so it wasn't an issue for us. Fish (cought, I can't say the letter b :)) & sweet potato chips for dinner. 

235.3km travelled.

Day 38 Broome Gateway Caravan Park to Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park Derby.

A leisurely breakfast and pack up. We only had about 190km to go to get to Derby so there was no rush. Checked the tires and filled the water tank and on the road by 10. The road was in very average condition, there was a sign not long after the Roebuck roadhouse saying “Roadworks next 180km” so that should have given us a clue. Didn't spot any actual workmen until we were not far out of Derby. We stopped at the Prison Boab Tree and then were at the camping ground by 12:30 or so. 

 Our site had its own boab tree which was a nice touch, although it did make things a little more awkward when backing on to the site. Got set up and had lunch then I rotated the tires. It was 1000km overdue and I could have got one of the tire places in Derby to do it but I'd seen prices of $140 for a tire rotation so decided to do it myself. It was a hot and dirty job but the rattle gun made it easier and a nice hot shower when I was finished made me feel better. Dahl curry for dinner. 

202.1km travelled.

Day 39 Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park Derby to Horizontal Falls.

Up early for our big day. Breakfast and packed our bags (1 each of 5kg) before packing up the camper and moving to a storage site. We'd arranged to leave the camper and car there while we did the overnight trip to Horizontal Falls. Wandered in to town and through the Saturday markets which were on, then up to the information centre and one of the banks to get some cash out of the ATM. We wanted to buy a bottle of wine to take with us but had to wait until the Liquor store opened at 12.

 Went back to the car and grabbed our bags and waited for the pickup to take us to the airport. There were about 10 of us going from there, once we got to the airport, there were 2 planes to take us plus some others out to the house boats in Talbot Bay. 

 I got to sit in the co-pilot's seat which gave me a great view of things on the way. 

 Once there we did a swim while they fed their sharks, in the same pool but with a mesh fence between us. Then on to the boats for the run through the falls. There are 2 gaps that they go through, a wide one and a narrow one. The tide was on the way out and the water was really rushing out through the wide gap. We'd been quick on board and got to sit in the front row, meant we copped a bit of spray but well worth it!! 

We couldn't go through the narrow gap because the difference in water height was too much, over 2 mtrs. We did quite a few passes through the wide gap then a leisurely cruise around some of the bays before back on board the house boats for drinks and nibbles and dinner. Shared a table with 3 other couples and had lots of laughs before hitting the sack about 9. Barramundi and salad for dinner. 0km driven (but lots travelled).

Day 40 Horizontal Falls to Derby then Windjana Gorge camping ground.

There was an early start this morning, breakfast at 6 before another run through the horizontal falls, some did an early morning helicopter flight which had a briefing at 5:45 so we got a few extra minutes. 

Back on the planes (copilot again, nearly enough hours for my license) for the 40min flight back to Derby and the bus trip back to Kimberley Entrance.

 The camper was still hooked up to the car so it wasn't long before we were able to get on the road and fuel up. Then we went back out to the Boab Prison Tree so we could do some internet stuff before starting The Gibb River Road about 10:30.

The first 100km or so is sealed but there is repairs going on meaning you have to detour off the road every now and again. Then there are road works where they are sealing the next 34kms, then it's the gravel. Aired down to 22psi front and camper and 35psi for the rear. When we had been to Tamala Station, they suggested airing down to 20psi and we'd gone 20 front and camper and 25 for the rear. We have been using this since for rough roads but after travelling up to Kooljaman from Pender Bay Escape I'd gone with 22psi front and camper and 35psi rear for the drive back n to Pender Bay. This seemed to give a much smoother ride so it's what I used on the Cape Leveque Road and what I decided to go with for the start of the Gibb.

We arrived at Windjana Gorge camping ground about 12:30 and set up in a nice shady spot. Have to say that so far the road hasn't been anything that we haven't come across before, realising of course, that it's early days! 

After lunch we decided to go to Tunnel Creek which is 35km away. Came across 2 graders working on the road which gave us 15 or so km of nice smooth road to travel. The last 10km was pretty ordinary, due to being stuck behind a dual cab ute which was only doing 20 to 40km/hr. I though the driver might have pulled over to let me passed but no such luck and although I had a couple of tries to get passed we had to follow him to the car park. Easily the worst 10km of gravel road we have travelled, not because of the road so much as the speed at which we had to travel at. I have read on quite a few occasions where people have said there is a sweet spot to travel at where the effect of the corrugations is not so harsh and this definitely proved it.

Tunnel Creek was good, nice and cool to be under the ground on what was a pretty hot day. We forgot our torches so had to use our phones as a flash light which was OK if not ideal. A couple of crossings of the creek, one of which was up to the bottom of our shorts and then out then end to a very nice billabong. 

 We sat for a while and enjoyed it, then saw a tour party approaching so we decided to beat a hasty retreat. A much better drive back to the camp for a nice hot shower. We both agreed this would have to be the best DPAW camp we have stayed in with flushing toilets and nice hot showers. 

 Scotch fillet steak and salad for dinner after a very long day. 

233.9km travelled.

Day 41 Windjana Gorge camping ground to Silent Grove camping ground.

Up at 6 for breakfast then packed up the camper and did the Windjana Gorge walk. Took about 2.5hrs for the 7km return on what was quite a hot morning even for so early. Different to the walks we have done so far, more of a bush walk, saw lots of fresh water crocodiles sunning themselves on the river banks and saw quite a few fish swimming around trying to avoid them.

On the road by 10, passed lots of cars heading in to Windjana. Mainly day trippers I think because most were only 4wds, no campers or caravans or rooftop tents. The road was again in pretty good condition, some rough patches and more graders working so some smooth patches too. 

 We thought we wouldn't be able to have a fire at either Windjana or Silent Grove but we spoke to the ranger last night and she told us fires were allowed so we stopped along the way and picked some up. Got to Silent Grove about 12:30 after negotiating a couple of quite deep water crossings on the way in.

Set up n another shady spot and after lunch drove the 10km to the Bells Gorge car park and walked the couple of km to the gorge. We'd packed our swimmers so negotiated the track down to the bottom waterhole and had a very refreshing swim. 

It's a lovely place, very picturesque. We were hot by the time we got back to the car, it was another warm day but we still stopped and got some more firewood after deciding what we'd picked up earlier wasn't enough for the huge DPAW fire pits. It's not that it's cold, Barn Hill Station is the last place I can remember being cold, but it's always nice to sit around a fire when you're camping. Back to camp for another hot shower, great facilities again, then left over Dahl for dinner. 

162.8km travelled.

Day 42 Silent Grove camping ground to Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary.

We didn't plan an early start because there wasn't far to go today but we were both awake early so we got up and did some computer work. Then it was breakfast and pack up time. There was a group camped not far from us and Carol had said the lady looked and sounded like Ruth, a lady she had worked with at St Ives when we lived in Kambalda. After breakfast she decided it definitely was Ruth so went over and said hello. Small world !

Before we hitched up I checked the wheel nuts and lifted the bonnet to give the air cleaner filter a bit of a tap out to get rid of some of the dust. Glanced at the battery and realised there was no hold down clamp. Not sure when it had fallen off, probably when we were shaking like billyo the day before following the dual cab to Tunnel Creek. Further investigation showed one of the arms had pulled through the battery tray. I got a couple of tie downs and managed to get them both around the battery and tray with the help of a couple of choice words when I couldn't find the end of one. It seems nice and tight but we'll have to keep checking it each day to be sure. We'll have to get a new battery tray, probably in Kununurra but might not be able to get one until we get to Alice. Could have been a nasty surprise if one of the terminals had broken off!

Packed up and on the road by 9:30. Fuelled up at Imintji Roadhouse, $2.05/lt, dearest fuel so far and from what I have read to going price on the Gibb. Bought a litre bottle of milk as well for $4. 

 Got to the Mornington turn off about 10:30 and called up on the UHF which was in a shed a couple of hundred meters from the corner. The girl who answered said to allow 2 hrs to get there which seemed to be a bit generous, especially as the road was like a highway for a far way. 

 The last 20km made up for it though and it was almost right on 2 hrs when we got to reception to check in. Got to choose any site we wanted so set up in a shady spot, decided to put the quick awning on to give us some shade in the morning. We're here for 3 nights so we decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. Checked the battery and all solid, probably more so than with the clamp!! Set up the solar panels, the 160w one giving no amps to the camper. Checked it and dodgy solder terminals again. Re-soldered both, hopefully for the last time. Exmouth butcher sausages (yummy) & veg for dinner. 

149.6km travelled.