Adventure in Australia's Outback

Have you ever wondered if you could travel Australia's Outback? Lisa and  Ashleigh say-

YES YOU CAN!!!!

After much planning we left Perth on May 31 to travel dry,red outback Australia from Perth north to Coral Bay, Broome,Kununurra, Darwin, Kakudu then down south through the centre to Alice Springs then Uluru and across the desert west to Kalgoorlie and back to Perth

We travelled in a Mitsubishi Challenger four wheel drive with a roof  pod for chairs, table etc and a 30 second Oz Tent on the roof rack. Inside the car Dad had made pull out boxes for all the cooking gear and food in the back with the Engel Fridge on top then the bedding and clothes for two fitted in any spare space.

Our trip took 10 weeks and covered 14000 kilometres.Ashleigh (10 yrs) did school work along the way which was emailed back to Perth and wrote a diary of her trip.

LISA AND ASHLEIGH (and Elwood who stayed home)

This is our story from emails sent home to friends and family.

THE AUSSIE ANGELS AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE

 Email 1

Hi all , Just a generic email to let you all know our whereabouts and what has happened so far.

We left Perth two hours behind schedule!

And changed our plans on the first day! Due to leaving late and not wanting to drive too far at night, we stayed at The Old Convent in Northampton rather than free camp at Murchison River.

On the way we had a very close call with an enormous emu (we were so close we actually eye-balled each other!)

Monkey Mia - Denham - Shark Bay

On the way into Shark Bay we visited the Stromatolites which are living fossils.

Modern stromatolites are mostly found in hypersaline lakes and marine lagoons where extreme conditions due to high saline levels exclude animal grazing. One such location is Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve, Shark Bay in Western Australia.

Monkey Mia is famous for the bottlenose dolphins that visit and interact with the humans at the beach. They are part of a pod of around 300 wild dolphins that live in the bay.

The weather is glorious, about 24c, but the water is freezing! We stayed here 4 days and have been to three dolphin viewing/feedings (just our luck though that for the next two weeks tourists aren't able to feed the dolphins, this is being done by the rangers only), this afternoon we visited Ocean Park open aquarium and tonight we went on a didgeridoo dreaming tour.

Ash has made friends with the kids next door - 3 year old girl, 5 year old girl and 7 year old boy. They have been travelling around Australia for 19 months already on their two year holiday.

Well I had better go and enjoy the day. I hope you are all enjoying work and the cold weather (ha ha).

Bye for now.

Email 2

Hi All, Once again another generic email to let you all know how we are going. If you don't want to receive anymore let me know and I will remove you from my email list - and won't talk to you ever again!!

On our last day of dolphin feeding before we left Monkey Mia the public were finally allowed to feed the dolphins. The problem being that there were about 100 people and only 10 fish to go around! As luck would have it, one of the staff had been on the didgeridoo dreaming tour we went on the night before and must have recognised Ash and chose her to feed one of the dolphins, yipeee!

After leaving Denham we stopped at Shell Beach where billions of tiny white sea shells form a 60km long beach. The shells are many metres deep and there are buildings in Denham built from blocks of the compacted shells.

CORAL BAY - SWIMMING WITH THE WHALE SHARKS

It was a long drive to Coral Bay (about 6 and a half hours). Hot, sunny Coral Bay... yeah right. I am convinced I am a rainman! We battened down the hatches and survived a night of thunder, lightening and torrential rain (which the tent didn't take a liking too mind you!)

But all was forgotten when we went on our long awaited Whale Shark tour. Apparently the whale sharks are only being sighted every three or four days at the moment so we were extremely excited when the spotter plane found one for us, although we still had the worry that it would dive down deep and we would still miss out.

But all went well and Ash and I had the most awesome experience of swimming with a seven metre whale shark!

Words can't describe how I felt when I finally got to do something that I have been dreaming about for so long.

We also did three snorkels on the outer reef which was fantastic to see such abundant fish and vibrant coral. We also swam with some reef sharks! I was so proud of Ashleigh, who wasn't scared at all and who snorkelled better than many of the adults on the tour.

The next day was a lazy day spent snorkelling in Coral Bay and reminising about our fantastic experience.

The next day however wasn't as fun, spent packing up and another 6 hour drive to Karratha!

Today we went to the North West Shelf Project Visitor Centre which was interesting and to see the Aboriginal rock art on the Burrup Peninsula.

From now on it is going to get quite hectic as we only stop one or two nights at each place. We will have to wait and see how that goes!

Bye for now. Lisa and Ash

Email 3

Hi All, Now where did we leave off last time?? That's right we were in Karratha.

MILLSTREAM

After Karratha we headed to Millstream-Chichester National Park, about 2 hours south-east of Karratha and set up camp at Crossing Pool. It was actually really nice to be away from caravan parks and bush camping again. I was expecting Millstream to be similar to Karijini National Park with its amazing gorges, so although it was nice I was a bit disappointed, however, our campsite beside the pool was great

and we were greeted in the early morning with a chorus by the white Corellas ( White cockatoos)

Who would mind doing the dishes with a view like this.

The roads out here are wide and dusty and you have to be careful of crossing cattle as there are no fences.

PORT HEDLAND - IRON ORE COUNTRY

What can I say about Port Hedland other than "don't bother". With all due respect to those people who live there, it is a big mining town and lots of dust! The iron ore trains and ships in the port are huge. 

The country out here is red and dry and it will be good to get back to the coast.

We are seeing quite a few interesting lizards who fit in well with the colours out here.

Next was Eighty Mile Beach. Ash had a ball collecting shells along the beach and when the tide went out walking out about 200 metres. This is the beach as the tide was coming in.

Although Cyclone Laurence hit Eighty Mile Beach just before Christmas last year, the caravan park has already been rebuilt and it is pretty green.

We had decided to stay at Port Smith, approximately 150 kms south of Broome, as the caravan park had a rehabilitation centre and I thought it would be nice to interact with the joeys. Unfortunately though, there were only a few kangaroos there and you could only look from a distance. There isn't much at Port Smith unless you are a fisherman, but Ash had a ball playing in the mud when the tide went out in the lagoon and playing with the tiny crazy crabs. Whilst we were trudging around in above ankle height mud in the mangroves, the sneaky sand flies were feasting on me (after counting 80 bites I gave up), but I can tell you this, they are still itching like crazy a week later. I have since discovered that the lagoon we were walking around in is prime crocodile territory, oops!

BROOME and CAPE LEVEQUE

We arrived at Broome and into the lap of luxury! We are staying at one of my best friend's friends place in Broome. They have a property just out of Broome on the hill overlooking Cable Beach. They have two Eco Tents which they do as a bed and breakfast and a studio for family and friends (a proper bed and space for a few nights, yippee!).

I tell you what this is my ultimate dream home. It is open plan using natural materials; e.g. rammed earth walls and floors, wood, corrugated iron and decorated tropical style. The gardens and view are amazing too. I have told Ash if she ever wins lotto, she has to buy me this place. Apart from enjoying the luxury, it has been really having the company of another adult, Lisa (yes, another one) and kids, Jacob and Amberley for Ash.

We did the Willie Creek Pearl Farm tour which was interesting learning all about pearls and then at the end I got to drool over all the beautiful pearls before leaving empty handed. One day, one day!

We drove up to Cape Leveque, about 230 kms north of Broome for a couple of nights. About 100 kms of the road in is gravel and can be quite badly corrugated and sandy. I didn't find it as bad as I had expected and actually quite enjoyed it (yes, I am a strange one!).

Cape Leveque is on aboriginal land and has a good caravan park and beach huts right on the beach. The colours of the rock and beaches are amazing.

Today we went to Malcom Douglas's Wildlife and Crocodile Park.

I tell you what, I wouldn't want to come across a croc in the wild! I am starting to get abit nervous actually about the crocs and camping in a tent!

Tomorrow we hit the Gibb River Road, yipee! I have spent time today checking all the oils etc in the car, so hopefully all will go okay.

Well bye for now. Lisa and Ash.

Email 4

Hi All , After leaving Broome we drove about 100 kms on the

Gibb River Road

before turning off to Windjana Gorge thankfully the rains have gone and all the roads are open.

Gibb River Road

There is always a reminder on signs out here to make sure you have enough fuel.

At Windjana Gorge we bumped into friends of my parents, Mary and Don.They had been having tyre trouble as they had been along the entire Gibb River Road which is badly corrugated.

The next day we went to Tunnel Creek.

Tunnel Creek is a 500 metre cave which is inhabited by bats and sometimes freshwater crocodiles! We donned our reef shoes and torches and managed to negotiate our way in the dark, only getting wet up to our shorts.

We are seeing the amazing Boab Trees, sometimes called Bottle trees.

Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater

After Fitzroy Crossing, where we did a boat tour of Geike Gorge, we headed for Halls Creek. As a last minute decision we decided to go into Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater, as we heard our friends might be there. The road into Wolfe Creek is the beginning of the Tanami Track which runs through to Alice Springs. Although mostly graded, it was a bit rough, which I quite enjoyed, but long, taking two hours to reach the crater. After a quick look into the crater, it was back into the car for the two hour drive back before it got dark.

On the way out we saw our friends who has stopped to help two ladies in a land-cruiser that had rolled in front of them. Fortunately the ladies weren't badly injured, though I can't say the same about the car. It does make one think of the dangers when driving on gravel roads

This put us behind schedule and meant we had to drive out of Wolfe Creek in the dark! As we arrived back into Halls Creek late, we decided to stay at the Halls Creek Caravan Park. I must say that the caravan park was fine, even though it was just down the road from the hotel. Although I was expecting a horror night, it was actually pretty quiet, or else it could have been that after driving for eight hours I was too tired to notice anything!

Bungle Bungles - Purnalulu National Park

I woke the next morning, eagerly anticipating our drive into the Bungle Bungles. I had heard numerous times how bad the road in was and that it took about two and a half to three hours to drive the 53kms in. Well all I can say is that most people can be pretty soft! I took it pretty easy and made it in one and a half hours and that is after going back to do the creek crossing again! (water level just above the number plate).

.



We started to see the amazing giant ant hills also

What an amazing place! The striped, sandstone bee-hive domes are so different to any other place in the world.

This toilet must be the most photographed in the bungles.

/







We even did a 30 minute helicopter ride (which I will be paying off for years to come!) Besides the awesome view, it was so exciting to see Ash having her first helicopter ride (with no doors on mind you). She wore a smile from ear to ear the whole time.

/We also hiked to Echidna Chasm and Mini Palm Gorge both fabulous places.

Time to relax after a hard days hiking.

/

Kununurra

Now we are in Kununurra. I must say that although we are having a fantastic time, it is a lot different to how I thought it would be in terms of having time to relax! We are on the go the whole time.

Here is a typical day:

1. Pack up camp

2. Drive to next spot (anywhere between 3 and 6 hours)

3. Set up camp

4. See the sights (which often involves hours of walking)

5. Cook dinner and do the dishes

6. Work out where to go next and what sights are to be seen there

7. Work out how long we will need to get there and how long we will need to stay there

8. Work out how much petrol we will need and where I can get it from

9. Work out what food we will need (taking into account whether we will have power or not, how much room we have in the fridge and containers and when I can buy it next)

10. Have a shower (if available) or wash

10. Go to bed exhausted.

Other things that also need thinking about and doing:

1. Car maintenance

2. Reorganising/packing the pod/car

3. Washing the clothes and towels

4. Charging lights, cameras etc

5. Working out if have enough water and gas

I think that is about all. Needless to say, this is why I haven't picked up a book to read or emailed everyone individually!

We hope everyone is going well back in Perth. Stay warm (lol) and don't work too hard (lol).

Love Lisa and Ash

Email 5

El Questro Wilderness Park.

Hi All, We left Kununurra after a well earned rest and headed for El Questro Wilderness Park

We hiked into Emma Gorge

which ends in a beautiful refreshing (translates to freezing cold) pool,

Hiked El Questro Gorge to another awesome pool - the water is so clear it is amazing, and sat in the little thermal (warm) pools at Zeebedee Springs.

Next stop was Lake Argyle. The pool at the caravan park there is an infinity pool (has no visible edge and looks like it drops away to Lake Argyle) which is simply stunning.

Then finally it was across the border and into the Northern Territory, with the obligatory border sign photo of course.

Northern Territory

First stop in the NT was Katherine, where we went to Katherine Gorge, Katherine Hot Springs and hiked to the top of Edith Falls.

In Katherine we came across our first cane toad which are now coming over to western Australia. This one hopped into our tent bag outside the tent. I nearly had a fit when I picked the bag up and a gallant man came to my rescue to remove it.

Litchfield National Park

Next was Douglas Hot Springs. The water here comes out of the ground at around 60 degrees (too hot to swim) but cools abit further down stream where it is like a hot bath.

It was here that I had my first dreaded snake incident of the trip! Ash advises me, 'cool as a cucumber', that there was a snake. I on the other hand was anything but 'cool as a cucumber' and proceeded to have a full scale panic attack as I ran back along the creek bed trying to find my way out.

Then it was off to Litchfield National Park. Here we passed the termite mounds reaching up into the sky

and the magnetic termite mounds which are oriented North South for natural airconditioning.

Being so hot we went to Florence Falls to have a swim (one of the few places you can swim at Litchfield due to crocodiles) and so did the rest of the NT I'm sure. I had to laugh as we climbed down the steps to the 'remote and tranquil' Florence Falls only to find about 200 people (no word of a lie) had done the same thing!

At night the Rangers give a talk and film show about the park and surroinding areas.

The next day Ash got really sick (bad stomach pains and vomiting) and we drove back out of Litchfield to the nearest town, where we went to the Community Health Clinic. She was diagnosed with dehydration and gastro but the appendix could not be ruled out. With this in mind we raced back into Litchfield, packed up camp and headed for Darwin early. As Murphy's Law would have it, on the way to Darwin she felt better and hasn't been sick since!

Darwin

In Darwin so far we have been for a tour on the amphibious craft (goes on land and in water), went to Crocosaurus Cove,

where we held a juvenile croc, went for a swim with the juvenile crocs (in a pool beside the enclosure) and Ash held a snake whilst I had another panic attack!

We went to Aquascene, where we fed the fish and visited the Mindl Beach Sunset Markets, where we spent lots of money.

That's all for now. I hope all is well with everyone.

Lisa and Ash

Email 6

Hi All

Wow, where do I start? It has been awhile since my last update. I had better finish off Darwin I guess.

As you can't really swim at Darwin (unless you wish to brave the crocs and stingers), they have built a wave pool at the Waterfront Precinct in the city. We spent nearly four hours 'surfing' the waves until we began to feel sea-sick! We also went to the Leanyer Recreation Park, which is free (who says you can't get something for nothing) and has water slides, water playground, pool, playground and skate park.

The Territory Wildlife Park at Berry Springs, just outside Darwin, was good too. It has different habitats (i.e. savannah, billabong, monsoon forest, woodlands) showcasing the diverse fauna and flora of the Northern Territory.

Kakudu National Park

Then it was off to Kakadu National Park, which is just awesome.

We saw Aboriginal rock art at Ubirr and Nourlangie Rocks (and nearly got carried away by swarms of gigantic mozzies at the campground there);

went on the Yellow Waters Cruise (at sunrise and sunset)

and saw the most amazing amount of birdlife and heaps of crocs (there were even some National Geographic moments);  4-wheel drived into Twin and Jim Jim Falls (and negotiated a very deep water crossing)

and stayed at the beautiful Gunlom Falls (where Linda Kowalski in Crocodile Dundee got attacked by the croc).

Next was Mataranka, where we spent hours in the thermal hot springs at Mataranka Homestead and Bitter Springs. A bit of trivia for you - Mataranka was where I first learned to swim when I was three years old when I was on a trip around Australia with my parents and brother and sister. We also had a sleepless night experiencing an aboriginal community following 'pay-day'!

We are now heading south towards Alice Springs, on the way we passed the devils marbles near Tennant Creek.

On the drive to Tennant Creek, which was already a six hour drive, we were held up for a further two and a half to three hours following a fatal road accident on the Stuart Highway.  A very sobering sight and a reminder that we were doing the right thing; i.e. living life whilst we can.

At Tennant Creek we did the Battery Hill Underground Gold Mine Tour and panned for gold - no gold nuggets but lots of gold ore.

At Gem Tree we went garnet fossicking. After four and a half hours of back breaking work we came away with six garnets that can be cut and about 200 garnets that are unable to be cut due to their size or fractures!

Alice Springs

Then we finally reached Alice Springs, the centre of Australia. The highlights here being: a hot air balloon flight (which was just awesome, drifting along just above the trees and then 1000 feet up within a matter of seconds);

a night time tour at Desert Park (where we saw some rare and endangered animals); and a didgeridoo sound and light show and didgeridoo lesson (it looks alot easier than it is let me tell you).

As for the weather, we have definately left the sunny, humid 35 degree days and 25 degree nights behind. We are now experiencing days of 17 degrees and nights of 2 to 6 degrees! Yesterday there was a down pour and in the space of just over an hour, our tent was flooded up to ankle deep, not happy Jan!

Ash is collecting so many souvenirs they take up almost all the space we have in the car or the tent.

Next we head south for a few days at Kings Canyon then a few days at Uluru (aim to climb 'the rock' weather permitting), before the long, dreaded trek home along the Great Central Highway
(and don't let the word Highway fool you). Provided that the road is still open and not too badly damaged, and if all goes well, we are expecting to be home late on Friday 13th (I didn't time that very well did I?)

Well bye for now. The next time I get to email we will probably be home, back at work and saying "what holiday"?!

Lisa and Ash

Email 7

Hi All , We did it! After ten weeks and 14 052 kms, we arrived home safely on Wednesday night.

But before that I guess I should fill you in on the last part of our journey.

When we left Alice Springs we went to Kings Canyon to hike down the gorges.

Uluru

and then to Uluru (Ayers Rock). I am not sure if it was because I have seen images of it so many times or if it was because I have wanted to go there for so many years, but it was an amazing feeling when you actually see it in the flesh I mean rock, it is a pretty awesome sight. The climb was opened on our first day there (it is quite often closed due to weather conditions) and you can't believe how excited I was to finally be able to climb 'The Rock'. I went to Uluru in 1974 when I was little but wasn't able to climb it as I was too young (something my brother and sister have never let me forget mind you) so after 37 years I finally made it to the top, woo hoo!!

Going down is as hard as climbing up.

Sunset on the rock

The rock changes colour especially at sunrise or at sunset

We also did a camel ride to see and saw the sun rise over Uluru - was good fun even though it was only about 2 degrees!

Great Central Road

We left the rock and travelled west towards Katajuta then on to the Western Australia border.

The Great Central Road wasn't as bad as I was expecting so that was a pleasant surprise. It was a long drive though (nearly 1200 km) and the road conditions changed quite abit; i.e. from loose gravel to sandy patches then corrugations, so you had to concentrate pretty hard, needless to say after two days of it we were pretty tired.

We saw 28 wild camels and hundreds of car wrecks (which is quite a discerning sight especially since it was so remote - in the 1200 kms we only saw about 20 other cars and sometimes you wouldn't see one for hours at a time).

 

We called into Giles Weather Station out in the desert where we saw the weather balloons go up and saw the piece of space junk which landed near here.

After Giles we stopped at Wiluna overnight then onto Kalgoorlie.

At Kalgoorlie we did a tour of the Super Pit, which I think is one of, if not, the largest open cut gold mine in the world. They produce about three and a half million dollars worth of gold each day, although none of it fell into my lap!

The trucks are so big you need a staircase to climb in to the cab.

We were going to go gold prospecting but unfortunately the trip was cancelled due to lack of numbers, so our chance at finding ourselves a huge gold nugget were dashed.

So now we are home and trying to get everything organised for going back to work and school tomorrow, boo hoo.

We both had an absolutely awesome time and feel so lucky to have been able to see so many wonderful places and do so many fantastic things. We have definitely caught the travel bug and are already starting to think about when we can do another trip - this time we have Queensland in our sights.

Ash got her friends home safely and after being squashed in to any spare space in the car they are all in pride of place on her bed.

We hope you have enjoyed hearing all about our adventures and also hope that it may have given you the inspiration to go and explore this amazing country of ours!

Until next trip.

Lisa and Ash