Alice Springs to Kununurra

We spent 3 nights in Alice Springs and lashed out to stay at the Big4 caravan park where there was a jumping pillow and night time activities such as star gazing (through a telescope, where Ned saw the rings of Saturn) and talks on the local plants and animals. We also saw the old Telegraph Station and all did a half hour didgeridoo lesson. Most of our time in Alice was just ‘housekeeping’ stuff such as shopping, washing and sorting out car/trailer electrical things.

learning to play

 Jim really wanted to take the Tanami Road from Alice up to the Kimberleys, but we had reports of the road being pretty bad (two thirds bad corrugations - ie nearly 700 km). Unfortunately the police, tourist info or main roads didn’t want to give us any info about the road conditions, which was pretty disappointing, so we had to make a judgement based on info from the few fellow travellers we met. Anyway, we headed up the bitumen, to take the long way around to the Kimberleys via Katherine (an extra 1000 km).

On our first night from Alice we made it to Wycliffe Well which is apparently the UFO capital of Australia – lots of reported sightings. We read lots of stories that night in the shop/bar about all the sightings, and although we didn’t really believe many of the stories, Jim admits to being a bit nervous when doing a mid-night pee in pitch black darkness. (You see, the aliens can actually erase your memory of their abduction, before returning you to Earth!)

Some of the locals at Wycliffe Well

 The next morning we had a good look around the Devil’s Marbles before travelling on to Daly Waters for a pleasant night at the pub with a cheap camp site, 2 bowls of chips and free (good) entertainment.

Daly Waters Pub

 The next day we swam at Mataranka Springs (very refreshing of course) and then drove most of the afternoon (via Katherine) to stay at Sullivans Campground in Gregory National Park 200 km west of Katherine. Claire (being an old NT person) could hear crocodiles in the nearby creek that night.

Ned at the Devil's Marbles

Devil's Marbles

Elsie at Elsey National Park (Mataranka Springs)

Mataranka Springs

 The next morning we quickly hit real Kimberley-type country with cliffs, grasslands and the very big Victoria River. We had quite a few stops checking out the river, lookouts and other interesting things.

Victoria River

The Gregory Tree (Boab tree) - inscribed by the Explorer Augustus Gregory in 1856, on the Victoria River

We hit Kununurra at about 4 pm and found a great campsite in a caravan park by the shores of Lake Kununurra, not far above the dam wall. It was a nice change not to be camping in dirt and dust, and even nicer to watch the lake and nearby cliffs at sunset from our camp with a cold beer.

Our camp on Lake Kununurra - water views from the back from our "dining room".