A little excursion

Hello all
I have been very slack lately updating this blog, so this update is very overdue.

with the heat starting to hit in the Kimberley it was time to go walkabout, I havent really had much of a break since I arrived here.

but before I left I needed a swim.......so what do you do in the Kimberley for a swim?
You hop a seaplane of course and fly out and land on the lake.

Taking off on Lake Kununurra

We took off in a Cessna Air Caravan from Lake Kununurra and flew along the Ord River and over Lake Argyle.

over the Ord River

Flying over the Dam Wall and over the Lake.

rugged scenery around Lake Argyle

After that we landed on the lake

Islands of Lake Argyle

Lake Argyle

It was spectacular flying over the lake.

you can see how low the lake is.

superb

After landing it was nibblies, drinks and a swim.

its a hard life in the Kimberley

and the pilot calls this a job?

all too soon we had to head home

sunset over the lake

All too soon it was over, but worth every minute.
Its amazing what you will do for a swim when the temperature gets on the other side of 40c.

I am currently in Townsville and heading to country Victoria for Christmas, doing a quick lap of Oz over the next few months.

After a trip or two up into the High Country, I will, after Christmas, be heading across the Nullabour, and a slow meander up the West Coast.

Depending on how good of a Wet Season they get in the Kimberley relates to the speed of return........I dont want to miss a ripper Wet Season, if it happens.

Bye for now 

To Hell and Back

Hi all
The trip away last weekend was EPIC.....but not in the normal epic sort of way..........more like watching every episode of Neighbours produced, while wrestling Crocodiles. It was torturous and never ending.

Once again it was through Indigenous Land (with permission) , so no details or place names will be mentioned.

Saturday started innocently enough with a cruise down the Highway to point A, there has been an Exploration Drilling crew in the area recently, so the track had been Graded.

With just a few thunderstorms pretending to be a Wet Season this year, it was as dry as a bag of Smiths Crisps.

Now, let me say at this point I did try to research this track, but being on Indigenous Land not a lot of Information could be sourced. I spoke to one of the Elders and a guy that does a few tours into the area but information remained sketchy at best.

Saturday Night we pushed on to camp at a large swimming hole......well it was before it dried up.
An enjoyable evening around the campfire under a moonlit night was had. About 3.00am I got up to "water the horse" and the sky was amazing, billions of stars to be seen.

Sunday began Innocently enough also, 19km to our destination, and after a Bacon and Eggs Breakfast we headed off.

At this point things turned to shit.

After a 500 metre run up a very soft river bed and we confronted our first challenge.

At this point the track was disappearing faster than fruit pickers when Immigration Officers pull up out the front.

Onwards we pressed using the GPS to plot our position when the track disappeared.

The track, when we could find it, just continued to get rougher.

It was approaching the point where we were making our own track, I am sure no one has been through here in a long time.

We got to the point of considering our options..........do we turn back? We were rapidly running out of daylight, do we camp overnight and come back monday?
Surely 19km isn't that far............it took us 9 hours of bulldozing our way through scrub that was thicker than a Greens Voter.

Rocks the size of basketballs, washouts, scrub bulls, to pick out way slowly through, never ending and unforgiving. It was brutal

As the sun was setting we reached the saddle above the road out but the track just kept on giving until the very end.

At this point, Col was suffering badly with Tourist Flu and was struggling.

A broken Col......we could see the main road but a thousand monster rocks and washouts stood between us.
tally for the weekend..........

100 Series Cruiser
2 x staked tyres and one slow leak
trailer plug ripped off.
mudflap ripped off
graze on wheel arch from tree
nasty gouge on alloy wheel from rocks

Hilux
Exhaust squashed flat
some nasty gouges on long range tank
both side steps damaged
one sidewall cut on tyre

Facts and figures
without the Gps we would still be out there trying to find our way back
approx 120k of track............19km of that took us 9 hours
I didnt count but I estimate four or five recoveries
It was hard 
It was brutal
It was unforgiving

I am hoping for something a little easier next trip in a few weeks, a run down the Duncan Road before it starts getting too hot.

Bye for now

Not dead, just busy

Hello All
Its been quite some time since I last posted on here.Tourist Season is well until way here in the Kimberley. 
Although, with very little Wet this year the place is as dry as a chip, yet still they come at breakneck speeds.

Marlgu Billabong

 I have still managed to get out and about, while steering clear of the touristy places.

Marlgu Billabong

House Roof Hill

Next weekend we have an epic trip planned to a secret location and should have some awesome photos to post, but I won't be giving locations, as it is through Indigenous Lands and we have been granted permission to visit. Very exciting......

Limestone Gorge Gregory National Park

Over the last long weekend I ripped over to the NT for another poke around Gregory National Park chasing Boabs.

Bullita Outstation

Gregory National Park

Bullita Stockyards

With our dismal Wet Season even Lake Argyle is looking a bit sad......

Lake Argyle

Boabs on the Wyndham mudflats

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be Invited to a Local Indigenous Community for the weekend. The 35km driveway scenery was breathtaking.

I am not going to mention locations here out of respect and thanks for being allowed to visit this area. 

I have also had a couple of treks out to the Karunjie Track, this is simply stunning at sunset.

Cockburn Ranges from the North

Cockburn Ranges

Karunjie Mudflats

Karunjie Mudflats

King River meandering across the mudflats

Last Sunday we went boating on the lower Ord River.

Kununurra Diversion Dam

boating on the lower Ord

Reflections on the lower Ord

lunchbreak on the Ord

rapids....time to turn around

lunchtime

Thats about it for now, I hope to do a post on next weeks epic trek over the next few weeks. 

Bye for now........