An April Fool does Kalumburu

Hello all
April has not been kind to me.............I have been driving 4x4's for 43 years, completed 3 laps of this great country, visited most of the dream locations at least once, but on April 13 .....I made a mistake.

I had been to this location 4 weeks prior and took a wrong turn. A dumb mistake a brain fade, call it what you want.

My point is.......no matter how much experience you have, how careful you are mistakes can happen.

My wrong turn ended with my hilux neck deep in water on the passenger side and chest deep on the drivers side. The dash was completely underwater, my phone, camera, hema navigator and drone was on the passenger seat.
The vehicle I was travelling with pulled me out and the decision was made to get the chairs out, have some lunch and assess the situation.
While having lunch, we heard a vehicle approaching pretty fast, and around the corner came an old Prado with 9 backpackers on board. Without hesitation or a snorkel they hit the same hole at speed and promptly sank.
Recovery number two within an hour.........

The decision was made to tow my hilux out with the 100 series turbo diesel Landcruiser, loaded with two friends plus an additional 8 backpackers, towing me with a backpacker and all the gear from the Prado and the Landcruiser in the back of mine.

The 17km trek back to the road is a mixture of steep rocky climbs, tight maneuvering between trees, and very soft sandy sections. It was not easy...........with no power steering, no lights, and bugger all brakes it was a nightmare tow in the dark.

It was 10pm by the time we arrived back in town.

A huge shout out to the guys at work..........with 5 days until a Kalumbaru trip 3 turned up on Sunday to help out. By 10am they had the engine running, albeit with computer issues.

A new computer (ECU) and turbo driver was required, which were supposed to turn up on Tuesday morning..................they finally arrived at 1pm thursday before easter. Things didn't look good for Kalumburu.
At 5pm on thursday evening, I had lost all hope, as the new ECU would not communicate with the immobilisation system.

At 7.30pm, after persistent efforts by the guys from work Pheonix rose from the dead........

Good friday, two others from work came in to put the final bits back together and get it on the hoist to check underneath and check all the oils.

After a couple of good runs Good friday and Saturday, to make sure everything was OK before going remote, it was 6am Easter Sunday departure to Kalumburu.......better late than never.

Welcoming Committee

During the week the grader had been through, and the Gibb River Road was like a Highway, as was the Kalumburu Road as far as Theda Station.
The Shire had opened the road as far as the Mitchell Falls turnoff, we had 'closed road access permits' to continue the rest of the way.

Carson River Crossing

From the Carson, it was onwards to McGowans Island Sunset Beach for the rest of the week.

Sunset Beach, Mc Gowans

I will add at this point the vehicle performed faultlessly.

World War 2 Wreckage at Kalumburu

Next day it was a run in to town to have a look around and visit some of the sights.

Mc Gowans

Midweek we teamed up with some other visitors for a trip to Wongalala Falls, only opened up to tourists in August last year.

Wongalala Falls

Wongalala Falls

After Wongalala it was off to Pago Mission ruins

Pago mission ruins

Pago was established in 1908 but was later moved to Kalumburu as there was a more reliable water source in the King Edward River.

Mc Gowans Sunset Beach

Mc Gowans Sunset Beach

All too soon it was time to start thinking about the journey home.

a couple of friends I met along the way

After a stop at Theda Station to say hello to friends I headed to King Edward River Campground.

King Edward River

I saw lots of Dingoes

The trip was excellent and the ute performed faultlessly. The best part was no traffic and no tourists, as the road was still closed to traffic.

expenses from the dunking,......camera, phone, ECU, turbo controller, starter motor.
things that came back from the dead......HEMA navigator, GPS stereo system in dash, UHF radio, IPOD and drone (saved by carry case)

The tourists have started arriving in town and the busy time has begun, I will be visiting some special 'off the beaten track' locations over the Dry season and will post on those accordingly. My new phone has arrived also, so I can now operate the drone again.

Bye for now.....Unbreakable Hilux..........I'm a believer

OK I admit I have been slack

Hello all
It's been quite a while since I updated, too long, so I thought I had better get blogging.

A lot has happened since I last did an update. I have has a 145 litre ARB Frontier Long Range tank fitted to the Hilux. These are a Poly tank, the steel tanks don't like the roads up here and all steel tanks seem to crack on the rough Kimberley Roads.
This should give me about 1000km range. 

Lightning over Lilly Lagoon

The missing Wet Season.............I had heard and seen so much about waterfall Season......well this year it took a wrong turn and ended up in Queensland.

A bit over a dozen or so thunderstorms do not make a Wet Season. We have been going places since Christmas that should not be accessible this time of the year.

The Grotto after a 50mm thunderstorm

Some thunderstorms have only delivered a few millimeters of rain.........bad news for people doing the Gibb this year..............it will be dry.

Thompson Springs

In January we headed out to Thompson Springs for a swim. In days past this used to be the local swimming hole for Early Kununurra. Unfortunately due to the lack of Wet Season was refreshing but slimy.

Thompson Springs

Next was a trip out to the spillway at Lake Argyle on another stinking hot and humid day.

Even Lake Argyle is low

There has been an addition to the Brumby Family that lives out there since I was last there.

Shortly afterwards the Water Corp decided to drop the level of Kununurra Diversion Dam for maintenance work.

Celebrity Tree Park minus the water frontage

Lilly Lagoon without the Lagoon

Ivanhoe Crossing while draining the lake

A few weeks later we headed into Secret Springs, are area usually way too wet to access this time of year. It just proves our lack of Wet Season the Year.

It was an awesome day despite being 41C

bogged

This is what happens when you are using "active track" on the drone and not paying attention to track conditions. Just as you get stuck, the drone beep "low battery" and you try to land on the roof of your ute as a mate kindly hooks up the snatch strap.

getting snatched out

A few weeks later we journeyed into Harry's Hole, another place which should be too wet this time of year.

Heading to Harry's

Heading to Harry's

the crew

I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery along the track, this is a special part of the Kimberley.

I can think of worse places to spend a 39c Sunday afternoon

It was another awesome day and time was getting away, so it was a late afternoon trip back to the main road.

the track?

the track

More recently we headed out to Bindoola Falls, as Main Roads opened the Pentecost Crossing the day before.

Bindoola Falls

Bindoola Falls

cooling off

It was blistering hot out in the stone country, but on the upside it was excellent not to see another vehicle the whole time. That will certainly change soon enough as the tourists arrive.
I don't expect much to happen over the next few weeks as we are getting ready for a 10 day epic trip to Kalumburu over Easter, before the masses mess up the road and crowd us out.
10 days, I hear you say...........remember I am 35 minutes from the Gibb River Road and 7-8 hours from Kalumburu. So 10 days.........can't wait
Bye for now..............

Horrible December and a break in Darwin

Hello all
I thought it was hot in November...............but December showed me how wrong i was.

I have read many articles over the years about travelling out of season to avoid the crowds and inflated prices. It all sounds good in theory but just is not practical, its just too bloody hot.

Early october in the Kimberley

Even now I see the occasional traveller come through in a Camper Trailer or Tent, they only last one night,two nights at the most, then book into an Air conditioned Cabin.

late october in the Kimberley

The plans you make for the weekends don't happen.......its just too hot.

mid November 

Unless you get what you need to get done before about 8-9am it just gets too hot.

early December

Now as you are probably aware official temperatures are measured in the shade.

ground temperature a few weeks ago

When you decide that you wish to go for a drive, think again............ground temperatures hovering around 70c, shade temperatures around 42-45c and its just too hot to get out of the vehicle.
Until the rains start and cool the ground down there is no relief, in the morning everything is still hot from yesterday.

So next time you southerners get a couple of days about 37c and whinge, spare a thought for us up here, where there has only been a handful of days UNDER 40c since late September.

With work closing for two weeks over Christmas and the New Year it was a good opportunity to head up to Darwin to do some shopping and escape the heat.

Victoria River Region, Gregory National Park

Wow Darwin was so pleasant............you could stand in the sun........you could do things and was such a nice change to be only getting 34-35c days.

On the other side..............after dealing with our 2 roundabouts but no traffic lights, hitting the Boxing Day sales at the homemakers centre carpark in Bagot Rd (BCF, Anaconda, Supercheap and Retravision) was a traumatic experience haha.

So many angry, people all competing for a carpark.....so they don't miss out on a bargain.

I did my bit for the economy, while there, New 245/70R16 BF Goodrich K02 All Terrain tyres on the Ute. A new CFF45 Dometic Fridge Freezer. a Dune Barwon Swag and so on.

Fuel, food, accommodation, a short trip to Kakadu, my trip to Darwin cost me about $3800 but the savings and elimination of freight cost compensated somewhat.

Reluctantly I left Darwin for the wilds of Kakadu, in the Wet while I still had some money left....

South Alligator River Floodplain

After an uneventful drive out to Jabiru, It was check into accomodation and next morning head out to Cahill's Crossing.
Remember that camping up in the tropics this time of year is not really an option, its just too hot and wet.

40kph wipers were on 

 A tropical Storm was encountered on the way out to the East Alligator River. The rain was so heavy I had to pull over and stop.

Cahills crossing into Arnhem Land claims another victim

The Wet Season needs to be experienced, the new vegetation growth glows almost luminous with the nitrogen in the soil.

Kakadu floodplain

The downside is, so much is inaccessible due to flooding, and the best parts of Kakadu are off limits this time of year.
The upside is, after seeing Kakadu many times all brown and dry, it was good to see full of life. And believe it or not.....I did not see a mosquito!

The humidity is so high this time of the year that every time you get out of the vehicle you sunglasses fog up, as does the camera.

Jim Jim Creek

It was time to start heading back towards home, and after a massive overnight storm in Katherine the Victoria Highway was like an obstacle course in parts with debris and trees down across the road.

Victoria Highway, Gregory National Park

The drive through the Victoria River Region is one I always enjoy, and to see it so lush and green was special.

Victoria Highway, Gregory National Park

Since being away there has been a couple of good storms to cool things down a little.

lightning tracker from thursday night

When these storms occur they need to be seen to be believed............the lightning is constant......thursday nights storm started about 12.30am and fizzled out about 9.00am after dumping 65mm of rain.

The benefit is that these storms cool the ground down a bit and make life a little more livable here.
Also the temperatures seem to have dropped below 40c and the waterfalls have begun.

The Grotto (movie) and Valentine Springs (still)

I am desperately hoping this change is the weather stays so that I can explore the waterfalls.
I talked the Boss into closing again at Easter (take 3 days get 10 days) so depending on Roads being open I want to head to either Kalumbaru or Broome for 10 days.

Bye for now.............