Travelling Oz

3rd October 2008.

Despite all the stories we had heard, we crossed the border into the NT and were not searched for fruit and vegetables etc. The quarantine search is only on entering WA and I suggest anyone entering WA do there homework on what produce you can and can't bring in, coz you'll lose it if it's on the list.

The first thing we notice was the speed limit increases from 110kph in WA to 130kph in the NT. We also had to remember to turn our clocks 1.5 hours forward. The scenery was quite different and there were many interesting stops on the way to Katherine including Timber Creek, the Gregory and the Keep River National Parks.

29th September 2008.
Kununurra is a reasonably new town and was established in 1960 to service the Ord River Scheme. The River was dammed in 1971 which formed the biggest man-made lake in Australia, Lake Argyle. Also nearby is the Argyle Diamond Mine which  is the world's largest supplier of diamonds, producing approximately 30 million carats each year and accounts for approximately one-quarter of the world's natural diamond production.  

23rd September 2008.
The legendary Gibb River Road was originally constructed in the early 60's to provide the isolated cattle stations, a transport link to the ports at Wyndham and Derby. In more recent times, the road trains have been joined by the ever growing band of tourists as the route becomes known as one of Australia's last adventure drives. Like most of our destinations, we'd heard conflicting reports ranging from "the worst road anywhere" to "It's a doddle".

As we didn't know who or what to believe, we made sure we had plenty of food and water reserves, two spare tyres, puncture repair kit, extra diesel and so the list went on and finally set off on the 647kms through the heart of the Kimberley.

15th September 2008.
The drive from Fitzroy Crossing to Halls Creek is not the most interesting of drives and there's not much to see at all. About half way we came across a three trailer Road Train that had crashed and caught fire. It was still smoking and smoldering and we later found out that it happened the previous night when the driver fell asleep behind the wheel and he was okay, a very lucky man.  Then a few minutes later we come across the shattered remains of a caravan. This accident also happened the previous day but we don't know if the people are okay or not.

10th September
We'd been warned that there wasn't much to see or do in Derby but we headed there to plan and prepare for the Kimberley. We thought Broome was hot, but have hit our first taste of 41 degrees and it's stifling.