Day 64 (13 July) – Kununurra (Another beautiful morning, very little wind at camp – up to 33o during the day at Kununurra)
Our final full day in Kununurra and so it was time for a bike ride.
We got all the gear out, jumped on the bikes and headed into town for breakfast. About 1 km into the ride and Lyn told me she’d been burnt by the controller on her ebike! It certainly didn’t look good (both her thumb and the controller). We continued on to the Mango Tree Cafe where we’d had breakfast a couple of days before. We ordered the same although the person taking the order really made a mess of it, culminating with Lyn getting 3 macaroons instead of 2. When the coffee came there was only half a small cup in each one and, when Lyn went in to get more water, the guy in there was pretty grumpy. What a pity that the service wasn’t good especially seeing that they weren’t busy.
We rode down to Lake Kununurra foreshore where we could go through the Celebrity tree park. Not a lot of names that we knew, Baz Luhrman, Nova Peris were a couple we did know but we didn’t look at them all. Some of the plaques were so old they couldn’t be read.
We continued down the path past the golf club to the swim beach near the Diversion Dam. I actually continued on down a soft track to the gate alongside the Dam but it wasn’t a great view from there. I tried the other side of the highway but found a mine site so didn’t go in. We then headed back to the campground being very careful along Ivanhoe Road where there were roadworks and finishing by going through the showgrounds opposite the caravan park.
I put the bikes on the roof rack and re-packed the Jimny.
As we came back in to the caravan park I noticed a Jayco motorhome towing a Jimny that didn’t have the clutch we had on ours. I spoke to Ian and Sybil and Ian explained that they’d opted for the electric version at $10,000.00 and showed me their A-frame that had adjustable arms to make attaching the Jimny easier.
I had to watch the Demons beat the Kangaroos. Finally, they managed a win after 5 weeks of losing. It was great to see as Brian Dixon, a Melbourne stalwart, had died earlier in the week.
After the football, I fixed the sliding cupboard (successfully), tried to fix the door handle light again (without success) and then Lyn and I washed Elsie to get the reachable dirt off. Lyn cleaned out the cupboards and rearranged a few things.
Finally, off to The PumpHouse for our last meal in town. The food was good but the service was pretty slow. I had to order our desserts and coffee using the app – not as easy as it should have been. I made a suggestion that they should have a search function as I knew what I wanted but couldn’t find it on the menu.
Back to the motorhome for the rest of the evening.
Day 65 (14 July) – Kununurra to Victoria River Roadhouse (Victoria River Roadhouse Caravan Park) (Another beautiful morning, very little wind at camp – up to 33o during the day in the Northern Territory – 332 km)
We didn’t have far to travel today – aiming for Timber Creek around 230 km down the Victoria Highway. We packed up then went to the Ivanhoe Cafe for some Brownies, a muffin and a couple of coffees.
Then off we went. Nothing much until we hit the WA/NT border around 40 km from Kununurra. What a queue to get into Western Australia! Lyn counted 20 vehicles. We’d inflated the tyres in Kununurra and one of the sensors wasn’t showing a reading so, at the border, I got out and manually checked – all OK.
Off again, through to Timber Creek where we refuelled as I remembered the cost at Victoria River last year was around $2.70 per litre. The fuel was $1.87 per litre at the truck stop at the beginning of Timber Creek, we continued on to the service station/caravan park to find that all the powered sites had gone so we decided to continue to Victoria River Roadhouse where we’d stayed last year. Fortunately, we were able to get a site, connect up and make sure the filter was on the water line (really bad water which we remembered from last year). I struggled to get the power going and finally found the right combination of switches, power points and connection angles.
Victoria River campground is a very friendly place, our nearest neighbour came over and had a chat about the internet and lack of connectivity in NT and SA. Then our other neighbours came over for a long chat. They were Mandy and Steve from Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula. Steve had a Cherokee that he flew out of Tyabb. It’s amazing to meet people and find out how much we have in common.
We had dinner in a very busy roadhouse as the caravan park was filling up and we had the army on manoeuvres making for very slow service.
We went back to the motorhome and Amanda and Steve came over and we spent quite a long time chatting about activities, people and places. It was a really enjoyable evening with a great couple.
Day 66 (15 July) – Victoria River Roadhouse to Katherine (Shady Trees Discovery Caravan Park) (Another beautiful morning, a little cool at Victoria River – up to 32o during the day in the Northern Territory – 204 km)
We didn’t have far to travel today – Katherine – less than 200 km.
We said goodbye to Amanda and Steve then headed off towards Katherine around 09:20. A couple of minutes in to the drive Lyn mentioned that the steps had not automatically retracted. She tried flicking the steps switch but no joy. I turned on the CB radio in case anyone noticed and started looking for a place to pull over. As we passed the 30 km mark from Victoria River, a road convoy passed and the pilot car driver called us to let us know about the steps – we let them know that we were aware and that we were looking for a place to stop. Around 10 km later I pulled into a roadside stop, turned off the motor and Lyn flicked the switch – up went the steps!
Off again to one of our favourite caravan parks – Shady Trees Katherine Discovery Park on Gorge Rd. about 7 km out of town, we had tried to book a drive through site and could only get one for the last 2 nights so had to take a site at the rear of the property for the first night. As I went in, I mentioned the COVID experience from last year and how we keep telling people about the experience. Alice, on reception, remembered and said “We gave you an ensuite for yourself”. What a great place!
We set up then I got onto the computer, got our finances up to date (except the Xero stuff) and updated our blog.
Dinner at the Katherine Club where they had enormous but good meals. We’ve been there a number of times and so, as our licences were scanned, all our information was pre-populated for the guest ID.
Back to the motorhome where I started on updating our end of financial year tax information.
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Day 67 (16 July) – Katherine (Another beautiful morning, a little cool at Katherine – up to 32o during the day in Katherine – 400 m)
LUNA’S 3rd Birthday!
We didn’t have far to travel today – the other end of the Katherine Discovery Caravan Park- less than 400 m. As we’d booked in only a couple of days before, we could only get one site for one day and our second site for another 2 days.
I downloaded all financial data for our credit cards as I wasn’t sure what the internet would be like on our new site with more overhanging trees.
Then, the most important action of the day – calling Luna for her third birthday. We sang Happy Birthday as the call connected, then had a great chat with Luna, Wren and Charlotte. Luna was wearing her birthday pyjamas that James was meant to wrap the night before but somehow managed to find themselves being worn by Luna under her sleeping bag the next morning.
Time to move camps, I drove the Jimny down and found the others hadn’t surfaced by 08:00 so walked back and started packing up our site. It’s fairly easy as we only have to drive a couple of hundred metres and don’t have to secure everything. They were still at the site around 09:40 and we had a chat with the people next to our original site. They reiterated the good stories about this caravan park – the owners stored honey and other goods for them as they crossed to WA and back avoiding the quarantine problems.
We left our original site at 09:50 and were completely set up by 10:15 on the new site. It is a bit easier not having to secure items although I did remove and store the ebikes and change the cabin layout – turning around our leather armchairs and putting on the solar shields for the windows.
A quiet morning by the motorhome. We’d thought about playing golf at Katherine but felt it was too late in the day after the previous tenants of our site left around 09:45. A dip in the nearby pool (we weren’t allowed to use the good one as the staff were mowing the lawns).
I got a call from the Katherine Outback Experience people asking if we’d like to take up the offer of tickets (I’d out us on the waiting list as today’s show was booked out). So, we’ll be off to the 14:45 show in Uralla.
Off we went to the Outback Experience – not sure what to expect but clearly a popular show. We went and checked in, were told where to sit and went to the seats. I’d left my phone in the Jimny so headed back towards the Jimny when I was greeted with a “G’day, how are you?” I asked his name and he introduced himself as Tom and we had a decent chat. As we were talking another person came to talk to Tom who he introduced as Pete. I got the phone and sat in the seats. We had to wait for the tour groups and as 14:45 arrived the show started. That’s when I realised that I’d been taking to the owner and creator of the show, Tom Curtain.
Tom introduced himself, told us about his background, sang a song, then introduced Lisa from Western Queensland who told us a bit about herself then spent some time progressing the breaking of a young horse. It was fascinating to hear her talk about the ear movements, how the horse needed to stand still at the end of a mini training session and that the training put pressure on the horse which had to be removed so the horse could absorb the lesson. It seems horse breaking isn’t breaking anymore more gently teaching the horse to handle new activities. Lyn, who had owned a horse when she was young, was enthralled.
Tom then brought in a few “Liberty” horses that he was training to perform as a team. He took us through some of the training including how he got them to roll out swags and then kneel on the softer swag material to lie down. He explained that he’d been taught to ride a horse for 30 km to tire them out so they’d learn but that technique just made them fitter. He decided to try a different technique where he encouraged the horses to rest, explaining that, as prey animals, lying down indicated trust and security. They also had to accept animals on their backs as part of the training to help station hands get calves back if there were problems.
The final part of that segment was the introduction of Pete and one of the dogs then a goat, an albino buffalo and a brahman cow and calf. I had to go and give the buffalo a rub on his forehead as I had with a bull we owned years ago on our farm at Flinders.
As we were being shown the various activities, Tom explained that they took in problem animals and then trained them and then sold them for use elsewhere. He also talked about the value of the dogs and horses, if I remember correctly, one dog sold for $49,000.00 and a stock horse for $225,000.00 – incredible.
We then moved to the next arena where Pete, from Pinaroo, gave us a brief background on himself and showed us how he trained dogs.
Lisa spent some more time explaining how the camp mustering was undertaken and how the horses were trained, including getting her horse to jump up on to a massive tyre – incredible. We saw how horses were trained on how to cut out cattle, how dogs were used to herd and guide a small group of cattle and then a group of goats which ended up on the top of some barrels. The next segment was bringing the Liberty horses back and getting the goats to jump on the back of the horses who had padded coats to prevent any damage form the goat’s hooves. The final part of the show was Pete giving a whip cracking demonstration and letting some of the audience try it out to win a CD from Tom.
We decided to have a coffee and, as we were getting the coffee, were able to thank Lisa personally and explain how much we enjoyed her section of the show. I had a go at cracking a whip then we settled down on a table where Tom came over for another chat. We heard that the accident on the Vicotria Highway had prevented a bus group of 40 people from making it to the show and that was how we got from the waiting list to the audience. Another thanks for the show and I commented on how he seemed to challenge conventional ideas – both with his training and his development of the show.
We decided to have dinner at the Katherine Country Club, next to the golf club. As we were having dinner, we got a call from the girls as Luna was opening her presents. We saw the kookaburra puppet as the call started, then Luna wrap herself in the glow-in-the-dark moon and stars blanket we sent her. Both girls seemed to enjoy the new presents with Luna putting some of hers in her new backpack. A great wrap to a fantastic day.
Day 68 (17 July) – Katherine (Another beautiful morning, fairly smoky and dusty and up to 32o during the day in Katherine)
We decided to have a game of golf first thing as the course and pro shop opened at 08:00. We got to the golf course around 09:00 and, as usual, we were allowed to take a cart and decided after 9 holes whether we’d finish then or complete 18 holes. The Country Club is a really good venue for food and hospitality. We played 9 and decided to continue the 18 – an equal game as we both scored 29 points.
Back to the caravan park where Lyn put on the washing and I caught up with more admin stuff. We made and had our lunch in the motorhome before heading to the showgrounds where the preliminary events were being held. We entered the showgrounds (the real show was due to start on Friday) and tried to find Liz and her Jerky stand. We couldn’t see it anywhere and so went to the arena to watch the heats of the campdrafting. We asked one of the locals how the scoring went but I still don’t understand it. We then went for a more detailed look for Liz – couldn’t find her and ended up at the Rod and Rifle tent where we bought an item for the Couties at a really good price. We looked at some more comfortable camp chairs abut realised they wouldn’t fit in the motorhome boot. Back to watch more campdrafting then we headed off.
We’d noticed a few fires – thinking during winter would be the best time to do controlled burns. The air was full of smoke and dust from the campgrounds as we were heading home – clearer air above but lower viz at ground level.
Back to the campground where we got the washing in and I checked out fuel prices for the Jimny and motorhome. Off for dinner at the Country Club, refuelled the Jimny on the way home and then I started preparing the Jimny for our departure to Daly Waters tomorrow morning.
Day 69 (18 July) – Katherine to Warumungu (Threeways Roadhouse Caravan Park) (Another beautiful morning – up to 25o during the day – 670 km)
Our plan was to leave a little later – no rush – and travel to the Daly Waters Pub for the night. Not much to look at on the way down as we’d done this part last year. We were passing a roadside stop when a car and caravan pulled out in front of us causing us to slow down. The guy clearly was in a hurry and we followed a fair bit behind. Ahead of us, he pulled in to the road to the Daly Waters Pub and as he pulled up his wife jumped out of the car to rush in to get a caravan spot in the camping ground. On the way in we could see the caravan park was almost full and as our friend was going to stay there we decided to move on. As we passed him Lyn and I both gave him a look of displeasure.
So, we had a look at the options and, out of our Caravan book, Dunmarra looked a good option. We drove to Dunmarra, booked and paid for a site then drove into an almost deserted but very dilapidated caravan park with only one run-down tenant. The pool was half empty and full of leaves. We just drove on through. At this stage we though why not have a look at Elliot and Renner Springs with a back up of Threeways Roadhouse where we have stayed before.
We refuelled at Elliot and decided not to stop there or Renner Springs and continued to Threeways. Too late for a powered site, arriving at 17:30. We checked in then went in for dinner. A quiet night after that where I did some homework on upcoming fuel stops to optimise refuelling.
Our plan for the next day was to drive to the Barkly Roadhouse and make a call there to see if we could get in earlier at Mt Isa.
Day 70 (19 July) – Warumungu to Mt. Isa (Mt Isa Discovery Caravan Park) (Another nice morning, a little colder – up to 23o during the day with winds increasing as we drove South – 645 km)
We wanted to try to get to Mt Isa so left just after 07:15.
First stop was the Barkly Homestead for fuel and breakfast. The roadhouse is fantastic – we wondered why we didn’t stay there or remember it. I made a call as we arrived and were told we could checkin to Mt Isa Discovery a night early – which was great.
Not much heading across to Mt Isa we stopped a couple of times to change drivers, another long day – 670 km yesterday and 645 today. So, over 1300 km in 2 days from Katherine to Mt Isa.
On arrival I checked in, bought a couple of stale brownies, told a couple of dad jokes inthe reception then we went to our site and set up.
Time to update the blog, head into Buffs Club for dinner then settle in to watch two football games.
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