Overland Australia

We've had an awesome time here in Broome catching up with my family and trying to get as many Broome "experiences" under our belt as we could. A really big thank you to my brother Bryce and his wonderful wife Alex for putting us up and sharing their house with us. It was great not sleeping in the camper and having access to all the conveniences of a proper home again. A special thanks to my mum too who flew over from Tassie to spend a week with us, she has a milestone birthday coming up and it was great to all be together to celebrate it even if it were a month early. Whilst in Broome we did the following activities rather than waffle on about them I'll let the pictures do all the talking. Willie Creek Pearl Farm Exploring James Price Point and the surrounding area Cable Beach Camel ride Cable Beach sunset and early Birthday party for mum Gantheaume Point Hermit Crab Races Matso's Happy Hour Astro Tour Stair Case to the moon Town Beach Water Park B...

The kids were awake early as they were super excited as today we get to Broome and they get to see Aunty Alex and Uncle Bryce and their dog Ralph. We had an uneventful drive to Broome and arrived just before 11 and had a good time catching up with Bryce and Alex and then spent the afternoon unpacking, washing and cleaning. Bryce and I will be heading out to Rudall River to scatter our Dad's ashes tomorrow, whilst we are away the girls will chill out in Broome. No photo's from today as it was just a transit day. Distance Traveled = 304 km Total distance traveled with camper = 28,920 km   Total number of nights in the camper = 178

We packed up after having a breakfast of bacon and eggs and made our way back up the Tanami Road again, we back tracked slightly to top up fuel in Halls Creek ($1.39 per liter) and then made our way towards Fitzroy Crossing. We stopped in at Mary Pool for lunch which is a great spot and in hindsight we should have just stayed here for the night, if you are travelling this way and are looking for a free camp I'd recommend Mary Pool. After lunch we continued west and made it into Fitzroy Crossing just after 3pm, we decided to head out to Geike Gorge, unfortunately we didn't go on the boat cruise and this place is a bit of a disappointment if you are land based. I'm sure the cruise is worth while and gives you a great view of the gorge but don't expect much if you choose not to go on the cruise or miss the cruises. Anyway we have plenty of other great gorges to view of the coming months. We did plan to free camp at the RAAF Quarry free camp and we arrived at the Leopol...

We got away early this morning as we were unsure what condition the Duncan Road was in from the border to Halls Creek. It had only just re-opened after being closed due to the recent rain.  The road wasn't too bad with some rough sections and some quite wet sections but nothing that troubled us, we made good time and we soon arrived at Sawpit Gorge and we pulled in to have a quick look at our first Kimberley gorge. Not far down the road was Palm Springs and we jumped out of the car again for another look around then it was onto Halls Creek for a bite to eat and another fill up with diesel (1.39 per liter).  Our destination today was the Wolfe Creek Meteorite crater and the Tanami Road had just been opened to 4WD only. The road was in pretty average condition with lots of rutting and plenty of ponded water still about. After seeing the condition of this northern section I'm glad we didn't drive the full length of the Tanami it might have taken quite a while. Once on the Wo...

Today we were back on the dirt and it was good to be off the busy and very boring main highways but before we got there I filled up with diesel at the Hi Way Inn Daly Waters.  The dirt road to Top Springs was in surprisingly good condition, we stopped at Top Springs where I made the mistake of topping up the tank ($2.30 per liter) but doing so would get me through to Halls Creek. After Top Springs it was back onto single lane sealed road for some time which was terrible and once we reached Kalkarindji the road turned back to dirt and was the best dirt road we have been on so far. It wasn't long until we needed to find a camp and Wiki Camps came to the rescue and we found a spot near Inverway Station about 80kms east of the WA border. Distance Traveled = 522 km Total distance traveled with camper = 27,668 km   Total number of nights in the camper = 176

We were up for sunrise and Anna had a great time taking photo's, she had always wanted to visit the Devils Marbles and it wasn't part of our original plan for this trip so she was so happy to be here. After a quick breakfast and pack we were back on the road north, I had heard that the Daly Waters Pub was popular and you need to get there fairly  early for a site and more importantly a feed of their beef and barra... We arrived just before 3pm and had no trouble getting an un-powered site but the camping area was chockers and filling very quickly. During check in we also ordered our dinner and bought some take away grog as we had been dry for the last couple of nights, we haven't yet gotten used to grog shops only being open after 2pm and the last few pubs and road houses didn't have a take away license... After setting up we took the kids for a swim which was needed as the day was the warmest we have had for a while, then it was time for a shower and getting ready ...

We were up fairly early as we wanted to get to Alice and get on the internet to check road conditions and make our plan for the next week or so. We stopped to take a few photo's of the Finke River and then hit the road. We stopped at Stuarts Well to fill up with diesel and continue onto to Alice Springs. We pulled of the main drag and found a quiet spot and unfortunately the Tanami Road was closed on both sides of the border and no one could tell us how long it was likely to be closed. We had committed to be in Broome by the 14th or 15th of May to meet family so we made the decision to continue north along the Stuart Highway to Daly Waters then head west along the Buchanan and Buntine Highways. The extra distance we needed to travel meant that we would not be able to explore some more of the West MacDonnells but considering we had missed out on a few things so far we have decided that we will need to return to this part of the world again in the next few years. We stocked up on...