We are in the NT

We made it to the Northern Territory, we crossed the border on Sunday 26th June. A bit behind in the blog sorry everyone, there is no service across the gulf so we were disconnected from the rest of the world for a few weeks.
Our first NT camp was at the gorgeous Calvert River crossing. Driving along the dusty road, one of the many river crossings were the Calvert River, we got out to have a look and could see along the bank and nice grassy area so we found the track and set up camp on the grass. A great spot to dust off and explore for a few days. We did a bit of fishing along the banks here and exporing further down river and found some beautiful gorge looking country. Lots of shallow rapids to have a swim and Kate spotted a couple of snakes curled up on the rocks. There have been soo many snakes around on this trip, so we are on the lookout all the time. We did a bit of Bourke and Wills treking and found a nice spring for a dip.


Calvert River Camp




Exploring the Calvert River




Washing hair day




Fishing the Calvert

 From here we travelled past Borroloola then took the Ryans Bend Road to get to Nathan River Road. We travelled thru the Limmen National Park which had some awesome spots to visit. We went for a walk thru the amazing lost city, which the girls really enjoyed. The rock formations were amazing and the view of the surrounding escarpments amazing.

Ready for the walk thru the lost city



Fishing fun at Butterfly springs



Next spot was Butterfly Springs, where thousands and thousands of butterflies live. They rest on the gorge walls that surround the waterfall and swimming hole. We spent a wonderful afternoon here swimming and fishing. There were so many little perch in this swimming hole that everytime the girls cast their lure they hooked a little fish, a top fishing spot. We did keep one good size black bream for dinner.

 Towns River camp was another spot we set up camp for a few days. We had just finished setting up camp and saw a camper coming across the crossing and saw it was Glen, Bridget, Blake and Celia. The kids were all happy to see each other so they stopped to camp with us for the night. Of course we used the boat here and had some more luck with the fishing here as there were some nice rock bars with some Barra hiding. Darrin got the catch of the day with a 60cm barra for keeping. At night we would be sitting around the campfire and could hear the boof of the Barra, Darrin and Emma checked the crossing out near camp and could see lots of small Barra and Cherabin (freshwater prawns).



Kate, Blake, Emma and Celia



One of the freshies in towns river



One of Emmas catch



Catch of the day




A frog wanting to have a ride



Ahhhh fresh swimmable water is bliss



We are really enjoying the Savannah Way. So many people avoid travelling the Savannah Way because of the road conditions, but this year we have struck it lucky and the roads are in great condition, for up here anyway. There is so much to discover and explore and so much fun to be had. And everyone keeps telling us that there are no Barra being caught because of the cooler winter, but we have managed to land a few big ones and had some fun with some smaller ones.

Driving along one day we found this swimming hole on the side of the road. The water comes from a natural spring, someone has built a little swimming hole for all to enjoy some croc free swimming.

Roper Bar crossing

Our next destination is Roper Bar. The Roper river is famous for its Barramundi, its a great river to fish because it has so many great snags. Last time we visited Roper Bar you could not cross the river without a permit into the aboriginal land. However this time there were no permits required so we went for a drive across and visited the small aboriginal community of Urapunga. As we drove in there was a family at the airstrip flying kites. We stopped to say hello and ended up spending quite a few hours there with them, the girls had an absolute ball playing with the kids. They were all so friendly and welcoming.



Anna-Maree, Kate, Emma, Lara



The next day we spent the day out in the boat. We had fun fishing so many different snags. Found lots of lures to add to our collection and did manage to catch a few Barra, long Tom and Archer fish. Unfortunately no sizes to write home about, but a great day in the boat.

Up close and personal with a freshie

Roper River

We did it! We crossed the Gulf, after hundreds of kilometers of dust, many river crossings and unforgetable adventures.

 



What is this black hard stuff????



The Savannah Way - QLD section

The Savannah Way



Little Bynoe River camp

 Our next journey is the Savannah Way which is the name trek we are taking to cross the Gulf of Carpenteria from QLD to NT. The Savannah Way starts from the outskirts of the Atherton tablelands and finishes at Mataranka NT. The night before we started this journey we camped the night at a freebie spot called Rocky creek, as we drove in thru the 30 odd caravans we jokingly said there has to be a camper trailer amoungst here somewhere and would you believe up the back we found one and as we got closer we discovered it was the Malpas family - that was very exciting, the girls were practically climbing out the window as the car was still moving to get to them. Even though it had only been a few nights since we said goodbye, it felt like a few weeks and it was great to catch up with with them for the night. That night it was so cool that we lashed out and bought the girls some doonas. But I dare not complain as conditions back home are freezing - everyone we meet reminds us or informs us of the temperature in Canberra so we are feeling extremely lucky.  It was bitumen road from the tablelands to Normaton, we found some great spots to stop and look at. We really enjoyed Croydon, an old gold mining town. We learnt about the history of gold mining and the way of life back then, it was great walking through the old buildings and looking at the old machinery.
We got to see the Gulflander train at Normaton and it was in mint condition, obvously well looked after.

Darrin got the catch of the day

Finally we were back on the dirt and got to see some more exciting and beautiful country. Bulldust was the first feature we did discover, so fine it was not long before our car and camper were covered. But it did not make its way into the camper, so a dust free kitchen and bed was always nice. We stopped at Little Bynoe River for a few nights and put the boat in, the catch of this place was a 100cm barra caught by Darrin, it was excitment all round. We took photos and released him back in the water as we already had a few feeds of barra in the fridge.  We had a fantastic few days here camped on the sand fishing and relaxing. 




Our Leichardt falls camp

 

Our next camp was Leichardt falls, here we camped with full view of these spectacular falls on flat rock and sand. A few of our neighbours for the night ended up being the crew from Weipa we had met on the Coleman River and also a family we had met in Bowen (Glen, Bridget, Blake and Celia).  The kids all had fun exploring and playing together. We managed to find a swimming spot away from crocs which kept the girls very happy.



Laundry with a view.





 

 

Croc free swimming is always a bonus find out here.



After leaving Leichardt falls we travelled a short distance to Gregorgy Downs. Along the way we were lucky to spot some Emu's and fantastic birdlife. As this is all cattle country there are always cows to be seen. However, this time they looked really interesting; they were in huge numbers lazing around the dams, I just hope the dams last the dry for them. A small dam for such a large number of cattle does not seem enough. We stopped on the Gregory River for lunch and found John and Roylene camped there, so of course we decided to stay the night to catch up on where we had all been since our Telegraph track adventure. We enjoyed the refreshing crystal clear waters of the Gregory River, it was quite fast flowing so rubber duckie came out for a ride. A nice night around the fire.



Gregory river camp





Riding the flow of Gregory River



Emma got the fire going

Lawn Hill National Park, how can I describe this beautiful place? An oasis in the middle of a desert. The gorge is truely amazing red cliffs with a pandanus lined creek and a few waterfalls thrown in just to add extra beauty. We did a spectacular walk to Indarri falls then back along the top of the gorge. The views of the gorge rim were amazing and well worth the walk. We even managed to see a freshwater croc lazing on a log.

Indarri falls



Indarri falls lookout



Lawn Hill Gorge and the ranges



Doomadgee store

 I just wanted to show you what a typical store looks like in these remote aboriginal communities, this is the store in Doomadgee, it was Sunday when we passed thru so it was closed but I can imagine it was like a department store which sold most things the community needed. Notice no marketing or fancy shop windows, just a plain old metal shed.

Our next destination is the Northern Territory. Looking forward to finding more nice waterways to camp by and hopefully some more fish.

 

To Northern Territory

 





Emma caught her first Barramundi 17.6.11





Emmas first Barra

 



Emmas lunchtime catch

After leaving Pormparaaw we were heading towards the Gulf via the aboriginal community Kowanyma to Normaton. This was about a 150km trek. We had been advised by main roads that there was a road to Kowanyma just not as well maintained as the more major roads. It was an interesting drive out there with a few creek crossing, which meant a few swims to cool us down. We passed a few locals along the way. At lunch time we reached the Alice River crossing. A sandy but shallow and wide crossing. We finally christened the Max Trax after getting bogged in the sand trying to get to the river.. We then further  prepared all the recovery gear, just incase we needed them in the river. Whilst this was all happening Emma grabed her fishing rod as she saw some  fish in a hole away from the main river and would you believe she caught a fish which she then released into the main river.  With Darrin's skillful driving we made the crossing with no problems at all. Once we got to the other side we had entered the Mitchell-Alice Rivers National Park and the road conditions suddenly declined and it became an overgrown track which was clearly not a well used track.

the track washed away

wheel tracks were only just visable thru overgrown spinnafex

There were no fresh wheel tracks visable so we believed that we may have been the first vehicle across the Alice River this season. But, with only about 10km to the Mitchell River crossing we decided to keep going to the crossing but did not hold much hope of being able to cross. With each kilometre our hope was slowly disappearing with huge washouts and fallen trees on the track. It was amazing how the tracks were still visable in the sections that the spinafex grass had been burnt. The cattle and wild pigs foot prints which were clearly made when the ground was wet made sections a rough and slow drive. As we arrived at Mitchell River we found a massive but beautiful river. Crocodile warning signs were displayed at the crossing and with the other side in the distance view we could see huge sand banks all along. With no way of walking the crossing due to crocs, the fast running water and huge sand banks we found the end of the road.


Mitchell river crossing



Alice River crossing



It was such a beautiful spot, and the camping options were beautiful - nice green flat camping back from the water, so we set up camp for the night. The next morning Darrin and the girls went fishing "we have driven 125km to get here, it would be nice to at least catch a Barra to make it worthwhile". I could not believe it when I walked down to the river and Emma had caught a 56cm Barramundi, now that was very exciting she had hooked it and reeled it in all by herself. Well done Emma.
We travelled about 300km that day and camped on the Coleman river only about 20km from Musgrave station. Just as we found a spot to camp two more campers pulled in, they were from Weipa and on their first day of their 4 week holiday heading to Darwin. They were planning on taking the road we had just come from as they were told by several sources that the road was open. We showed them our photos of the road and Mitchell river crossing and were grateful we had saved them a couple of days in travel and over 600km extra distance. I guess we are just one of the many travellers this year that will discover for themselves that the Mitchell river crossing is impassible.
It was amazing country to see, how quickly it can change, how remote it can be, but also how beautiful it can be. We loved the Mitchell River and would have loved to spend a few days there and put the boat in but because we were so remote we chose to keep moving.

Pormpuraaw



Pormpuraaw 'town centre'



We turned off the Penninsula Development Road at Musgrave Roadhouse and travelled 216km west to the remote coastal Aboriginal Community of Pormpuraaw. As we drove into the community the first thing we saw was the rubbish tip which featured a massive mound of VB and Carlton beer cans, wondering why they were there as Pormpuraaw is a dry community, but alas found out later during our stay that they do have a pub, so maybe not so dry afterall??? First stop was the 'town centre' to purchase our permit. There was only one sign with directions in this community and that was 'camping permits' so lucky for this we could tell were the 'town centre' was. Imagine parking and surrounded by metal sheds with glass doors and no advertising whatsoever. We hoped out of the car watching aboriginals going into buildings and by looking at what they carried out we could figure out which building was the supermarket, another a takeaway shop, and of course there was centrelink (we saw a centrelink employee come out of that door) and the council I assume was the building with the flags out the front?? We spotted a ranger and asked him where the camping permit office was, but we had to wait for them to arrive at the office, so we stood around and spoke to the friendly aboriginals while we waited.  The head ranger was non-aboriginal and the girls enjoyed looking at all the photos on the office wall and asking a million questions, he was so good at answering their questions and we all learnt a lot about the area, and the aboriginals.



Chapman River mouth



We set up camp on the Chapman River mouth, our first impressions were not so good but as time went on it turned out to be a fantastic spot. Aboriginals are well known for poor hygiene and we got to see this first hand with the amenities block not fit for our standards hence we chose not to use them. I would love to know how they spend the $50 per night camping permit you need to purchase to stay there.



Emma's shell collection



We really enjoyed our few days camping there. We used the boat in the Chapman River and got to see some massive crocodiles, but unfortunately no luck with the fishing (apparently full moon, little tides and cooler weather had a lot to do with this). The sunsets were just magnificent and with the full moon rising over the river as the sun set over the ocean the colours were spectacular, in the sunset photo Kate was drawing the sunset and Emma was collecting shells. There were millions of shells on the beach which the girls enjoyed collecting and playing with.

Sunset

We drove to the Mungkan River mouth just a few km's north for a look, the sand was so white and soft, we enjoyed playing in the sand and collecting shells while Darrin did some fishing.







 


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Mungkan River mouth

 

Just one of the smaller crocs



Our camp at Chapman river mouth







Happy Birthday Aunty Katrina

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to Aunty Katrina,
Happy Birthday to you.

The girls made a chocolate damper for you and we enjoyed it for morning tea.
Hope you are enjoying your holiday on the Gold Coast.
Kate wanted to let you know that we would come and visit but she is having too much fun here.

love Darrin, Tracey, Emma and Kate xoxoxoxo

We met Roothy!!!

We were camped on the Coen River and next thing we saw Milo driving past. "There's Roothy I yelled" we all dropped everything and ran to met the Aussie Icon Roothy. A perfect setting to meet the famous Roothy.

He had stopped at the river to give his dog Jack a bath, while he waited for the camera crew to catch up.




The girls were quick to tell him about our fame in the magazine along with some other 4wding stories. It was great to have a chat and grab a few photos of course.

Happy Birthday Annabelle

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to Annabelle,
Happy birthday to you.

Hope you have a fantastic day and hope you liked your pressie
Love, hugs and kisses
Darrin, Tracey, Emma and Kate
xoxoxoxo