After spending a couple of nights washing some Kimberley dust of me and the camper, I was off again. I did do a bit of looking around at the sights of Kununurra which, to be honest, didn't take long. It was interesting to drive around and see the large, neatly planted farmland surrounding the town. This farming has been made able, of course, by the Ord river irrigation scheme first launched in the '60's. It would have been easy to be quite sceptical of the whole idea-growing fruit on the edge of the desert was, and is, an ambitious idea.

Ivanhoe crossing used to be on the main highway to Darwin before a bridge (the top of the dam wall actually) was built over the river. They don't seem to build all that many bridges in these parts-they seem to prefer to just drive through the rivers and creeks instead. Ivanhoe crossing was on a submerged cement causeway and looked quite deep. I didn't think my car needed another bath but I watched a few other people turning their cars into boats.

Ivanhoe crossing is a local fishing spot for Barramundi and other species of fish. Crocodiles also do some fishing around the crossing too and there are numerous signs around warning people not to stand near or enter the water. It didn't stop a few people while I was there from fishing while standing in the middle of the crossing. They're mad!

Hidden valley national park is within walking distance of the centre of Kununurra and has a few interesting short walks. The rock formations are rather unique and make an interesting back drop to Kununurra.

Not far out of Kununurra I stopped to do some more car maintenance. I had decided to change the rear diff oil as I thought it may have been contaminated with water by all the river crossings I had been doing. I can't say for sure if the oil I removed was contaminated or not, but I still thought it was a wise precaution. I would have done the oil change at the caravan park but they had a rule specifically disallowing any oil changes being done there. I was told in the shop where I purchased the diff oil that the oil was "…the oil we use up here mate…" so after spending about an hour putting the Kimberley approved oil in my diff, I was on the road again.

This delay meant I wasn't going to make it to the place I had planned to stay for the night. Instead, I stopped at a place called Turkey creek for the night. Turkey creek consists of a roadhouse and a few houses. The road house has a caravan park and accommodation attached to the business. The price for an unpowered site was $20 which, I said to the bloke in the shop, was a bit steep and he agreed and let me have it for $10. It was not real flash even for $10 but there was a shower and I got the tri-fecta with reception (phone, radio and TV).

The next day, it was 50km of bitumen before the turn off to the Bungle Bungles. I was surprised (dismayed actually) to find the 53km dirt road into the visitor centre was a rough, slow and twisty nasty little track with several of the dreaded creek crossings along the way. I hadn't heard anyone mention anything about the poor state of the track so I really wasn't prepared for it. The 53km took about 2 and a half hours to travel with another 20 km past the visitor centre to Echidna chasm. I was a little stressed by the time I got to the start of the walk but this soon passed as the walk into the chasm was pretty cool. The chasm is narrow but towers 200m above your head. In several places large boulders have fallen down and got wedged in the chasm. The sun doesn't make it all the way into the chasm but does bring out the interesting red and orange rocks above.

The walk didn't take all that long, but with the longer than expected drive and early sunsets, I didn't get to the campground long before sunset. This campground didn't offer showers but was pleasant all the same.

The next day I drove into Cathedral gorge nice and early to do the walk. This walk covers the more widely recognised and promoted domes of the Bungle Bungles. The whole area is actually signposted as Purnululu National park and was apparently gazetted as this in 1987. The Bungle Bungle range is located within Purnululu National park. Most people, however, seem to refer to the whole area as "the Bungle Bungles".Purnululu is an Aboriginal name but I didn't find out where Bungle Bungles came from.

I do think the name Bungle Bungle is a fitting and somehow descriptive name for the rock domes (cone karst formations) that make up the mountain range. The domes have stripped bands of black and red horizontal rock. Apparently the black bands are moister and have bacteria growing on them whereas the red bands are too dry for the bacteria to grow.

The track past the domes leads into Cathedral gorge which consists of a white sandy floor surrounded by rock on all sides. The shape of the rocks creates an acoustic amphitheatre hence the name "Cathedral" gorge. The echoes from the slightest of sounds were interesting; I could easily follow other people's conversations even though they were standing some distance away. I had to suppress my urge to drop one to see if it would echo (childish, I know).

After the pleasantness of the gorge, it was back to the unpleasant trip back to the highway. Once back to the highway it was about 100km to Halls Creek; twice the distance to the Bungle Bungles but half the time, Halls Creek has been given a bad reputation for having "Aboriginal trouble" in recent times. I only stayed there one night, so I'm certainly in no position to judge, but the night I was there wasn't any disturbances that I know of (except some dogs barking and fighting). The town has a fairly high Aboriginal population but they seemed friendly enough to me.

This is in contrast to what I experienced in Tenant Creek and Borroloola where the local Aboriginals appeared quite tense and hostile on the whole. I also didn't notice any night patrol cars either which I noticed in Tenant creek, Katherine and Normanton and which patrol the streets, picking up people whom have had their fill and taking them home before the police have to do something about it. I noticed more "Aboriginal problems" in Broome really than in Halls Creek.

Halls Creek started out as a gold mining town during a couple of gold rushes in the area. This was also the time when the Tanami road was made. Nowadays the town is a service town for the surrounding Aboriginal communities and pastoral stations. There is also a large amount of tourist coming through from the Tanami road, Broome or Kununurra all wanting fuel and other supplies.

I also wanted to get rid of some waste oil which I had been carrying around looking for a place that would take it (without a charge). Whilst enquiring for a place that would take waste oil at a roadhouse, an Aboriginal bloke in line behind me suggested "…just take it out to Rabbit flat, there's plenty of space there Bro'. Or just put it in the deep fryer here…" After thanking him he gave me some help by saying the local tip just out of town took liquid waste so that's where I headed.

Not long after the tip, I reached the start of the Tanami road. The Tanami road stretches out over 1000km from Halls creek to Alice Springs. The road runs through the Tanami desert and is the quickest route from the Kimberley going back towards Melbourne. The road is maintained gravel for most of its length and passes through some remote areas of Australia (i.e. no TV or mobile reception).

About 130km from Halls creek is Wolfe creek meteor crater. This crater was the result of a large meteor hitting the ground causing an 800m wide hole in the ground. It is estimated that the hole was 120m deep originally but this has filled up with sand over time and is now only 20m deep. The meteor that made the hole apparently mostly vapourised due to the heat created by the impact although some meteor fragments have been found about 4 km away from the site.

I first heard about the crater when I watched the movie "Wolf creek". The Wolfe creek crater was featured in the film and after watching the movie I wanted to visit the place. I think most people have had the opposite reaction after watching the movie as it was a bit scary. I confess that camping at Wolfe creek overnight I was wondering if I might get paid a visit by some tourist hating murderer. (I didn't). I did lock the door on the camper (which I've never done before) which in the morning I thought would seem pathetic (it did).

The next day I had planned to travel as far as Rabbit flat. I was under the impression that Rabbit flat roadhouse was only open on the weekends. It turned out that this was the case only in the wet season, but not knowing this I had planned on getting some fuel at the Aboriginal community of Billiluna. Unfortunately when I arrived at Billiluna I discovered that they had run out of Diesel and wouldn't be getting anymore until Saturday (and it was currently Wednesday). I was informed Balgo community had Diesel and this was about 150 km down the road and 35km off the main road. The 35km off the main road meant adding another 70km onto my journey for the day but I had to do it if I couldn't get fuel at Rabbit flat.

When I arrived at Balgo community, it was during the community stores lunch hour and was closed, but the shop manager happened by and sold me some fuel. Strangely the fuel was actually 40 cents a litre cheaper at Balgo ($2.20) than at Billiluna ($2.60) yet Balgo is further to transport the fuel to? I wasn't complaining though.

Balgo community has a population of around 200 and sits out in the middle of the desert for no apparent reason. I was there only briefly but didn't see much going on apart from the store and mechanics shop. For such a small population you wouldn't think crime would be a problem yet the shop and fuel bowsers are heavily fortified with steel bars and mesh. Many of the houses had high fences around them and most of the air conditioning units had protective mesh around them too? I did notice a police building at the entrance to the town but didn't actually see any police.

There are numerous car wrecks along the road from Halls creek with most of them being burnt out. The car wrecks and bits of cars increased on the outskirts of the towns and so too did other rubbish. The litter, disrepair and security fences seemed to give both communities a bleak and depressing air to them. Can't say I'd like to live at either town.

From the turn off to Balgo community, the Tanami road deteriorates with the corrugations getting bigger and more frequent. The road is sandier which I think does have more "give" in it than the Kimberly and Pilbara rock based roads. But not much and I wasn't enjoying it much.

About 90 km from Balgo turnoff the WA-NT border is reached. There is a large sign put up by the NT and another by WA to signify the border and both signs, of course, have been heavily defaced. I have now been travelling in WA for 10 weeks. It was also time to change clocks ahead an hour and a half which will mean less sleep tonight but an end to the awkward 5pm sunsets.

I finally arrived at Rabbit flat roadhouse about 10 minutes before sunset and was glad to find the store open. I could have got fuel here and it would have only cost $2.65 a litre! The nearby campground was a cheapy at $4 a night but if I wanted a shower then that was another $3. I mentioned to the French accented lady at the roadhouse that I wasn't sure if they would be open today. She informed me that she had sent out many telegrams and telexes to let everyone know that they were open 7 days a week during the dry season but opened only on the weekend during the wet. However, she says, the messages don't seem to get through? I think I know where she's going wrong.

There was only one other family camped at the campground whom I said hello to and later on had a beer with them (I was careful not to stay too long this time). I've noticed a curious human habit that when I'm in a crowded caravan park with people on top of each other, there is a tendency by people to try and preserve the scrap of privacy you have and you often don't talk to your neighbours. However, in a campground with only one other camper there, they or you will more often than not have a chat for a while. I therefore tend to do more socialising when there are not many people around. I don't believe it's just me that does this either. I've also found I meet my camping neighbours and sometimes know more about them than my neighbours at home. I have next door neighbours at home whom I haven't actually spoken to yet and they've been living next me for well over a year.

The next day I stopped in at Rabbit flat roadhouse for a shower. I have heard a lot of people talk about the proprietor (Bruce Farrands) and not all of it totally complimentary. I found him to be a genial, friendly and interesting bloke. When I arrived he was actually having a chat to some other people so I listened in on the conversation while I waited. Bruce mentioned he'd been living at Rabbit Flats for nearly forty years and during that time has lived, worked and been mates with many of the Aboriginals in the area but still wouldn't say hetotally understood them. He had seen the Aboriginal communities both improve and decline over that time. He mentioned that Yuendumu (about 300km towards Alice Springs) long ago had a market garden, some sort of meatworks and a school which was well attended. Nowadays the market garden and meatworks are gone and the children sometimes don't speak English very well (let alone read and write). Bruce has seen mainly white people come into these communities with good intentions to improve the communities but these "do-gooders", whilst well meaning, have often had a net negative impact. Bruce put it that it's as if these white people don't actually see the garbage literally lying all around the towns because they are so focused on their own agendas. Then the white people leave.

I did find it interesting that a bloke whom has lived in the most remote roadhouse in Australia (as the label on my new favourite stubby holder says) for so long is so good at having a conversation and expressing himself. I wonder if he would be the same if he had spent the last 40 years in Sydney? I should also stop listening to gossip too.

The road hadn't improved overnight. Although at one stage, and in the middle of nowhere, the road turned into a well made bitumen road complete with centre and side markings as well as guideposts. Sadly, and also for no apparent reason, the bitumen stopped and the road went back a corrugated track. It was all quite bizarre and left me wondering if it had really happened.

There are numerous towers along the road which I learnt are the telephone microwave link towers. I saw one such tower with a light flashing on top of it and I just happened to try my phone and what do you, full reception! This was actually at the Newmont gold mine site so I guess the mobile reception was for their workers. The mine site was actually also the nearest thing to human habitation I saw for the 300km or so drive that day.

There was one drama though when I went to check the cars oil after I had stopped for lunch. I first noticed one of the battery cells cap missing and then I noticed a bolt for the battery bracket missing. I guess after the battery bracket came adrift, the sometimes severe vibrations caused by the corrugations caused the cap to come loose and fall off. Can't say I've ever heard of anyone losing a cap like this before? I cut up a bit of absorbent foam I had to use as a temporary plug for the battery cell and then used some cable ties to secure the battery. After stopping and checking the battery 30km later, I discovered the cable ties weren't up to the task and had broken. I then found that the clamping bolt on the old battery terminal I had kept would fit on the battery securing bracket. That's the second time that old battery terminal has come to the rescue.

I kept my eye out on the Tanami wreckers (i.e. all the discarded car pieces on the side of the road) for a second hand battery cap but didn't find one. I found numerous old car batteries but the caps were all too small.

That night I pulled off the side of the road near a pile of boulders. It wasn't an official campsite but I found a few old campfires to indicate that other people had camped here before. Climbing the pile of boulders gave me a better view of the surrounding countryside. It's officially known as the Tanami desert however it isn't what you would imagine a desert to look like. There aren't any Sahara type sand dunes and in fact it is a flat plain. The desert is in fact full of Spinifex grass, small shrubs and small gums. There is enough vegetation present to keep cattle alive although it seems to be very lightly stocked.

I nearly got the place to myself for the night however another traveller pulled in for the night but thankfully they camped well away from me. The only time I have had a campsite to myself was back in Victoria 3 months ago.

The next day and about 40km down the road, I pulled into Yuendumu for some fuel. Now this place is something to see. On the plus side I've read that Yuendumu is the home of The Warlpiri people whom are world renowned for their desert dot paintings. Yuendumu is also where the ABC show "Bush mechanics" was mostly shot.

On entering the town however, the first impressions are that it's a shanty town slum. There is garbage covering nearly every available space in the town and some of the houses are corrugated iron lean-toos. It took me a while to find the fuel station as there weren't any shop signs, but I eventually found a building that was brightly painted (it could have been graffiti) and had some fuel bowsers disguised under a steel protective cage. The bloke at the shop was a white guy whom had only been there a week and made the comment that "…it looks like we have a lot of work to do here…".

I noticed that the few signs there were are either in Warlpiri or Warlpiri and English. I've heard it said that the Yuendumu schools are proud of their bi-lingual schooling. I've also heard it said that there would be about 5000 people on the face of the planet that speak Warlpiri, and it's great that the culture is being preserved, but perhaps the school system would be better off making sure the students are competent in speaking English. This may be more nasty gossip however reading and writing in English would be a handy skill to have too if you want to get a job and move out into the world. Otherwise the next generation may be destined (doomed?) to stay in places like Yuendumu. Even the numerous dogs here look unhappy. Yuendumu makes the worst towns or suburbs I've seen anywhere seem like club Med. I was glad to get my fuel and get out of there.

I did perhaps find a reason why some Aboriginal communities prefer to have a permit to enter systems in their towns. The permit system would stop people like me visiting their town for 5 minutes, cast judgement on their town from on high and then writing about it in a blog on the WWW!

The road continues on towards Alice Springs with the countryside unchanging except for the frequent burnt out car wrecks on the side of the road. I found more batteries but again their caps didn't fit my battery. About 20 km past the Tilmouth roadhouse, I was greatly excited and relieved by the start of the bitumen. The West MacDonnell ranges soon loomed up in the distance indicating that Alice Springs was approaching.

Alice Springs seemed huge after being in much smaller places for a couple of months. There even those traffic light things in Alice Springs. With a population of around 27 000, it is easily the biggest town outside of Darwin in the Northern Territory. There are a lot of tourists visiting the town which was highlighted to me by the first two caravan parks I went to being full. I ended up finding a place at the Heavitree gap outback lodge which, funnily enough, is located in Heavitree gap. The "gap" is in the MacDonnell ranges at the southern end of the town and is where both the Stuart highway and the Darwin to Adelaide train line (the Ghan) passes through.

I didn't do a whole lot of looking around but instead was busy doing laundry, cleaning and getting supplies and parts for the car and camper. I did have a ride about the town and stopped for a cappuccino in the Todd mall. Alice Springs has a high population of Aboriginals one of whom stopped me and said he wanted to tell me a story. He was difficult to understand but the gist of the story was that his little children were hungry and he needed to feed them so could I spare him $10 dollars? I said how do I know you won't go and get yourself some booze but he assured me he wouldn't. I wasn't convinced but gave him $6 anyway. I noticed him later tucking into some food himself so it looks like his kids will still go hungry.

Alice Springs has had a history of Aboriginals having problems with alcohol. Being the major town for central Australia means many people, including Aboriginals, come to Alice Springs from outlying communities for a short while to spend up and get supplies. This probably makes the anti social problems in Alice Springs worse. The weekend I was there was Alice Springs show weekend so this would have brought a few extra people into town. I didn't go to the show so I don't know if there was a VB show bag for sale or not?

Well that's about all I have to say about this leg of the journey. It's still a long way to go from here so there should be more to read after this. Bye for now…