I can't believe how fast the trip is flying by! Unfortunately it's been a while since I last updated this blog... Trying to find the time in between walking through caves, BBQ'ing on the banks of the Katherine River, Cruising on Geike Gorge, walking through Windjana Gorge and seeing a plethora of fresh water crocs in the wild, funnily enough, sitting down to post on the blog doesn't seem as important as living the moment.

After leaving Mataranka, we headed up to Katherine where we filled up on some fresh supplies and were evacuated from the shopping centre due to a fire alarm - fortunately for us, we had just finished our purchases when the alarm sounded so it didn't really affect us much at all, but there were a few other disgruntled tourists thats for sure... We headed out of Katherine to Manbulloo Station and caught up with an old highschool friend of mine who is currently working there and were treated to a bit of a tour. James hopped a ride in a tinny down the Katherine River with Eddie & Cooper - friends of Seans who also live at the station for work purposes, but unfortunately no crocs were spotted. We then headed back to the van where we met up with Ron - was so good to see him and both boys were delighted to see him! (as were we!)

We were then treated to a BBQ dinner cooked by campfire alongside the Katherine River where the boys were introduced to Cane Toad Stomping and we spotted a couple of owls as well as some crocs who's eyes lit up in the night time (thankfully they were well down the river bank and we were atop it)

We farewelled Sean and his lovely partner Jodie and headed on to Timber Creek - heading over the immense span of Victoria River - it was pretty incredible to see and this is only the Dry Season, so we can only imagine what it would be like in the wet. Ron entertained us with rumoured stories of origin as to how the owner of the Roadhouse who advertised 'now under new wife' came about his fortune in the cattle industry in the first place.....

We stayed the night in Timber Creek at a lovely small park where the boys were able to have a swim AND they also had the chance to 'feed the crocs' (Freshwater crocs) that live in the lagoon in the caravan park... feeding a croc at Timber Creek seems to take on more of a 'fishing for crocs' feel - I will endeavour to upload some pics in the photos section. The boys also had the opportunity to feed Kites - watching these birds swoop for food that is thrown up in the air is quite majestic!

From Timber Creek we continued west and finally hit the WA border! We were thrilled to roll across the border here as it forms the biggest part of our trip and meant we could now slow down!! No more 700+km days now for quite some time.

The border crossing resembles something like a border patrol episode with big overhead canopies that all vehicles must pass through and declare ANY fruit & veg as well as honey with only a very small subset of items allowed through! Fortunately we'd had the heads up warning from Sean & Jodie and this, accompanied by a trusty Quarantine guidelines pamphlet I'd picked up, ensured that we didn't have to surrender any items, although the carrots which I thought safe to take across were only ok provided they had been topped and tailed..... needless to say I was a bit nervous pulling out a knife from the van in front of the burly border crossing lady in order to cut the offending items heads and toes off.... but it didn't seem to phase her one bit! We headed in to Kunnurra to re stock our fruit & veg supplies then decided to head back out to Lake Argyle for the night... We were very glad that we opted to head back out there fairly early in the day as although it is quite a large park there, it was certainly very very busy and extremely popular

Lake Argyle is a man made lake that came about as a result of the damming on the Ord River in the late 60's / early 70's and it is truly an amazing site to see! This lake is 20 times the size of Sydney Harbour and provides water for irrigation across the district ensuring highly productive agricultural ventures... Anthony & the boys were happy to hang out at the Van Park whilst Ron and I ventured out to have a look at the Historic Durack Homestead that had actually been relocated to overlook the Lake as had it stayed in it's original location, all evidence would now be completely submerged.... the mini series Kings in Grass Castles tells the story of the Durack families rise & fall but doesn't cover off the mammoth cattle drive that Pat Durack's two sons undertook years after to stock the selection of land they took up in the Kimberleys... their story is incredible and really does give you a good heads up as to what hard work really does mean!!

The following day, on a whim, we took a turnoff to head to Zebra Rock Gallery having discovered that we were not equipped to head out to actual Zebra Rock ourselves and I'm so pleased we did.... this type of rock is ONLY found in the Kimberleys and comes in an amazing array of different patterns... - each piece is estimated to be millions of years old and although their is currently a lease in place for the removal of some pieces, planned developments and expansion for Lake Argyle / the Ord River Irrigation System could mean that in a few years, the site where this rock is currently obtained from would also become completely submerged..... Anthony encouraged me to select a piece that he then purchased for me as an early birthday present and it is now hanging around my neck!! I LOVE it.... the boys chose to use some more of their hard earned cash to also purchase a few souvenier pieces of their own and they are delighted with the uniqueness of each.

Halls Creek was our next destination and despite having some concerns about stopping there, we are glad we did as by doing so we had the opportunity to check out the China Wall a massive, naturally occuring quartz 'wall' that rises up 6+meters and runs along in a line.... Ron & the boys had a good scramble down the valley and up and over the wall and some of the photos Ron snapped are phenomenal!!

Fitzroy Crossing provided our next destination and from here we ventured in a little on dirt roads to investigate Tunnel Creek. WOW, WOW, WOW WOW... Tunnel Creek will forever hold a very very special place in my heart.... the history surrounding the cave is heartbreaking yet also intriguing and although on this first visit (due to numerous highs & lows etc with my blood sugars, I didn't venture in to the cave, it nonetheless cemented that we had to get back to here from the Derby end...

Enroute to Derby, we stopped off at Geike Gorge and took a cruise up the Gorge.. Absolutely magnificent rock faces and a very informative tour guide / park ranger meant that we learned a great deal about the gorge, it's history, cultural significance as well as a number of unique features of the gorge, including a stalagtite that is growin on one of the rock facess - quite an unusual location for one of these to occur.

Arriving in Derby meant stopping for more than one night and we ended up staying 3 nights.... The pier in Derby is quite interesting and we headed here a couple of times to check out high tide, low tide, to go fishing and of course to watch the sunset.... I never knew how huge the tides were on the WA coast but having now watched the tide hurtle in at the Derby Pier, I have a new found appreciation for the HUGE changes that occur each day. We used Derby as a base to head in on the "Gibb River Road" and althought a significant portion of the first 100km is now sealed - Suzy (the Isuzu) is now most certainly a big girl and proved that although she's not a fully fledged 4x4 that her clearance and 4x4 supsension is capable of handling a fair bit.... gotta love that red dirt!

We headed back in to check out Windjana Gorge and also went to Tunnel Creek where we walked the entire length of the creek / cave this time approx 1.5km return. If you have ever been looking for inspiration or a place that allows you to reflect on the majestic land we live in, you need to head here!!

Despite how much people rave about Broome, the town in itself was a little bit of a let down.... 'China Town' Broome Style is not a pinch on Melbournes... The history of town is a different matter and learning about the pearling industry and it's role in establishing Broome was on the other hand fascinating!! We indulged in a peal farm tour and also treated both boys to their first helicopter flight over the pearl farm which was phenomenal... they have both learned soooo much and their recall of a variety of facts and figures is brilliant... A day trip up to Cape Leveque also proved to be pretty amazing with Suzy once again bathing in Red Dust like an old hand.... Whilst up the cape, Ron pointed out wild passionfruit growing and educated the boy on which ones were okay to eat... needless to say, they both enjoyed!!

We have now got as far south as 80 Mile Beach and we are resting up here for a few days whilst Anth & Wil fit in a spot of fishing before heading off to Pardoo Station which is where we will celebrate Wil's 10th birthday.....

Having a ball, loving the warm weather (got to 33degrees today!)

Love to all.

-H