Australia – Page 27

The Kimberley part 1 …

We arrived in Halls Creek, Heart of the Kimberley, from the Tanami and headed for Broome, the administrative centre via Wyndham and the Gibb River Road.

I could spend six months here without getting bored and without seeing it all. On this trip we would dash around in under a week.

The Kimberley is huge … 423,517 square kilometres (163,521 sq mi), and has a permanent population in the order of 35,000 (many more in the winter). That’s just 0.8 of a person per square kilometre. Two thirds of those live in the towns of Broome, Derby and Kununurra.

Our first stop was just outside Wyndham at Parrys Creek Farm. This is situated on the margin of a large conservation area. The camp site is by a lagoon and is dog tolerant. We spent three nights here giving me the chance to visit the Marlgu Billabong at dawn and dusk (no dogs here) and for the three of us to visit Wyndham and Kununurra during the day.

The billabong is in the Ord River flood plain and rivals any tropical Australian wetland that I’ve visited. I won’t bore you with lists, let’s just say I cleaned up and the bird numbers were impressive. The site has a short boardwalk to a well situated hide.

Poor old Wyndham has a somewhat sad aspect to it. The website Aussie Towns puts it this way …

Wyndham, Western Australia’s most northerly town, sits on the edge of the Cambridge Gulf surrounded by uninviting salt lakes, desert and mudflats which stretch to the horizon.

The town was founded in 1885. It got off to a good start as the gateway port to the Halls Creek gold rush. From 1919 to 1985 there was a meat works in operation. The port still functions serving mining operations.

There is a Big Crocodile on the outskirt of town (which is adjacent to the opposite outskirt and doubles as the town centre). You could probably find some real ones if you went wading.

The population is less than 700 people. It has a hospital and an excellent cafe called The Croc Cafe.

Wyndham is on a side road that leads no where else and is bypassed by most travelers. Kununurra is right on the highway and on a scenically splendid lake. It is a stark contrast. There is good shopping and the caravans are inserted with surgical precision at impressive densities in the caravan parks. Give me the quiet of Parry Creek Farm.

Coming across the arid interior of Australia after a brutal summer and a poor wet season the birding was very quiet. Fortunately I’m past peak obsession. At Parrys Creek we had a good dawn chorus at last, you’ve got to love the Blue-winged Kookaburra, poor thing can’t raise a laugh.Add to it a polyphony of White-gaped Honeyeaters and screeching Little Corellas … you won’t be sleeping in.

There is opportunity to get close up to some beauties …

And it’s easy to find a subject at sunrise …

The Tanami …

The adventurous way from Alice to the Kimberly is via the Tanami.

The route runs through Aboriginal controlled land and a permit is required to visit the various settlements. Fuel is available at Tilmouth Well half way to Yuendemu and in emergency might be sought at one of the settlements but the traveler is encouraged to stick to the road and make it to Halls Creek, a stretch of about 900km. The road is sealed to Yuendemu and can be rough beyond that.

There are some operating gold mines along the way and road trains ply the route. It’s arid, remote and a test of the vehicle and to top it off the only beer you can buy at the takeaway in Halls Creek is Cascade Light.

We took the journey at a very leisurely pace over four days and three nights. It could be done in a calm two days or an arduous and frenetic single day.

We refuelled and had lunch at Tilmouth and spent the first night at Renehans Bore.

We encountered a lone camel the following day in country that was fairly typical of the Tanami.

We got a puncture just as we stopped for lunch. Gayle who rarely hears anything I say heard the hissing. We had the wheel changed before it fully deflated. We carry an extra spare and a repair kit for remote journeys.

That night we camped among the termite mounds just on the Northern Territory side of the border.

From there on the country was dry savanna rather than desert. We spent the final night on the bank of Sturt Creek, WA, where wild horses and Galahs were enjoying some surface water, the first we’d seen for a while.

Shortly after Sturt Creek we passed Billiluna, the top end of the Canning Stock Route – must do that one day – and also Wolfe Creek, site of a meteor impact crater which we have visited in the past.

Then we were refueling in Halls Creek which bills itself as the Heart of the Kimberley. We got the tyre fixed and bought some light beer.

Ross River …

On our first visit to Alice Gayle and I flew, rented a car and stayed in town. On our first full day we drove out to have a look at the West MacDonell Range. The morning sun is behind you on the way out. The vista is magnificent and when the day is done the sun sets behind you as you drive home.

The next day we checked out the East MacDonells. The sun is in your eyes going and coming and the scenery seemed less impressive.

On subsequent visits we’ve camped in the West MacDonnells but there’s not much you can do out there if you take your dog along so this time we opted to stay at the Ross River Resort at the eastern end of the bitumen and were pleasantly surprised. Resort fortunately is an exaggeration, it’s more like bush camping with added amenities. And the scenery is splendid. This was the view from outside our tent …

Grey-crowned Babblers were frequent and noisy visitors to the campsite …

and not far away there was plenty of opportunity for the landscape photographer.

The Ross River Resort gets the McGee seal of approval and I hope to get back there to explore the East MacDonnells more thoroughly.

Alice …

This little flurry of updates is being posted from the waiting area of ARB in Alice Springs. The aerial is being replaced by a much larger and sexier one that will hopefully prove more durable. The next leg of the journey will be across the Tanami Desert. The road is used by road trains and the ability to communicate with them may keep us out of trouble. Channel 40 is the word.

Meanwhile tonight will be our second night at Ross River which is at the end of the bitumen running east from Alice. It’s a lovely spot to camp at. I will tell more and bring you some photos when I get the chance.

Oodnadatta Track …

The bitumen extends almost to Marree these days. It’s another spot where you choose your adventure – the Birdsville Track or the Oodnadatta Track. This time it’s the Oodnadatta Track.

This road is all about its history. This is the way that Mr Stuart charted his path north. Once he had found the route the Overland Telegraph (1872) soon followed and the the railway slowly crept north reaching Marree in 1884, Oodnadatta in 1891 and Alice Springs in 1929. If you were going to Alice between 1891 and 1929 you completed the journey by camel!

Darwin had to wait until 2004 for the train to arrive by which time the southern section had been rerouted along a more westerly path. So although the Ghan is still running the Oodnadatta Track runs alongside an abandoned railway passing little ghost towns along the way.

There’s a train standing in the station at Marree with nowhere to go. Not far from it is one of Tom Kruze’s trucks retired from sterling service on the Birdsville …

From Marree to Oodnadatta the country is dry. Much of it is gibber plain. Eucalypts are only found along the drainage lines, even the Mulga struggles out here.

At William Creek you can get a beer or even have a driving lesson. If you choose to come by plane you can park virtually at the pub door.

Because we’d chosen to bring the dog we couldn’t take a side trip to see Lake Eyre currently in flood.

Not to worry we’d seen it both wet and dry before. We spent two nights on the track. The first at Coward Springs partly for a plunge in the hot tub (luke warm really) but mainly for the birds which are attracted to the wetland formed by the bore.

Beyond Oodnadatta the country seems a little more prosperous. We saw a few Red Kangaroos and there were cattle grazing. The second night was passed on a creek bank not far short of Marla.

There had been a lot posted on the web regarding the state of the road. It was really pretty good. We probably averaged 70 to 80 kph without much discomfort. Some of the traffic going the other way were managing even higher speeds and one of them put a chip in our windscreen. Bugger.

Chaff cutter to the stars …

I was complaining about the weather yesterday and today is no better. But last night the sky cleared and gave us a look at the stars. I put on my warmest clothes and sallied forth. Clear skies have been a rarity just recently. This was a good opportunity to complete a project that was conceived months ago.

The machine is a chaff cutter. It was built by Buncle of North Melbourne and after a busy life preparing horse feed is now retired.

John Buncle was a Scot who arrived in Melbourne in 1852 aged about 30. This was at the height of the gold rush. He was a skilled draftsman and engineer and had no trouble finding employment. After about a year as foreman at Langlands foundry he started his own business and became famous in the field of agricultural machinery.

He died in 1889 by which time he’d made a sufficient mark in Melbourne society to warrant an entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Today’s diagnosis …

On the rare occasions that I see my doctor I go armed with a self diagnosis. Given my background I have enormous scope to work with. My GP is a very tolerant and lovely man. He reassures me in mellifluous tones and diverts attention to real problems like my cholesterol level.

The weather today in the Victorian Goldfields is bitter. A biting wind is roaring in from the south, the temperature is going to top out at a mere 11 degrees (Oh, and that’s centigrade – I’m sure my Canadian readers are full of sympathy) and the next shower will be coming in horizontally. Today’s self misdiagnosis is SAD.

Seasonal Affective Disorder, here’s a link <SAD> so that you can suffer from it too should you wish. My self prescribed cure is a road trip to somewhere warm. Kimberleys here I come …

Since this is the southern hemisphere we can take advantage of the coriolis effect to reduce fuel consumption by traveling anticlockwise. The start and finish point is in the lower right hand corner.

The camper trailer had a little work last week, the car goes for a service tomorrow. Over the next six weeks they will travel about 11,000km (~6,800miles). I’ll be taking in the Oodnadatta Track, passing Lake Eyre currently holding water, crossing the Tanami Desert and the Nullabor.

I shall experience climate change. Observations from the local airport – Maryborough reveal that average June temperatures range from a minimum of 4° to a maximum of 13°C. In Broome the averages are 15° to 29°C. I once heard a guy on the radio telling us that a climate change of 4° would bring photosynthesis to a halt. I shall carefully check the vegetation for any hint of surviving chlorophyll. The return journey takes in Marble Bar which boasts that it is the hottest town in Australia. Here I’ll be able to cook on the bonnet of the car. A fried egg takes only a couple of minutes by which time the flies have eaten half of it. Or so they say.

There’s still a little shopping to do – corks for the hat etc. Departure is four days away.

I’ll scratch yer eyes out …

I recently heard a woman on the radio telling the presenter that kangaroos are peaceful animals and that she had learnt a great deal from them. By and large I agree that they are peaceful but they do fight and there are plenty of records of attacks on humans.

There have been some studies on kangaroo fighting, a couple of easily accessible ones can be found <HERE> and <HERE>. If you’re into lurid accounts of attacks on humans you can find a catalogue of them <HERE>. I mean, kangaroos kill people don’t they? Well yes but almost exclusively by way of motor vehicle accidents (and even in those cases there’s not always a real kangaroo involved). A hunter in New South Wales was apparently the only human killed in combat when he tried to rescue his dogs back in 1936.

Kangaroos will fight each other for resources such as food, water or access to females in oestrus. These tend to be serious engagements. Much more commonly the fights are between youngish males with no obvious prize at stake and end without significant harm to either. Mothers will also “fight” with young male offspring perhaps by way of training them for future bouts.

Males have impressive arm and chest musculature, an example of sexual selection. Skippy was clearly a female.

Scratching, pushing, punching and downward raking kicks seem to do little harm through thick fur. People of course are not protected in that way. When you watch a fight it looks as though eyes and gonads are the structures most likely to be injured.

Barmah …

I visit Barmah National Park from time to time largely because it’s the one spot in Victoria where the Superb Parrot turns up. I’d love to add it to my state list and one day I might.

The Sandridge track runs from the park entrance to River Road and the mighty Murray. It’s about 15km of dirt road and a good test of the camper trailer which passed with flying colours coping well with the corrugations and some muddy patches. And the muddy patches on the way in were nothing compared to the muddy patches on the way out after a night of steady downpour. It really was the first sharp bite of winter, there were blizzards and snow down to 700 metres in the high country.

I had a more realistic target as well as the elusive parrot which was to photograph the beautiful Azure Kingfisher. I was able to camp right on the river bank at a spot where I have seen adults feeding a brood of youngsters on a previous trip. The light was actually quite good during the afternoon so it was just a game of patience.

Good things soon happened. This Jacky Winter presented itself for a nice natural portrait. While the next one came even closer, posing on the UHF radio aerial.

A White-bellied Sea Eagle cruised up the river …

A Kangaroo checked me out.

A Scarlet Robin took a bath not far off

And yes, the Azure Kingfisher played nicely.

The Terricks …

The lovely Gayle and I are soon to embark on a road trip and I used the weekend to iron out any problems with the camper trailer which has recently undergone some modifications. Terrick Terrick National Park is a couple of hours drive from home. It’s 65km north of Bendigo, 225km north-west of Melbourne.

The park protects four quite heavily wooded blocks, the two eastern blocks include some impressive granite outcrops while the western blocks are home to a rapidly recovering forest of Callitris pines. The surrounding grasslands were lightly grazed sheep country in the past, the land management favoured the rare and endangered Plains Wanderer. Indeed it was their Victorian stronghold. A patchwork of old farms has been added to the park for its protection. Despite this the odd one still turns up occasionally.

The campsite is at the foot of Mt Terrick Terrick which is probably the most visited feature of the park. In its great wisdom Parks Vic put it on a slope that enjoys a flash flood every time it rains, this in a park where 75% of the terrain is flat. They do provide a composting toilet which is very pleasant after cleaning which I think happens sometime in June. Do remember to take your own toilet paper.

The weather forecast was dire but it was fine when I arrived and I explored the granite boulders with camera in hand.

But before sunset the cloud rolled in rapidly and a rainy night followed. The following morning was misty and somewhat atmospheric …

Some good birds turn up in the Terricks but on this occasion I encountered nothing out of the ordinary. Still, Galahs and Hooded Robins are always good to see.

Then it was a case of packing a wet tent and heading for another spot – the Barmah National Park.