just about to skype chuck and jude

Hi Guys
We are on a busy schedule here! hahahha just about to skype our friends Chuck and Jude  ( if anyone else has skype please email your address to Lisasbarling@gmail.com and we will catch up) But just a quick note from Broome ... this place is fantastic you can see why the grey nomads come for 3 months at a time. If ever you  get the chance to do what we are doing then you must, the people and the places you get to see and meet are just outstanding .. this has to be the best thing we have done in our travelling lives and far out weighs any shorter trip O/S. For those of you who havent seen inside our home here it is.

Home sweet home

We just finished saying we are missing our buddies and not just because we love you all but because we wish you could see and experience what we are seeing. I will throw a few pics up after we speak with chucky and Jude and come back to them later to explain. Much love to all off you Lis Mike N Pip xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

We spent the last two days checking out the sights of Broome including the famous Malcome Douglas croc farm... big mothers there. We watched the feeding and low and behold if the guy feeding them didn't get too close to that chain wire and one of the crocs got hold of his shirt through the fence and tried to pull him in... missed it on video too excited at the time to concentrate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Yibbity Yibbita" thats not a fish!!!!

 Pips high light of the day was getting hold of this little dinosaur

"put me down NOW"

Don't get too close to SANTA @ Malcome Douglas's wild life park

We had a taste or to at matsos... mmmm great beers

Ginger beer and mango beer YUM Matsos micro brewery Broome

 Just happened to be at the right place at the right time to meet Stu Truman after a massive adventure kayaking around Oz. While we waited for him we noticed all the people wading in the water taking pictures.. hmmm lets go see... what do you think they are photographing.. turtle? shark? dolphin? ughh NO! you fools run... they are photographing a bloody saltwater croc... go figure!! Actually at the croc farm there was an English couple with 3 little kids one who insisted on putting his fingers through the fence and as you can see these giant hang pretty dam close to the fence. I said to the father, i'd be careful as these things bite you know... " ah he said their lazy old things... another kid may now be wandering the streets of Broome with one less finger..  haha not!

Stuart Truman lands in Broome (today) after 16 months paddling a kayak around Australia... watch out for the book 

Pip n Mike at Gantheaume Point

Gantheaume Point beach

Mike keeps tabs on the budget... only mackas ice creams this week 50 c

pip relaxes at the pool at the Broom Cvn Park after a busy day doing field trips...

Adventure to misadventure

We left Kununurra on our way to the Bungles and after much tooing and frooing about whether to drive through to the Bungles or take a tour we decided to drive. Mike was keen to drive in but was a bit apprehensive due to the condition of the corrugation and the fact that we have had to make small repairs already due to the vibration from a few quite bad dirt tracks (ie Gunlom where the electric brake instrument in the car fell of its hinges.. the screws vibrated out!!)  Tour now cancelled and we are on our way to brave the Bungle Bungles 200 klm round trip in and out 50 something creek crossings and corrugation +++ and we are even going to camp in there in our little 3 man tent from Big W.. haha.

We got 40 klm away from the turn off to the Bungles at an Aboriginal community called Warmun at the Turkey creek road house and stopped for fuel as there was to be no more fuel until Halls creek some 350 klm of travel away. "What is all that radiator fluid P#@*#@g out of the front of our car!!!!!!!!!!!!"    Oh yeah the radiator has now just dumped all it's fluid on the drive way of the road house and we are going NOWHERE. Well to cut a long story short we were stranded at Warmun with all the mangy camp dogs for 2 days. Very frustrating trying to communicate with RACQ in the initial stages. Lucky we had Ultra care cover which helped a lot with the cost of towing the car 200 klm back to Kununurra. 24 hours after we broke down someone arrived to tow Mike and the car but couldn't fit me and Pip so we were left behind to fend off the camp dogs and wait to see if we were ever gunna get out of here. Well lucky for us it was the radiator hose only and even more lucky was we were carrying a spare so the next day we were on our way. Mike had even more of an adventure on the way back to Turkey Creek but i'll leave those stories for him.

(this is Mike) - well i left Kunnurra the car is fixed and running like a dream - its about 7.00pm bloody dark and the spots are on - and im scanning for locals - big brahmas and roos not the other kind. i am about 60k from K and notice a roo sitting in the middle of the road - as i got close enough to see properly the roo is sitting on his arse bolt upright with his head missing and blood spewed across the road - yum road kill for dinner Lisa and Pip would be impressed. Another 50k further on I notice a bright flickering light - a little closer and it looks like a fire in the middle of the road - sure enough a bunch of back packers had broken down in their shit box wicked van and lit a bloody fire in the middle of the road top get someones attention - I pull up and miss the fire as the 2 girls in the group were waving the arms. there car had lost all electrics.  I said they should get the bloody fire off the road as quick as the can as road trains are through here regularly or they could end up being road kill themselves and they should consider hitching hitching back to Kununurra - there boyfriends agreed that was a good idea and asked if i would drive them.  Hmm - I thought for a nano second - lets just say there probably still there eating the remainder of there tinned food.

Further on a car load of  locals where all over the road behind me they are great at driving on the wrong side - playing chicken with the oncoming traffic - the car and them must have been full - these dickheads were behind me for about 10k just sitting behind me on the wrong side of the road. What the - time to get going. more adventure to come.......

Lisa Here again...A bit of a sore hip pocket from the break down expense (could have been much worse though we actually think we were pretty lucky we hadn't got into the Bungles when it happened. $2000 to tow out of the Bungles we were told by the tow group) and 45min down the road we arrive at the Mable Downs station the entrance to the Bungles drive. As you might have guessed we have now rebooked the tour... let someone else drive in. The local fellas in Kununurra at the tow and mechanics shops said they wouldn't take their cars in unless they were in a group. FACT 500 cars and vans are towed each season off the Gibb River road and 150 of the Bungles track just by this tow group. The first sight we see as we pull into Mable downs station caravan park is a Land cruiser sitting on its arse with no back suspension waiting waiting waiting for a tow.

Mable downs and the Bungles were fantastic, we took a station tour in a safari car in the afternoon ,went for a dip in the river ( Giggling Pip caught mike on video skinny dipping but I was banned from putting it on the blog much to Pips disgust)  the next day we went into the Bungles, what a place the pictures don't do it justice. You were right Trace you just cant miss this one!

Got carried away with photos sorry!! not all are named.. too many so they are all of the Bungles Somewhere!! LOL

Echidna Chasm

Echidna chasm

Cathedral gorge

the Domes at Piccinniny Creek

Hey Megano we met a woman at the Bungles named Rayleen who lives in Banora, says she knows you, described you as the young dark haired woman who walks her little boy to school right past her house, with a smaller chid in a back pack. I told her to stop and say hi "
}to you.. small world ehh.

Next day we are packing up to move on to Fitzroys crossing to check out Geiki gorge when what should happen ...... the winder on the van starts to play up and we can't get the roof down......... What the!! I could have cried. remembering the $2000 charge to tow out. We mucked around for 20 min and got it down but now we can't get back in without the worry of it getting stuck again. We make  a few phone calls once we are on the road and can get some reception and make the decision to miss Fizroy and drive through to Broome 850 klm away as that is the closest place there is a technician. We plan once more to sleep in the tent which we keep in the car, and again lucky for us the caravan park we were booked in for later in the week said they were totally booked out but woud find a spot for us somewhere due to ur circumstances. We arrived in the dark ready to pitch the tent in the "red dirt" when the guy running the park said.. Try putting the van up if you cant get it down in the morning we'll get the guy to come out to fix it" Yah it went up and the next day back down.. go figure we just drove 9 hours straight to get here and the bloody things working again uuuggghhhhh.... We take it and get it serviced because we don't want that to happen again in the middle of bloody nowhere.

Alls well that ends well we are in beautiful Broome for at least the next 12 days and yes it is great here. We sat at the beach yesterday and watched the camel rides which Pip is keen to do and ate yummy Thai lime garlic prawns. Ahhh we love the outback but gee its nice to see the beach again.

Kununurra and Wyndham

We have got 7 nights here at Kununurra and have spent 5 already. The small town has all you need as far as amenities, and a tidy little town too. Again I have to say, and I know it's a bit boring to keep repeating yourself BUT.. the landscapes up here are truly amazing, they change at every turn of the road. I can't put my camera down for a minute. Of course none of the pictures do it any justice....... I wondered initially when we drove into Kununurra town how we would spend 4 nights here... and then we extended it to 7. Again we have  met some fantastic couples and spend most nights around the camp sharing stories of what we've done for the day. At the moment there are 13 of us catching up for a drink or two before dinner is under way. I'm actually being beckoned for a Wine and a  Rum from the Hoochery so must go.. I'll come back another day and fill in the blanks but in the mean time here is some of what we've seen... luv to ya all...xxxx (check photos at the side and i'll ad some extras and videos at a later date.
( ok its a day later and i'm back)

• Wyndham Croc farm, exports to France

Ok here we are in Wyndham not too much to see, a little like Woodridge but probably not that nice, (sorry to those who come from that end of town, Mike went to school at Woodridge high for a while) although a great lookout of the 5 rivers, BUT then there is the croc farm.... A bit sad really because I think in the area of hygiene and work place health and safety they probably rate a big * (thats a one star ) but the guy who runs the place is absolutely hilarious, so he gets a Four ****  (now dont be rude ) just for that. They export 18 mth old salties to France from Darwin, they export them back to OZ as handbags and we pay a fortune for them ... go figure!!!! This is how they feed them.

We had a quick looksee before the tour started and I took a few pics through what I thought was a hole in the cage for cameras. I was quite happy holding my arms and camera through these little holes in the wire.. then I realised it was where they fed these big 6m mothers. 

See to the side a beautiful specimen named DONALD.. To our brother in law Donny wog... he is a big mother just like you  hahahahaha and cute to boot ...LOL..

• Wyndham port and 5 river look out

This was pretty cool such a great panoramic 270 degree view of the port of Wyndham, we had lunch up here after the croc experience. Click on the photo to make bigger!!

 This is actually a quick photo on the way back from Wyndham to Kununurra and we passed the entrance to the Gibb river road... just to say we were there.... maybe next time in a camper trailer!!!!

This is Ivahoes crossing the ripples of fast current behind is the road needless to say it was closed. There are big mother crocs int his river but still the locals swam in the shallows !! UGHHHH monster current too.  They are letting out huge amounts of water over the spillway from Lake Argyle and Ord River. Good Barra here if you can beat the heat.

 The Hoochery distillery (great rum)
This is the only legal still in the WA.. Apparently!!!

Miram National Park.. I wasn't sure but I thought we were in the Bungles   hahahha

We had a day fishing on Kununurra lake today with our new "mates " Pedro and Maria  from Uruguay.... well originally they were!!.. no luck, steak for dinner. We are off to the Bungle Bungles on Thursday (today is Tuesday) and have booked into a 4X4 trip in as we have been hearing horror stories about the drive in and the mechanical mishaps.. needless to say after paying the tour Pip has sprained her ankle and the trip requires you to do 6 klm of hiking.... perhaps we will have to cancel and fly in !!!!! 

Take care all chat soon Lis Mike and limping Pip  xxx

Lake Argyle

After leaving Timber creek we dove to Lake Argyle. Driving in was absolutely beautiful, the scenery was spectacular through this stretch of the road which is the beginning of the Kimberley.

This is a man made lake 75 klm in length.. it is massive. We spent two days here relaxing around the infinity pool. It was freezing in the water but you just had to do it. We visited the lookouts and old Durack family museum homestead and took numerous photos of the lake and adjoining river " the Ord River". We did a spot of fishing at the dam wall and pulled out half a dozen cat fish and one fat little black bream. Lucky days for the bream as we already had steak out for dinner so we threw him back.

 We met a lovely couple and spent an enjoyable evening chatting and laughing over dinner. Talk about a small world they live on a farm at Torbanlea which is basically down the road from mums so definitely will be looking them up at the end of our trip. Man could he (Pete) crack a whip too, now Mike has to practice with the whip he got from Daly Waters Pub, what he's been taught by Pete. They are on the home stretch and heading home now so safe travel guys!

We have set up camp now for the next four days at Kununnura.  We will probably do a bit more fishing and even keep some to eat if we are lucky enough to catch any.  After here it wil be to Wyndham and maybe a short distance down the Gibb river to check some of the sights that we can get to on a day trip. So catch you all later TTFN Lis x

Timber Creek

Manbulloo Homestead was a gem of a place and had a great little river / creek running at the back BUT again WATCH for crocs

River at Katherine: Manbuloo

Our last night at Timber Creek, we have had 2 nights here. A lot of the Jutpuura National Park roads still closed and the one we did decide to travel was worse than Gunlom .. so we turned back,  45 klms of crap road each way to see another water fall ( might have been the best yet) but there are plenty further down the track..... I hope. Went out today and took in  the views around Timber creek which were just beautiful, probably the best highway views we have seen. Tall escarpments that seem to appear from nowhere right alongside the Victoria Highway.

Victoria River region NT

We are camped at the timber creek camp grounds and have 3 families camped next to us. Between the three families they have 8 dogs (all fairly well mannered) and 8 children, 3 western and 5 indigenous ( also well mannered) Pip noted that the kids were all in tents ( aged aprox 5 to 13) so decided she wanted to be in a tent too. Well Mike said NO! I said yes and the tent was erected with the promise " I will sleep in there mama". It is now 7:30 pm and already we have " I might need to come in the caravan" grrrrrrrrr..... hahhahaha........ I just new it !!!!!!

The cook

Boab country

Pip feeds the crocs "freshies"

Pip has really enjoyed it here, in fact she loves it ever where we go! The last 2 nights she has gone down to the river and fed the crocs... YES thats right fed them... small ones..

We had a trip to the Old Police station and to a look out that had a memorial to the soldiers of Timber Creek and I must say it brought a bit of a tear to my eye.. Have a read and see what you think?? ( click to enlarge)

A bit sad!!

Now we have you where we want you!! 

We are heading to WESTERN OZ tomorrow and Lake Argyle is the destination for a couple of nights. Looking forward to relaxing in the infinity pool. What is this you say.. stay tuned for further adventures.

Now last but not least a special mention to our mates Darren and Tracey who are doin' it a bit rough at the mo mo .. Hi guys we luv ya and no matter what , you always wear a smile, so as my mate Jas would say "Just keep on truckin"