Well it has been some time since our last post and so much has happened since then.
We escaped Mt Isa after the fiasco with the air bags, left town 5 minutes after the car came off the hoist, camped o'night at Attack Ck, nice spot but is being over run with real cats!
Caught up with Kathy brother Les at Daley Waters Pub, haven'e seen him for a few years and seems happy enough with his life on Cow Ck Station and the beer was beautiful and cold, meal prices were reasonable as was the camping fees.
Then on to Jasper Valley via the Buchanan Hwy (dirt) where we met Les's partners Father, bloody nice bloke, the camp ground at Jasper was closed due to bush fires so camped in the day use area where the Rangers had done a backburn, very peaceful spot right on the Creek, managed a few night shots of the fires coming over the hill.
Keep River Nat Park was our next stop and what magic little spot that s, like mini Bungle Bungle in area but just as spectacular, well kept secret as we shared with 3 other campers and there is no mention of the vistas etc in any of the literature.
Needless to say that these areas are no mobile coverage so we enjoyed a very peaceful few days.
Then on to Kununurra as the truck was due for a service, straight in and had it back by lunch time, better prices than Innisfail as well.
We did the Old River Cruise which is a real eye opener, it runs from the Dam wall back to town with frequent stops for viewing wild life, the red bluffs and informative talks by a passionate guide, there are even a few feral cattle left there from the Durack days, they are a pretty scrawny looking lot of short horn and showing signs of severe inbreeding but they have survived a lot of years without intervention.
Onward and upward to Wyndam to see the port etc, now that was a surprise, 2 tiny towns a few klm apart, similar to Kurrumba but on a much smaller scale, not what we expected but different none the less, saw a crock while watching a few locals fish from a floating jetty and they weren't happy with it being there either.
Up to the 5 rivers lookout above town, fantastic views but with all the smoke around from the bush fires, restricted photographic opportunities.
Then down to the Bungle Bungle's, wow ! words just don't do that place justice, the southern end is where the layered domes are and the northern side is just as spectacular only completely different composition, where the layers are limestone and iron stone, the northern ones are all conglomerate stone. Like chalk and cheese, the Echidna Gorge has 200-300 mtr sides and in places are only a meter apart and all conglomerate, absolutely mind blowing, climbing into Little Palm George there are blocks of the stuff the size of houses to go over, around or under, totally different to the easy walks in the southern end.
The road in was a totally different story however, the first 15 of so klicks had huge corrugations and the rest was heavily corrugated with rock outcrops and bull dust holes. The Park roads on the other hand were really good. Again the bush fires played havoc with plans with parts closed for days and once opened, just a blackened vista until you arrived at the camps and walk sites.
Kath and I would love to see this place after rain, may be one day.
The whole area seems to be on fire, hundreds of Klm's just black, it extends right across the Gibb River Rd with a lot of places closed because of it, may be just as well if the prices for camping is anything to go by - $44 for an unpowered site and you can't use the boat ramp ! $200 for a 20 minute chopper flight, $220 for 2 hrs of horse riding and the list goes on. Just blatant extortion so we said no.
Kath met her sister and b'inlaw here and the girls are off on the Argyle Diamond Mine tour tomorrow,
she checked out a few samples of pink ones and they varied in price from $1500 for one about a millimetre to $291,000 for a 1.2 ct stone, can't exactly see her splashing out anytime soon for one 😍
I got a tad teary while experiencing all this, thinking about just how close I came to dying 3 years ago and so appreciative of the Medical Team and supportive friends who have given me this second chance at life, it is a gift beyond value.
Any, thats about it for now, quite a few photo's to bring you up to speed. Oh and by the way, the beard has gone - it got too hot.
Stay safe
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