Our Millenium-Tour through Western Australia...
17th day:
We got up at 6 a.m. and had breakfast outside our camper. We saw a couple of multicolored parrots and after a while a big swarm of white cockatoos came yelling loudly and sat down to the meadow nearby the water. At about 8 a.m. we started again and continued driving on the Gibb River Road. On the way we could enjoy some breathtaking views to the Kimberly Plateau, the valleys and the Pentecoast River flowing down there. After a long descent we suddenly stood at the shore of this augustly river. Its width was about 150 meters and there were only two rows of stones marking the ford. We could not guess how deep the water would be and there still were some cars waiting at both shores. So we had our doubts first but we remembered, that the road was open to all vehicles, even without 4WD, so we shifted the lowest gear and started moving into the water slowly. In the beginning it was quite smooth, but the water got deeper then and the ground seemed to be loose gravel. One time we thought that one wheel had lost ground contact or the gravel had moved under the wheels. But we could keep the wheels turning at all and reached the shore luckily. After all the water had swapped over the rear lights (one of them did not work anymore after this) and the running board. After we stood on the dry again the other cars started moving into the water one by one. Obviously they had waited until somebody succeeded in crossing the water first to guess the water level. In our opinion it was wrong to open this part of the road to all vehicles, even if it was no problem at all for our Bushcamper. We moved on to Emma Gorge. This was located on private ground of the El Questro Station owning large areas here. It was very commercial right here, a lot of buses and guided tours came here and even for the walking track to the gorge five bucks had to be payed. According to this we met a couple of people there, even more than at the whole Gibb River Road until now. But fortunately there were not so many people in the gorge itself. A big waterfall gushed in a pool and even sideways a little water felt down into the pool or aside, just dependent on the wind. The water in the pool was ice-cold and we really had to overcome to have a dip in it. When more people came to the pool we left the gorge again and kept on driving on the Gibb River Road until it ended at the Great Northern Highway. Here we met people which asked about the road conditions and told us to refuel the car in Wyndham due to much higher rates in Kununurra. So we moved to Wyndham first and enjoyed the view from the Five-Rivers-Lookout there. We saw the Durack, Pentecoast, King, Forrest and Ord River to join before disemboguing into the ocean. Then we drove to Wyndham, refueled our car at the Esso-Station right at the entry and asked the attendant what to visit in town. She told us a couple of things, but we did not want to stay for a long time and so we only turned a loop through the town visiting the harbor, the old hotel and the Dreametime Park, a monument dedicated to the aboriginal people with huge sculptures made from bronze. Then we started for the way to Kununurra, but turned off to `The Grotto` on our way and walked down to the pool. After this we moved on to Kununurra without another stop. We found the Airport right when we arrived and booked a scenic flight over Lake Argyle, the Bungle Bungles and the Argyle Diamond Mine with Alligator Airways for 6 a.m. next morning. Then we went into the city and bought some food at Coles as like beer and wine in a bottleshop before driving to the Kona Lakeside Campground where we checked in for tonight (A$ 18). After our dinner and a shower we still had a glass of wine, but went to bed soon because we had to get up very early next morning.
18th day:
Today we got up at 4:30 and had two muffins and a glass of chocolate milk for breakfast. At 5:30 the Alligator Airways Pickup Service took us to the airport. We made the scenic flight (135 minutes, A$ 170 per person) in a Cessna 207 together with four other tourists. First we flew across Lake Argyle, then we moved to the Bungle Bungles, where our pilot turned two loops, so that everybody could enjoy the spectacular views to this `bee hives`. On the way back we flew across the Lake Argyle Diamond Mine and some more times we could see bushfires in the Kimberlys. After this phantastic flight we got back to the campground and moved into the city then, where we had a second breakfast with a Long Black and donuts in a bakery. Then we went shopping for a while, bought some souvenirs and went to Kellys Knob Lookout later. There we passed the carpark and moved up some more driving through a small gate and two other cars were following us. When we reached the top we had a beautiful view, but stood in front of a satellite-antenna obviously being serviced at the moment, and we almost had not enough space to turn our car. The other cars had to drive backwards the narrow path and the mechanic working at the antenna only shook his head. We turned, moved back to the carpark and followed the other people to a little bench. One of the other drivers smiled and said: "Never follow a Britz-Camper...". We told him that this might be the gregarious drive, like sheep do. Here at this bench the view was not as good as on top above and so we looked around and found some steps leading to a lookout. We walked up there, Andreas only said "määäääh" and the other man said to his family: " C´m on, let´s follow these people again". Here at this lookout the view was quite good and we saw Kununurra, the Hidden Valley and the Kimberlys raising up in the background. After this we drove to the Hidden Valley, walked along the tracks there and enjoyed the marvellous views. At lunchtime we returned to the city and changed our last travellers cheques into cash. We asked the lady behind the desk if she could recommend a good restaurant to us and she told us to go to the `Chopsticks`, where we got a delicious Barramundi for lunch. Then we visited Ivanhoe Crossing, but the ford was flooded so that no car could cross the river there. Even the picnic area was flooded too and right beside it was a sign warning of saltwater crocodiles. We still visited the Top Rockz Gallery and left Kununurra then. After a short time we reached the border to the Northern Territory (fortunately the fruit fly control was only in the opposite direction) and a few kilometers later the entry to the Keep River N.P. Originally we wanted to visit the Aboriginal Rock Arts here, but almost all tracks were still closed due to flood damages. So we moved to the Gregory N.P., enjoyed the view from a lookout to the Victoria River and went to the visitors information then. There we read, that most of the tracks were closed too, there was no way to get to Limestone Gorge and Jasper Gorge at all. So we decided to try to see something more of this park on our way tomorrow and to drive to Timber Creek yet. When we arrived there we visited the Old Police Station, although the museum was already closed and drove to the Wayside Inn then. We got a powered site there (A$ 15) and went to the pub for dinner. Even though if it was quite small, they had a snugly atmosphere there and we got really good lab chops and rumpsteak for a reasonable price there. We abode there for a while, had a drink and talked to the bartender, who told us that he will visit Europe in September.
19th day:
When we came into the Northern Territory the day before we had to preset our watches 1 1/2 hours. So we could sleep longer this day, even if we got up already at 7 a.m....
We had breakfast outside our caper and they already turned on the sprinklers around. To tell the truth, the campground looked trimmed anyway. After breakfast we started up again, but due to roadworks on most of the tracks we could not see anything more of the Gregory N.P., except Old Victoria River Crossing, Kuwang Lookout and an about one hour walk to the Escarpment Lookout. Only the 4WD-tracks we would need two or three days for were opened, but we did not have enough time for this. So we reached the Victoria River Roadhouse already at noon, had two veggie-pasties there for lunch and moved on to Katherine then. There we only refueled our car and kept on driving to the Cutta-Cutta Caves, where we joined the 3-p.m.-tour and visited the cave. After this we returned to Katherine and went to the visitors office to see, how to visit the Katherine Gorge tomorrow. We did not like the guided cruises due to the masses of tourists and therefore booked a double canoe (A$ 51) for the whole day. Then we went to Woolworth for shopping and moved to the Katherine Gorge Caravan Park in the Nitmiluk N.P. later. On our way we already saw a couple of wallabies on the roadside and when we had dinner outside our camper they came closer so that we could feed them. Wow! Later in the evening we strolled to a phonebox and called the Qantas office to reconfirm our flight. Then we opened a bottle of wine and wrote some postcards. Finally we had a warm shower and went to bed, but we could not get asleep soon due to hundreds of bats that came at night and hung themselves into the trees above the showers making a big hubbub.
20th day:
The bats made a heavy noise at night but even though we slept very well. We went to the Kookaburra Canoe Rentals after breakfast, where we got our canoe after 8 a.m. and started paddling at once. After about one hour we reached the end of the first gorge and visited the Aboriginal Rock Paintings there. Then we had to carry the around the rapids to the second gorge but this was quite a way with the heavy canoe and so we tried to paddle the first part, where not so many rocks were in the way and the water level still seemed to be high enough. But it was hard work due to the quick flow and we got quite wet. What a luck that we got a cask that was (almost) waterproof for our photo and video equipment. We matched it with the second try to get through the rapids and carried the canoe the rest of the way then. Next we paddled through the second gorge until rapids blocked the entry to the third gorge too. But here the way was not so long and we could pull the canoe through the water along the shore. The third gorge was quite short but we had some beautiful views to waterfalls there. We moved to the end of the gorge and pulled the canoe out of the water there to have a picnic yet. Then we walked some meters and had a look into the fourth gorge. We found a couple of rapids and rocks there, so we would had to pull or to carry the canoe most of the way through this gorge. So we decided to turn back and drifted downstream, watching the marvellous waterfalls beneath the gorge and having picnic stops two times. But we did not walk any of the walking tracks to the waterfalls because we had walked so much during the last day, we preferred to be lazy today. At 4:15 p.m. we returned the canoe separated the dry clothes from the wet ones and had a shower then. After this we strolled to the visitors center, bought some postcards and a food can which we had with the rest of our pasta for dinner this evening. After dinner we opened a bottle of Western Australian Merlot and thought the last day over before we went to bed.
21st day:
We got up at 7 a.m., left Katherine after breakfast and moved to the Edith Falls. There we walked the round walk, even if it was somewhat adventurously below the waterfalls; obviously the way across the water was particularly torn away during the wet season. We had to walk on the only left balk of the bridge and a tree trunk to cross the water. But the walking track was quite nice and we enjoyed a couple of marvellous views to the Edith Falls. But anyway it was a straining walk due to the warm and muggy air, we tardy came to tropic regions at all. We still walked to the Lower Pool and bought an icecream at the snack kiosk there. At 12:30 we left the Edith Falls and moved to Pine Creek, where we had a look to the Old Gold Mine from the Mine Lookout. At the fuel station we refilled the gasbottle for our gas-barbecue and had a meat pie. Then we drove to Hayes Creek and left the Stuart Highway there to get to the Douglas Hot Springs. The hot water arises directly out of the ground there and where it merges with the cold water from the river the temperature is pleasant for swimming. After this we moved on the Scenic Drive Route to Adelaide River. On the way we were lucky to see a swarm of black cockatoos. Back on the Stuart Highway we drove to Darwin then, where we went in a food store first, to buy something for breakfast tomorrow. Then we moved to the Shady Lane Caravan Park to get a powered site (A$ 20). After having a shower we went into the city to have dinner at Tim´s Surf `N` Turf. We already knew this restaurant from our last stay in Darwin two years ago and were looking forward to it all our journey long. We were lucky to get a parking space at once and even a table in the restaurant. We remembered the Seafood Platter for two persons (only A$ 26) and decided to have it again...it was really delicious. After this great dinner we drove around in Darwin strolled along the Mitchell Street and visited the Night Markets. Back at the campground we still had a bottle of Chardonnay and enjoyed the warm night.
22nd day:
We got up at 7:30, packed our baggage after we had breakfast and started cleaning our Bushcamper inside, above all removing the red dust, which has set everywhere in the car. Then we drove to a fuel station in the city and cleaned our camper outside using a water pressure jet cleaner. But many of the insects at the roo-bar and the camping roof could not be washed away... Then we moved to the city center, made a shopping trip around the Smith Street and bought some souvenirs like roadsigns and can-cooler. After a short visit to Woolworth's we went to a food-mall for lunch, strolled through the city for a while and bought a bottle of Western Australian Merlot and at least a Didjeridoo. Then we drove to the airport to check-in our baggage. But unfortunately they did not open the flight until now and so we locked our cases and the Didjeridoo in a box, refueled our camper and dropped it at the Britz-Office then. They had no objections and even did not look for any damage, maybe due to it was so well cleaned. So it did not take us very long there and we took the City-Shuttle (A$ 2 per Person) to the center then. We strolled around the Smith Street and the Mitchell Street, had a cup of coffee at the Café Uno and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach and the esplanade. Originally we wanted to have dinner at Sizzler´s, but some time ago we got a hint from Michael Stadler (http://www.network-23.com/australien) to visit the Hogs Breath Café in Darwin. Fortuitous we found it opposite of the Sizzler, it looked very inviting and we liked the menu too. So we decided to have dinner there and enjoyed two phantastic steaks. Later we went back to Smith Street, where we met the pair from Cologne we knew from the snorkeling tour at the Ningaloo Reef. We talked a while to them and so the time hurried by. After having a drink in the `Salvatores` we took the City-Shuttle to the airport (A$ 18 due to the airport is located outside the city). There we got into some warm clothes, because we had a few hours stop in Sydney tomorrow and had heard about quite low temperature there. We checked-in our baggage next and reserved two seats in the last row for the flight from Sydney to Frankfurt. At 1:20 a.m. we took off to Sydney.
23rd day:
We arrived in Sydney at about 6:30 a.m. and had to preset our watches half an hour. The hyper-modern skytrain from the airport to the city announced for June 2000 was still not finished yet, so we took the Airport-Shuttle-Bus (A$ 10 per person both ways) to Circular Quay and told the driver to pick us up there at 1 p.m. Then we went to `The Rocks`, bought two Long Black and donuts for breakfast in a bakery and sat on a bench with it. It was early morning and the streets were still quiet. We went up the George Street and moved to Darling Harbour then. There we got into the Monorail, went a loop with it and strolled through Darling Harbour later where the shops opened one by one. Doreen bought a new watch due to her old one was out of order for a few days and so she got another nice souvenir from Australia. Then we went to the quay, where we visited the clone of Captain Cook´s `Endeavour` and took a ferry to Circular Quay (A$ 3,70 per person) later. Since our last visit two years ago some things had changed here, new hotels and flats were built at the boardwalk. We walked around the Opera House watched some groups of bridge climbers at the Sydney Harbour Bridge and strolled through the Royal Botanic Gardens before we returned to Circular Quay. There we had lunch at Café Bianchi and enjoyed the few sunrays breaking through the clouds. After this we still walked a small loop through the city and got picked up by the punctual by the shuttle that took us back to the airport. There we visited some shops at the International Terminal and took off at 3:40 p.m. to Singapore. We arrived at 10 p.m. and had an one hour break there, just enough time for having a look to Terminal 1. Even here many things had changed. Two years ago this terminal was new built and only a few shops were opened. Today it was quite crowded here, unfortunately we did not have enough time to visit Terminal 2, where the swimming pool and the internet cafe are located. Our plane to Frankfurt took off late at about 11:30 p.m.
24th day:
We arrived in Frankfurt just in time at 5:30 a.m. and did not have to wait long for our baggage. Even our Didjeridoo had overcome the flight very well. At the duane they did not check our baggage, if we would have known this we would have brought more of the australian beer and the delicious wine with us... We took the city rail to Main Station, where we read about an Intercity Express Train leaving to Leipzig in twenty minutes. We did not right believe this, because until we left tree weeks ago this route was only driven by a normal train. We asked at the information desk and they told us that this is new since they changed the time schedule in late may. Another benefit was, that our Rail & Fly Ticked covered this Express Train without any surcharge. So we arrived in Leipzig at 10:45 already and were back at home at about 11. But anyway...these three weeks had passed much to fast.