So last night I forgot to mention that Mark Webber was on the dinner cruise with us and a recording crew from the series ‘What’s Up Downunder’. Stay tuned, we could be stars! This morning we headed out on the more serious MTB tracks. At least on these ones there weren’t man-made obstacles put in to make the ride harder (like yesterday), the obstacles were there themselves! We climbed 100m along gravel, river beds, rocks and sand and there was…
This morning we said goodbye to Karen and Kieran early and then headed out on a hike to the Baruwei Lookout. So many steps to climb up! We came back and cooled off before jumping on the bikes and attacking the easiest of the trails here. I didn’t realise that the trails are actually made with jumps and silly tight turns. It was still more enjoyable than corrugations on a gravel road but not as good as a glass of wine listening to…
We have now been on the road for 100 nights! 71 of those have been powered via our battery system (and generator when the sun won’t shine). We have learned heaps about existing sustainably with limited amp hours, and what we are prepared to use them on 🙂 . Since our solar blanket purchase in Broome, power conservation basically hasn’t been required. This morning we all agreed to be driving out of the free camp by 730 to ensure we…
A big move to the east day today. A 500km jump to the Katherine area so we can visit Edith falls on the way to Katherine Gorge tomorrow. With a 90 minute time zone change heading into the NT it has been a short day. Free camping was the call because of our late decision to drive on. So a late afternoon’s cool off at Katherine springs was called and much appreciated. On a positive note we had sealed roads…
Today was a very full day! Kieran did Park Run while Karen explored the national park and Bob and I rode to the local markets where we picked up fresh bread (yum) and some salad ingredients. We rode back to the van, dropped our purchases off and continued our ride to the diversion dam on the Ord River (see photo above). There are 20 individual gates on this dam to allow wet season flooding through when necessary. Today there were…
This morning Karen and Kieran headed out early to explore on their bikes. We elected to get out and knock off the largish shopping list before the influx of travellers arrived to strip the shelves. After a successful expedition we were free to explore around town from late morning. We headed out to Ivanhoe Crossing and spent some time photographing and droning. A very different crossing to those we have completed on the Gibb, with a much higher flow and…
This morning we left El Questro after a last coffee and croissant at the restaurant and me spending even more money on Boab art at the local art gallery. We savoured our last 16km of dirt road (not!) and stopped to reinflate the tyres for hopefully one of the last times. We headed to Wyndham where we checked out the port, took the obligatory photo at the big croc and headed up to the lookout to see the 5 rivers…
Our last day at El Questro and on the Gibb. We’ve had the last 27 nights along the road and haven’t been connected to 240V power since we were in Broome. Something we’d never have considered before this trip. This morning we were back out by 630 in our car this time for the 30km drive to the Emma Gorge hike (with Karen doing her thing and heading out for a sunrise walk beforehand). Despite our concerns after the El…
I can’t believe it’s August! We left home at the end of April and will be back home in a month….there is still so much to see and do until then though. This morning Karen and Kieran headed off early for the hike to Amalia Gorge. They really enjoyed it, however Bob and I have decided to save our knees for Emma Gorge tomorrow. We weren’t far behind them and were at Zebedee Springs just after 8. The springs are…
I don’t have words to describe today adequately. I have completed the hardest hike I’ve done at least since I’ve had kids. The ‘no knees Mitcho’s’ brigade have excelled themselves! We left camp at 630 as the day was forecast to reach 36 deg (which it did!). First stop was at the water crossing to the gorge which we had been warned was 1m deep and was very long. We parked up the vehicles and did our best to walk…