Postcards from the Road

Articles to Read: Way2Go and Australian Traveller

2009-11-07T14:29:00.001-08:00

I've been submitting some articles about my trip to competitions run by magazines. First up is my submission to way2go (published by NRMA) for my favourite Australian beach. I nominated Cape Leveque, with a beautiful picture of its sunny white sands. Check out the article if you find a copy of the magazine in newsagents (unfortunately, the article is not on their website).

Secondly, I submitted an article to Australian Traveller for their competition about favourite secret holiday spots. The competition hasn't finished yet, but the article has already been published on their website in the Reader submission section. Check out The Other Port Douglas online. I earlier wrote a blog post about my stay there.

Back Home

2009-10-07T17:42:00.001-07:00

I'm now back home, and hope you've enjoyed following my trip through my postcards. If you want to read some of my recent writing, follow my blogs Quick & Tasty and Declutter Your Life.

Also - check out the photos of David and I published in the September/October 2009 issue of Australian Geographic Outdoor magazine, on page 17. Taken early in our trip at East Mt Barren on the south coast of WA, you may recognise the photo of me from this blog post. Oh, and our names are the wrong way around!

Lake Mungo - 18th September 2009

2009-09-23T00:10:00.000-07:00

A lake that has been dry for thousands of years, the highlight of Lake Mungo is the lunette on its eastern shore. (It's also known as the Walls of China, but we feel it doesn't quite live up to that moniker.) Formed from years of west blowing winds, the lunette is impressive both scenically and archaelogically. Whilst walking through the clay outcrops rising up from the dunes, I look carefully for any remains of bones (the ancient remains of Mungo Woman and Man were found here), but I'm not sure if I spot anything.

Wilpena Pound - 14th September 2009

2009-09-22T23:48:00.000-07:00

Wilpena Pound is the jewel of the Flinders Ranges. After meandering for a few days through the northern and central Flinders Ranges down to the pound, our first glimpses inside of it come during our ascent of Mount Ohlssen Bagge. Our quick ascent of the steep climb whets our appetite for the grand tour we have of the pound on the St Mary Peak Loop Route the next day, climbing to the top of the Flinders Range's tallest peak and taking in its breathtaking views, before returning through the flat expanse inside of the pound.

Oodnadatta Track - 12th September 2009

2009-09-22T23:47:00.001-07:00

After being very bored the previous day driving down the endless bitumen of the Stuart Highway to Coober Pedy, we decided to take a different type of route to the Flinders Ranges: going along the Oodnadatta Track. After heading across to William Creek, it was a slow, scenic trip down the eastern 200km section of the track to Maree, as we followed the historic route of the Overland Telegraph and the original Ghan Railway, with its barren desert and artesian springs. The old outback pubs of William Creek and Maree at either end of the stretch provided some welcome refreshments on the hot, windy day.

Coober Pedy - 12th September 2009

2009-09-22T23:35:00.001-07:00

Whilst Coober Pedy mightn't be a place you'd choose to live (unless you like the allure of striking it rich mining opal, perhaps one day), it is a visually stunning town. In addition to the eeriness of the tailings around the town, there is also the broken away range of coloured hills known as The Breakaways located to the north of the town. Looking oddly alien and surrounded by a pale barren plain known as the Moon Plain, it is easy to see why the location has been used in many movies and commercials.

Uluru - 10th September 2009

2009-09-22T23:29:00.001-07:00

Today was the day of the rock. It started with the silhouette of Uluru against the growing pre-dawn light on the way to the sunrise viewing area, before we embarked upon climbing the rock. (I would've skipped this based on the current don't climb requests and the fact that I'd climbed it as a kid, but David naturally couldn't resist the temptation, and I head along too.) After a rest back at the resort, we headed back out in the afternoon heat to encircle the rock on foot on the Base Walk, which offers views of the artwork on the rock and close-ups of the weathered patterns on its different sides. Finally, we wrapped up the day at the sunset viewing area. As Uluru changed to red in the last sunshine of the day, I felt we'd seen it from every angle possible.

Kata Tjuta - 9th September 2009

2009-09-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

Kata Tjuta, also known as the Olgas, are an impressive group of massive domed rocks located 50km from Uluru. Whilst none are individually as large as Uluru, the overall group is bigger and some of the individual domes are taller. Also impressive is that the rocks were formed differently geologically to Uluru, despite their proximity. Whilst walking through the Valley of the Winds in the afternoon I was continually being wowed, looking up at the domes rising above my head. We also visited the Gorge walk, prior to capping off a day devoted to Kata Tjuta at it's sunset viewing area.

Kings Canyon - 8th September 2009

2009-09-22T23:26:00.001-07:00

Whilst Uluru receives all of the attention, Kings Canyon located a few hundred kilometres to the north is an equally spectacular location to visit in the Red Centre. The main attraction is the Rim Walk - a hike around the rim of the canyon. With views of the sheer red sandstone cliffs, beehive rock formations like the Bungle Bungles and its own "Garden of Eden" (sadly rather dry when we visited), it was an unfortunate place for David to run out of battery life on his aging camera battery. Luckily, we managed to squeeze a touch more life out of it, and get a shot taken of ourselves on the hike.

West MacDonnell Ranges - 7th September 2009

2009-09-16T02:31:00.000-07:00

To the west of Alice Springs lie the West MacDonnell Ranges (the range continuing right through the south side of the town to continue as the East MacDonnell Ranges to the east). Some of the most well known sights to see in the ranges are Simpsons Gap and Standley Chasm, which are both located quite close to Alice Springs. However, if you continue out to the western end of the range, whether by road or by foot on the 200km plus Larapinta Trail, you will reach Mount Sonder, which is a beautiful sight to see, especially at sunset and sunrise. It is easy to see where the colours of the painters from Hermannsburg, such as Albert Namatjira, come from.

Aileron - 5th September 2009

2009-09-16T02:26:00.000-07:00

It was only 130km out of our destination of Alice Springs and we had no intention of stopping at Aileron, a station and roadhouse, but then we saw the Aileron "Big Man". Located on top of a hill behind the outcrop of buildings, next to a Hollywood-esque sign, he certainly grabbed our attention and led to us stopping for a short while.

Devils Marbles - 4th September 2009

2009-09-16T02:25:00.000-07:00

The Devils Marbles are a field of granite boulders, the weathered remains of part of an expanse of granite that is still mainly located underground, and of special significance to a number of local Aboriginal tribes. On the other hand, they are also located conveniently close to the Stuart Highway, and make for a welcome rest stop to take some photos and do some skylarking, on which is for most people a long expanse of empty highway.

Daly Waters - 4th September 2009

2009-09-16T02:24:00.001-07:00

Daly Waters Pub is the quintessential outback Australian pub. Reputedly the oldest remaining pub in the NT (built in 1893), this is no heritage-listed building to wander about admiring the architecture. Rather, there is the memorbilia to admire, such as the vast collection of underwear, which I guess you could look through to determine which is the oldest item...

Top End Wetlands - 31st August 2009 - 2nd September 2009

2009-09-16T02:20:00.001-07:00

Kakadu and the surrounding areas include a huge expanse of wetlands, beautiful spots to visit to both bird watch and enjoy the scenery. Over a few days we witness the serenity of Yellow Water during a misty dawn (until some buffalo start bellowing), the large numbers of whistling ducks and magpie geese from the hide at Marmakala, the waterlilies of Fogg Dam and a pair of Jabirus frolicking at Arnbangbang Billabong.

Ubirr Rock - 31st August 2009

2009-09-16T02:16:00.000-07:00

After viewing the rock art at Ubirr, we walk up on top of the rock to view a Top End sunset over the wetlands. It's such a serene spot (especially given the numbers of people also gathered around us) and a wonderful way to end a hot day. Just be quick to leave after sunset when all the mosquitoes come looking for prey...

Kakadu Rock Art - 31st August 2009

2009-09-16T02:15:00.001-07:00

One of the must-do things of any trip to Kakadu is to see some Aboriginal rock art. We had sadly not seen much so far on the trip (many sites in northern WA being off the main route), but at Kakadu we went to both Ubirr and Nourlangie. It's amazing to view the layers of paintings painted over each other - the act of painting being more important than the actual painting. Some of the art has stories behind it, whilst other paintings such as the ones of barramundi are the ancient Aboriginal form of those noticeboards of big fish photos at popular fishing spots.

Adelaide River - 31st August 2009

2009-09-16T02:13:00.001-07:00

Well, I'd been on peaceful crocodile tours before on the Daintree River and Yellow Water at Kakadu, so on this trip we opted for one of the jumping crocodile tours on the Adelaide River. The commentator on the boat assured us that it was all natural behaviour, although being rather lazy creatures and meat not often being proferred to them just above the surface of the water, I guess there's not too much danger of the crocodiles starting to do this to wary boaters and tourists. It's a pretty action packed tour, with numerous crocodiles being fed (the females are the most agile), plus some baby crocodiles spotted on the banks and the local kites also given a snack, whilst swooping down around the boat.

Darwin - 30th August 2009

2009-09-16T02:06:00.000-07:00

My favourite place in Darwin was the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets. The range of food available to buy is pretty amazing. We started with some oysters au natural, before tasting some mini spring rolls, tempura prawn and skewered camel, having a main course of some East Timorese dishes and a massive squid spring roll, and wrapping up with some Dutch mini pancakes with berries. And after our earlyish dinner we joined everyone on the beach to watch a beautiful tropical sunset.

Litchfield National Park - 28th August 2009

2009-08-29T19:33:00.000-07:00

The Litchfield National Park is the perfect place to visit with the hot weather we're having at the moment. With swimming possible at Florence Falls (see above), Buley Rockhole and Wangi Falls, we spend the afternoon having a swim at each one, before driving on to the next still in our swimmers. Florence Falls is the most scenic out of the three locations, with the waterfalls still gushing towards the end of dry, due to being spring-fed. Buley Rockhole is a series of deep rockpools that the river cascades through, upstream from Florence Falls, whilst Wangi Falls is a very large plunge pool at the bottom of two falls. We also go on the Shady Creek Walk at Florence Falls, which passes through some delightful monsoon forest. We're particularly happy that this is all accessible by sealed roads, without long walks, as we're still not wanting to drive much on unsealed or 4WD roads after the roughness of the Gibb.

Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) - 27th August 2009

2009-08-29T19:25:00.001-07:00

At Katherine Gorge (Nitmiluk), we take advantage of the boat cruises on offer and go for a three gorge cruise, rather than going on a walk like we've had no alternative to back in the gorges of the Kimberley. We still do one short walk, up to a lookout early in the morning, but before the day hots up (to about 36C). The second gorge is the most impressive of the three that we visit (the first, second and third gorges - all that are accessible by boat). The high cliffs tower up above us and our guide points out many interesting features, including how torrential the river gets during the wet season (the photos we later see of the gorge during the record 1998 floods are impressive). We stop for a welcome swim on the way back, in a pool between the first and second gorges, and also unexpectedly get to see some Aboriginal rock art, our first on the trip.

Road Trains, Northern Territory - 26th August 2009

2009-08-29T19:17:00.000-07:00

Ever since Adelaide, we've been encountering road trains on the highways of South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory (even the Gibb River Road - which was a dusty experience!) Early on, whilst crossing the Nullarbor, we eagerly reported any three trailer ones, but I'm sure since then we've seen some four trailer ones. Pulled up at road works on the Victoria Highway across the border into the Northern Territory, we have a road train pull up behind us - normally far closer than I'd like them to be behind us.

Bungle Bungles - 25th August 2009

2009-08-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

Not having a big tough 4WD to tackle the reportedly rough even for a 4WD track into the Bungle Bungles, we instead took the quick and easy (but expensive) option of a scenic flight from Kununurra. After flying south over the Ord Irrigation Area, the massive Lake Argyle and a few cattle stations and ranges, we spent 20 minutes flying over the Bungle Bungle Ranges. The most impressive sight in the range are the distinctive striped beehive domes (which unsurprisingly feature in all photos of the area, although there are also gorges and rock formations other than the domes). Unfortunately, it was all over so quickly, although the sight of the Arygle Diamond Mine on our return trip was also interesting.

El Questro Wilderness Park, The Kimberley - 24th August 2009

2009-08-29T17:36:00.001-07:00

El Questro Wilderness Park is probably best known for his homestead, where stars such as the cast of Australia have stayed. (I will have to finally watch that movie after having seen so many of the locations where it was filmed.) However, there is also camping available for us people on smaller budgets. (One warning though, there is an extra "Wilderness Pass" to pay for in addition to the camping, which makes it rather expensive.) The gorges in this part of the Kimberley are different due to the pockets of rainforest growing in many of them. Whilst staying overnight we saw (and swam at) El Questro Gorge, enjoyed Zebedee Springs (see above), and visited the magnificent Emma Gorge (see below), where we swam in a waterfall plunge pool surrounded on three sides by sheer red cliffs.

Home Valley Station, The Kimberley - 23rd August 2009

2009-08-29T17:26:00.001-07:00

After having gone camel riding earlier in the week, I felt that I should finally try horseriding. And where else but a station in the Kimberley? Whilst staying at Home Valley Station, partially chosen because of the lovely green grass to camp on (plus the facilities including the pool and bar were brand new), David and I organised to go on a guided horse ride in the morning. My horse was called Vegemite and she was a bit of a stubborn one. After some early troubles getting her walking after the other horses and not stopping to eat grass so much, I seemed to get the hang of it and we both enjoyed our ride, although by the end of the 2 1/2 hours my legs and bum were glad of a rest. David wasn't so lucky with his horse - Dan, who stumbled whilst trying to eat some grass whilst we were waiting for a gate to be closed, and both of them took a minor tumble, but were fine for the rest of the ride.

Manning Gorge, The Kimberley - 22nd August 2009

2009-08-29T16:58:00.001-07:00

Manning Gorge is located midway along the Gibb River Road, near the Mt Barnett Roadhouse (the only place with petrol right on the road). This means that unless people are doing the full road, usually with a 4WD, they don't visit it, leaving it uncrowded for those of us that do. Next to the campsite is a lovely waterhole for swimming, complete with inner tubes to float in, a lovely way to end a hot day of driving. By wading or swimming across the waterhole (with belongings floating in a polystyrene box) and walking 45 minutes, you get to the Manning Falls, another beautiful spot. We are the first arrivals early in the morning, and go for a lovely, peaceful swim before more people arrive, some of them jumping into the deep pool from high up on the rocks, which David joins in.