Today we went exploring a couple of gorges. We had a blast even if the lady at the information centre tried to put us off, telling us how difficult it was. This post will also not have too many words. I think Robyn’s excellent photos will speak for me. Enjoy. There was heaps of rock scrambling and steep ladders, but none of it was difficult. The lady in the visitors centre painted a very bleak picture so Robyn understandably was a bit nervous but she did really well especially with the swimming in narrow trenches which is not her strong point.  

 Well it has been another epic day! We have about 425km to cover today and it will be 325km before we see a gas station.  I looked out of our motel this morning and counted sixteen ships at anchor waiting for their turn to enter the port.  We wound our way out of Port Hedland, if anything the salt piles and the seemingly endless trains seemed more impressive than yesterday. Then we set off in an unrelenting procession of roadtrains, the ones coming towards us are loaded with iron ore and the ones going our way are heading back to the mines. A serious number of trucks. Theses guys are thoroughtly professional and the oncomers usually wave and the ones going the same direction usually indicate to me that it is safe to pass.  We passed one guy about 3 times and the last time he saw us at a layby he tooted out a friendly greeting. Another guy at another layby offered us fresh cold water if we needed it.  The landscape started flat but then became quite dramatic...

 Another day of long straight roads as we traverse the Great Sandy Desert. A relatively short day but we still set off early as our accommodation didn’t lend itself to hanging around.  We covered about 130km to the Pardoo Roadhouse for breakfast. This roadhouse was devastated by the 2023 cyclone and they have been rebuilding it ever since. According to their website they were hoping to open cabins sometime in 2024. But guess what, they have already but haven’t updated their website. Grrrr. A much better room and 25% cheaper than Sandfire. Anyway we had a nice breakfast there and set off for Port Hedland.  A strong side wind kept me alert for most of the way but nothing much else. On these long straight roads there is the occasional corner and it is uncanny how often I catch up to slow traffic just before them.  Port Hedland is just that, a Port.  But on the way in we noticed a huge white pile, salt. BHP run that as well.  We also saw massive trains with wag...

Once again not far to go today so we left late at about 9:30.  Waiting to be let out of the camp.  We originally would bypass the roadhouse we’re staying in but we’re cooling our jets for a couple of days as the accommodation we wanted in the Karajini National Park wasn’t available yet. Nothing much to report from the road except for long straight roads front and back as far as the eye can see.  One new experience today, it got a bit windy and then a whirlwind of leaves appeared in fromt of us. A real interesting experience riding through a mini tornado, first the wind hits from the left, then nothing, then from the right so a bit like riding through a tumble dryer. A drink stop, temperatures are rising.  A few kms later a motorbike appeared on the horizon, we approached from behind and passed it. Bugger me a Honda CB175 from the early 70s.  We then arrived at our accommodation, just a roadhouse on the side of the road.  A bit later the 175 turned up and I ...

 First thing today was a walk along the beach. It is so nice to get up and not have to look out the window before deciding what to wear. On our return walk I noticed in the distance several people swimming and when we arrived at that spot I decided to join them. As I headed to the water they all got out, I’m not sure if they were worried about a great white in the water or a great white approaching it. Such a lovely swim but the Indian Ocean water is so warm it couldn’t be described as refreshing.  On our way back to base I kept craning my neck and Robyn says to me “you’ve got ute envy” It’s true, I do. There are lots of Rangers and Hiluxs but also heaps of Rams, Chevies, Landcruisers and Patrols. It is wonderful to be in the land of the V8.  The rest of the day we have spent planning and booking ahead. We have run smack bang into the school holidays and some places we intended to go to are fully booked. There is a huge demand for accommodation not only from tourists and ...

 A short hop today to the seaside resort of Broome. We had an excellent breakfast of poached eggs on avo with fig honey and dukkah drizzled through it. Yum. I’m not one for posting about food but this was exceptional.  The rain continued through last night which meant a slithery exit out of the roadhouse.  The weather was fine and cool and we had hardly got a km down the road when we had a “wow look at that” moment as we passed over a bridge. I did a u turn and we had another look. Then there there were two more rivers just like it! The rest of the ride into Broome was long straight roads and the bush is getting noticeably more sparse. Once again termite mounds as far as the eye can see and the baobob trees.  We arrived into Broome much too early to check in so we parked up and found a cafe. Oh boy we feel like we’ve been transported to another planet. After our roadhouse experiences over the last few days which have been really good, we are suddenly amongst the grea...

 We got up early to take advantage of the earlier sunrise. After an early breakfast we hit the road in light drizzle and a wet road.  No traffic on the road made for easy going. In the distance we could see the edge of the low cloud bank that was engulfing us.  The landscape between here and Fitzroy Crossing is spectacularly beautiful with piles of rocks piled up randomly as if they’d been bulldozed together but it was all completely together.  There were a few escarpments that we weaved through and at one point we stopped at a lookout point. Staggeringly lovely.  There have been a few recent fires, some controlled burnoffs and some clearly not. The rains we have had had extinguished them all but the burnt smell was very strong.  Not much evidence of wildlife today, the only road incident was some idiot driving a road maggot waving his camera all about and forgot which side of the road he was supposed to be on. Richard! We stopped for refreshments and gas a...

 Not too far today and just as well as we haven’t adjusted to the time difference yet, even though it’s only 1.5 hours from NT time it has affected the light and we need to adapt to it.  It rained heavily again last night and it is very sticky and humid.This weather is about a month early and many people are commenting on it.  It was a really beautiful ride today through escarpments and ranges. The road was at times very close to them and then we saw them in the distance and the road wound through and around them.  We had a couple of biggish kangaroos skip across the road in front of us today but not close enough for panic stations.  At one point we came across a big herd of cattle being driven by musterers on horseback, a really cool Australian scene.  We have spent the afternoon planning, accommodation is at a premium so we are having to book several days ahead unfortunately. There have been thunderstorms on and off all afternoon, hopefully we will be thr...

  After breakfast at the local Coffee Club we headed out of Katherine. I must admit the trip through the suburbs did little to dispel my impression of a town that doesn’t enjoy a lot of resources.  So we hit the road at 7:30 and already it was 30 degrees, there was low cloud ahead but also quite a strong smell of smoke. The smoke got thicker and thicker but no sign of fires other than a lot of charred bush on both sides of the road. We pulled over and wet our buffs which we pulled over our mouth and nose.  After a few kms the smoke eased but there was still a lot of low cloud. It had rained heavily overnight. I began to notice an unusual number of kangaroos, both dead and alive.  I decided to slow down.  Fortunately all the kangaroos we saw hopped away from us once they spotted us. Someone told me to expect to see more kangaroos after rain as they like the water that collects at the side of the roads and also the green shoots of new growth which sprouts very qui...