Hi it’s KP
Edith Falls is 45kms North of Katherine.  We had an awesome time floating around the falls & the rocks. Check out Tom on top of Edith Falls.

On the way to the caravan park in Batchelor, about 80km south of Darwin, we stopped at the Adelaide River Hotel and had our photo taken with Charlie the bull (stuffed of course), who starred in Crocodile Dundee I and II.

When we arrived in Batchelor we decidied to go up to Darwin for the afternoon/evening. Darwin is fantastic. I think it is a cross between the Gold Coast & Bali. First we learnt about Cyclone Tracey at the Art & Museum Gallery. Then we spent most of the day at Crocosaurus Cove – there you can explore 3 levels of crocs, reptiles and exhibitions.  The boys fed young crocs then swam in a pool next to them. Check out the pics.
Later that afternoon we hit the famous Mindil Beach Markets – love them.  Tom took great shots of the Darwin sunset.
Up early and today (May 23) for the Falls – small is not in this parks vocab.  Wangi Falls & Florence Falls at Litchfield National Park is a special place. Wangi is ‘Look but don’t touch’ because they have not cleared the water of Salt water crocodiles! ?! *@!
OK we will swim in the pool at the base of Florence Falls – beautiful. Check ot the boys under the waterfall.

Off to Mataranka Springs next.  Till then big hugs!  XO

Love KP

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the delay but we have been having too much fun! We have updated Karen’s post from yesterday with some photos so check them out.

Cheers,
Tom.

Hi it’s KP,

Tom has not had a spare moment to update the blog, so you get me to fill you in.
Hall’s Creek was a small town with a great pub & ……..well.. it was where we hopped in a single engine, 6 seater plane to fly around the Bungle Bungles & Wolfe Creek Crater.
We were originally flying just over Wolfe Creek, until we spoke to many people and were told the roads in to the Bungles were still very bad after the recent wet season. Lucky the Norwest Airlines do a package & even luckier we landed safely to tell you the experience.  I knew Wolfe Creek (890m wide meteriote crater) would be better viewed from the air but I was not expecting the Bungles to be so magnificent and vast. Check out the pics.

Kununarra was definitely worth more than the four nights we spent there.  We spent a day in & around Wyndham.  Including some serious 4WD’ing to the Prison Boab Tree that’s well over 100 yrs old.  Matthew & I saw a salt water croc however we don’t have pics of that.

El Questro is another day trip from Kununarra.  What a spectacular region! The Zebedee Springs was around 30 degrees and the cleanest, crystal clear water I have seen.  Then we went Emma Gorge & gave my knee a workout.  It was well worth the 1hr walk in over running water & boulders.  The 100m waterfall was picture postcard perfect.  Despite the chilly waters we all couldn’t resist a swim. Our last day in Kununarra was spent doing touristy stuff like shopping. First the Stonecraft shop, the Sandalwood factory, then the Ord River rum distillary, of course groceries at Coles & finally the Kimberley Fine Diamonds shop.  I’ll leave you guessing where I spent the most $$$.

A long drive to Katherine on Thursday May 19th via Lake Argyle. Nice lake, shame about the lay-mo (as the boys would say) village.  Nothing but a convenience store in a 70’s  time warp.  Harsh but true..never mind Tom got some great shots again.

Katherine is another place I wish we had more time in.  Here is what we achieved in 1 day;
1. 2 loads of washing (yes mums would appreciate it is time consuming)
2. Toured the largest classroom in the world, The School of the Air here in Katherine
3. Visited the Museum – learnt about the 1998 & 2006 floods and Clyde Fenton the first Flying Doctor.
4.  Had lunch at the museum – Buffalo burgers cooked by a Bush tucker man.
5.  Looked at 2 Aboriginal art galleries….didn’t buy one too many to decide from.
6.  Swam in Katherine Hot Springs – can’t beat Zebedees at El Questro
7.  Went on a 3.5 hour cruise up the Katherine River Gorge from 4.30pm. The most spectacular activity today. The evening includes a 3 course dinner by candle light on the river. Even with the boys it was quite romantic.  So many many stars in the clear warm night. It was pitch black, silent & surreal.  Well worth the money.

I am tired just reliving the day with you, so goodnight, take care and blog you later.
Love KP
XO

Hey,

This evening we went to Kelly’s Knob to see the Sunset and guess who was there?… Sunrise’s Simon Reeves and we got a photo with him, see below.

He was doing a report on the Pink Diamond and Ord Valley Muster that should be on Sunrise late next week.

See ya soon,
James:0

Hi Everyone,

Unfortunately we have some sad news. Our beautiful dog, Sasha, had suddenly become very sick over the weekend and had to be put to sleep yesterday.

She had been extremely well looked after by my family and our wonderful friend Maria, and her family, while we have been away and we would like to thank them for everything they did for Sasha, and us.

RIP Sasha. 1/6/1996 – 16/5/2011

Hi Again,

After talking to the staff at the Broome information centre yesterday, they let us know that the road access into the Bungle Bungle NP has been very restricted due to the long wet season, we decided to see if we could get a flight over the Bungle Bungles. We left Broome at 8.30am and along the way contacted a tour operator, suggested by the Broome info centre, who offer a 2hr flight over Wolfe Creek crater and the Bungle Bungles.

Anyway, we were able to get onto a flight leaving Halls Creek tomorrow at 11am, so it was a long drive today but it should be great tomorrow. We will try to post some photos tomorrow night.

Bye for now,
Tom, Karen, James and Matthew.

Hi Everyone,

I have finally added some more photos to the previous posts so check them out.

It is our last night in Broome and I’m going to try and get some photos of the sun setting over Cable Beach this afternoon, as long as the afternoon cloud keeps away…If I get some good shoots I will add them over the weekend.

Tomorrow we are back on the road heading toward Fitzroy Crossing.
Cheers,
Tom.

Hi Again,

Well unfortunately we have been in and out of network range for the last few days as we stayed a night in the beautiful Karijini National Park before we made our way to Broome, arriving before lunch today.

The overcast weather has been following us since leaving Exmouth. It hasn’t rained, just the odd sprinkle here and there. Karijini was amazing with some massive gorges and beautiful waterfalls. On our first day in Tom Price we went to Hammersly Gorge and the boys swam in the one of the waterfall pools, aptly named the wine glass, as it is shaped like a wine glass with water dropping into the middle of the pool. Check out the photos of them jumping into it off the rocks!

After visiting Hammersly we went back into Tom Price to stock up on a few things before heading into the Savannah camp ground in the Karijini NP early the next morning. We left Tom Price early Thursday morning to head into Karijini to setup the van in the Savannah camp groun before heading out to Weano Gorge, Joffre Gorge and falls. Then we visited Kalamina Gorge and Visitors Centre before returning to camp and dinner at the Eco Retreat restaurant, where we the boys tried some kangaroo and crocodile.

The next day we left Karijini for Port Hedland, where we stopped for some lunch, before heading to Pardoo Roadhouse, 150km north of Port Hedland, where we stopped for the night. After purchasing a few of the Pardoo Roadhouse’s “world’s best” sausage rolls, which were very good by the way, we headed 350km north to Barn Hill station stay. This was an interesting place right in the coast, where the kids went for a swim, and had some mens toilets and showers without any roof, something different.

We left Barn Hill around 8am to head the remaining 150km to Broome. So far we have been hanging out at Cable Beach, one of the top 5 beaches in the world and we had the car serviced as the 30000km service was now 600km overdue. This morning we went on a hovercraft tour of Roebuck Bay, on the eastern side of Broome, that stopped to have a look at the fossilised dinosaur footprints. The boys really enjoyed the tour and I’m sure James will write about it in his next post.

I will put up some new pictures tomorrow which should include a Cable Beach sunset and some photos around Karijini and the hovercraft tour.

Until the next update, cheers,
Tom, Karen, James and Matthew.

Hi it’s KP
I hope my mum, Marie & all mums enjoyed their day like me. I was spoilt by Tom & the boys in a remote place on the far west WA coast, 2hrs from Broome.
It has been an awesome trip! There are not enough words to describe our experience so far & we are just over half way. What I can share with you are the things I miss & they are not in order;   My 8kg Maytag (No offence Wasser washer), girl company (no offence boys), my Cappucino maker, decent showers & my dish washer.  
Despite all this I have been blessed with sunny days to dry the mini loads I do, great conversations with my family that home/normal life may not have given me time to do, the  opportunity to experience different cafes around Australia, decent & clean amenities in most places & that my Matthew is the best dish dryer in Oz.
Our photos speak a thousand words. Thanks to Tom for building this blog, so you can share this trip with us………..and avoid the slide show when we return – LOL.
Loads of love to all you viewers.  I miss you all. 
See you soon, but not too soon, we are having so much fun.
XOXO

Hi Again,

Well we had another great day snorkelling in Turquoise Bay and the wonderful Ningaloo reef yesterday. The bay is in the Cape Ranges NP not far from Exmouth. Here you can walk out to the reef at the southern end of the beach to snorkel as the current takes you to the northern end of the bay. Once you are there you can get out, walk back to the southern end of the bay, and start again. We did this for a few hours, taking some more great photos, and videos. I will try to post some more pictures tomorrow night.

After such a great time, we didn’t want to leave Exmouth so soon, but we had to stick to Karen’s schedule, so we left a rainy Exmouth around 8am to head towards Tom Price and Karijini NP. We arrived in Tom Price, a town that was setup to cater for the large Rio Tinto mine that is here and everyone seems to work for, this afternoon. We will investigate some of Karijini tomorrow.

Good night,
Tom, Karen, James and Matthew.