NYIRRIPI

We are making this side trip to visit our friends Archie & Di who are working at an Aboriginal Community called Nyirripi 160Kl  West of Yuendumu in the Tanami Desert.

 

 

 

This is the Shire Office where Di is the Manager for the Community.

 

 

 

And Archie is in charge of Vehicle Maintenance and Roads. This is his workshop.

 

 

Gypsy is a domesticated camel who lines up for a drink from the water hose and loves vegetable scraps.  She also gets in the yards and eats all the plants!!

 

There are about 300  Aboriginal people in the Community which along with the Shire Office and workshop has a clinic, general store, police station, school and  recreational  hall.

 

The mail arrives by plane each Wednesday. Nyirripi boasts a bitumen-sealed airstrip which is also used for emergency evacuations.

 

 

This is Col and Archie relaxing while waiting for the plane to arrive.

 

 

 

We visited an outstation which is being made ready for the Traditional Owners to occupy.

 

 

 

Even though the area is desert, there are natural wells where water can be found.

 

 

 

 

 

And the scenery is unbelievable – the country has not been grazed – it’s like it would have been 200 years ago.

 

But still the best view was as we were leaving and heading back to Alice Springs.

KATHERINE TO ALICE SPRINGS

We have had a few problems with the Scout and the mechanic was not at all helpful so Col replaced the gear box at the caravan park.

 

 

Bye Katherine! The intersection of the Bypass and the Stuart Highway on our way out of town. We were there for 5 weeks and 1 day in all.

 

We cruised quickly through Mataranka and Larrimah this time and on to the oldest Pub in the Northern Territory at Daly Waters.

 

 

Inside the pub  is an interior decorators delight. You stop here just to say “I had a beer at Daly Waters” and a barra burger.

 

 

On to the Devils Marbles Conservation Reserve – finely balanced piles of huge boulders – near Tennant Creek.

 

 

Everywhere you go there is bound to be an International truck. These relics are being admired by a tourist riding a bicycle outside the Wauchope Hotel.

 

The Overland Telegraph  Station at Barrow Creek is a well kept example from pioneering days.

 

 

 

There are small settlements (pubs and roadhouses) all along the Stuart Highway and between these are miles and miles of ‘nothing’

 

 

Just north of Alice Springs, the Tropic of Capricorn is located.

And a little further South is a monument depicting the highest point on the highway connecting Adelaide in the South and Darwin in the North

 

 

And at last – Alice Springs.

DARWIN

Darwin is 307 k north of Katherine surrounded by beaches  and tropical greenery and SHOPS!!!

 

Nightcliff Foreshore looking north to the Timor Sea.

 

 

 

  

And here is our ‘pseudo Scout’ which we hired to get around. Col  appreciated the air conditioning. Yes it’s a TTToyota.

 

 

At East Point evidence of WWII can be seen at the Military Museum.

 

 

 

We were made feel very welcome by Brett and Leizl. Just a few kilometres from their home is the Casuarina Coastal Reserve where we threw the ball for the dogs and watched the sun set.

Fishing and water sports are very popular. This is the marina at Cullen Bay.

 

 

 

The new railway station looks very similar to the one at Katherine and is just as far out of town.

 

This is the ‘famous’ Adelaide River Pub. This area was transformed into a massive military base when Darwin was bombed during WWII.

KATHERINE

Welcome to the Low Level Caravan Park that we will be calling home till the Scout is repaired. At least it’s green and shaded because it’s around 36 degrees now.

Springvale Homestead is the oldest original homestead in the Northern Territory being established  in 1878

 

 

Alfred Giles was the manager of Springvale and planted these South American Raintrees  for each of his four children -making these trees well over 100 years old.

Knotts Crossing, over the Katherine River, was the first location of Katherine. The town was later moved to the north side of the river and named Emungalan.

 

In 1926  the township of  Katherine was moved to its present position when the Railway Bridge was completed. The new area was presumed to be less flood prone.

The new Ghan Railway was completed in 2004 when the service  was connected between Alice Springs and Darwin.

There were 33 carriages on this train extending about 800 metres down the platform.

 

 

 

This is the Katherine Icon – a magnificent one and half times life size bronze statue – a memorial erected in 2002 (Australia’s Year of the Outback). The model is Sabu Peter Sing who represents the pioneers.

O’Keefe house was originally built out of bush materials by soldiers during WWII. It was later the home of Sister Olive O’Keefe who flew with Doctor Clive Fenton providing the first Flying Doctor service.

LEAVING WESTERN AUSTRALIA for the NORTHERN TERRITORY

 

Chris & Kathy left us in Kununurra and travelled home by themselves while we waited for the air conditioner in the Scout to be repaired. We hadn’t needed it till now and when turned on refused to work.

After flying over  Lake Argyle we decided to drive there too. This is the spillway on the North-western end which looked imposing.

 

 

Another view of the Lake.This is from the lookout and  makes the cars and buses look so tiny.

 

 

This is Spillway Creek. The surrounding countryside is so rocky that explosives had to be used to create this man-made creek.

 

 

Ah! we leave Western Australia – welcome to the Northern Territory.

 

 

 

 

 

Augustus Gregory, an early explorer, passed through this area in 1855 looking for pastures to run cattle and sheep. The dates of his journey can still be seen engraved into the Boab tree.

 

This is the Victoria River looking downstream at Gregory’s Boab tree.

 

 

 

And this is the ’bridge to nowhere’ – to Bradshaw which was a pastoral lease but is now a Defence Area.

 

 

Our next stop was Timber Creek named by Augustus Gregory because he took timber from this area to repair his ship. This is the souvenir shop in town.

  We went on the Vitoria River Cruise – and this is Bradshaw Bridge looking back upstream. The Victoria River is 800k. long and 40k wide when it enters Joseph Boneparte Gulf.

 

The tour guide threw bread with a small piece of meat pressed into it, and the Sea Eagles picked the meat out while others returned for the bread.

It is most unusual to see Hawks, Eagles and crows eating in the same area.

 

And the salt water crocodiles were lining the bank of the river sunning themselves.

 

 

This is sunset over the Victoria River with the Yambarran Range in the distance.

 

 

 

The next morning we went exploring the area and this is the same river at Policeman Point.

 

 

 

The bridge at the township of Victoria River is being replaced as it goes under water in the ‘Wet’. This old bridge and the Bradshaw bridge were supposed to be above flood level but they have both been submerged.

We bypassed Katherine – we’re not used to all the traffic, street lights and round-abouts  so we travelled on to Mataranka.

 

 

Mataranka is the home of the famous thermal springs in Elsey National Park. The Rainbow Springs pool is crystal clear water at 34C. and is surrounded by a palm and paperbark forest.

 

This area was made famous in the novel ‘We of the Never Never’ by Jeannie Gunn written in 1908 about her life at nearby Elsey Station where her husband was the manager. This replica Homestead was created for the film.

  During WWII Darwin was bombed by the Japanese and Australian Defence forces were moved into  this area. This  is Gorrie Airfield. Unfortunately this is where the Scout decided to break down!!!

 

Col got a ride into Laramah and a couple of kind men towed us into town (behind a Toyota)

 

 

 

And so back to Katherine where the gear box is to be repaired.