26th September to 4 October 2011

Bali Bash from Darwin

We had been looking at cheap airfares and accommodation from Darwin with a view to travelling to Bali for a long anticiapted look.  With some airfares purchased and accommodation finally found we were off to Bali staying at the Dynasty in their Excutive Suite…a great room for a family.

We spent the week shopping various markets, enjoying time around the pool and hiring a driver for a couple of days.  The driver took us on a whirlwind trip around Bali…yes and if you know how the Balinese drive then it was a whirlwind tour…in fact the driver even had a minor head on with a scooter!!

Our favourite side trip was to the flying fox playground near the Botanical Gardens.  This is an amazing adventure playground with high altitude tests of fitness, coordination and mental attitude with many obstacles and flying fox cables…check it out.  We had a look at the temple in the ocean, botanical gardens, rice paddies, jewellery manufacturers, wood carvers, volcanoes and other markets along the way.  We ate at some great restaurants and soaked up the culture of this amazing place.  It was a great break from caravan and our extended trip around Australia…it seems strange but it was refreshing and allowed us to take stock of what we were doing and look forward to our next adventures.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

After experiencing difficulty with the rear drivers side shocky, it was a quick change of plans and instead of Litchfield, it became Darwin.

We left Day River on Monday morning, passing through Adelaide River and arriving in Darwin early afternoon.  What we found was that most caravan parks in Darwin are actually some distance out of the city so we settled on a nice resort just outside Palmerston.

Monday afternoon came and went, whilst Tuesday was spent mostly on schooling activities with a late afternoon swim in the pool with the kids.

Wednesday morning was used up with some more schooling before hitting the Lenyear Recreation Park waterslides and pools in the afternoon.  The Lenyear Recreation Park has 3 big enclosed water slides/tubes, one big pool and a crazily big skate park…best of all it is free…amazing hey!

Back at the resort we headed to the Bistro for dinner…that was after we had a few drinks by the poolside bar and a swim.  We caught the first half of the quizz night before heading to bed for the night.

Car issues and schooling to sort over the next few days and then off to Litchfield National Park and Kakadu.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

September 9 to 11th 2011 – Daly River.

Well we have just spent two days fishing the Daly River along the golden patch of river that they call the Golden Mile.  Well, there are a few things that spring to mind…firstly, the Golden Mile is not always golden, we are at the end of the dry…or my fishing technique really needs to be refined, ha, ha. 

It is probably all of the above but what I can say is that the Daly River is a beautiful place to be on the water and if you get the timing right the fishing can be explosive.  We fished for two days at the Golden Mile and caught two Barra within 15 minutes of each other, got a number of strikes on the lures and unfortunately nothing for the fry pan.  We saw 20 odd snapping lizzards…local terminology for crocs and putting the boat in and out of the river certainly got your heart racing.  The river is a beautiful river with multitudes of wildlife and an absolute joy to be on…I just can’t wait to get back here and have a fish in the run-off season when the fishing is electric.

Lovely Lynda got one hookup of a nice sized Barra that leaped into the air 2m.  I have never seen a fish jump so high…in fact it out jumped the many Spaniards I have seen.  Whilst spectacular, the fish spat the hook with its famous head wobble and that was as close as we got to a legal sized Barra.  If its any consolation to us, judging by the talk at camp, even the locals (darwin fishos)had a poor weekend out.  In fact talking to the local indigineous people they told me the only place to get a Barra at the moment was the Daly River Crossing at night…they had pulled out two 80cm Barra the night before.  Funnily enough we were told that there were no Barra upstream of Banyan Farm of any note…maybe its a local hidden…or withdrawn secret…try that one hey!

Fishing was slow but our experience here was, once again, awesome.  We did catch a Barra in the end but the real enjoyment came from being on the river in a magnificent setting way out in the middle of the Northern Territory.  We have plenty of time to snare a Barra yet and the weather is starting to change with the promise of an early buildup…the Barra action may still hot up yet…next spot to try Coroboree Billabong me thinks!

When not on the river the rest of the time was spent around the pool and watching the footy and NRL finals…life can be tuff sometimes…

Off to Litchfield National Park tommorrow, via Adelaide River.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

Time to hit the road again and leave Katherine behind us.  We are heading to the Daly River to try our luck with some Barra fishing.  Daly River is a Northern Territory hotspot and so to miss the action would have been sacrilidge for a fisho like me.  On the way we passed Edith Falls and decided on the 40 klm round trip from the highway to check them out – well worth the effort!

Arriving at Edith Falls carpark around 1:30pm we set off on the loop walk.  We were dying for a swim and so did the 2.6klm loop in reverse so that we could swim at the upper pool after 1klm instead of 1.6klm.  The walk goes mostly upwards until you sight the upper falls and upper pool of Edith Falls.  The pool is rather big with a huge boulder island and plenty of swimming options.  I found a rock ledge and jumped in to cool down.  Amy was right in after me but Jess took a little more coaxing.

With the family in the water we swam off to the waterfall and took turns swimming under the falls and getting carried away by the current.  Just to the left of the falls is a rock ledge that you can take a breather and stand on.  It was also a good platform to help me scale the water fall and check out the pool above the falls.  In fact there was a beautiful infinity pool above the falls and another small waterfall and then the main river.  What a beautiful place this is.  From up above and looking down Edith Falls is massive and the combination of the tiered falls is enormous.  Mmmm, how to get down?  Coming up had been a little challenging and slippery so I wasn’t keen to come down the same way.  A bit of a look around told me there was no easy way down, so in the end I opted for the airiel route and chose a platform above the falls to leap from.  I must say I was a little nervous having to launch myself at least a 1m out to clear rocks below me…and…the drop below was quite substantial.   “Warrior Spirit” and leap…I hit the water, went under…phew no hidden rocks…and surfaced…all fired up and wanting to repeat the fun.  It was all captured on video so when I get a minute I will upload the blog for all to see.

Back in the upper pool we all enjoyed swimming in the rather warmish water for another 1/2 hour before setting off on our walk back to the car.  Heading clockwise (in reverse) we had not long left the water hole when you come across a lookout which takes in the magnificence of the whole Edith Falls.  It is a fantastic viewing platform and makes you realise that you are in one of those special places of “breath taking beauty,” totally amazing…gees…nature sure does put on a show throughout the Kimberley’s and Northern Territory.

Another 20 mins and we were back at the car and heading off to find a camp for the night.  In the end we managed to find a gravel pit just off the Stuart Hwy which turned out to be a perfect spot for the night.  For all of those receiving our SPOT GPS location finder, check out the free camp and use it when passing by.

You can camp at Edith Falls for a fee, being a National Park.

Well another cool place to visit and another day enjoying being on the road.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

With the sun rising, Amy and I headed to El Questro Gorge whilst Lynda stayed behind with Jess.  Amy and I planned to conquer the big boulder at the half way point and carry on to Mic Micking Pool at the end of the gorge.

Half the fun is the 4WD track in.  Whilst not challenging it contains a deep water crossing and winds its way through the Kimberley’s distinct vegetation to the beginning of the gorge.  Starting the walk from the carpark it is a rocky scramble along the river bed to the halfway pool.  The gorge on this section narrows as it closes in on the halfway pool with sheer cliff faces rising up from beneath you.  It is a beautiful gorge to travel through which get prettier the further you travel into it.

Safely at the halfway pool we sat and pondered how to get past the big boulder blocking our track…it is true that many people fail the challenge of scaling the big boulder due to having to wade through waist deep water to access the boulder.  What this means is that when you reach the boulder you begin climbing it with wet feet…which is exactly what you don’t want on a smooth slippery steep surface.

Well with shoes off and back pack held high we headed out to the big boulder.  Then the challenge of how firstly to get out of the water onto the BB and then how to climb it!  I pushed Amy out of the water to a safe perching point, handed her the back pack and balanced the hiking boots precariously on the BB.  After a few attempts I was out of the water perched on the boulder with a handhold and very small foot hold for one foot, Amy just above me holding on…what next.  I somehow managed to get one boot on my foot to give me a bit of traction and then at full stretch, with a lot of good faith in my rather bleak foot hold pushed myself up and across to another landing.  A slight slip and I was gone!  Yes…made it, hold onto Amy with one hand so she could collect the boots and then I dragged her to my ledge.  From there we both put our boots on and made the rest of the climb easily.

Back on the trail we quickly covered the remaining 2klm of the trip despite warning and notes on how difficult the track was.  Sure, it was challenging in parts but mostly just a whole lot of good fun as you tackled the big boulder and then the big series of boulder strewn across the gorge, the climb up the side of the waterfall and then finally the climb up and into Mic Micking Pool.

At the pool you are in awe of nature’s beauty.  The pool is small but enclosed by narrow sheer cliffs above you and the waterfall at the far end of the crystal pool is amazing as it freefalls onto rocks below.  We quickly undressed and took a surprisingly warmish swim (in comparison to other pools in gorges) swimming out to the waterfall and sitting underneath it on natures well crafter lounge chair.  We swam and played for half and hour enjoying ourselves and having some great fun together.  Several photos followed before heading back.

We descended the gorge quickly back to the big boulder (BB) and again pondered on a plan of attack.  I decided on throwing the walking boots 20m to dry ground.  Three out of four boots landed safely with one of my boots taking a bad bounce and a slight dip in the pool…minor casualty.  We then slid down the BB to the pool below, Amy taking an involuntary slide towards the bottom of the BB and an uncontrolled splash into the pool below.  I managed to stay in control and therefore kept the back pack dry.  A quick swim followed and then we walked out the remaining part of the gorge back to the car.

In the end the 3 to 5 hour return (without a swim) turned out to be about 4 hours with 1 hour of sightseeing and swimming.  In fact the walk out took less than an hour with a swim.

Heading back to camp we spotted J & T who had walked some of the Amelia Gorge and we talked about tackling Moonshine Gorge in the afternoon.

That is what we did, I did the loop walk trail and everyone else bugged out at the last minute and walked in the reverse direction just to the swimming hole.

My walk took me up over the range with fabulous scenery down onto the gorge and surrounding range.  Once up on top you descended down to the halfway pool where you could take a swim.  I decided not to and finally bumped into the rest of the group coming the other way some 500m past the waterhole.  We all retraced our steps so that those who wished could take a swim.  We lounged around at the water hole for some time before heading back to the cars around 4:30pm.  Halfway back to the car park I noticed that Jeff was struggling with Banjo on his back so I relieved him of Banjo and carried him back to camp for Jeff.

What was interesting about this walk and gorge were the layered rock formations which were balanced on a 45 degree angle and towered above you.  The gorge was wide and open and the walking difficult but the rock formations were the highlight.  The water hole I could give a miss and I really believe walking only 1 klm into this gorge will place you in the most interesting section of the gorge.

The other interesting part of the gorge is the long 4WD track to the car park at the start of the gorge.  The track follows the El Questro Gorge track until after the deep water crossing.  It then branches right and continues for several klms as it weaves its way to Moonshine Gorge.  You travel through a few rocky sections and a couple of creek crossings before arriving at the carpark.

Back at camp after nightfall it was time for a shower and for me an early night.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

Back to the boat it was time for a swim with the kids.  We swam across the river bar to the other side and played on the steep sand banks of the river, balancing on the edge until it caved in and we went sliding into the water.  We did this for about an hour as we had so much fun.  Next we swam into the middle of the water and allowed ourselves to be carried back down the river to the boat in the current.  We played a game of snipers trying to keep our heads low in the water and creep up on Lynda in the boat, relaxing reading her book.  It was cool fun and we achieved our objective of scaring the woollies out of Mum.

Bushman Bud, Joey Jess and Orangatang Amy then crossed the river again and walked towards the cliffs to explore them.  On our way we spotted the Donnelly River Cruise chugging down river and when it stopped next to the cliffs we said G’day to the tourists.  We then swam all the way back to the boat playing crocodiles and sharks with the kids.

At 4:00pm it was time to make our run back up the river to Boat Landing.  It was an awesome trip back and I felt like I was doing the Avon Descent in a power boat at times.

Back at the boat ramp we used the Custom Boat Loader to get the boat back on the roof of Bessie (awesome piece of equipment) and set off back to camp.

On the way back to camp we stopped in Pemberton to get rid of some rubbish, check phone messages, etc.  Leaving Pemberton we found a couple of backpackers looking for a camp and helped them find a nice spot on the river.  We know Pemberton like the back of our hand and know of some awesome spots on the Warren River.  Subscribe to our blog so we can help you find those awesome spots too.  Email info@bushmanbud.com.

Leaving our backpacker friends to setup camp we headed back to our camping spot for dinner after another awesome day.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

We left Esperance travelling to Perth to catch up on some much needed administration of our affairs.  We had some properties to view and meetings with the school and other organisations so a location close to Perth was required. 

A well timed phone call from our friend Karen provided us with an opportunity to stay on her property in Shoalwater which is near Rockingham some 50 klms South of Perth.

Our week was spent sorting out some things but included two great day trips on Remo (our boat) for those of you who are new to our site.  The kids named our boat after Nemo somehow??

The first of those days was spent exploring the Islands off of Shoalwater Bay.  We saw the sea lion colony and had the pleasure of curious dolphins playing around the boat.  After some exploring we landed at Penguin Island for a refreshing swim and play on the beach before heading home with the sea breeze chopping up the bay and making for an interesting ride back to the beach ramp.

The second day was spent exploring the Serpentine River from the upper reaches to the Mandurah Estuary, crossing over to the Murray River and then exploring the lower reaches of the Murray River where we stopped on a small bank that was lined with beach sand.  There we played in the sand and swam in the river, the kids using their boogie boards as boats offloading sand at various ports…what an imagination the kids develop by being on the road away from the distractions of society and concrete jungles, TV and game machines.

The Serpentine River was fantastic to explore, shallow in places but beautiful and tranquil.  We love having a dinghy with us as it opens up a different perspective wherever you explore.  The bird life was awesome to experience and the surprise dolphin visit another added bonus…weird but the dolphins seem to be enchanted by Remo…or is it that Remo is just a dolphin magnet.

We did spend half a day on the Mandurah foreshore where the kids played in the playground areas and the adults spent some time reading books and browsing the newspaper.  A cruisy afternoon is always good for the soul.

Another bonus of being around Perth was to catch up with the cricket club – Greenrange and play some games with the guys I have played cricket with for over 20 years.  It was good to find that I still could play the game…I look forward to the coming weeks of comaraderie and good old fun on the cricket field…bring it on!

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

Leaving Esperance our plan was to head through Hyden to visit Wave Rock.  Having never been there I was keen to tick it off the list.  Needless to say I thought it was a big waste of time given the detour made to visit the rock.  It is over priced for the 10 minutes you may spend there and for me a big tourist gimmick.  I would not recommend Wave Rock or Hyden because it appears to be a town trying to cash in too much on an attraction not worthy of the big fees.  You can see this formation (maybe smaller) in many other places on your travels.

Needless to say, having come some far, we reluctantly paid our excessive entry fee for 10 minutes of walking, 2 minutes of viewing and the obligatory few photos.

Give it a miss…not impressed by this one.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

What an awesome experience we had at the Canarvon Gorge located 100 kms South West of Rolleston in Central QLD.  One could be excused for saying an oasis in the middle of…well…nowhere.

We camped on the access road into the park and in the morning had a further 22klms of rough unsealed dusty road to the park.  What an oasis!  The Carnarvon Gorge is massive and with recent rains was in its full glory.

There are many walk trails available to you in and around the park so you could easily spend a few days here exploring.  We had limited time and picked out a 11.7 klm return walk which took us to Ward Gorge, The Ampitheatre and Moss Gorge.  All three of these gorges were magnificent with Ward Gorge our favourite.

Ward Gorge is only 270m from the main walking track (4.6 klm along the main track) and is a narrow gorge with a beautiful stream cascading through its base.  The green moss glows a bright green in the sunlight and the air is cooled by the natural shade.  We had lunch here and enjoyed this spot thoroughly.

Next, as you back track from Ward’s Gorge is the Ampitheatre.  The Ampitheatre is like a natural round bucket with 150m sides.  The area is accessed up 4 steep flights of ladders and through a very narrow section in the gorge.  Walking through the narrow section for about 30m you are staggered with the hidden graceful ampitheatre as you walk into it.  Joey Jess and Orangatang Amy performed a beautiful singing concert for us here and the sound was truly amazing…your singing is surely coming along girls.

Next stop was Moss Gorge.  This ancient and timeless gorge ends with a boardwalk platform which shows off a very pretty little waterfall.  All around you are the ancient walls of the gorge basking in sun and walled with moss.  Water drops from the moss and apprently the water that drops from the moss has taken a thousand years to get from the top of the sandstone walls to the base where you stand.  That is what I call filtered water…and it tastes magnificent!

Back onto the main track and three klms back to the carpark.  The main track is a beautiful place to walk also as ot meanders through the main gorge and crosses the Carnarvon Creek several times along the way.

This was a glorious day out one place I would highly recommend for any traveller passing through Central QLD.  A place of breathtaking beauty and a timeless place we will visit again.

Back on the road we made tracks…240klm of them to Dawson Creek Rest Area (a pleasant camping spot) on our way through to Cania Gorge.  I must say travelling inland rather than being habitual coast dwellers has opened up some beautiful places and new an dunique experiences.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

After staying over on in a small bush camp siding close to Rubyvale, we were back on the road to make the 9:15am tour of the Heritage Mine just outside Rubyvale.  This mine captures the history of the gemfields area surrounding the Emerald region.

The tour takes you down and around the still operational sapphire mine and is wonderfully informative.  A family of four cost $35 and given what some tours cost, this was great value for money.  The tour lasted for about 45 minutes.

On they way out of the mine is a great room full of history and newspaper articles reporting various finds of gem around Rubyvale.  There are some amazing stories of people finding rare stones only to sell then off at a fraction of their real value.  This is a great room to stop for a read.  I read all the stories including one about a black crystal used as a door stop because the owner thought it was worthless.  Turns out (after he sold it for a fraction of its value in an uncut state some years later) that it was the one of the rarest stones ever found.  The gem was cut and contained 5 stars inside it.  It is now known as the Star of Queensland and was recently sold for over 90 million dollars…that’s right, 90 million dollars – wow.  I bet Lovely Lynda would like to get her hands on that one.

Upstairs and at the mine entrance is every womans desire, the jewellery shop.  Lynda picked out a beautiful blue sapphire ring with a diamond surround.  She still claims it is her 10th year wedding anniversary rock…we’ll see what Santa brings hey.

The Heritage Mine was a great tour, endorsed by our Governor General in fact Quentin Bryce, who visited there a few years ago.  I would certainly recommend having a look and perhaps doing some fossicking in the nearby gem fields.  Who knows you may strike it rich like the two unemployed people who ran out of money, spent 5 weeks searching the gem fields in the hope of finding a fortune.  They managed to find a rare sapphire valued at 1 million dollars…not bad for 5 weeks work out of sheer desperation hey.

Get out to Rubyvale and have a looksy hey.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia 

Lovely Lynda was in her element