A BIG country

Posted on 20 Dec, 2008 12 comments

A BIG country.3

Next morning Sunday 7th we drove all the way to Timber Creek in the Kimberleys. We were heading East and then South which gives you a false feeling, until long after Fitzroy Crossing, the road leads up to the North East again. We have been travelling on the Great Northern Highway since Port Headland. Here the temperatures soared to 42C, which does not invite you to get outof the car, but we still had to do so every now and then for petrol and stretching our legs. Some Roadhouses were fantastic with shady trees, just like an oasis in the desert, accommodation good, some had taverns, but then there were some which were terrible, hot, dusty and very expensive and then we just didn’t know how quickly to leave the area again. All in all the dogs were fantastic. Each place they were allowed outof the car they sniffed around, and of course smelled other dogs that had been there. My first priority was to get them into the shade, water in front of them and just being with them so they would not worry or fret or be scared. They were always happy again to hop in the car and continue the journey. A home away from home…..From Broome onwards the country side was just a huge Savannah ( it is called : the Savannah road ).


Very nice, small green trees, but my biggest surprise were the Boab trees. From here onwards to far into the NT Boabs were scattered along the country side, even close to the roads and these amazing trees have won my heart and I have taken several pictures of them. The scenery is just amazing. Very few creeks or rivers had actually some water in it, not more here and there than a waterhole. But the road can tell you of other times; you are driving continuesly through these “dips”, called floodways, so you can imagine that in the rainy season there are huge areas completely flooded. Well, the weather changed. Thick dark clouds appproached and yes, here and there we saw lightning. We seemed to stay on the Southside of this bad weather, but cought the edge of it and I as I was driving I had to concentrate on the wipers as thick drops fell, so luckily only Paul really saw this spectacle of thunder and lightning on the passengers side. ( Here we drive on the left side of the road ). I hate driving in thunderstorms! Anyway, as I said we missed most of it, and I was glad when we finally arrived in Halls Creek. A bit of a lost place, wide open spaces, mostly indigenous people walking around. We wanted more shades for the car windows, ever since we only bought two in Carnarvon, and wanted to try the local hardware store. But it was too late and they were closed. We stayed at a Best Western Motel, which had lovely flamboyant trees, of which I took pictures. The dogs slept in the car, and we were lucky again; it had rained and it had cooled off from 42 to 28 degrees in 10 minutes and as evening fell, it was quite bearable. We locked the dogs in the car with windows open whilst we had our dinner. A real kind of country and Western tavern, only the meal was not as good as the previous night in the Roadhouse.
Went to bed early so we could take off early. I’ve lost track of the days of the week, a holiday combined with an exploration and moving interstate, all too much to consult a diary!
I think it is Monday now and we are on our way from Halls Creek to the NT border!!!
Again Savannah land, Boab trees, rolling hills, endless roads, hot, short stops, cool drinks, sharing driving and the love for our country. It is just so fantastic, the space gets to you more than anything else. First big place is Kununurra, a green oasis in the desert. What a wonderful place that is and they even had cheap petrol at $ 1.11 per litre. On the way we even had to pay $ 1.37 a litre. Here we found a Kmart and we could finally get another 2 sets of shades. We bought our lunches and just a little further on we found a lovely big shady tree and opened the back of the car, sat on it and ate our delicious sandwiches. Sandwiches in Roadhouses are lovely, chicken and salad, the salad being with beetroot, lettuce, grated carrot, tomato and grated cheese. A meal in itself.
Dogs get their dog biscuits, yoghurt and milk.



Kununurra lies not far from the State border.When we reached the border we saw the sign ahead and made a stop. I took a picture of it, saying time is an hour and a half ahead, and one of Paul and the dogs. He had opened the back to show how Radar was lying in the back.

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