The Big Lap 2009
Carnarvon Gorge Queensland
While my
Blogs are not yet complete, here is a very brief summary of our 2009 trip from Western Australia through the Northern Territory, Queensland, and returning via New South Wales, crossing the north west corner only of Victoria and on through South Australia. We took five months; most in the earlier states as time got away from us.
This trip and my other travelogues in more detail are being progressively loaded onto
Travelogues on Australia So Much to See as they are completed. Call in and share our travels.
Blogs loaded so far take us to
Carawine Gorge, then east to
Alice Springs via the
Gary Junction Road before taking the
Stuart Highway north from Alice. We visit
Mataranka and
Katherine before heading to
Pine Creek and
Kakadu. We continue through
Litchfield and
Douglas Hot Springs in Northern Territory,
Lawn Hill,
Boulia and
Winton,
Hughenden,
Longreach, and
Ilfracombe. I have also now added
Isisford,
Blackall,
Barcaldine,
Springsure and Emerald, and soon to be loaded
Carnarvon National Park as we toured our way south towards New South Wales where the very special
Mungo National Park in New South Wales has been fast tracked and is loaded to both a Blog here and the
website where more photos and details can be seen.
Read our
travelogues in more detail on our developing website, but please have patience and visit again as they are slowly being added. Questions can be raised through the
Contact us page about
places you may be interested in, even if they are not yet written up and loaded.
I have now started loading photos in full size to
Flickr.
Here follows a summary of some of the
places we enjoying visiting the most.
Nothing beats the colour and solitude of the desert - here in WA nearing the NT border
Desert camping
The soft pastels of the sculptured
MacDonnell Ranges are so pretty
Mt Sonder
We saw plenty of big salties in
Kakadu Crocodile
The Northern Territory had a major role in WW2 - here tunnels for storing fuel were made underneath
Darwin. Fortunately the war ended and they were not needed. There are over 1,000 war history sites in the northern NT.
One of the fuel storage tunnels underneath Darwin
We swam under cooling waterfalls in
Litchfield National Park
Buley Rockhole
Saw fossils in abundance, some dating as far back a 200 million years ago - all coming to the surface in our time. This Ichythaurus is an as yet un-named species on display at
Boulia. I have pieces of fossilised tortoise shells dated at 200,000 million year old. I just have to hold them and like magic, I feel so very
young.
Ichthyosaur at Boulia
This shed once proudly shore up to 400,000 sheep each year. Sadly, this
farm, like most throughout the state, now runs only cattle. At
Isis Downs, that last 10,000 sheep were shorn and sold in 2004. The industry that made Australia the great nation is it today is gone; merinos are no longer profitable, and this effect flows on to so many other farms, towns and support industries. Tragic.
Isisford Shearing Shed
In the
Carnarvon Ranges we drove up a track taking us to the 'roof of Queensland', at over 1,200 metres above sea level. Crisp cool mountain air and an amazing feeling. Only one peak in the ranges, the highest in the state, is higher at 1,237 metres.
Top Shelter
We crossed into New South Wales through the
Granite Belt. Here we climbed
Bald Rock to look back into Queensland and the
granite hills we had climbed there in the
Girraween National Park.
Bald Rock
The
New England plateau is quite spectacular. With a cool climate due to altitude, and rain expected throughout the year, the farmlands are lush green, and deep canyons in the Oxley Wild Rivers region cut down suddenly from seemingly flat farmlands.
Apsley Falls are one of many lovely falls in the Oxley Wild Rivers region.
Apsley Falls
On
Barrington Tops it must have been close to snowing – cold and windy but so beautiful. Wonderful
views across mountain tops in all directions from
lookout points.
Barrington Tops
A disused shale oil mining and processing centre was commenced during the war at
Glen Davis. Backing into the
Wollemi National Park in the Blue Mountains, this facility covered a huge area.
Oil Shale facility ruins at Glen Davis
Amazing formations of the
cave walls at
Wellington.
Wellington Caves
At Dubbo, animals roam in wide enclosures at the Western Plains Zoo.
Cheetahs at Dubbo
At
Mungo National Park ancient sand and clay textured structures are being uncovered in a large crescent shaped
sand dune. Different colours of sand between red yellow
grey and white indicate the ages of the levels. The blog of
Mungo is already here; completed to coincide with the re-opening of
the loop drive late in 2011, following being closed since rain damage in January.
This is the site of the discovery of Mungo man and Mungo woman; the earliest known humans to have been buried with some ceremony, showing the Australian civilisation to be the oldest known on Earth.
Fascinating shapes appearing in the lunette
Moving into South Australia, we spend a day watching ski boat racing on the
Murray River.
Ski boat racing at Berri on the Murray River
There are some lovely spots to
camp along the Murray; this one at Loxton quiet and we had it all to ourselves, although virtually in the town.
Murray River at Loxton
Looking east from the
Mount Lofty Ranges across ripe crops. These crops, although better than through most of New South Wales, were only average.
View from the Mount Lofty Ranges
Crossing over the crest, suddenly all was lush and green. What a contrast. Here near Mount Pleasant, tall crops were being cut for
hay. Crops in South Australia along the western edges (near
Adelaide, the
Yorke and the
Eyre Peninsulas) were exceptionally good this year
Mount Pleasant Valley
The crumbling
Bunda Cliffs of the
Great Australian Bight are fascinating, and have crumbled away more each time we visit.
Bunda Cliffs along the Great Australian Bite
We had lunch at Lake Dumbleyung, where in 1964 Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record. The lake has less water than it held in the 1960s.
Lake Dumbleyung
Later in the afternoon we reached
home, after five months on the road, visiting six states and territories and seeing just a small amount of the diverse landscape that Australia has to offer.
Blog updated at last with all those promised photos.