30th September 2015 - Mataranka via Daly Waters & Dunmarra Roadhouse to the Barkly Homestead.

We left Bitter Springs early as we wanted to explore The Elsey Cemetery and original site of the Gunn homestead which turned out to be fascinating.

The Elsey Cemetery & National Reserve

The graves of the "Unknown"

These men were all mentioned in the story  - "We of the Never Never"

John McLennan - The Sanguine Scott of the Never Never

Lee Ken - Chinese Cook died at Elsey Station

Henry Ventlia Peckham - "The Fizzer" - the Postman (postie)

He drowned attempting to cross a flooded river to get an urgent medical request through for a seriously ill woman at Victoria Downs Station.

Bett Bett the Aboriginal girl in We of the Never Never

Aeneas Gunn - The Maluka  

Jeannie Gunn - The Little Missus as she was called by all at Elsey Statiion

Next we drove a little further down the road to the site where the Elsey Station homestead had stood many years before.  One can imagine how Jeannie Gunn felt when arriving from the city of Melbourne to live in such a remote place.

The site of the original homestead

We left Mataranka and drove south along the Stuart Highway turning off to visit the well-know small community of Daly Waters.  There is a pub and a service station and not much else! Daly Waters Airfield was a refuelling stop for early Qantas flights to Singapore and also an airforce base during WWII.

The Daly Waters Pub 

Daly Waters Servo

We stopped for lunch at the Dunmarra Roadhouse - a very busy place with many road-trains and other travellers stopping for fuel & food.  Dunmarra Roadhouse is famous for its great pies so we had to sample some for lunch and they more than lived up to their reputation - delicious!  While there we met some Australian soldiers having lunch at the next table - we were surprised to hear one with a Welsh accent and had a chat to him.  He had recently emigrated.

Dunmarra Roadhouse - Road-Trains carrying cattle to northern ports

                                                                                            Dunmarra Wayside Inn

Miles of long straight road - the Stuart Highway

We travelled south along the Stuart Highway to the Three-Ways where we turned east onto the Barkly Highway to the Barkly Homestead where we camped for the night.  A long day of driving! (695kms)  It was great to set up camp and relax.  We camped next to the camp kitchen where we cooked a quick meal.  We also managed to catch up with our washing which dried overnight in the warm night air.

29th September 2015 - Bitter Springs & Mataranka

Heading south again after a couple of days at Edith Falls, we drove to Bitter Springs & Mataranka - the home of the true story written by Jeanie Gunn and the subsequent movie - "We of the Never Never". We booked into the caravan park at Bitter Springs where the manager gave us a copy of the famous local story.

Campsite at Bitter Springs

Bitter Springs 

Bitter Springs Thermal Pools

The Bitter Springs thermal pools/creek are quite fast-flowing and the caravan parks hires out the foam noodles so that guest can float down the creek exiting near the bridge.  There are steps down into the water so there is easy access to the springs.

Steps into the Thermal Pools

Bitter Springs Thermal Pools

In the afternoon we drove to the Mataranka to discover the story of Jeannie Gunn.  She was from Melbourne where she met & married her husband, Aeneas.  She travelled with him when he took up a position as manager at Elsey Station, Mataranka.  She was the first white woman to settle in the area in 1902.  She wrote the book We of the Never, Never which was the story of her experience settling in such a remote aboriginal area and the stockmen and transient travellers that she met.  It was later made into a movie of the same name.

There are several statues in the park showing the various people in the above story.

Aeneas & Jeannie Gunn

Bett Bett - the little aboriginal girl who she befriended

Terry inspecting the statue of  Bett Bett

Cheon - their Chinese cook

Linnie admiring the statue of Cheon the Chinese cook

The replica of the Gunn's homestead that was built for the movie

Terry taking a dip at the Mataranka Thermal Pool

28th September 2015 - Edith Falls NT

The next morning we put on our swimming togs and walking shoes and headed up the rocky mountain to the Edith Falls Top Pool.  Another beautiful day - perfect for the climb.  It is not far and not strenuous - just a few rocks to negotiate.

The Top Pool Edith Falls

Lin beside the sparkling clear water - perfect for a swim - Top Pool

Top Pool

After our climb up to the Top Pool and some time spent there relaxing in the sun, we returned to the trailer for lunch and then spent the afternoon in the park area beside the bottom pool and there we enjoyed a refreshing swim.

The kiosk at the entry to the camping ground provided a variety of meals and refreshing ice blocks etc.  It was the gathering point for all the campers and day visitors alike.

Terry beside the bottom pool beside the park and campsite

Lin enjoying a refreshing dip in the bottom pool

27th September 2015 From Kununurra to Edith Falls

Other campers had told us about another lovely place to visit - Edith Falls just a short way north on the road to Darwin from Katherine so we decided to make a diversion and have a look for ourselves. We travelled back along the Great Northern Highway leaving Western Australia once again and crossing the border into the Northern Territory stopping for morning tea at Timber Creek. It would be a long drive that day - 620kms.  We turned north into Katherine stopping for some supplies and then continued up the Stuart Highway for 42kms to the turn-off for Edith Falls.  We lost 1.5hrs in time difference between WA & NT so it was quite late in the day when we arrived but found a convenient campsite despite the area being quite busy.  Edith Falls is a popular day or weekend destination for people from Darwin.

Edith Falls

Edith Falls next to the campsite

Saturday, 26th September 2015Kununurra - drive to Wyndham

Hidden Valley caravan park at Kununurra - the location was lovely with red rocks in the background but we were not overly impressed by the maintenance of the caravan park itself or the service.

The next morning we spent a leisurely day driving to Wyndham, an historical town from the pioneer days.  Wyndham was established in 1886 during the gold rush days.  It is the most northerly and oldest town in the Kimberley region.  The port was very active back in the early days but declined at the end of the Halls Creek gold rush.  It has more recently be used for shipping ore.

Camels played an important role in the establishment of this area

Tezza with a huge crocodile in Wyndham

I sent our daughter a copy of the above photo to show our grandsons.  Her eldest aged 4yrs asked his mother "Is Grandad still alive?"  Well, that would be a very pertinent question, wouldn't it!

Lee Chong - General Storekeeper - Tailor & Outfitter in the main street

Although it was Saturday, the town was almost deserted.  The only place that appeared to be open was the pub.

Main street out of town

It makes one wonder how this creek got its name

Kununurra Water Supply 

Passing over the bridge when entering Kununurra

Once again the Kununurra carpark was full of 4x4s with CB radio aerials - essential in this vast area

25th September 2015 - Purnululu National Park and on to Kununurra

Yet again we were up early, packed and ready to go.  We had been advised by the Ranger to leave our camper outside his Office as limited travel is allowed for camper-trailers within the park.  After unhitching our trailer we drove to the northern section of the park to Echidna Chasm but on the way we stopped at the Osmond Range lookout.

The Osmond Range

The Osmond Range Lookout

The entry to the Echidna Chasm is along a dry creek bed

Tezza walking the length of the Echidna Chasm

Tezza deep inside the Echidna Chasm

Lin in awe of the height of the Chasm

Lin inspecting the walls of the Chasm 

The rocks & pebbles that formed the wall of the Chasm over the centuries

A Bower Bird's nest on the way into the Chasm

Stunning Palms against a backdrop of red rock

Next we made our way back to our parked camper-trailer, hitched up and made our way from the Purnulula National Park back along the rough road and through the various rivers to the Great Northern Highway.  We reached the highway with a sigh of relief - the track had been rough and slow-going.  We headed east back to Kununurra where we booked into The Hidden Valley Caravan Park for a couple of nights.  We had called ahead to the local tavern to make sure that they were showing the Broncos/Cowboys semi-final Rugby League match on the TV that evening!!

On arrival at the tavern, we selected a table and started to read the menu when the Irish manager came over and acknowledged us as the people who had rung early to check that they were televising the Broncos.  Obviously we stood out as out-of-towners.  He adjusted the TV screen, sound etc so that we could watch the match in comfort.  What service!  Gulliver's Tavern - the food was great too!