31/8/16 In hot water - Douglas Hot Springs to be precise !

 Yesterday was spent doing the chores and just chilling out - we've yet to perfect that , but we'll keep trying . The afternoon was spent in the pool , keeping cool . We are staying at the Adelaide River Showgrounds , it is also the horse race track , we are about 50m from the finish line !!

  Today we are heading off for a drive down to Robin Falls , then continuing on to Douglas Hot Springs - seems a bit of a contradiction - it's heading for 37 degrees today and we're going to the Hot Springs ????
  Down the road we go , the 1st creek we cross is Anniversary Creek , so stop for a look .A bit of a novelty - it has water - after months of WA's creeks & rivers not flowing above ground , this was a real treat !!

  Only another 5 or 7 klms down the road we found the turn to Robin Falls and took it . Following it to the end we parked not far from a small bus & 4wd - the occupants of said vehicles don't waste a lot of money on clothes !! One gent put a sarong on and explained about his dogs and not to be worried by them , that wasn't a worry !!

 We started off up the track , it was rough and rocky , and had a stream beside it - the best part of that - it looked like the falls must be flowing , Yahoo !! Reflections in the creek were excellent , and with the trees having a high canopy , it helped keep us a bit cooler - todays temperature was climbing steadily to a forecast 37 degrees !!

 Whilst having a look around , the birdlife was flying and chirping around the place . I think this is a Satin Bower Bird . Not sure what the 2nd bird is - maybe someone can tell me ??

 A little further up the track we started to notice butterflies , not much further there were lots of them , perched on rocks & branches and fluttering around .

 Seems to be a wildlife walk today , here's a lizard just hiding around the edge of a rock .

 The track was getting rougher and we also ran out of water - it was coming from the left , in between 2 rocky ridges - seemed our waterfall may not be blowing after all . I continued , leaving Lyn to sit in some shade to cool down while I had a look . Making it to the falls after a lot of rock hopping and climbing , it was a bit disappointing to see the smallest triple of water coming over the edge 15m above me . It would be awesome with water flowing over it , but you may not be able to get to it then. The evidence of previous floods was still a couple of metres from the ground . 

The water would drop into a plunge pool , then cascade over that rock shelf and then flow into the creek bed . The surrounding rock must have been subjected to a lot of force & pressure , as it has been pushed upward's at an angle .

 To carry on the wildlife theme today , we stopped and watched some skaters , doing what they do best - skate across the waters surface .

 The water looked very inviting , but we had other things to do today .

 Spiders were playing on and with their webs , running out occasionally to grab an insect for lunch .

 Back to the ute and off down the road again , after another 45 klms we found the turn off and headed in to Douglas Hot Springs . Our first views of Douglas River looked good .

 We walked down beside the river and started to walk across - that turned into a run - the water there was HOT , to make it worse , we ran through the water & onto the sand , to find the sand was just as hot as the water - we wondered what we had got ourselves into !! Making it to a shady section , all the temperatures receded .

 Finding a larger pool we didn't hesitate on going in , it was absolutely wonderful , sitting on about 27 degrees , depending where you were .

This pool got to enjoy our company for several hours !!

 There were many fish swimming around in the pools as well - small up to 300mm long , and a couple of Longtoms ( I think ) that were about 450mm long . Here are some of the smaller ones .

 There is also a billabong that sits about 2m higher than the river , yet is only about 20m from it . It would be a few metres deep and is also warm water .

  We spotted a curious looking plant/ flower beside the pool we were luxuriating in - it may be an insect eating plant by the look of it .

 There were some very small yellow flowers beside one of the stagnant side pools .

We had lunch down beside the river in between swims , and then headed off back to Adelaide River for another swimming the pool - that's about 3 hours in the wet stuff today !!! 

 Here's a map link :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=17Idu9t0SrcEMD-M5xqn8k53HPPE&usp=sharing

27&28/8/16 Out of WA

We wake and pack up before having a quick chat with neighbours and driving away from this , another slice of paradise . A tinge of sadness , we are leaving the Kimberley today - it has a piece of us still there , and will for a long time - we will be back !!
 Out to the highway and off we go , we've got used to the quiet roads , little traffic and being able to please ourselves , scenery passing by . This section of WA is one of it's jewels - from Halls Creek , the Bungles and the rest of the Kimberleys , this is one of the most scenic drives of the WA coast !
  We reach the border and stop for some photos - as you do !!

 Thank you WA , it was a pleasure !!

 We notice a difference as we head back in to Northern Territory - the roads turn to garbage - its almost like they've just thrown some bitumen over the top of the bumps and corrugations . It's like your wheels are out of balance , there are constant vibrations !!
  A lot of the countryside has been burnt - as they do in NT - fires are burning in lots of places , getting prepared for the new season and reducing the fire danger and fuel load .
 Some of the road becomes a little familiar and we start winding our way around the red cliffs near Timber Creek and Victoria River .

We liked this one , you can see a comical face of an old man in the rock .

 We stopped in Timber Creek for some fuel and continue on through an past Victoria River Roadhouse . We lost one and a half hours when we crossed the border , back to NT time , only half an hour behind the east coast now .
 We pulled in at Sullivan Creek Campground to stay for the night - it's in Gregory NP and only about 200m from the highway , but will be quiet . We started chatting to a family with 4 boys from 5 to 14 , who have left Darwin after 12 months to resume their life on the road . We enjoyed their company and fire - we were a little surprised - a fire - why would you need one , it was 33 degrees today !! Well as it turned out , we did need it as it got cold - down to 12 overnight !!
 Before sitting around the fire we had a look down at the creek . We were surprised to find a large billabong lined with trees & pandanus .

 Some finches came down to the water to drink while we were there , here are 2 of them .

 Beside where we had parked , there was a large rock . It looked like it consisted of siltstone - a soft rock , and it had the most amazing patterns on it .

We would have taken it , apart from the fact it weighed about 200 kilos , so it's still there for everyone to see .
 That's it , day done , here's a map link :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iguX8Cj9HKoeVLWUSQKvNmp3sdk&usp=sharing

28/8/16

 Today we drove to Katherine , intending to go further , we decided to stop and catch up on things - internet etc , as you may have gathered from all the blogs today , so not much to report , more bad roads and more road trains .
 The pool at the caravan park worked well to cool us down , as a novelty we had a dip in the spa after our swim - it wasn't very hot fortunately .
 That's it , I've had enough for one day , see ya !!

26/8/16 A fitting farewell to WA

 Today was going to be interesting , we could feel it .
 First job was to wash some of the Kimberley off the ute - we're not silly enough to think we could get rid of it all in one wash !! We have a guard covering the fuel tank - I decided to put the hose in there - it ran red for about 2mins !!! It almost looked like it was bleeding hahaha .
 We finished washing and headed to the pool to cool off before lunch .  Cooled down , we then decided to do a 2klm return walk to the Ord River Gorge Lookout . Views as normal were awesome - we've seen it from river level in a boat , from several thousand feet in a plane , and now we are seeing it from the top of the ridge . As we walked we had many stops as views into the lake took precedence over walking .

 The further we walked the better the view , sparkling blue water in the lake and emerald green waters of the river , only separated by the dam wall .

  The river swung around left then right around the ridge we were on , before snaking it's way toward Kununurra through the Carr Boyd Range .

  After enjoying the views we headed back for some lunch , the afternoon was also going to be busy - in a relaxed way though !!
  Lunch done we packed a bag with our towels & camera's  and went down to the bistro / bar and watched a video presentation on the dam construction . It was funny to see , not much OH&S back then - they did have hard hats & boots , no shirts though , working through the dry seasons to build the wall & spillways . They blasted all the rock for the wall from an outcrop of quartz not far from the wall - it was the 2 biggest blasts in Australian history - they called them Coyote Blasts - the 2nd one larger than the first - it was even recorded by seismologists in Sydney !!! There is still evidence of the extra blasted rock that was surplus to requirement's !!
  After that presentation , we waited for the bus to take us down to the lake for our cruise . There was a crowd waiting to get on - we had a full boat load today - I think they have a full boat for every sunset cruise though . Finally we shuffled forward and got on the bus and were then taken for a view of the dam wall and down to where the quarry entry was , a few other bits & pieces explained - that we'd already done - we were now starting to wonder whether this was a smart move to do another lake cruise . Last years cruise was excellent , we were hoping this one would be as good !!
 Down to the boat finally , and we take a seat down towards the back on the left hand side - not as much direct sun on that side .
Off we go out into the lake and around to the dam wall & hydro intake , Jack , our jovial guide was doing a good job informing everyone about all things Lake Argyle . Siobhan was doing an efficient job steering us around the lake to any feature she could see . The first diversion came , and we were shown the emergency spillway - it would erode away with any extra water over a certain height and flow straight down through the old quarry and into the river . Next we motored across the lake and were surprised by a couple of Jabiru's flying past having a little squabble .

 Next we went to crocodile cove , and yes we found some very fat female crocs ready to lay their eggs in the near future .
 It was at this point that we looked at each other , as everyone else in the boat was clambering to take a photo of the crocs , and everything else .

 Then the cruise started to get interesting - we cut through between some islands and headed a different direction from the other cruise - it was turning into a delightful afternoon , we started to see other mountains in the distance .

 The cruise headed east and through the bay of islands , one island we passed was covered in ripplestone !

Further around we pulled into a bay and stopped , they produced some fish feed and threw some out either side , catfish , archer fish and others came at a great speed , quickly gobbling up the pellets . The dominant fish here is the catfish / silver cobbler . As the story was told , catfish used to sell for about $3.50 a kilo - no-one wanted it , so they had a brainwave and called it silver cobbler - it now sells in Perth for $40 a kilo - clever marketing !!!
We kept going east , ranges disappeared into the horizon , as did the lake , we couldn't see the other side !!!

 Another island came into view , it seemed to have huge grave stones attached to the hillside - not quite , they were termite mounds and looked good in the sunlight .

 Back to the west we headed alongside one island bathed in sunlight , orange & green colours glowing in the sun .

 On the opposite side was another island that we were going to . Harry Butler and another ecologist helped relocate a lot of Wallaroos and other animals to this island many years ago . A White Bellied Sea Eagle was sitting on a dead tree not far from us .

 After seeing a few wallaroos and birds , it was getting down to the business end of the cruise . We rounded the island , and headed out into a vast area of water , a marker buoy the only thing different , we tied up to it and the engines were cut . The life ring from the boat was put out in the water and anyone interested was asked to go in for a swim .

 Ice cold beers were also thrown in - you grabbed one as they floated to you - this is one hell of a way to enjoy sunset !!!!

And speaking of sunset . The sun was making the islands glow !!

After a few drinks and watching the sun set over the ridge , everyone got back onto the boat and we cruised back - what a STUNNING afternoon !!!!

 We cruised back toward the resort in failing light , totally satisfied with our day . To top it right off , the boat stopped along the way to show us a mirror finish on the lake and the night sky starting to take over - perfect !!

 And that's how our day ended , and in fact that's how this visit to WA has also ended - what a finish!!! Couldn't have written that script !!
 So our initial worries were blown away and a very enjoyable day was had , hope you've enjoyed it half as much as we did !!