Westwards

by Konrad Bucheli
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Sunday/Monday 31st July/1st August, 2016

On Sunday morning we drive back to Katherine and take a bath. There is a hot spring which is public. It is made easy accessible, there is even a wheelchair access. The kids like the baby swimming in the green too.

After lunch we drive westwards. Slowly the Australian lonesomeness caught us. The road and sometimes a cow are the only sign of human civilisation. We strive the Gregory National Park and our car may finally go into the dirt, if only for one kilometre. We wanted to hike a little bit, but Jann falls and the world got out of order. We stay over night on the camping of the Road House in the small place Timber Creek. The site is very nice located below high trees. Very important is the playground. There is also access to the name-giving creek. There should live a few freshwater crocodiles, but they did not show up tonight. The freshwater crocodiles are smaller than the saltwater crocodiles and should not be dangerous to humans.

On Monday we continue westwards. The Australian bush is accompanying us. It is more or less sparse dotted with small trees. The exception are the Boab trees, which from time to time lonely or in small groups break the pattern with their sometimes unbelievable wide trunks. There are many termite mounds which change in style from region to region. We head for Kununurra. But first we must pass the border between Northern Territory and Western Australia. In Australia the state borders are also quarantine borders. We get controlled if we have fruits, vegetables or honey with us. It is not allowed to bring those over the border. That way they try to limit the spread of pests and diseases. In Kununurra we prepare for the next part of the trip: we get a pass for the National Parks in Western Australia, a map for the Kimberley region and a compressor to be able to fill our tires up with air if necessary. After lunch next to a playground at the waterfront in Kununurra we drive southwards towards the Bungle Bungle Range. The landscape is very beautiful: hills and small mountain ranges, partially sand brown, partially in the characteristic strong red, accompany us. We stay at the Road House of Warnum. The camping site cannot stand the comparison to yesterday. But next to us is the very same car. Only dustier. It already had all the adventures which lay ahead of us. It drove up from Perth, passed the Gibb River Road and the Bungle Bungles to get here.