Travel News - Western Australia - Northern Territory - Queensland
16 October, 2005 - 23 October, 2005 - Across Australia in 7 days (Exmouth to Rockhampton)
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Exmouth in Western Australia was the end of the road for us. Back in March we got as far north as Kalbarri on the west coast. We missed closing the loop by about 400 km. Although we would have liked to have visited Carnarvon, we had to head back to the east coast. We wanted to meet some friends on the east coast, and we had 8 days to get back. We had spent 3.5 months travelling from east to west and now we were going back in 8 days. This page is what we saw along the way. It started with an Emu and Goanna. The Emu was actually roaming around the streets of Exmouth and the Goanna was on the road out of Exmouth. |
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Although we were driving hundreds of kilometres, we still managed to try and see some things along the way and stop for rests. Looking back on the photos we saw some interesting things, but I wouldn't recommend it as a relaxing way of seeing the country. As we started in Western Australia, the wildflowers were out. We managed to get these photos of the Stuart Desert Pea and the Desert Rose. It's amazing to see these nice flowers springing up in such an arid environment. |
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As we drove further north along the West Coast we passed through Karratha and Port Hedland. This area has some huge mines of Iron Ore, Copper, Silver and Gold. The Iron Ore is transported to the shipping ports by train. We got stuck waiting for a train at a level crossing. It never ended. The train must have been 3 kilometres long. By the time the diesel engines disappeared behind the hill we still couldn't see the end in the other direction. The Iron Ore trains in this area can be over 7 kilometres long ! As we continued on we passed back through Broome and took the highway back through Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek back to Kununurra. At Halls Creek we took a break and went down to the "China Wall" which is formed from erosion along a quartz seam that forms a wall several hundred metres long. |
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From Kununurra we drove down to Daly Waters in the Northern Territory. It was a good spot to stop for the day and we had read that the pub was worth a visit. As you can see by the photo of the camping area the wet season had already started. They had been having heavy overnight rain and were expecting more. With the help from the pub owner, we pitched the tent on a higher grassy patch. We had dinner in the pub and were entertained by some local cowboys. They had driven over 300 km from the station where they worked (it was the closest pub !), to celebrate a birthday. It wasn't long before they proceeded to entertain the other pub guests by removing all of their clothes. They were quite happy to pose for the cameras. Regina said I should have asked if they minded me putting a photo on the internet, but they didn't ask us if we minded before they removed their clothes - so I didn't think it was necessary to ask permission. The pub is a great place to visit. You could spend days reading all the memorabilia stuck on every possible object in the bar. |
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After Daly Waters we made a short stop in Three Ways, named because it is the T-Intersection of the Stuart Highway running north-south and Barkly Highway to Mt Isa in Queensland. From Three Ways to the border of Queensland there is not much, except flat arid plains and beautiful cumulonimbus clouds on a backdrop of blue sky. We reached the Queensland border before sundown and stayed in another camp ground next to a pub. With all the driving it was good to have dinner and a drink in the pub in the evening. The outback pubs usually have quite reasonable counter meals. |
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The next day we drove through a small mining town called McKinley. You couldn't really call it a town, but when we arrived we found out why it is now famous. The pub is called "Walkabout Creek" and was used in the Crocodile Dundee films. Unlike in the film the pub was empty, but it was interesting to look at all the film memorabilia around the walls. |
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We had a drink in the pub and as we were leaving we saw the longest road train on the trip so far. It was pulling 8 trailers. Apparently they only drive a particular through the town to transfer material from the mine to the train station. The road train was so long I couldn't get it all in the picture.. |
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After another full day driving we arrived in the outback town of Winton. Hotel rooms were fairly cheap here so we decided to treat ourselves. We ended up eating at the hotel where they had a barbeque that night for $10 per person for as much meat and salad as you want. It was the last night before we reached the east coast after 5 months travelling from east to west across the top of Australia. |
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The next day we reached Rockhampton on the east coast. We had driven over 5500 km in 7 days from Exmouth on the west coast to Rockhampton. We had a few things left to do travelling down the east coast, but our trip was coming to an end. After a year of travelling we we heading back to Sydney. Luckily we still had 2 months time to relax before having to think about working again. |
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