Alice Springs...then home we go

Our arrival back in Alice Springs marked the end of our holiday in the Top End and the Kimberley - and what a holiday it was!

It was great having Rob S with us from Broome to Alice, to share the excitement of special bird sightings, and beautiful country, and lots of laughs!

The weather  - not a drop of rain and hardly a cloud in the sky, temperature around 28 degrees every day since we left home more than 9 weeks ago.

Despite the reports of freezing cold weather in Victoria, we are looking forward to going home, but are already planning the next big trip!

Bird of the Kimberleys Competition

After much discussion, the winner was ...... the Spinifex Pigeon.

Other finalists were: Bustard, Crimson Finch, Long-tailed Finch, White- breasted Whistler, Shining Flycatcher, White-browed Robin, White-throated Gerygone, Brolga.

The most unexpected bird sighting was the Lesser Frigate Bird.

Special Moments: The Collared Sparrow-hawk attempting to catch Double-barred Finches ; the sight of the Brolgas calling and landing; seeing Ospreys feed fish to their young, and hearing Barking Owls and Bush Stone – Curlews so often.

Best bird spot: Parry’s Lagoon

Total of about 150 species altogether for the Kimberley.

Devil's Marbles

Sunday 17^th July

The first cool morning – only 15 degrees! We saw lots of flocks of Budgies (none in the north), and called in to see the Devils Pebbles on the way.

We also went to see the Old Telegraph Station at Tennant Creek which was really interesting. We found out that it took 7 hours to send a message using Morse code from Adelaide to England, in 1872.

And there was information about Jerome Nurif, the first cyclist to cross the continent, in 1897!
This is amazing, as we have marvelled at several cyclists we have seen on this trip... one at Daly Waters, one on the Gibb River Road, and another woman with a little trailer. But the cyclist from 1897 had worn out his pedals when he reached Tennant Creek, and the blacksmith replaced them.

There were not nearly as many caravans going the other way, once we had passed Tennant Creek  (the  vehicles from Qld and NSW  come in near there)– but the caravan park at the Devils Marbles was stacked by the end of the day!

We saw a dingo there - probably hanging around the area for food scraps.

It was a beautiful spot and we took lots of photos!

We had our first experience of bad behaviour overnight there – 4 young blokes came in late, pulled in next to us in a hired campervan, and were rowdy and until about 4 a.m., abusing anyone who asked them to be quiet. Usually we have laughed at the camps being dead quiet and most lights off by 8 or 8.30!

Banka Banka

Saturday 16^th July

RMS treated us to bacon eggs and tomato for breakfast!

We didn’t have a long day of travel so left at about 8.30 and arrived at Banka Banka at about 12.30. When Rob S was driving, he said he was nature saving – he missed a big snake and an Agile Wallaby.

The country gradually changes as you head south – back into areas of Mulga...also lots of Grevilleas. Again, there was a stream of caravans heading north.

The camp was grassy and the facilities good, and being upgraded.

Rob's swag has been great.

After lunch, the Robs went on a walk to the waterhole which they said was really beautiful. Even though it was much cooler, I decided to opt for a short walk to the lookout and then have a read.

The Banka Banka station homestead was built in 1896, using local timber and mud bricks.

Daly Waters

Friday 15^th July

We had time to call in at Bitter Springs near Mataranka on our way to Daly Waters. It is a really beautiful spot, and RMS added another new bird to his list – the Lemon-bellied Flycatcher.

When we left Katherine at about 8am, the temp was already 19, but on arrival at Daly Waters it was only 25 (up until then it would usually be 30 or more in the middle of the day) – so perhaps the really hot days and warm nights will be fewer, as we travel further south.

The caravan park at the Daly Waters Pub filled up as the day went on, and in the end there was hardly any space around us, and vans were even filling the overflow section.

Amazing when you think it is a hot, barren place in the middle of nowhere!

The pub has been there since the 1930’s when it was a Drover’s Store. It is famous for its odd signs

and memorabilia of all sorts, collected over many years; it’s also famous for the Barra and Beef meals it serves, and the entertainment provided.

The initial singer/guitarist played as the 3 sittings of meals were served. He was good - picked the demographic and did not sing one song written after 1960 (he was the same age) and we sang along to many of the old hits. One couple got up and had a dance, and he said to them “Remember there’s no hospital here, and no cemetery either!”

Then at 7.30, Chilli came on with his comedy routine which had us roaring with laughter and we haven’t stopped laughing since! Rob S said he hadn’t laughed so much since going to Barry Humphries.

Daly Waters was really interesting for its history, too. The explorer John McDouall Stuart discovered and named the place, and later the Overland Telegraph Line passed through, along his track.

There is a hangar there that was used during WW2 and is now a National Trust site.

The airport was the first international airport in Australia, with aircraft from Singapore, and all around Australia arriving to refuel. It was taken over by the RAAF in 1939 as a strategic air force base and was also used by US forces.

One new bird for RMS – a Masked Finch. Great views of them bathing in puddles from a sprinkler.

Katherine

Thursday 14^th July

*First, an amendment: I listed a Striated Bittern, which should have been a Striated Heron, seen at Home Valley.

*Another thing I forgot to mention: Reno Grollo is the owner of Ellenbrae –nearly 1 million acres!!

After leaving Timber Creek, the scenery was beautiful as the road approached Victoria River, with huge escarpments typical of the Kimberley.

We checked out the spot where we had seen the Hooded Parrots when we were in Katherine last time, as we passed by, but no luck. The Robs went again later in the day, but again disappointed, having no success.

It was lovely to be in a caravan park with good, clean facilities – after, doing several loads of washing I had a swim in the pool and a shower when it was very hot in the afternoon. The town was really busy with lots of people arriving for the Katherine show, which was on for the next couple of days.  

We heard Curlews over night (Rob S said they were having a conference!)

Timber Creek

Wednesday 13^th July

There was a constant stream of caravans as we headed east... must be well into peak time up in the Top End.

We stayed at the same caravan park as last time, because there have been reports of Gouldian Finches being seen bathing in the sprinklers on the lawn there -  but again, no luck so the search continued.

The Robs were so keen to try to find the GF’s that they were even prepared to forgo a beer until after 6.30pm, waiting at another little spot where they have been seen!

We saw some other good birds though – a Shining Flycatcher, (both male and female, which are different) White-browed Robin (in fact a couple of these robins were bathing right near our camp in the morning).

A Collared Sparrowhawk nearly caught a Double-barred Finch right in front of us, then sat in a tree, quite unconcerned while we watched and tried to take photos!

The Yellow Oriole brought RMS’s new birds list to 42. It has been an amazingly good birding trip – certainly beyond expectations!

Keep River N.P.

Tuesday 12^th July

We were very sad to leave the Kimberleys, but very glad to leave the corrugated roads! But the road into Keep River was corrugated, so we were not quite out of it.

Before we got to Kununurra, we saw a Jabiru flying overhead – quite a thrill.

The Robs did a bit of shopping and filled the car etc while I did the blog uploads!

At this point, RMS had seen 37 new birds and even he was happy with that! When we left Keep River, he totalled 40 new birds.

We decided to go to Keep River N.P. as we had time, and it was another good birding spot as well as very pretty. (We had stayed there on the way up).

The camp was nearly full when we arrived but we found a spot, and when we came back from a beautiful walk, (the rocks are similar to those in the Bungles) there were lots more people there, even a tent pitched almost beside our van!

We called in to Cockatoo Lagoon on the way out, and were treated to the sight of 2 Brolgas flying low overhead.

Later, we saw 4 more flying over, calling loudly and dangling their long legs as they prepared for landing!

Rob S had a great view of a Pheasant Coucal that landed in a tree close by.

We have had such wonderful close sightings of so many birds.

Parry’s Lagoon

Monday 11^th July

As there was not a lot to do at Home Valley, we decided to go on to Parry’s Lagoon, between Kununurra and Wyndham. We had visited this spot on the way up, and thought it would be a great place to camp, with so many birds there.

The scenery was wonderful because the road follows the Cockburn Ranges all the way.

We crossed the Pentecost River which is the deepest crossing to go through, but was no problem. (I closed my eyes so missed seeing it, unfortunately!)

This last section of the Gibb River Road was probably the worst – very corrugated and sharp stones, but with some sections bituminised. We were certainly glad to finally hit the highway to Wyndham!

But the corrugations had taken their toll – the nuts on the tyre we had changed, had worked loose, even though they had been tightened as much as possible. 

Rob S heard a noise when we slowed to turn into the Parry’s turn-off; we stopped and had a look, and found one wheel nut nearly off and others on that wheel also loose – talk about lucky! It could have come off!

Parry’s green lawns and good facilities were very welcome, but as we put a tent peg into the awning prop, we pierced a water pipe! This was eventually fixed ok, and the two Robs went off to bird watch and I went to have a shower and some time to catch up on preparing photos and writing ready for the blog – internet access has been unavailable since Broome.

Addition dictated by RMS.

Beautiful camp site – no-one there..very surprising considering how beautiful it was. We decided to set up camp and put a peg straight through a water pipe! The owner, being a laconic sort of fellow, said “There are pipes all over the b... place, here!. “ 

Rob and I went straight to the bird hide on the lagoon. I got 19 birds I had never seen before! More Jesus birds than have ever been near Rome! Very excited with confirmation of a Black Falcon sighting.

We donned the dinner jacket – well, clean clothes, had a shower and had a beautiful fish and chips dinner in the restaurant.  Next morning, at the crack of dawn, RMS and RJG went out to the bird hide again. Saw a few more new ones.  On the way back, the ubiquitous Bustard appeared again – definitely the star of the holiday!

Came back and picked up a couple of Brolgas that we hadn’t seen before.

Barking Owls - heard all night.

Lots of little brown frogs in the toilets.

Total list for Parry’s: over 50 birds – not bad for about 2 hours birding!

Sunday 10^th July

We were looking forward to seeing the Cockburn Ranges, and they certainly were amazingly spectacular and a sight to remember.

The road was very rough and corrugated, with sharp stones and even though we had travelled very slowly and had reduced the pressure in the tyres, we had a flat tyre on the way! ... not able to be repaired as there was a gash in the side wall of the tyre. 

The spare was put on ok, - I was grteful that Rob S was there too to help, but the two Robs were covered in dust as you can imagine.

see Rob flat out under the car?!

Some cars that passed, stopped to offer help (we didn’t need it) but others raced past, putting up a thick cloud of dust. The mechanic at Home Valley put the second spare onto the rim, and said he had had 10 tyres in that day, of which only 1 could be repaired!

Along that section of the road we passed a bike rider, with no apparent support vehicle!

We also saw a snake cross the road, and crossed the Durack River.

Home Valley is very attractive and well set up, with a grassed camping area (not at the river), good facilities, a big undercover bar etc., and a playground and pool. We enjoyed winding down a bit after the drama of the flat tyre, and had lunch at the restaurant, which was delicious Barra and chips with salad.

We went to camp at the Pentecost River camp, with a beautiful view of the ranges. Some new birds were added to the list, including a Striped Bittern.

We went to the lookout to view the Cockburn Ranges

and up there was a pretty yellow and green Hakea

 At sunset the colours were stunning.  But the ranges cover almost 180 degrees, so photos can’t do the scene justice.

A bonus was the fact that mobile phones had reception at the lookout, but unfortunately not enough for internet, so the blog had to wait again!

We had another great view of Bustards - two birds flew over us when we were going to a waterhole, and we saw another one later. They must be the stand out bird of the trip.

Ellenbrae

Saturday 9^th July

You do not expect to be able to have freshly cooked scones with cream and jam when you are bush camping – but we did at Ellenbrae!!... and made the most of it by having some when we arrived, with Double- barred finches and Crimson Finches gathering around bird feeders, right beside us.

The country leaving Manning Gorge was rather uninteresting; quite a few cars on the road, but the surface had just been graded in sections, and other parts were very corrugated; almost no birds and no road kills of any sort. Further along there were wonderful stands of 6-7m Grevilleas with bright orange flowers....they almost looked like plantations.

We stopped for a break, and had a cuppa and bscuits and cheese! - Rob's swag as the table.

Ellenbrae itself was extraordinary – all the buildings were made from recycled materials; there was a donkey engine that heated the water for the showers, and all the facilities were very basic but with quite a charm.
We had a nice spot in the campground, and chatted with a very nice young couple from Switzerland over dinner.

After a walk to a pretty waterhole, where Long-tailed finches were drinking nearby, we had a swim

proof!

and back at camp Rob S. heard and spotted two Barking Owls.

The dominant tree at the watherhole was what I thin is the Quinine tree - loaded with orange fruits.

We delayed our departure until 8.30am so that we could have some more scones!

One strange thing we noticed – the shell of hard boiled eggs goes really soft – we think the corrugations must shatter them. I could just cut through the shell and scoop out the egg!