It seemed to take so long to pack up this morning, I don't if it was because of this being our last day or not? They had the markets on in town and Josie being a market junkie, I thought we would stop but we had been there a few weeks before, we decided to give it a miss.

Out on the Stuart Highway for the last leg home we straightaway started counting caravans, in 75 kms we passed 56 vans and we had probably missed a lot as we did not leave until 10. I reckon the caravan industry is in pretty good shape.

We called in to see Sharon, Josies daughter, on the way through but she was not home. Next stop was the car wash in Palmerston, it is the only one that we can take the van into. It was built to cater for boats but suits the van nicely. It is a lot easier cleaning it there than trying to do it a home.

On arriving home, Malibu was straight out of the car and she checked out everything both in and outside the house, it was quite funny. We went around to see Greg & Virginia as it was their eldest sons birthday, Toby turned 3 today.

Then it was off to Nightcliff for sunset, a drink and a yiros but the Harry the yiros man was not there....bugga! Still we had our cool beverage and enjoyed one of the best sunsets we had seen for a while.

It was good to be home...kind of. It is always great to get back to familiar suroundings and your bed but, being on the road is very relaxing and great experiencing different things that this land has to offer. It is also very special that are doing it together.

Today got underway as normal, hitting the road around 9.30. Heading east into the sun meant that the escarpment of the Victoria River did not look as spectacular as it normally does. There was a lot more caravans on the road and Josie started to count them.

A quick stop at Mathison rest area to boil the kettle. The drive through to Katherine goes through Savannah country, sparse trees and grasslands. We arrived at Katherine in time for lunch, it also gave us the chance to catch up on email and messages. Again we must have looked funny, sitting on the side of the road under a tree with the laptop.

We set off for Adelaide River and one of the things we noted was, the Northern Territory provides a lot of passing lanes on the Stuart Highway and are currently building more. In West Australia there were none and the roads were a fair bit narrower.

We got into Adelaide River and got the last site for a large van, well it wasn't really a site but we still got power and water. It actually worked out well, we face away from the rest of the park and looks like we have the place to ourselves.

The count on Caravans, Motorhomes and Camper Trailers since a 1/2 hour after leaving equalled 100 neat but I reckon that we had passed 30 odd before we started counting. The point was that approx 80% of those were counted before lunch. After midday the numbers on the road drop dramatically and saw that the roadside stops had filled.

As we left for our sunset spot and parked up outside the roadhouse was one of the transporters for the V8 Supercars which is on at Hidden Valley in Darwin next weekend. Adelaide River is putting on a two day rodeo which we could see from the top of the hill overlooking Adelaide River. I can still hear the rodeo from the caravan.

After getting the bond back on Malibu (she hadn't terrorised the neighbourhood or killed anyone) we started to make our way towards home. Soon after turning on to the highway, we crossed the border and back into real time. It is quite a difference that an hour and a half makes. Sunset is normally at about 6.30 but in WA it is at 5.00.

The other thing we noticed straight away was the roads, they were in better condition and wider. Something you appreciate when you are pulling a large van and encountering triple Road Trains.

We stopped at Timber Creek for lunch and to upload the latest installment of our travel log as it was the first time we had a internet connection since leaving Kununurra. It was very pleasant sitting under a tree having a cuppa and smoked Salmon on biscuits....life is really tough in the outback!

Victoria River is our stop for the night and the light on the red escarpment really looked impressive. We wanted to go some where other than the Old Crossing for sunset, so we asked the staff when we checked in and being temporary employed backpackers, they were as helpful as an ash tray on a motorbike. We decided to go down to the boat ramp on the Victoria River, not so good for sunset but the late afternoon light on the escarpment should look pretty good. We were not disappointed and we were the only ones there. It was so peaceful there with the only sounds coming from the birds.

It is quite funny, I am writing this outside the van, the cricket is on the TV and I have a beer in hand and other campers going past are making all sorts of comments....life doesn't get any better.

Whilst finishing this off, I saw some movement in the tree above me, I grabbed the spotlight and found a very small Sugar Glider, a really cute little chap, unfortunately he did not hang around long enough for me to get a shot.

We went into town to complete a little job for work, as we got into mobile range, a message from Greg told of our new lease for the warehouse had fallen through....buggar! We then found out that the labels we were expecting, would not arrive until Monday so that meant that we could not complete the set up. We grabbed a cup of coffee and decided to go down to the lake and answer a few emails.

It was very pleasant sitting under a tree by the lake with the birds. This could easily become my new office. With a bit of extra time up our sleeve we decided to do a sunset cruise on Lake Argyle. We booked that, then grabbed some supplies and made our way back to Lake Argyle.

We walked down to the cruise office next to the caravan park and met Greg, the owner of Lake Argyle Cruises. We got off to a great start as he showed me a White-quilled - Rock-Pigeon, a new species for me. A bus took us down to the boat and Greg then took us to a colony of Short-eared - Rock-Wallabys where I managed to get some great photo's of these cute little guys.

Greg made his way around the lake giving a interesting and humorous commentary as we went. There were a number of Freshwater Crocodiles on the banks as the water was getting a little cooler. Fish feeding was next on the agenda showing us some on the 26 species of native fish. Next stop was an island where we could see Walleroos feeding down on the shore, again getting close enough for some good shots.

Unfortunately it was fairly overcast and this did not make for great colour in the rock and it was looking fairly bleak for sunset. We arrived at a fairly sheltered bay for a sunset swim. We stayed top side having a nice beer and left the swimming to others. There was very unusual cloud formation that came good at the right time.

It was a very good cruise and we will be back to do a Wet Season cruise with Greg, that should provide a totally different spectacle.

We got away from Halls Creek in good time, refuelled and hit the road. We encountered a lot of road works which made the going slow.

A lot of the bridges are single lane over a lot of dry river beds and it is quite a contrast to what a lot of these crossings would look like in the wet.

Our plan was to stop for the night at Doon Doon as I had heard of some great scenery around there that would have been great to photograph. As we approached Doon Doon we saw a sign showing that the caravan park and accomodation had been crossed out...not looking good. Sure enough, when we got there, the park gates were closed and a sign saying "closed for maintainence until next season".

Oh well, now we go to plan "B", we went through to Kununurra for supplies and fuel and then moved on to Lake Argyle. We enjoyed our stay there on the way down, we wanted to stay there again. We arrived about half an hour before sunset so we quickly unhitched the van an headed down to one of the lookouts overlooking the dam.

There was noboby there when we arrived, we set up our table and chairs at the lookout but soon after, a heap of kids turned up with their parents. They go nuts over Malibu and mob her and Josie. While this was happening, I managed to get a couple of shots.

We then went back to the van and finished setting up and cooked a nice meal.

Lying in bed this morning, I could see some really nice colour in the clouds through the skylight so I jumped up and got a nice shot of our rig in the sunrise.

After fueling up, we headed north. I had downloaded some new POI's to my new GPS but, the GPS did not like it and was not working. We pulled up at Ngungan Cliffs and I tried to undo what I had done last night but all to no avail.

Next stop Mary's Pool, a free camping spot. There were quite a few vans parked up there. It is a nice spot with plenty of shade. We took a wander around and went back to the van for some lunch. It was very pleasant sitting in the shade with Budgies, Crows, Bowerbirds and lots of others in the trees above us.

Next stop at a photographic vantage point just south of Halls Creek where I found a heap of very large feathers and a fire nearby. It looked like somebody had killed a large bird, probably an Australian Bustard or Plain Turkey. Josie picked up a lot of the feathers to take home for Sharon.

Setting up in Halls Creek found me having further issues with our satelite disk and could not pick up a signal, luckily we could pick up the local TV signal.

We went up the highway for sunset and found a small track off the the highway with a nice tree to make a subject for the sunset. We must have looked funny sitting beside the highway, we got a few Toots and waves while we enjoyed our nice drop of red.

After partially packing up the van, I went to do my calls which didn't take too long. We got some fuel and a course of antibiotics to have on hand. As we were leaving Derby we got a call from Greg to say that it looked as though the warehouse was about to be leased out...fantastic news!

Just on the outskirts of town there was a diversion as a semi car carrier had bellied on the road and we had to make a detour. How he got it bellied, I have no idea but certainly made a meal of it.

Pulled into our usual stop at Ellendale for lunch and there were quite a few vans parked up there. We had lunch and moved on. A short run in to Fitzroy Crossing where we stayed at the same park, Fitzroy River lodge.

In setting up I had a heap of issues with getting a signal from the satellite dish, after a heap of mucking around I found that our LNB was faulty. Luckily I had a spare albeit only a single one but at least we got Austar. I had had issues in Derby where I could not get a signal but I was blaming some trees from blocking the signal.

We headed off for the usual sunset drinks but could not find a nice spot before the sun went down so we pulled up on the side of the road at a spot that was not even worth a photo,

Today was a little bit of a none event as it was Foundation day holiday here in WA but that gave me the opportunity to do end of month for work. This is the first time I have done end of month away from the office. It was a little slower but worked out fine. It took around 6 hours in the meantime, Josie did some washing and shopping.

I have a couple of sales calls to do in the morning, these should have been done last week but my getting crook stuffed that up.

After finishing work we caught up with John and Peggy Clements. John was looking a heap better than when we saw him a week or so back. After spending a bit of time with them we went back out to where the Prison Tree is and there is a huge cattle trough fed by Myall's bore. The bore was first sunk in 1910-11 and feeds a very long trough that could water 500 head of cattle at a time.

Another really very blustery night, the caravan and its awning really got blown about. It was nice and cool. We packed up and left Broome at 10 am.

We left behind some new friends that had left Broome a few days earlier but were back because an airbag on their Land Rover Discovery had blown out and were stuck in Broome waiting for a new airbag to be flown in and fitted. We hope to catch up with Steve & Patty as the make their way north once the repairs are completed.

It was good to be back on the road. We stopped halfway to Derby as we still need to take it easy and make sure I look after the legs.

Checking into the van park we have stayed at before, I said to the guy that I wanted a site with not so many trees so we can get satellite reception. He had the ideal site for us, well so he said. I spent 1 1/2 hours trying to get a signal and all to no avail. At least we managed to get free to air from the normal TV aerial.

We went down to the "Prison Tree". It is a very old Boab tree that was used in the 1890's as lockup for Aboriginal prisoners on their way to Derby for sentencing. It is fenced off now but I have been inside the tree many year ago and it is amasing how much room there is in there.

After looking for a nice boab that would make a good sunset shot, which we did not find, we went down the wharf and got eaten alive while the sun went down over King George Sound.

Well last night was very windy, buffeting the van a fair bit and blowing our satellite disk over. Typical over the dry season.

We checked out the local markets, quite a bit larger than last time we were here. Hoping to get some soup like we do at Parap but none on sale. I bought a leather belt that the guy made while we waited. Russell, an old work colleague of Josies called and we organised to meet a bit later.

Malibu had a check up with the local vet after he put her on heart medication, all was good. We completed a few errands and went around to visit Russell.It was good to catch up and he decided to join us for sunset....not that there has been much around with so much cloud.

Our supplies were replenished getting ready for the return journey.

Russell met us at Entrance Point where it was quite windy, cool and not a sunset in sight, still quite pleasant down by the water.

Today was the first day I have been back on my feet properly and my last work appointment is at 2.30, so we went for a drive up to Willie Creek. It's main claim to fame is a Pearl Farm on a really nice estuary. We arrived there as a tour was getting underway. We declined the tour but Josie did checkout the Pearls on sale and made a small purchase. The place was nicely set out and would have been a great spot to throw a line in. Down at the shoreline, we could see a Crocodile sun baking on the sandbank opposite.

We then drove over to Barred Creek, a really nice spot that I had been a few years before. There were a lot more tracks than I remembered and I took a few wrong turns. We did not end up where I wanted to go but we did end up on the coast where there was a beautiful beach and some really unusual rock/sandstone formations.

We made our way back to Broome where I had to do some ordering for work so, we went down to Town Beach, set up the table and chairs and had lunch whilst I completed my orders. It was very pleasant.

I had to attend my appointment so I dropped Josie in Town and she could do some shopping while I did my call. That completed, we grabbed our dinner and a bottle of vino and went down to Entrance Point. No sunset but Malibu had a good walk on the beach. We had planned to cook Sausages and Garlic bread on the beach but it was too windy. So, we just had a wine enjoying the Sea and then went back to the caravan park and had our meal there.

Well these few days have been spent mostly in the caravan with my leg up, trying to make sure that I am better for the return journey. I managed to catch up with a fair bit of work whilst Josie was able to go out and do some things with Cheri.

One night we were able to catch up the Clements family on Cable Beach for sunset which was good. We also had a few drinks at Matso's another night. Matso's is great little micro brewery that produces a ice array of beers including a Chilli and a Mango beer.

The legs were on the mend and I have been able to do a few sales calls, hopefully I am back on top of things now.

My leg was feeling pretty good, so we decided to go through to Broome but we would be taking it real easy. We packed up and did a quick run down to the wharf where I want to capture the same shots as I did yesterday at low tide to show the huge difference.

After leaving Derby we stopped at one of the bridge crossings on the Fitzroy River and made a cuppa. While we were there a heavy wide load came through that overhung the sides on the one lane bridge. A bit of a tight squeeze. We were there for about an hour. We stopped another couple of times on the way to rest my leg, that made it slow progress.

There are heaps of caravan parks in Broome but only one will except dogs and that was full. The council had set up an overflow park and we were lucky enough to get into that, well kind of. Where we were parked there a heap of thorns in the grass, caltrop like we experienced at my bothers last year in Waikerie. It is terrible stuff, going straight through your thongs and not good for Malibu.

My leg was pretty swollen and red so we rest for what was left of the afternoon. We went over to catch up with Cheri and Peter. It was one of the nights of "The Stairway to the Moon" and that was just near where they were staying so, Josie and Cheri went down to see it for themselves, along with thousands of others.

The Stairway to the Moon is a spectacle that occurs on a full moon at low tide. As the moon rises, its reflection across the mud flats give the impression a stairway up to the moon. I was spewing that I was not fit enough to capture the occasion.

The girls bought back a feed from the markets for us and that ended an enjoyable evening.