Thursday 21st June 2018
This morning I started with a 30 min helicopter flight over the Bungle Bungle. I managed to join a couple and their 3 year old son which made it cheaper for everyone.  The trip to the Bungles took about 7-8 mins and then we spent the next 15 or so mins over the Bungles, then the return journey. It was really good to see the diversity of the landscape and the Bungles were very impressive from the air, but I think you need to see their size from the ground to appreciate the enormity of this World Heritage listed site. Like the Mitchell Falls helicopter ride, there are benefits to both viewing options. I really enjoyed the helicopter ride, especially as I managed to be in the front as the family wanted to sit together with the rear doors off. I also enjoyed being able to see the distance and area we had hiked. It was a long way. A great experience in both instances.

Whilst I was gone, David had a reshuffle of the car to try and accommodate the new fuel jerry can without having to worry about how it was going to travel. Mr Tangram did an amazing job but it took lots of time, as we also had to tidy up and re-organise our big hiking packs. I also managed to do the washing last night as our hiking clothes were atrociously dirty.

Oh well we are ready to head off at about 12ish. So next adventure is on the horizon again. Not a day has gone by that we haven’t done something to add to our tales of the West.

Next stop Halls Creek ,which was a very little town with many Aborigines just milling around, not doing much. They make me a little uncomfortable. They haven’t done anything to bother me but in groups I feel a little intimidated. We did a few last minute groceries, filled up our tank and our jerry can ($1.80 per litre) and hope that will be enough to get us to the other side of the Tanami desert. DB looked at me funny when I came out of the servo with 2 big bottles of coke. I think he is going to need it.

As we head off from Halls Creek, David says “well we have plenty of water, enough food for a week, enough gas, so we should be ok”. We do have a hole in one of the tyre treads still and he wasn’t sure about what to do with this as they suggest 2 spare tyres and we only have one plus a broken one on the left rear. He visited the Tourist Information Centre to get all the information we needed about the track. The guy said it is pretty good, except he got a puncture right at the end. And he told David how to crack the bead of the tyre to change it on the side of the road. So off we go to Repco to buy a spare tube. $30, a bargain. Hope we don’t have to use it. Oh well, only time will tell. Off we go to Wolfe Crater Meteorite National Park.

Dirt road, heavily corrugated.

DB says “only 1000km to go”. Then not even 20km down the road, he was saying “I think we should have gone the other way”.

I said, “Turn around”.

He said “we are too far south to turn around, it is 350km back to Kununurra”. So soldier on we do. Let’s see how this adventure unfolds in a couple of days. Tonights home we hope will be Wolfe Crater Campground, before dark would be good, but not looking good. He seems a little stressed, so lets hope it goes ok. Well we stop 40km along the road to let our tyres down a bit. The first bit was quite corrugated but it seems ok. I am sure it will change many, many times over the next 2 days. I have my supply of coke ready for David as I think he will be needing it. This type of driving really takes its toll. The road trains use this road as well, so it is very, very wide but still dirt.

Off we go again, tyres down to 28 and 34 PSI. A balancing act, the lower you go the less fuel economy and with our 20 litre jerry can we have just enough to make it to the other side, so we have to let the tyres down enough to assist with the road surface but not too much to use excess fuel. There are 2 spots we can get fuel along the way but about 200km from either end, but they are not reliable sources and only open sometimes.

As we take off again, I asked DB, “Is there anything I can do to help, do you want me to watch or something”.

He said “What, you say oooh that was a sharp one, ouch look out for that one”. Not really much help.

I am not sure what else I can do to help. Maybe just keep typing my blog and not watch at all.

He also asked the guy “is it rocky?”, he said “no, no”.

DB said to me “I suppose over 1000km it could be everything – good, bad, ruts, sand, no ruts, rocks, so just everything, even 5km of bitumen. I am also worried about the road to Wolfe Crater could be 20km of smashing your car”.

My response was “Let’s make a decision about that one when we get there. We don’t have to go in”.

Now he is really going nuts, he just half swore and then said “the car seems really loose now”. Then a kangaroo jump across the road 50m ahead and he said. “No, kangaroos. I thought we would see some of them across here”. As the sun starts to go down it is harder, he also can’t see the rocks he needs to avoid as easily. I laughed. What else can you do. I think his comments will entertain me for the next 1000km.

DB said “I hope we go over the rocks in the right spot on the tyre”

I said “I just keep thinking how many revolutions the wheels have to do over 1000km” and laughed. What else can you do, as he slows down to dodge a recent roo fatality. We have seen about 3 or 4 dead roos, 1 dead cow and a couple of live kangaroos bounding across the road. As the light fades and it is almost sunset time, about 5pm or earlier today, we ponder continuing. The only problem with stopping now is we won’t manage the Crater as we want to do a really big day on the road tomorrow, so onwards we continue. We made it to the turnoff and decided to continue. Only 23km to go. The road is heavily rutted but DB is able to go between 60-80km an hour as there are no cars on the road, we both have our eyes peeled on the road and the bushes keeping a check for animals. We eventually arrive at the campsite at 5.50pm. In the dark again, and amazingly it is full. There would be more than 15 caravans/campervans in here. Mostly grey nomads. We end up finding a spot to share with a small tent. They arrive back at their tent as we are getting organised. It is 3 aboriginal young men who are working in the National Park. We apologise for setting up in the shared spot but they are fine with that. After a short chat we go about getting dinner done and setup for the night. Everything is so quick now, we have a good routine and were eating dinner not long after that.

Well it is a bit cool again tonight, so we head up to bed early, about 7.45pm. It won’t be long before DB is saying “I might just have a little rest”. Then he will be out for the count for the night. Mind you he has driven about 250km today and 150 of that on dirt road with tyre deadly rocks. So far the tyres have survived. Say your prayers for us, that they make it to Alice Springs.

Sorry about the long blog today, but it kept me entertained as we went over a stressful rocky road.