We spent about 10 days here relaxing and exploring the area. It was nice to actually get away from the 40° temperatures to the more pleasant climate of Cairns. The area is beautiful, surrounded by mountainous rain forest. We stayed at the Big4 caravan park which is potentially the best set up park in Australia with its numerous kids activities including movies, play grounds, pools and who could forget the water playground!

We went up to Kuranda on the train and headed back down on the SkyRail (cable car)

Next we moved on to Undara Volcanic National Park. We stopped in at Croyden on the way, a beautiful old town with its history in gold mining.

Undara Volcanic National Park was created by ... you guessed it ... volcanoes! They are actually lava tubes that traverse the country side. and were quite spectacular.

Lucy had her firs birthday in the outback, and she had a ball. She had presents, a singing birthday card, balloons, cup cakes and we decorated the tent annex. Every time we sung happy birthday her face lit up!

We ventured into Lawn Hill National Park and hired canoes for a relaxing paddle up the river.

Next we headed to Kingfisher Camp but on the way we stopped in at Daly Waters to check out a unique pub there. It is full of stuff that people have left there over the years.

There appears to be a bit of a tradition in the NT of decorating termite mounds with clothes, hats, sunnies and other assorted objects. This would have to be the most elaborately decorated of the all!

We had our first tyre blow out !!!

 Once we reached Kingfisher Camp we had the place to ourselves. It was nice to have a bit of seclusion for the night.

We stayed at Mataranka for a night and got invaded by tiny little ants which worked their way all through our kitchen. Luckily they didn't spoil too much food. Generally, it has been the tiny little insects that have caused us the most issues on this trip. While we were here we visited the Bitter Springs and Mataranka Springs. They both consisted of remarkably clear warm water but the Bitter Springs had been left in a more natural state which we preferred. While they were both around the 30° mark, they were still refreshing ass the outside temperature was nearer 40°. Neither of them were much to look at above water, it was under water that they got interesting.

In Katherine we took a boat cruise down the spectacular Katherine Gorge and also went for a tour down into the Cutta Cutta caves. Two very different experiences! The photos from down in the cave were very average so I won't bore you with those ... you will just have to make do with photos from within the gorge.

Today we finally crossed out of Western Australia into the Northern Territory. We didn't have to drive too far to reach our first destination, The Keep River National Park. We set up camp and waited until later in the afternoon to go for a bush walk. In the end this was probably one of the nicer bush walks we have taken while on our trip so far. Some photos: 

One morning in Kununurra, Zoe and I got up early and drove two hours to do a helicopter flight over the Bungle Bungles (Pernululu National Park). It was an amazing experience as we flew in the helicopter with the doors off. Here are a few photos:

I have decided to update the blog again .... FINALLY!!!

After the Gibb we were all a little worn out. Kununurra was a chance to wind down a little. I took the opportunity to visit the transmitter site for HCJB Global, a christian organisation that produces and transmits christian radio into Asia. They have an impressive antenna installation. While we were here, Fiona, Zoe and Pippa all got sick so we rented a unit for a few days until it blew over. Just 3 days in air-conditioning desensitised us to the 40°+ heat we were experiencing. 

We finally left Broome on the 1st of October and headed off to experience the Gibb River Road. We had wanted to do this for a long time so we were eagerly anticipating this part of Australia.

We started off in Fitzroy Crossing so we could do a boat tour down Geikie Gorge. The temperature was around the 43° mark which hit us quite hard. We stayed there for 2 nights and then headed off to see Tunnel Creek before setting up at Windjana Gorge. After Windjana where we finally turned onto the Gibb River Road.

The drive was beautiful and scenic, not what either of us expected. Our next stop was at Bell Gorge for the night. After walking into Bell Gorge the next day we packed up and headed off. During that day we visited Galvin's Gorge and the service station for an icecream which was a bit of a luxury considering the heat.

We spent that night at the Barnett River Gorge. The next day we headed to Mount Elizabeth Station which not only had beautiful gorges but also farm animals, which the girls loved. They got to feed a calf and a baby donkey milk which was great.

Our last stop was a couple of nights at El Questro ... unfortunately we didn't fork out the $3000 / night price tag to stay where the rich and famous go!

We loved doing the Gibb River Road and we agreed that Bell Gorge was the highlight for us. The journey was very hot and we had a few casualties with batteries not charging, spot lights breaking and a multitude of thong deaths but all in all we are glad we experienced it and we enjoyed the Gibb's many pleasant surprises.  

Some of our images from along the Gibb: