Buchanan Highway and Gregory NP . 20th July
We watched our last Uluru sunrise that cast lilacs and purple hues across the desert sky and headed off across the dunes as the sun broke the horizon.
We tramped across quite a few ks as we headed north . 650k day 1 and 720k day 2 including 180k on dirt tracks. Unfortunately at Tennants Creek we noticed that the fridge wouldn’t work on 12v but would on gas. We spent about an hour or so speaking to Thetford the manufacturer and their service agents in Darwin organising a date for the repair. We hope that the fridge will get enough cooling when we are using gas when stopped to keep everything cool/frozen when travelling.
Uluru had a big impact of Kate in what she described as a near spiritual event !
The two travel days were spent listening to Inspector Rebus on the audiobook , eating jelly beans and a drinking sea of coffee.
We arrived at Top Springs which sits in the middle of the Buchanan Highway at 6pm. A roadhouse that straddles the Buchanan highway (dirt track) and the Buntine Highway (deteriorated Asphalt). A quick sausage sizzle then shower and bed saw us close out the day.
The swimming pool at the roadhouse wasnt the most refreshing we had experienced ?
The Buchanan Highway and Murranji track are short cuts that run northwest off the Stuart Highway towards Wyndham . They once were the graveyard for drovers their horses and cattle as this was a stock route with menace that linked the Kimberleys with further routes to Queensland cattle markets. The unreliable water sources on the 400k “shortcut” meant it took the lives of many miners and drovers that resulted in its reputation. It is now a very good standard dirt track that provides a back door access to the Gregory National Park. We had a close shave with a road train on the dirt track on the way in. We had just crossed a floodway where the road narrows to single lane over a concrete bridge , as we climbed up the hill a full length road train (4 trailers and 53 metres long ) came over the crest and round the corner. As Sir Alex Ferguson would say – squeaky bum time . We pulled left off the road onto some rough terrain and he rumbled past. He had no choice but to keep on going . The quick calming look between us was caught by the in car camera .
From Top Springs we took the Buchanan down to Jasper Gorge . It is a permanent waterhole of a river system that is part of the Victoria River catchment . I gave the chainsaw and outing and got some good wood for the fire and managed a quick fish too , delivering the usual catfish but a couple of little sooty grunters.
We watched the sunset hit the red gorge walls and the same at sunrise on the opposite side.
Next day we pushed onto to Timber creek , dropped the van and took on the Bullita Stock route with a visit to the Bullitta homestead . The homestead was well preserved and on the day we visited you could imagine living there as it was 27 degrees , lovely waterhole and a garden in full bloom. However the stories relayed on the walls inside of droughts , floods ,fights and deaths portrayed a more stark reality.
The very first part of the Bullitta Stock route was crossing the waterhole . There we passed a 2 metre fresh water croc that was pining for the fjords and feet pointing up .
It smelled like the deadest thing on the planet.
The route was a mixture of rock hopping/jump ups, scrub tracks and scrabble.
We saw our first of many Boab trees . These are a derivative of Baobab trees from Africa.
It is not known how these got here from Africa but as some of them are 1300 years old it was not recent ! These trees can hold over 30,000 gallons of water , drop their leaves at will dependent on weather and are pretty hardy. They produce gourds for seed. Apparently they are now a cash crop as farmers grow seedlings for 8 weeks and harvest the roots which are a bit like carrots. Not had one yet so can’t comment.
At Timber creek we had a few beers in the bar and shared stories with the scouse barmaid. This is the “naughty list”. Its a public list of all the locals (all indigenous at this time ) who have varying levels of alcohol bans.
A few weeks back one of the Elders died and the pub only sold mid strength beer for a week as a traditional act of respect. At the end of the week there was a huge brawl between a number of local families that took place outside the hotel and beyond. You will see that whole families have been banned by the elders of the local communities because of this.
The cattle /dromedary themed bubble gum range continues to expand. I overheard a little girl ask her Dad who was at the till what they were but i didn’t hear the response !
I am starting a Scottish based charity for the protection of natural habitat for the Boab trees.
Feel free to donate at Jingsheavenshelpmaboab@sundaypost.com
Only scots will get this but sometimes it pays to originate from the deep end of the gene pool !