Jill and Bruce's April travels

Reporter:  Jill

We are back, safe and sound and a little tanned from our four week epic trip from South Australia, Northern Territory and, dare we say it………….Western Australia. The trip was very much a ‘planes, trains and automobiles, plus throw in a helicopter, ship, zodiacs, safari jeeps and good old legs.

​From there across to The Frames in Renmark, smack on the mighty Murray. Daily jaunts on their little watercrafts for sunset drinks and a wetland cruise complete with a surprise riverbank bbq complete with staff, folding table & chairs, filled ice buckets and even a porta loo with carpet and view.

​Stage 1-The first leg was a 1200 km drive through outback South Australia staying in an old sheep station [Arkaba] with daily wildlife safaris in the Flinders Ranges. 

Stage 2-An overnight stay in Adelaide and then boarded the Ghan for a 3,000km trip to Darwin. Surprisingly luxurious (free flowing Bollinger) and quite comfy as we rocked and rolled northward.  

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A gentle tap on the door at 5.45am and everyone was off the train at the Marla siding to watch the sunrise over the desert and have a picnic breakfast. Bleary eyed everyone went back to bed for a few more hours. We stopped in Alice Springs for an off-train excursion, we decided to take the most active which was a nature hike up to a viewing spot etc. Sooooooo hot!!!!!!

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Next morning, we arrived in Katherine where we did a helicopter flight over the thirteen gorges. Really spectacular and at a great elevation. By late afternoon we arrived in Darwin for a quick overnight stay. Due to multiple changes of itinerary [thank you Mr Premier of W.A.] we had an extra flight to Broome to pick up our cruise the Coral Geographer [great name].

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Stage 3- of our trip was ten days cruising around the Kimberley. 

Spectacular scenery, gorgeous colours of sky, sea, and land. The oceans were super kind to us, glassy waters the entire time so my bag of medications and voodoo dolls was not needed. It was the last week of the wet season, so the waterfalls were gushing, as to were out sweat glands. Sooooooo hot and soooooo sticky. We spent time each day on the explorers and zodiacs spotting wildlife, visiting rock art sites and splashing under waterfalls. All croc country but did manage a rock pool swim after clambering up a 40 m cliff face. That was both hairy and scary. 

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Stage 4-Disembarked in Broome and met up with Nikki and Zen for a lovely long weekend at Cable Beach. Zen had a four-wheel drive, so we did some exploring, but a lot of time was submerged in the pool with cocktails. Sooooo hot and soooo sticky, in more ways that one. From there it was a flight to Perth and the rest of the week spent at Nikki and Zen’s place. We finally got to meet our ‘grand dog’ Oxford, named after their favourite pub, not the illustrious university

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​The flight home was unfortunately cancelled on take-off, so a few hours of fluffing around and we were put on the midnight flight. We collected our bags and went back to Nikki and Zen’s place for dinner and a movie and then back to the airport. We know why it is called the ‘red-eye special’. A 5.30am (3.30am Perth time) arrival was a rude ending to a wonderful holiday. Now it is time to put away the cases, wash all the red dust out of clothes and dry out our livers, but a great trip overall! XX JnB