Boy's Trip!!!

Okie Dokie let’s get this under way!!!

So since Rick and Ant had already left for Halls Creek the day before so Ale and I left on our own at a fairly comfortable time around 11 or 12 but got to Halls Creek in record time with Kanye blasting in the car. So at Halls Creek we spent most of the time in the sports bar playing pool watching the rugby and it was a little funny but more embarrassing that by about our 4^th game, these two burly men came over and put their $2.20 on the table which I assume is pub etiquette for, “We’re next.” But naturally, as soon as that happens, we start playing the worst we have all night! I’m talking 14-16 shots before the first ball is sunk. Ale and I blamed it on the disappointment of just seeing England win but the others didn’t have an excuse!

The next morning we headed out to Purnululu National Park to go out camping at the Bungle Bungles. However, we got there and the gates were locked… we didn’t have phone reception there but found out when we got to Turkey Creek, the park was closed due to fires. So that was that plan gone but then Rick suggested El Questro, a cattle station west of Kununurra on the Gibb River Road with heaps of camping and nice sights which I really wanted to go to so that worked out well. We arrived close to sunset but I found on a map this 4x4 only trail to a lookout which I thought would be nice to get to for sunset. Turns out it was very extreme 4x4 driving up ridiculously steep hills and scary tight corners. Rick however handled it with pure class and we enjoyed the lovely sunset with a panoramic view over the whole park.

Doesn't quite look as steep steep as it was

Up top

My camera

Ant's camera

We then headed back down and back to the ‘public camp sights’ which was like an inner city caravan park with way too many people and facilities so we booked into a ‘private campsite’ which was a little weird and still didn’t feel very campingish but nonetheless, when we arrived, we had a beautiful open area alongside a river. Yes it was all a dirty sort of sand but still, very nice! So we got into the usual routine, Ale on cooking, me collecting and starting a fire and Rick and Ant setting everything up. We had a very good night talking and what not and there was a few moments the lights reflecting off the river were crocodiles eyes but either there were other reflective surfaces in that river, or there were over 50 crocs with us.

I cut my hair!!!

In the morning we had a kind of random visit from the park rangers who almost seemed to pop in to say good morning but I guess it was nice of them! We then went off to some hot springs which were meant to be a short stop but we ended up staying there for a few hours, slowly scaring family’s away from us and upgrading pools until we were happy to sick with the third from the top. What started as sort of joking/Smeagol impersonation but it then became a very fierce competition using extreme patience and skill seeing who could catch the most. In the end, I was the Catcher… the others were simply the Rye.

We then moved to Emma Gorge which was a nice about 1 hour walk through fairly thick bush along a river which then opened up to a waterfall into a big pool. It really was spectacular but I felt a little bad because after going to Kakadu, it just didn’t measure up! Damn Kakadu… Anyway, highlights include the water monitor hanging out near the wall of the opening which had hot spring water coming from it, Rick lost his balance but the cry he gave out I would have sworn he was bitten by a snake while breaking his ankle while falling off a cliff... It was a little over dramatic, oh and I ripped my pants J

After that we made our way to Kununurra and checked into our room. We all had an early night because the next morning at 6am, we were picked up to take off on the much anticipated fishing trip. Or as Rick described it to anyone who asked him what his holiday plans were, “Oh, doing a bit of barra fishing, out on the Ord.” Ale and I were very much left with the grumpy instructor but we still had a good time. Everyone caught at least 4 fish although if it was a catfish, they were given a quick ‘love tap’ and bashed over the head and then thrown to the awaiting whistling kites. There was a fair bit of wildlife along and in the river. There would have been hundreds of wallabies along the banks, heaps of kites and one dingo which as we pulled up along it, it literally just sat and watched us for a while before running away. There were also heaps of crocs in and around the water. I saw one which would have had to been at least 4 meters long and as soon as we passed it, we turned around. I assumed we were going to have a closer look but then our leader pulled up and anchored about 2 meters from where it had just gone underwater. He then proceeded to throw fish guts and heads into the water surrounding the boat. I asked him if he had seen the croc and all he said was, “Mate, I’ve seen hundreds of crocs today!” so that was comforting… I was really struggling catching firstly only 1 catty for the first 3 of the 4 stops. Luckily at the last stop, I caught 2 little barra before my last one of the day which was a nice healthy 89cm barramundi J  Three fish were kept and when we got back, the guys expertly filleted them and gave them to us to take home. Admittedly we only ate one of them 2 nights later but the other two were left at a good home.

My Catch

The only proof Ale's catch... I swear he caught a bigger one

To everyone else at the backpackers, we would have looked extremely weird! We seemed to spend a lot of our time in the room, lights off and curtains closed. If we ever did leave the room, we would leave, walking in single file, usually silent and then return a few hours later, usually with random purchases such as top hats or Mexican wrestling masks.

Some fat cows at Turkey Creek

Yeah, thats right. I live down the road from Nicole Kidman

So that was our super amazing boy’s trip to El Questro and Kununurra!