SYDNEY - HALLS CREEK TRIP 2007

SYDNEY - HALLS CREEK TRIP 2007

Tuesday 12 June to Monday 9 July

Halls Creek to Sydney

Blog 5

We spent 20 days in Halls Creek waiting for the new axle and A frames to arrive from Melbourne. There were lots of phone calls to car insurance, caravan insurance, caravan people and suspension people and we even washed the caravan to get rid of the worst of the red dust. We basically became one of the locals and watched each afternoon as new travellers arrived at the caravan park for the night. Our caravan sitting on a tilt with a broken axle and missing wheel always was the centre of lots of questions to the point where Mike was tempted to put the story on tape and just press play as the questions started. By 9am the next morning the caravan park was empty again except for us and the locals.

We did meet lots of lovely people and hear their great stories. We did enjoy the red of the Kimberleys and fantastic weather.

Small communities are very welcoming and the shop owners, the people from the garage who were going to repair the suspension, the people in the library, the lady in the information centre and the locals at the pub all made us feel at home.

Mike enjoyed chatting with the local aborigines and loved their faces.

Jack and Steve the truck drivers finally delivered the parts which had come up from Melbourne via Perth at 6am on Thursday 28 June and Steve from the workshop was able to start replacing the broken axle at the caravan park. Friday we could drive the caravan to the workshop where he could replace all the other A frames more easily. Saturday he finished off the last things on the van and by lunch time we said our goodbye to Halls Creek and the people and started our 10 day drive home.

We took the shortest route and headed east to Kununurra, south to Katherine, across to Camooweal, Mt Isa, Longreach, Bourke, the Blue Mountains and home. It was great to see water in the Darling River at Bourke again.

Here we are at Halls Creek Caravan Park. Carol would read, Mike went out to take photos whilst we waited for parts, waited, waited - for 18 days

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Interesting leaves

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Bottle Shop at the Kimberley Hotel - Halls Creek

What do you tell the Aboriginals - No Humbugging

Kimberley Hotel Street Scene - Halls Creek

Street Scene - Halls Creek

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Halls Creek Caravan Park - waiting for parts, waiting, waiting

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Colourful Flowers in garden - Halls Creek

And they said our caravan could not be put on a tray - Great Northern Highway - Halls Creek

Information Board - Halls Creek

Shell Service Station always busy - Halls Creek

Barred and locked - Halls Creek Herald

Halls Creek Information Centre

Russian Jack statue - Halls Creek

Aboriginal Statue - Halls Creek

Meaning of Aboriginal painting symbols

Aboriginal Art - Halls Creek

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Aussie Bush Pods on a tree near our caravan

Sunset - Halls Creek

Is it a Bottle Tree or a Boab?

Looks like Boab pods to me

Aussie Bush Flowers -

Loved the way the afternoon light hit this tree - Halls Creek

Typical Aboriginal house scene - almost stripped car in the backyard

Halls Creek Catholic Church

Halls Creek Butcher

What a reputation - Tough, Tasteless and Fatty - all true

Typical scene - local aboriginals in Halls Creek main street

Local aboriginal kids in Halls Creek playing AFL football

Typical scene - local aboriginals in Halls Creek - these girls just sitting in the street

This is Peter - just hanging around Halls Creek main street with his mates

Typical scene - local aboriginals in Halls Creek

Harry Hall was a drover on the Canning Stock Route back in the 1950's

Local aboriginals in Halls Creek - painting bush bananas and honey ants

Aboriginal kids in Halls Creek

They loved looking at this photo - it made them laugh lots

Finally after a 17 day wait our caravan parts have arrived

It's 6:00am but the Desert Yard will open up to fork lift our parts in

Jack (left) and Steve - the NQX drivers open the second bogey

We have sat in Halls Creek for weeks waiting for this shipment

How exciting, four new A frames and axles

Thanks Chris for opening up so early

There they are - our replacement Caravan parts - you beauty

Sunrise is breaking in Halls Creek - its now 6:24am

These guys made a detour to deliver our parts today

Four bogeys and now they continue their trip to Darwin

This is the workshop where our van suspension will be repaired

This is the stub axle that snapped

Its now 18 days since the accident and finally work will start

Aboriginals David and Trevor finally got the new stub axle on yesterday

David (workshop helper) and Eddy work on getting the broken stub axle brake replaced

There is the new brake - but Eddy says the stub axle has a score mark on it

Good on you Eddy - the wheel is finally going back on

Now we can move our van to your workshop to finish the repairs

We only just fit - Ngoonjuwah Council Aboriginal Workshop

A very long day but the new A Frames are on

We left Halls Creek on 30 June and have arrived at Renner Springs tonight

Three days of tough driving with at least 7 more days to get home

So peaceful - we have been so stressed as to whether the van will make it

Five days from Halls Creek - we reached Camooweal

Day 7 and we stopped for lunch at Blackall Qld

This sculpture at Blackall was stunning

Lots of vans just stop for days here at Blackall - we will be here for just 30 minutes

Barigun is the Qld / NSW border town

So far so good - after 8 days we are at Barigun on the Qld / NSW border

We spent the night at the Kidman Caravan Park - Bourke

We walked to the Darling River to see the water level

Well Bourke does have some water lying around

The Darling River doesn't look much different to last year when we were here

How beautiful - Back of Bourke NSW at Sunset

Tree full of Galahs - magic afternoon light - Bourke

Aussie Bush Flowers - What a beautiful Rose

Aussie Bush Flowers -