22 June 2026
We have reached the Kimberly phase of our travels and the apogee or highest potent of our trip. That was at Katherine where we turned left and on to Western Australia.
As I have mentioned in earlier Logs up here you unknowingly cross a number of boundaries or unwritten lines.
There is the line where there are no more crows or ravens attacking the roadkill, that happens in the south. In the north there is a line whereby it’s suddenly kites and eagles feeding on roadkill and not a crow in sight.
Angus and Hereford cattle have vanished and now it’s brahman cattle. Along with vanishing cattle breeds, fences have also become less frequent and less reliable.
In regard to cattle, it must be mustering season up here. Yesterday about 10 road trains each with three trailers loaded two levels high with cattle drove past us. They were probably on their way to Darwin to join the live cattle trade and that was a lot of fresh meat.
Another unwritten line is the point where you wave to all other oncoming drivers. It’s an acknowledgement that we are all out here in the middle of nowhere.
We are now in a place where boab trees are regularly seen. They are of course related to the Baobab trees of Africa and Madagascar so Gondwana makes its presence felt yet again. Along with boab trees this is also crocodile country, both fresh and salties. Swimming up here is a questionable pastime and even standing on the banks of a creek with your toes in the water is frowned upon. As an aside boab tress live for thousands of years!
The another obvious line is the WA border. This line can’t be missed because you are facing a quarantine station and these folk don’t mess about. We had strategically consumed our lemons in various beverages and had finished our fresh fruit and vegetables. Unfortunately we forgot we had just purchased a fresh jar of honey. Bees might buzz across the border but never a jar of honey.
The WA border also means you suddenly improve your day by an hour and a half. You think you won’t get into your next campground until 3.00pm but you are already set up by 1.30pm.
It’s amazing how these lines have such an impact.
The price of diesel has risen and we expect more expensive fuel as we travel through to Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing.
A Traveller's Tale 