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Bert’s Loop
  • Regina and Ian
  • Regina and Ian

Bert’s Loop

A 552-day adventure by Regina and Ian Read more
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  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Seven Emu - day 2

    July 3, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Waking in the shed meant no walls to block the sunrise. Wonderful kick start for the day.
    The owner of Seven Emu station came around to take us on a tour of the property and some bush Tucker discussions.
    A lot of the news was a bit sad as there is a lot of out of season activity and low productivity in the bush. Climate change, loss of habitat, species under pressure. There is work to be done by all of us or these amazing places won’t be so amazing for much longer.
    It fair to say Frank is not a barrel of laughs.

    Later - Yoga overlooking this amazing view helped lift the day.

    Later still - Thinking of family and friends as we watch the fire burning out from one side of our bed-in-a-shed, and from the other the vast expanse of stars.
    Good night    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Borroloola

    July 6, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    What will we do with all these vowels?

    We planned to stay one day to stock up before another 8 days of off-grid camping. But! The shops had no food. “Trucks coming tomorrow!” Seems to be stock response. Bread? Tomorrow. Milk? tomorrow. Vegetables? Tomorrow.

    So! We stay another day. Perhaps I should go down there and offer help to unpack this truck. I don’t know what time tomorrow means when your on NT time. It hadn’t arrived at 3:30 this afternoon. Hopefully we will be provisioned in the morning. At least Diesel is only $1.66 here.
    ps: all stocked up. We actually picked up some nice looking delicatessen items. Just the thing that makes for happy campers.

    A visit to the Museum before leaving revealed a wealth of info including many fillers for the gaps we had about Ludvic Leichhardt’s I’ll prepared and sometimes fatal expedition.

    You can’t buy wine and only low strength beer in Borroloola. We chose to go without and ration our meagre supplies. We will see how that goes!    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Caranbirini Conservation Reserve

    July 7, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    A waterhole with scads of bird varieties, Savannah plains and incredible rock formations all packed in the 5k Jagududgu walk.
    The rock formations are spectacular.

    On the way home we drove through a burn-off. Good thing they picked the Dry (winter?) when the temp was only 30°.
    It was incredible to see the interaction with the bird life. The Black Kites were massed and hunting ahead of the fire front. I am glad I am not a ground dwelling furry critter! Several flocks of about 30+ Red Tailed Black Cockatoo were circling to watch the action.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler
    The shade of red of the van is changing. I don't think I will ever get that red dust off.

    Wilcumm Rest Area - Still on the Savanna

    July 8, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    A sweet little free camp on Batten Creek in the Limmen National Park (Billengarah Pocket). There are about 6 fairly large sites in the area and we are the only ones here so free to choose the best Creek-side spot.
    Another site that we will leave cleaner than we found it.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Nudie Springs

    July 9, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Nope. Families were present

    Great little hot springs, with a great little walk up the mostly dry falls (it’s a time of year thing) to the source of the spring.

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Lorella Springs

    July 9, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    It has Hot Springs. There are long slow moving rivers. Short rapids. There is a 15klm mini mountain ranges of bizarre shape and colour. I believe there are beaches (we might go there tomorrow - more on that later). There is mighty impressive levels of infrastructure considering how remote it is. There is Bull Dust on some tracks that can bring you to a stop. Lagoons. Birds. Wildlife. Cattle. There are a lot of gates that must be closed and river crossings - I am not sure which is the most common. You can find boats and canoes on the various waterways for complimentary use. There are creatures that can kill you like Crocs / sharks / big pigs / snakes. There are 800 people camped here tonight. (Busiest week of the year - school holidays during the Dry season) I actually can’t see many of them. All this is squeezed into 1 million acres. Care to guess how long the fences are? We think it is wonderful.
    The owners describe it as a wildlife sanctuary. Perhaps. I reckon it is a 4Wheel Drive theme park on steroids as there are 30klm sections of “road” where you are in 4x4 Low range and 1st or 2nd gear. However you should be warned. If you need rescuing there is a $500 call out fee. You will be charged $2.50 per kilometre that any/each recovery vehicle has to travel. From the base camp it is 58k to the camp at the beach. There is a $2000 fine for being trapped in “no go zones” like the salt flats.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Lorella Springs - Day 2

    July 10, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    Firstly a bush walk out to the Costello Range. These contain the Southern Lost City, but while we are a little north of that, the same type of sandstone and erosion process creates acres of amazing stone pillars.
    We packed the car to do an overnighter in the tent and found a site with a wide expanse of swampland called Green Marsh with lots of bird life. So different from a few weeks of riverside camps. Magical. Again the only campers here.
    Small oops. Left the sleeping bags back at the van. Let’s see how we go. Time to light the fire and practice constellation spotting.
    We wore all out clothes, use the tent as a blanket and slept under the stars on our air mattress. We were awake before dawn and built up the fire and made a big breakfast. A happy start to the day.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Lorella Springs - Day 3

    July 11, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Wake with the water birds, who it must be said rise at a respectable hour.
    Pack camp and negotiate the vagaries of the map and the directions on this property and find our way on an unmarked walk up the Range.
    More river crossings and 4x4 craziness and a dip in a hot spring. Another river crossing and 4x4 stuff and a second dip in a chilled spring by a small cascade. Did I mention that this place has it all?
    Back to base camp, happy hour and BBQ fish for dinner.
    Bliss.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler
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    Favourite thing?

    July 12, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Was it the Lost City in the Morning or Butterfly Springs in the arvo and overnight camp?
    The Springs are so beautiful but the Lost City is amazing and crazy interesting. So the Lost City has it. Until. As the sun was setting over Butterfly we went for a walk to see if we could a view into the Springs, that was not possible, but as we tracked the escarpment we saw a relatively easy path on a ridge line. The ascent have us views across the entire valley and setting sunlight on the escarpment. Gobsmacking.

    Butterfly Springs wins!

    Cap it off at breakfast the next morning when we took our yoga mats and Coffee percolator to the spring. Yoga with the cascading water and dawn highlights around the upper heights. Oh my!    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Towns River

    July 13, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We weren’t expecting too much from tonight’s stay. But we were delighted to get off the road and the corrugations.
    Turn out there is plenty to be delighted about.
    I don’t think we can get much closer to the tormenting river where swimming is reserved for snapping handbags, even though it is 31° and a wee bit humid.Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Tomato Island - Munbililla

    July 14, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Met some people today who stayed 5 weeks in Tomato Island. I knew we had stayed there but I could NOT remember anything about it. We had intended to stay a few nights because it was the first site for 2 weeks where we could get all the services. It did not live up to expectations or the high recommendations of other travellers so we moved on for more unpopulated off-grid. Camps.
    Didn’t find anything there worth a photograph.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Roper Crossing

    July 15, 2021 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    There isn’t actually anything at all at Roper Crossing, except for a very beautiful causeway, and the road that goes to Numbulwar which we might visit next year, but that will be the story told by another Penguin.Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Mataranka

    July 17, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    A popular destination for travellers who are about to launch into Arnhem, Kakadu, Darwin or the red centre.
    Surprising that there has not been more development here.
    We amused ourselves for a few days floating in the hot springs and some loooong bush walks.
    Bitter Springs is a magical place with a long float where the start and end are joined by a short walk, so you can go around again, and again.
    There is another spring not far away at the Homestead but we chose to make the swim a reward, so next morning we walked there from Jalmurark Campground. 12k over the boulder fields of several lava flows, thick spinefex grass and long sand sections beside the Roper River. Of course the soak was followed by the 12k walk home. We left the camp site at 08:08 and returned at 16:20.
    Next morning an 8k walk out to the Mataranka falls loosened things up again.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Cheers

    July 18, 2021 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 27 °C

    We had completed our jobs so we thought a cycle into town for a nice cold beer at a local pub would be a suitable reward.
    No pubs open in Katherine on Sunday arvo.
    We were directed to the RSL Club and were delighted to find a delicious, award winning, ice cold draught.

    I should explain that after several weeks of pubs that think Great Northern is beer, and that it is OK to only provide said swill in cans, this was an experience of biblical proportions.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler
    Free camp at Flying Fox Creek

    Gator separation

    July 19, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We briefly said goodbye to our trusty Gator Caravan today. It was quite the ordeal. Not in any anxiety sense, just the logistics.
    The first order of business was to extract sufficient camping equipment from the van for a two week tent camping trip into Arnhem Land.
    Next, and who knew How hard it would be to complete a few online activities. To investigate and book accomodation for Xmas near Perth (Margaret River, Fremantle, and Leeuwin Nat Park) was so tedious because of the epically slow internet. How does anyone up here work online?
    There is no such thing as “quickly duck into Woolies for some things for dinner”. The queue for self service was about 10, the express lane was about 25 people (don’t they know the meaning of express?). The area around the checkouts was a dodgem car park of elderly Nomads with overflowing trolleys.
    The saddest task was waiting until 2pm for the bottle shop to open. Not so sad in itself, but the queuing at a closed door with 25 other people felt a little bizarre. There are some big social issues with alcohol up here so we must respect these measures. Our details are recorded at every bottle-shop. Police stationed at every outlet challenge people about where they are intending to drink their purchase and they do refuse service if they are not satisfied with the answer.
    Eventually we quit Katherine and started our 739k trek up the Central Arnhem Road toward Nhulunbuy. Very dusty, very red, very corrugated, very popular with Road Trains (we just stop, let them pass, wait for the dust to settle and move on). With such a late start we only travelled 165k to a free camp at Flying Fox Creek which is reasonably grassed clearing with a fast flowing, clear and sandy bottomed creek. Not sure about the croc status here, but we managed a quick dip to wash away the dust of the road.
    Writing this post in the quiet by the fire with a big sky.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Why Nhulunbuy?

    July 20, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    If we asked you to look at a map of Australia and pick some really remote places, Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula might be one because there are not many places where the closest town is 740k on gravel. Plus it has a really cool name right? Additionally, we are visiting a local so adventure is sure to follow.

    We decided to allow plenty of travel time from Katherine because of the reports of horrific road conditions. Turns out it’s a cake walk, especially without the van. It’s gravel and corrugated, but in short stretches 100kph is comfortable. Other times - take it easy. Very easy!

    Late on day 2 we were flagged down by a crew of all Aboriginal guys managing a roadside burn off. They asked if we had a gun. (WTF?) They had found a Water Buffalo near the road that had probably been hit by a vehicle because it had a broken leg and appeared to be in some distress. Sadly we couldn’t help but the lads were going off to get it sorted.

    Later we rejected 3 consecutive free camps because they were too close to the road and had too much rubbish scattered about. Fourth time was the charm because we found a spotlessly clean, large area, away from the road which we have to ourselves. Lovely but no picture. It is a gravel pit after all. We parked with the cleared area behind the car so we face the bush and the car oriented north-south with the awning up to shield us from the big, bright moon
    Dinner of Gyoza and Prawn Salad with dancing in the moonlight. Now waiting for the fire to burn down.    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Dharmityinja - Woody Point

    July 22, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Rio Tinto Will quit this site in eight years. That means that big blight on the distant point will be gone. They will dismantle and rehabilitate that entire site including many kilometres of conveyors. That might make up for the way the mine and processing plants were established by simply usurping the land in the ‘60’s. .Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler
    Sunrise over the Gulf Of Carpentaria

    Baringura - Little Bondi Beach

    July 23, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Our first ocean swim since we left home 97 days ago. Fabulous.
    There is no guarantee that Crocs won’t visit, so we will keep our eyes open.

    We will stay on the beach 2 nights with Jaqs, Max and Sampson the part Red, part Blue cattle dog. There are only a few other campers here because I think the process of permit registration with The Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation scares people away. Who knew they were such skilful and confounding bureaucrats.

    41k out of town on progressively smaller roads then deflate the tyres for the last bit onto the beach. I don’t plan on doing much until beer o’clock except some Frisbee, swimming, yoga and a headland walk.

    Time Machine update: one year later this article appeared online. This pristine beach was not impacted while we were there, but we did see evidence of this kind of thing while we were near Cooktown Qld. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-23/plastic-…    Read more

  • Regina and IanBert’s LoopTraveler

    Day 100

    July 26, 2021 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Can’t believe how quickly the days have rolled by. We often comment “where did the day go, it’s almost sunset? “ We’re then immediately excited because tomorrow is likely to bring new sights and adventures.Read more

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