Sir Gregory on the Road to Timber Creek

It’s a long Road to Timber Creek. We are excited though as this is the start of our 34 day road trip to Broome, Western Australia and today we finally catch up with The Lloyde’s.

DRIVE: Darwin to Timber Creek via Katherine (603km).

First things first, a trip to Safeway Supermarket to replenish our groceries and beer supplies.

Now that we are fully loaded with food and supplies to last 6 months even though our Kimberley trip is just over a month, we leave Darwin on the Stuart Hwy and head back to Katherine passing the shredded tyre on the roadside we left behind on the way up.

We go through the tiny town of Adelaide River and follow the Ghan railway line south. There’s a cool diesel locomotive at the side of the road, the shell of former Commonwealth Railways locomotive NSU 63.

After 300km we reach Katherine and join the Victoria Hwy heading south west.

This is Gregory National Park territory which is the second largest national park in the NT after Kakadu., with an area of 13,000 km2 or 1.3 million ha. In 2011, it was announced that the park would be dual-named "Judbarra" after the traditional owners for a period of ten years. Beginning in 2021, its official name will be Judbarra National Park.

Now who is Gregory you may ask? Well Sir Augustus Charles Gregory was an English-born Australian explorer. In 1854 Gregory led an expedition to the interior starting at the estuary of The Victoria River. His party split up, with one group going up the river in a schooner, while Gregory led the other over the range. They were eventually reunited and established a camp 20 km west of Timber Creek.

CAMP: Wirib Caravan Park and Store, Timber Creek / 1 Night
So here we are at Timber Creek. It’s been a minor expedition to get here. I go to check in at reception and the managers tell me that there’s no room left... wait a minute, that can’t be right, we’re in the middle of nowhere. Of course they are pulling my leg and The Lloyd’s had pre-empted our arrival and told the owners not to let us in. Anne has even described me as the bloke with the white tee shirt and low and behold, I turned up with a white tee shirt on.

After a laugh with the owners, I asked for a powered site as far away from The Lloyde’s as possible and the owners say, not a problem, it’s free tonight anyhow. That great I replied, how much do I owe you... no... it’s free. Bargain I say. Just need to promote them on my blog so here goes...

Especially for my English followers, if you happen to be in the middle of a remote desert, miles from civilisation and wanting somewhere to stay, stay at The Wirib Caravan Park and Store, Timber Creek. They have crocodiles in their creek and feeding is at 5.15 so make it snappy.

It’s so good to finally catch up with Andrew and Anne. The park is lush and they are set up in the shadows of a giant Boab tree with fruit the size of coconuts.

We park up adjacent and make sure our camping setup doesn’t cross the line into theirs... it’s a bit like the beach scene in Madagascar (1) but ours is the fun side of the island for sure. Finally The Lloyde’s invite us to their side of the island and we cross the line.

Metres away are three fresh water crocodiles lying on the bank of the creek. The owners say they can be aggressive so distance is good. The crocs get their daily ration of meat and just like us, settle in for a long hot night.Read more