The Massive 5 day trek to Kununurra

In a whirlwind couple of days after our WA passes arrived we had everything we didn't need packed away in the shipping container, the van and the ute loaded and we were on our way. While I say it was a 5 day trip it was actually 5 and a bit as we opted to leave Saturday afternoon for the short stint from Lilydale to my Mum's partners property in Toolamba, just out of Shepparton. It was a short but hairy drive as we drove through soupy fog and were grateful to arrive.

It was a good opportunity to test how the van was packed in case we needed to shuffle some items around to get the balance right. Sunday we rested, said goodbye to Amber who is staying behind with Dave's brother's family, and made some final adjustments and modifications ready to set off first thing Monday morning. Sunday evening we enjoyed a campfire where the girls had a play with sparklers and Charli tried to feed me cremated marshmallows.

DAY 1 - Toolamba to Lake Bonney

We said our final goodbyes as we pulled out just after 9am on Monday morning at which point the major trek began. While our passes into WA would get us over each of the borders we were still required to limit contact and to get through as quickly as possible. Our first day of driving took us through farmland and along a section of the Murray River. We stopped for lunch on the side of Lake Boga, just of of Swan Hill (consequently the same lake we test drove our ski boat on when we bought it several years ago). We laughed as we drove through a town called Chingapook, just because we liked the name. When we thought we would go blind from the setting sun we finally crossed the SA border and hit our first checkpoint. We passed the food quarantine inspection (no more fresh fruit and veg for the rest of the trip now) and got our SA travel passes. We then continued through to our first stop at Lake Bonney. Admittedly I should have read the camps book better as I didn't notice the bit that mentioned it being sandy and to walk in first and we managed to get ourselves bogged. While we did get ourselves into a campable position we decided to stay put until daylight. On the positive side we saw an amazing orange moon reflecting over the water and awoke to a very cold (-3) and foggy morning but also beautiful sunrise (I am very grateful for the diesel heater Dave installed just before departure).

DAY 2 - Lake Bonney to Ingomar

While the girls got sent to empty the bucket that had become our impromptu toilet for the night, Dave and I got ourselves free of the sand and ready to start our next day. We encountered many changes in scenery today, farmland, mountains, scrub. We stopped in Burra to check the tyres and the girls and I took Jezy for a quick walk while we waited, enjoying the gorgeous stone buildings. We headed through Port Augusta before turning north towards Darwin. I could have had many things to keep myself occupied in the car but I was always just so busy watching the scenery changing around us all the time and didn't want to miss anything. We drove past salt lakes and lookouts and were amazed by the number of eagles we saw on the side of the road (or on the road) taking flight around us. We finally found a rest area just south of Coober Pedy where we could get ourselves off the road and reduce the noise around us. Unfortunately the diesel heater decided to have problems so we had to rug up in all our warm pjs for the night.

DAY 3 - Ingomar to Alice Springs

The next day we were heading over the NT border and we were very conscious that we would have 48 hours to get through the NT before being forced into quarantine (not that anyone actually checked in the end however) so we made the decision to give ourselves a slower start, arrive at the border for dinner and a good rest then cross the border and drive through to Alice Springs that night where we had booked a cabin so we could have a hot shower and proper bathroom. We were still up to enjoy the sunrise which was reminiscent of the beginning of the Lion King and I quickly pulled up the song as the sun rose, we just needed someone to hold up "Simba" and we would have been right. While we cooked our bacon and eggs the girls headed out to explore the rocks and we nicknamed them Sherock Holmes and Doctor Whatsthat as they were out with their magnifying glasses. We slowly packed up and continued our journey. First stop was Coober Pedy to top up with fuel and the girls found some beautiful painted truck tyres nearby. We then took a quick detour out to the Breakways which had been recommended to us by Dave's Mum and Dad and was worth the detour. The scenery continued to change and the eagles were everywhere and all was going well until suddenly we had a problem, one of the van tires must have got a puncture, it suddenly went pop and the whole tyre shredded off. A quick roadside fix later we were back on the road and were lucky enough to replace the tyre in Marla so we had a spare again. We still managed to make it to the border with time for a break and some dinner before heading into the NT. It was such a shame it was so dark as we could tell the scenery had changed once again but we had missed it. We were so excited to finally arrive in Alice Springs and not have to set up the van but have a hot shower and crawl into bed.

DAY 4 - Alice Springs to Dunmarra

We were up early again the next day and were thrilled with the minimal pack up. One more shower (just because we could) and we were back on the road, now able to see Alice Springs in all it's glory (it was way bigger than we had expected!). We treated the girls to McDonalds for breakfast as it was the last of the fast food chains we would likely see for awhile which they thought was awesome. Dave wanted to quickly check the tyres and we just happened to stop at the rest area which is situated on the Tropic of Capricorn. Further up the road we were continously being disappointed about all the places we had seen along the way that we would have loved to stop and look at but just couldn't so you can imagine my delight to discover that the Devils Marbles were right there on the highway so we had to stop and admire them for a few minutes and boy were they amazing. We tried not to stop too much on this leg as we knew it was the longest day we had but Dave saved us loads of time by pushing the speed up, it made us chew the fuel but was worth it to arrive at our final destination for the day before the sun was setting (a first for us on this trip). It was nice to have some time in the evening just to relax and wind down. Charli set herself up with a foot bath while Elly got a closer look at some of the mounds we saw all along the roads that she has named minicles because they look like mini pinnacles. After I spent all day telling Dave how much I was hankering for something like a salad sandwich we decided to buy our dinner at the roadhouse and wow was that steak sandwich with the lot worth it, it was delicious!

DAY 5 - Dunmarra to Kununurra

Our final morning on the road we were up bright and early and eager to get to our final destination. This was a slightly shorter day, distance wise, and we took it a bit easier on the speed. We had a quick stop in Katherine to stretch our legs before turning west and heading for WA. It was exciting to finally be close enough to see Kununurra listed as a destination on the road signage. We were in awe as we drove through Judbarra/Gregory National park seeing all the massive rocks and sheer red cliffs. After a quick lunch stop in Timber Creek we began our final stint into WA, approaching the border with anticipation, concerned about what our directions would be. Unfortunately our excitement turned to disappointment as we were directed that we still needed to quarantine for 14 days even though we had already been isolated for 15 days, so with heavy hearts we finished the final few kms of our journey into Kununurra and found our new home for the next few months.

The caravan park we had chosen looked lovely but we all were struggling to find some positive after such a long journey. Then the park manager came to meet with us and we slowly began to perk up. She was absolutely amazing. She has allocated us a large area of the park so the kids have plenty of room to play, we have our own toilet block (or will on Monday and for now we can access one of the cabins for a bathroom), she is giving us an hour block each day for the kids to have access to the pool and even gave them a blow up pool to use on our site. Suddenly the next 14 days don't seem quite so bad as we were imagining and tomorrow morning I have fresh fruit and veggies being delivered so all is well with the world.

Thankfully we have been able to finally begin on this journey of ours and I can't say I'm complaining about the warm weather!! The girls were amazing the whole way, barely an argument or a complaint, it really was a long but enjoyable drive. And so our isolation begins....again.....

Some Stats:

Total kms - 4,120

States visited - 4 (Vic, SA, NT and WA)

Border crossings - 3

Minutes of contact made with other humans - 37

Days in isolation - 15