Today was to be a big day for us.....after nearly twenty months in Western Australia we were about to leave the State. So let's farewell Lake Argyle and our wonderful few days at the resort (apart from no comz!) with a final sunset shot from the hill overlooking Bamboo Cove.
This really is a magic place, and we prepared to leave with decidedly mixed feelings. Overall we had thoroughly enjoyed our stay in WA with all the new things we had seen and done, with old friends visited and new friends made, but we were well and truly over the enormous distances and the totally unjustifiable costs of caravan park accommodation and eating out.
So, with a tad over 200 kms to run, we headed out once again onto the narrow bitumen strip of the Lake Argyle entrance road with its rugged scenery.
New horizons beckoned and the old gypsy feelings had re-emerged. It was good to be seriously 'on the road' again.
Western Australia has the strictest general quarantine laws in the country. Unless it's in a tin, a sealed package or cooked, there is virtually no fruit of vegetable which will gain entry, including, astoundingly, honey in any form. We pulled up opposite the check point
to see how the poor unfortunates coming into the State were faring (and what made you think we were feeling just a touch smug??)
It was but 0845 hours and they were already queueing in droves with more vans arriving by the minute. Given that the WA inspectors do not take prisoners and really go through everything, a wait here of over an hour is not uncommon. We were more than glad to be going the other way.
And there it was......this was an almost surreal moment. In fact at this point I must admit
that for the next few weeks I would almost constantly refer to 'here' when referring the WA, rather than 'there'. Liz fared better and was always very quick to correct me, excusing my lapse to any company with whom we may have been engaged at the time with a curt reference to my increasing years!
State and Territory borders are arbitrary things and nothing we were seeing around us changed. We were still in cattle country,
my favourite trees were still with us
and the landscape was still decidedly 'East Kimberley'. Craggy, red escarpments
and rocky outcrops seen over dry long grass and stunted eucalypts (with the odd boab still appearing), remained our scenic companions for most of this day's journey.
We had a very good run into Timber Creek and were there before we knew it.
We soon discovered that this is a very small town. The main highway skirts most of the residential area in which the 600 or so locals, of which over half are indigenous, live.
The area was first discovered in 1885 when Sir Augustus Gregory sailed up the nearby Victoria River in his schooner Tom Tom seeking the Australian 'inland sea'. He set up a base camp where the town now stands and cut timber to repair his ship....hence the name.
Obviously the quest for the inland sea was fruitless, but Gregory's reports of the area soon saw the establishment of the Victoria River cattle station, at the time one of the largest in the country.
Timber Creek remained an isolated, small settlement until the Ord River scheme saw a major increase in traffic through the area. Well prior to that, in fact until the 1930's, Timber Creek was serviced by ships which made their way up the Victoria River, a service which only ceased with the improvement of road transport. Now Timber Creek houses Government services including a school, health and police and the headquarters of local government. Cattle and tourism remain the major industries.
During the second World War the town served as the base for a unique military unit, the 21st Northern Observer Group. With the fear of a Japanese invasion high, this unit, which was led by aboriginal guides, was tasked with constantly scouting the northern coast. The 'Nackeroos' as they were known, never engaged the enemy as we now know, but performed a vital service nevertheless.
Timber Creek retains a close association with the military. In 1996 the Department of Defence bought the nearby Bradshaw Station. The 8,700 square kilometres of the Bradshaw Training Area was active during our visit. I actually chatted to a group of US marines refuelling in the town as they made their way to the training ground as part of the annual 'Talisman Sabre' joint Australia - US exercises.
Ours was but an overnight stop, but as well pulled into town
it was obvious we had arrived at rush hour. There we caravans and 4WD's milling about everywhere.
This all settled down after an hour or so when all the travellers had refuelled both their vehicles and themselves and made off again,
but we were unconcerned by the chaos as we made our way into the adjoining caravan park, one of two in the town.
As we drove in through the gate it was obvious that we had missed out on a grassy site,
but we were much more concerned to have good shade....and here, to our great delight (it was still stinking hot) it existed in abundance.
This is a park where there are no defined sites. New arrivals just find a spot and set up. This can occasionally cause a sharp exchange or two when late arrivals park on one's doorstep, but here we had no such problem. There was plenty of room for all.
After a bit of coming and going we made our choice and were soon all set under the canopy of the enormous park trees...'Timber Creek' indeed! The lack of grass did not bother us.....out came our trusty C-Gear flooring to do another fine job on the dusty surface.
This park sports a few basic cabins,
and some delightful grassed areas, including one unpowered patch for those with tents and camper trailers.
Between us and the amenities block was another fine sward, and, yes, we were not done with the boabs yet!
The ablutions here were basic but adequate and
the adjoining camp kitchen more than up to scratch.
A small annabranch of the Victoria River, which can be viewed from a quaint little suspension bridge, runs along the edge of the park.
We did not bother for two reasons, the first this rather faded but nevertheless compelling notice on the trunk of the boab,
and secondly because of the overhead wildlife, well known for their penchant to deposit bodily wastes on any who happen to be below......bats, hundreds of them, a few of which can be seen here hanging in the foliage of the trees along the creek banks. We had been warned that they would announce their return to roost in the early morning in no uncertain terms. Fortunately we are early risers and were only annoyed by the cacophony rather than awoken by it.
We had other things to do rather than take personal risks gazing at a minor waterway. It was time for a quick wander around the small Timber Creek CBD, beginning with a visit to the pub which is part of the service station/motel building,
the rooms of which abutted our park.
Despite its disappointing lack of 'outback colour', this was a very interesting little bar where prominently displayed notices provided a sad commentary on the local social scene.
The first we spotted was this. The barman was somewhat taken aback when I commented that Wednesday must be pension day....we were apparently the first customers to have immediately understood the implications of this restriction (we also strongly suspect that the 'local laws' were actually the pub laws)
This was not the end of it. The aboriginal practice of pestering others for money and/or drinks was obviously an on-going problem,
and there were also some within the local community whose behaviour in the pub had not covered them with social glory. We had not seen a 'banned' list like this since our visit to the pub in Camooweal, but this one was streets ahead in both the numbers of miscreants,
and the length of some of the bans. Darryl Darby had clearly been a very naughty boy, and he was not the only one to have been given a life sentance! As the red texta additions demonstrated, this is indeed a 'live' notice.
But mine host had no such problems with the visiting Mobile Marshies...our decorum was above reproach (and at this time of the afternoon we were the only customers)
Mind you, as we left to continue our stroll, the arrival of the local sobriety service paddy waggon, crewed by a couple of hefty ideigenous locals, gave some hint that things may have bcome a little more chirpy later.
Refreshed, we continued our tour, not that this took too long....there is not much to the Timber Creek CBD. Beyond the pub building is the Croc Shop, a haven for an astounding array of touristy bits and pieces, and the local booking agent for Victoria River sunset cruises.
I have to say we were sorely tempted. By all accounts this is a cracker, but after Kununurra and Lake Argyle we decided we were 'cruised out' for the time being. We plan to revisit Tmber Creek with sufficient time up our sleeves to have a very good look at the nearby national parks and the river itself which is renowned for its barramundi.
Almost on top of the Croc Shop is the second town service station and a very appealing cafe and take-away shop where the fare on offer did tempt us briefly.
Just past this is the second of the two Timber Creek caravan parks. As we took a quick peek we were pleased with our choice. Whilst the second park is lush with lovely grass, there was barely a tree to be seen. Shade wins out over grass every time in these climes.
Well, for us this time, that was Timber Creek done an dusted. There was nothing left to be done but to repair back to camp and enjoy a quite evening pre-dinner libation. We did enjoy our brief visit and would stay again at this park at the drop of a hat.
And how did the Black Panther settle into Timber Creek....you be the judge....does this look like a stressed feline?
Tomorrow it's off to Katherine and a rendezvous with Cate and David, our Darwin friends, a catch up which had been planned so many months ago when they joined us in Bremer Bay. Never a dull moment!
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