Yaama maliyaa (Hello friends),

Now I know some of you have been worried about me as you haven’t heard from me for a while, so you will all be pleased to know that everything is great.

The rocket and I have clocked up 8149 kms!!!

I had a few weeks in Sydney.  Lots of friends to catch up with: Katie, Grantly and baby Chloe, Tina the man eater and heaps of others.  I enjoyed a fantastic dinner with Marty and Kath, it was great to get back to the bay and have a look.

– Sunset on Pittwater -I took this photo on my way to dinner with Marty and Kath

There was wild surf, cold weather, rain (which I hadn’t seen for a while), medicals, meetings with clients and fun time with friends.  I even made it to Paul Blundell’s 50th in Noosa, now that was fun!

Back to what felt like my new home town of Darwin, as I’ve been hanging out there on and off for about 8 weeks.  So much of a local identity that Kate O’Toole from ABC Darwin wanted to interview me on radio.  I’m getting good at this radio caper.

Kate said on air that I was looking incredibly healthy and happy !! How good is that?

You can listen to the full interview by clicking the link below.

Friends Nick, Emma, Scarlet and Jack Garland (groupies from home) are following me around the country in their caravan (and finally caught up to me).  I had a great night at the Mindil Markets with them and Craig and Caz Makepeace, who are also on the road.

We watched the sun set on Mindil Beach

As the sun set it was time to bid farewell to Darwin and hit the road again.

Just like a Formula 1 racing car, the rocket had been back in the pits whilst I had been in Sydney.  A couple of test drives around Darwin looking for that illusive hill and a new distributor she was rearing to go.   The next day front page of the NT News…………

Front page news in the NT News………not me!!

Who’s Katherine when she’s at home?

I only had a quick look at Bachelor and Litchfield National Park, there were so many people around as it is peak season, I decided to make my way to Katherine.  Well Katherine is a neat little town, I stayed there overnight and let me tell you that whoever Katherine is, she comes alive after dark!!

Gary and Brownie “The Lizards” didn’t tell me they had opened a resort up here!!

The roads are long and straight.

I get excited when I see a bend in the road, seriously beautiful country.

Big rivers up here.

Big roads and big distances…..400 kms to go!

Big Trees!

Big Crocs – chasing me out of town!

I’m excited to cross the Western Australian boarder on my way to Kununurra.

It’s a really pretty drive to Kununurra, through the hills and mountain ranges of the East Kimberly.  All the water holes and rivers are now dry apart from the reservoir at Kununurra from The Ord River Dam, which gives the town a lot of zest with great waterfalls and swimming holes nearby.

Driving through spectacular country to Wyndham

100kms from Kununurra is the coastal town of Wyndham, Western Australia’s most northerly town, about as isolated as any town in Australia could be.  A spectacular drive to Wyndham which is surrounded by salt lakes,  desert, lots of boab trees and mudflats as far as the eye can see.

Salt Mine at Wyndham

The Rocket lurking under a boab tree in town

Main street Wyndham

I had a great feed at The Rusty Shed Cafe Wyndham

Lucky it was ALL CLEAR for the Rocket and I to proceed

And proceed we did to Halls Creek, where all the creeks are dry heading to Fitzroy Crossing.  I know that I keep repeating myself but the scenery is truely amazing.

After 4hrs heading due west I had to come up with some innovative sun protection measures!

With hardly any traffic on the road and such spectacular scenery I decided to push on through to Fitzroy Crossing.

I was cruising into Fitzroy Crossing just before sunset, the sun, the cows, the kangaroos, the wild boars, the horses the local aboriginals and the local police, all seemed to be on the side of the road on the outskirts of town awaiting my arrival.  The police flagged me down and pulled me over for a RBT and a chat.  Quite funny as I haven’t had a drink since getting out of hospital. The police had never seen a VW Beetle in Fitzroy Crossing before, we had a few laughs and a long chat   So, tired and stone cold sober with a police escort, I spent the night in Fitzroy Crossing.

There is so much to see in the Kimberleys, you could easily fill 3 or 4 weeks here, I would recommend a 4WD though, if you really want to see everything.

The next part of my trip is exploring more of the WA coast and giving the Gibb River road a bit of a nudge or should I say the Gibb River Road giving the rocket and me a bit of a nudge.

Kenyak yeye (that’s enough for now),

Mick