Anke and Jan were traveling the same direction as we were, and we ended up traveling together for almost 4 weeks until yesterday when we parted. Anke and Jan went on to Perth to catch a plane home to Germany for a month or two to be with family. When we left the city of Katherine on November 26^th our first destination was a town called Kununurra, just over the border into Western Australia, 512kms to the west. WA is the only state in Australia that actually has a checkpoint at its border crossings. They have strict regulations about transporting fruit, vegetables and honey into their state. In fact, Anke had a new, sealed jar of honey confiscated. The friendly border guards then sent us on our way. Kununurra was pleasant enough but we only stayed one night.

The next day, November 27^th, we made it as far as Halls Creek, only 360 away. It was a long, hot day of driving with temperatures ranging from 40-45C/105-113F. Several people along the way had told us that Hall’s Creek was a rough place with a bad reputation for damaging visitor’s cars and property. So we took the advice of the owners of the previous roadhouse pitstop before Halls Creek, and took a corrugated dirt track about 16 kilometers to Old Halls Creek. This is basically a ghost town now with a small caravan park. When we pulled up to the caravan park Ron, the manager, greeted us. Ron is a rugged kind of guy, missing two fingers on one hand and was about to lose the thumb on the other due to a very recent accident. Ron filled us in on the local history and entertained us that evening before we went to bed. A generator at this place runs all electricity and water pressure. At 9:00 p.m. the generator is shut down and besides no light you can’t use/flush the toilets until 8:00 a.m. the next morning!

We were off the next day, eager to make our way to Broome on the far northwest coast. On the way out of Old Halls Creek we stopped off to see the Aussie version of the Great Wall of China. Actually it is an exposed vein of quartz that is exposed since the softer rock surrounding it has been eroded away by weather. The result is an interesting white wall running over and down one side of a hill.

Our final destination that day was a town called Derby, about 200 kilometers north of Broome, and 515 kms west of Old Halls Creek. We decided to stop here because we heard it was a nice little seaside town and it had an interesting Boab tree. Well, Derby wasn’t much to speak of (the campgrounds were bordered by huge mud flats----attractive!), but the big local Boab tree was interesting. They actually have lots of these trees in town but this one was used in the early days as a temporary prison! It’s hollowed out on the inside and could definitely hold a person or two. Boab trees are a unique feature of the landscape around this area. They stand out among the other flora because their trunks look like huge bottles.

After the disappointment of Derby we were happy to arrive in Broome the next day. People say Broome is like an oasis and I guess it sort of is. There are lots of palm trees around town and it has a pleasant, laid-back feeling to it. Broome was known in the late 1800’s for it’s pearling industry. Today there’s little left of the original industry, but plenty of jewelers specializing in pearls. The town used to have a very large Asian population but it’s hard to see now.

We stayed in Broome for three days. The campground where we stayed is near Cable Beach, a favorite among both locals and tourists. We caught some brilliant sunsets and the white sand beach seemed to go on forever. There is also a great lookout point at Gantheaume Point where the lighthouse it. The cliffs are bright red and the green/blue sea contrasts wonderfully with them. We met some interesting bikers in Broome. One is Dave Rawlings, an Aussie using his holiday time to travel around his own country on his ’97 F650 (white by the way, and looking far better than mine right now!!) The second is a Yank named Nick Palmer, a retired military man who hails from the state of North Carolina – complete with that southern charm. Nick is riding an R80G/S with silver Jesse Bags and top case. Nick is on an extended holiday as well but is now contemplating extending it further to be a round-the-world trip. You go Nick!!! In Broome we also decided to bite the bullet and buy a fan for our tent. We figured it was worth the A$2 extra each night for a powered campsite to get a little fresh air! Oh, and because we now pay for electricity while camping, we also have a 60 watt yellow light bulb and a long extension cord with a splitter so we can recharge our batteries and the computer. No comments please.

Alas, Broome was almost as hot as its cousins to the east, so we decided to press south along the coast from here on December 2^nd. We heard about a beach called 80-mile Beach not far south that had a nice campground and a beach full of shells. We weren’t let down here as the beach lived up to its reputation. Anke and Jan shot a roll of film on the beach to use for Christmas cards. We were all clad in our swimsuits, and Anke and Jan brought their big camp chairs out on the beach and donned their red Santa Clause hats. Our friend Dave, who also decided to stop here for a night, happened to have a small inflatable Christmas tree and loaned it for use in the pictures as well.

To our surprise we met a very interesting German couple at 80-mile Beach. They are a real pair of explorers (not just travelers like ourselves). Denis Katzer and his partner Tania are traveling across Australia’s outback by camel caravan. When we met them they had just finished 4,000 kms with their 5 camels. They were now relaxing and making arrangements for their summer retreat on a nearby cattle station. This is not the first expedition with animals for these two intrepid travelers. Denis and Tania have done other journeys with camels in Egypt, horses in Tibet, and elephants in Mongolia. At the time that I write this though I fear they may have run into trouble. Since we left 80-mile Beach 2 weeks ago, cyclone Sam came ashore directly on top of them, with winds of over 280 km/hr. It is one of the worst storms ever to hit Western Australia. I read an article in the local newspaper yesterday that said some camel trekkers tried to find shelter and refuge at a local cattle station nearby but were refused. They had to abandon their camels in the wild for their own safety and they both headed to the nearest town. If you would like to know more about them and their various journeys, check out their website at www.denis-katzer.com  We hope they and their camels came through the ordeal in good condition. Shame on the cattle station managers!

Heading south again we were hotfooting it, literally!, to get to cooler weather. The temperature soared one day to more than 47C/117F! Chris caught a picture of it on his digital thermometer on his gas cap. In these conditions we had to stop every 100 kilometers to get some shade and drink loads of water. Speaking with a barmaid at one of the roadhouses along the way (one with no air conditioning!), she said that the hottest she had see it get was 51C/125F INSIDE the roadhouse! Now that’s hot.

THAT'S 117 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT !

On December 3^rd and 4^th we were just driving south, stopping only to rest for the night in the towns of Port Hedland and Karratha. Wish I could say that there was something to see here but there isn’t----unless you are into fishing of course. We are not. Oh yeah, sea turtles come ashore here to lay their eggs during this season. But, they only come ashore at high tide, which happened to be at 1:00a.m. We passed on this opportunity to see them in the hopes we’d see them again further south.

Finally on December 5^th we arrived in the very pleasant, beautiful and COOL Coral Bay. This place was like a real paradise for us. Here we met up with Dave (F650) and Cindy and Dan (Canadians) again. We also met a Swiss (not young) couple riding a XT600 two-up and trying to ride every off-road track they could find. Coral Bay has some of the best snorkeling we’ve ever seen and definitely rivals the Great Barrier Reef for its variety and density of fish. The beaches are white sand and clean, The water is crystal clear and you can just swim 20 meters off shore to find the best coral and fish. We spent 2 days snorkeling and spotted, among other things, sting rays, sea turtles, rainbow-colored cuttle fish, huge snapper, etc. Best of all, there was a constant strong sea breeze that blew all night long. Finally, a good nights sleep without the fan!

After lingering here for 2 days we decided to risk going further south to a place called Monkey Mia. We arrived there on December 9^th. The attraction here is the Shark Bay World Heritage Park. This is a very interesting place indeed. At Monkey Mia about halfway out on the peninsula the local population of dolphins comes in to the beach each morning to interact with the visitors and have a small feed by the park rangers. We were promptly there on the beach at 8:00a.m. the next morning and sure enough the dolphins were already there. I was lucky enough to be selected out of the crowd to feed a fish to Nicky, the oldest of the dolphins (she’s been coming in for 25 years!) There are also funny pelicans on the beach that are not afraid of human at all, and sea turtles who swim in the surf just a few meters off the beach. Another reason this peninsula is listed as World Heritage is because of its population of Stramatolites. These are the oldest living things on earth. They were the first things to "grow" after the Big Bang. They are still alive today in the salty tidal pools near the shore and look like little black mushroom growths. Fascinating stuff.

Finally it seems we have reached more reasonable temperatures. Now we are in Geraldton, about 400 kilometers south of Monkey Mia and 400 kilometers north of Perth. Geraldton is a very nice town of about 32,000 people, with a rugged shoreline and long beaches. We’ve stalled here for a few days because the weather is lovely, the campground is right across from the beach, and Chris’ rotor died again. Good news though, we were able to get a new rewound rotor sent up from Perth in 24 hours and it now seems fixed again. We’re convinced it was the heat that killed it.

The ride west from Cairns to Perth will have taken 5.5 weeks, we will have traveled over 4,700 miles (7,500kms), experienced heat like we've never had before, and solidified some great friendships.