Driving yesterday went much longer than I thought it would. The map is deceptively small. Most of the drive was near the Victoria river and the Victoria River Gorge in Gregory National Park. The scenery was quite stunning and unexpected. It reminded me a lot of West Texas and New Mexico, except with more trees. The rocks in this area look old…nay, ancient. They are dark red with a black film over everything.
This area is definitely arid, but it isn’t a desert. It is currently the dry season, but there is a wet season. You can see flood level markers all over and there are enough trees that obviously water has to come from somewhere. As I came close to Western Australia, I began to notice some boab trees. I think the boab tree has quickly become one of my favorite trees. I remember seeing a photo of a boab tree from Africa in an encyclopedia when I was younger and it scared me. I have no idea why. I have definitely overcome my boabaphobia.
The time zone change from NT to WA is 90 minutes, because the middle of Australia is 30 min offset from the east coast. I really loathe time zones which aren’t full hours. (I’m looking at you India, Newfoundland, and Venezuela)
Today will be a short drive from Kununurra to Turkey Creek where I’ll do the tour of the Bungle Bungles tomorrow. Wednesday I’ll try and make the long drive to Broome. I figure that will be at least 10 hours.