Timber Creek & Victoria River

Lots of open spaces.

There isn't much between Katherine & the WA border, just huge cattle stations, breeding Brahman, and Brahman cross cattle, for live export, mostly to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Middle East. You drive for miles seeing nothing, then all of a sudden a huge herd of cattle can be seen sitting and standing among the trees, a sure sign there is a good supply of water or a bore. Occasionally, you will see stock men mustering the cattle, usually heralded by a huge cloud of red dust on the horizon! The first sign of civilization is the Victoria River Roadhouse, right on the edge of the river. The place was packed! Didn't even try to get into the place. You can camp here, either in the Caravan Park run by the Roadhouse, or at the free camp sites dotted along the river. It is obvious that many people are doing just that. On these kinds of days, Carolyn packs us a thermos of tea, and we find a stop along the road, for our morning cuppa. One thing is for certain, these remote Roadhouses struggle with making coffee!! They make great signs to entice you in, but we have yet to find a backpacker barista!!!

Welcome to Timber Creek.

We stayed in Timber Creek back in 2013. In fact we stopped to do a cruise on the Victoria River that people had raved about, but when we arrived found they had packed up and closed early due to lack of tourists!! No problem this time!! There are two caravan park choices in Timber Creek. The one behind the pub, and the one behind the supermarket. Not a hard choice really!! The pub one has new owners. It is basic but clean and has a pool! The supermarket one has been taken over by a local indigenous group, and reports are that they still have a way to go regarding cleanliness in the amenities and camp kitchen!!

Timber Creek from the Lookout.

The Victoria River.

Next door to the supermarket is the Crock Stock Shop. It seems that the river cruise has expanded and now includes a shop, café and base from which the "famous" river cruise departs! John braved a coffee, and it was surprisingly good, made on a real machine by a non backpacker!!! We confirmed our seats, which I had booked by phone, for the afternoon sunset cruise, and headed back to the caravan for a rest and a little light reading. By now, the "House Full" sign is up, and caravans are being turned away. Walking back from the Croc Stock Shop, I checked the fuel prices at both the pub and the supermarket, and was shocked when I saw the price was 6 cents a litre cheaper at the supermarket!! I was further shocked when in the pub/office/café, when I heard a guy buying a carton of Hahn 3.5 Super Dry. In fact, I helped him back to his feet when the girl behind the bar told him the price was $88.00 a carton!!!

Neville bringing the nibblies!

Boarding the boat.

We all assembled back at the Croc Stock Shop just before 4.00pm for our river cruise. We met our driver guide and skipper for the day, Neville, who told us he had spent all his life in the area, working on cattle stations, until he and the missus started the river cruise business. The bus to take us to the boat was a 1988, Leyland ex school bus, and Neville assured us it was safe, having passed most of the regulations at the last rego check!! He assured us the brakes were particularly good, and as we slowly moved off, brought the bus to a shuddering halt to prove the point!! He opened the door to a German tourist who asked if he was too late to join the tour. Neville said no, and guided him to the shop to pay. However when the German jumped into his rented motorhome and headed into the caravan park, Neville said Bugger him, and we headed off!!

The old Police Station.

In memory of the Nackeroos.

Along the way we got a good smattering of the local history, local fauna and flora. Neville ran us through the various types of gum tree including the crocodile gum, whose bark resembles a crocodile's skin and when he mention the Dead Dog Tree, I cringed!! Sure enough a lady up front dived in head first and asked why is it called a Dead Dog Tree, to be met with a chorus of "because it has no bark!!!" Neville's humor was so dry I was getting thirsty!! We stopped outside the old police station and as Neville was letting us know the police history of Timber Creek, the local police paddy wagon pulled up, and out jumped the German and his wife!! They weren't going to miss the tour!!

The Gregory Tree.

There is quite a lot of history around the region. It was first

The bridge to Bradshaw Base.

explored in 1855, by Augustus Charles Gregory, who arrived by sea, sailing into the Victoria River in his vessel the Tom Tough! His initials and the year 1855, are engraved into a Boab Tree, The Gregory Tree, on the banks of the river. During the Second World War, following the strafing of Broome, a unique military unit was formed to watch the coastline from Broome to Cairns. Just 500 plus strong they patrolled a huge area on foot and horseback looking for signs of the Japanese. The conditions were appalling and many perished from disease, snake bite and crocodile attack. They were nick named The Nackeroos or Curtin's Cowboys, and there is a very good monument to their service at the lookout above Timber Creek. Military history continues with the vast Bradshaw Field Training Area to the north of the Victoria River. The Australian Government acquired the old Bradshaw Cattle Station in the mid 1990's, and spent millions on an access bridge, barracks, dirt airstrip capable of landing C-17 Globemaster Aircraft, communications tower. They now hold regular exercises there, often joined by allied troops from the US and Asia.

Tasting Boab Fruit.

Whistling Kites.

Neville got us safely to the landing, and after a tasting of the fruit from the Boab Tree, which won't go down as a new favourite, we were ushered down the gangway, and on board the boat for a fast trip some 35 kilometres down the river. We stopped along the way to see quite a lot of crocodiles and birdlife. Apparently, the water temperature is still quite warm due to the dry "Wet" Season we had this year, and as a consequence you don't see as many crocs out of the water, as they don't need to get out of the water to absorb heat. But they are there lurking!! We saw a lot of wallabies along the river bank. At dusk they come down to drink, and the crocs come out to eat!! Large crocs will even take cattle, and the stations along the river estimate they lose at least one a day!! Once you have seen a 5 metre croc up close, you know they aren't kidding!! We passed some guys who had beached their tinnie on a gravel bed and were fishing for Barramundi. They proudly held up one beauty they'd caught. With the crocs we saw, I'm not sure I'd be fishing here!!

Catching fish!

Happy Hour on the Victoria River.

It was an interesting trip on this big, wide river. We arrived at a pontoon anchored in the middle of the river, and Neville saw us all onto the pontoon, and went about setting out a spread of nibblies he had brought along for us. We had all been told to BYO grog, so we settled in for Happy Hour on a pontoon in the middle of the Victoria River, waiting for the sun to set. Neville grabbed a fishing rod and dropped it over the side, and quickly pulled up a small fish. A number of Whistling Kites were circling, and a couple of sea eagles as well. Nev wound out a gantry with the fish on it, and the sea eagle swooped down and grabbed it!! This was repeated a number of times, and it is fantastic to see these big birds of prey up close and in action. The nibblies were gone so it was back on the boat, and we wound our way home. The sunset was a bit of a fizzer that night, so we just settled in and headed back up river at speed. Along the way we saw a lot more wallabies, and Carolyn was madly shooing them away from the edge and away from the danger of crocs!

By the time we were back to the boat ramp it was dark, and we were pretty wind blown. We all piled back on the old bus and Neville had us back in Timber Creek in no time. At $90.00 a head, it won't go down as one of the best cruises we have done, but it was a fun experience, and one we had to do!!