Adventures at The Roper

Decided to go for a drive with Shirl & Al to somewhere to see nothing. Not quite true, I love this country & the sign above shows all the places we could have gone to. Mind you most of these places are nothing more than a signpost. Travelling along some bumpy road Al said "Is it normal for the kayak to move around?" Tone came to an immediate stop to find the kayak very wobbly and the racks not far from releasing from the roof rack. The bumpy roads had caused the bolts holding the racks on to come loose, one of the base plates gone & the other almost off. That would have been a nice mess to add the kayak to the roadside flotsam of the odd BBQ, trailer etc. A couple of trucks pulled up to lend a hand & have a yarn, as you do.

We stopped at the ruins of a homestead on the way - nothing much left here but the shell. The original property was called St Vidgeons. The first homestead was destroyed in 1888 by floods, the second by white ants & this one by a cyclone in 1960.

Fording the river across The Roper Bar on the way to Eurapunga & Ngukka. This was originally just a natural rocky crossing but is now cemented. It had about 40cm of water when we crossed and three weeks before 1/2 mt. The communities are cut off during wet season when the river can rise in mts. The water flows across fairly swiftly even when it is shallow. The locals use this area with its rock pools as a swimming hole. Not for this little black duck?

 

 

This is Google Earth of the mouth of The Roper. We decided to drive the 130 kms from our camp to here hoping to see the sea from the east coast of NT. We were able to drive to the V at the top of the river but couldn't see the ocean because of the headlands. This really is very remote & just at the base of Arnhem Land. The river opens in to the gulf where there is a bite in the land above the diagonal part of the coast. Other than catching the Barra this was Tonys highlight, to just be here in such a remote area.

The mouth of the Roper River. Apparently there is a group of Asian fisherman men living in a camp here but the area was accessible by boat only so couldn't call in.

A funny story - maybe you had to be there? Tony told us he had seen an airport sign, which we all said we didn't see. "Here I'll take you" He pointed to a sign " Port Landing No 1". Obviously a boat landing & not a runway to be seen. As you can imagine he hasn't lived it down & we all laughed till we cried.

Thanks Al & Shirl for introducing us to this area & giving us the opportunity to catch a Barra & see the Roper river in such a remote part of Australia.

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