When we started planning this holiday, the one place Peter had decided he wanted to stop at was Timber Creek and the reason being, he wanted to try his luck at catching another Barramundi!  This time to fish on the Victoria River.  So two nights we have had at Timber Creek, but no barra!  But we have enjoyed the Victoria River, the longest river in the Northern Territory and the river that was named after Queen Victoria.  The Gregory National Park covers 13,000 square kilometres and is affectionately known as 'The Vic'.

 Before leaving we chatted with the young WA couple camped alongside us with their two little boys.  They have been travelling around Australia for the last five months and are on their way home to Dunsborough.  I thought it was the opportune time to ask if they would like our pink bubble stick.  Our NABA prize from the Dampier Bowling Carnival, something we don't want to talk about anymore and it seemed the right time to be rid of the prize before leaving WA!  Peter had used the yellow one to make a cover for the annex light near the door to keep the bugs away.  His ingenuity is working, but I guess we have a reminder at the door of the caravan!  Anyway the couple were delighted.  A lady form WA in Katherine gave them another pink one and they had been keeping it for a time when the boys needed to be entertained.  I wonder if the lady in Katherine was Leta Ryan.  They also got some bubblesticks!  They were in Group A though!  The Mum was over the moon to get one each for the boys and of course they were delighted. The littlest fella had found 20 cents and he insisted that I have it.  Bless him! 

We left Lake Argyle a little earlier than the 8.30am, that we had planned.  Good thing we did, because none of us had thought or if so we hadn't mentioned, the one and a half hours we would lose when we crossed the border, which was soon after we were out on the Victoria Highway. 

We are into new territory for us now.  We have not travelled the Victoria Highway before.  Our morning tea stop was at the Saddle Rest Area and that was when John and Dennis alerted us to the fact that we were having morning tea at 11.00am rather than 9.30am.  So it was a late lunch by the time we were settled at the Timber Creek Hotel and Caravan Park.  Timber Creek was abuzz when we arrived there.  One tour operator said "He had never seen Timber Creek so busy"! There is a small Victoria Highway Service Road on which there are two service stations, the Wirib Store and Tourism Park, the Hotel, Fogarty's Store and the Croc Shop.  The service station at the Wirib Store had run out of diesel.   We had thought we would stay at that caravan park, but it was full.   So back around we went, like everyone else.  The amount of traffic was unbelievable!  We have found the Timber Creek Hotel and Caravan Park good enough for $33.00 a night.

The guys went fishing about 4.30pm and were told Policeman's Point was the spot!  In the early years of settlement in this area, Policeman's Point was the only crossing over the river.  No fish caught though and it was 7.30pm before the men returned.  I think John may have been over the fishing and Dennis had a fall down the embankment that could have been serious, but he seems to think it has fixed his back!

On Saturday we decided we would check out the tourist attractions and there is a few.  The Police Museum was the first stop and we were in luck.  It hasn't been open for sometime, but two volunteers travelling through the area, have some spare weeks before heading south to Victoria.  It is too cold to go south yet, so they have volunteered to open the Museum each day until the end of September.  The Museum is not normally open on the weekend, but they had just come up to get a few brochures to deliver somewhere.  So they were happy to take our money, $2.50 each, and tell us about the Museum.  I gave them 10 out of 10 for their dedication to volunteering in this area.  Their caravan is home for Stan and Annette and has been for something like 18 years.

The Museum was filthy when they volunteered their services.  We could imagine how dirty it must have been, because half of the outside walls are louvered timber,  Built that way because of the heat...but!  Most of the displays had been removed and were stored at the Victoria Daly Regional Council Offices.  Stan and Annette had been given free reign to display the material as they have wished.  I think they thought there should have been someone from administration that had checked their setup! I'm not sure how long it is since the Museum was last opened.  Stan has done lots of reading and was able to give us a very good overview of what it was like for the policemen when they were sent to Timber Creek.  

The aboriginals were the first to settle the area.  Augustus Charles Gregory, explorer and surveyor-general came in 1855 and reported reasonable pastoral settlement in the catchment of the Victoria River.  Gregory named the area Timber Creek which was later to become the town, because of the timber growing on the creek, which he had used t to repair his expedition’s boat. By the early 1900's pastoral properties were being settled and there were incidents of violence between the aborigines and the pastoralists.  Pastoralist's were able to enforce their claims through legislation of the day.  The legislation entitled protection from aboriginal resistors who killed cattle and the need to establish a  police station became apparent.

 A Police Station was constructed in 1898 and upgraded in 1908, when the river traffic grew and more land was settled.  What is now the Police Museum was used until the late 1930's. There were some horrific stories of the crimes and the way prisoners were treated, recorded at the Museum as one could imagine.   Today police still play a very vital role in this community.  The area they service is as big as Tasmania.  The 100th anniversary of a police force in Timber Creek was celebrated on the 30th May 1998 and there is a plaque at the Police Museum recognising the event.  The building is on the National Trust List.

From there we went up to the Nackeroo Monument Lookout and the Town Lookout.  From the Town Lookout we realised there was a lot more to Timber Creek than you see from the Victoria Highway.  Later in the afternoon we went on the Victoria River Sunset Cruise and  Neville Fogarty gave us lots of facts about the town.  You need to do a tour to get the history and stories!  The population of the town is 300 and when Neville came to Timber Creek 35 years ago, there was a population of 11.  There are 60 children at the school on a good day!  1991 saw the highest flood in Timber Creek when the water was above the top of the trees on the bank of Big Horse Creek.  It is hard to imagine that much water flowing down the river.  At the Victoria River Roadhouse we saw the water level mark on the wall.  It is about six inches above the bar.  To think that there was that much water flowing through the Roadhouse Bar is amazing!

The North Australian Observation Unit affectionately known as the 'Nackeroos' was established by Major W.E.H Stanner in 1942.  Major Stanner came up with the concept of a group of 'bush commandos' to watch over Northern Australia following the Japanese bombing of the Top End and the North West.  Headquarters were set up at Katherine and companies were based at Gregory, Roper and the Ord Rivers.  Their task was to patrol the northern coastal areas (usually on horseback) looking for signs of enemy activity.  They also manned the fixed coast watch stations and ran a signals network for Northern Australia.  At its peak the Unit consisted of 550 men and employed 59 aboriginal people.  The unit was disbanded in March 1945.  From the net I have found that the monument was put there in about 1999 by 'Monument Australia' who is a self-funded, non-profit organisation, dedicated to recording monuments throughout Australia.

Peter and Dennis went fishing again.  This time at Big Horse Creek where there is a free campground and a boat ramp.  Still no fish, although Dennis did catch a little barra, fishing aboriginal style as he said.  With his hand line.  It wasn't big enough and maybe if there hadn't been people looking on, it may have made its way to the pan!  Someone said on the cruise "They don't call the barramundi the elusive fish for nothing"!  But the water has got too cold now.  Best time to fish for barra is between March and May, but in saying that a guy that was at Policeman's Point on Friday night, went fishing there again at 4.30am on Saturday morning and caught himself a 84cm barra!  Pete wasn't that keen and I guess we also didn't see the catch.  He only told us about it!

At 4.00pm John, Dorothy and I went on the Victoria River Sunset Cruise.  We had booked it at the Croc Shop and Neville Fogarty took us in his 1971 Leyland old school bus, purchased in Adelaide, to Big Horse Creek where we boarded his boat the 'Fleet Wing'.  Neville told us story after story and knew plenty about the crocs and the wildlife on the river.  I think it was in 2015 that Timber Creek was cut off from the rest of the world, following a storm in which  248 mls of rain fell in 24 hours.  They had all these tourists stuck in the town, so they had a cricket match on Victoria Highway.  "Might as well use the highway" Neville said. "No one would be travelling it"! It was Timber Creek versus the rest of the world and Neville said "They flogged them"!

The Bradshaw Station which is on the Timber Creek side of the Victoria River was sold to the Australian Government in 1996.   It is now a Military Field Training Area and is used by the Australian Army.  It occupies 870,000 hectares.  A large dirt airstrip has been built by the Australian Defense Force.   It is used by Australian, US, and other forces from other countries (including Singapore) for infantry and armoured formation manoeuvre, ground and air live firing and bombing.  There are some impressive military photos on the net and my internet research has revealed more than I imagined was happening on Bradshaw Station, as we enjoyed cruising down the Victoria River.  Guess I didn't think enough about it really!  A bridge has been constructed over the Victoria River for access to the Military Field Training area and the cost was $10 million according to Neville.  You are able to walk over the bridge, but the gate at the end is locked.  Big improvements to the road in that area are also being undertaken and Nev says "That's costing $38 million".

On the cruise we saw a few big crocodiles,wallabies down drinking at the edge of the river and a female and a male Jabiru.  The female has a yellow ring around its eyes.  Neville fed the Kite birds bread and they came swooping in to pick it up in their claws.  The kite is also very quick at getting a fish when thrown.  These birds have very sharp claws to catch and fetch their prey.  Most tour operators in the north of Australia incorporate throwing food to the kites  It was a challenge to keep the camera on them to get a snap,  especially as I had taken the zoom lens.  But I'm pretty happy with the photos I got!

We travelled 30 kms down the river to where the Bradshaw Homestead is.  The Australian Government has a caretaker couple in the homestead .  Neville has a pontoon on the river and we boarded it for a complimentary soft drink and nibbles.  While we enjoyed the dip, biscuits, nuts etc including fruit, Neville fished for small catfish.  He put the fish on a tray which swung out to the side of the pontoon.  This enable us to be ready with the cameras for when the Sea Eagle swooped in to pick up the fish in its claws and the kites attempted to get the fish from the Sea Eagle, which was never going to happen!  The backdrop on the bend of the river was the stunning Yambarrin Ranges.

Back on the 'Fleet Wing' we came back up the river to the perfect spot to watch the sun set behind the ranges.  Then it was a quicker trip home and once closer to Timber Creek, the river became very flat and the reflections were quite stunning.  To finish the cruise Neville did a quick half donut at the entrance to Big Horse Creek which provided us with the last snap of the sun setting on the Victoria River.  It has been something different to stay at this small town on the Victoria Highway and we are glad we did.