Broome via Gibb River Road

We have been traveling down the Gibb River Road. We started with a few days in Kunnunarra with visits to Wyndam and a few days in El Questro where we watched the sun set and barked at a kangaroo from the Saddleback Look Out.

We set off down the Gibb River Road that was all dirt and we thought it was rough, until we turned off towards the Mitchell Falls. That road was so rough Tiffany had to sit on KnK's lap because she could not cope with the noise and the bouncing. We stayed in Drysdale camp 1 night then went to the King Edward River camp where we went for walks and a swim in the King Edward River. Keith's Facebook has some pics of us there. Dogs were not allowed in Mitchell Falls so we were 'dog sat' by Maggie and Minties humans while KnK went to the falls, then they swapped next day so we had 2 days in King Edward River.

After that we went to Manning Gorge where we had a big swim in the river and a walk along the bank. The water was lovely and cool, and it also washed off a lot of the dirt, dust, weeds and prickles that had stuck to our coats.

We moved on to Derby and the end of the Gibb River Road where we went out for dinner. (The humans got the dinner, we just got the odd scraps, but we were allowed to lie under the table).

We went to Broome and did the tourist thing, looking at lots of places like the Port and the dinasaur footprints.
The photos show us swimming in Manning Gorge, sight-seeing at the Broome Port and playing on Cable beach. There were lots more pictures, but there is not enough room to show them all. Click on the picture to get a bigger version.

Lake Argyle

The four of us are at Lake Argyle in Western Australia. A huge lake, but we can not swim in it because of the fresh water crocodiles. The humans took turns at going on a boat on the lake while we were left behind at the camp. We had walks and plays and met some people. Hannah nearly had a heart attack when one of the grounds ladies came up from behind, but it was ok in the end and we all got pats from her. The days are quite warm, but the nights are cool so we get good sleeps.

The Adventure begins.

We have set out on our big trip to Western Australia and the Gibb River Road. The pic shows us at the Ranges View rest stop north of Port Augusta where we stopped for lunch. The photo shows Hannah, then me (Tiffany) then Maggie and Mintie.
Our first night was with Sasha at Bute where we barked at the chooks, chased the cats and had a good sniff around Sasha's yard.
It has been a hectic trip, stopping at Coober Pedy (cold night) and then Alice Springs (Very Cold Night). We are now in Tennant Creek where it is a bit warmer.
Tomorrow we go further north and onto the dirt roads where the adventure will truly begin.

Hannah gets her TD title

We have had a busy weekend with Agility Games on Saturday and Tracking on Sunday. The prize of the weekend was Hannah getting her Tracking Dog Title.
We set out early on Saturday to go to the Games trial. The Strategic Pairs was a great time, it was only marred by us having a play for about 30 seconds in the middle of it, otherwise we went well even if we were over time. In the Gamblers we did not do very well, but in Snooker Excellent I got a pass in 5th place overall. Hannah was doing well until she jumped off the dog walk.
On Sunday we got up even earlier to get to Monarto by 7 AM to do our Track 2. Hannah went first, found Keith and a sock, ( the other sock disappeared, that's 2 socks we have lost). Then it was my turn, I found Kathy and both socks on the track. I was doing very well until near the end I had a bit of trouble finding the scent in the trees. Kathy said there had been some rabbits and a kangaroo running about near that point. I got a Good rating,
Somebody did not turn up for their trial, so there was a track prepared with no one to use it. The organisers then put everybody's name eligible for that track in a hat and Hannah got picked out to use the spare track. She had to track an unknown person for Track 3 which she had never done before. She had a bit of trouble at the start, but once she worked out what to do she followed the track, found the track layer and the articles and was rated as Very Good. The pic shows Hannah on the closing stage of the track with about 50 metres to go as she qualified for her Tracking Dog Title. Keith took the pic with his telephoto lens on his camera from about 100 metres away..
All in all, we had a good weekend.

Tracking Trials

Hannah and I both passed our first Tracking trials today. Hannah went first so I had to stay in the car with Scruff, (he is visiting with us for a few days while his mum is away).
Keith went off and hid in the bush, then 20 minutes later, Hannah went off and found him. The sock vanished somewhere, so Hannah could not find it, but she still passed.
Then it was my turn. This time Kathy hid in the bush and I was sent to find her with Keith trying to keep up on a long lead. When I found the sock, I pounced on it and threw it up in the air just to make sure the judge knew I had found it. We carried on and I found Kathy hiding behind a bush.  I had a bit of trouble on the turns, but I worked through that and finished with a "Good" rating.
The pic shows us lined up with some of our tracking friends, after the trial.

6 of Each

I passed 2 trials at Warrnambool, 1 Agility and 1 Jumping. That makes 6 passes in each class, and I need 1 more in each class to get a Masters title in both of them. The pic shows me doing the weaving poles in the Masters Agility with Keith trying to keep up. Judge Sue is watching on but the flag masked her face from the camera. I got 2nd in my height category in Agility and 3rd in Jumping.
We went very close to getting the final passes for my titles too. On a Jumping course I dropped bar number 22 on a 24 obstacle course, and in an Agility trial, I missed a Tunnel mouth and got everything else.
Hannah did not have many runs as Kathy was judging. The courses she ran she did well with only 1 or 2 faults, but we won't talk about the obedience.
Maggie and Minty were there but Maggie could not play because of her shoulder injury. (Maggie's Mum took the photo.) We did find lots of our other friends to play with at the trials, especially a border collie pup that was up to mischief with everybody.

The Off Road Kennel

The pic shows us trying out the new off road kennel. We got as far as Keith before we had to stop for the night. There was some delay in starting out as Keith had to buy some fuses that kept popping, whatever that means. Anyway, we got here, put the camper up, and had dinner. Our first night in a new kennel is always exciting, especially as KnK were trying to work out who forgot what, as there are some bags that got left home with some vital bits in them. Our food and beds are here, so what else could be important?
Tomorrow we go to Warrnambool for dog trials so we have a busy weekend ahead.