Saturday 30th August
We had to turn our clocks back when we crossed into WA but
we were all still running on Australian Central Standard time so it was an
early start today. Probably the
earliest the kids have been up all trip!
Trish took pictures of the sunrise and updated the blog – a nice way to
start the day. We went for a drive down to the Lake Argyle Dam this morning. It’s
a very interesting dam and development so that Lake Kununurra further
downstream is able to supply the surrounding farmland with water year round.
Some Lake Argyle stats (in no particular order);
- Largest man-made lake in Australia
- 21 times the size of Sydney harbour
- Contains around 25,000 fresh water crocodiles
- Holds an annual 10 and 20km race!
- Has many different species of birds
- Was built over 2 years in stages to endure the
wet seasons when no work could be completed
- Brainchild of Kimberly Durack who did not quite
live to see it completed
- Involved the largest non-nuclear explosion in
the world to that date to break up the rock in the quarry
- Around 42km in length and 480km of coastline
(not including the islands which were created)
We had a swim in the infinity pool at the campground today. The pool has an amazing view however it was
the coldest water we’d swum in to date which seemed a bit odd since it’s so hot
here. It does cool down at night but the days are nearly always low to mid 30s.
We also did a Sunset cruise which left at around 2.30pm.
Greg, our tour guide had been doing it for 15 years and was full of good
information. He took us to see some rock wallabies which are on an island in
the middle of the lake. The thought of wallabies on cliff faces sounds unusual
and you’d think they wouldn’t be very agile on the rocks however they were
hopping around the steep rocks without a care in the world. We then cruised
down the lake a bit further to see quite a number of freshies, many different
kinds of birds and spiders and also got to feed some fish. Some of the fish, the
Archer fish, would spit water at you as if they were hitting insects from the
sky. Greg then took us out a bit further and said the lake then continues for
another 33km in that direction. We couldn’t see land in that direction!
Greg then took us to the buoys where the 10km race starts
and tied up so we could have a swim while he handed around some bubbles and
beers (including to those in the water if you wanted!) for the setting of the
sun which was a fantastic way to end the day.
Sunday 31st August
Today Richard was up early (around 4.30!) to set up the
GoPro for a time-lapse sunrise. Once packed we headed into Kununurra which was
only around 45min away. We had run out of breakfast stuff for the kids so
headed to the Ivanhoe Cafe after dropping the trailer off at the campground.
Breakfast was a bit so-so however the mango smoothie was fantastic.
We then headed off up the road to Ivanhoe Crossing which is
a closed ford not too far out of town. Not sure why it’s closed however there
did seem to be a lot of water going across it so maybe it’s too deep and fast
flowing for vehicles to cross safely.
Next stop was the Sandalwood Factory. Sandalwood is one of
the largest exported trees in the world. The Indian Sandalwood is mainly used
for incense however oil can be collected and made into many different
healthcare products as well as used in perfumes. Several billion incense sticks
are burnt all over the world every week. There is also a large poaching racket
going on in the rest of the world. The sandalwood tree is unusual as it
requires a host or it will not grow so another tree has to be planted beside it
which has to be a good nitrogen fixing species such as wattles.
Next stop was the Hoochery Distillery. While neither of us
drink rum, we did have a taste of 3 different ones which ranged from 40% to
around 80% alcohol. The best part though was the bowl of chips which were the
best we’d had on our travels so can highly recommend these if you visit. Oh,
better not forget the infamous rum cake too, it was very moist and wasn’t
overpowered by the rum as we thought it may be.
We then headed up to Kellys Knob which is a large hill just
on the edge of town where you can get a good view of the city before heading
into town to load up on groceries.
Then it was back to the campsite as we were meeting a niece
of one of our neighbours who was going to drop by. Narelle’s family (along with
another couple of families) came to Kununurra from Sydney in the 60s in a
double decker bus (and a couple of other cars) loaded up with equipment to
build a shop. Having been over some of the roads they would have travelled in a
4WD we know that this was a big call to drive all that way with very non-4WD
vehicles! Narelle was 6 months old at the time so doesn’t actually remember but
obviously learnt later. We talked quite a bit about the area and it was great
to get the gos from a local.
Monday 1st September
Today we headed out to Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) National
Park. It was a quick pack up and
reshuffle of the trailer and car as we were leaving the trailer at the
campground as we’d heard the road in was rough.
It’s a bit of a hike from Kununurra and while the first
200km is sealed, the 50km into the park is not and took almost as long as the first
200km. We did also have to have a stop as Keira wasn’t feeling well as it was
not only very corrugated but tight and twisty.
They do not allow double axle trailers or caravans in because of the
rough and twisty road. There were also six creek crossings in but all would
almost be negotiable by 2wd.
We stopped into the Ranger Station to register and sort out
our campground. National Parks in WA seem to be extremely well organised. We arrived
into our campground and set up the tent and then drove up to a nice spot which
is great for viewing the sunsets on the Bungle Bungle ranges. The red colours
are just amazing and it’s hard to imagine getting bored by seeing them every
day.
Tuesday 2nd September
Today we were up earlyish to do a couple of walks. The first
walk we did was into the Domes and Cathedral area. We chose to do the Cathedral
walk first as it was further away and it was going to be hot. We did have some
respite from the heat because we had to walk up a valley which was fairly
narrow and as it was early the sun had not made it in there. It wasn’t too
long, around 30min but at the end of the valley there is a very large
amphitheatre which is all sand underfoot with rock overhead. It is an
impressive sight and every whisper can be heard on the other side.
On the way back to the car we did the Domes walk. The Domes
are shaped like beehives with alternating red and black stripes and are very
interesting rock formations and are believed to be around 350 million years
old. These domes are made up of rocks which in turn are made up of smaller
pebbles and boulders cemented together with finer material. Over millions of
years, fault lines as well as wind and rain have created the formations we see
today.
We then jumped back in the car and drove to the northern end
of the Bungle Bungles to check out Echidna Chasm. This is about a 25min walk up
a dry creek bed of largish rocks which was quite hard going but interesting
enough. It gets narrower and narrower the further you go and there are also 2 –
3 points where it looks like it stops however when you get there you find it
heads off at 90 degrees left or right then curls back to the same direction.
There are also a number of boulders to hop over which look impassable until you
walk right up to them and find either a narrow opening or you can clamber over
it. It kind of reminded Richard of some sort of Indiana Jones adventure.
We then headed back out to the main road and then onto
Kununurra to set up the camper trailer. It was a bit late at this point so we
ordered some Chinese takeaway and then crashed after a big couple of days.
Wednesday 3rd September
Today we decided we’d have breakfast at Wild Mango as it had
a very good reputation for good food and coffee. We weren’t disappointed
however one thing we’ve noticed is food seems expensive in Kununurra as a
fairly basic breakfast was around $20 and then it just went up. The previous
nights Chinese also started around $18 a main also. The coffee was worth it
though.
After a quick shop at Coles and filling up all fuel
containers (almost $300!) we headed out to the Zebra Rock Gallery. Zebra rock
is found near Kununurra and is thought to be around 600 million years old.
As we were close to the Ord River, the Gallery supplied some
bread for us to feed the fish. There were many catfish here as well as a few
spotted Archer fish. The Gallery also have some parrots who talk but all we
could get out of them was Hello, Goodbye and bye bye. There are also some
Peacocks and Pea hens there.
After yet another very nice mango smoothie, we headed out to
start the trek along the Gibb River Road (GRR). The GRR has had a reputation of
breaking cars and trailers due to the rough corrugations so it was with a small
amount of trepidation we turned left at the sign.
We weren’t heading far this day and headed off the GRR (which
is still sealed to this point) to El Questro Resort. As we learnt, the resort
is managed by an American company, Delaware North, who own a number of resorts
around the world but originally the company catered for large events such as
large gridiron games and the like. You can swim in the river but as it is still
a running cattle station both Richard and Trish could smell the cows in the
river. There is a Homestead here which is set up as a posh resort but you
cannot even visit as you have to be a paying customer to go there. We believe
room rates start at around $1,500 a night, perhaps another day. Happy hour was
from 5 until 6 and Richard enjoyed a Matsos Ginger beer which is made in Broome
and thinks he will need to visit the brewery when we make it there.
Thursday 4th September
This morning Richard bumped into a young family we had
camped beside at Carmila Beach about 8 weeks ago. These guys were from Hornsby
Heights so not far from us in Sydney.
They recommended a visit to Zebedee Springs so once we’d packed up we
stopped there for about an hour or so. These are spring fed pools which are
around 34 degrees and sit at the bottom of a large escarpment. The springs are
a bit different as they come out the side of the escarpment and then run down
past some very large boulders and create small pools. There are several
different levels and we had the top pool to ourselves for quite a while.
We then headed back to the GRR and back tracked a bit to
Emma Gorge. There is another resort here although no camping and is also owned
by the same company as El Questro. It did look very nice. From here you can
walk up to Emma Gorge for a swim which we did at a fairly relaxed pace as the
kids weren’t feeling very well and weren’t really happy about going. It was
very hot, in the mid to high 30s and it was a bit of a scramble over some rocks
for the second part but the last third or so was in the shade so much more
pleasant. Once there it’s a fantastic sight with high walls surrounding you and
water trickling down and dropping off the sides. It’s quite a large deep pool
and was very, um, refreshing I think you’d call it. On the right hand side
though, under the sheer cliff, was a spring fed stream which was warm so the
three girls spent a lot of time sitting in there. It must be quite a sight in
the wet season and we must google it when we get some internet access to check
it out. The kids did brighten up after the swim forgetting they had not been
feeling well and fair raced back down to the resort car park. Perhaps it was
the promise of an ice cream?
We then jumped back in the car to head out to Home Valley
Station. Before getting to the station, we had to cross the Pentecost River.
This river is can be quite high but since we are travelling during the latter
part of the dry season, it was quite low. We drove through, Trish hopped out,
Richard drove back and then Trish videoed us driving back through with the
Cockburn Ranges in the background.
Home Valley Station is another large station which has several
levels of accommodation and both Trish and I immediately liked the look and
feel of the place and we’d only seen the pool, restaurant and the bar area! We
decided to forgo the luxuries though and headed down to the Pentecost riverside
camping area. We got down there just in time and decided to setup a chair and have
a beer watching the sunset on the Cockburn Ranges before setting up the tent.
Friday 5th September
Today we headed out towards another station called
Ellenbrae. This station is owned by the Grollo family from Melbourne who own
one of the largest construction companies in Australia.
Ellenbrae is well known for its scones so it was compulsory
we stopped and saw what all the fuss was about. The scones did not disappoint
and were wonderful although everyone thought they deserved both homemade jam
and cream. They also have a very large boab tree there which is thought to be
around 1,000 years old. This station has
the smallest homestead on the GRR. The “homestead”
consists of the kitchen (no outside walls that we could see) and one other room
they used as an office and a store room.
The caretakers who live there fulltime sleep in a donga (portable room)
out the back. Very quaint to see but
must present its challenges to live in!
We then travelled on to Mt Barnett Roadhouse to top up on
fuel and book in for camping by the Barnett River. We drove down to the river
and found it was a large spacious area with lots of shade. After much
discussion as to where the sun was going to come up in the morning, we set the
tent up.
Saturday 6th September
Upon waking, the generator comes on at 5.30am, we found we’d
got it all wrong as to where the sun came up and found we were in direct
sunlight. After that laugh, we discovered Keira wasn’t feeling well and was
very pale and didn’t really want to get up. We decided we’d leave the kids there
and walk into Manning Gorge. The first part of the walk involves jumping in a
tinnie and pulling yourself across so you didn’t get yourself wet unless you
really wanted to. The walk itself is a bit of a trek across country, up and
down gulley’s and takes around an hour and since it was in full sunlight, was very
hot. We were both looking forward to a swim at the end.
The gorge itself is very nice and while much more open than
Emma Gorge, is still a fantastic spot. There are a number of rocks you can jump
from into the water, some easily 10m although Richard did manage to get to
about 3m before losing his nerve.
After walking out, it was time again for a swim at the
campsite before packing up the tent and then having another swim to cool down.
We didn’t have a big drive today as we were going along to a National Park
campsite called Silent Grove. On the way we stopped in at the Imintji Roadhouse
which has some high recommendations on the phone app we’ve been using called
Wiki Camps.
(Just as an aside,
this app is downloadable for iPhone and Android and gives you a fantastic
amount of information, not just camping (and a list of free camps and
facilities), but also all the attractions etc in particular areas. It is a very
useful app if you’re doing any kind of travelling around Australia as people
can also rate and comment on all points of interest. We found it particularly
useful when travelling some of the gravel roads as to which ones had been
recently graded and which ones to avoid).
The Imintji Roadhouse is a well stocked little shop for all
those essential supplies as well as some very nice non-essential supplies like
, you guessed it, ice creams. They also boasted the cheapest diesel on the GRR
although that didn’t help us much with petrol. We then carried on to our
national park campsite at Silent Grove, where we learnt the ranger who is
stationed there has been there for the past 15 years which is a good record.
Sunday 7th September
Today we packed up early (managed to get the tent up to
avoid the early sun this time!) and headed down to Bell Gorge. We’d heard a bit
about Bell Gorge and that it was one of the best gorges on the GRR so were
looking forward to it. By the time we got to the car park though, it had
already hit around 30 so was going to be a warm walk in and out. The walk in
was ok, you get to the top of the falls (which actually had a bit of water
flowing which was nice) and then you have to clamber down over some rocks to
get to the pool at the bottom for a swim. We managed to get down ok and even
into the water without too much problem but getting out of the water was tricky
as it was very slippery with all the algae on the rock surface. Once in though,
the water was really really nice and we probably spent the best part of 90
minutes here swimming and jumping off rocks. Trish did manage to slip and cut
the bottom of her foot here though. It was quite hot getting out and as we’d
run out of battery power for the fridge/freezer, we decided to head back to the
Imintji store for some ice to help keep the fridge cool so the batteries didn’t
have too much to do as we still had another night without a powered site. After
our ice cream J (and
real coffee and apple, pear, raspberry and blueberry slice), we headed on to
Windjana Gorge NP campground. Once again, it was a really nice little campsite
and if it weren’t for a nice man walking past, we’d have got the morning shade
all wrong again too. The ranges/escarpments here are amazing, great large
“fingers” of black rock reaching to the sky. We had read it was very nice
heading into the first part of the gorge to check out the sunset so after
setting up we grabbed a beer and headed in. While the river is not running, you
pass a couple of large pools which are occupied by lots and lots of fresh water
crocodiles. There were around a dozen or so in the first one and the kids
thought that was pretty exciting. We headed further in to watch the show and it
was very nice with all the colours on the rock faces as well as watching the
full moon come up over one particularly prominent rock formation. We bumped
into some folk from Melbourne who had been told when it was dark, the bats
would fly low across the water and the crocs would leap up to try and catch
them. We didn’t hang around to see though as we didn’t think the bats would be
that stupid.
Monday 8th September
Up early, we chatted with the couples from Melbourne and
found that the bats didn’t fly out over the water and they thought whoever told
them that was “having a lend” of them. We donned our camelbak (water backpacks)
and headed into the gorge to see how far we could get. Part of the walk had
been closed so it was around a 5km round trip, or so we thought. We started out
ok but as it got hotter and hotter, Richard looked at his phone which told him
(Strava) that we’d travelled almost 4km and hadn’t reached the closed sign. The
kids stopped for a sit down and a break which Trish and Richard pushed on to
see how much further it was to go however after a while we both thought we
shouldn’t leave the kids there for too long so since Trish’s foot was a bit
sore she headed back while Richard headed off at a quicker pace. He did come
across the sign however it was at the 4.6km mark rather than the 2.5km mark.
Track markings, to this point, had been almost spot on so the only thing we
could think is this is “as the crow flys” but even then we thought it was a bit
of a stretch. We did manage to see many more crocs, they reckon up to 100 will
get stuck in here during the dry season. We were a bit hot when we arrived back
to the campsite and since we’d left early we still had to take the tent down
and pack up.
Once packed up, we headed towards Tunnel Creek but on the
way we stopped at the Lillimooloora police station where Jandamarra was
held. The story of Jandamarra is an
important one in the Aboriginal history as he started the first resistance to Europeans
taking the Aboriginal land. Up until
this point the Europeans had taken whatever land they liked and employed
strategies to keep the local folk under control. Jandamarra was the first to fight back. There were terrible casualties on both sides
but this meant it was big news and as such people started to take notice of
both the controlling strategies and the land use. Jandamarra was killed in the end but he hid
out for a couple of years in Windjana Gorge and Tunnel creek.
We got to Tunnel Creek, emptied a couple of jerry cans into
CJ, had a bite to eat for lunch then headed into the caves. You can walk right
through from one side of the Napier Ranges to the other and this is how
Jandamarra evaded capture for quite a long time as the authorities were not
aware this existed. There was also a cave there which he would hole up in. You
have to wade through several pools of water which is interesting in the dark
and Keira wasn’t real happy about it, especially since the last pool we waded
through had three freshies in it! I have to say, I think we all had a bit of
extra speed to get through that pool. The caves are quite big and part way
through there are a colony of bats which of course meant it didn’t smell so
good for a few minutes. There are also a colony of ghost bats in the first part
of the cave which are Australia’s only carnivorous bats. They are tiny little bats which hide away in
the top of the caves.
We got back to the car, changed out of our wet footwear then
headed towards civilisation in Derby. One the way though we came across a lady
who’d stopped by the side of the road and had run out of petrol. She had had a
repair done to fix a crack in her petrol tank but they’d somehow broken the
fuel gauge and while it read ¼ full, it was completely empty. She was travelling
with a friend and the friend had taken two jerry cans, got a lift into Derby
and had made it part of the way back but not all the way and still had 80km or
so to go. As we’d just emptied the last of our spare fuel into CJ earlier we
couldn’t help and after making sure she had food and water drove on only to
stop about 2min later and try to siphon some petrol from CJ. There must be some
sort of anti-siphon doodad in the fuel tank as we just couldn’t get the hose
into the fuel. Thankfully we hadn’t tried to do it when we were with her to get
her hopes up. We drove on to where her friend had last been but figured she’d
managed to catch a lift as she had gone from the spot.
We arrived into Derby, set the tent up and raced on down to
the fish and chip shop recommended by the campground staff. It didn’t
disappoint and the barramundi was very nice although the burgers were just ok.
We had dinner down on the pier which is an interesting place to go at low and
high tide as Derby gets the second highest tides in the world, something like
10-11 metre high tides, something to check out tomorrow.
Tuesday 9th September
Today we packed up, grabbed some fuel and headed back down
to the pier. It is quite impressive as it is quite high off the sand and there
were folk dangling crab pots over the side ready for the tide to come in. We
visited the Derby prison where many Aboriginals were held awaiting trial or
sentencing. It was a reminder of how tough things were and reminded us a bit of
being at Auswitz in Germany and how the prisoners were held and even executed.
On the edge of town there is an artist called Mark Norval
who paints and also does iron sculptures. The art is quite different with lots
of emus, aboriginal faces among other interesting items. He also has a love of
old British music and has a very enviable collection of some hundreds of vinyl
records.
Next stop was an Aboriginal Art gallery which was very
interesting as there was a short video on the local people and their belief in the
Wandjina which is the being the three local tribes hold as their creator.
About 5 minutes outside of town on the way to Broome is a
boab tree which is where they would hold prisoners on their way to or from the
Derby jail. The tree has a very large trunk which is hollow and has a narrow
opening through which the prisoners would go in. Rumour had it they would put
up to 30 people in there at one time. Just near the tree is also a cattle
trough which was supposed to be the longest in the world at the time it was
built. It is 120m long and could water up to 500 head of cattle at a time.
Cattle were brought this way from inland to be loaded onto boats for overseas
markets.
On the road to Broome, we had been told the Willare
Roadhouse had good cryovaced meat so we stopped in there for a look and also a
bite of lunch. We bumped into the family from Hornsby Heights again who were
also on their way to Broome. Neither of us had chosen a campground yet, but
would do so on the remainder of the drive. So, as we pull into the Palm Grove
Campground, who should pull in just behind us but the guys from Hornsby Heights,
Scott and Tanya. We’d obviously read all the same reviews etc on Wiki Camps and
figured this was the one for us. We set up camp beside each other and before long
the kids were all playing together. Our
kids are a bit older but it didn’t matter and they had a quick play before we
all headed off to the market. In Broome, when the moon is full and the tide is
low, there is an effect called “Staircase to the Moon”. When the moon rises
above the horizon and you look from a particular angle, it looks like there is
a staircase along the sand and water rising up to the moon. The market was held
near one of the viewing spots so they had food stalls and live music and a
handful of stalls selling the usual market gear. Then at around 6pm, everyone
heads to the top of a bank (which just happens to be in the middle of a
cemetery) to watch the moon come up. It was quite spectacular to watch with the
naked eye however our cameras (our phones!) didn’t really capture it very well
so we figure we may have to buy a print done by a professional.
Once the moon had risen enough, we headed back to the
campground and had dinner and a couple of drinks with our neighbours. As it
turns out, Scott (the dad) rides mountain bikes and works at one of the upper
north shore boys schools as a PE teacher. His job is to take a bunch of kids up
to the Blue Mountains to stay at their (what I would call) lodge which is
called The Grange. For some of you this may be a familiar name as we go up
there with a number of other families every year as you can rent it for a long
weekend when it’s not in use. It’s on a few acres of bushland and Scott had
made a nice little mountain bike track which Richard had ridden a couple of
years ago. There is a phone app (called Strava) where you can log your rides
(and compare with your mates) and Richard had done this here and to his
surprise had the KOM (king of the mountain) on this track, although, this had
happened by default as he was the only one to have put it on Strava at the
time. A few months back Richard remembers seeing an email come through saying
his KOM was no more and someone
else had claimed it. It was none other than Scott who had done this and at the
time, he’d wondered who Richard Noah was. So, we come all the way to Broome,
bump into another family a couple of times prior and find out we have a whole
raft of things in common.
Wednesday 10th September
Today we packed up to head to Cape Leveque. We had heard the
road was pretty rough and had thought about leaving the trailer behind but
thought we’d risk it. Once we’d swapped details and said goodbye to our
neighbours, funny how quickly kids become attached to each other, we headed out
to a drive through coffee van (parked in a small car park and you just drive
through and order through your window, which of course means Richard has to
open his door as his window is still not working!) did some grocery shopping,
fuelled up and hit the road. The first part of the road is sealed and even the
first 20km or so was fine however the road did deteriorate shortly after and
our speed was right down to around 20kph or so. After about an hour and a half
of that, the road is sealed again so fine thereafter. We arrived into Kooljaman
which offers unpowered camping through to 4 star (still in a tent but with
beds, your own toilet, shower etc). We chose one of the beach shelters which
put us down on the beach which was nice. We did have a bit of an issue getting
in on the sand and had to let the tyres down to around 20psi to get the trailer
in beside our shelter though. The shelter is a large thatched affair with 3
walls and opens to the sea so you can sit and look out however it is not water
proof. The shelter has a cold water shower in the corner to rinse off after a
swim. As our kitchen can slide right out of the trailer we removed it and put
it onto the picnic table inside the shelter.
Once we’d setup the tent, we headed back over to the other
side of the hill to watch the sunset. The kids had volunteered to make dinner
tonight and had drawn up a four course menu which started with nibbles and a
drink while watching the sun go down over the sea. We then headed back to our
shelter so the adults could sit and relax while dinner was being made. We had a
lovely entree of baguette with ham, cheese and tomato, followed by spaghetti
bolognaise and dessert which was ice cream with salted caramel topping and
wafer all in a waffle basket. It was just wonderful.
