Australia day 45 – Broome, WA

Posted on Wednesday, 29 Apr 2009 by Hattie

Broome is a charming and attractive holiday destination, a tropical pearling port founded in the late 1880s.  The pearling industry remains a core activity producing some of the world’s finest pearls.  It’s a town of large roundabouts and traffic islands, high curbstones, wide grass and verges, palms, tropical flowering shrubs,  and long stretches of road which give the impression of being the infrastructure awaiting residential development.  Like Darwin, it’s small airport is the hub of this small, compact town of 13,500.

Our first stop is Wicked to book in a service for the van tomorrow morning.  Once that’s done we take a picnic onto the beach, rig up some shade using a tarp and Andy settles down to some fishing.  There are a couple of Aborigines fishing bit further along the shore and one  comes over to chat and offer us some bait.  And can he chat!  Soon we are being invited to visit him at One Arm Point, a remote 200km plus drive to the tip of the Dampier peninsular, and he will take us fishing, show us around etc, etc.  Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen given our lack of 4wd, but we haven’t the heart to say so.  Still no fish on the line, but then our new friend doesn’t seem to be having any more success  and the seagulls are swooping down in the hope of stealing some of his bait.

We visit China Town, which is an area of boutique shops, galleries, pearl showrooms, cafes and restaurants – but it’s not remotely like any China town you might imagine. Attractive white corrugated buildings with covered verandas make it an attractive and charming area to browse but.  We are here with a purpose, to find a book on India – preferably secondhand – to help with our research.  The only secondhand bookshop in Broome doesn’t have any books on India, but has a friendly and chatty couple running it and we get chatting about ‘We of the never, never’ a well-known Aussie autobiography and that leads to family trees and English connections…

We spend the rest of the afternoon at Town Beach.  A small, mangrove-fringed beach with a small park, cafe, children’s playground and a few palms for shade.  This is lovely beach and we take a swim in sparkling blue warm water.  No-one seems to worry too much about box jelly fish even though this is still the season for them.  But the water is just too tempting to resist.  Ah, this is the life! 

There is a campsite on the beach and we stop the night here.

 

 

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Australia day 44 – Nillibubbica Rest Area to Broome, WA

Posted on Tuesday, 28 Apr 2009 by Hattie

Another beautiful sunrise greets our awakening;  all pinks and reds as the sun makes its gradual appearance.  A rather large and impressive bull has wandered onto the rest area from the surrounding station and is gradually making it’s way around the periphery.  Eventually it is grazing a few feet from our van as we sit having breakfast.  Fortunately it is a placid creature, more interested in the grass than us. 


 

It should be about 80km to Broome – about an hour’s drive further along the highway, only we turn the wrong way out of the rest area and don’t realise until we’ve done about 40km! 

Duh!  Signage on the highway is very understated in this part of the world, consisting almost entirely of distance posts on the side of the road with the initials of the next town.  Ah, we should concentrate more, now it will take us twice the time to get to Broome!

 

We arrive in Broome late morning; our psychological half-way point on our road trip to Perth and where we intend to break the journey to kick back and relax for a few days.  And what a beautiful place to kick back in!  Broome town is situated on a peninsular surrounded on three sides by the Indian Ocean – such a delicate and inviting shade of blue.  Almost immediately we come across MacDonalds – the first since Darwin – and we have access to free wifi again!  Now we can really get down to researching the next leg of our trip.  The tap water is drinkable and there are public showers which all in all makes Broome is look a very attractive place to stop. 

 

Next stop is Cable Beach, a wonderful expanse of blue sea and white sand, where we stop for a late lunch on the grass in the shade of one of the palm trees.

 

We decide not to rough camp tonight, although there are supposed to be some secluded sites further up the coast around Willie Creek and beyond.  We investigate the track and decide that we will err on the side of caution after our last experience and as the sun is fading fast  we will settle for a caravan park just outside town.

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Australia day 43 – Fitzroy Crossing to Nillibubbica Rest Area, WA

Posted on Monday, 27 Apr 2009 by Hattie

It’s a long, long and very straight road with flat savannah as far as the eye can see;  in this landscape  bend in the road is something to be commented on.  A long day of driving – we are seven hours on the road making our way towards Broome.  The monotony of the landscape is broken for a short while by some fla-topped hills, green and lush, rising out of  the dry  grasses of the savannah.  And by some remarkable wetland which seems completely incongruous in the midst of what from the dryness all around.  Mid-afternoon we see rain clouds gathering ahead of us and as we approach we can see them dissolving into rain miles way.  Then we can smell the rain.  Then comes the buffetting winds and finally the deluge. The torrential rain is quickly flooding the gullies along the road side and we can barely see ahead.  What are we driving into?  We’ve hit a very localised tropical storm and within two or three kilometres we are out the other side and back into glorious sunshine again.


 

We have picked a campsite on station land at Langley Crossing, about12 km off the highway along an unsealed road.  At  first the road is reasonable if a bit corrugated and we have to keep weaving back and forth across the road to avoid being shaken to pieces.  But we are forced to turn back after about 9km;  the road is just too rutted for our two-wheel drive and there is a real danger that we could get stuck here, particularly should it rain again, which judging by the clouds and distant rainbows is a distinct possiblity.  Instead we have to settle for the rather barren rest area at Nillibubbica on the side of the highway.

 

Another astounding sunset rounds off the day;  the clouds across the sky all pinks, blues and purples whilst a deep orange glow surrounds the setting sun.  The colours changing subtlety as sun slips down below the horizon.  These are the best times of the day – late afternoon and early morning  the  light is soft and the shadows long in comparison the the harsh, unrelenting blaze of  the daytime sun. 

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Australia day 42 – Mary Pool camp ground to Fitzroy Crossing, WA

Posted on Sunday, 26 Apr 2009 by Hattie

What a beautifful morning – as the sun pops it head above the trees casting a soft yellow light on the underside of the cloud.  Cws are grazing the site and the ubiquitous white parrots are grouped on the ground creating pools of white.  We take a sshort stroll along the river  bank, but the river seems a ong way off across the mostly dry bed. 


 

Onward to Fitzroy Crossing is ourdtination today, a further 178 km down the road. Along the way we spot our first dingo scavenging something dead in the road;  he makes off into the bush pretty smartish as we approaah.  There are far more cattle now, some with a death wish as they stroll nochantly across the highway.   Judging by the number f carcasses on the roadsde they are often successful.  Atone spot there is an upturned car on the verge and a cow, egs in the air on the other’  the aftermth of a collision probably late one night.  But we stop to check there is none in the car and  find ol a pari of shoes neately placed on the upturned side of the vehicle. 

 

Fitzroy Crossinng is quie; it’s Sunday and the visitors centre is closed.  It’s lunchtime and we are just in time to catch the shops before they close fr the today.  We stay in Taruna Campsite in the centre of town.  Have a welccome shower, do some washing and have lunch before setting of to visit Geikie Gorge National Park.  This is a lovely park with some interesting boulder outcrops.  The gorge has been carved by the Fitzroy River through an ancient limestone reef and there is a delightful walk along the sandy, tree-lined banks.  We spot a couple of ‘freshies’ their snouts just visible above the water.

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Australia day 41 – Spring Creek to Mary Pool camping ground via Halls Creek, WA

Posted on Saturday, 25 Apr 2009 by Hattie


The scenery along the Savannah Way between Spring Creek and Mary River is more diverse.  The usual flat savannah landscape gives way to undulating countryside with magnificent ranges in the distance east and west, changing to a landscape of of boulders some precariously balanced some looking like huge piles of rubble, and then flat expanses with little vegetation apart from mounds of spinifex grass and the occasional bush breaking up areas of bare red-brown earth. Then the golden yellows, reds and greens of the savannah landscape, which dominates this part of the world, reappear. 

 

We stop for a while in Hall’s Creek and drop in to the visitor’s centre.  We are in the heart of Aboriginal country although it’s the  whitefellas who seem to run the businesses and man the information centre.  We have wander round and come across a the civic noticeboard.  The Anzac Day Parade and service was held at 5.45 am this morning – which makes getting up for the 11am Remembrance Day Service seem like a walk in the park by comparison!  The timing is determined by the hour of the landings at Gallipoli during the First World War where 8000 Australian and New Zealanders lost their lives.  There are some interesting community notices – residents are only allowed two dogs per household and the authorities come and inspect everyone’s home to ensure they comply.  Contravention of the dangerous dog laws can result in a fine of up to $4000 (£2000)!

 

There is not much in town to keep us here; a few shops, a couple of roadhouses.  It’s very quiet.   We take a detour 45 kms along the unsealed Duncan Road south-east of town to two tranquil swimming holes at Palm Springs and Sawpit Gorge.  Along the way we stop at China Wall, a  6m high wall of quartz protruding out of the ground – the longest single fault of its type in the world.  There is no-one else here apart from two wallabies who hurriedly hop away.  

 

Palm Springs isn’t so tranquil;  there are already four or five 4wd parties here and more come along after us, making this small out-of-the-way spot very crowded.  The irony of it!  How deep into the outback do you have to go to get away from other people, we wonder?.  We were assured categorically by the man at the visitors centre that both these ‘swimming’ holes are safe – no crocs.  We are just about to don our swimming gear and join the throng when a local pulls up to warn everyone that she has seen ‘freshies’ in the area and there ought to be a sign  to warn people that it’s not safe to swim. Ah, well, no swimming for us today;  we are destined to remain hot and dusty.  And it looks so inviting nestled against a rocky outcrop in the shade of the surrounding trees. We are beginning to learn that information is variable out here;  as varied as the people who provide it. Who to believe?  

 

A few kilometres further on is Sawpit Gorge which is also a lovely shaded spot in.  A deep pool is all that remains of the river that runs here in the Wet..  There is a group of Aborigines picnic-ing and kids enjoying jumping from the gorge-side into the water below.  Idyllic, but we don’t linger long, too cowardly or sensible to swim! 

 

The camp ground at Mary River covers a large, shady area back from the river bank approached across a long causeway which we suspect is submerged in the Wet.  But today the shrunken river occupies only about a quarter of the river bed.  This is a delightful spot, and, as we’ve come to expect, there are several others here before us.  There is a glorious sunset over the river;  the sky is streaked with deep pinks and purplish blues and as the light fades a huge flock of the white parrots so common here, take flight along the course of the river, screeching raucously as they go.

 

Dust, it gets everywhere!  It is one of the main drawbacks of travelling on dirt roads, particularly in an old van with door seals well passed their sell-by date.  The rear sills are thick with dust and all the inside of the van is covered in a fine layer:  the bedding, the cooking utensils, the sink, every nook and cranny… 

 

 

 

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Australia day 40 – Wyndham to Spring Creek camping ground , WA

Posted on Friday, 24 Apr 2009 by Hattie

Now, what was it I was saying about frogs?  This morning we find a little green one sitting on the engine manifold when we open up to check the oil and water (which we now do every day), and he doesn’t want to budge!  Wyndham is about 55km north of the Savannah Way along the Great Northern Highway and as we retrace our route to contiinue our journey west towards Halls Creek.  We stop to make a detour to the Grotto 2km down a dirt track. Here is a deep pool set in a gorge and accessed by 142 steps leading down from a sandstone pavement.  In the wet a large waterfall cascades into it, but today the river bed is dry and only a few drips of water are tickling into the pool.  It’s a lovely cool spot and it is supposed to be safe to swim here, but we are not about to risk it, particularly as the debris on the surface doesn’t make it seem that inviting. 


 

Further on we turn off down the Gibb River Road – the iconic 4wd outback challenge which links Wyndham with Derby on the west coast.  We drive about a kilometre before turning back, just so we can say we’ve been on the Gibb River Road.  Perhaps some day we’ll come back in a 4wd with all the gear and do this route!   There is, of course, the option to take an adventure tour if you have a few $1000 dollars to spare, or if that doesn’t appeal there is, incredibly, an hop-on hop-off bus on this remotest of tracks, which runs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays!  Which rather seems to destroy the romance.

 

There are two roadhouses on the next 150km stretch, at Doon Doon and Turkey Creek, and we stop at both to top up with petrol and for Andy can collect his free coffee.  There is a ‘Revive and Survive’ scheme throughout Australia to encourage drivers to stop and rest at regular intervals and the enticement is a cup of free coffee.  So why not, particularly as Andy is a caffeine junky?   The Turkey Creek Road House aka Warmun is on the edge of an Aboriginal settlement which can’t be visted without permission.  This is quite a common arrangement and is intended to protect the privacy of the indigenous communities.

 

We invested in a book of free camp grounds before we left Wyndham and tonight we are going to give one a try.  We have ear-marked a site just south of Turkey Creek but as luck would have it there is a major highway upgrade programme underway which involves constructing new bridges across many of the creeks that cross the highway and the site has been a casualty of this programme.  As has the next one and we are beginning to wonder if we are going to find anything.  But there are a surprising number of stopping places along this road providing basic facilities such as picnic tables, bqs and pit toilets and we eventually stop at Spring Creek.  At first site it appears to be a rather unattractive lay-by, but at the far end it turns down into a small shady area by the creek- perfect!  A few other people think so too;  there are four other campers here making this little site quite full! 

 

 

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Australia day 39 – Wyndham, WA

Posted on Thursday, 23 Apr 2009 by Hattie
We are always on the hunt for a power point to charge up laptops, camera, monkey etc and it can be quite a challenge when you are camping (impossible on free sites, of course). We end up on the computer in some unusual places as a result. Kitchens are the best place, but not many sites here have them, then there’s the laundry and sometimes even the shower block, but it’s necessary to take a chair. On some of the quieter sites, we leave our stuff charging, but on others we sit either blogging or, in Andy’s case, playing games and kill two birds with one stone. But you can get some funny looks! We caught up with an old boy we camped alongside in Spring Vale (Katherine) today. He’d also arrived here via Kununnurra and wasn’t too impressed with the Wyndham site, but what had really pissed him off was being pulled over by the police for not wearing a seat belt and fined….$450 (£225)!!! The crocodile farm in Wyndham has feeding time at 11.am so we decide that if we can’t get to see a ‘saltie’ in the wild we will just have to pay to see one in captivity – after all we can’t come all the way to northern Australia and leave without having seen one. The tour is worth every cent! The farm’s breeds crocs for their prized underbelly skin which is sold mainly to France for Gucci shoes and handbags. Apparently the estuarine croc is only found in Australia and their skin is highly valued by the fashion industry. As a sideline, the farm runs daily tours of their breeders. There are 30 magnificent adult corcs looking deceptively docile as they rest, submerged and absolutely still just under the surface of the water. But this belies the speed and ferocity with which they can launch themselves several feet in the air to seize any food that might be on offer. There agility, speed and sheer bulk and power is awesome. Some are in the smallest of pools, completely undetectable until the food brings them flyig up through the water in the blink of an eye. It brings home just how vulnerable you can be standing on the edge of even the most innocuous-looking little outback pool. There is an internet cafe tucked away in a residential street and we spend some time researching our onward travels. India is top of the list at the moment, although according to all the information the summer months are the worst time to visit – too hot and wet – all but the hill stations in the north and Kashmir. So it maybe Kashmir – although the air fare from here seem incredibly expensive (as is all air travel from Oz). We need to organise visas and further jabs. We are waiting for the Indian embassy to confirm that we can get visas in Perth, but despite sending several emails they don’t seem to be inclined to respond. On the other hand we have received a reply at last from Wicked. They would be happy to undertake a full service on the van in…. Alice Springs!! We point out that this is just a tad out of our way. (Someone hasn’t bothered to read our correspondence or they would be aware we are on our way to Perth via Broome.) We await further instructions! As the sun starts to set we head for the Five Rivers Lookout aka The Bastion Lookout. 350 m above sea level. The panorama is amongst the most spectacular we have seen with far-reaching views of the Cambridge Gulf midflats and the five rivers that converge in this area. Once again the emptiness of this vast country is just staggering. But despite that, it is still hard to be alone for very long and we are soon joined by several other people who have come to watch another beautiful sunset..
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Australia day 38 – Wyndham, WA

Posted on Wednesday, 22 Apr 2009 by Hattie

A chillax day.  A swim in the pool followed by a visit to the pontoon jetty on the estuary for Andy to do a bit of fishing, whilst I catch up on some blogging.  But the fish aren’t biting and there’ll be no fresh barramundi for dinner tonight! 


 

There is a so-called ‘park’ of aboriginal statues in the town.  The park turns out to be a tad disappointing;  a bit of scrub land with a few picnic tables and five giant dreamtime statues, some of which are looking decidedly uncared for. 

 

On the other hand 36,00-hectare Parry Lagoon Nature Reserve turns out to be well worth the 8km drive down a rather uneven dirt road just off the Great Northern Highway  There are spectacular views of the huge lily-covered wetland area from the car park on Telegraph Hill;  one of several small basalt hills n the Ord River flood plain.. There are also the ruins of a wireless station here, built to assist ships entering Wyndham port. A little further on and there is a metal walkway and bird hide right on the edge of he idyllic Marlgu Billabong.  It’s late afternoon and the fish are jumping and there are birds galore.

 

Frogs, frogs and more frogs (and toads). There is certainly no shortage of frogs in the north of Australia.  We hear them hopping through the grass at night and they like to congregate in the amenities block.  They are partial to the toilets and it is not unusual to find one staring up at you from the bowl (cane toads especially like to sit in the bowl).  It’s always advisable to check under the seat as well as they often crouch there. But small ones can go unnoticed under the rim only for their legs to dangle down when the toilet is flushed.  They also like to sit on the taps and if you’re not vigilant it comes as bit of a shock to come nose to nose with a frog when cleaning your teeth. The really tiny ones can even hide up in between the handle of the tap and the tap itself.  They also like the showers and we’ve often come across them waiting for us there.  But the little blighters can jump great distances and touching them can kill them, so it’s best to let them be and make for a frog-free cubicle (if there is one)!

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Australia day 37 – Kununurra to Wyndham, WA

Posted on Tuesday, 21 Apr 2009 by Hattie

There is a park in Kununurra called Celebrity Park where a number of trees that have been planted by famous people who have visited the township.  The park is situated alongside the beautiful Lily Lagoon which as it’s name suggests is  covered in pink lilies.  Each tree has a plaque with details of the ‘famous’ person responsible for planting it.  Many, not unsurprisingly, are Australian personalities who we have never heard of.  Somewhere is Rolf Harris’ tree but we don’t find it.  The most famous person we’ve heard of is Princess Anne who planted a tree here in 1985.

On from Kununurra to Wyndham, along the way passing a majestic escarpment running at 45 degrees to the road and stretching off into the distance.  Wyndham is a small township (pop 1000) on the Ord River estuary 110km north of Kununurra.  Geographically this is the northern most township in Western Australia and a significant port serving the cattle industry, the Ord Irrigation Project and many mining companies.  The estuary is home to some of the largest saltwater crocodiles in the world although we have yet to see any  ‘salities’ anywhere.  Perhaps we may spot one here?  The town is split into two, with the old town and wharf area across the mud flats of the estuary and the main, newer part further inland.  The ‘old’ town has a hotel and a couple of shops, but it has obviously seen better days and some of the commercial buildings are either falling down or boarded up. The main part of town is surprisingly well served with two or three shops,  a police station, civic building, petrol station, and a few other small businesses.   The caravan park has a pool – and our first priority is a dip to cool down.  The park itself is a little tired and unkempt, but we have the whole of the unpowered area to ourselves with views out onto the bush.  Our second priority is to inspect the 2000-year-old boab tree  at the rear of the  park.  With it’s 20m girth this is an impressive sight.

Another beautiful sunset with pink and orange skies over the bush beyond our van.   Later we hear the  crackle of dry grass on fire;  there is a large bush fire raging about 300 yards from the other side of the camp site.  We can see the flames leaping amongst the trees, a spectacular if somewhat scary sight.  Fortunately  the  wind  isn’t carrying it towards the caravan park and after watching it for a while we return to our van and another  early night.

 

 

 

 

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Australia day 36 – Kununurra, WA

Posted on Monday, 20 Apr 2009 by Hattie

We are still trying to get our heads around the time difference between the NT and WA.  This is a bizarre shift which means we gain one and half hours but it’s now dark at just after five instead of 6.45pm and sunrise is somewhere around 4.45am.  As our eating and sleeping patterns are governed largely by sunset – after dark it’s difficult to cook and the insects make life unpleasant – we are now going to bed even earlier and today are woken by the dawn chorus around 5am.  The sky is a beautiful pink and the air is still cool, but there is no going back to sleep once the birds are awake, their noise just won’t allow it!


 

Early to bed and early to rise does have its advantages and by 7.15am we have had breakfast and are starting out on what turns out to be a three hour walk around Mirima National Park.  The track conveniently starts from just behind our pitch and takes around the spectacular sandstone formations which tower over this small (by Australian standards) park.  Billed as the mini Bungle Bungles, the walk meanders around massive red outcrops formed from sand dunes deposited more than 350 million years ago, through gorges and under overhangs.  The cool shade, long shadows and early morning sun are a delight.

 

If this sounds similar to yesterday’s walk that’s because the geology is the same.  Orange sandstone and conglomerate in layers often blackened as a result of an outer skin of lichen.  But not, as the tourist literature would have you believe, that similar to the Bungle Bungle range whose black and orange beehive domes rise 200 metres above the plain in Purnululu National Park further west.

 

By the time we return at 9.45 it’s too hot to do much more than potter around camp followed by a wander round town and a bit of shopping.  My favourite green flowered dress has finally had its day after over 15 years of services.  Two large rips are beyond repair.  My old sarong is going the same way, so replacements are urgently needed!  We pick up a dress in the local charity shop along with a Hawaiian-style shirt for Andy that Paul would be proud of.  All for $12!

 

As sunset approaches we drive out to Kelly’s Knob on the outskirts of town for another wonderfully rich and dramatic sunset which spans the horizon and lights up the clouds.  The colours change from soft pinks to deep burnt orange as the sun disappears.  The sunsets in the north are something else!

 

 

 

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