The Kimberley - Part 2

We had a lovely day yesterday. We set out from broom nice and early. The countryside was once again arid and scrubby - Broome's tropical gardens were soon forgotten. We are seeing more and more Boab trees. I just love them - they are so full pf character. Some of the old giants are huge and gnarled, and they seem to grow in "families" with grandparents, parents and kids all around each other.

Having reached Fitzroy Crossing, we travelled out of town to the Geikie Gorge, where we took a DEC boat tour. It was so peaceful. The gorge is a left-over from the Devonian Era, when this whole area was underwater and part of the sea. It's not hard to imagine these rocks as a reef.

We saw our first crocs! These were the smaller, and "safer" freshwater crocs. We have yet to meet their Estuarine cousins - not that we are in any hurry!

We finished our day off having yummy pub dinner with Terry and Faye who had been on the boat tour with us. They were good company, and we enjoyed swapping notes as they travel south and we continue north.

Tonight we have arrived in Kununurra with a bit of a cloud over things. Some little warning light of impending doom has appeared on the dashboard. The manual assures us that we must have an accredited person sort it out, or risk voiding our warranty. As far as we can find, the closest person would be in Darwin, which will add 600km to our trip, and cost us precious days. Roll on Monday morning when we can make some phone calls. 

The Kimberley - Part 1

We've seen our first wild camel, the cattle look strange:

and there are all these odd birds, including tame peacocks at Sandfire!. 

The weather is hot!! We're now in the far north west. Yesterday we arrived in Broome. It has a fascinating history, and we spent some hours going through the museum looking at its life as capital of the pearling industry, its WW2 years, and then its decline. 

Roebuck Bay

The Famous Cable Beach

Our new problem

It has since been resurrected by the tourism - in a really big way! It is now famous for its pearl shops, and its resort life at Cable Beach.

Mother of Pearl Carvings by Aboriginies

 This one is worth $100,000. Unfortunately, the VISA card bounced!

This is the Japanese Cemetery in Broome. Hundreds of Japanese divers lost their lives diving for Pearl Shells prior to WW2.

The Pilbara

Another BIG to add to our list before leaving the coast for the day.

Then from one extreme to the other! Pristine & natural to huge scale mining and gas. The land is so arid, with endless kilometres of barren scrub over the deepest of red gravelly soil.

In places, the rocky outcrops are so full of iron that they actually shine in the sun. All the river and creek beds are dry, and I can't imagine what this area must look like in the wet. The weather is warming up now - Alice and I can tell, as Wayne is complaining! It's 8:10 and he's threatening to have a second shower.






Last night we made it through to Dampier. We took the obligatory photo with Red Dog (an Australian icon for my O/S friends).

Despite the traffic jam with the end of shift miners, the place is ruggedly beautiful and peaceful. We drifted off to sleep....for 5 minutes... and then listened to them loading a huge ship with iron ore for the rest of the night!

Ningaloo Reef

Having spent a long day on the road, we collapsed in a very full caravan park in Exmouth. Next morning we rounded the north west cape to explore the Cape Range National Park. It is so arid, with a line of rocky barren hills close to a pristine white coast. 

Just off the coast (walking distance in places) is the Ningaloo Reef. It is the home of nesting turtles (not now), thousands of fish, heaps of coral, and whale sharks out beyond the breakers.

Would have loved to have spent more time here (not in school holidays), but really enjoyed taking ourselves snorkeling, and also going on a glass bottom boat/snorkeling tour.



Much better value for money than Monkey Mia!!

Shark Bay Region

Having left Prince Leonard, we travelled through towards Monkey Mia. We spent a night beside the stromatolites at an "interesting" caravan park. The stromatolites are the old living species on the planet. The most amazing thing about these rock-like structures is that someone thought they might be alive! They have survived here as the water is super-salty and their predators could not survive.

Next we made it up to Denham and Monkey Mia. Although it was pretty and the dolphins are wonderful, we were disappointed in the tourist rip off factor. Everything was great, but over-priced as they have a monopoly. The conservation authorities on the other hand were very informative. We had expected to swim with and touch the dolphins, but this practice has been stopped in the best interests of the dolphins.They did come up into the very shallow water, and we loved being that close.

We also went on a catamaran trip to see the wildlife in deeper water. Unfortunately, the dugongs and turtles were on holidays, but we saw lots of dolphins. The area is home to over 4500 of them.




Sadly, we said goodbye to Andrew here. It's really hard to spend 3 weeks driving your son out into the remote desert, and then speeding off without him!

International Travels

We've taken an unexpected international sojourn! Last night we spent the best night yet, and we weren't even in Australia. We travelled into the Principality of Hutt River, camped with John and made a camp fire to cook our steaks.

This morning, we had a personalised tour from Prince Leonard.

For those who have no idea what I am talking about, Leonard and Shirley Casley seceded from Australia in 1970 by exploiting a legal loophole in the Australian constitution. Originally this was over unfair quotas imposed on the wheat crops. His website makes very interesting reading, and explains things much better than I can. Prince Leonard is a true character. He is obviously very intelligent, well read and interesting. He has collected a varied array of things from all over the world and is generous with his time showing them to visitors. As we travelled there, a truckie told John on the CB radio that the visit would be a waste of fuel. He could not have been more wrong!

Sadly, this is where we parted ways with John. He headed left out the gate, while we turned right.

We're on the road again

After 5 wonderful days in Perth, we're off again, heading north along the west coast. We had a lovely relaxing time with John and Roger, and for the most part, the weather was lovely - certainly nicer than it is at home!! We did the tourist bit, seeing the maritime museum with Australia ll and her winged keel,

Fremantle and Kings Park.

We also caught up with friends: Wes and Lynne (4D), Ant (4D), Graham and Janet (Dingo's Breakfast), and I ran into Rob Kay (Uni choral society) in the supermarket!!




Yesterday we headed north up the coast - in the rain. We fell over an amazing science centre in Gingin, where we played with all sorts of gadgets.

Luckily the rain eased enough for us to stroll through the Pinnacles Desert later in the afternoon. These structures are limestone deposits of questionable origin. Although we saw them after rain, and on a cool day, I could easily imagine becoming lost and disoriented amongst them in the heat.

Last night we camped near the beach at Jurien Bay. We watched a thunderstorm approaching from the ocean as the day faded, and then we listened to the rain on our roof as we went to sleep.

Today is bright and sunny as we continue up the coast.