Day 37 - Fitzroy Crossing

No photos to show here.  We left Cape Leveque early as we had a long drive today and the first section was on unsealed roads.  We actually took a back road which was an ungazetted road but we had been told it was quite good.  It was just a track really but not nearly as rough and corrugated as the Cape Leveque Road.  It probably saved us about an hour in time and was quite an interesting drive - no signposts, but the local police had given us a few route markers so that we would know we were going the right way.  Stopped for fuel when we got back to the highway  and arrived in Fitzroy Crossing which is on the mighty Fitzroy River (not very mighty at the moment as it is the dry season and the river is just a series of waterholes).  In the wet it can be as wide as 15kms in places and is 750 km long.  All the caravan parks are full to overflowing, but we managed to get an unpowered site in a very nice one.  Spent an hour at Gieke Gorge this afternoon, did a small walk but not the river cruise.  Compared with some of the gorges we have seen, it was not especially spectacular.  We have another early start in the morning to go to Halls Creek, grab a few provisions, and head on to the Bungle Bungles for 4 nights.  We will be out of range there, so there will not be another posting until we  return to Halls Creek for one night before heading down the Tanami Track (yet another unsealed road) to Alice Springs.  We feel as if we will be dusty and dirty for ever and will have to take a photo of the trailer when we get home.  Can't imagine how long it will take to clean it inside and out.       

Day 34 - Cape Leveque

We have just spent a fabulous three nights at Cape Leveque, 200kms north of Broome.  Even though we had booked our camping, we had to move each morning to another spot.  We started in the campground which was pleasant but small and then moved to the beach shelters.  Amanda and Edward recommended we do this and it was every bit as good as they had reported.  Photo shows where we were for the second night, right on the very end of the line of shelters and very close to the beach.  We managed to back the trailer through the sand to get pretty close to the shelter which contained a picnic table and bench seating and a coldwater shower in one corner.  The shelter had thatched sides and roof and a sand floor so was very cool during the day.  The view over the beach was magic - white sand and crystal clear water.  As the temperature was in the mid 30s, we did lots of swimming and reading.  In fact the only touristy thing we did was to visit the Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, the biggest privately owned pearl farm in the country.  We had a one hour tour and now know exactly how they produce cultured pearls and can appreciate why they are so expensive.  At the end of the tour, the boxes of pearls for sale was produced - I tried on a magnificant string for $53,000.  Needless to say we didn't buy it, or anything in fact.      

Day 31 - Broome (WA)

We made the decision before we left home that we would spend our three nights in Broome in a hotel. The caravan parks are very crowded and as this is the halfway point in our trip, thought it was a good idea to have a little R&R here. So the car and the trailer are parked side by side in the hotel carpark. We arrived just before lunch and too early to check in so wandered down to Chinatown for lunch. I then went to the hairdresser to banish some grey and by the time I had finished, Jim had checked into the hotel, moved our gear in including the fridge from the trailer so it could be defrosted. Also found the laundromat so by the end of the afternoon, all our chores were done and we could enjoy our room overlooking the bay. Broome is a very famous pearling centre and in the late 1800s there were 100 Europeans here and 1300 Asian divers - hence the Chinatown area. There are dozens of jewellery stores all selling beautiful pieces. We also found a store selling stunning wallets made of barramundi skin and kangaroo skin.

The car went for its service the next morning - turned out the noise was a little more serious than we had thought - had to have a new alternator as the old one was about to explode. We were very lucky that it didn't happen in a remote area otherwise we would have had to call a towtruck to tow the car and the trailer.Took a drive to Cable Beach once we had the car back and as it was low tide, drove along the beach past the camels as the photo shows. We were a little disappointed with Cable Beach - seemed to us that it was just a lot of 4WDs, camels and nudists! Great sunset over the Indian Ocean though. Today we went to the Courthouse Markets which are on every weekend - again lots of jewellery and this afternoon we went to the races (see photo). After picking losers in the first four races, we decided to call it a day and headed for the supermarket to stock up (again). Tomorrow we head north to Cape Leveque for three nights where we plan to do some beachcombing for shells for Georgia and hopefully visit a pearl farm as well. We will be out of range again on our return journey home, but not for as long.

Day 30 - Derby (WA)

See entry between Day 13 and 14 as we wanted to post this just to let you all know we were 'back on the air' after the Kimberley wilderness

Day 28 - Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek

With only a two hour drive between Bell and Windjana, we arrived with plenty of time to choose a good campsite and set up camp before heading 37km to Tunnel Creek.  It is an amazing natural tunnel almost a kilometre long containing pools of fresh water, stalactites, stalagmites and bats hanging from the ceilings.  The roof of the tunnel in the middle has collapsed, so there is a little light there but otherwise you are reliant on torches.  It was lovely and cool and a great experience.  The deepest water was about a metre, so there was no swimming needed here. Photo shows the entrance at the far end.  Where we entered, we had to scramble over big boulders again.

We ate our special fish from King Ash Bay for dinner and it was fantastic - possibly the best we have ever eaten.  The following morning, we did the Windjana Gorge walk.  It is a narrow canyon which was once a coral barrier reef. It's 3.5 km long, up to 100 metres deep and has near vertical walls for most of its length.  In the dry season (now) the river is not flowing and is the home to lots and lots of freshwater crocs, from babies to full-size.  They spend their day basking in the mud along the edge of the water.  We watched in horror as 3 German backpackers approached 2 crocs on the river edge to take photos and they kept stamping their feet to try to get a reaction from them.  Fortunately for them the crocs took off into the water and not the other way!  It was an easy walk for us - flat, few rocks and shaded most of the way. The other two photos show the gorge and a couple of the crocs.  Sadly for us this is the end of the Gibb River Road trip.  Tomorrow we will be in Derby on the coast and then on to Broome the following day.  Car is making some strange noises, hopefully it's just dust on something but it also sounds like something is a little loose.  Not surprising after the roads we have been on.  We've booked it in for service in Broome so that should fix anything that isn't right.

 

Day 27 - Silent Grove / Bell Gorge

Just a one-night stop at Silent Grove campsite in the King Leopold Ranges, with a 30km drive on to Bell Gorge and Falls. After setting up camp, we drove to Bell and did the walk to the top of the falls, only about 30 minutes. It was a further challenging climb down to the bottom of the falls. Jim decided to wait at the top, but I went to the bottom. Would have been great for a swim but not much fun alone. Photo shows the falls from the top and the second photo is of two corellas who sat in a tree beside our trailer for ages.

 
 
 
 

Day 25 - Mornington Wilderness Camp

Mornington Wilderness Camp is a 1 million acre ex-cattle property which is now owned by Australian Wildlife Conservacy who own about 20 similar properties around the country.  As the front gate is about 80kms from the road, there is a satellite radio in a booth near the road and visitors have to ring ahead to see if there is a camp site available. Only 50 visitors are allowed on the property at any one time.  There is also a handful of safari tents with ensuites available at about $500 per night.     This giant boab tree was just inside the front gate.  They lose their leaves in the dry season to conserve moisture and sprout again when it rains.    We visited two of the gorges on the property - Sir John which is the second photo and Dimond Gorge.  Jim swam at a waterhole but the water was a little murky for me and I didn't fancy sharing it with a freshwater croc.

There is just one main building which is admin/bar/restaurant which we should have photographed.  It is open on two sides and we spent both evenings there having drinks before dinner and then a meal under the stars.  A very pleasant change from our camp meals and very nice to have two nights where we didn't have to go to bed as soon as the sun went down!!

The property is home to the endangered brightly-coloured Gouldian finch and many of our fellow campers were keen 'birders'.  Jim and I thought we saw a pair, but as they were flying and we were driving, who knows!  When we told the rangers, they said we were in the area where some had been seen recently so maybe we really did see them.   It's a good story.