Wed., 15th Aug., 2012 - A look around Broome

We needed one or two items of shopping, so we started to explore Broome.  It is an attractive town which is split up into definite areas - there is a part known as China Town, we found two fairly large shopping precincts & there are lovely beaches on either side of the peninsular.  As well as the usual supermarkets & familiar stores, Broome has lots of little individual shops, many of which are designed to attract visitors & holiday makers.  Almost a whole street is devoted to pearls, for which the town is famous.  I couldn't resist having a peep at some of them!

At lunch time, we joined Charlie, Judy & new friends, Bob & Gwen at a restaurant on Roebuck Bay.  It had an excellent position overlooking the beach & the vivid turquoise ocean.  We enjoyed a midday meal together before going our individual ways for the afternoon.

Town Beach Restaurant

At about 4.30pm., we joined Judy & Charlie again & all made our way to Cable Beach to watch the sun set.  We took chairs, nibbles & bottles of wine & settled down to enjoy the sun's colourful exit - it was a lovely way to end the day.  The best things in life are free (or, almost!)

Tues. 14th Aug., 2012 - Settling in at Broome

We had a very "domestic" day - did our washing, changed the bed, swept & washed the caravan floor & dusted everywhere.  We couldn't believe how much dirt & dust had found its way inside the van but we should have known, as it's so dry here at present & our door, windows & roof vents are nearly always open.

Bob & Charlie noticed a lady cutting people's hair on site, so they both went & had theirs cut.  Her prices were very good, so I went to see her, too.  I'd had some extortionate quotes for hairdressing when we went into town yesterday, so decided to take a chance with the on-site lady.  She cut my hair really short & only charged me $15!  Although it's shorter than I've ever had it cut before, I like it & so does Bob - it's trendy & like Denise Welch's (the former Coronation Street star).  You can't have hair that needs constant attention when you're travelling so, having it all cut off is the simplest solution.

Bob has just worked out how many kilometres we've travelled to date - 8,201km (5,096 miles) & we're probably about half-way through our trip.

Nothing more to report today; hope to start exploring in & around Broome tomorrow.

Mon. 13th Aug., 2012 - Derby to Broome (approx. 210km)

Bob got up early & played 9 holes of golf.  He said that the course was lovely & there were a lot of birds.  I decided to watch the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics but, although it was on at 6am in the eastern states, I forgot that here, in the west, it would have happened at 4am!  Consequently, I only managed to see the finale (a bit like last night's sunset).

We left Derby at just after 10am.  Judy & Charlie went on ahead of us, so we agreed to look out for them at morning coffee stops along the route.

Boab trees in Derby's main street

We crossed two or three rivers & some lakes during the initial part of our journey but there were also some very dry areas & thousands of termite hills.

As we drew nearer to Broome, we missed the kapok trees & our friends, the boabs - we still saw a few wattles but these were also dwindling.  The vegetation came in various shades of green with much of the foliage having a feathery appearance.  Over the last 30km, the road became long & straight, seeming to stretch into the distance for ever.  Conditions never altered & the sun continued to beat down out of a cloudless sky.

On arrival at Broome Caravan Park, we settled in &, most importantly, collected our mail (thank you, Mike!)

The town appears to be reasonably large & we look forward to exploring during the next two weeks.

Sun. 12th Aug., 2012 - A day in Derby

At 7.30am., we were still luxuriating in bed with the prospect of a relaxing day ahead of us - we didn't have to get up!  Through partially-drawn curtains, we could see that the sun was up, the sky was blue & we'd never seen such red soil, not even at Uluru.

After a late breakfast, we went to the Visitor Centre, which was very attractive, then drove to the Wharf over a causeway that crossed the mud flats.  Derby has the highest tides in Australia, with variations of as much as 11 metres.  Wool & pearl shell were the original exports, followed by live cattle.

Next, we drove 7km out of town to the Boab Prison Tree, which is believed to be about 1500 years old & was used as a staging point for prisoners being walked into Derby in the early days.  The prisoners were kept inside the huge hollow trunk until their journey continued (not such a great resting place, since snakes also frequented the tree!)

Close to the boab tree was a cattle trough, built around 1917, which could handle 500 bullocks at one time.  We also saw Frosty's Pool, built in 1944, as a bathing area for troops stationed in the area.

We moved on to have a brief look at Derby's Waste Water Wetland, which attracts wetland birds & waders.

Finally, we visited the Centenary Pavilion, where a mosaic was created in 2001 to celebrate 100 years of Federation.  The making of the mosiac was a collaborative community effort involving 370 children & adults who together laid 30,000 tiles.

 

Just before 5.30pm., we hurried to the Wharf, hoping to enjoy barramundi & chips while watching the sun set.  However, we were almost too late & only caught the tail end of the colourful event, which happened really quickly.  We bought our supper & brought it home, since the light was fading fast & it was easier to eat in the caravan.

Sat. 11th Aug., 2012 - Fitzroy Crossing to Derby

We were up early & drove to a point on the Fitzroy River from where they operated trips through the Geikie Gorge.  The boat left at 8am & took us on a very pleasant trip, which lasted for an hour.  All sorts of things were pointed out to us - limestone formations, martins' nests built under cliff overhangs, small fresh water crocodiles basking on the banks, birds, wallabies & various types of trees.  We saw red gums, paper barks & coolibah trees & were amazed when the tap root of a tree, which was growing on the wall of the gorge, was pointed out to us - the root grew down through crevices in the rock for an amazing distance in its mission to reach water!

As we disembarked, a little rock wallaby observed us from way above us at the rim of the gorge.

Back at the Lodge, we packed up our caravans & were on the road again before 10am.  After Fitzroy Crossing, the terrain was largely flat for many kilometres & was dominated by the rather ungainly mounds made by the local termites.  These varied in colour from cream to beige to an orangey-red, depending upon the host soil. 

Some of the trees had beautiful foliage, which was a delicate silver-greyish blue.  When we stopped to make coffee, we saw flocks of galahs, the first we'd seen since leaving Victoria.  A lovely lilac-coloured bush also cropped up frequently, which could almost have been lavender, but wasn't.

Bob had to keep his wits about him as two over-sized vehicles, carrying mining trucks, came towards us, forcing us to use the verge.  Shortly after that, a huge bull decided to cross the road infront of us, so we stayed well back until it disappeared into the vegetation.  There is a need to stay alert, even on roads that appear almost empty.

We had planned to spend the night at a free camp called the Boab Tree but, when we arrived there, we saw that there was no shade & no toilets, so we decided to continue on to Derby & try to book an extra night there.  It was quite a long drive in all - over 300km - but we found it worthwhile.  We didn't have high hopes of Derby (thought it would be similar to Wyndham).  However, we were pleasantly surprised & found that it had more to offer than we'd expected.  It was Rodeo Weekend & the town was "swinging".  After settling in at our caravan park, which was another pleasant one & not far from the sea, we had a restful afternoon before going into town for a meal.  We chose the Spinifex Hotel, where we had dinner & then listened to a band, whose members played a great selection of rock & roll songs.  The musicians were probably in our own age group (young!) but were very lively & the singer was excellent, even though he appeared to have no teeth!  We had a most entertaining evening & finally found our way back to the park, mainly due to Bob's reliable, in-built sense of direction.

Fri., 10th Aug., 2012 - Mary Pool to Fitzroy Crossing

We left Mary Pool just after 8am in the usual bright sunshine & without a cloud in the sky.  A heron was fishing in the dwindling Pool & a flock of white cockatoos flew from tree to tree.  We had 180km to go before we would reach our next stop, which was Fitzroy Crossing.  By 8.20am., it was already 24C, so we guessed that it was going to be a very hot day.

We drove through an ever-changing landscape.  It varied from flat plains to high escarpments & from a terrain that was sometimes almost tree-less to one that might be covered with very blonde grass or even thousands of termite hills.  Wedge-tailed eagles flew above us & we also saw the occasional flock of budgerigars.

The town of Fitzroy Crossing was not very impressive but our caravan park was lovely.  It was green, spacious & with good facilities.  We did our washing & some shopping, then settled down for a little relaxation.  We saw several people whom we had met before - I guess we are following one another around this vast country.

Thurs., 9th Aug., 2012 - Bungle Bungles to Mary Pool

Having recovered from our long day, yesterday, we set out, at 9am, on our journey to Mary Pool.  We left the spectacular scenery of the Bungle Bungles behind but could still see hills all around us in the distance.

Along the roadside, we came across a very frightening sight – a caravan & its contents had been smashed to smithereens, which were spread all over the wide verge.  Three other caravans had stopped & the people from these seemed to be combing through the debris like scavengers – we could only hope that they weren’t stealing the remains of someone else’s misfortune.  We learned, later, that a road train driver had fallen asleep & ploughed into the caravan.  Fortunately, the couple inside the van were both safe, although the woman was in hospital suffering from shock.  The man had told the people, whom we thought were scavengers, to help themselves to anything that might be of use to them, since he would not be caravanning again.  Scary!

We called at Hall’s Creek to buy fuel & do a little food shopping.  It had a large indigenous population, a good Information Centre & a coffee shop that charged extortionate prices.  It wasn’t a very appealing town, so we didn’t linger for too long.

Beyond Hall’s Creek, we entered a very arid region, where the trees were much smaller, vegetation was sparse & the creek beds were all dry.  Goodness knows what the poor cattle lived on, as there seemed to be very little other than the tough spinifex grass

After quite a lot of “nothing”, it was a pleasure to enter the caravan park at Mary Pool, which was like an oasis in the wilderness.  There were lots of big, shady trees & plenty of space for all the travellers who had gathered there.  There were also several birds in the trees around us.



Mary Pool



Wed., 8th Aug., 2012 - The Bungle Bungles

Now I know why there is an age limit for joining the army; if there wasn’t, they’d be in danger of losing some people on manoeuvres, even prior to encountering the enemy!  We’ve just been on a route-march to the Bungle Bungles that would have tested any would-be recruit.

It all began when we boarded our “all singing, all dancing” bus that was equipped to deal with anything that Nature could throw at it.  It bucked & pranced like a wild horse being broken in, as it negotiated the twists, turns, ups & downs in the rough, unmade road.  There were rocks, boulders, pot-holes & creeks to cope with & the bus dealt with them all, like the brave bone-shaker that it was.  Meanwhile, we passengers were experiencing the roughest massage we’d ever had, as all our body parts were bumped, thumped & vibrated!  However, anything that’s worth seeing is worth suffering for & this was true of the Bungle Bungles, which were like nothing else that we’d ever seen. 

 Huge beehive-shaped domes appeared in the landscape, striped orange & grey by the rocks from which they were formed.  There were fascinating walks to see special features, two of which Judy & I managed, whilst the men did three. 

                                                                                                                                                              The most spectacular was “Cathedral Gorge”, which took us through striped domes, rocks, pot-holes & towering cliffs & culminated in a massive amphitheatre.  Some of us couldn’t resist testing the gorge’s echoing qualities!

The sun was fierce & there was very little shade, so we were glad of our sun-screen, water bottles & hats (yes, I’ve relented & bought one).  We’d earned the welcome lunch provided by our driver, when we arrived back at the bus.  We all made pitta bread wraps from a selection of ham, cheese, tuna & salad that was laid out for us.

There was another fairly tough walk in the afternoon, which Bob & Charlie did but, because Judy & I found the heat intense, we sat with another lady, enjoying a chat & the scenery immediately around us.  The walkers were exhausted when they returned & said we’d been wise to stay put.

The bumpy journey back to the caravan park was also exhausting & we were glad that we didn’t have to prepare dinner.  The tour company provided us with a tasty meal of vegetable soup & beef curry, set out in a large tented area.  Finally, we enjoyed sitting & chatting around a campfire before retiring to bed for a well-earned sleep.  It had been a tiring day, but a very good one.

Tues., 7th Aug., 2012 - Parry Creek Farm to the Bungle Bungles

We left Parry Creek Farm just after 8am having enjoyed our stay at the site.  It was dry & dusty but had good facilities & our fellow caravanners were friendly & sociable.  However, the highway felt really good after 8km on the unmade road!  We’ll have to have a spring clean when we reach Broome – the car & the caravan  are thick with dust.

As we drove in the direction of Hall’s Creek, we were still in an area of massive hills.  They were steep, rocky & almost devoid of trees; however, there was ample vegetation alongside the road & even a little cultivation at one point.

We passed quite a lot of huge road trains & guessed that they must have some connection with the mining in the area.

As we continued, huge escarpments towered around us in the distance & the scenery became even more dramatic.  The Kimberley was keeping its promise!

The hills became very rocky, stony & sharp-ridged & the vegetation was often sparse, although this did vary.

The termite hills were very different from those we’d seen before – they were shaped like miniature haystacks.

We saw quite a lot of horses but were unsure about whether they were wild or not, as the land was  unfenced.  There were also cattle at several points along the route.

We stopped at Turkey Creek to fill up with fuel.  There appeared to be a large aboriginal community but the roadhouse had German & Italian girls serving behind the counter.  You could only buy $99 worth of fuel & they would only accept cash – fortunately, we had sufficient money but it could have been a problem.  The area felt REMOTE – even more so than Uluru or King’s Canyon.

We settled in at our new site, where we will be for the next two nights.  There is no telephone or Internet access, so this blog will have to wait until I can publish it.

We are going on an organised tour of the Bungle Bungles tomorrow & will be picked up at 7am!  I think “early to bed” will be essential tonight.