One last crack at the 20 pounder!

Having sen the results of one gentleman's early fishing expedition in the form of a 20 pound salmon yesterday, we got up early and had one last go at catching a big one and, along with about 50 other people, lined up along the beach. We caught a few small ones and a few very small skippy type fish but at least we had a go and it was at least interesting feeling something other than waves banging on the end of the line.

We had already prepacked a lot of the van up the night before so we were on the road by 9:30am heading towards Karratha. A bit of a nothing travelling day as the scenery is quite mundane. We have a Ben Elton talking book going on in the car which passes the time.

After arriving in Karratha we set up and headed to the shops as the grocery supplies were depleted from our four nights at 80 mile beach. Once that was achieved we headed off to the Tambrey Tavern for dinner (as recommended by Steve and Emily - our Karratha locals until recently) and back to the van for an early night as we are feeling the pinch from the early start this morning.

We catch some fish!

Another lazy morning, another cooked breakfast - something halfway between a bacon and cheese omelette or scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon in it.

Finally got our act together mid morning and took the car onto the beach again, this time turning right (north/east) and heading up the beach for a good 20 kilometres or so.  Larry was wondering if the fishing up here might be better as we had seen plenty of cars/quadbikes heading up this way each day but the coast just looked the same as everywhere else - same depth of water, same wave patterns, same absence of fish.  We drove and drove until there was no one else in sight so that we felt completely remote and alone probably for the first time all holiday.  We hopped out of the car and drank in the silence and solitude and could see no other sign of civilisation in any direction.  That is, until we looked more closely and realised that there was some sort of boat out on the horizon and then a glint of glass on the beach back the way we came heralded the beginning of a convoy of 4WD's come to shatter our solitude.  Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

Back to the caravan and had toasted sandwiches for lunch.  The idea was to close up the van, put on the air-conditioning and watch the Eagles game before heading back down to the beach for a spot of twlight fishing with high tide scheduled for about 8pm.  Well, we got through the first three quarters of football then gave up in disgust when the Eagles decided to stop playing in final quarter and hit the beach a bit earlier than planned.

Tonight we tried a different combination of hooks and bait as Larry had had a conversation during the day with one of the quad bike brigade who advised that although the usual tackle arrangement had worked for him the last 13 years, it wasn't working this year and suggested a different set up to Larry.  Well, we tried the new set up and unfortunately one line snapped about 5 minutes in.  The little rod which we had brought along as a different option was then pressed into service and Larry went on to catch about 6 fish.  Unfortunately they were all as small, if not smaller, than the bait we had been using the previous day but at least we actually got the thrill of catching something at last, if only to ''Rex Hunt" them back to sea.

We stayed until the sun set and all the stars were twinkling in the sky and then headed home for a late dinner of steak, potatoes and the last of the salad vegetables.

Fish Feeding

We have a tide information sheet from the Caravan Park Office which tells us when high tide and low tide is so we can plan our fishing trips accordingly.  The tide information sheet told us that high tide would be at 6pm so our three hours of fishing would be this afternoon, leaving this morning free for a bit more laziness.  We made pancakes this morning to go with our coffees and teas and then, once again, we hopped in the Jeep for a morning "stroll" along the beach.  This time we headed south (west?) and actually did get out of the car.  The tide was incredibly low and we walked at least half a kilometre from where we left the car down to the water's edge looking at shells and lots of little sea creatures left behind in the shallows.  It was all very pretty with bright blue skies and pretty coloured water and the wet sand reflecting all the colours and shades.  Larry liked it so much that he left his thongs on the sand when we hopped back in the car and only realised once we had got back to the caravan park access road so we turned around and did the trip a second time!  Even in that short time it was noticeable that the tide had started to come in but still a good way out so we had plenty of time to do two trips and get back to the caravan for lunch.

After digesting for a while we heard the first thrum of a quad bike heading for the beach so slapped on sunscreen, hats and fishing shirts and followed.  We figured that if we set up between two quad bike fishermen we might have better luck than yesterday.  No sooner had we got our lines in, however, than one of them jumped on his bike and took off.  Hmmm.  Not long after that a pod of dolphins scenically swam by, providing some relief from the boredom of catching no fish but probably actually chasing away any chance of catching them we may have had.  So three more hours of standing there working our way through the beer in the car fridge but not catching any fish.  Larry thought at one stage that we might actually have got a bite and the bait was gone from the end of the hook but that was about it in terms of fish action for the day.

Once again, no fish for dinner and no protein either as punishment for our poor efforts.  Spaghetti and pesto only and watching the Cats overcome the injury prone Bulldogs.

Something To Pass The Time

We have camped up at the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park for four nights - a record for us so we pretty much pulled out every appliance we own and scattered them round the benchtops and used them all for breakfast - coffee, bacon and eggs, cups of tea, toast etc etc.  What you call a leisurely breakfast.  Having somewhat of a lazy day we couldn't even be bothered walking down to the beach so instead hopped in to the Jeep and drove down onto the sand and then headed north (east?) along the edge of the water to see what we could see.  Basically pretty much the same thing for kilometres on end - acres of white sand, the blue water to one side and the low sand dunes to the other.

Headed back to the CP and had the left over pizza for lunch and then Larry got his tackle out (no, it's not that sort of blog people!) and got the rods ready for a spot of fishing.  A nifty bit of engineering on the top of the Jeep and the rods (complete with reels Ben!) can sit up there for the next few days.

There are a lot of serious fishermen in this caravan park, some of which have quad bikes all set up for fishing with a rack for rods across the front and a large tackle box on the back.  Thinking that these people are worth keeping an eye on we waited until they hit the beach track (which coincided with when the tide was incoming) and then followed.

Three hours of standing on the edge of the water waving a stick at the water then followed.  No fish to be had.  Not even a bite.  Gave it up as a bad job when the tide started to recede again and headed back to base.  As we hadn't managed to catch dinner we had garlicky chicken parcels and baked potatoes instead.

Oh well, there's always tomorrow!

Blown Out Of Broome

Woke up around 6ish and packed up the van in a reasonably leisurely manner and on the road just after 8am.  It was very windy today and there were dust squalls all around Broome and across Roebuck Bay making it very hazy and not as pretty as it has been the last few days.  Just as well we were leaving!

Larry drove for the first two hours, then we pulled over in a P stop and swapped drivers and Jenny took over until we reached Sandfire roadhouse which was approximately another two hours down the road.  A very boring drive views-wise so we munched our way through muesli bars and BBQ shapes and listened to an audio book of Ben Elton's "Two Brothers" which helped to pass the time.

We didn't stop at Sandfire other than to refuel and just as well we didn't as when we got to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park there was a queue of caravans and we managed to get the second last powered caravan site.  As is usual when Larry and Jenny take a caravan anywhere near the beach it was howling a gale (but not raining at least!) so it took us a bit longer to set up as we wrestled the awning, ropes and screens into position.

Once we had got our home for the next three days sorted, we had a late lunch of crusty rolls and chilled in our deck chairs until the bed called for a while  Inexplicably Larry tried the telly reception and lo and behold we had cable TV in the middle of nowhere whereas we got diddly squat in the middle of Broome. Oh well, can't complain at least the cable repairs that Larry did worked!

About mid afternoon the wind had dropped a little so we hopped in the car and drove down onto Eighty Mile Beach to check out the tide and fishing etc.  The tide was well and truly on the way out so no good for fishing although there were a few hopeful fishing folk there flinging out their lines.  We'll have a go tomorrow afternoon when the tide is coming in as that is when it's more likely we'll actually catch something other than seaweed.

Headed back to camp via the caravan park office to buy some bait and had a couple of mango beers before dinner time of burgers on the barbie.  And so another day over already.  Amazing how quickly they fly by and how they would be dragging if we were at work!

A Pearler of a Day

A bit of a sleep in this morning as our Willie Creek pearl farm tour started at 10am. Picked Matt up at around 8:30 in the morning and headed out of town to the Cape Levique road turnoff and we were back onto the dirt until we reached the pearl farm. Jenny and Matt had a coffee while we waited for our tour to start in pleasant surroundings. Megan the tour guide was very funny and bubbly and was a wealth of information on a subject that we three knew very little about. As part of the tour they harvest an old oyster (known in the trade as a fourth seeder) and send it to oyster heaven as the parts of it were explained to us. This one had a few borer holes and inside were a couple of small starfish that are parasites and unwelcome and a small pea crab that is welcome as it does the house keeping for it. It is a bit of a lottery as to what size pearl, if any, is inside and this one was a big one worth about $2000.  Megan said it was probably the second largest she's found on all the tours she's done.

We were treated to morning tour on the deck which included yummy homemade damper with sultanas and then made our way down to the boat for a cruise up Willie Creek to the oyster farms.  The tide was very low and we had to walk down a number of steps to get to the boat but by the time we'd been out on the boat for half an hour or so learning more about pearl farming, the tide had turned and the bottom steps were already under water.  After we'd followed Megan back up to the shop and erroneously guessed the price of a number of pearls based on our new knowledge of how to know a quality pearl when you see one, we wandered back down to the jetty and the creek level was much higher and rapidly increasing as the sand bar between the creek and the Indian Ocean went under water and the ocean rushed up the creek.  Quite a sight to behold!

After the tour we picked up a couple of connectors so Larry could attempt to fix the TV reception problem on the caravan's TV.  He found the workmanship to be of a poor standard and Larry made it to an acceptable standard with what he had but it still would not work. We will leave it and get it repaired under warranty when we get back. Larry did send an email to Downunder RV about issues and also included a picture of Jenny, the Jeep and the van at a lookout overlooking the Cockburn Range which is now been posted on their Facebook page so we are famous!

A couple of quiet beers back at the van and we dropped Matt at the airport and headed off to the Sun Picture Gardens to see The Hunt for the Wilderpeople. The picture gardens is apparently the oldest running one in the world. It was a very pleasant experience and as it is on the flight path for the airport we had a low flying Qantas jet on final approach to land go directly over us.  Very loud at that low altitude but part of the experience as we both have not had a jet fly low over us whilst at the cinema before!

Got home to the caravan to find the grey nomads having a country and western singalong in the van across from us and at quite high volume.  Still, by the time the blog was written they had sung themselves to sleep.  Thank God.

Another Sunset Another Drink

Matthew, who has done most of the itinerary planning for our days in Broome, had discovered that due to the tides, we needed to out to Gantheaume Point before 8am if we wanted any chance of seeing dinosaur footprints, so it was another early start.  We got there before 8am but not by much and the carpark was already full and there were lots of people rockhopping down at the water's edge looking for footprints.  We basically therefore cheated and just headed to where groups of people were clustered and took photos of depressions in the rocks that might (or might not have) be dinosaur footprints.  Apparently there are about 6 different species of dinosaur that have left only footprints but some of them just look like round holes so not sure how you know if it is one or just a round hole in the rock.  The only ones you know for sure might be left by dinosaurs are the three toed ones that look like a giant bird has made them.

After about an hour, we decided that most footprints were probably underwater as the tide started to come in so we clambered our way back up the rocks to the car.   Took the dirt road around the back of the racecourse and we saw a few racehorses out on morning training rides.  One went right past the car (we stopped as they passed) and the jockey could only give us the tiniest of thank you waves as he was hanging on for dear life as the horse was fighting the bit and was obviously ready for a bit more galloping!  Continued on and checked out the port before heading back into town and to a cafe Matt had read about that did breakfast burritos.  They also did nice egg and bacon rolls and coffees so a late breakfast/brunch was happily consumed.

We then ummed and ahhed about what to do next.  We had thought to go to the Crocodile Farm but we discovered (and luckily, before we drove all the way out there) that it is only open between 2 and 5pm and at this stage it was only about 10.30am!  Instead, we decided to go to the 12 mile birdpark which has a big display of Australian parrots as well as finches, budgies, cockateils etc etc.  They had lots of parrots and cockies who liked to talk, dance and be scratched so Jenny did her best Doctor Dolittle impression and 'talked' with all the birds by imitating their screeches (very effectively at times it must be said) or making them dance, ring their bells and tell us how pretty they are.  We stayed as long as we could to get our money's worth which was about 45 minutes and then headed on over to the Mango Place.  It was a lovely spot set in the shade of lots of mango trees and it had lots of mango related products - mango jams, chutneys, wines, ports and so on.  We sat in the shade and had mango mojitos which were really lovely and very refreshing and then perused the shop and bought some chutney.  We then decided we might as well try the wines/ports so paid for a tasting paddle each and then found another table in the shade to try them.  They were quite nice but not fantastic  enough to tempt us with their $30 price tags so back in the car and back into Broome.

By now it was early afternoon and quite hot so we decided to head back to the van and get our bathers and have a swim at Town Beach which is right next to our caravan park.  It was lovely and shady and a nice cool breeze was blowing back at the van and, after Matt had walked up to have a look at what the tide was doing at the beach and seen the crocodile warning signs, the temptation of a chair under the awning just looking at the water was too much and we just vegged out at the caravan for a while.

We roused ourselves at about a quarter to 3pm and piled back in the car and back down to Cable Beach for our booked camel ride.  Larry and Jenny got to ride together on Aslan, the alpha camel of the herd and roughly 37 years old with Matt on Akabar right behind us.  Akabar the camel was probably about 10 years younger than Aslan but quite smart so would orientate himself with his head on the shady side of Aslan and next to Jenny's leg so that she could lean over and give him the occasional scratch on the head.  It also meant that Matt was off to the side of Larry and Jenny instead of behind them and hence was able to chat as we wandered off up the beach.

It was a lovely ride and made even more special by a couple of whales just off shore breaking the waves every so often.  Still, can't say we were sorry for the ride to be over towards the end as the saddles started to rub in inconvenient places!  We braced ourselves for the descent off the camels.  They sit down by bending the front legs first before tucking under the rear legs so first you are tipped forward and then tipped so far back you feel you are going to fall back over the tail (and you also end up with your head worryingly close to the mouth of the camel behind you!) but we survived and staggered off for a restorative beer on another stretch of the white sand where we could watch another gorgeous Broome sunset.

Our camel ride came with some discount vouchers and so for dinner we bought wood fired pizzas from a truck along the main drag called M&J's and got a free garlic bread.  They were very yummy and very big - enough left for lunch tomorrow.  Took them back to the caravan for our dinner and then resumed our positions in our chairs under the awning.  Larry drove Matt back to his B&B a little after 9pm as we were all tired after our day of sun, sea and animals.

Out Of Fitzroy Crossing Yeeha

Feeling as though we had spent well and truly as much time as anyone needs to spend in Fitzroy Crossing, we were up early and heading out of the caravan park just after 7am, coffee in travel mug and bananas in hand.

It's about 400km of pretty much nothingness between Fitzroy Crossing and Broome.  You know it's a dull drive when you start counting down the kilometres to the turnoff to Tunnel Creek National Park.  We stopped for a toilet break at the Mary River 24 hour campsite - it was actually very nice and would be even nicer a bit earlier in the season when there's more water in the river.  Still, it had lots of big shady trees and plenty of nice caravan sites and hence it is very popular - according to the people in the next site to us in Broome, when they stayed there a couple of nights ago there were 84 other vans there!

We stopped again at Willare Bridge roadhouse for another toilet stop and for some hot chips but then it was straight on to Broome and we finished 'The Dog who could Fly' conveniently just as we were heading into town a little after noon.  Texted my workmate Matt  (who's come up to spend a few days with us to escape winter)  to say we'd arrived and would find him once we had set the van up so just after 1pm we drove into town and found Matt who had just about exhausted the opportunities Broome offers when you are on foot and was busy taking photos of street lights.   (Admittedly not as strange as it sounds as they are particularly stubby around the airport which sits pretty centrally in Broome).

The three of us headed to Matso's for a restorative ale or two (Jenny gladly reunited herself with a custard apple cider) and shared a seafood platter.  Afterwards, we hopped in the car and went on a bit of a tour of Broome before heading down to Cable Beach.  We quickly decided we weren't properly set up for a visit to Cable Beach so popped back to the caravan for chairs, bathers, towels, beers and nibblies and then drove back and onto the beach and 4WD'd up the sand to a nice stretch we could call our own.  We then sat back and spent the rest of the afternoon watching the water recede with the tide, the teams of camels wander past and the sun slowly sink in the west.

Back to the van to get changed and then out to Aarli's for dinner - a seafood restaurant with a strong Malaysian influence so that everything (except for dessert) we ordered  had chilli, lime and/or coriander.   They also had very yummy sounding cocktails - I tried for a mango dacquiri but they were out of mangoes (in Broome!!!) and when Matt ordered the barramundi they had to check they had any of that left (luckily there was just one serve left).   So they lost a few brownie points for not having, let's face it, the two main staples of the Kimberley but still a very nice meal was had and we couldn't resist sending Sam a photo of his empty seat to remind him what he was missing out on, having chosen to stay in wintery old Perth instead of heading north to meet up with us!

Drove Matt back to his B&B then home to bed.

Fitzroy Crossing

Friday.

Another easy drive to Fitzroy Crossing with Jenny doing most of the driving and Larry having a nap on the way. We called into a 24hr campsite at Mary Pool for a look and will remember that one for the future. I did speak to our new van neighbour iin FC and he said that there were over 85 vans there on Thursday night. Popular spot by the looks of it and probably even nicer when there is a bit more water in the river.

The drive was not very inspiring so we immersed ourselves in another talking book - this one called 'The Dog who could Fly' based on the true story of a Czech pilot during WWII and his comrade in arms, a german shepherd called Antis who flew missions with him and so even had his own oxygen mask adapted for him.  Antis went on to win the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross.  A great story and apparently destined to made into a movie one day.

Checked into the Fitzroy River Lodge and  set up on a powered shady site so all good. We had to do some grocery shopping and had a look around. Didn't take long! Well the cruise on Geikie Gorge should be good tomorrow. That is the only reason we and most likely any other tourist is/are here.

We treated ourselves to take away barramundi, chips and salad for dinner from the lodge.  Well it is Friday night!

Saturday.

We had a lazy start to the day as we planned to go on the 9:30 am cruise. We arrived earlyish and waited around for a while reading the information and then a tourist coach pulled up.  The cattle, sorry passengers, all stampeded down to where we where so we vacated that area and stood under the trees waiting for the tour guide. We all walked down to the river like cattle and boarded the boat. The senior ranger/boat driver was very informative and easy to listen to so we had an interesting and relaxing cruise as there was plenty of room on the boat. There were a few freshies and a lot of various birds and also the rock formations to look at. The difference in colour between the light and dark is the normal water level during the wet season. That is a serious amount of water going into and then out of this river.  Think of it as being the amount of water leaving the mouth of the Fitzroy during the wet season being able to refill  a drained Sydney Harbour in four hours.  Wow.

Back into town and refuelled before heading back to our caravan.  Bacon and egg sandwiches for lunch and some washing done and then we shut ourselves in the caravan, cranked up the air conditioning and watched the footy.  If we keep very still the telly reception is good so that's a good excuse for a bit of immobility!

Bungles Part 2

Even though we'd gone to bed so early, it was still difficult to get out of bed at 6am as the bed was just so warm and cosy.  We got up and had a quick breakfast of cereal in cups (our picnic set doesn't include bowls) and then we were ready to do a couple of walks in the southern end of the park.  This included Cathedral Gorge which Jenny really wanted to see after watching the Qantas ads. It didn't disappoint but it was difficult to take a picture that would do it justice and impossible to get one that didn't have other people in it.  A number of people were lugging in professional looking cameras and tripods as we were coming out so they would probably find it even harder than we had to get a family free photo (another's not their own I mean).

Cathedral Gorge.

The last walk was to the Piccaninny Lookout. The walk to the lookout included walking up the dry river bed which was pretty cool.  It's all very dry right now after two wet seasons with very little rain but they are saying it should be a bumper wet season at the end of this year.   It would be great if the Department of Parks and Wildlife could set up webcams over the wet season so that we could check back and see how different it must look with all these riverbeds under water and waterfalls cascading down the beehives.

View from the lookout.

Just after this photo was taken by the self timer on Larry's camera, we walked back down to the riverbed  where Larry discovered that he had left his lens cap on a rock.  Subsequently Larry saw this same view sans Jenny when he went back the additional kilometre to retrieve the lens.  Meanwhile Jenny walked back to the carpark via the Domes Circuit walk.  Unlike the other walks which involve dry riverbeds and lots of pebble and rock, the Domes walk consists mainly of white sand that looks suspiciously like it has been carted up from Scarborough.  Luckily as the walk circuits some of the domes/beehives it was reasonably shaded but it was such a slug that by the time Jenny got back to the carpark, Larry had already arrived having hotfooted it (literally!) back to the lookout.

Well we have just done the "Bugle Bugle"s and with no injuries apart from aching legs to report it was definitely an experience to remember.   We refreshed ourselves under shade with well earned Cokes and ate our sandwiches (it was only 10am but we were hungry after all that exercise!) and tut-tutted at the people heading off on the walks with only small 600ml bottles of water.  It might only be 10am but it was hitting thirty degrees and it was hot!  After about 2 hours from the car park at Piccaninny Gorge, we arrived back at the caravan park. Some cleaning up, expander forum trip report and blog writing, resizing pictures, pumping the tyres back up and checking the car and van over and chilling out before tomorrow's drive to Fitzroy Crossing.

Bungles Part 1

We left at the Bungle Bungles Caravan Park 7am and it took roughly 1 1/2 hours to reach the information/ranger station within Purnululu National Park. We had already decided to do the northern end first and to then head to our cabin at East Kimberley Tours Bellburn campsite. The walks were not too strenuous and we found them easier than Bell and Manning Gorge walks. The scenery is simply superb including the walks and not just the destination.

We did the Mini Palm Gorge walk first.  The walking guides said to allow 2 to 3 hours for this walk so we figured we would do it while it was still cool and be finished in time for lunch.  Heading off about 9am we walked up the rocky creek bed before gratefully slipping into the shade of the gorge (the sun already had a bite to it) and admiring the palms and sheer cliffs.  The walk ended in a lookout from where you could peer into an out of bounds cave.  We retraced our steps back to the carpark and were surprised (and a little chuffed) to realise we'd done the walk in about an hour and a half and hence it was too early to reward ourselves with lunch and time for another walk.

Mini Palm Gorge

Onto Echidna Gorge walk. Didn't see any spiky critters. Apparently most of the gorges are named from what they look like from the air. That was from the chopper pilot as we wouldn't have a clue.  Both walks entail walking up dry creek beds and over lots of pebbles/rocks.  Fairly hard work on the ankles and too much for Jenny's hiking boots which finally gave up the ghost.  They've covered a fair few kilometres over the years through dirt, sand, ice and snow but the riverbeds were just too much for them.  Luckily Larry had packed a spare pair of runners in the car so Jenny took over Larry's pre-warmed hiking boots and Larry tackled the walks in his runners (as did many others it must be said).  No further calamities for the hiking party and Larry has scored maximum brownie points!

After lunch we headed to the airstrip at Bellburn and enquired about a chopper ride. They were quiet this afternoon so we waited for about 10 minutes and the chopper returned and we got on for a 30 minute flight for just the two of us (oh, and Adrian the pilot of course!). The Bungles are a sight to see from the air and as it gives a different perspective from the ground it made us appreciate more what we were looking at when on the ground. Definitely recommend it to any who travels here.  Just make sure your seat belt is well and truly fastened as there are no doors on the side and when Adrian went round a bend it was all Jenny could do not to grab the side of the helicopter and look like a softy.  Instead, she handled the corners like a pro AND managed not to drop her phone out the side at the same time!

We spent a comfortable night in a cabin at East Kimberley Tours Bush Camp.  Larry had convinced Jenny to stay here instead of a $15 KMart tent in the campground and it must be said that it was a wise move.  We arrived there mid afternoon and had a dip in the swimming pool (not a fully submerged kind of dip, but a dunk your foot in and go "Bloody hell, that's cold" kind of dip) and then lazed by the edge of the pool for a while before returning to our verandah for drinkies and cheese and bikkies.  The EKT bus turned up with a mob of sheep, sorry passengers, and they all disappeared off to their cabins to get changed and then headed up to the dining area for their allocated meal which left the cabins and BBQ area clear for us to cook our sausages and buns under the stars and then ate them watching the enormous red moon rise.

Back to the cabin where we managed to stay awake til 8pm before succumbing to sleep.  Whilst the cabin had been a ferocious 30 something degrees when we had first entered it this afternoon, once the sun dropped so did the temperature and we made full use of all the doonas and blankets provided.

Heading home (very slowly)

As we headed out of Kununurra this morning we realised that every kilometre from now on will be taking us closer to Perth and so, as of now, we are very slowly heading home.  This fact was doubly brought home to us as we turned left onto the road towards Halls Creek and the car compass pointed south and south-west instead of the north and north-east it has shown for the last few weeks.  Can't help feeling a little sad that our holiday is already half over.  We are very comfortable in the van and can see ourselves able to do the grey nomad thing happily in it in a few more years.

Jenny got back behind the wheel today for the first time in a while having not been confident enough to try negotiating the corrugations of the Gibb River Road towing three tonne of tippy-over behind her.   The road was pretty good up until around Warmun (formerly Turkey Creek) then it became narrow with broken edges - not really befitting of a national highway - come on Government!  Still it was well supplied with phone towers and we had good coverage all the way so Larry was able to sit in the passenger seat and do some googling whilst Jenny drove.  We stopped in Warmun to top up with fuel then Larry drove the final leg to the Purnululu National Park turn off.  One kilometre in and we pulled into the Bungles Caravan Park.  As it was lunchtime the park was fairly empty and we were given a nice, large, quiet spot so there was plenty of room to set up and we have a bit of screening from the many other vans and campers that pulled in over the course of the afternoon.

As we have the next two days to explore the park this afternoon was extremely lazy.  Larry did a few modifications to the roof rack to get rid of a creak that has developed over the last couple of days and let the tyres down ready for some more off-roading and Jenny made some sandwiches and packed bags for our overnight stay at the Bungles bush camp tomorrow night.  Will be very strange to be out of our little home for a night but better to stay in the park and see everything over the two days than drive in and out on the rough access road each day.

After we'd done our chores, we shut up the caravan, put the air conditioner on and watched 'The Iron Lady'and 'The Castle' on the telly using Larry's hard drive.  Once the sun started going down and it was a bit cooler we strolled around the park and checked out all the other vans before going back to ours and making pizzas for dinner.

Tomorrow morning we will be up early and off to the Bungles for a couple of days!

Roughing it Kimberley Style

We had a lazy start to the morning.  Stayed in bed and enjoyed having internet, morning television and a coffee.  Eventually got up and did some washing and then we hopped in the car and headed round to Ash's parents' place where Tom and Ash (the couple we met at Manning Gorge and Tom with whom Larry used to work at Murrin) are staying presently.  Tom was there and he and Larry did some work on the car putting the new Ctek charger into the car.  It replaces the one that Ben had to keep manually charging whilst he was in the back seat.  The new one will do it automatically - we are going to call it ''Ben Mark 2"!  Jenny sat in the car whilst the boys 'played' electronics and finished her book - luckily there is a book exchange back at the caravan park so I'll see what I can find to next read when we get back there later.

Once the boys were done, Tom made us a cup of coffee and not long afterwards Ash and her dad Alan returned from their walk and joined us.  Alan and Larry did a bit of reminiscing about Wyndham (he and Sue ran a takeaway store in Wyndham when Larry was there) and the good old days when Wyndham was on the up.  The Wharfe's later moved to Kununurra and Alan worked for Bow River and Argyle Diamond mines for many years and now has his own little business called Kimberley Rough Diamonds (you can check out their website at kroughdiamonds.com.au).  Alan obligingly opened up the safe and showed us some of his collection of rough diamonds - just gorgeous and I was amazed at how brilliant they are without having been cut at all - they have only been cleaned in an caustic soda solution to wash off all the dirt.  We were also interested to see all the triangular shaped diamonds - at first I assumed they were cut that way but Alan explained it is a natural shape diamonds form called macle diamonds.  Although I threw lots of knowing looks Larry's way he failed (or deliberately chose) not to see them and we left the room rough diamond-less.  I blame those bloody new batteries in Broome for costing me one!

Said our goodbyes until later today and headed into town for some lunch and then a wander through the touristy shops.  Went to the Kimberley fine diamond shop to see some sparkly cut diamonds - they had some pink Argyle diamonds which are very pretty.  Knowing that the Argyle mine will close down in a few years and that pink diamonds will then become a more valuable commodity it would be tempting to buy one as an investment - but not having a spare $300,000 or so, we'll have to leave that canny thinking to someone else.  Instead we invested in a metal boat tree decoration for a blank wall at home and a sparkly boab tree pendant for Jenny.  We then did a big grocery shop and headed back to the caravan park to sit by the lake and relax for the rest of the afternoon.

About 5.30pm we headed back into town and met up with Ash and Tom for a drink (or two or three) and dinner at Gulliver's Tavern.  Just a lovely couple and it is so nice to have made new friends on our trip.  We will be interested to keep in touch with them as they continue their road trip around Australia and hopefully once we are all back in Perth we can catch up for drinks and dinner again.

Sandalwood, Rum and Fruit Bats

Pack up day this morning and it look us a little longer than normal as we have had Ben to help the last couple of weeks and we had fallen into a routine with all of us having our own allocated tasks.  Today we had to cover Ben's tasks and, whilst Ben had got them down to a fine art, we had to learn them afresh.  For instance, we had a few go's at packing up his swag!

On the road and headed back towards Kununurra.  We had a brief moment of hesitation at the T-junction at the top of the Lake Argyle Road - should we go left and back to Kununurra and home or turn right and head towards the Northern Territory and continue around Australia.  If only we'd won Lotto the other night it would have definitely been right!!!  As it was, being Lotto losers, we turned left and retraced our steps to Kununurra. 

Made our way to the Discovery Lakeside Kununurra caravan park.  I had booked a lakeside site months ago and we were so glad we did as it was a big park and a lot of people were stuck up the back with no lake view at all whereas the water was about 10 metres from the van where we were and we could drag our chairs to the riverbank and watch the lake, the birdlife and, later on, the fruit bats.

We set up the van and then realised that the West Coast game was due to start shortly so we decided to stay at the van for the duration and do some chores and have lunch.  Not the most relaxing game to watch, the Eagles made tough work of beating Carlton and actually looked like they might give the game away towards the end.  Still, came away with the win and Larry won the footy tipping round so a good result in the end.

We finally stirred ourselves and hopped back in the car to look at some of the sights around Kununurra.   Drove out to Ivanhoe Crossing and watched a few cars plough across and a couple of fishermen not having much luck.  Larry decided he couldn't be bothered driving across just to drive back again so instead we headed to the nearby Sandalwood factory (a sister to the one just out of Mount Barker and so not very exciting) and then to the Hoochery where rum from local sugar cane is distilled.  We tried a few samples of different rums and liqueurs but a bit strong for us - might have appreciated them more if there'd been mixers to try them with but that's probably blasphemy to diehard spirit drinkers.  Instead we tried the icecream sandwiches - mine having rum and raisin icecream with two oatmeal biscuits and Larry's having the coffee/chocolate rum liqueur with chocolate biscuits.  Yummo!

It was getting on towards late afternoon (in the Kimberley that means 4pm) so we next headed to Hidden Valley National Park, otherwise known as the mini Bungles.  There were a couple of nice walks through the rocks and were impressed by the quality and extensiveness of the concrete paths and metal ramps.  No possibility of a trip and a sore toe here!  It was a lovely place and we managed to get some good photos of the nearly full moon through gaps in the rock.  It felt like we were a million miles from anywhere so we jumped when Larry's phone rang.  Actually Kununurra town is just on the other side of the rocks - barely half a kilometre away and Tom was ringing to talk about catching up tomorrow.

By this time it was heading towards sunset so we drove up the carpark at Kelly's Knob and walked to the first lookout to watch the sun go down.  We very quickly decided that, although the lookout was pretty crowded with other people, there was no way we were going to tackle the long hike to the top of the knob - there was even a ladder involved!  We convinced ourselves, though, that we just weren't doing it as it would be too dangerous coming back down in the dark and nothing to do with our preference for sitting on our butts with drinks in hand where we were.

While we were sitting there I was telling Larry about my memories of what Warren and Barbara had told me about living in Kununurra and how Barbara had always talked about the fruit bats coming out at sunset.  We didn't see any up on the hillside but as we drove back to the caravan park, they all decided to come out of the trees and fly around our heads and over the caravan and the lake.  They were really loud too - it was like living in a zoo.  Once it was dark, though, they all disappeared off and we had a quiet night at "home"with salt and pepper calamari and salad for dinner. 

     

                                                                                                                        

And then there were two

Up early this morning and probably even earlier than we needed to be but Jenny likes to get to airports with plenty of time to spare.  It was a pretty drive back up to Kununurra in the early morning light and we got to the airport about 7.20am.  A big queue to check in but all nice and straight forward and then we had time to sit in the little coffee shop and have a coffee until it was time for Ben to go through into the departure lounge.  Waited until he had climbed up the stairs into the little AirNorth plane and then waved our final goodbyes and drove back into Kununurra.

Did a little drive around the town and found the old Warren F Johnson and Co office (no longer there) and the footy/cricket ovals where the Wyndham Townies (Larry's old teams) used to come and play.  Paid a visit to the Saturday morning markets - lots of craft, tourist and frozen mango/smoothie stalls - they weren't doing great business as it quite chilly here this morning.  The coffee van, on the other hand, was doing a roaring trade and I mentioned to Larry that a hot doughnut stall would be doing good business.  We then wandered across the road to the local IGA and lo and behold there was a man making hot donuts inside!  Score!!  Bought a mop and some cleaning stuff to clean the van, then visited the two camping stores in town to see if we could find a replacement globe for our lantern.  No luck so hopefully the one in Broome has arrived and we can pick one up next week.

Headed back to our caravan and then spent a couple of hours cleaning out the car and cleaning all the dust out of the van.  Wiped down all surfaces and flywires/vents etc and then swept and mopped the floors - what a difference a clean floor makes!  By the time we felt satisfied that the worst of the grot was gone, we sat back and relaxed and had hot dogs and cheese for lunch, then relaxed and read our books with a cuppa.  Not long before our eyes started to droop after our late night/early morning and a little nap on the bed was had. 

Mid afternoon we roused ourselves and Jenny was required to don her bathers and head to the infinity pool.  Jenny remembers when this trip was being planned saying "Ooh, Lake Argyle Resort looks nice, I wouldn't mind staying there and going in that infinity pool", Larry remembers  Jenny saying "I want to go in that infinity pool.  We're staying there!".  Either way, a swim in the infinity pool was required.   When we got there it was silky smooth with not one person (including cold resistant children) rippling its surface.  That should have been warning enough but Larry had come with camera at the ready so there was nothing for it but for Jenny to take the plunge.  Well let's just say it was breathtaking.  And I'm not talking about the view!  The combination of cooler days, infinity edge and wind whipping across the top made it really cold.  Much colder than any of the waterholes we had visited on the Gibb River Road (which you had at least been hot enough to want to attempt in any case!).  Jenny was brave (or stupid) enough to get in and stay in long enough for photos to be taken before leaping back out and sitting in the sun to thaw out.

Back to the van and cooked up steak sandwiches for dinner and then watched the movie 'Red Dog' which we have been listening to as a talking book in the car.  A great story and movie and we will be looking out for Red Dog's statue when we get to Dampier in a few weeks.

Dam, dam, dam!

We had a lazy start to the day with pancakes cooked on the Webber and went to the dam as that's why this place is here. It is really quite an engineering feat and we drove across it and went down to the picnic area opposite the hydro power station. As we were looking at the power station one of the bypass vents opened and a huge amount of water shot out of one of the bypass discharge pipes. Woo hoo was heard from the car as Jenny thought that was cool (Jenny was sitting in the car because the wind was too cold for her to get out!)

Larry decided that the dirty Jeep should become a clean Jeep so out came the bucket and sponge and it got a cleaning back to sort of shining. The inside will get done tomorrow after Benjamin gets dropped off as we can clean out his area.

After that we went to the spillway which doesn't flow much these days but still worth a look. Called into the Durack Homestead and that was very interesting. What those pioneers did was quite amazing and because of them and the other people that did the cattle drives the Kimberley has a cattle industry. One pair of brothers drove a smaller herd than the Durack's from NSW and covered over 5600kms which is the longest cattle drive ever recorded apparently.  Just some information to whoever may be interested.

Chilled out at the van for a couple of hours a before joining our evening cruise. Was pretty good but the wind made it actually cold but fortunately we thought ahead and had our jumpers but way too cold for Jenny, Larry or Ben to swim. A few people did swim but that the majority did not. Had a couple of obnoxious passengers who insisted on standing against the side of the boat and block peoples view but that just reminds us not to do a bus type tour in the future.

Lake Argyle truly is huge.  We did a three hour cruise but barely covered more than 5% of the area of the Lake.  Lots and lots of fresh water crocodiles on the edges of the dam.  Apparently their numbers have swelled to a thousands now.  As the temperature has dropped over the last few days and it has been windy, the water is a little cold for them (about 25 degrees) so they were all sunning themselves on the banks.  A few nests could be seen and hence there is also a big bird population as they feast on the eggs/young crocs.

The good news is that no injuries were sustained today in our party, the same could not be said for the Dockers.  We watched a bit of the game back at the beer garden whilst downing the Friday night special of fish and chips and a beer/wine/soft drink for $20 each.  Back to the van but a late night getting to sleep as we had obnoxious people next door who shouted and guffawed until well after  10pm which is very discourteous in a caravan park - especially as Ben was trying to sleep outside approximately 5.0 metres away.

Kununurra to Lake Argyle

For a travel day, it was a pretty leisurely start.  Coffee and a book in bed then wandered back up to Deb and Paul's for egg and bacon sandwiches complemented by Deb's homemade tomato and chilli chutney and a cuppa.  Back to the van to pack up with Brayden helping Ben (and showing me that Ben is very patient and good with kids)and the dogs sitting around watching and looking a bit sad as they realised they were going to lose their new friends.

Said our final goodbyes and thank yous to Deb and PJ who were so warm and welcoming to all of us before starting to head south again as Wyndham is the furtherest north we go on this holiday.  Almost felt like the holiday was half over now heading south until we turned east and headed further away from Perth again.  Within the hour we were pulling in to Kununurra where Jenny did a bit of reminiscing of her own.  Although I have never been to Kununurra, about 30 years ago I worked for Warren F Johnson and Co as a secretary and Warren and Barbara Johnson lived in Kununurra and did all their business via their Perth office which was a penthouse on Kings Park Drive (best  surroundings for a workplace I've ever had!).  I typed up hundreds of letters about places and subdivisions in Kununurra and had a lot of contact with a lot of Kununurra people so I have always felt like I know the place.  I have Warren to thank for getting me into town planning.  So it was a bit weird to recognised street signs and places from my past as we drove into town.

We found a big vacant block filled with car and caravan parking and it was conveniently close to Coles so we pulled up there.  Another big shop as our Wyndham shop had just been for essentials and we took it back to the caravan and loaded up the fridge and caravans.  Walked back to the Wild Mango Cafe for lunch as all that shopping had made us hungry.  Larry and I had BLT's and Ben a pulled pork taco and we all had some mango themed drink be it smoothie or slushie.

Drove on east to the Lake Argyle turn off and then started heading south again.  The scenery has changed again and there seems to be less boab trees here and more big gum trees.  Made it to the Lake Argyle resort and into an organised business with camp greeters ready to chaperone you to your site and help you park up and a big information/booking desk, souvenir area , cafe and beer garden.  Once again, the caravan park is pretty full but the sites here are a reasonable size and grassed and shady so quite pleasant and we are not too far away from the amenities for once.

Set up the van and then went for a wander around the park so that we could see where everything was and so that Larry can check out all the other vans.  Found the famous infinity pool but it was too full of kids and too cool and windy to tempt me today.  Back to the van and got the roast on and then we hopped in the car and drove up to the Pannikin Bay lookout to watch the sunset.  Quite a few people up there and we were the last car to be able to squeeze in to the car park.  Such a big expanse of blue water in front of us and it's only one little bay in the whole of Lake Argyle.  Wow.

Back down to the van and the delicious aromas of our lamb roast.  Sorry neighbours!  Ben set up the television and we were able to watch the news for the first time in a few weeks.  Masterchef is now on the background as I type this.  Not many contestants left now!  Might just be able to watch the end of it before bed calls.  We do like our early nights now!

Windyham

Yes, because it was very windy today.  Apparently the weather was the talk of Wyndham - a maximum of 24 degrees forecast and overcast, windy and likely to rain.   Larry and Jenny must be in town!

We woke later than usual though as it was just so quiet all around us and even Deb and Paul were having a lie in so absolutely no car doors, car noise or people noise anywhere near us.  Had a lesiurely breakfast and then decided to head out to some of the sights around Wyndham.  At PJ's recommendation, we decided to get to Parry Creek around lunchtime so we first headed towards Moochalabra Dam.  Larry, knowing the local ways, only stayed on the actual road for a few hundred metres before veering off across the salt plains for a short cut and a much smoother ride.   It was an interesting experience to be on an unofficial pathway across the vast open spaces but judging by the number of tracks I was came to think that no one but tourists heading out to Diggers Rest Station actually use the proper road (read corrugated dirt track) at all - the salt plains are certainly a smoother ride!

Got back to the proper road in time for the turn off to the dam.  Headed first to some nearby aboriginal rock art but there were already two car loads of middle aged women there who were part of an organised "Kimberley Creative Tours' tour.  They came back down the rocky cliff face incredibly slowly but greatly inspired apparently so toddled back to their cars, grabbed their artist easels and headed off to a nearby creek, complete with water lillies, to "create".  I'm ashamed to say I was not similarly inspired by the blobs on the cliff face (some of which looked suspiciously like they had been 'touched up' so we were back in the car and off to the dam whilst they were still setting up their stools and brushes.

Moochalabra dam has changed a bit since Larry lived here - the actual wall has been almost doubled in height to increase capacity but also, to Larry's disgust, surrounded by a fence and lots of "keep out', this is a prohibited area by order of Water Corporation" type signs whereas in the good old days you were free to wander as you please and even collect terrapins that had got trapped in the gratings at the top of the dam wall.  Larry showed his rebellious side by going round the fence and down to the dam wall to take photos whilst Ben and I stayed virtuously on the correct side of the fence and took the necessary incriminating evidence.  You never know when it might come in handy!

Back in the car and drove along the King River stopping occasionally when we thought we may have seen a crocodile on the bank but didn't in the end.  Stopped at the prison boab tree for photos.  Unlike the one just out of Derby this one wasn't fenced and was covered in graffiti so we didn't treat it with the same level of respect either and happily posed on the hole in the trunk.

Back across the salt plains and a bit further down the road to the Parry Creek reserve.  PJ had told us that the old caravan park was now a resort with a pretty good cafe so we headed straight there.  It was still just a little before noon and the place was deserted but the ladies in the cafe welcomed us with open arms and scurried off to turn on the deep fryer and boil some water.  We were happy to sit in the nice cafe in a nice breeze but screened by the flywire from the wind outside watching the lizards scurry up the flywire and listening to the endless squawk of the white corellas in the nearby trees.  Even happier when our meals came - Larry had a Barra burger which he loved and Ben and I had fish and chips (the fish being barramundi of course) which was also very tasty.  Feeling very sated, we hopped back in the car and went off to explore Parry Creek reserve including a stop at the Parry Creek floodway (home of a famous lost thong incident), then to the old telegraph station (built in 1914 but only there a few years because there was too much static - why didn't they check that before going to all the effort of building a station out in the middle of nowhere?!) and then on to a bird watching station.  There was a hide with lots of elderly people sitting quietly with iPads filming birds.  We were careful to whisper and tiptoe but then they all started talking quite loudly and the birds (and crocodiles on the far bank) really didn't seem to care anyway.

Back into town to get some fuel and to visit two of the other businesses still in operation:  a gift store and the newsagent where I supported the local economy by purchasing an "I  survived the Gibb River Road' stubby holder and Larry a Lotto ticket.  We'll know we have pretty short odds of it being us if the winning ticket was sold in Wyndham!  Back home and did some more blog updating etc before wandering down to Deb and Paul's about 4.30pm.  Another couple who remember Larry from the good old days, Gilbert and Shelley, arrived for some more drinking and reminiscing before having to head off to bingo.  Deb had cooked up a scrumptious lasagne for dinner and that, combined with a big salad and fresh bread rolls, made a truly memorable meal.  We progressive dinnered from the table to the firepit for dessert of toasted marshmallows and more wine and more reminiscing but the chat was more general tonight so Ben and Jenny were able to join in a bit more.  Maggie the terrier decided Ben's lap was pretty comfy and settled in for a long nap.  I think Ben is seriously thinking about kidnapping her tomorrow!

Done and dusted. Onwards and upwards - 12th July 2016

Another early flight (chopper this time) meant that we were awake and breakfasted early.  Packed up the caravan and on the road again by 8am (ish!).  Headed off down the road to the Gibb River Road and pulled over, along with a number of other cars/caravans to re inflate our tyres now that the unsurfaced road portion of the highway has been completed.  Larry was chuffed to have a number of other drivers be suitably impressed with his initiative of having added an additional Anderson plug on the side of the caravan so that he could easily reach to the caravan tyres to re inflate them whereas they were struggling to reach from the front of their cars.

Turned right onto the Gibb River Road and were soon lulled into a false sense of security by the relatively silent swoosh of the tyres on the asphalt.  Security soon tested as we hit the first of the floodways probably a little faster than we should have and did a bit of a bang and a bounce.  Took them a bit slower after that!

Before long we made it to the Wyndham/Kununurra T-junction and the final Gibb River Road sign where we stopped so that eventually we can do 'before and after'photos of the car and caravan at either end.  The Gibb River Road finally done and dusted it was onwards and upwards towards Wyndham with a brief stop at the Grotto which is a safe swimming hole for Wyndhamites - safe in so far as no crocodiles and nothing to do with the cliff face path you need to navigate to get down to the water!

Continued north and Larry rang ahead to Deb Jennings to warn her of our arrival and the need to get the kettle on post haste!  We were soon pulling in at the gate and settled in at the kitchen table for a chat and a cuppa.  Peter (PJ) turned up from work after a while and he and Larry were soon chatting away like the last 26 years were only 26 days.  Larry said it was the funny old thing about someone at first looking different and then 5 seconds later looking exactly the same as they ever did!

We then drove the van down towards the stable yards at the back of the racecourse where the trainers and horses now stay when the races are on.  As it used to once be a caravan park there is power and water and shade.  The only sad thing is that Jenny keeps looking out the caravan window expecting to see a horse in the yard right next to the van and its empty. :(

As it was getting dangerously close to the time when Ben starts to constantly nag about the empty state of his stomach, we set up the van, unhitched and headed into town.  PJ advised us to try the Rusty Shed cafe down near the Port and it was a little trendy cafe doing pretty good business in what is otherwise a declining and run-down town with most businesses having relocated to Kununurra and the various mines/meatworks down at the Port having also closed.  We had very tasty homemade pies and sausage rolls for lunch and a milk shake in a jar (that's how you know it's a trendy cafe!), then hopped back in the car and did Larry's reminiscing tour of Wyndham - past his old bank johnny quarters, the old R&I bank (now boarded up), the old drinking locations (too many to mention individually) and the footy oval (where a magic, match winning mark was recreated).

Off to the supermarket to do a resupply of our sadly depleted foodstocks after nearly two weeks on the Gibb River Road.  Small luxuries like fresh milk instead of UHT milk and novelties like Northern Territory choc milk (we're closer to Darwin than Perth!) were purchased before heading back to the van.  Spent a little time doing chores like using Deb's washing machine to wash sheets and towels etc (a 9.5kg washing machine made this an easy feat!) and paying bills etc.

We then convoyed with PJ and his grandson Braydon up the Bastion (as the locals call it) or the 5 Rivers Lookout (as the tourists know it) to look at the outstanding view of, you guessed it, the 5 rivers being the Ord, Pentecost, Forrest, King and Durack Rivers running in the Cambridge Gulf.  Stayed to watch the sunset (the worst one in ages apparently as the clouds had rolled in!), the rock wallabies come out to eat our crackers and then headed up to the BBQ area for our dinner.  At this point we realised that although we had remembered the meat, the salad, the drinks, the condiments and even the BBQ utensils we had failed to remember to bring any plates or cutlery with which to consume said dinner.  Still nothing a bit of ingenuity can't fix.  If you were clever you carved your carrot stick into a stabbing prong for your sausage, used a piece of bread or a tupperware lid as a plate or used a BBQ utensil or, once the meat was cool enough, your fingers to get the job done.  Another two couples having a BBQ there at the same time swapped us some garlicky prawns for a sausage so all in all a very pleasant meal.

Headed back to Paul and Deb's and Braydon convinced Paul to get a fire going and soon we were settled around the fire for banana and nutella parcels in the coals followed by alcoholic beverages and hours of reminiscing by Larry and the Jennings'.  Ben and Jenny spent a great deal of this time staring into the fire and having ''quiet time".  Staggered down the track and to bed at the terribly adult time of 11pm.