Bungle Bungles - Wow!!

We reluctantly left the Gibb River Road - we posed for this photo just before Home Valley - which marked the completion of the road.                      

We caught up with messages etc then headed into the Purnululu National Park - which we all know as the Bungle Bungles. We were warned the road was rough - well they were right but it wasn't much worse than some other roads we've traversed. We took it slowly over the rocks (it took 2.5hrs to travel 53kms!) but we arrived safe and sound and the trip was well worth it! We set up in a beautiful spot with shady trees and birds aplenty. There are lots of quail scratching about in the grass with bower birds waiting for scraps and a blue winged kookaburra posing beautifully for Darryl to photograph him. We even saw a bustard on the road. We actually think it's funny that we often choose the generator section over the quiet section in case it comes in cloudy - and invariably we are alone and the quiet areas are busy!! This whole park is A1 - excellent facilities, great signage and information boards and everything very well maintained. 

            

We were under the impression that the Bungle Bungles were just a few dome shaped bee hive rocks but there's much more than that! It's an amazing place and the rock formations are just spectacular. We actually spent some the inheritance - sorry kids but Dennis says the market is up - and took a 30 min helicopter ride over the park. I was a little nervous and hung on for dear life - but it was awesome!

        

    Tops loved the ride and wasn't as scared as me! 

The flight really gave an overall perspective of how huge this park is and of the different rock formations. It was incredible to see gorges dotted with palms and streams that all eventually lead to the Ord River. Then to see the same things from the ground, gave another perspective. 

         

The major draw cards are the lovely walks and Echidna and Cathedral Chasms.  Echidna Chasm has a narrow entrance up a rocky creek bed and around midday the sun creates a lovely glow on the rocks which is beautiful. 

        

 As we walked into the chasm it looked spectacular. 

     

The lovely palms on walkway to chasm - and a very hot sweaty walker!!

The Cathedral is a huge awesome cavern which was worth the walk to get there. It really makes you feel insignificant to be in places of such natural beauty. We also completed a walk around the domes to see up close the different rock types that create the stripy effect. 

       

Sometimes we were led up the garden path too - despite following a map!!

    

The amazing Cathedral:

    

So we have really enjoyed our last days of our Kimberley's adventure and thank heavens talk of a rough road didn't put us off coming here. 

From here we will stay at Kununurra to wash our rather grotty sheets and towels - (we've kept up with everyday washing with our hand machines),  to stock up on supplies - especially beer as there are rations here tonight! and to put some 240 volts into the campers. We've not hooked into power since Broome  some 17 days ago - so the solar is working very well now ☀️☀️. 

We were hoping we'd be able to catch up with the Hopes when they came up Alice Springs way but it doesn't look like it will work out so we've decided to change our plans again and head across to Brisbane. We are keen for Lifestyle to service the vans and attend to a couple of minor issues and it seems a better proposition than getting home then heading back up to Brisbane. That means Ayres Rock and Kings Canyon will be another trip! It also means we'll be able to catch up with Rob and Pru, Rick and Flo. 

So we hope everyone is well and not too cold - can be believe we are quite hot here! (36 degrees!) Till our next blog we sign off from the beautiful Kimberly region of WA. xxxxxxxx

         

Gibb River part 2

Hello again from the happy travellers!  We've been a week away from politics, footy, news .....and haven't missed it a bit - only missed contact with family and friends.

 It's been a wonderful experience travelling long this iconic road and we are very glad we've done it. We would actually love to be turning around and going back along the Gibb to see the bits we missed! The Kimberley's are a beautiful part of Australia with fantastic scenery and we've loved every bit. We've seen so many gorgeous gorges we've almost become blasé about them.  We've been fortunate that the recent rains meant we saw waterfalls and rivers running and the country looking so lush and green. The road was surprisingly very good in places but fairly rough in others. Some spots were a bit sticky like this bit going out of Manning Gorge campground!

  

          

First stop was Windjana Gorge where we set up in a pretty spot with a magnificent mountainous backdrop. The gorge is home to 120 fresh water crocs and it was fascinating watching them sunning on the banks or just lazing in the water - (or lazing on a log like this chappie!)  We felt quite envious as they had the best spot - and we weren't going swimming with them!!

          

Tunnel Creek was interesting as you walk 750metres through this amazing tunnel - as we had to walk through water, and his water shoes are sitting at home, Darryl borrowed Sam Brays idea: - very effective but not very fashionable. Duck tape is pretty versatile stuff! 

        

     

Bell Gorge has a beautiful tiered waterfall and we had a rather strenuous climb to reach it but it was well worth the effort. 

    

We have however experienced some strange visitors around our camps  - from a small Python which scared the wits out of Tops, to renegade bulls, to this beautiful praying mantis. He was huge and had red under his wings and looked quite dragon like.

   

   

Manning Gorge presented another beautiful waterfall, accessed by a 2.5km little track across the river in a little boat and pulley system, through long grass and up and over rocks - we felt like mountain goats! 

          

Crossing the Manning River.

     

To add to the trek, we were caught up in a thunderstorm so must have looked funny walking in our bathers in the rain!  We had a quick dip then marched back the 2.5km to camp to find it quite damp! We actually had to wait a while the next morning for the track to dry out a bit before we could leave. We were hoping we weren't going to be stranded for 5 days like lots of campers were when the Manning River rose to 2 metres! Some silly people still tried to get across, the result being a couple of write offs! 

We deviated off the Gibb River road up the Kalumburu road to Drysdale Station. This is the road to the Mitchell Falls and plateau but we've heard consistent reports of the road being terrible so we sadly gave that a miss. At Drysdale we were camped by the river where we could wallow in the shallow waters and watch the prolific bird life -(all kinds of finches except the elusive Gouldian one!) 

      The lovely sandy bottomed Drysdale River. We could easily walk across.

Our last stop along the river was at Ellenbrae. We are in a lovely bush campsite with a swimming hole not far away and we have unique amenities including this bush bath!!  

   

       

Along the road we met up with Shane and Tristy from Ocean Grove who also own a camper like Dennis and Tops. We shared several evenings with them and enjoyed their company. Then this morning we stopped to chat to a Queensland couple in a van like ours. There aren't many Lifestyle vans around. 

      

From here we are heading to the Bungle Bungles which will be another adventure. We look forward to catching up on family news - hope your birthday was great Dusty, have a great time in Noosa Tim and Ell and happy packing for your Bali trip Josh and Jess. 

Till next time love from us four xxxxxx. 

Derby - Horizontal Falls

Well we certainly are living the dream! Today was a fantastic day and one we'll always remember. We flew from the Derby airport to where the falls are and landed on the sea alongside their houseboat. 

          

Some people were very lucky to get the prime first class seats!!

       

    

We were very fortunate as we didn't go through the falls once but several times on two separate occasions and they were great! What happens is the when the tide goes in and out, there are two narrow spots where it has to pass from an inland sea to the ocean, making for a big rush of water - especially in the narrow gap. Our boat driver loved zooming across and we had complete confidence in his abitilies and never felt scared at all. 

    

    

We also were able to swim with sharks and watch them being fed .... It was quite fascinating and they were lovely to see. They were nurse sharks and quite used to being fed and put on quite a show for us. We could stand up and watch them or get into the cage next to them and watch through our goggles. We took the opportunity to have as many dips as we could seeing we will be leaving the beach soon. 

    Dennis loved the sharks!

   

We were taken on a cruise up Cyclone Creek - so named as its a perfect shelter for craft during cyclones. The gorge was spectacular too with amazing rock formations. We searched for crocs but found none! 

     

A delightful barramundi lunch was prepared for us - as much as we wanted then we hit the falls again. It was actually more exciting as the tide was going out - we've become real thrill seekers. 

Then we enjoyed our scenic flight back over some barramundi farms - we were told the farmers live out there for a week then they swap over workers. What a lonely life! 

     

Now we are relaxing before we go to the wharf to watch another sunset! They are supposed to be sensational from here. We'll spend tomorrow here looking around, washing (again!!) and stocking up (again!!). Then Friday we will head off along the Gibb river - first stop Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek. The road has only just opened to these spots today so we are lucky. I had to spend a whole $1 in Target buying a pair of thongs to wear in Tunnel Gorge.  

The very happy travellers sign off till another day - the service is probably non existent where we are going, so there could be a lull in blogs. We send our love xxxxxxx

Dampier peninsula

Our last days in Broome were highlighted by morning coffee at the town beach then a beautiful swim in the Indian Ocean at Cable Beach. The water was a perfect temperature and just gentle waves for us oldies - we could have stayed there for ages! We enjoyed our last milk shake and smoothie at the restaurant overlooking the beach then Tops and I left the boys and had our hair cuts. Now we're  beautiful to tackle the return trip. Broome was the turn around point in distance but maybe not in time as we've still got Gibb River, Bungle Bungles, Ayres Rock & Kings Canyon to explore. 

How happy we are that we didn't listen too much to the lady at the Broome Information Centre as she made coming here to the Dampier Peninsula such a trial but we've just loved this area and rate it very high on our favourites list! We are also now enjoying perfect weather - warm, no humidity, and beautiful evenings to enjoy a campfire. There's been no insects, flies, mosquitos either  .... Perfect 😀😀.

         

We are now camped in a little piece of paradise at Middle Lagoon. We have the ocean one side and lagoon the other and both are beautiful swimming spots (no crocs or stingers or sharks - or that's what they tell us!)  Its a basic camp with shower and toilet  and water - no power but we have our solar working & we can have campfires and generators if necessary. 

         Our lagoon.     

The road here was rough and the poor old Mitsi rattled and shook a bit but the van towed like a dream. Darryl and I lost a kilo or two being shaken around and conversation was difficult!  Dennis and Tops however, glided over the road like it was a highway - or so Dennis tells us! The Mitsi also lost another aerial 😁 so to keep in contact we'll have to travel close together until we can buy a replacement.

      

We stopped at Beagle Bay along the way to see this most gorgeous Catholic Church which is still a working church. If it was easier to get to and not an hour there along the rough track, we would have loved to attend Mass thismorning. The church was established over 100 years ago by French Monks then replaced by German missionaries and Italian sisters who still run the parish. The alter is all made with shells and mother of pearl shells line the aisle and adorn the photo frames. 

      

    

 We imagined we'd be the only ones here seeing it's isolated with rough access but no, once again we've been joined with other pioneers! But everyone is so friendly and interested it's not a hardship to share this spot! We are in aboriginal land and this spot is leased but it seems a couple of volunteers actually keep it clean and organised and they say it's a year by year proposition. It would be such a shame if this beautiful spot was left to decline. 

We had a beautiful day touring the peninsula and saw fish being fed at the hatchery at One Arm Point - we actually thought 'oh dear - this will be boring' but really enjoyed the information and seeing the fish feeding! Dennis volunteered to feed a barramundi and nearly lost his arm - they are aggressive feeders.

         

We had our morning tea there by the airport - (we got sick of waiting for the LA flight) then we had an interesting time purchasing fuel - you insert your credit card, put in the $ amount and bingo the fuel flows!  

We found Cygnet Bay, which has the oldest pearl farm in Australia and they have built a restaurant with a lovely infinity swimming pool. Most surprising was we could stroll around, swim in the pool and it didn't cost a penny! Elsewhere up here you have to pay to enter any Aboriginal lands. The pool was lovely but chilly after the warm sea. 

From there we drove to Kooljaman camp site at Cape Leveque and had lunch in the lovely grounds there. We saw the lighthouse and walked to the beach - not as nice as here as there were rocks hidden in the water! We all had a swim and Dennis - who left his bathers in the car - gave Tony Abbott a run for his money swimming in his jocks!! ( sorry no photos of that!)  

Our day was completed with spotting 2 brolgas and a jabiru by the road, another swim in the lagoon, and enjoying a beautiful chicken dinner cooked over the campfire by chef Dennis! 

There is a little phone reception up on a hill so I will try to publish this - if unsuccessful it won't be published till Derby. We've decided to stay here another night as we love it and Tuesday will have a long day to get to Derby to be ready for our Horizontal Falls trip Wednesday. 

Love to you all from the very happy travellers - as Kristian says we are 'living the dream' xxxxx

        

 

Broome

Fitzroy crossing was quite a nice place and we found the river flowing quite highly - and judging from the big levees and building on stilts, the floods can be enormous! Our night there in a very nice park was however, a rather nervous one, as we had been warned several times about thieves, so before we went to bed we put everything except one bucket and our step away!  It certainly made for a quick getaway the next morning!! But it's a very sad state of affairs when nothing is safe from people who believe they can sneak around and  take what ever they want. We found the information centre very useful and we booked a boat trip - the first after the last rains - along the Geikie Gorge and enjoyed seeing the different colours of the rocks.

         

We had decided a long time ago that our big spoil for the trip is going to be the Horizontal Falls out of Derby. At this information centre we learned that we need to book this tour and it's dependent on the tides (of course - but we didn't think about it!) So we've booked for the next available tour on 18th and can't wait!! 

We enjoyed the trip to Broome and gee it was wet alongside the road so they must have had heaps in places. Everything is looking very green and cattle in good nick. Our first point of call was the car wash place where we gave the cars and vans a bit of a wash. We drove past a couple of parks here at Cable Beach and decided on this smaller one called Tarangau as we thought we'd be less squashed in and maybe on grass - well we are on grass but we are sure squashed!! But it's ok - we aren't here much and we slept really well last night with no worries about thieves and it was nice and quiet.  

    

     

            

For Tops's birthday last night we strolled down to the beach and sat on the rocks for a while then had a couple of drinks and nibbles in the restaurant overlooking the beach which was most pleasant. We came back and cooked pizzas for our meal which was quick and easy. 

Today we toured the town - it's quite difficult to work out for a while but we got a feel of the area and enjoyed a coffee in China Town then strolled around town before hitting the supermarket and stocking up again for our outback trip! What a chore 😁. 

We saw the camels going out - can you spy any of us on them? Bet you can't as we didn't go! 

        

We drove to the beach to watch the sunset and have a champagne but unfortunately the clouds obscured the sun setting! But it was lovely enjoying the ambiance of the beach and the evening was beautiful. We've actually gone 4 whole days without a swim as its hasn't been that hot - but tomorrow we must swim in the sea even if it's a bit chilly! 

When we got back here there was a happy hour with live music so Dennis encouraged us to go over and we're happy that we did as the music was good and we had a sausage sizzle which saved us one meal!! 

Tomorrow we have to decide our next move - whether we go to Cape Leveque - we've had mixed advice but would really love to get there as it looks lovely. Tops and I are having our hair done and we'll do some more sightseeing before hoping to catch another sunset.

We trust everyone is well and until the next blog, send our love to everyone. ❌❌❌⭕️⭕️⭕️⭕️

Gibb River attempt 1.

Well the weather has beaten us!! We've  decided to turn back and head to Broome on the bitumen after experiencing very tropical wet weather! Even thismorning as we head east there are dark clouds and it's extremely humid! If we knew this weather was clearing, we would have continued west - but this system is lingering. The road is closed further along and people are stranded so we didn't want to be in that situation. We are fortunate that we have the luxury of changing our plans. Most people we've met have to get back for work or other commitments - but we are free to chop and change. So now we'll do the trip in reverse and come back along the Gibb River track. Surely by then the weather will be back to normal. Everyone we've spoken to has told us how unusual it is to have this mini wet season in May when it is usually dry. 

     

 Our trip started off great and we arrived at El Questro and set up in a very pretty spot .  El Questro has bitumen to the turn off then 16km of dirt road so it's very popular and accessible to all sorts of travellers. We were happy to be able to have a camp fire (even though we certainly didn't need to be warmed up!!)l and cooked our meals over it - real camping. 

        

 We enjoyed some lovely drives and walks here and especially loved the lovely hot springs at Zebedee where the scenery was lush and tropical.

         

Emma Falls was also amazing - and the cool dip in this pool at the end of quite a hike over rocks and boulders was very welcome!

       

    

We drove to Chamberlain Gorge which was a surprise as we were looking for a bird hide!!

         

With thunder clouds looming, we set off from El Questro towards the next station Home Valley - just some 30km away. We crossed the Pentecost River and then the rain started. The reception area was flooded and all we could do was have a coffee in their cafe.

     

    

It's was certainly a downpour and wish I had a photo of Tops after she opened the gate! So we were quite damp when we set up - we had to choose a powered site as there certainly wasn't any sun! We went for a drive after lunch and as we returned another downpour occurred and our mats etc were flooded again! So instead of dust along this trek, we certainly experienced mud!! 

We had intended to stay one night but yesterday learned of the road closure and seeing the state of cars and trailers as they came in off the road, decided to stay the extra day. At least we had power, water, amenities and a lovely swimming pool - an absolute necessity with the hot and humid weather!!  Dennis and Darryl were very attentive husbands yesterday and took us to the Pentecost river for a picnic lunch then cooked us a beautiful roast dinner. If we couldn't be with our families it was a lovely way to spend Mother's Day.

Coming back thismorning across the Pentecost River, the level was a bit higher than when we first travelled over it - it's quite a big crossing and here it looks like Darryl is driving over water!!

       

The Everest and camper got over the river with ease!

       

So now we are camped in a free spot along side the Mary River - south of Halls Creek - and we've fished out jumpers and coats and have our campfire to warm ourselves! Such a change for our bodies which have been suffering hot and humid conditions for weeks!  Tomorrow we'll check out Fitzroy Crossing before we hit Broome! 

It's been good to catch up with all the messages and news - and tonight we look forward to snuggling up under the quilts! Love to everyone till next blog. 

❌❌❌⭕️⭕️⭕️