Broome, Cape Leveque, and Purnululu

Broome.
We liked it. Not so much we wanted to stay a week, but there was enough to keep us interested for a few days.

We stayed 3 nights at the Roebuck Bay Caravan Park, and for an extra $3 a night they gave us a site right on the water - at least it was right next to the water at high tide! At low tide the water was quite a distance away, and we were looking out across rocks and mud flats, but it was still lots better than looking at someone else's caravan or trailer.

It was Susie's birthday the day we arrived, so naturally she wanted to get her hair done before we went out for dinner that night. So I left her at a hairdresser's, went shopping for a pair of shorts, then took the car out to Broome Toyota. About 30 kays out of Broome, a little fuel bowser symbol had lit up on the dash. Hmmm. Susie got the manual out of the glove box, and it told us there was a problem with the fuel system. Oh, really. I figured it was probably the fuel filter and called the Toyota dealer as soon we reached town. "Yeah, you need a fuel filter, mate." They were booked up for days, but he said it wasn't a big job (I had a spare in the car) and if I could leave it with them the next day they could probably fit it in somewhere. Beauty. We had booked an all day flight to Cape Leveque the next day, so I dropped it with them that arvo and got a cab back to Roebuck Bay to meet Susie.

After a bit of a clean up, we headed out on foot for our evening's destination - Matso's Brewery. They didn't take bookings, and there was a half hour wait for a table, so naturally we fronted the bar to sample a couple of their offerings. Susie had a cider first up, and I had a pale ale. Next up was a sampler of five of their beers - all in little 7 oz glasses. Pretty good, then our friendly waiter arrived to tell us our table was ready. The food was pretty good, too, and after we'd eaten our fill we joined a bunch of others to watch the "Stairway to the Moon". From a point at the top of Roebuck Bay you can actually look east over the water (pretty unusual when you're on the west coast, eh!), and if the tide is right, ie low, the moonlight reflecting in the water across the flats creates a "stairway". We don't think it was quite at it's best, but nice anyway - so we wandered back to our waterside site pretty happy with our evening.

Next day we were up bright and early to be picked up at the park entrance by our hosts for the day - Kimberley Air Services. After a quick safety briefing from our 21 year old pilot Matt, we piled into our waiting Cessna Caravan and taxied out for takeoff. First destination was the Horizontal Waterfalls. As we approached the falls we descended to 1500' and did a few orbits. We arrived a bit after full flow, but the tides were quite high so there was still a lot of water going through a very small gap. After everyone had grabbed some pics, we turned for Cape Leveque, a landing on their little dirt strip, and a swim before a late breakfast and coffee. Then it was back in our chariot for a short flight to Cygnet Bay and the oldest pearl farm in Australia.

We were given an hour's very interesting tour of the operations and learned the history of the place. Really tough, pioneering stuff from a guy who had a vision and went for it. From humble beginnings it's now a multi million dollar business, still run by the same family that started it back in the 60s. Naturally, at the end of the tour they gave us a chance to buy, and Susie walked away with a nice pair of earrings!
Next on the agenda was lunch, then a fast ride out into the strong tidal currents and whirlpools of the gulf in a big zodiac powered by two big Yamaha 225s. The bloody thing did 45 knots flat out (that's around 90 kph for you non nauticals), and didn't the young guy driving it love to let it rip!
Our day concluded with a flight back down the coast to Broome, arriving just in time to pick up the car from the workshop. We were too tired to cook, so treated ourselves to kebabs from a Moroccan restaurant in town, and fell into bed.

The following day, after a coffee at the campsite cafe on the beach we hit the fabled Cable Beach for a swim. Yeah, nice beach, and the water was nice, but I was a bit underwhelmed actually. Give me a Sydney surf beach any day. We checked out the port, did some shopping, and spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on mundane things like banking and bills back home.

The last day of May, and we cruised out of Broome on our way north on the Cape Leveque road, heading for Middle Lagoon. The road to CL is 200 kays long, with the first and last 50 blacktop, and the middle hundred red sand. Okay when it's dry, but the thing that got me was that a lot of it is like a shallow half pipe, below normal ground level, and to pass an oncoming vehicle you have to climb up onto the wall of the "pipe". Scary thing was that a couple of times the oncoming guy (towing!) didn't slow down and started fishtailing as he climbed out of the middle of the road.
But we survived, and after a short stop at Beagle Bay to check out the indigenous community and the beautiful pearl shell altar in their church, banged our way along the badly corrugated track to a beautiful campsite at Middle Lagoon.

Tamara, the lovely indigenous lady who manages the place, gave us a choice - either up on the dry, dusty hill above the water at "front" beach cheek by jowl with about 10 others, or away on our own just behind the frontal dune at "back" beach, out of the wind, with a rustic little beach shelter to back up to, and our own private track through the dune to the beach. Only small drawback was a bit of a walk to the showers or toilets. A no-brainer, mate! We were very happy with no neighbours and a beach practically to ourselves.
Next morning we went for a long walk along our beach to the south end, watching the tide slowly expose outer reefs. There was a creek running out at the southern end, and a notice at the campsite said a large "salty" had been sighted in the area, but we saw nothing but dunes, mangroves, rocks, reef and ocean. Had a swim on our return, and chatted to some regulars. The place had a really laid back feel to it - a bit rough and ready, but friendly and relaxed.

Got up next morning to a beautiful sunrise, then a leisurely pack up for the short (relatively!) 33km drive back to the CL road, and another 10 to the Cape Leveque campsite. The campsite and cafe/restaurant is  right at the pointy northern end of the cape, and has beaches on east and west sides. Cool! After a coffee - well, you have to grab it when it's good! - at the cafe, we set up before walking over to the eastern side for a swim and a wander around. Then in the evening we walked down to the western beach to watch the sun sink into the Indian Ocean. Nice photos.
Next morning another beach walk on the east side. Life is very simple on these trips, isn't it? Lovely rock formations and photos. More swimming. The water is so clear and a great temperature, it was always tempting to get my goggles and do a lap of the beach, but the thought of a big salty prowling around always kept our swims to a bit of a dive and splash. Wimps.
There's lots of good info on boards along the walk tracks about the early settlers, lighthouse keepers, wildlife and indigenous culture that can keep you reading for ages!
In the evening we took a wine over to the grassed area outside the cafe to watch the sunset and have a woodfired pizza for dinner. The sunset was a bit of a dud because of cloud, but the pizza was delish!

Next day we headed south again, bound for Purnululu NP and the Bungle Bungles, but first a stop at the aboriginal settlement of Lombardina for fuel. A very neat and well cared for community, we were impressed. We asked at the office about fuel, and they said yep, just go over to the bowser and there'll be someone over there. Went over to the bowser, no-one around. I yelled into a couple of deserted workshops, but no-one stirred. Finally, a tall aboriginal guy wandered over. "Help you, mate?" "Yeah, looking for some fuel." "Aaah, they're all on smoko mate, but I'll get it for you." So we filled the tank, about 120 bucks worth, and I said, "So how do I pay you? Cash? Can I give you a card?" "Nah mate, just tell 'em at the office how much and pay 'em there." Can you imagine someone in Sydney trusting you to do that?

There had been decent rain on the southern part of the road back towards Broome, and there were some slippy slidey sections but we eventually made it back onto the bitumen and stopped at Willare Bridge Roadhouse for the night. Great swathes of flat savannah woodland and long straight stretches of road made up the guts of next day's driving until we pulled into Fitzroy Crossing to do a little shopping, fuel up, and buy a painting from an aboriginal art co-op. We met the artist - Edwin Lee Mulligan, a young indigenous guy of around 35, very articulate and involved in his community. Then stocked up on supplies at the local IGA store, had the worst coffee ever, and drove 15 km out to Geikie Gorge. On arrival, we found we were halfway between the 3 hourly boat tours run by the local rangers, so opted to take the walking trail. We were a bit disappointed - the walking track never got near the water so we never really got close to the best part of the gorge - the cliffs on the far side of the gorge dropping straight into the water of the Fitzroy River. Maybe we should have waited for the boat tour?
On the road again, we made it to a place called Ngumpan Cliff Rest Area just on dark and set up the trailer as the sun put on a nice final display.

Sunrise next morning was sensational, but the wind had come up during the night and was in entirely the wrong direction for our pack up. As we tried to fold the tent onto the trailer the wind kept getting under the folded back annex roof, turning it into a spinnaker. The only way we could control it was to have Susie climb up and lay on the partially folded tent while another camper held the rest of it off the ground, as I drove around in a slow 180. After that it was easy!   

After a quick coffee, more fuel (are you starting to get a picture of how much &^%^%$*&^ money we're spending on fuel on this trip?!!), and a top up with water at the Info Centre (20c/litre - they're on water restrictions) in Halls Creek next morning, we drove north to Purnululu NP. We had heard all sorts of horror stories about the 53 km road into the Visitor Centre, but it wasn't that bad. Rough, but not outrageous. After setting up camp at Kurrajong Campsite we climbed to a nearby lookout to watch the setting sun play on the west wall of the Bungles before heading back to organise the evening meal. We had three nights at the Bungles, and divided our activities into north and south sections. Day one was an 8km drive north to Mini Palms Gorge. This was a 5 km round trip up an ever narrowing gorge with some big fallen boulders to climb over or around and lots of Livistona Palms in the moist parts along the way. All conglomerate rock in this part of the Bungles - only 360 million years old, compared to the nearby Osmand Range, which is 1.8 billion years old! Far out, this is an old, old country!
Back to the car, and a 5 kay drive further north, we were at the start of the track into the spectacular Echidna Chasm. Only a 2km round trip, the chasm is very narrow - so narrow you can touch both sides in many places, with 200 metre high vertical red cliffs on both sides. The play of light on the walls as the sun moves overhead is quite something.

Day 2 was our day to do the stuff to the south - The Domes, Cathedral Gorge, and Piccaninny Creek.
After a 35 km drive we parked the car and started on the short loop track around The Domes, which gave us a first close up look at the famous beehive like dome shapes of the Bungles. From there we continued up the track to Cathedral Gorge. The trail wandered between ever closer red rock walls towering on both sides, sometimes in the creek bed, until finishing at the head of the gorge in a magnificent amphitheatre with reflective water still in the pool below the now dry falls. A stunning and beautiful place.
We then retraced our steps and started up Piccaninny Creek - a valley much wider than the gorges, but giving us great views of the huge beehive formations all around. Marvelling at the erosive processes that have created this surreal landscape, we wandered up past The Window, and on to Whip Snake Gorge - not as spectacular as Cathedral, but we had it entirely to ourselves! Then the long hot walk back along sandy creek beds, river stones and eroded rock with a dwindling supply of water. But so spectacular, so ancient. We were buggared by the time we got back to camp, but very happy!   

We decided to have a couple of nights at Halls Creek after the Bungles to give us time to visit some of the local attractions before heading east again towards home, and next day checked out the Old Halls Creek ruins, Palm Valley, Sawpit Gorge, and had a swim at Caroline Pools.

Leaving Halls Creek the next day, we headed for the Tanami Rd and the Canning Stock Route. More adventures to come…..

                     

The Kimberley

Book 3: Continuing the GRR

Moving on from Manning Gorge…..

We packed up the trailer after our second night at Manning and sloshed and slid the 7 kays back up the track to Mt Barnett Roadhouse. As we arrived we were flagged down by some others who had just come out, having been told inside that the GRR was closed because of the rain. Bloody hell, we thought, if we go back and stay longer at Manning we'll probably be trapped there as the track will only get worse with more rain. We chatted to another couple, David and Gillian, who we'd met briefly at the Gorge, and collectively decided that as we hadn't actually gone into the roadhouse we hadn't "officially" been told the GRR was closed, so it was okay to continue.

Off we went, and found that the road, though wet, was in good nick and very drivable. Called into Galvans Gorge, a 1 km walk in, just off the Gibb. Very nice. Then continued west along the GRR, hoping the road to Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary would be open. Arriving at the turn off, I had just pulled out the satphone and was dialling their number when a car and trailer came up the road from the Sanctuary. We flagged them down and had a chat. The 90 kays from the Sanctuary, normally a one and a half to two hour drive, had taken them 4 hours, and looking at his trailer I believed him. He was pulling a Complete Campsite, same as ours, but you couldn't tell, it was covered in so much mud! He said there were times when he thought the trailer was going to overtake him! They had been advised to leave because the place was shutting down until things dried out, so we thought, "What now?" "Let's get to Imintji (a roadhouse), fuel up, and think about it there." The grumpy guy who filled us up said, "You know the Gibb's closed don't you?" "Uh, no, really?" "Sign's posted on the door, mate, be reviewed by the roads guys in a few hours." "Uh, right, you got any camping here?" "Nah." We thought about it over a surprisingly good coffee, quickly decided we weren't going to hang around waiting (there were still no official signs on the road!), but before leaving went next door to the local mechanic/tyre dealer's place to look at his photos of the local area and ask if he had a rim to fit one of my spare tyres on the roof. I loved this place - a mostly outdoor workshop, with a car and tyre graveyard all around, full of old cannibalised 4WDs. We first chatted with Leonnie, his originally from Melbourne girlfriend and looked at his pics until Nev the man himself turned up in his battered old Land Cruiser. Sure enough, he rooted around in the tyre graveyard and came up with a steel rim which matched my stud pattern, whacked the tyre on it, checked it on the car and then helped me put it up on the roof. Another spare. Beauty. "How much?" "Ah, give us $140, that'll cover it." Worth it just to talk to the guy!
So then, we continued on to the turn off to Bell Gorge. Road Closed signs up. Rolling on, we were beginning to think we might end up back in civilisation in Derby for the night, but came to the turn off to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek. OPEN, the sign said. Yay! We peeled off the Gibb and at around 4:30 pulled into the campsite at Windjana Gorge. Looking around, it seemed this area had been bypassed completely by the rain.

Windjana Gorge is a geologically amazing place. The black rock plateau which the gorge cuts through rises abruptly out of the surrounding plains in 80 metre sheer cliffs, and was at one time a coral reef in the huge sea which covered inland Australia. Since the sea retreated, billions of years of erosion have left the reef standing tall on it's own. We wandered along the gorge, sometimes along sand flats, sometimes through quite lush vegetation, alternately peering up at the cliffs, or checking out the numerous "freshies" (Johnstone River, or Freshwater, crocodiles) sunning themselves on the water's edge. There were quite a few, and the water was somewhat murky, so despite the fact that freshies are generally considered not dangerous, we didn't feel like swimming!

After lunch we left the trailer where it was and drove the 25 kays to Tunnel Creek. As the name suggests, Tunnel Ck has been created over millions of years by an underground water course gradually eroding away the predominantly limestone rock in the hills here, forming a kilometre long cave which can be walked. Aided by torches and wading at times up to our knees, we wandered through to the other side of the hill, turned around and retraced our steps. Cool!

Next morning, back at Windjana, the ranger came around to tell us that the GRR, Bell Gorge, and Mornington were all open, so we packed up quick and headed back east again. The camping area for Bell Gorge is called Silent Grove, and is 20 kays off the Gibb. We found ourselves a nice spot, set up the camper, left it there and took off for the gorge, 10 kays further on. Bell turned out to be another of our favourites - an hours walk to the gorge, then a beautiful waterfall into a deep pool surrounded by red cliffs, followed by small drops into a succession of further pools. We swam and scrambled down through a few of them before sitting and relaxing for a while, staring at the falling water.

One night at Silent Grove, then we headed for Mornington.
Wildlife Sanctuary that is, a large ex cattle station now owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, now completely destocked, and devoted to conserving and improving the habitats of many of top end Australia's endangered animals and birds. We stayed 3 nights here and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. There's a restaurant and bar with a great Margaret Rvr winelist, a couple of beautiful gorges, a couple of equally good swimming holes, and some wonderful walking tracks with info boards along the way telling us about tropical savannah woodlands, riparian habitats along permanent water courses, the animals and birds which inhabit them, and also, would you believe, how termites live and their importance to the tropical savannah woodland. On our walks we saw heaps of birds, such as Gouldian Finches, Scarlet Finches, a Spotted Harrier, Black cockatoos, Great Bower Birds, Rainbow Honeyeaters, Bustards, and Jabiroos to name a few. There were also Roos, Spotted Monitors, and a few dingoes. We went everywhere and enjoyed it all, but most enjoyed was Dimond Gorge. Our mates from Busselton, David and Gillian, kindly loaned us their double kayak after they had finished their paddle and we had a fantastic paddle a couple of kays down the gorge and back, seeing and photographing a baby freshie hiding in some tree roots. We also had a most enjoyable meal with D and G at the restaurant on our first night, a succulent lamb roast, and were yakking away after our meal when we noticed we were the last customers in the place, and it was only 9 o'clock. We voiced our surprise to the young wait staff, and they smiled and said, "Yeah, 9 o'clock, Mornington Midnight!" We suddenly realised we were tired too, and ambled through the dark to our beds.
We said goodbye to David and Gillian on the morning of our second full day there and then wandered around the Savannah Walk, surprising a couple of large 'roos along the way, then back along the creek on Annie's Walk for more bird spotting, and came face to face with a healthy looking dingo coming the other way on the track. We stopped, he stopped, we eyed each other for a sec, then he trotted off into the bush. After brekkie, and a coffee at the restaurant, we drove out to Cadjeput Waterhole, a beautiful, tree lined, sandy section of the Fitzroy River perfect for a swim. We knew there were freshies in there, but word is, leave them alone and they'll leave you alone, so we went with the local wisdom and swam as if they weren't there. And we're still here!

It was just about time to say goodbye to the GRR, but on our last morning we had to visit one last gorge - one we had missed in the closures of a couple of days earlier. This was Adcock Gorge - about 5 kays off the Gibb. The track in soon becomes a couple of wheel ruts infested with large rocks and water holes, but we made it in and out without incident, still with the trailer in tow, and found a beautiful waterfall surrounded by red cliffs, a deep waterhole running into a stunning shallower pool full of flowering water lilies. We were the only ones there and didn't have swimmers, so off came the clothes and in we went. We splashed around for a bit, and I thought I heard a car. No, that was that family we saw leaving, says Susie. We splashed around a bit more, and were just climbing out when there appeared a guy standing on a rock taking a pic of the falls. Turned out to be a guy we had met at Mornington, and clothes back on we had a chat before leaving he and his Dad to enjoy the place.
And that was about it for us and the GRR. We stopped at Imintji for coffee again - our third stop there, we were becoming good friends with the coffee lady - and then hit the bitumen for Derby. We both felt a bit sad. We had had a wonderful, adventurous time on the Gibb, and didn't really want it to end, but all good things come to an end, and we rolled into Derby, took a look, and rolled out again. We had asked a young lady ranger at Windjana, "Where would you recommend staying in Derby?" "Broome!" she said. She was right - nothing in Derby except a pier, and we stopped for the night at a little place called Willare Bridge Roadhouse.

Next morning we arrived in Broome, home of Cable Beach, sunset camel rides, and the stairway to the moon. And that's another chapter.