Kimberley Travels 2016.

On the road to Derby

Morning cuppa.

It is an interesting drive from Kununurra to Broome. The scenery is varied, with the beautiful red ranges looming along the roadside, then giving way to open plains. To the south is Purnululu National Park, home to the incredible rock formations of the Bungle Bungles, and at Turkey Creek we pass the turnoff into the park. It is a terrible road, and it is advised not to take any vans along it. For the dry season, there is a caravan park, a short distance down the road, where people can stay and just take their 4wd vehicles into the national park. We won't be making many stops along this section of the highway, as we are running out of days to make our booking in Broome!

It's along way from Hall's Creek!!

Lots of Boabs.

We had our morning cuppa at a roadside stop after two hours of driving. There are heaps of these rest areas along The Great Northern Hwy. Carolyn has filled our thermos, and we have the last of the delicious banana cake she baked. From here our next stop is at Halls Creek, 377kms from Kununurra, and one of our least favourite Kimberley towns, in fact it is one of our least favourite towns in Australia! We stayed here last time, and were kept awake by the drunken locals, at the caravan park where we were locked in for the night! We found it a very intimidating environment, and the entire commercial centre of town is clad with bars and security grilles! The shops employ more people to guard the merchandise than to serve!! We only stopped for fuel this time, and headed a short distance out of town to a rest area at the start of the Tanami Track, a rough and dusty cross country track that ends at Alice Springs. Carolyn made us fresh sandwiches with a cold drink, and then it was back on the road.

The causeway to Mary Pool.

Mary Pool campground.

We made our overnight stop at Mary Pool campground, a very well known and popular spot for free campers. It is a short drive off the highway, across a concrete causeway that is in much need of repair. There is little water left in the river, and the dry river bed is home to a few cattle from the adjoining property. We drove around the big area, which already had 40 or more caravans set up, and found a nice shady spot in a corner that looked down over the river bed, took out the chairs and settled in for the afternoon and evening. There were lots of birds, including a number of the ever present Whistling Kites, with their melodic whistle. Late in the afternoon a huge flock of Corella's flew over, taking up residence in the trees around one of the water holes. We were surprised to find we even had Telstra reception here! After dinner, we settled into the big recliners to star gaze for a while. Another incredible sky full of the Milky Way.

Derby wharf.

Main Street Derby.

In the morning there was a mass exodus from Mary Pool Campground, and it started early. The first we heard, left at around 5.00am!! We headed off at a more civilized 8.00am, and set course for Derby, our final stopover before Broome. It wasn't far down the road that we ran into some serious bridgework being done, resulting in quite a delay. The only town of any note along the way, is Fitzroy Crossing, an Aboriginal community on the banks of the Fitzroy River. As you approach Fitzroy Crossing there is a series of one lane bridges across a number of small creeks and rivers. Being One Way, you have to slow right down. As we got closer to the town we encountered a lot of small aboriginal children, probably 8 - 12 year olds, walking along the road into town. They walked in the centre of the road, taking great delight in making you stop to a walk. We got sick of that pretty quick, and just sounded the horn and accelerated, resulting in a scattering of children and a shower of rocks being hurled at the disappearing caravan! Welcome to Fitzroy Crossing!! We stopped for fuel at the 24 hour self serve, which we find offer the cheapest fuel, and continued on towards Derby.

Huge Boab near Derby.

Always roadworks somewhere!

The Kimberley is full of the amazing BoabTrees, which only grow here and on Madagascar & Reunion Islands. They live for hundreds of years, and some of the older ones can be up to 3 metres in diameter! For lunch we stopped at a Rest Area that contains one of these huge old trees. There was a large tour group on an APT Tour who had the same idea. In observing these incredible trees, we had noted how some had already shed all their leaves but others were still covered in foliage. We know they are deciduous, but it seems they have minds of their own as to when they shed leaves!!

Back on Cable Beach

Relaxed.

Derby is a 40km detour off the main Highway. It is home to Australia's largest tide movements, up to 11 metres between the high & low tides. It is also one of the worlds greatest tidal movements, with only places in Nova Scotia and Scotland having greater. We have been here a few times now. The town sprawls over quite an area, and it is home to the Curtin Air Base, a Regional Prison and a Detention Centre! The Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park, is well run and has been our choice on all visits. We met our friends Alan & Sue Gray here on our first visit, and we now have many jokes with them about Derby. Al loves the town and has spent considerable time here. We reckon a couple of days is ample!! So I had great delight texting Al photos and comments on how much he was missed, and how his spot in the caravan park was all roped off awaiting his arrival!! The town was packed, and the caravan park was full to overflowing every night. Al's site may not be safe!!!

Cruise ship at Broome.

Camels at sunset.

We did the tourist drive down to the famous jetty, but were disappointed to find we could not drive out onto the jetty! The fish 'n chip guy at the jetty was doing a roaring trade, and we sadly missed the crab races held at the fishing club the day before. Apparently you can bid for a crab, then you can bet on the races, and once the winners have been declared, all the crabs go into a big pot, and the owners get to eat their crab!! Hope that doesn't catch on at Royal Ascot!! Can you imagine the Queen tucking into BBQ'd Big Philou after the 5th!!! Anyway, we had a quiet couple of days, and finished off with a delicious Sunday Roast Dinner at the Spinifex Hotel.

The blue winged Kookaburra.

South American Conure.

Next morning we had a leisurely departure for Broome, just 210kms west. Fuel prices in Kununurra and Derby had been manageable, at around $1.32 per litre. However, just 50 kms down the road, at Willare Roadhouse, they had the petrol price board out the front, advertising Diesel at $1.87 per litre. They have to be kidding!! That is blatant price gouging, and everyone should give the place a big miss!! We rolled into Broome late morning, and found our way to Tarangau Caravan Park at Cable Beach, where we stayed last visit, and which we will be calling home for the next 3 months. The manager, Jamie welcomed us by name, which was a bit of a nice shock. The caravan park is full, with many regulars from WA making the pilgrimage up from around Perth, every year. We quickly learnt that they get the prime spots! Our hope that we would be on a prime site, given the length of our stay, was soon dashed. Our site is OK, and close to everything in the park, but we are crammed in between others. Still, we have settled in nicely, and each afternoon Carolyn gets out the sprinkler to water our lawn, in the hope we can keep the grass green and the red dust down!

Under the mango trees with Moira,

Geoff, Diane & Graham.

Would mum like to swap??

We have settled into Broome life, as if we never left. There are so many familiar sounds and sights now in Broome. One in particular, is the early morning and evening laughter of the northern Australian Blue Winged Kookaburra. They are beautiful to look at, more colourful than their southern cousins, but they just can't laugh!! It is as if they forgot the words and just make it up as they go!! Most of the old haunts are still here, though some have changed hands and the faces are different. Every day the temperature climbs to 30 degrees or more, but so far the evenings have been pleasantly cool, dropping as low as 12 degrees. We have had some windy days, which the locals say is normal, but no rain in sight!! Cable Beach still sparkles, the camels still ply their trade, and there are people everywhere!! We have never seen this town so busy!! As many of you will have seen on Facebook , sunset drinks on Cable Beach has been happening regularly.

Sunday Night Pizza Truck.

Greek lamb on the Weber.

After a couple of weeks on our own reacquainting ourselves with Broome Life, our Perth friends have arrived. Moira & Geoff and Diane & Graham are longtime friends who we met at Busselton three years back, and we just hit it off so well. We have met up a few times since in various places. Diane & Graham flew in for 10 days, and are staying at The Mantra Resort across the road. Moira & Geoff arrived the next day in their caravan, and are on an extended holiday. We have been having an awesome time together. They have been indulging the tours we have done before, including the Horizontal Waterfalls. We had a day at the Broome Races, lots of coffees and great meals out, and plenty of sunset drinks on Cable Beach. Many nights we have gathered under our awning and shared the costs of BBQ's and other dinner delights. It has been the best time. Yes folks, we are well and truly entrenched in Broome again, and still many more weeks to go!!!

Lunch at Matso"s

I'll have a Matso's Ginger Beer.

A really nice outing in Broome is a visit to The Mango Place out at 12 Mile. This is the old agricultural area, and still home to a number of mango farms. We enjoyed lovely mango smoothies under the shade of the huge mango trees. Also, just down the road is the Bird Park, with its incredible collection of native birds, as well as some pretty South American imports. It was very easy to pass a couple of hours playing with many of the talkative little cockatoos and galahs.

Sunset Hovercraft trip.

On the sand flats of Roebuck Bay.

A real highlight of the visit for all of us was doing the Sunset Cruise on the Broome Hovercraft. Moira & Geoff know the people who run the business!! We did the tour on a day with a big low tide, which meant we were able to enjoy sunset Happy Hour out on the sandy flats of Roebuck Bay. First of all, we headed out to see the Dinosaur Footprints along the edge of the bay. It is amazing to learn that Broome has the largest number of Dinosaur Footprints in the world! It is a regular haunt for Paleontologists from all over the world. We walked along the shoreline, following in the

Green Turtle.

footprints of dinosaurs from 130 million years ago. The

Purple dye from an urchin.

highlight was without doubt the stop on the sandy flats of the bay. The sea life and bird life was incredible. We saw lots of little creatures in the small pools, and even saw two Green Turtles, feeding on the grasses of the sandy banks. Absolutely incredible!! There were also these little sea urchins, that emitted a purple die when you trod on them, which was easy to do as they were buried in the sand!! All in all, it was a fantastic experience. We finished off the night with a lovely Thai meal in town, and some awesome memories.

A wonderful time with Moira, Geoff,

Diane & Graham.

Sunset with Steve & Julie.

On the day of Graham & Diane's departure I got a real surprise, when one of my old golf partners from Moore Park, Steve Bracken, phoned, to say he and his wife Julie, were in Broome for a few days. They didn't have a car, and were just doing tours, so we picked them up from the Cable Beach Club where they were staying, and took them up the beach in our car to ensure they got the full Cable Beach sunset & camels experience. It was so nice that he'd taken the time to contact us, and they enjoyed the experience immensely.

With Graham & Diane's departure, after ten very full days, we are ready for our next big adventure.