Broome - Port Hedland

(Photo: Eighty Mile Beach)

Kathy - Well in the past few days we have been slowly heading down the coast. We stopped a couple of days at Eighty Mile Beach. We managed to find some fantastic shells which are now being shipped back to Melbourne so we have room in our camper trailer again! Campbell found his obligatory new friend, this time James from Sydney, and he played lego with him and the kids all played water pistol fights and badminton (thank you once again Derek and Irene for the rackets).


(Cape Kereudren at Sunset)

Next we moved on to Cape Kereudren. We managed to get a campsite right on the beach which we shared with scorpions, midgies and mosquitos! It was very picturesque though! We also had a little bit of difficulty getting out. Luckily there were some other campers nearby and one was able to tow us out. Hmm, the sand looks so nice but...

We are in Port Hedland tonight and are then heading over to Karijini National Park for three or four days which should be great.

Gambanan - Broome

(Photo: Dusk, Gambanan)

Rhys - Ganbanan was one of my highlights so far. We found a simple camping site (suits me) overlooking a beautiful coral bay that has a 10+m tidal range. First day of mud crabbing Gerard (fellow traveler), Lachlan and I walked miles over the tidal mud flats across the bay on an out flowing tide and up a mangrove creek. It was hard to find the holes of the crabs and knowing a croc lived on one of the pools makes you a bit cautious, as we don’t want to meet the croc. We caught one of a good size then walked back across the bay on low tide. On arriving back to our campsite found out the girls and Campbell had gone reef walking as a reef was exposed for the first time in two years. Lachlan and I chased them over another bay in the other direction only to find them leaving! On arriving back we then went mud crabbing again (with Campbell) on the shore side of mangroves that covers with water only on very high tides. Again walking waste several miles against an incoming tide then as the tide turned walking back against on outgoing tide. Very tiring but we did get 4 more large crabs, saw several undersize ones and met an inquisitive shark. Next day very, very sore, but it was all worth it.

Out in a tinny fishing with Gerard, Campbell and Mutch, we caught Bluebone, Long Tom, Bar Cheeked Coral Trout, Giant Trevally and Spanish mackerel, enough to feed a small campsite. While out in the boat we saw a turtles and two metre + bronze whaler shark jump clear of the water chasing a fish amazing sight. This shark was seen later in the day swimming across the fish trap at our campsite, no snorkeling on the reef around here!

Still sore from the crabbing after 3 days! This day we packed up and then the children made a traditional spear, which was a unique experience. Over our time at Ganbanan we had numerous sightings of Gouldian Finches.

Nearly two weeks roaming around the dusty bush, bad showers (if any) salt water swimming, hot and sweaty we arrived back in Broome. Kathy had found a place to stay that was more in keeping with what we had once been accustomed too. A near brand new, two story self-contained apartment complete with white towels, white sheets tiled floors. It was very hard to know where to stand or what to touch as we were all so grubby, all the same once we where all cleaned up it was much enjoyed.

Kathy – We have really gone from the sublime to the ridiculous in this last week – from bush camping to a brand new modern apartment with all the bells and whistles. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Gambanan campsite was very interesting. It was a great experience. Gambanan is run and owned by a local Bardi aboriginal family (Frank and Maureen Harvey and family). Frank is on the Kimberley Land Council and Maureen teaches Bardi and the local school so they are quite a family.

A family we met at Kooljaman, Gerard, Inga, Matthew and Jacob, arrived at Gambanan at the same time as us and we ended up camping, cooking and fishing together. Thanks for the great time guys. Campbell enjoyed competing with their boys as to who could get the dirtiest the quickest – fun!
On our second day we found there was a fishing, site seeing trip to the reef off Gambanan which had not been exposed for two years due to the tide. Apart from a bit of confusion as to the location it was an amazing experience. I was able to take numerous photos of the coral that the tide had exposed and Campbell was able to see a turtle being caught (you’ll be pleased to know it was let go) and he also got to hold a spear with skewered squid and fish. The tides here come in and out so quickly we ended up waist deep in water to get back to shore.

Also on this day Rhys and Lachlan went mud crabbing with Gerard and caught one mud crab. Rhys and Campbell then went mud crabbing with spears in the afternoon with one of the local bardi men and they caught four crabs – the wonders of local knowledge! Inga and I were sustained, however, by Lachlan and her son, Matthew, shucking oysters for us off the rocks where Inga was fishing. They would have to have been the freshest oysters I have ever had!

The sunsets at Gambanan were spectacular and the water changed colour depending on the light and the tide. It really is a piece of untouched tropical paradise (but with dust, midgies and strong winds!).

The next day Rhys, Campbell and Gerard went fishing on Gerard’s boat with Mutch, one of Frank’s sons. Meantime Inga and the rest of us went fishing off the coast. We only managed to catch one undersized coral cod. Rhys and co came home with numerous fish. Some were so beautifully coloured it almost seemed a shame to eat them but we did! For tea that night we had bouillabaisse with fresh fish and mud crab and more fish that we cooked on the coals of the campfire along with Rhys’ damper. Talk about a gourmet meal in the middle of nowhere!

The wind really picked up that night, as it had at Kooljaman and Middle Lagoon. The gusts were so strong that we could barely keep the pegs in our camper trailer. We decided to go back to Broome as we were a bit over the wind, dust and sand. In keeping with the timing of the locals up here (everything either happens hours late or earlier than scheduled) Campbell managed to drag Mutch out of bed to show us how to make traditional(ish) spears just as we were heading off to Broome. We made the kids spears in record speed and then rushed off to Broome.

I had managed to a newly opened apartment in Broome after negotiating on price. When we walked into the apartment we realized we had won big time. The apartment is beautifully furnished with a kitchen to rival ours, three toilets, two bedrooms and a study nook and a lovely large deck. There is also a beautiful pool area and fantastic artwork by a renowned Kimberley artist in the apartment. Yes!

We have really enjoyed doing very little here (apart from watching the Olympics, washing clothes, restocking and repairing and having lovely hot showers). We went to the local Anglican church this morning which is literally over the road. By coincidence Dad came to Broome about 10 years ago and visited the church and did a watercolour painting of it. We enjoyed the service and minister spoke on Philippians 3 which is my favourite chapter of my favourite book in the bible. Pippa has greatly enjoyed cooking us cupcakes and anzac bikkies. She has really missed baking and we have really missed her homemade treats so it is a win-win situation.

We are now heading for Eighty Mile Beach and then down to Karajini National Park then down the coast to Kalbari where we are spending a week in a resort with our friends Steve and Wendy.

Lachlan – The next day we went to Ganbanan. We built a cubby hut. We went mud crabbing. I had blisters on my blisters. Then we built a big wall of grass and hide in it because the adults attacked us. The next day we had mud crab and fish soup. When we were going we saw some people who made spears so we made 3 spears. Then we went to our apartment.

Campbell – Went to Gambanan. I made a spear. We went fishing. Went in my friend’s tinny. We caught lots of big fish. One of the fish we caught was called a Longtom. It had very long and sharp and sticky teeth. A shark jumped out of the water. I saw it.

We went on a walk on a coral reef. We caught two squid and one fish. We saw a turtle and I got to hold it.

We are in a big apartment that is nearly nicer than our house. It has lots of beautiful things and it has a big LG plasma. It is very cool. We can watch the Beijing Olympics and it is very big.

Pippa – We went to Gambanan. We have been having fun do stuff like fishing, playing with our friends, going to the beach, going mud crabbing and squidding. I made a spear.

My favorite place so fare is The Gibb River Rd, Wangi Falls and Gunlom Falls.

At the moment we are in Broome. We are staying in Very nice apartments. I go swimming every day. We watch the Beijing Olympics the closing ceremony was good. I like it in Broome. We went to a market for tea. We played tiggy.

Broome - Cape Leveque

(Photo: Beachfront accomodation @ Quondong Point)

Kathy - Well what fun we’ve had since our last blog only days ago. We’ve taken our Dutch friends, Derek and Irene, on lots of adventures. We set out for the Dampier Peninsula on Wednesday morning and headed to Quondong Point. After telling them that the four wheel driving would be fairly tame we ended up on some very sandy tracks and they almost got seriously bogged. We had a cliff top campsite overlooking the water which was very special, particularly since we were able to watch the whales and dolphins jumping in the water below us.

Next day we headed up to Middle Lagoon via. Beagle Bay. The influence of the Catholic missions is still very strong up here with churches being central to the communities up here. The aboriginal communities seem to have much more pride in themselves and purpose up here and, it seems, are not nearly as affected by alcohol abuse as other communities we have seen. We feel the centrality of the church in the communities contributes to this. At Beagle Bay we visited a lovely, active Catholic church. The altar was decorated in mother of pearl and was quite beautiful. Rhys decided to take a “short cut” from Beagle Bay to Middle Lagoon through the back tracks. This resulted in Derek and Irene getting bogged in the sand and Rhys getting bogged in trying to free them. I must say that Rhys enjoyed every moment of it as he was able to use all his recovery “accessories” to get us going again.

Middle Lagoon was beautiful. Lovely sandy beaches. Great shell. Nice snorkeling. What more could you ask for? We even had some early morning entertainment when at 6.00 am we were woken by calls of “is anyone in there? You need to get out quickly there is a bushfire coming through!” Well we did the quickest pack up yet and escaped to the beach to watch the fire go through for most of the day. Derek and Irene got an authentic Australian experience they weren’t counting on.

Next we traveled up to Kooljaman at Cape Leveque. The beaches here are beautiful. The Western Beach has white sand and amazing red cliffs. We have some sensational photos of the sunset from this beach. Again we enjoyed watching the whales. We hoped to do some snorkeling and fishing but we have had incredible winds up here. So much so that there have been wind warnings by the bureau of meteorology from the Queensland coast virtually all the way to Perth. Last night we met an aboriginal guy called Ashley whose family runs a private camp, Gambanan, about 10 kms from here. We went and visited the camp and found it would give us a much more authentic experience of this area. The boys can even make spears and then use them to catch fish so you can imagine they are very excited! Considering we weren’t going to come to Cape Leveque at all we are now finding it is one of the most interesting and beautiful parts of Australia we have seen.

(Photo: Beagle Bay Church)

Pippa - We have been having fun. It is so relaxing being on holidays it like 20 C and its cold. But its night so we can expect it. We have been to Quondong point it is nice there. We have been to Middle Lagoon we went snorkeling there. Also swimming. We experienced a fire but we didn’t get harmed. We had a fun day. We do lots of interesting things. I like to go on the beach. We have lots of shells and rocks we have so much that we have to send some home!

(Photo: Bushfire at Middle Lagoon)

Lachlan –at derby we went to a hollow boab tree used as a prison cell. In the tree were 2 green parrots. We went to the jetty and had some fresh barramundi. The water in the sea was brown and the tide was quick. Then we went to Broom and our Dutch friends booked us. We went into town and tried to find lunch. We ended up in Macers because all the stuff was so expensive. Then we went to the boat ramp. The sea was blue and the sand was white. At our caravan park I went and saw what people had caught. Then our Dutch friends have us badminton rackets so we played till tea. The next day we drove down the beach and collected shells. Then we went down the beach a second time and there were people with nothing on all down the beach! Then we headed up cape leviuec. We went down the wrong track and our Dutch friends got bogged. The one good thing about it was that I found some interesting stuff to send home. We ended up at Quogdon point. We collected shells and found crabs but they were under size to eat. In the afternoon we saw whales jumping and we also saw dolphins. We headed of to Middle lagoon. We went to a church at Beagle bay. Then we went down a supposed “ short cut” but our Dutch friend got bogged so we tried to help them but we got bogged. We ended up getting to Middle lagoon (Just). After we set up we went and had a snorkel we saw some fish and a stingray. Then we collected shells.” There a bushfire coming pack up quick” was the first thing we heard the next morning. So we packed up in 15min and went to the beach. Derek and I went to see the fire nearly burn reception down. We saw the fire jump the road and saw bird lizards and insects we wouldn’t normally see. Like tawny frogmouths, stick insect and frilled neck lizards. I also saw some campsite burn to the ground. Then I helped back burn. The fire was at least 10m high at points. After the fire I saw all of the devastation. Then we went snorkeling. We saw fish of all colors and lots of stingrays. They had blue days. I found a really good shell. Then I saw a big black shark. That’s when we got out. The next day we went to cape leviuec. On the way we went to Lombadena and tried to by some fresh bread from the nuns. But they didn’t have any. So we went to our campsite and played cards. 2 days later we went to 1 armed point. We went to an aquarium thing. It had coral and fish. We got filmed by channel 10. today we are going to an aboriginal community. We will make spears and hunt fish, crabs and squid.

(Photo: Sunset at Kooljaman Western Beach - note the colours reflected on the sand, beautiful)

Rhys – I was not so sad to be leaving Broome, nice beach but to busy EXPENSIVE and commercial. We headed off north up the Dampier peninsular with Derek & Irene in their hired Navara. First night had our own private beach at Qunondong Point, having a bit of fun collecting firewood, exploring rock pools and watching the countless whales offshore. We meet our mascot here, a certain Mr. Wilber McRude, he has no shame. We headed towards Middle lagoon via strict instructions to “stay left” on the tracks towards Beagle Bay. In the many meandering tracks we thought we had stayed left long enough. This was not the case in the soft deep sand. We had a little experience there that helped prove we had carried some of the correct recovery gear, so we used it. Bit of fun for all in the hot sun and good practice for Derek and Irene prior to them traveling from south to North Africa.

At middle lagoon we enjoyed snorkeling among the coral, walking around near deserted beaches. In the middle of the night we were “evacuated” due to one of the North’s ever-present bushfires. After packing up our camp and moving the boys enjoyed being among the insects and reptiles that the fire flushed out. They also enjoyed helping back burn and set up some firebreaks.

From Middle Lagoon to Kooljaman (Cape Leveque) we had hopes of more snorkeling and some boat fishing, these hopes did not eventuate as we had some very severe wind. We had to put up some beautiful sunsets on a full moon at the beach, playing cards and visiting local sights, very hard to handle.

Met a bloke called Ashley from Gambanan, which is a campsite that the local community is orginisining. To me it appears more appealing it is smaller and has some activities for the kids like spear makings, dancers, catching fish etc. I hope the wind drops so we can go out to see the waterfall reef! Will keep you posted if our hopes are met on this one.

Campbell – we went to quondong point. We saw whales. we went to middle lagoon. We went snorkeling and saw lots of fish and a couple of sea cucumbers and stingrays and coral. But only brown coral. I saw one of my friends. I went snorkeling with him. There was a bushfire at Middle Lagoon. We went to Kooljaman. There is a lighthouse on the hill and there is a beach curving around us but no sea to cross. I met a friends who is going to the same place as us. It is Gambanan, Gambanan is nice. We can make spears and boomerangs there for $25. There is an Aboriginal kid there. We met an Aboriginal man who told us about Gambanan.

Gibb River Road to Broome

(Photo: Campbell's Great Leap Forward at Cable Beach, Broome)

Campbell
We went to Elq. We went to Zebedee Springs. I found frogs. We went to El Questro Gorge. It was a beautiful walk. We went to Emma gorge. We found a hot spring.

We went to Mt Elizabeth Station. There was a waterfall, which you could walk behind down a four-wheel drive track. We went down Tunnel Creek. Now we are at Broome. We went to the beach and we built a big sandcastle.


(Photo: Zebedee Springs, El Questro Station)

Lachlan- the next day went over Lake Argil and the bungles. The next day we went to El Questro. We did a lot of clambering over rocks to bet in the gorges. Emma gorge was cold but we found a hot spring. El Questro gorge was deep.
The kids crushed up ochre each morning. There are lots of cattle stations out here. At Mt.Elizabath there was a waterfall with a cave under neither.
Dad and me went down further and saw a rock art site. There was mostly ceremonial art. The cave had leaches.
At Derby there was basically nothing. Broom is expensive. We went for a drive on cable beach.

(Photo: El Questro Gorge, El Questro Station)

Pippa – We went to El Questro George out the back of Kununarra. There are lots of Georges and 3 thermal pools but we only went to 2, which was Zebdee nice.

We went to lots of stations and stayed at some I like Mt Elizabeth the best because there was a nice George there with a cave under the water fall.

We got to Derby and went to the Jetty. We got Fish and chips. We went to the Caravan Park and watch Olympic games it was good then we went for a drive.

When we got to Broome our Dutch Friend booked us in. We went to the prize-winning pool. We are going to go up to Cape Laveque with our Dutch Friends.

(Photo: Wunumarra Gorge, Mt Elizabeth Station)

Rhys – seems such a long time ago since we last had a decent power supply that would allow enough time to have the kids write their Blog “stuff”. We are now in Broome after surviving the Gibb River Road, which is supposedly one of the last “frontier tracks”. I think they will have bitumen for the length of the road in 5-10 years. We found the “Gibb” good providing you drove to the conditions, i.e. watch the sand corners and Gibbers. One thing to note with Gibbers is that “you must Gibb a little and they take a little”. (A Gibber is a single or multitude of rocks found on roads.)

Kununarra is a delightful town of about 6000 people with more water than Victoria has ever had. It was a good feeling having no guilt towards our shortsighted Mr. Brumby / Bracks, staying in the shower as long as one felt to stay in. Even less shame as the water was solar heated! We ended up staying in / around town for one week, could have easily spent some more time as it has modern facilities, nice caravan park, plenty of water and natural beauty. One of the highlights was our flight over Lake Argyle and the Bungle Bungles.

One of our mottos had been, “pack up, drive, setup walk and swim” around town we felt a bit insecure due to the Salties, pining a nice water hole we heard an announcement over local radio identifying suitable rock holes / water falls (our preferred swimming locations), we preceded to these to find they had not been used for at least a month or so. The water was not as “fresh” as one would like but the view over the escarpment was spectacular. Campbell standing on a “pair of hands” which turned out to be a Merton’s Water Monitor highlighted the experience further!

Off down the Gibb river road we visited el Questro station, initially we felt a big let down as they had once offered to fly me there in a jet! Once settled in we found Zebedee hot springs, very had to handle crystal clear water running through the rain forest at 34’C, they were so good we went back to them for a second go. Other enjoyable things here were the talking cockatoos, walking in gorges, great feed at the stations “township” (Lachlan consumed the best parts of a gigantic steer) swimming river crossings and walking. Unless you are going fishing suggest that the “Pigeon Hole” is avoided.

From El Questro to Ellenbrae where Campbell was delighted to find a “dump” which contained old car, trucks and machines. Not sure how if found it in the middle of the bush, after his repeated requests visit it I relented and went there with him and “found” on old Southern Cross stationary engine. Often wondered a bout restoring one of these as a project. Ellenbrae had facilities that had great character, especially the wood heated hot water system.

Ellenbrae to Mt Elizabeth. Went for a knarly 4WD track that lead to one of the most scenic gorges we have visited. Walking in the cave behind the waterfall, rumbling with the children on the sandbar, Lachlan and I swinging Pippy in the water by her arms and legs, Indigenous rock art, swimming etc.. At night we shared a fire under the stars with a couple from Somers. It was a good meeting them and noting their experiences with children older than ours, and now awaiting the “maturing” process!

Mt Elizabeth to Windjana gorge via Mt Barnett, Silent grove, Immaji General store and Tunnel creek. All fantastic places and met interesting people including a couple of brothers from Newcastle who are riding pushies around Australia. They had traveled 10,000km (same front tyre) what an experience this would be.


(Tunnel Creek Gorge)

Kathy
Well here we are in Broome. It seems so long since we were in Kununurra but it is not even two weeks ago. After a great flight over the Bungle Bungles and Lake Argyle (my there is a lot of water in that lake) and Rhys buying me a beautiful burnt orange and white argyle diamond ring we headed off down the Gibb River Road.

Our first stop was El Questro. Initially we weren’t all that impressed but our misgivings soon gave way to awe at the beautiful gorges and sights. We greatly enjoyed Zebedee Springs which are thermal and flow through a beautiful gully surrounded by red cliffs and overhung by palm trees. We whiled away many an hour relaxing there. Perhaps the highlight was El Questro Gorge. It was a long, hard walk through the gorge but it was absolutely beautiful and we were rewarded at the end by a lovely deep pool with a waterfall at one end. The gorge was shaded and wound through high cliffs that were covered in ferns.

We also enjoyed Emma Gorge which was another long, hot walk ending in a big pool with cascading waterfalls. The water was very cold but we managed to find a thermal spring up in the rocks on the side of the pool which flowed down like a shower into a small “bath” in between some rocks. We stayed in there for ages and clambered down the rocks so we didn’t have to venture into the cold water again. We had a lovely lunch at Emma Gorge Resort which was a nice touch in the middle of the Kimberley. I even had a cappuccino as good as I make at home which was a real bonus.

From El Questro we continued on the Gibb River Road, stopping at Elenbrae and Mt Elizabeth Stations. Reno Grollo of all people apparently owns Elenbrae Station. At Mt Elizabeth we went on an incredibly rough track to Wunnumarra Gorge which was probably one of the best we have come across. It was on the Barnett River and included a waterfall you could stand behind, a lovely sandy beach and some amazing Aboriginal rock art. The best part about it was we had it all to ourselves for an afternoon. Lovely.

We then continued to Bell Gorge which was another long walk rewarded by a great waterhole. While we were there a family exclaimed “There’s Campbell!”. It turned out that they had met Campbell at Mungo National Park at the beginning of our trip and he had made such an impression on them with his tall stories (apparently declined joining in a soccer game because he is too good as he is a ping pong champion because he had beaten his Dad. What the?). In fact wherever we go we have people saying “Hi Campbell”. He cruises around the campsites on Lachlan’s bike making all these friends which we then meet somewhere else along the way. It’s so out of character for Campbell I know!

From Bell Gorge we went to Windjana Gorge and picked up some great fossilized wood and coral. We also went through Tunnel Gorge which was very interesting.

We are now in Broome which is such a contrast from the remoteness and rugged unspoilt beauty of the landscape surrounding the Gibb River Road. It is very commercial and expensive. All the caravan parks are fully booked and even the overflow areas are full. We were lucky to get a site because a Dutch couple we met in Darwin, Irene and Dereck were at the park and managed to secure us a site first thing in the morning. We are right in front of the toilets which while convenient it isn’t exactly quiet or private!

However we spent a very pleasant afternoon today on Cable Beach which goes for miles and miles. We collected some fantastic shells and loved walking on the beautiful soft white sand next to the azure blue sea which is a pleasant 22C. The sky was blue, it was 30C with a gentle breeze blowing. For all you Melburnians freezing away in the depths of winter I do apologise. By the way I have the best tan since I was a teenager and I haven’t even been sunburnt.

While touring Broome we came across an old Anglican Church. Dad had done a watercolour painting of the church when he was up this way and gave it to the church. Dad, you’ll be pleased to know that when I peered through the church windows I could see a watercolour of the church hanging on the walls which I presume is yours.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Cape Laveque with Dereck and Irene for a few days. The beaches are meant to be beautiful and apparently there is good fishing and snorkeling. Campbell is desperate to do some fishing so hopefully we can fit some in. It is remotish so hopefully it is a bit more unspoilt than Broome.