163.Wyndham (this post pages 153 - 163 inclusive)

WYNDHAM

One of those places that you either love or hate. I thought it was unreal. Such an untapped spot that you wouldn’t normally go to simply because it is not on the way to anywhere; it is an absolute dead end that leads only to a gulf system that is feed by many rivers & eventually flows north into the Timor Sea via the Buccaneer Archipelago some seventy kilometres away.




FIVE RIVERS LOOKOUT

I do use the word ‘massive’ quite a bit, but as far as this place goes the word is understating the enormity of it all. The view from the Five Rivers Lookout is one to behold & gives a greater perspective on how this whole place works.

This is one of the places that I would love to return too & spend a lot more time exploring. It is one of the last great wilderness areas of mainland Australia.



RED WINGED PARROT

I the Kimberley, particularly the East Kimberley there are tens of thousands of Boab trees. They are covered in fruit that resembles a mango. I had not seen any animals eating the fruit but knew that some must so that the germination process would continue. Finally one afternoon I noticed these beautiful parrots eating away.



KIMBERLEY SUNSET

WYNDHAM AIRPORT

The surrounding landscape was quite undulating so I thought what better place to pull up for a level campsite than the local airfield. We had a nice overnight stay & the first flight of the day was around 7:30 am, not to early a wakeup call.

From here we had decided to take a treck along the famed Gibb River Road to check out a few cattle stations & stay a while in the vastness of the remote East Kimberley.

162. Bungles, Wyndham

BUNGLE BEAUTY

This is a dry river bed. The rock features are a result of erosion that has taken millions of years to carve into the stone river bed.



CATHEDERAL GORGE

Following a two kilometre walk you enter what is known as The Cathederal. Although it was May, the temperature is still high & quite hot in the open sunshine. To enter The Cathederal is like entering another world in that it is darker & much cooler, it is strangely quiet & there is an ambience that of an ancient place. It was nice to drop the backpack & lie on the cool river stones & stare up into the cathederal walls & the sky above the clifftops.



SLIP

I found this feature of the cavern truly staggering. In lamens terms this is what has happened; there is water that flows below this section of rock. Each year the floodwaters arrive & over time as they flow they have eroded a section beneath this section of the cliff face causing it to collapse or slip under its own massive weight.



DOMES WALK

WYNDHAM ESCARPMENT

Again this is one of those landscapes that you just can’t capture in a photograph. The rock escarpment leading from the south into Wyndham is massive; the savannah below is vast & looks more like something out of Africa; like the Okavango Delta. We even spoke that you could easily imagine zebra, lion & giraffe roaming the plains.

161. Bungle Bungles

LOOKOUT

After a pretty rugged 70 odd kilometres into the park you are finally here amongst the 320 million year old landscape. From the top of our rig the 360 degree panorama was superb.



BEEHIVES

Truly a geological marvel.



THE BUNGLE BOYS

CREEK BED

The walks are really good in that most are not too difficult and that the natural beauty has been maintained. There are no concrete paths & only a very few handrails & stairs in places where for example you have to climb out of a steep section of creek bed.

Dano is seen here on one of the walks that follows a creek bed up to a massive cavern.



BROTHERS IN ARMS

160. Road to the Bungles

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

After leaving Fitzroy Crossing we had a considerable distance to travel to our next major destination. This was a lunch stop with a pretty damn good vista.




MARY POOL

Overnighting on our way up to The Bungles we were advised to call into Mary Pool. What a great tip. Great outdoors people, all the fresh water you could ever need & a freebie.



BUNGLE BUNGLES

This was always to be a definite stop off on our tour. As caravans are not permitted in the park we stayed outside for a night, unhitched & took off early to make the most of the day ahead.

159. Fitzroy Crossing

NIGHTCAP

We dropped into the nearby Lodge for a sunset on the balcony & a quiet drink.



GEIKE COLOURS

158. Geike Gorge, Fitzroy Crossing

GEIKE

WHITEWASH

The whiting that appears on the rocks is the result of the floodwaters that actually scour the rock face clean.




SERENITY

We travelled the now relatively calm waters for hours. The rock formations were quite interesting particularly where they would be below the water level at time of flooding.




GEIKE

It had been a great day including lunch on a beach & spotting several freshwater crocs.




FITZROY SUNSET

157. Derby, Geike Gorge

BEAUTIFUL

Three very lovely women.




GEIKE GORGE NP

Not far from Fitzroy Crossing in almost the middle of nowhere is Geike Gorge. The surrounding district is relatively flat floodplains, then abruptly appears this mighty gorge that feeds the Fitzroy River.




WE TAKE TO THE WATER

We couldn’t have a more beautiful day to drop the tinny in & explore the gorge. The flood waters had now eased in their ferocity & the park reopened to the public. The tourist boats were not scheduled to begin work until the following week & so we had ten kilometres of gorge country to ourselves.

156. Derby

THE BOAB JAIL

In the late 1800’s the police would use this tree as a jail to house aboriginals whilst enroute to Derby. The aboriginals were basically enslaved to work at whatever the white settlers deemed necessary.




CATTLE TROUGH

This trough was constructed to water the horse & bullock teams as they moved towards Derby.



THE ORIGINAL DERBY JAIL

Operating up until 1975, this jail was used to keep aboriginals until their case went to court or simply to keep the enslaved aboriginal workers locked up overnight before being locked into a chain gang the following day to work on duties such as road building etc.

155. Leaving Broome 2

MALCOLM DOUGLAS REPTILE PARK

Malcolm Douglas was my childhood hero & I was devastated to hear of his untimely death last year. We stopped at his park on the way out of town to check it out.




LACE MONITOR

These animals can at times be shy but this fella was very inquisitive.




CAMO

THE ORIGINAL

This was the Land Rover that Malcolm used on his first trip that was to be named “Across the Top”.

154. Leaving Broome

THE SNAKE CHARMER

Matt is usually quite timid when it comes to most snakes but today he seemed more than relaxed to handle this beauty.





MATSO’S

This is a micro brewery that specialises in a range of diverse beers. As part of our last night out we dropped in to savour some. In fact we tried all ten varieties on offer. The barman served up two timber racks full of beers in small glasses a little smaller than a middie. Kaz & I shared all but couldn’t decide a winner. There was mango beer, chilli beer, ginger beer a strong one called ‘hit the toad & the list goes on. To be honest; not the best beers we’ve ever tasted but a lot of fun in a very old building with friendly staff on the shores of Roebuck Bay.

153. Back to Broome

BIKER CHICK

LAST NIGHT OUT

It was our last night in Broome after returning from the Dampier Peninsula & there were a few boxes we hadn’t yet ticked off , so we decided to hit the town. Karen’s sister Lee & hubbie Ian had worked in the local pub many years prior when they were travelling so we thought it fitting that we have a coldie there. I even managed to get the barmaid to allow Kaz to pour a drink.

ZEEBAR

Broome is know a truly international destination & therefore the prices can be rather excessive. The trick is to pick the spots on their half price nights. This place was recommended by some locals & it was F.A.B. Tappas & some great music & a few more cold ones in a chic spot not far from Cable Beach.

153. Beagle Bay, The Hard Road. (this blog pages 147 - 153 inclusive)

THE HARD ROAD

This was to date the toughest road we had endured. When we left we were 65kms into this track when I pulled to a halt to gather my thoughts. Karen knew exactly what was going through my mind & asked, “are you going to go back?” I was so close to turning around but said ”we’ve come too far”. After over 250kms of tough terrain we had had one of the greatest holiday experiences ever. This photo shows what this track can do to a van. I would probably never do it again, but then again, who knows?



BEAGLE BAY

An Aboriginal community along the Dampier Peninsula. Ninety five percent of Aboriginals in this part of the world are Catholic & although the surrounding areas may be a little shabby at times the church, their place of worship is kept immaculate. The alter & most of the ornamental aspects of this church are made of pearl shell.

152. Middle Lagoon 5

MAX & THE BOYS

These guys go really hard. They are natural hunters & play hard as well. I had all of them hanging off the Cruiser when we went searching for firewood, pulling the anchor when fishing & always they were hanging around just waiting to see what was happening next. They loved playing with the boys especially with some of their toys which clearly they had never seen the likes of.

Many ask along the way; “which is your favourite spot so far”. This has to be right at the top of the list. One day there will be a sealed road & many things will change, it is for that reason that we were really glad to have visited this place & experienced its raw beauty in an almost untouched environment.


BLUEBONE DANE

These are a colourful reef fish with large blue tusk like teeth. It was another specie that we had not previously caught & when the young boys yelled ”bluebone,” as we boated the fish my initial thought was that the name was due to the blue around the eyes & the blue teeth. The fact is, the main bone within the fish is the same coloured blue as seen around the eye.



THE THREE AMIGOS

These guys loved hanging out with Kaz; it reminded me of Kaz in her preschool teaching days. She really is a natural with young children.

151. Middle Lagoon 4

BLUE BONE TIME

It was my privilege to take the kids fishing; not that I had much say as they clambered over the tinny begging to go out. The fish they love up here is Blue Bone Groper. They are a definitely a table fish & put up a pretty good battle as well.




KAZZA’S LITTLE GIRL

From the moment we arrived till the moment we left this gorgeous one was in Kazza’s shadow.

150. Middle Lagoon 3

KOBE, DANE & DINNER

COOKED TO PERFECTION

I had seen my childhood hero Malcolm Douglas eat off the coals many times but I had never tried mud crab this way. When I asked Kobe if he ate the crabs this way he said “no worries” & went to work straight away.



No fancy German appliances needed out here ; the crabs were mouth watering.

149. Middle Lagoon 2

KOBE

What a nice guy; originally from further south Kobe now lives here with his wife & family. Kobes grandmother actually wrote the novel; “Rabbit Proof Fence”, an account of her family’s life & the struggle in the outback. It was very interesting to sit & talk about this piece of Aboriginal history.




MUD CRAB HUNTING

Kobe, Dane & I took off in the Troopy for a spot of mud crabbing. Usually we would set pots but on this outing we were to spear or hook the crabs in the traditional style.

This was a holiday highlight & Dano whom had not had his best week exploded out of his shell & really got stuck into it. Here was Dane, all but totally blind, chest deep in a creek after muddies. Try that with your eyes closed sometime!



NEW MATES

The boys love it when we pull up some place & there are other children to play with. No worries here, these blokes were flat stick. The locals at Middle Lagoon were super friendly & really made the experience one that we will always treasure.