The Kimberleys

Kirsty says:

WOW!

I would totally understate the magnificence and grandeur of the Kimberleys if I tried to describe this place to you. No words can really do this amazingly beautiful part of Australia justice. But then again, our photos are also just a second rate reflection of how great our 16 days on and around the Gibb River Road were. But I am going with that option....a collection of snaps that show just some of the highlights of this remote and wonderful part of God's creation. The best bit for me is the kaleidoscope of terrific memories Jon and I get to take away from our 2 week adventure through this land of rugged beauty and mystique.

Some places we enjoyed....Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek, Lennards Gorge, Charnley River Station, Mornington Wilderness Sanctuary (Dimond Gorge especially), Adcock Gorge, Galvans Gorge, Manning Gorge, Drysdale Station, King Edward River, Mitchell Falls, Ellenbrae Station, Home Valley Station (Pentecost River & Cockburn Ranges) and all the beautiful gorges, rivers, falls and waterholes in between.

Broome Broome

Such a fascinating place! And relaxing....ahhh! Really is a great holiday destination, especially in winter. We have been here 3 days and enjoyed every minute. Some of our mini-adventures in Broome include....watching the sunset and the full moon rise over the water; swimming at Cable Beach; going to church; tours of a pearl farm and 'Pearl Luggers'; shopping; lunching in a restaurant overlooking the ocean; wandering through beachside markets. Really feels like we are on holidays.

Cable Beach on the Indian Ocean - the tide changes here are phenomenal....100 metres plus of beach is covered or exposed, depending on the tide. The water is crystal clear and a cool 22 degrees. And we even body surfed a couple of waves at highish tide.

A pearl oyster....so ugly yet what they can produce....WOW! Of course there's the pearl...either a cultured or a Keshi, but Kirsty even tried pearl meat...which goes for $400+ a kilo in Asia. This is the average size of the pearl oyster grown at Willie Creek Pearl Farm, north of Broome. In the creek, it filters 150 litres of water each hour thanks to tides rushing in and out at 25kms/hr.

Hard Helmet diving for pearls took place in Broome for 100 years, right up until 1974. Originally, local Aborigines dived without any gear, but as the areas along the coast were fished out and divers had to go deeper for the oysters, new ways of surviving the dive were needed. Still, over 900 Japanese divers are buried in the town cemetery. Most died excruciating deaths from 'the bends.' BTW, the helmet weighs 35kg and the diver also carried 2 x 35kg weights on his front and back; wore a 13 kg suit and 10kgs of woolen clothing as well as 8kg weighted shoes. And most divers were 50kg, 5 foot 2 Japanese men.

And what did they risk life and limb for??

Not this beautiful thing! This is a 21 mm pearl worth between $100 00 - $120 000. Now, the cultured pearl industry is HUGE, but originally, divers were after the shells so that Mother of Pearl buttons could be made. Yes, the saying around town is 'Broome was built on buttons.'

Another famous (or at least well-marketed) Broome activity is to watch the full moon rise over the Roebuck Bay mudflats. It creates the 'Staircase to the Moon' phenomenon which we saw last night. While our amateur photo really doesn't do it justice, hopefully you get the idea that this is another one of God's amazing creations. He's just so clever!

We are off up to Cape Leveque today (3hrs north of Broome) and looking forward to a boat ride to the Horizontal Falls on Friday. Hopefully we'll see a whale or 2 on the trip and have more cool pics to show you soon.

Been a While

Our adventures up the Western Australian coast have continued, even taking us on a detour inland to the Pilbara. From the dramas of the dented rim at Steep Point, we were able to buy a new rim in Carnarvon. And take in some of the local sights - including a river of sand that suppports 176 fruit and veg plantations - and tastes....yummy! pure fruit iceblocks. Coral Bay beckoned and we spent a night there after an afternoon snorkelling with the snapper. Exmouth - gateway to the Ningaloo Reef - was next. More snorkelling and sight seeing. Jon was fascinated with the naval communications base there and Kirsty loved that only 10 steps into the ocean and you were on reef. We detoured inland then, to mining town Tom Price....home of the richest iron-ore deposits in the world. But we weren't there to look at the mine. 50ks out of town you come across one of the most amazing places we have seen on our journey.....Karajini National Park. 3 days exploring gorges and waterholes was so fun....as was joining the mule team in an SES rescue. We helped pull an injured tourist in a stretcher and an SES guy 70m up the side of a gorge cliff. Cold nights out there....frozen dew on our bonnet one morning...but days warm enough to swim. From there we visited Millstream NP and last night was spent in industry boom town, Karratha....where we felt a little like Mary and Joseph - no room in the inn! 

Swimming in Fern Pool, Karajini NP.....yes! Jon DID go in too:)

Circular Pool, KNP.....one of the most beautiful spots in Australia....in our opinion.

Hiking through Weano Gorge to Handrail Pool.

Cape Range NP.....near Exmouth. The reef is JUST THERE.

The mighty Gasgoyne River in Carnarvon. Farmers access underground water through bores in the riverbed.

Let me explain...

....what a great day looks like:

First....wake up to warm sunshine and gentle waves lapping the shore, just metres away.

Next....listen to an informative talk on dolphins while standing shin deep in water and watching 5 dolphins cruise by just a metre or 2 away.

Be one of only a handful of people selected to feed one of 3 dolphins a fish for breakfast.

Celebrate with a bowl of porridge which proves to be very interesting to the local emu mob.

Take a 3 1/2 hour 4WD out to the beach....dirt roads, bush tracks, beach driving.

Watch your husband get to live one of his dreams...making it to the western most point of Australia.

Set up camp right by the water...again.

Sit back and relax as the sun sets and a golden, just-off-full moon rises over the water.

Ahhhhhhh! Now that's my definition of a GREAT day.

Now here's that GREAT day in reverse....sorry!

View from our camp spot out at Steep Point.

Jon poses at Steep Point....Australia's western-most point.

The emus at Monkey Mia are ever-so friendly. 

Feeding 'Surprise' her fish.

One of the other friendly faces at Monkey Mia....'Nicky'

fun in the sand!

Our Western Australia Wonder Days continue. We had a couple of rest and relax days (coz we were both sick) in Perth and Fremantle (where we got to see QLD win Origin 1...Go the Maroons!) before continuing north. A morning sandboarding in Lancelin proved to be a bit of fun...if you can't tell by my screams of enjoyment. We travelled further up the coast appreciating beautiful (but weedy!) coastline, sea-lions, rock lobster fleets, dolphins, sunsets over the water, The Pinnacles, wheatfields, full moon and more emus than you could poke a stick at. It is really dramatic country up this way...and feels like we are miles from anywhere....despite being only 5 hours from Perth. Very different to drive north from Brisbane. We head off from soggy Kalbarri today and are headed over to the most western point on the Australian mainland...Steep Point. We're both :) and so's the car after we gave her a new battery this morning. Jon has discovered a new and rewarding holiday past-time...reading! Kirsty likes NCIS. And we are both grateful for warmer nights. So Life is WONDERFUL!

MotoX

Happy days in Manjimup .... southern WA. Here's some action from 'Australia's Premier MotoX Event.'

We thought you'd like this one Dan! But don't ask Mum and Dad for a bike...just yet.

We've been everywhere

Kalgoorlie's Super Pit....they mine gold here - open-cut and underground. Jon did a 3 hour tour of the mine site and was very impressed. One weird thing was how much timber they collect when mining.....from all the old-time mines and shafts sunk over the past 100 years or so.

The 75m high fire tower in the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree. Jon made it to the top...but not without a little bit of trepidation. Kirsty made it up 8 rungs and headed down! But she eventually got to the 25m platform and just avoided passing out from fear.

Standing at Australia's most south-westerly point...near the Cape Leeuwin lighthouse.

Surfers at Prevelly....west of Margaret River. These were BIG waves! 

One of the many action moments at the Manjimup 15 000. A great day out in the mud after lots of rain the night before.

Following on from our time in Kalgoorlie, we made our way south and then west. And after another thousand plus kms on the road, we feel like we have seen a lot of Western Australia's south west. And this truly has to be some of the most beautiful country in Australia. Unusual rock formations.....pristine beaches.....rolling green hills dotted with sheep or dairy cattle......vineyards galore......'big tree' forests......sleepy little villages......bustling cities......the south-west has it all. Some highlights of the past week or so have been:

• catching up with old friends in Albany....I have known Shelley since I went to pre-school with her in Bunbury, way back in '78.
  
• climbing the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree near Pemberton
• cool camping spots like Maranup Ford, Warren NP and Leschenault Peninsula (near Bunbury)
• a day at the races....Australia's No. 1 motor-cross event.... the Manjimup 15 000
• posing on Wave Rock
• yummy Margaret River Chocolate Factory
• Cape Leeuwin lighthouse near Augusta
• watching the surfers at Prevelly

 

Esperance WA

One of the many stunning beaches around Esperance...in WA's south east.

The view over Lucky Bay from our campsite. 

More of Lucky Bay.

What a start to our WA adventure......simply stunning Esperance. White sandy beaches, turquoise water, friendly people and plenty of sunshine. I could live here! We had a couple of days in and around town before doing the beach drive out to Cape Le Grand NP. We camped 2 nights at Lucky Bay and had a swim! Hmmmmm...fresh! Experienced our first traveller's 'happy hour' which was a bit of fun....especially as J was drinking ginger beer and I had water:) From Esperance we have been north to Kalgoorlie, east to Wave Rock and south to Albany. Had a lovely 2 night house stay with friends in Albany. I met Shelley when I was 5! And have seen her only once since then. We've been great pen pals over the years and it was terrific to catch up with her and husband Grant and now, 3 children. And it was so nice to be inside on these cold nights. We are headed further west now towards big forests, more coastlines and the Manjimup 15000 on the weekend. Google it:)

Across the Nullabor

We made it! Hundreds of kilometres, miles of tarmac and many long hours later, we are now in Western Australia. After the restfulness of Streaky Bay, we hit the road in earnest, aiming to be in WA by the end of the week. And we are! Below are some of the pics that will certainly help us remember our 3 day crossing. In all honesty, it was a fairly uneventful trip, although there were a few lighter moments along the way......like: 

* comparing fuel prices at the roadhouses (around the $1.50 - $1.63 / litre mark), 

* devouring all our fruit and veg and the honey before facing quarantine, 

* passing the oversized loads travelling together  (2 semis carrying HUGE boats....in the middle of the Nullabor!!!), 

* listening to multiple episodes of 'The Boundless Show' podcast,

* going off road to follow the old rabbit proof fence right to the edge of the bight, 

* racing the rain as it swept across the Southern Ocean,

* bush camping under brilliant skies with wonderful campfires