The Month of July Cape Keraudren to Fitzroy Crossing 1st - 31st July 2013

Cape Keraudren 1st-4th July

We are still here from last month, we went for a walk and found the northern end of the rabbit proof fence that crosses the state from the bottom end of southern Western Australia, we have now been to both extremities of the fence.

We woke to a beautiful day and decided to walk to the point further up the coastline. The problem with this place is that everyone is so friendly the it is hard to go anywhere without quite lengthy chats.

Our walk was 5 1/2 hours which we estimated was around 15 klms. The shells lining the beach were huge in numbers which meant that not only did we walk we were carrying a bag of collected shells as well. Trice seems to have a bucket in her hand at all times now.

A young couple who we have met a few times now rolled up in their large bus. Patrice said to Ron that she wanted to be like Pricilla Queen of the Dessert but be Patrice Queen of the Beach and stand on the roof of his bus with flags for her birthday which was the next day.

The photos are proof of her wish.

Happy Hour on Trice's birthday was a load of fun, I made Rum and Coke scones which were a huge hit. It is funny, we are now known as the crazies who walked to the point and Trice as the nutter who climbed on the roof of a bus for her birthday. The other nutter was Ron flying his parasail through the campsite. I cooked up a big birthday dinner for Trice to go with her usual bottle of bubbly.

We are now into our 6th day, we have run out of water, grog and clean underwear, at least the batteries are holding up. We decided to move on to 80 mile beach caravan park, going from $9 a night to $42 a night is a sin but we have to do it.

Saying goodbye took most of the morning, what a great group of people, they made us feel so welcome.

4th - 7th July 80 Mile Beach

 

Getting a powered site here at this time of year is a challenge but we are lucky and picked up one of the last 4 sites.

I have done something to my back, could be payback for putting my body through that long walk. The beach here is unbelievably wide when the tide goes out, it is covered in tiny shells but when the tide goes out there are mud flats further out. Trice met a lady who makes all this stuff out of shells, I may have to move out.

Met up with Kel and Patty. Just for something different we Drove along the beach looking for shells. Because Trice doesn't believe she has exceeded the gross ATM of the van in shells, so  she was wants to go looking once more.

We have stayed another night so we could go fishing. Trice was very impressed, I fished for 4 hours but never even got a bite. There must have been a hundred fishermen on the beach but only about 6 threadfin were caught. I think we were spoilt by Cape Keraudren and Point Quobba as we were a little disappointed especially after what everyone told us.

Time to move on, Kel and Patty are heading down to the beach to try a bit of fishing, they have had no luck either. Apparently a couple of hours after we left Kel & Patty both caught a threadfin and Kel ended up with  3 altogether. Don't you love the fishing stories, should have been here yesterday, 1 hour before high tide, you need this particular colour lure, I hate fishing.

 

 

Barn Hill Station 7 - 15th July

 

We had been told that this is a great spot it has everything going for it, right on the beach, plenty of shade. The park is broken down into powered on the left and unpowered sites on the right. The powered sites have levels of power (4amp - 10amp) which increases the cost by $5 per night for each stage. The first stage will barely run your lights, the strongest will not allow you to boil a jug.

The powered area is crammed in with caravans on top of each other, the unpowered area was fantastic with heaps of room and great bunch of people.

Apparently the camp has changed, the owners appear to have had a gutful, the son is refusing to bake bread or pizzas and everything is a bit run down. The word is that Parks and Wildlife are trying to close them down.

We had some great happy hours, Ron (The Para Glider Guy) has pulled up behind us in the bus named Oscar with Venessa and the kids.

We wandered along the beach for a good walk and the coastline is spectacular. I can understand why the steps are knocked around and it is so difficult to get down to the beach when you see what the sea does to this coastline.
 

I found a big black bouy from one of the oyster farms so I decided to create my own bit of beach art.

We have been paddling the kayak most days off the shore, trying to trawl for fish and to just have a good look around. On our way back for a walk we started talking to a fisherman and he was telling us about the massive shark that has been patrolling up and down the beach. I asked him how far out and he pointed to about the same area that we had been kayaking in most days.

Can you understand why the kayak went back on top of the car?

Bumped into Duncan and Lyn as well as  Neil and Moni again, always someone to have a drink with.

It is our second last night and a little van pulls in behind us and an elderly couple (in their late 70's), hop out, Trice says "Gidday". Michael and Jan from Boonah appeared quite happy that someone has said "Gidday" and Michael says good to see you talk my language in a real country drawl.

Later that afternoon Michael drops over with a bottle of rum in his hand and says "Where's the lad I bet he would like a bit of rum" apparently they never participate in happy hours but as we appeared to be good folk he wanted to join us.

Well I had 3 medium rums and Michael polished the rest off. He makes his own rum and I must say it was pretty dam good. Michael drinks his with a dash of water. He must like it as he has stored 25 litres of it on board for his 9 week trip.

His stories were hilarious and we laughed all night and the next day before he and Jan left for their next stop.

I have had my caravan sign out and like all other places nobody comes near you until the last day, a big rush of orders has kept me busy most of the day.

It is about time we got to Broome as we have been here too long.

Broome 15th - 20th July

 

We have booked into Palm Grove Caravan Park at Cable Beach Broome. We were told that they were full so we would have to go into the overflow area. We were expecting a dusty paddock as it was cheaper than the main area. We have pulled into our spot and it is fantastic. Quiet & plenty of space unlike the main area, I asked at the office if we had the correct site as we were supposed to be in the overflow area and she confirmed that they only use this area when they have to, bonus for us.

First day we just wandered around looking at the town with the first stop being the Information Centre. they were very helpful and after speaking to Ken decided to go on a bus tour the next morning to get our bearings. we wandered over the the main street and found China Town, the post office to pick up my phone, buy a lot more refreshments for happy hours and a few groceries.

We decided to head over to Cable Beach, this place is busy and at sunset it is impossible to get a park so we drove down a driveway and ended up on the beach amongst the camels and tourists taking the obligatory sunset shots. We have to come back here with a bottle of wine.

The next day we went back to the Information Centre and booked our Camel ride as well as a pearl harvesting demonstration for the next day. We hopped on an old English double decker bus and had a great tour around town and the suburbs. This was a great tour and I would recommend to anyone to do it first.

The interesting thing about the homes up this way is that  they are all made of corrugated iron and I must say that they look pretty good, it is giving me some thoughts for home.

Broome being a finger of land is well laid out with the airport in the centre between the town centre and Cable Beach. Roebuck bay is on the opposite side of the finger from Cable Beach.

The history of the pearling industry is both interesting as well as tragic and this is highlighted by a 3m tall statue overlooking Roebuck Bay which represents an indigenous pregnant woman stretched out clutching an oyster shell. In these early days of pearling, the pearlers would go "Blackbirding" in the bush - this means kidnapping the indigenous to use them as divers.  This was a deadly industry and the pioneer Chinese and Japanese cemeteries demonstrate the high number of deaths.

There were many unmarked aboriginal graves in there as well. Most of the deaths were either from the 'bends' or simply drowned due to failure of the hand driven oxygen boxes which pumped air down to the divers in heavy divers suits.

We arrived back at dark and wandered over for a delightful meal with Neil and Moni who we have met up with yet again.

Today we are off to see the oyster harvesting, followed by a camel ride up Cable Beach. They are an ugly animal and getting on them is very interesting. First lean right back, stretch those arms, then the camel rises on it's rear legs, now throw your weight forward as it raises on it's front legs. Off we go down the beach past the nudists on our right, mate I wouldn't have that out in public. The saddles are not too bad but 30 mins on the back of a camel was fantastic and a buzz, any longer than this may have made us walk a little bit differently.

The oyster harvesting display runs for 2 hours and gives you and insight into the industry. You are shown the difference between natural, cultured and fresh water pearls. The difference in price between the 3 types is enormous and unless you are an absolute expert, the fresh water pearls will do the trick. The only difference between natural, cultured and freshwater is the first 2 come from oysters and the freshwater come from mussels. The reason why freshwater are cheaper is that more pearls can be put in a mussel.

Another day in beautiful Broome, wish we could have stayed longer but we have booked our horizontal falls tour out of Derby.

We decide today to head north to Cape Le Veque  but we have been warned that the road is pretty ordinary.
First stop was Willie Creek Pearl farm, we then headed towards the northern beaches dropping into Quongdong Point and James Price Point. Both of these have free camping but you would have to be brave to bring your van into here. Again the coastline is spectacular and you understand people pushing to get their vans into here.

As we are heading back we pass a protest camp so we drive in to see what it is all about. A young, slightly hairy woman came out to say hello. She is a university student who is studying an environmental subject. She has been coming here for a number of years fighting the drilling of coal seam gas of the coast and was celebrating the win.

After listening to her you get an understanding of the cause but it is only one side of the story, maybe a bit of balance is needed as WA is starting to suffer economically at the moment.

All of a sudden it is lunchtime, we turn left onto the road to Cape Le Veque and after a few kilometres decide that we don't need to wreck the car so we turned around back to Broome.

We headed up to Gantheaume Point, dropping into the museum on the way along with the lighthouse and Anastasia's Pool, another full day.

Our last day saw us visiting the courthouse markets where Trice and Moni participated in a very raucous session on stone flutes.  Well at least everyone was joining in while Neil and I hid. After such a good show and getting more customers in - Trice suggested a price cut - how could he refuse! 

Broome was a fantastic place to visit and I am sure that we will be back.

Derby 20th - 27th July.

A comfortable drive to Derby had us at the Kimberley Entrance caravan park by lunchtime. Our purpose for being here is the tour to horizontal falls but we are keen to see what this place is all about. There are only 2 horse race meetings a year and today is one of them, the local golf course has to be closed for the day as the track  runs through the golf course.

I thought I might have a quick nap and go to the races later,  but I must have been tired as we missed them, oh well we are here for 7 days.

Today we visit the Information Centre to see what there is to see here. First stop the Prison Tree, a huge Boab out of town which was used to house indigenous prisoners who were walked into town in shackles. The tree itself is large and completely hollow with a narrow entrance to its  interior. I just couldn't imagine a large number of prisoners being held in this tree but it did happen.

Nearby was a huge water trough which was used as a stopping point for the cattle being walked into town for loading onto ships, they were proud that this could water 500 cattle at a time.

A little further was Frosty's Pool which was constructed in 1944 by personnel from the 125th Australian Transport Company for 'relaxing and bathing'.

Onto the wetlands where at different times of the year is full of wildlife and birds, I guess it was not this time of year as there was nothing, zilch, nice walk though.

Back home for a cleanup as there is a music festival at the race track. The music was great and we met a couple of locals. They gave us a great insight into the town and especially the indigenous folk, they are very traditional. It was interesting to hear about the beliefs around child birth, spirits and burials.

We have found all the coloured residents to be extremely pleasant and happy. I met a little aboriginal girl who was amused with my magic tricks, it was a lovely afternoon.

The next day we visited the Old Derby Goal, this was disturbing. To see this building it was simply a roof with one solid wall and 3 mesh wall divided into 2 rooms, no toilet or washing facilities, designed to house 30 prisoners but housed 61 prisoners in 1907.

The so called prisoners were simply aboriginals who did not understand the white man and were taken from their own lands. The floor still had the original shackles concreted in the floor.

Off to the jetty where you can see  how high and low this tide travels, today high tide is around 10.6 metres and low some 9 metres lower. Where has the day gone? We have walked the town and we have to find the 1 mile camp dinner tree. This is another large Boab tree where the cattle used to gather prior to the last 1 mile walk to the pier. A great tree with the setting sun behind it.

Today is the day, we have to put our van into storage prior to being picked up by a coach, taken to the airport where we will board a sea plane and fly out over the Buccaneer Archipelago to the horizontal falls.
Here we will board a house boat where we are being lodged for the evening after being driven through the falls in specially built speed boats. Bring it on.

The flight there was  
unbelievable, the tide was low and the water recedes through the Archipelago area leaving snakes of waterways. I was fortunate to be able to sit in the co-pilots seat and watch the going on in the cockpit, not much really but the view was fantastic. We have never been in a seaplane before so we did not know what the landing would be like but it was like landing on velvet. We are welcomed on board with refreshments by a fabulous crew.

The houseboat and infrastructure was all new less than 3 months old, the boats were only a month old, around $8m - $9m. 14 of us arrived and are shown our suites, this is pretty good. The group are all excited as we are loaded into the specially built speed boat.

The rocks show how high the water rises, it is staggering. We are shown around the different waterways before we head to the falls. The water is surging through a gap in the rocks. The gap is 20 metres wide and the force of the water is unbelievable, I went deaf from Trice screaming.

We went through numerous times but we couldn't get through the narrower 14m gap as the height of the water was far too high. This is like 2 inland seas trying to empty out to the ocean, on higher tides like we have today the inner most sea does not have enough  
 

time to empty before the tide turns again.

Back to the houseboat we are introduced to the tawny nurse sharks, they have got to be the most comical looking things I have ever seen. You have the option to stand in cages to get face to face with these things which we both did.

After an afternoon of great fun we are led to the upper deck where we have pre dinner drinks leading into a barramundi dinner. You are limited to 5kilos of baggage but we were able to get enough wine in for a great night, which we had.

After getting to bed around 1am in the morning we were out of bed at 5am to watch the sunrise. Everyone was up,  I think the events of the previous night still had everyone on a high. We were treated to breakfast and next thing are advised to pack our gear as we are going back through the falls in the boats.

Just fantastic we are greeted  by the seaplane and flown back to Derby, this has been my highlight of the trip so far.

We have taken so many photos, I wish I could show you them all.

We are hardly back when we are packing again and driving on the Gibb River Road out to Windjana Gorge with our 2 man tent, not quite the same as the night before. The road was pretty good until we turned in Windjana Gorge Road which was terrible, I let the tyres down to 25lb to  
smooth the ride out.

We got ourselves ready and walked the gorge and said gidday to the local crocs and wandered back to camp just on dark, we are both quite weary.

I have pumped our air mattress up but I am not quite happy with it but 'She'll be right'. Around 1AM both Trice and I are laying on the dirt, rocks are digging into our hips so all I could do was grab a couple of mats to protect our hips a little, not a good nights  
sleep once again. It turned out that I had cross threaded the cap and this is the reason why it went down.

We are entertained over breakfast by a Great Bowerbird which has build a nest just near our tent. The antics of this bird trying to attract a female into his bower were hilarious.

Off to Tunnel Creek, 750mtrs of amazing rocks, fossils  and water to our thighs as we wander through with our torches in the pitch black. Out the other end we walked a  
further kilometre until we found the end of the track which has been closed to erosion.

Back to camp late afternoon I don't think we will be long out of bed tonight. Trice decided to

 

 

challenge me to a game of Backgammon, we had 3 great games and the knowledge of who won is not needed at this

point.

Don't you love it when you are really tired and you crawl into a really comfortable bed, well we have achieved it and had a great nights sleep.

2 nights in a 2 man tent where you have to crawl through this doorway built for midgets is

 
not going to happen again, I need to research a tent with a bit more comfort.

Today's plan is to visit Bells Gorge for a swim, Lennard Gorge and then return to Derby, a round trip of around 400 klm and 2 walks is going  
to be some day.

Bells Gorge was brilliant, the water has a nice chill and the waterfall is spectacular, a good comfortable walk, just good exercise.

Off to Lennard Gorge, we met some people in the car park and asked them what the walk was like, they said it was tough but the view made it worthwhile.

Off we go, the whole walk was on large rocks through a dry creek bed and then up a steep climb and down the other side, Trice was exhausted but she doesn't give in. We made it to the gorge and it was a dud, have we been spoilt? What a waste, we turned around and start to head back to Derby.

We are driving on a dusty road straight into the sun with cows wandering onto the road plus we clean up a kangaroo, we can't wait to get back.

A good night sleep before we move the van to another site for our last night. We heard that there are crab races on this afternoon at the local fishing club.

What a hoot, it was packed and a great laugh and the best thing was that we got to eat the losers at the end of the day. $10 for a barbecue with fresh mud crabs was a great deal, we have really enjoyed our stay in Derby.

Fitzroy Crossing 28th - 31st July

 

Kevin and Kathy from Pottsville called this morning as they are heading west, we have arranged to catch up at the Boab rest Area about 120klms from Derby.

 

We arrived today at Fitzroy Crossing, the home of Geikie Gorge. We have pulled into the Lodge which is resort style accommodation. Full concrete drive throughs and grass, we are in heaven. Pool, bar and restaurant and the place is packed.

The next morning we wandered down to Geikie Gorge and hopped onto the river tour, we are taken down through the gorge and given the history of the area, more crocs and wildlife.

Interestingly the gorge was named Geikie after a London based geologist who had never been to Australia. The department of Environment and Conservation which is being renamed Parks and Wildlife later this year announced that the gorge is being renamed, back to it's former indigenous name of Dangku (Darn-goo) Gorge next year.

It doesn't matter how many of these gorges you see they are all stunning. Our last 2 days of the month were spent walking the edges of the Fitzroy River where we met 2 delightful aboriginal children fishing.

We went to the local pub Fitzroy Crossing Inn which is an experience. There appears to be a drinking problem in town and the town has installed signs warning of the dangers to the aboriginal folk. The funniest would have to have been: Wear Bright Colours at Night So You Can Be Seen.

This month has been hectic so we are going to leave tomorrow for Halls Creek and wind our way up to the Bungle Bungles. I think August will be a bit quieter as we drive through to Darwin for our flight home on the 17th August.