30th July 2009

On the road again, heading north east across the Kimberley. We stopped at an area known as Langey's Crossing, on the Fitzroy river, just downstream of 'Telegraph Pool' reputed to be a good spot to catch a barra. Many camping spots along the river, about 10kms north of the highway on good dirt road. We enjoyed the birdlife & established that it was more productive to eat our 'twiggy sticks' (mini salami sticks) ourselves than to try to feed them to the Barramundi!. Riverbanks that initially looked bare revealed several largish freshwater crocs when scanned with the binoculars. No 'salties' though (that we saw).

31st July 2009

Packed up in a leisurely manner shortly after daybreak & prior to a few minutes panic when I thought we might be bogged. Back on the highway we continued on toward Derby, noticing an increasing number & variety of boab trees along the way. We had seen a few boabs in Broome, planted there, but out here is the real deal. These bizarre 'upside down trees'  not only come in multiple shapes & sizes, unusually they all seem to be in different stages of 'being' Trees standing close to each other, one can be bare, another with leaves, another with no leaves, but with fruit. We wondered what triggers individual trees respond to. Stopped at the big tree once used as a 'prison tree' during the horrific 'blackbirding' period of our history. The tree is a survivor, which is more than can be said for many of those who were chained up inside it. Arriving in Derby we visited the visitor information centre to find out about our options for seeing some of the Gibb River Road country. Our hopes of the 'pick up/drop off' 4wd bus service were dashed when told they had gone out of business 2 years earlier. This left tours or hiring a 4wd. When the lady on the phone said she would discount the cost by $50 a day if we didn't mind taking the LandCruiser unwashed on the outside, we were thrown into brief turmoil. Seemed like a good deal but it meant organising ourselves within a couple of hours. It panned out ok, the car hire place allowed us to leave the bus with them, & we negotiated a few extra freebie hours which made a two night trip far more practical, allowing us two full days along the GRR. That evening saw us camped with tent & landcruiser alongside the massive devonian reef cliffs at Windjana Gorge NP. By the time we had set up camp it was dark. We took a moonlit walk through the cavernous entry to the gorge & spotted the glowing orange eyes in the river with our torches. Spooky!

1st August 2009

We took an early stroll through the gorge, a very picturesque setting, with a dramatic entrance. Reputed to be one of the best spots anywhere to view freshwater crocs in the wild, we were not disappointed seeing quite a few swimming, & as the sun came up, basking on sandbanks. We were able to get quite close to one.

After packing our tent we moved on to Tunnel Creek, a cave, 750 metres long through which a creek runs, The 'cave' is open at both sides of the rock in which it passes through, wading through in the dark, is rewarded with a utopian glimpse of nature at it's far end. Having glimpsed utopia & dried our feet , we drove for another hour or three to the Silent Grove campground, 10kms short of Bell Gorge, where we set up for the night ready to visit 'Bell' in the morning.

2nd August 2009

The road into Bell was the roughest yet encountered, but easily managed in 2wd. Lots of corrugations & large loose rocks. Only once did I lock the hubs, at a creek crossing just as a precaution. The gorge was spectacular. Walking to the second pool was more like climbing, it being a challenge to recall our route in, for the return journey, but we made it ok. By mid-day  we were back in the car & heading to Imintji, a small settlement on the GRR, where we were able to top up our fuel tank & have a real coffee (Lordy, real coffee in the outback, whatever next!) before returning to Derby. We could have taken our bus into Windjana, but only Windjana, not Tunnel Ck or Bell gorge. The road to Tunnel Ck would have been 'do-able' but very unpleasant, & the bell gorge road would have seen us stuck in a creek. The fuel range on the bikes is insufficient for this sort of country. Our round trip from Derby took in around 700kms. It was a good side trip, & didn't feel rushed, although we are very aware of how much more there is to 'discover' out here. We have just scratched the surface & hope to return with our own 4wd someday.

Having arrived back in Derby, we decided not to take up the kind offer of an overnight park at the car hirer's place, preferring to 'stealth camp' down near the jetty. Many gathered to watch the sunset & wet a line, but all moved off at dark, leaving us to a peaceful night just up from the water & well out of town.

3rd August 2009

Leaving Derby, we stopped of at the aboriginal art gallery at Mowanjum, & looked around without intent to buy. Can't afford to buy art for thousands.I did like some of the carved boab nuts though, but kept our money in our pockets. A bushfire was burning close by, sending dramatic clouds of smoke into the sky. Bushfires are common up here, you see burned & burning country everywhere. Driving today we saw wild horses, a few roos, boabs & termite mounds. The Kimberley is covered with far more vegetation than I had imagined. Harsh country to live in, but very easy on the eye. Campsite tonight is another pleasant freebie called 'The Lake' , a small bird sanctuary around a waterhole, close to the road.

4th August 2009

Reaching Fitzroy Crossing we had a look around town before driving out to Gekie Gorge where we walked & enjoyed the wild peace. At one point we sat & counted 15 freshwater crocs, but the highlight was sitting & watching a large Jabiru running around in the water, wings 'aflap' hunting for tucker. Back in town we found our identified 'stealth camping spot' had been taken by another enterprising motorhomer, so determined to stay at the small, but pleasant & laid back caravan park adjacent to the Old Historic Fitzroy Crossing Inn. Sitting on the ground close by was 'Bob', an old aboriginal ex-stockman, sober but clearly alcohol affected in regard to memory. He was carving a large boab nut. Bob like many of grog chasers in this region, had worked on the stations as a young man. When laws were passed (in the late 70's I think) to say that aboriginal workers had to be paid equally to whitefellas, the white station owners promptly kicked most aboriginals off their land, rendering them homeless & unemployed ever since. I bought Bob's boab nut after sitting on the ground with him for a while.

5th August 2009

Continuing on we noticed that the presence of Boab trees had ceased somewhere east of Halls Creek. Saw Brolgas & Emus. Stopped At Mary pool overnight, a good free camp, quite large & spacious & very popular. No water in the river during our stay.

6th - 11th August 2009 

Stopped in Halls Creek to refuel, shop & wander. Previously we had heard horror stories about public aboriginal drunkeness & violence in the streets of Halls Creek. Our visit revealed a town just like any other. School sports day was happening on the sports field opposite the supermarket. No signs of any public drunkeness or drinking. No sense of anything threatening whatsoever. Somewhere west of Halls Creek we began to see Boabs again, but now there was less variation, & fruit was much smaller than the 'eastern' trees. We had been in contact with Al & Maz, who are travelling in the opposite direction to us in their Nissan Civilian. We camped with them in Queensland last year & found our paths crossed again at Spring Creek, a lovely little rest area with clear fresh water, adjacent to the turn off to the Bungle Bungle (Purnululu NP). It was great to catch up with them both again, & we spent several days yacking & relaxing together. We planned to leave our bus at Spring Ck & ride into the Bungles. It is common practice for people to leave their caravans & motorhomes here, although rumour had it that a caravan had been recently stolen whilst it's owners were in the Bungles.There were several variations on the story. We felt safe leaving the bus though. Al & Maz took a plane flight over the Bungles from Turkey Creek Roadhouse, 50kms north. The track into the Bungles is designated 4wd only. We spoke to several drivers who had returned & made comments like 'It's the worst I've ever driven on', 'horrendous' & 'never again'. We expected 'hidden' bulldust holes big enough to swallow a bike, creeks that were deep & rocky & corrugations, steep climbs on loose surfaces & wild animals! What we got was a track that was no worse than anything else we've ridden on, MrsTea even managed to ride 5 of the six creek crossings each way herself. Only one was a bit of a challenge & saw us get a bit damp. A track took us around the bulldust area, & whilst we saw cattle, a dingo, a large monitor & a pair of bustards on the track, none posed a threat to us.

The beehive & other rock formations were impressive, their scale just so big! Echidna Chasm especially was great, the longest, narrowest chasm we have been in, it just kept going & going. Two nights & two days in the Bungles felt rushed, a minimum of 3 would have been better, taking into account the draining effects of the relentless sun. Night times were chilly. Riding in, we were limited with what we could carry. Our fuel range was marginal in the circumstances, but we were able to get someone to carry a couple of 5 litre jerries of fuel  in for us, relieving us of the possibility of getting stranded after running out. Once camping gear & food & water had been pared down to the bare essentials, we set about fitting it all onto the bikes. What a circus, eventually it was done though.  Arriving at the Walardi campground & about to set up camp, I found I had to peel MrsTea's expensive new self inflating mattress (bought in Broome, after her previous one had split) off the front of her headlight. The heat from the quartz halogen globe had not only welded the mat together right the way through, the plastic lens of the headlight had also melted. Bugger!

After another day back at Spring Creek, we moved on to Wyndham, leaving at first light & covering the 270kms in the cool of the day. Doing this allowed us to reach Wyndham before needing to return any coolant to the radiator. Early starts seem to make a big difference. Travelling later in the day(hotter)  would have seen two stops to siphon at least. Nevertheless the state of our motor & it's ongoing reliability or otherwise is causing me a few sleepless nights, as well as influencing our travel decisions. Several times recently I have chosen not to stop, or to turn off, only because of concern for 'getting there'. It is a constant worry, but so far so good, & we don't really have any choice so que sera sera.

12th - 14th August 2009

Camped in Wyndham at the rather pleasant caravan park, reasonably priced compared to west coast parks. A bit of sightseeing & catching up with a few chores.The 5 rivers lookout gives impressive views across the extensive mud flats & Cambridge Sound, despite the smoky haze. The croc farm feeding tour was a crowded affair shared with a large coachload of seemingly all huge & bulbous oldies. The fish & chips from the little burger bar near the wharf was a good feed. We had only planned to spend one or two nights here, but have stayed three. This morning we rode down to Parry Lagoon & Marlgo Billabong. What a magical place. Hundreds of birds of many varieties , fish & large saltwater crocs inhabit this little slice of heaven. We were alone there for the first hour watching in wonder, half expecting to hear David Attenborough's voice narrating our experience! A pied cormorant emerged from under the water, briefly, with a just caught fish in it's beak, before diving under with it again. This brief moment of excitement was noticed. The large salty on the opposite bank slid quickly into the water & across the billabong with virtually no water movement around it. It placed itself close to where the cormorant had dived, hiding it's nose under a lily pad. As the the cormorant emerged again, still with fish in beak a large Jabiru who had been watching from at least a hundred metres away landed & stole the fish. As this occurred a a bird of prey swooped around them looking for an opportunity to pinch the booty. By now the croc realised the ambush he had set up was not going to happen, so he slipped back to his sunning spot on the river bank.  Later we watched a Jabiru catch, kill & eat a snake. Even the arrival of other 'tourist hoardes' failed wipe the smile from my dial. To get back to the highway saw us riding across Parry Lagoon, clearly not an all weather/year round track. To follow the King River Road, we were advised to 'bypass' it's first section off the highway, due to exceptionally bad corrugations. Instead we were told to take the Mud Flats Rd. After driving up & down the highway a few times looking for a sign to Mudflats Rd, we realised that there was no such thing, & instead we should just turn off the highway onto the flats & ride in approximately the right direction. Out on the flats it felt very exposed in the hot sun, just like a desert. After riding on believing that we might eventually find some tracks to follow, we did, ending up in a shady & grassy spot on the King River. Despite knowing the river was tidal, it still took us by surprise when we observed the direction of flow change after what was obviously low tide. Spied a big croc sunning himself & just metres from where we were sitting (safely) was an obviously croc shaped mud hole. They are territorial animals, so we knew he was there watching us even though we never saw him. Daytime temperatures have increased since we left the west coast. Nights are warming up too. We may have to relegate the doona to storage. 35 deg.C today.

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