Purnululu - the Bungle Bungles

Hello dear blogsters, well after 4 days out in the remote Purnululu National Park - I have so much to share with you!

We camped overnight at the caravan park at Warmun (otherwise known as Turkey Creek) - no powered sites available so we camped in the unpowered section by the edge of the road. Not a bad spot but the showers and toilets were interesting to say the least! But the sunset on the ranges was magnificent!

Did I mention before how hard it is to wake Danni up in the morning - she is just a zombie before 7 am. We will obviously have to work on her! And as for her hair...it's a bird's nest at the best of times - check out the feather in her hair!

Anyway, we woke up and packed ready for our adventure to Purnululu. We had to leave Mum and Dad's van and Ginger (the trailer) behind - as this was definitely a 4wd road only. So it took a bit of organising to get us down to Uncle John's car and Tvan and Fred - but we managed.

We drove out to the turnoff and then headed off on the dirt road through Mable Downs Station for 50 odd kilometers - as a measure of how rough this road was... it took us over 2 hours to do the 50 k. We had to drive in 4wd and soon found out why - our first obstacle was a bulldust pit - soft to drive through and coated everything with a layer of fine white powder. Danni just loved jumping around in it!

We drove on through some fairly rough stuff - lots of fun! We also had to do several creek crossings - but managed these with no problems.

We drove into the Purnululu National Park and set up in the camp ground. We went to the "generator" camp ground, as opposed to the "quiet" campground - and found there was only one other couple there - it was wonderful and peaceful!

Danni decided her hair was getting a bit long and wanted to give herself a haircut - Mum suggested that a wash would help first (much to Danni's horror) and helped her out with that. The end result was pretty good really!

After setting up, we headed out to the lookout to watch sunset - very beautiful indeed. We only wished we had a wine to celebrate with - but were a bit dry as we hadn't been able to buy any alcohol since Derby.... still, the sunset was lovely!

The next morning we headed out to do the Mini Palms walk. The last bit of road was pretty rough - all loose stones from the creek bed. We walked out through the creek bed - in awe of the magnificent rock formations - and then up the palm valley. We had to clamber over rockes and through narrow spaces (Mum handled this particularly well given her compact leg structure). It seemed like everywhere we looked was just a magnificent vista!

We took so many photos, it is impossible to put them all on the blog - but I hope you get a small idea of how magnificent it truly was. At one point, some-one had added some rocks to a fallen log to complete the picture of a crocodile - very cute!We drove back to our campsite for lunch and then drove back out to have a look at Echidna Chasm. We were a bit unprepared for the enormity of this place - and totally overwhelmed by it. The chasm reaches up over 200 metres from ground level and almost closes over above you as you walk. Danni and I had quite an extraordinary experience in several parts of the chasm - an experience which seemed connected with the very strong spirit of the land here. It is a little hard to write about it here - but suffice to say, we were quite affected by the whole thing!

We were a bit stunned to find that both Mum's and my photos reflected what we experienced..... the photo below shows what was captured when we returned into a "welcoming" part of the chasm - the sky was ordinary blue sky as the sun had moved lower into the sky - the bright light is a little hard to explain!When we came out of the chasm - Danni and I wandered up to the lookout for a look - the view was wonderful!We drove back to camp and had a lovely evening by the camp-fire. I saw a beautiful shooting star with a long blue tail. The nights out there were quite cold and we had to really rug up for bed!

The next morning, after breakfast, we headed out to have a look at the domes. The drive out was spectacular!

The rocks forming the domes were formed over 320 million years ago, and have slowly weathered into the shapes we see today. We walked through the domes and explored a lovely little grotto filled with baby frogs. Very cute indeed!

After this, we walked out to the Cathedral Gorge. This magnificent gorge was just huge beyond words! We enjoyed exploring it and singing "Amazing Grace" to hear the echoes (I would love to have heard a didge here!) To get an idea of the size of the gorge, look closely at the 2nd picture - see the size of the people walking across the floor of the gorge!

Paddy thought the gorge was pretty good - lots of little holes just the right size for him to have a rest in!

We walked out of the gorge, had lunch and then headed back to camp (with a short stop-off at the visitors centre). We all really enjoyed Uncle John's open air shower- rather a nice way to try and get at least some of the red dirt off!

We had dinner (jaffles cooked by the blokes) and then spent the evening around the camp fire with our "neighbours" - Narelle and Geoff, a young couple heading back to the east coast after spending a couple of years working at Port Headland.

We were up early this morning and away by 8 o'clock. The creek crossings were fun again and we had quite an enjoyable trip.

Things went pretty well, apart from having to stop so that Uncle John could change a tyre. He had a flat from a nail - but we reckon it could have been there for a while. At least the damage wasn't done by a rock!

We continued on - the bull-dust pit was pretty spectacular - hate to have that dust in my house!

By the time we got out onto the highway, the vehicles really looked like they had done a bit of work. We probably won't bother washing them as they will get another layer of red dirt when we go out to El Questro in a couple of days.

We drove back to Warmun, picked up the van and trailer and continued on to Kununnura. It is VERY hot and humid here - the swimming pool was a really welcome destination at the end of the day. We will stay here a couple of days and get cleaned up (lots of washing to do) and then head on out to El Questro.

And this picture is just for Kerry..... your girl is gorgeous!

Finally, great to hear from Bethanie, Ben, PJ and Margaret. Bethanie, so glad you have arrived safely in Vienna. Ben, great to hear from you - I hope you are doing ok. PJ, we all still hope you can meet us at Longreach. And Margaret, looking forward to seeing you in Darwin!

The Geeks of Geike Gorge and Dan's Croc Encounter

Hello dear blogsters. After a night road-side camping out of phone range - time to bring you up to date with the latest happenings.

When last I wrote, we were camped at Fitzroy Crossing. Well, we had a good night's sleep and got up early to have a quick breaky, pack up and be ready to go on a tour at 6.45 am. This was a big challenge for Danni (have I mentioned how HARD it is for her to get up before afternoon???)

Anyway we met our bus driver (a bloke called Chris Farmer- who grew up in Dorrigo.) and then set off for a tour of Fitzroy Crossing. The town is a largely aboriginal settlement - with some surrounding stations and the government workers who seem to be found in every little town. We were stunned at the money which has been spent here - for a little town of about 1500 people - they have a new gas generated power plant (which cost about 70 million dollars to build), a brand new hospital and the most amazing learning centre (which comprises kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and TAFE). The new learning centre is not yet complete - but was architect designed, is huge and includes a swimming pool, sports centre and playing fields. Fantastic facilities for such a small town.

We went on out to Geike Gorge (about 18 km from town). The rocky landscape was formed when this area was covered by sea - the rocky outcrops are actually the remains of coral reefs. We boarded a boat for a tour of the gorge, in the warm, morning sun.

A word to Kerry here.... you know how you said, "Oh Danni'll eat whatever you eat".... I took that to heart and have introduced Danni to the delights of the Whizz Fizz..... I'm really sorry but she loved it! I think the sugar detox thing will be REALLY good for her when she gets back.

Back to our tour of the Gorge - the scenery was stunning - limestone cliffs towering over a quietly flowing river. The rock formations were magnificent!

Paddy really enjoyed the gorge - he seems to just love going out on boat trips.... especially now that I have made him a cool new pirate bandanna to wear!

The wildlife was beautiful - we saw a jabiru, some beautiful paradise bee catchers and even our first crocodiles (the freshwater ones which aren't too dangerous). The photo below shows a crocodile - but you have to look carefully on the left hand side of the picture - just above the water line to see him.After our boat trip we went to the old Fitzroy Crossing and crossed the river. Up until about 20 years ago, this was the only crossing of the river and huge road trains used to cross here.We also stopped to have a look at the Crossing Inn - the quite famous pub. The murals on the wall have been painted by local children - and were selected in a national competition to be used as part of the Olympic Games promotions - a source of pride for this little community.We continued on after our tour - heading for Mary Pool - a roadside camp stop which Mum, Dad and Uncle John had stayed at 10 years ago. We had been told not to be late as this is a popular spot - we arrived in reasonable time - and by later at night I reckon there were over 60 vans and trailers pulled in to camp.

We set up camp - our swags looking out over the river. Then Danni and I spent some time reading Romeo and Juliet together (part of her school work).

After this Danni and I went down to the river for a walk. We saw some lovely birds sitting on a dead tree on the opposite side of the river so went closer to get a photo. We were quite entranced by the birds and crept even closer so I could get a good photo. The next thing I knew, Danni had shot backwards about 10 metres and was saying "oh my god, oh my god, Nerrida, oh my god." It took about 10 seconds for her to get the word "crocodile" out. We had been so focussed on the birds, Danni had almost stood on the tail of a crocodile sunning itself on the bank! Now don't panic Kerry - it's ok - it was a freshwater crocodile and they are not the nasty ones.It has rather a nice smile don't you think? Anyway, Danni decided that it was better to stand back and look through binoculars from a distance.Mum didn't seem too comfortable too close either!Anyway, we continued our walk (watching where we were going this time) - and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the waterside.The blokes cooked really scrumptious jaffles for us for tea and we sat around under the stars enjoying the evening. Then, just before bed, Mum and Dad got their new camp shower out and christened it. Pretty swish really - gas heated water and all!
As is often the way with camping - we were into bed fairly early so that we will be up with the sun tomorrow morning.

Ta Ta Derby and Hello Fitzroy Crossing

Hello Blogsters, tonight I shall reclaim "On the Wallaby" after Mum's marathon effort last night ..... she went to bed all exhausted after the effort of writing the blog.

Anyway, we got up this morning and packed up - having to make an extra effort to get those darned pesky prickles out of just about everything. We filled the cars with fuel (and listened to the wallets moaning as they were emptied once again) and then went to get some groceries - not sure how much variety and how inflated the prices will be in the next few stops. I went down to the wharf to see if I could spot my keys - but missed the low tide by about half an hour and so couldn't see them.

Derby was an interesting town - boab trees all along the main street and shops that don't look like shops... more like corrugated iron sheds. The price of housing here is a bit surprising - a minimum of $450 000 for a simple little fibro house on a small block. Not sure who would want to live there, let alone pay that money!

We stopped off to take photos of a particularly large boab tree - now I know I have a lot of photos of these - but they are such bizarre looking trees!

And here is the obligatory photo which includes Fred in front of something interesting.We stopped off at a road-side stop for lunch - Mum had trouble keeping her bum on the seat and nearly fell off (thank goodness Dad and Uncle John grabbed various parts of her anatomy before she fell). Danni found this hysterical for some reason and giggled non-stop for the next 10 minutes or so.

We drove on into Fitzroy Crossing. This place has had quite a bad name in the past - big social and alcohol related problems in the aboriginal community. We are staying at a beautiful lodge resort and caravan park on the north side of the river and are told it is perfectly safe - it certainly seems that way.

Tomorrow we are going on a tour of Fitzroy Crossing township (where we will no doubt find out about how things are changing here - hopefully things are improving) and then out on a boat up Geike Gorge. We will roadside camp at Mary Pool tomorrow night.

Hi to everyone at home and following the blog in Victoria.

Doodling around Derby

Hello dear Blogsters,

Today we just doodled around Derby - I didn't do much except chase around getting a new key cut (grrrrrr) and then replaced the battery in Fred (grrrr again). The blokes fished (the fish they caught were so big they couldn't fit in the ute - at least I reckon that must be why they didn't bring any back).

Anyway, I thought it time I let Mum loose on the blog..... I'm looking forward to watching the intense look of concentration on her face as she two-finger-types out her entry..... so here goes.........

Hello Blogsters
What a great time we are having re-visiting places we saw 10 years ago and some new ones as well. I guess the things that have changed since we were last here have really impressed me such as the improved health status of the aboriginal people ,and the obvious reduction in alcohol abuse . Other things such as the enormous employment opportunities for young people and the expansion in building and house prices.Oh to be young again!

Nerrida is looking so much better and is relaxed more than I have seen her for years. She has certainly having a go at many activities that have been her goals for years.

So far all is going well with cooking and washing up being shared equally and some very interesting menus to boot! It is not very often 3 generations sit down together to enjoy falafel and a glass of wine , we really do try to eat a healthy meal each day.

Now blogsters I have to tell you there are some photos that never make this spot such as Nerrida stripping down to swim in the river and various roadside toilet stops, however I made a promise not to show them or I would not get a turn on this .

Our poor caravan is showing a few signs of wear and will need some repairs when we get home , the front window flap is damaged also the frig, needs to be anchored .

We miss our Beagle but I know he is well cared for and enjoying being a dog! How we wish that Peter could be with us . I am hoping we can do a small trip with him later in the year.

We look forward to the next stage of our trip not so much swimming sadly because of the crocs .
Our journey so far has covered 11,000 klms over 7 weeks and no arguments thank goodness.

Cherrill

OK Blogsters, now mum has had her go, she can stop complaining. Don't believe everything she says- but I guess she did ok for her first go. Anyway, tomorrow we are off to Fitzroy Crossing. I will do the next blog entry when we have phone range again (could be tomorrow night - but who knows!)

Derbying Around Derby

Hello dear Blogsters. Time never stands still... and neither do we. Today we packed up ready to move on from Broome (very sad to leave this beautiful place). Before we left, we went out to have a look at Minyirr-Gantheaume Point. This point is the location of the light-house and has some wonderful rock formations - as well as dinosaur footprints which can be seen at very low tide. The place also has special significance to the local aboriginal people - it is a place of healing and rebirth for them. Rather a nice place to farewell Broome!

Back on the road again, we headed for Derby. We soon found ourselves at the first signs of the dry-season burn-off. Plumes of smoke everywhere and fires creeping slowly along, cleaning up all of the dry grass and rubbish. There were some wonderful eagles and hawks hovering over the edge of the fire, enjoying the feast of mice, rats, snakes and bugs which were fleeing the fires. The termite nests rising up out of the blackened landscape were quite spectacular.We stopped for morning tea and Uncle John kindly got me some fantastic feathers from an Australian Bustard which we found on the road (a lovely bird - though slightly mashed).

We continued on to Derby - stopping to have a look at the Boab Prison Tree. This huge old tree was thought to have been used to house black "prisoners" which the blackbirders had kidnapped to work on the pearling luggers at Broome. The tree is thought to be about 1000 years old. There are many boab trees around Derby - they are quite bizarre looking trees with their bulbous trunks (Danni says they look like pregnant women).

We arrived in Derby and booked into the caravan park. We have a nice site under a shady trees - but the prickles on the ground are hell!!!! We definitely don't take a step without shoes here. After setting up, we headed down to the wharf for a look. The tide was heading out and the sun was setting - a beautiful scene! We walked along the wharf and I was fiddling with my camera when I dropped my car keys. Danni and I watched as they sailed down (almost in slow motion), hit one grate, bounced, hit a second grate... and plopped into the water. And here is why, apart from the muddy water, I didn't go in to try and find them.Thankfully I have a spare set of keys - I will get more cut tomorrow. The only real loss was my Monkey Mia key ring - oh well perhaps I will go back there one day to get another.

The tides here are huge and, when the tide is out, the mudflats are all uncovered. Quite a sight!

We got fish and chips at the wharf for dinner and watched the last of the beautiful sunset while we waited. The yummy meal ended a terrific day (though I didn't think much of the mozzies).
And , for those who know Bethanie - here is a picture she sent yesterday of her carrying all her worldly goods around Hong Kong. Seems like she is having a great time. Good luck to Lachlan, who starts his mid-year exams today.... go for it Lachlan!

Leaving Leveque

Hello Blogsters,

Well this morning we packed up and waved a sad farewell to Cape Leveque.... sigh. The drive back to Broome didn't seem so rough - I think maybe because I drove a bit faster (sailed over some of the bumps) and I was a bit more prepared to drive up the side of the road in the soft stuff!

Anyway, we made it safely back to Broome by lunch time and then started the long process of unpacking and repacking - you would think we would be really good at it by now!

Danni and I went out to get groceries and wash Fred. Danni is cooking tonight.... stir fry and fish!

As I write this, Mum is mumbling and muttering over her computer as she uploads her photos - its always an interesting thing to watch and listen to her do this.... quite entertaining really.

And finally, Nicola sent this photo and said it really should get a run on the blog. Given she didn't get a go at guest blogging while she was with us... I suppose I will put it on. Of course it is not the most flattering picture and I NEVER really look like this - some fault with her new camera I imgaine!

A Lazy Leveque Day

Hello dear Blogsters, well today was a perfect, lazy, enjoying the scenery kind of day. We woke up, had breakfast and then just kind of hung out for a while. Mum, Danni and I washed the beautiful shells we found yesterday and dried them in the sun (so they won't stink the car out). The blokes took themselves off to have a fish and we sat around and played cards for a while. Golly Mum and Danni were good at playing "cheat" - what does that say about them???? I should mention that the blokes got 5 fish - tea for tomorrow night.

Anyway, after a while we got off our bums and decided to do a girls trip down to the beach to look for shells. Fred decided not to start - his battery was pretty lifeless after I played the sound system for a while last night and then left the ignition on ...... oops. Anyway, we got dad's jump start pack and that worked well - car started first try (great idea to bring that one dad!). We drove down the track, whacked Fred into 4 wheel drive and derbied on over the dunes and down the beach. It was not the easiest drive as the sand was soft - but we managed fine. I went to park on a dune, stalled Fred and then couldn't start him as the battery hadn't charged enough. Out came the jump start pack again! We ran Fred for a while to recharge his batteries and then wandered off down the beach. Unfortunately the tide wasn't quite out far enough to find shells - so we came back to the camp site for lunch.

After lunch we all lazed around for a while and then all headed back down to look for shells. The tide was right this time and we found more beautiful shells. We headed back to camp and had a quick swim before going down to the west beach to watch the sunset once more. Once again the sunset was magnificent! The rocks were red and so was Dad.... gotta put more sunscreen on in future.

Tonight Uncle John is cooking - we look forward to his delectable delights for dinner.

Tonight I thought I would try something different and introduce a guest blog spot. This evening I would like to introduce you to Danni. For those who don't know... Danni was one of my students for several years - graduating from my class last year. She is along for the ride and is going to write a bit from her own point of view. Oh.... and if you don't know Danni...... this is what she looks like.

Ok, over to Danni....

this is my version of today for mum

Today started very much like yesterday morning, slow and enjoyable, we had beakfast and the boys went fishing and the rest of us stayed at camp and played many games of cards, (because Nerrida couldn't win, and insisted we kept playing till she won at least once). Then after a good block of quality reading time we decided it was time to go and collect more shells, but Neds car battery was flat as a tack and we had to jump start it with the very much loved battery pack.

So we got onto the beach, and there wasn't a good shell in sight! So we waited around for the tide to go out a bit more, but it was going out so slow I could have finished my novel if we sat around waiting for it. eventually we decided to have lunch and come back in the afternoon, so we hoped in the car, jump started it again and went back to camp, where Lance and Stuey had just come back from their fishing expo where they had cought two big fish. We ate lunch, read some more, went back down to the shell beach, scanned the sand for some more treasures and went for our last swim. then we raced to see the sunset and see whether the phantom island was an alcohol induced vision or some little island off the coast off australia, surely enough it wasn't there, so I'm swaying between whether the Johnsons should lay off the booze.

Well I'd like to say hey to mum who SHOULD be reading this and I miss you .

Danni

Cape Leveque - Simply Perfect

Hello Blogsters.... well our first morning at Cape Leveque was wonderful. We crawled out of bed at a variety of times and had a very, very relaxed breakfast. After 6 weeks and over 10,000 km, we haven't had too much time to relax - so this morning was bliss. After sitting around for a while reading and contemplating our navels we dragged ourselves down to the beach for a swim (Uncle John had taken himself off for a more vigorous walk - the man has clearly lost the plot!) Anyway, the swim was just bliss - someone forgot to turn on the cold tap when they filled this beach up. We lolled about in the gentle waves and generally acted like over-full whales!

After our swim, we came back for lunch (tortillas with salad - yum). We lounged around for a while again after lunch (I think by now you are probably getting the feel of this campsite). Then we let the tyres down to 18 psi and headed off for some beach 4 wheel driving. The drive was fun and we stopped off a couple of times for photos before pulling up on the beach. We then went wandering down the beach collecting shells - the best shells we have seen yet - a big variety of many colours, sizes and shapes. Uncle John wandered down the beach thinking he would go for a swim - but after seeing a crocodile in the water, he changed his mind.

Eventually we drove back off the beach and over to the safe swimming area where we went to loll around in the warm water for a bit longer. Sigh - it's a hard life.

We came back to the camp site and then filled the wine glasses and headed down the western beach to watch the sun-set (a popular past-time up here). The colours of the sun of the red rocks were magnificent- and the sunset didn't disappoint. Mum and Dad even had time for some romance on the sand... ewwwwwww!

After this we came back to the camp for a dinner of BBQ'd sausages and bacon (dad's turn to cook). Soon we will turn in to prepare for tomorrow - another day of the same as today we hope!

Bumping Along to Cape Leveque

Hello Blogsters - well contrary to what I wrote last night, we actually do have phone reception at Cape Leveque (onya Telstra) so here's today's blog.

We got organised in pretty good time this morning and then set off for Cape Leveque. The locals strongly advise people not to take caravans to Cape Leveque - but Dad reckoned he would give it a go anyway....... "The Jayco is made of tough stuff" he said. Anyway it probably wasn't a good idea as the road was really rough and they should have turned the pilot light on the fridge off. Oh well. We are hoping with enough pop rivets and hundred mile tape, we can fix it up. It's the tent for mum and dad tonight!

The road was rough, corrugated, filled with holes and like a roller-coaster ride at times - but golly it was fun!

We drove on to Beagle Bay to check out the church. We had to stop in to get permission from the indigenous owners of the land to get permission first - this was no problem - lovely friendly people. The church was built at the start of last century by trappist monks. The church is really beautiful - cool and peaceful with the altar and windows and paintings in the church decorated with local shells.

Mum and Dad were disappointed not to see a single beagle in Beagle Bay (both hopeless cases).

Danni was surprised at the red dirt and just how much of it was everywhere. When she got out of the car at Beagle Bay she noticed her toes had turned orange and commented, "my toes look like they have been eating cheesels."

Now a word about Paddy - I had a little chat to him this morning about his behaviour yesterday and he promised to try harder. At lunch time he was on best behaviour - waiting patiently for his lunch.

But when we got to camp this afternoon - he was back to his old ways. I think it's going to have to be the 12 step program for Paddy!

Anyway, back to the journey - we continued on to Kooljamon at the top of Cape Leveque. We checked in and set up camp under the shade of a beautiful tree. After setting up we sat around for a while and relaxed. Danni couldn't work out why she was so tired - but when we pointed out she had a 20 hour day yesterday - she understood a little better.After relaxing for a while, we wandered down to the beach. Words fail me a bit here. It was utterly magnificent. The sun was setting, the water was WARM (we reckon about 26 - 28 degrees) and the beach magnificent. We were the only ones there. What total bliss. This place is utterly gorgeous and the next three days should be bliss. Ahhh it's a hard life!

Oh and about the caravan - nah, mum and dad left their van in Broome - we just found that burnt out wreck of a van on the Cape Leveque road and thought it worth a pic.

Hi to everyone at home and bon voyage to Bethanie who heads off to Europe tomorrow - have fun and stay safe Fefaloo - I love you to meeces and peeces.

The Arrival of Danni and Camel Riding in Broome

Hello Blogsters... after a lovely cool night, we woke to a wonderful cooked breakfast - bacon and eggs cooked by Dad! Go Dad!

We all had jobs to do this morning - Uncle John got his oil changed and his windscreen drilled (he copped a stone last week which created a crack that spread over part of his windscreen. Dad changed the oil on their car and on Fred. I organised dinner for tonight (lasagna cooked in the dream pot) and Mum did some cooking and organising for tomorrow.

At lunch time we went to pick up Danni - her flight was a little late and the landing a bit rough, but she made it here in one piece. Poor Danni felt a bit like she had landed in another country - hot weather, camels walking up the street and red dirt everywhere.

We did the grocery shopping and then raced home to get ready to go camel riding. We went down the beach and met up with our camels. Danni reckoned our camel had hair just like Rob Marshall's.

After a quick safety talk we climbed aboard and then enjoyed a wonderful walk along the beach as the sun set. Mum and Dad were 2 camels back - they looked quite at ease loping along on "Connor" the camel. Danni and I were on "Wun" - a particularly attractive camel with very long eye-lashes (oh my golly, I really should get a life.... I just called a camel "attractive").

After our ride we went further down the beach and Danni and I went for a quick dip. It was lovely - Danni said, "it's like swimming in warm bath water". Poor Dan, she caught her plane at 6.30 this morning - I reckon she'll sleep tonight!

Paddy is very stushy tonight as he didn't get to go camel riding. Then he was just downright rude at the dinner table - hoeing into the salad before anyone else had a chance - I think I will have to sit him down for a serious talk tomorrow!
Tomorrow we are off to Cape Leveque (and probably out of phone range - so no blog for a few days).

Hi to Kerry - I have your daughter in my clutches now and quite possibly won't give her back!!!!

Beautiful Bodacious Broome

Hello dear Blogsters. Well here we are in Broome – and how cool is this place? Well, actually it’s pretty hot here, but what a beautiful place. We only had a short drive from Barn Hill - about 2 hours (bliss after some of our recent long driving days).

We had been warned by all and sundry that it is impossible to find accommodation in Broome unless you have booked 12 months in advance - in May this is simply not true… we are staying in a lovely caravan park right at Cable Beach – and there is heaps of space.

Broome is a pretty laid-back sort of place and people have a quirky sense of humour… as can be evidenced by the signs on the toilet doors (read carefully and work it out for yourself!)

After we set up camp, we went down to the shops for a look around. What a bizarre shopping centre – corrugated iron buildings which look nothing like shops, with an airport runway next door which has planes taking off right over the main street (very disconcerting). We searched around for a place for lunch and ended up in an interesting little Afghan falafel and souvlaki bar…. lunch was very yummy indeed.
After lunch we came back and got into our togs, then headed down to Cable Beach for a swim. Cable Beach is the most famous beach in Broome (well 5 km out of Broome actually)… and is a perfect swimming beach. The water temperature was spot-on and the waves just right for body surfing. Dad and I had a great time zooming with the waves (until I got dumped on my head on the last wave – no lasting damage other than dented pride).
We lay on the beach and read for a while and then sat up to watch the sunset. Sunset is a beautiful time at Cable Beach… people flock down to the beach and then all just sit or stand at the edge of the beach looking out quietly at the sun going down. (Anyone who has ever seen the film, “City of Angels”…. It is just like that scene where the angels all congregate on the beach to sing the sun down… without the singing though…. Or the angels for that matter… well not that I could see.) Anyway, I digress…. The sunset was glorious and then the camels walked along the beach…. Sigh.
Later, we pick up Danni and then it’s off to ride the camels on the beach at sunset – a very Broome thing to do!

Hi to Margaret, good to hear from you.

Karratha to the 80 Mile Beach

Hello dear blogsters…. We have been out of range for a couple of days - so no blog from me! Let me start today by posting some of our whale-shark photos from Ningaloo Reef. Nic and I bought cheap and nasty underwater disposable cameras to take photos – but had to wait to get the shots developed before I could post them. The photo quality is about what you’d expect from cheap and nasty cameras – but they still show the beautiful whale shark we swam with. Note that the cameras didn’t have zoom – so the close shots were actually taken that close to the shark. Absolutely magnificent creature!

And here are some shots we took whilst snorkling on the reef. How cool is that!


Ok, so back to our little adventure. On our last morning in Karratha, we packed up and then went to Dampier to have a look at the North West Shelf Project Visitor Centre. The North West Shelf Project provides almost half of Australia’s oil and gas supplies from drill platforms located about 130 kilometres off-shore from Dampier. The gas is piped through huge under-sea pipes to the processing plant, where it is cooled to -160 degrees and then piped into huge storage tanks on ships to be transported to Japan (a multi million dollar boost to our economy). This huge project employs 80,000 people either directly or indirectly.

Karratha is an interesting town as it services the North West Shelf project as well as the many enormous mines out in the Pilbara. Accommodation is scarce here and many miners live in villages filled with cabins made of little more than a shipping container with air conditioning. There are new homes being built everywhere (all with steel frames and made to stringent cyclone standards). Almost every 2nd vehicle is a mine vehicle (obvious by the orange lights and long fluorescent orange flag on top).

We left Karratha and travelled on our way – heading for 80 mile beach. Our calculations were a bit out and what we thought was going to be a 250 km drive turned into well over 400 km. As a result, we arrived at the Wallal Station Caravan Park at the bottom of the 80 mile beach well after dark. We were quite relieved to set up camp after a very long day.

We were up early the next morning to go for a walk on the beach as the sun rose. We collected a heap of truly beautiful shells and enjoyed a blissful walk. After breakfast we packed up and headed off on a relatively short (250 km) drive to Barn Hill Station camp at the top end of the 80 mile beach. We turned in and drove up the 10 km dirt drive at about lunch time.

We checked in at the rather airy and interesting park reception (it was certainly well ventilated – if a bit basic) and then set up our camp under some lovely shady trees. When we were checking in, I asked the lady at reception if we needed to be careful of snakes. She quickly retorted “Has someone been talking to you?” When I reassured her, she said that they had had a bit of a problem with some snakes – there was one in the toilet the other night. She couldn’t tell me what kind. Some people camping next to us helpfully informed us that we should be a bit careful as there had been a king brown snake in the toilet and shower block. Hmmmmmmm. Anyway, we set up camp and relaxed in the shade for a while (god it’s hot here!). Then we headed down the beach for a spot of fishing – no luck apart from a couple of bites – but it was worth it stand in the warm water and watch the sun go down over the ocean. We had a relaxed dinner of cold silverside and crunchy coleslaw before all turning in to bed early. Nic and Bron packed their gear ready for an early departure the next day to the Broome airport.

The amenities were somewhat rustic - beautiful to have a shower in the open air with a breeze around the ankles!

For our final night at Barn Hill Station, we joined the other campers for a beautiful feed under the stars. The Station owners came down and served us home-made soup, roast beef and vegies and fruit salad and ice-cream. We knocked back the odd wine or two (gin and tonic for mum).... making it a lovely evening.

Note that I got frocked up for the occasion -and even had some lippy on!!!!

We are a bit worried about Paddy - he enjoyed his meal.... but then seemed to get into the plonk a bit.... we might have to dry him out over the next few days.

Tomorrow it's on to Broome. Gday to Merve and Edna Angove who are following our travels from down in Victoria. Gday too, to Sheree, Bethanie and Lachlan who ALL remembered to ring me for mother's day.... onya guys!

The Awesome Pilbara

Hello dear blogsters - what a fantastic day we have had today!

We went into town this morning to do a heap of annoying jobs (getting fuel, getting groceries etc) and then called in to get permits to drive on a mine road before heading off for a day exploring the Millstream Chichester National Park. We drove out through Roebourne and then onto the dirt road for the next 190 km.

We drove through a wonderful landscape of spinifex and red dirt with deep, rust red ranges rising up on either side of us. We stopped off early in the day to photograph the flowers blossoming beside the road. The sturt desert peas were magnificent, as were the range of other flowers we could not name.

We continued on until we came to the turn-off for the Python Pool. We drove in and then walked up the dry creekbed to our destination. The Python Pool is a beautiful fresh-water pool at the foot of a small gorge. It always has water in it and is a wonderful place for a swim. As the temperature had climbed to the mid thirties - we were really glad of a refreshing swim. What a wonderful, peaceful place this was - with dragonflies flitting across the water, rust red rocks soaring above us and little fish darting through the cool, fresh water.We women swam across to the other side and sunned ourselves like mermaids on the rocks (well we sat on the rocks and tried to look half decent while the blokes took some photos!)After what seemed like way too short a time, we dragged ourselves out and back into the cars to continue our journey. We continued through a somewhat surreal, red, rock landscape for quite a while. We watched a train go past with about 236 carriages filled with ore. There are a heap of huge mines out here - including Tom Price and some Rio Tinto mines - making the most of the iron ore rich hills which stretch across the landscape.

We drove on until we came to the Millstream Homestead. We had lunch here under the shade of the trees before exploring the homestead and surrounds. This beautiful old homestead was first built in the 1800s and was the centre of a huge sheep and cattle station before being taken over by National Parks late last century.

We really enjoyed a walk down through the adjoining creek beds - it was an oasis of cool with beautiful clear running water and ponds filled with water lillies and fish. This lovely place holds special significance to the local aborigines as it is a meeting place and a place where laws are made and ceremonies held. They couldn't have chosen a more beautiful place!

After this walk, we drove on to the Fortescue River for a quick dip before beginning the long journey home. Again, the swim was most refreshing and really welcome after the heat of the day.

We drove back as the shadows were lengthening and the sun painted the ranges bright orange, red and yellow. What a perfect ending to such a wonderful day!Tomorrow we head north again - through Port Hedland and on to the 80 mile beach. I am not sure if we will be in phone range (so I can update the blog) - but I will write more as soon as I can.

Hi to everyone at home. Danni, I hope your bags are packed as it is only a few days until you join us at Broome! Hi to Mark who is visiting PJ at the moment..... and hi to all John, Nic and Bron's friends who are following our journey.

The Beautiful Ningaloo Reef

Hello again dear Blogsters... I have been out of touch for a few days as we were out of phone reception.


Now..... back to Monday... We got up and packed early and then went down the beach. We all walked around to the point and then the blokes had a bit of a snorkel and then headed back to where Mum was sitting. Nic, Bron and I snorkelled out and drifted along the reef, quite a way out from shore. It was wonderful! We were snorkling in about 5 metres of water and the reef was made up of corals of a range of beautiful shapes. There were fish of all sizes feeding in and around the reef and we enjoyed diving down to look more closely. We snorkelled for about an hour and then got out to dry off and begin our drive up to Exmouth.


We were quite sad to leave Coral Bay - it is such a beautiful, laid-back little town with very little development and a very relaxed feel.


We drove up the coast to Exmouth, where we stopped to do some shopping. We were planning to camp out in the Cape Range National Park, but when we got to the gate, we were told all camp-sites were full. We turned back and found the Yardie Homestead Caravan Park just a few kilometres out of the park. We booked in and headed over to the pool for a very refreshing swim. Lovely!


Bronwyn cooked our dinner - the most delicious seafood risotto - which had other caravan park residents commenting on the wonderful smell! Go Bronny!!!!!!


After a good night's sleep we set off to explore the Cape Range National Park. We drove along and stopped to have a look at the beautiful escarpment rising up beside us. We climbed all over the rocks and were amazed at the fossilised shells and coral obvious in the rocks of the range.

We drove on and had a look at the visitor centre - some really interesting information and displays and a wonderful library full of fascinating books, articles and magazines. We also stopped into the shop for a couple of souveneirs.

We drove on to Yardie Creek and Nic, John and I did a bit of rock scrambling to have a look at the glorious Yardie Creek Gorge. Absolutely stunning!

After this energetic little walk, we drove on to Sandy Beach for lunch. After lunch Nic, Bron and I went for a snorkel. No coral here, but some lovely kelp forests with a range of fish, crabs and shrimp feeding around the sandy floor and the kelp.

After this, we drove on to the magnificent Turquoise Bay. We arrived in good time as the tide was going out. We quickly got into our snorkels and flippers and headed out just a short distance onto the reef. And what a magnificent reef it was! Better than anything I have seen on the Great Barrier Reef. We were in really close to the shore, but were gliding over magnificent coral bommies which were just covered in fish of all colours and sizes. Bron found a wonderful big sea turtle feeding and we stayed to watch it for quite a while.

Dad came into the water and soon found a school of bait fish swarming around him seeking shelter. The bigger fish soon arrived and fed all around him - sometimes bumping into him in their eagerness to get at the little bait fish.

Dad and Uncle John both came in for a snorkel before Nic, Bron and I went for a final drift for the day. What a wonderful experience this was - the water was teeming with life and was quite warm (though the wind did cause a few shivers when we got out).

We went back to camp, had a shower and then it was my turn to cook dinner - Green Chicken Curry with lime cous cous - YUM!

This morning we woke and packed quickly as we knew we had a big day of driving in front of us. We headed off, stopping at Exmouth to post Bethanie's birthday present (she leaves next week for Europe). On the way we saw some huge termite nests - these dot the landscape here - looking a little like some ancient structures (a bit like stone henge at times).

We drove on through the Pilbara, enjoying the changing landscape and feeling the heat every time we stopped (it was about 38 degrees). We had to stop once to re-fuel Mum and Dad's car from the jerry can as it was quite a distance between fuel stations.
We stopped by a lovely river next to the Nanuturra Roadhouse for lunch. It was a quick lunch (giving thanks to Mi Goreng for their noodles) and, even though I REALLY wanted a swim in the river, we pressed on.We drove on past the Hammersley Ranges, the landscape was stunning! There were ranges of red hills, surrounded by spinifex, grasses and shrubs. What an ancient landscape this is.We finally pulled into Karratha at about 5.00 this evening. We are staying at a lovely caravan park and look forward to a good night's sleep after a long day.

SHARK!!!!

Hello dear blogsters..... what an exciting day it has been!

We got up and had a quick breakfast before going down to be fitted for our wetsuits for our day out on the ocean. We had chosen a smaller boat to take us out to the whale-sharks as we felt we might get a little more attention - it turned out to be a wise choice. We were ferried out to the boat in a dingy and then we set off out through the reef.

The blokes on the boat were wonderful - starting our day by making us a cuppa while we sat on the bow of the boat. We went out past the outer reef and then bobbed around in the water for about half an hour, waiting for the spotter plane to make a sighting. The crew used the time to give us instructions about the rules for swimming with the whale sharks. We were not allowed to swim in front of the shark or within 4 meters of its tail. There are a whole lot of rules which have been set up to protect the shark - most of those rules were drafted by the skipper of our boat and then adopted by the Department of Fisheries. They really do need to protect these beautiful fish.

After about half an hour, the radio call came through to say the spotter plane had found a whale shark. Then the race was on - everybody had to move to the front of the boat to keep the front down. The boat raced flat-out to the location - there were three boats operating out there today and the first boat to get to the whale shark and get people in the water gets the first dive. This can be important because the shark may dive and, being a fish, it doesn't need to come up for air so it can just disappear. We beat one boat, but arrived at the same time as another... and the whaleshark turned towards that boat, so they were first in. It didn't matter though - as it wasn't long before it was our turn. We had to be quickly into our snorkels, masks and flippers and standing on the backboard. When it was our turn, our boat moved in closer to the shark and then it was all into the water. We were only in the water a couple of seconds when the whaleshark turned towards us. What an extraordinary experience to be the water with such a beautiful creature and to be allowed to share his space. When it was time to come out of the water, the boat came back in closer and picked us up. All in, we got 4 dives with the whaleshark - each time we were swimming right beside it. An absolutely awesome experience and something none of us will ever forget. Nicola and I took photos with underwater cameras, but we will have to wait to get them developed before I can post them on the blog. So in the meantime, here is a picture of a whaleshark I found.

After the whale shark had finally dived, we set off back towards the calmer waters for lunch. We spotted a huge tiger shark in the water and had a look at him (or her) and we also saw a sea snake in the water. Then, as we were heading back, we saw a huge flock of birds in a frenzy of feeding. The skipper turned the boat to have a look and we were thrilled to find some minke whales feeding on the fish. One of the whales even breached right out of the water - very exciting and unexpected. Unfortunately we didn't get a photo (not quick enough) - but Nic did get a good picture of the birds.We continued on and, as we were re-entering the reef, we saw a dugong feeding. He surfaced several times and didn't seem at all worried about us.We stopped on the reef and all piled over the back for some snorkling. There were fish everywhere and the coral was lovely. I spotted a turtle feeding on the bottom and, before too long he came up for air. Then Bronwyn and I had the wonderful experience of swimming alongside the turtle for about 5 minutes.

At the end of the day, we jumped off the boat at its mooring so that we could see the giant Queenslad Groper which comes out to the boat when it hears the motors, looking for a feed. The groper was ENORMOUS - over 2 metres long. It just lolled around under the boat looking at us as though we were the show it had come to see.

Now, while Nic, Bronwyn and I were out on our whale shark adventure, Mum, Dad and Uncle John went out on a coral viewing tour in a glass bottomed boat.

They were really impressed with the array of coral and the colourful fish. (No seasickness on this trip).When we all got back, we went down to the beach to watch the sunset and drink some of the bubbly stuff. Paddy got a little grumpy because he didn't like the way I played in the sand with him!The bubbles and nibblies were perfect and the sunset gorgeous (golly its hard not to use the "beautiful" word here).Tonight Bronwyn cooked us a magnificent seafood pasta dish with the fish we caught yesterday and some scallops and prawns! What an end to one of the best days of my life!

Gorn Fishin'

Well, it was an interesting night's sleep last night. There were some younguns in the caravan park who had indulged rather too much in liquid refreshments and then felt the need to run yelling through the caravan park at midnight before beginning a game of cricket - complete with regular "thwacks" and "howzats".

When morning finally came, we were up early to get ready for our fishing trip. We packed lunch and then walked over to meet the bus to take us out to the boat. We gulped a couple of seasick tablets on the way. The boat travelled through the reef first and we enjoyed sitting on the bow to have a good look.

The boat is a 50 ft vessel which seemed quite sturdy (thankfully). We travelled about 19 miles offshore to fish in deep water. The trip was quite "lumpy" with 1.5 metre swells - not horrifically rough, but enough to make us hang on! On the way, Bronwyn made us a cuppa - one of the crew did comment on the amount of water that DIDNT get into the cups.... but I think she did a pretty good job in difficult circumstances.

We all travelled reasonably well on the way out, though Paddy did seem a little peaky and turned a lovely shade of green for a while.When we got to our destination (somewhere in the middle of the sea), we loaded up our lines and dropped the heavy sinkers overboard. We were fishing in water about 80 metres deep - so it took quite a while for the sinker to hit the bottom (and even longer to reel it back in).

Dad caught a couple of fish before succumbing to seasickness. He helpfully provided us with burley over the side for the rest of the day. He wasn't alone - there were a couple of teenage boys on the trip who spent most of it hanging over the side!

The fish were not biting that brilliantly so we moved location several times. On one move, the rope holding the anchor broke - it was quite an expensive event as the anchor and about 100 metres of top quality rope were lost (in 80 metres of water, there is not a chance they can recover it). The rope was worth $500 and the anchor $1100 - ouch!

After lunch I got onto a run of bites and caught 2 beautiful coral cod, a pink snapper and a blue line emperor (or something like that). I was pretty happy about that. The rest of our little group didn't do so well unfortunately!

We came back to Coral Beach - arriving back just after 5.00. We were all very tired and glad that the crew cleaned and filleted our fish for us. I won the BOB award (best on boat) for catching 2 coral cod. Apparently it is the first time that charter company have had one person catch 2 coral cod in a day. My prize was a stubby holder (very handy indeed!)

After watching the fish being filleted, we went down to the water for a quick swim and to watch the sunset - absolutely glorious!

Tonight we feasted on coral cod and snapper with yummy salads. We will probably eat the rest of the fish tomorrow.

Tomorrow is our big day...... out to swim with the Whale Sharks .... woooohooooo!!!!

Bron Arrives and we go to Coral Bay

Hello dear blogsters.... and hello to Kay - Nic's friend - good to hear from you!

After a hoot of a night being entertained by the vietnam vets staying in the same park - we were awoken rather early by the french travellers in the park turning the tv on in the camp kitchen to watch the soccer..... they didn't really have much thought for the fact we were sleeping right next door!

We had a leisurely breakfast and then packed up. We headed out to look at the plantations around Carnarvon - they seem to grow just everything here! The plantations are all along the river, which is generally dry but is flowing at the moment after the rains. We were told the river generally only flows once a year.

The plantation crops are grown using some rather amazing innovation to save water - the roots of the plants are almost cocooned in a special plastic which holds in the moisture and warmth. They also grow under huge shade houses to protect against the wind and conserve moisture - very clever farming indeed! We enjoyed some home-made fruit ice-creams and bought some fruit, vegetables and jams.

After this, it was time to go to the airport to meet Bronwyn. Her plane was on time and it was great to finally have her join us (it didn't take long for her to strip her "cold weather gear" off and get into the lighter layers suited to this climate.

We drove on north, stopping at a road-side stop for lunch before heading off again. The landscape is just so lovely - green and lush after the rain!

We stopped off at the tropic of capricorn for some photos - interesting to note we will cross this again on the eastern side of Australia when we visit Longreach on the way home.

We pulled into Coral Bay at about 5.00 - a bit later than we generally like to stop. This lovely seaside village was buzzing with people - one caravan park was full and we were lucky to get the last couple of sites in the 2nd park. We also took the opportunity to plan for our next few days - tomorrow we will be going out deep sea fishing (we have the sea-sick pills ready for dad) and then hopefully Sunday we will go out to swim with the Whale sharks - they tell us there are plenty out there!

Tonight Uncle John cooked wonderful scallops, prawns and squid for dinner. We drank a toast to Bronwyn's arrival, and also to those absent (Aunty Helen and Pete) - they are both with us in our thoughts.

Well that's enough for today - tomorrow will be a big day and hopefully I will have some wonderful tales of our HUGE catches!

Moving on through a Changed Landscape

Hello dear blogsters.... great to have some of Nic's friends following along..... Nic was really happy to hear from Anne via the blog.... good to know work is coping without her!

Well, as usual, this blog entry starts with us getting up, having breakfast and packing up. I think it has become a bit of a competition between Mum and Dad and Uncle John to see who can pack up first. Of course they would both deny it, but I did hear Mum muttering something about needing to get up even earlier next time after the Stuart clan got a jump on the Johnson clan this morning!

We called in to Denham to buy some goodies from the bakery (lovely bread) and the post office to send some cards and a parcel - then off on our merry way again. We had planned to visit Eagle Bluff and the Stromatolites - however the roads were all closed after the rain! Just a word about those stromatolites - they are these blobby things made out of a heap of single cell organisms clumped together. They live in the sea and are just as they were millions of years ago. When the earth's atmosphere was still a mix of gases poisonous to us all... the stromatolites developed and started changing the gases into oxygen. They changed the atmosphere, enabling new life to develop. Amazing huh! Having told you all this... we couldn't see them because the roads were closed!

The road to Shelly Beach was open and we called in to see this interesting beach. The beach is deep in tiny white shells. The shells come from some bi-valves which live in the very salty water here (it is 1.5 times the salinity of the rest of the ocean). We crunched around on the beach for a while (Paddy quite enjoyed this) and enjoyed the warm (well hot actually) sunshine.

After this we went to have a look at the varment-proof fence. This huge fence has been erected right across the peninsula as part of Project Eden. There are a number of incredibly endangered mammals living in the World Heritage listed Shark Bay National Park and the fence has been erected to keep predators and threats such as feral cats, dogs and rabbits out of this area. We stopped at the fence and had fun with the sensor which causes a sound of recorded dog barking if you go too close to the fence. Dad kept cocking his leg and making it bark - kept him amused for ages!We drove just a few kilometres further and then pulled into the Nanga Homestead. We set up camp and then wandered down to the beach. Nic and I enjoyed some snorkling in the bay (very brave of me, considering it is called "Shark Bay"). We saw some beautiful schools of fish and some nudibranches (probably spelled that one wrong). Dad and Uncle John jumped in and had a go too, and Mum retained a lady-like pose on the beach!The water was quite nice - but the wind was brisk to say the least when we got out! Just as well there was a beautiful hot artesian spa to jump into next. We really enjoyed a good soak in water which was pumped up from an artesian basin deep below us at a temperature of about 35 degrees.

After a good feed, we went off to fed, lulled to sleep by the dulcet tones of the HONKING GREAT GENERATOR which runs 24 hours a day to provide power to the camp ground. The diesel fumes weren't half bad either.

We woke up this morning and wished Dad a happy birthday... the old fella is now only a year off 70. We packed up and headed off.... treking towards Carnarvon. The weather was beautiful - sunny with clear skies. Uncle John managed to find a lovely birthday present to give to Dad, a muddy old hub cap he picked up beside the road. Mum protested loudly, "I'm not having that bloody thing in the car"... but she had to give in because it was Dad's birthday.

We drove on through a majorly changed landscape.... quite unusual to be driving through a desert which looks like it has been painted green overnight. We had to drive through flood-waters over the road several times and there was water everywhere. The lady in a roadhouse we stopped out told us they had had over 140 ml of rain when the storm came through (that's almost 6 inches in old terms).... this is more than they sometimes get in a whole year! The water certainly transformed the landscape.We arrived at Carnarvon at about lunch time and set up in a lovely caravan park. We spent the afternoon looking around Carnarvon.... and enjoyed a walk out onto the mile-long pier. A section of the pier was destroyed by fire last year (about 70 metres) and it is quite bizarre to see the rail line just suddenly plunge off the pier.We also had a look at the little museum out by the pier - it had some really interesting stuff, including one of the lifeboats from the Kormoran (the german boat which sank the Sydney). The lifeboat washed ashore here at Carnarvon with some German survivors on board.Nic organised a yummy dinner of tacos for us and we had a few drinks and a chocolate cake to celebrate Dad and Uncle John's birthday (we missed his 70th a month or so ago). We were entertained by a heap of Vietnam vets who are staying in the caravan park. Their singing and general merriment kept us amused all evening! Tomorrow Bronwyn arrives and then we head off toward the Ningaloo reef.