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Walshies Down Under
Walshies Down Under

Walshies Down Under

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Sunset Camels On Cable Beach

    20 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We can feel ourselves unwinding and slowing the pace at Oaks Cable Beach Lagoon. I fell asleep on the pool lounge whilst Jen sits on the edge of the pool and reads her book. Bliss.

    In the afternoon, we walk down to Cable Beach to catch sunset and search for camels. The sun drops quickly from 4.00pm and we spot a train of camels being ridden up the beach and way off in the distance.

    Cable Beach is very flat and with the tide out, it’s used as a highway for four wheel drives to enter the beach and park up for sunset. We hike up the beach to get photos of the camel trains as they pass us by and the sunset creates great silhouettes and shadows on the sand.

    Sunset Camel rides on Cable Beach are the most popular tourist attraction up here in Broome and as we don’t feel like being tourists, we resist. It’s fun just following them and getting panoramic shots of the camels and their riders.

    It’s estimated that more than one million feral camels roam the Australian Outback causing degradation to the land and wildlife.

    Between 1870 and 1920, as many as 20,000 camels were imported into Australia from the Arabian Peninsula, India and Afghanistan. Camels were ideally suited to the climate of the Australian interior; they could go weeks without water, and they had the stamina and strength to carry their loads and riders across what were often highly exposed, fiercely hot landscapes.

    Laden camels became a fixture of outback life. They carried wool and water, telegraph poles and railway sleepers, tea and tobacco.

    By the 1930s, however, the camel industry went belly-up. The arrival of the internal combustion engine, and motorised transport, meant camels became almost redundant as pack-carriers.

    Thousands of camels were released into the wild, where, naturally, they thrived. Fast forward nine decades, and their numbers have ballooned and have become a major environmental problem.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur
    1

    The End Of The Road Cable Beach Broome

    19 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    This morning we delivered our four wheel drive, gleaming white back to the hire company. For us this is the end of the road after 34 days of 4WD adventure following the Gibb River Road through the Kimberley. We have travelled over 5,000km from Darwin to Broome via epic and remote bush wilderness, beautiful ancient gorges to swim in and 1.2 billion year old rock formations to ponder.

    From our Heli flight over the Beehives at the Bungle Bungles and Zebedee Springs at El Questro to the remoteness and beauty of Mitchell Falls and our Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventure, along with our friends, The Lloydes, we have conquered the Gibb River Road. We have shredded 2 tyres along the way, ran over our supplies in the 4WD, been covered in orange dirt, swam with crocodiles, landed on water in a seaplane and eaten the last of our chocolate.

    Now we are in Broome staying at Oaks Cable Beach Sanctuary and enjoying a swim in the ocean at Cable Beach, a dip in the resort pool and an explore around town to find a coffee shop or two.

    Broome town centre has preserved much of its heritage buildings and has been immaculately landscapes to create a modern, clean but laid back town. There are Pearl shops lining the streets in China town and following up on our pearling tour, we find and visit Cygnet Bay Pearl Shop to view the largest pearl in the world.

    The Sun Pictures Cinema is the World’s oldest operating picture gardens historically preserved and still running movies today. It’s a last from the past and although we don’t watch a movie, it’s fun to walk around and take in all the cinematic history.

    Following our walk through town, we make our way up the street to Mangrove Hotel to sit in the vibrant hotel beer garden overlooking the ocean mud flats. This is the perfect place for another viewing of Stairway to the Moon as the live didgeridoo and jazz piano build the atmosphere with background music. It’s a moment that The Walshies and The Lloydes sit back and truly enjoy this natural spectacle as a keep safe memory.

    We have had some highlights on this trip an this is definitely one of them.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Stairway to the Cheeseburger

    18 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Let’s start today at 6.19pm and the rise of the full moon. We have made our way to Roebook Bay in Broome and along with hundreds of other observers eagerly awaiting the spectacle of a full moonrise, we find a spot and bed in. The sun behind us sets and we watch the darkening horizon in front of us for a hint of moonshine.

    “The Stairway to the Moon” is a natural phenomenon which occurs when there’s a full moon rising over Roebook Bay reflecting diffused orange light over the low tide mud flats. This creates an illusion of a staircase leading up to the moon.

    As the moon finally peeps up over the horizon, myself and Andrew jump the barrier like everyone else to sit on some rocks for a better vantage point for a photo.

    I zoom in and take my first shot focussing in on the rising moon. Awesome, I get “Stairway to the Cheeseburger” as my photo of the rising moon behind a thin band of cloud creates my own optical illusion... and no points for guessing which store the burger comes from. If only I would have captured the french fries as well.

    The orange moon rises higher in the sky and the stairway to the moon appears across the mud flats. It’s difficult to get a good photo but the spectacle is awesome. I focus in again on the moon as it’s rare to see such a full, orange moon in the sky.

    After moonrise, we join the masses in the night markets to get something to eat from the food stalls. It’s so busy that we are all feeling sensory overload as we have been used to being isolated and remote so we don’t hang around for long.

    So let’s end today at the beginning. We drive back early from Cape Leveque and finally reach Broome after 4 weeks of travelling through the Kimberley.

    DRIVE: Cape Leveque to Darwin (202km).

    It’s an exciting day because The Lloydes, Andrew and Anne are back in town so we’re getting the band back together...

    Broome is the main tourist coastal town in the Kimberley region, famous for its pearling industry. Broome itself is very spread out with the airport runway running through the middle and the town centre a good distance from Cable Beach, the famous sunset beach. The climate here is an average 30 degrees in winter so many a sun seeker travel up and literally migrate this way to enjoy the warmer weather and dry season.

    CAMP: Cable Beach Caravan Park, Broome / 1 Night

    We finally make it to Cable Beach Caravan Park, check in and ask for a non-powered site near the Lloydes who have already made a home on their small corner block in the caravan park. Real estate is a premium up here.

    Cable Beach Caravan Park is massive with all different kinds of camping and caravan set ups. It’s like the camping and caravan show. This time of the year, the park would be one of the busiest in Australia and there’s a steady stream of caravans coming in but seemingly no vacant land left. The population of Broome has gone from 15,000 to 45,000 in June with many of the Grey Nomads migrating up to spend the winter season in the sun. It’s about 30 degrees each day in winter and the evenings are pleasant so the climate is perfect for sun seekers.

    We have been allocated a similar size corner block to that of the Lloydes and squeeze our 4WD on and unload. Andrew and Anne are around the corner so as we approach their site, we shout out “copy that” to grab their attention. It’s great to see them again.

    Now today is our final day with the 4WD and roof top tent as we need to hand it back 9.00am tomorrow morning. It needs a full clean and fingers crossed, we hope it doesn’t fall apart after we have washed all the mud, dirt and dust away.

    Broome car wash to the rescue and we spend a couple of hours with the high pressure jet wash and vacuum cleaner to make the now sparkling white car clean again. As good as new.

    We catch up with Andrew and Anne and walk the short distance to Cable Beach for a swim. The tide is out but it’s nice to enjoy a long stretch of beach again and creamy white sand. The sea is a milky azure blue and it’s silky smooth.

    After a relaxing afternoon, we all pile into our 4WD for the drive to Roebuck Bay and the stairway to the moon.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Cape Leveque Sunset Rocks

    17 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    After our trip to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm today, we enjoy a swim on the eastern beach of Cape Leveque, croc free, then walk a short distance to the western beach to watch sunset.

    The rock formations and land above is sacred Aboriginal land so we walk down the sandy four wheel drive track to the beach. The orange colours of the rock intensified by the setting sun are great for a photo so we have a bit of fun doing timer shots.

    Back at camp, it’s not all gourmet food on our trip so we pull out a couple of packets of 2 minute chicken noodles and throw in a few veggies.

    There’s been a lot of burning off in the area so our roof top tent smells like a smoker room or bonfire night but as usual, we are sound asleep before the nocturnal life gets going.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    South Sea Pearls at Cygnet Bay

    17 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Kooljaman is the Bardi Aboriginal name for Cape Leveque, 220km north of Broome at the tip of the Dampier Peninsula. It is Aboriginal land and has a an automated light house sitting at the highest point of the peninsular with stunning vibrant blue azure sea on either side.

    12km to the South East is Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, home to the famous Australian South Sea Pearl. The drive from Kooljaman to Cygnet Bay is fun as the majority of the road is orangey red undulating sand.

    We arrive at Cygnet Bay just before 10.00am and as the next pearl farming tour is not until 11.30am, we head up to the restaurant and infinity pool overlooking the bay for a coffee and slice of lemon tart. The pool has a spectacular view and it’s not long until the lizard finds a sun lounge.

    Our tour guide, Terry is a 4th generation pearler of Aboriginal Indonesian origin and has lived and worked at Cygnet Bay all his life. He’s a tallish slim man with a great smile and a story to tell.

    So the story of the Australian pearl begins 20,000 years ago as evidence shows that Aboriginals on the West Kimberley coast collected mother of pearl shell for cultural and customary purposes.

    In the 1880’s, the first industry for mother of pearl began and was fished in and around Broome and Cygnet Bay. What’s significant about the Dampier Peninsula and Kimberley shore line is that it’s the only place that the Pinctada Maxima Pearlshell (the largest pearlshell in the world) can be found in abundance and it’s renowned for its size and lustre.

    By 1910, Cygnet Bay and Broome were supplying some 80% of the world’s mother of pearl and most of the world’s buttons made from the shell came from Broome.

    High quality natural pearls are rare indeed... one in a million, so the pearling industry in Australia survived on building a viable industry out of the mother of pearl shell alone.

    Meanwhile, in 1899, Mikimoto from Japan was the first person to successfully culture pearls and keeping his secret safe, his Akoa pearls dominated the industry for years to come.

    In Australia, cultured pearling was made illegal to protect the mother of pearl industry but this was repealed in 1949 when the advent of plastic saw the end of demand for mother of pearl buttons.

    During this transition period, a visionary pioneer and founder of Cygnet Bay Pearls, Dean Brown purchased a wooden lugger in 1946 and set sail for the Kimberley to pursue his dream of becoming a pearler. He established himself at the tip of the Dampier Peninsular around a natural port called Shenton Bluff, a pearler camp from the 1880’s.

    His sons Bruce and Lyndon Brown joined Dean and set about unlocking the secrets of cultured pearls. In 1960, after great fortitude and experimentation, Lyndon became the first non-Japanese person in the world to successfully master the technique of growing cultured pearls and the first Australian South Sea Pearl was born.

    Now what’s so special about the Australian South Sea Pearl? Well the pearls are of the very highest quality due to the pinctada maxima pearlshell and the pristine waters of Cygnet Bay, producing outstanding lustre, shape and size.

    The market demands a preference for white round pearls with high grade lustre and the Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm produces many of the world’s finest pearls. In fact, the world’s largest perfectly round pearl at 22.24mm in diameter comes from Cygnet Bay Oyster Farm and is showcased at their Broome pearling shop (See footprint image).

    Terry explains the process behind cultured pearling. A small round nuclei made from mother of pearl or Mississippi rock oyster shell is inserted into the pearlshell. The pearlshell secretes nacre around the foreign object in layers creating over time a pearl. There’s much science that goes into the process and Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm has achieved a 90% success rate with its methods and up to a 40% of its cultured pearls are the elusive round shape.

    It’s all very interesting and Terry selects a pearlshell and opens it in front of us to find a small pearl inside. No jackpot today but like a box of chocolates, you just don’t know what your gonna get! No worries, he brings out some display pearls to show us at the end and we visit the display shop to view the jewellery.

    After the tour, we enjoy lunch in the restaurant overlooking the bay with squid and asian infused popcorn chicken. It’s been a great morning and another highlight of the trip.

    We head back to Kooljaman and walk to the Eastern beach for a lovely swim croc free and then to the Western beach for sunset to soak up this spectacular coastline.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Morning Tidal Change at Horizontal Falls

    16 juin 2019, Indian Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Everyone on board the pontoon seems to manage getting up at 5.45am in time for sunrise. Some of the guests have chosen to do a 10 minute Heli ride across Horizontal Falls but we decided that the seaplane flight captured the moment perfectly for us.

    Breakfast is served, plentiful bacon, eggs, toast and mushrooms and we fuel up just like the jet boats for another pass through the falls.

    The whole Horizontal Falls Overnight tour is seamless, so well organised and even better than we had imagined.

    This morning the tides have changed and they are now flowing back up through the gaps so we fly through the lower falls and then hit the throttle as we spear the narrow 7.5 metre gap in the upper falls. I estimate that the width of the jet boat is about 4.5m so that leaves a 1.5m margin either side of the boat as we pass at high speed close to the rock face. Sensational.

    We repeat the pass a few times and a few more at the lower falls to complete a memorable and exhilarating experience.

    Returning to the pontoon, our seaplanes arrive and land like clockwork bringing day visitors to the falls. We board our return flight and take off with ease as there’a no extra alcohol weight left. For some reason the pilot has demoted me to cattle class with Jen?

    The 50 minute flight path back to Derby airport takes us over The Buccaneer Archipelago, a series of 700 to 1.000 rocky remote and beautiful Islands at the top end of Western Australia. The tides and whirlpools here cause havoc with shipping vessels especially in the Pearling industry and many a sailor and diver have lost their lives.

    We fly directly over a Barramundi farm located at Cone Bay and I capture an overhead image of the large circular sea cages creating an artistic visual of human ingenuity. I guess that’s where our Barra came from last night.

    The remaining flight takes us across King Sound which has the second highest tides in the World behind Nova Scotia ranging from 11.8m to 1.5m.

    Landing at Derby, it’s barely 9.00am and it feels like we have already done a day’s worth of adventure already. Phew!

    DRIVE: Derby to Cape Leveque (389km).

    We collect the 4WD and hit the road for the drive towards Broome, then heading up the Dampier Peninsula to Cape Leveque. This is our last Kimberley adventure destination before we head to Broome on Tuesday. We are back on dirt or rather sand and clay for about one third of the trip up the peninsula. By next year, the whole of the road up will be sealed but for now, its a work in progress and even so, a lot smoother than the Gibb.

    CAMP: Kooljaman at Cape Leveque / 2 Nights.

    We stop at Beagle Bay on the way up to Cape Leveque and visit the 19th century Sacred Heart Church. Beagle Bay is an Aboriginal community with about the population of 300. Further up the road which is now smooth, sealed and endlessly straight, we reach Kooljaman at the top end of Cape Leveque, our base for the next two nights.

    The camping area sits right on the peninsular with the eastern sunrise beach on one side and the western sunset beach on the other. I recall a good friend, Manny telling us it’s ok to swim on one side of the peninsula beach and not the other because of the crocs but I can’t quite remember which beach he said was ok, east or west!

    The campground at Kooljaman is red sand with sites squeezed in in a random fashion. The reception area and cafe/restaurant are modern but the amenities and especially the toilets are well the worst we have come across. A bit disappointing as the destination is so good.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Horizontal Falls Jetboat & Overnight

    15 juin 2019, Indian Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    So a roar of the 900hp outboards on the jetboat and here we go, navigating through the middle of the lower Horizontal Falls passing over whirl pools, vortexes and a powerful outgoing current. A sweeping turn around and we fizz through the gap on the way back and do three runs in succession.

    Horizontal Falls are created by the huge tidal movements in the area moving through gaps in the McLarty Range, which has two ridges running parallel approximately 300m apart. The first and most seaward gap is about 20m wide and the second gap is about 7.5m wide.

    Tidal heights vary dramatically with two high tides a day flowing through the gaps and reaching up to 11m in height. You can see the high tide watermarks on the surrounding King Leopold Sandstone and during a rare King tide event, Horizontal Falls will fill one to two metres higher than a normal high tide.

    After our 3rd passing through the lower falls, we sit back glued to the back of our seats as the jetboat races up to the second falls.

    There’s definitely something different about these falls. For a start they are very narrow and the tide is fiercely gushing out from the top three metres high like a grade 5 rapid. After everyone onboard had convinced themselves, well, this is it, hold on for dear life, the jetboat driver abruptly stops and explains that there’s no way we can pass during these tidal conditions. Not sure if I was relieved or disappointed but the driver assured us that conditions will be good tomorrow morning when the tide has changed.

    All good, we race back to the first falls and do a series of shots through the gap and take a closer look at the outgoing tide’s flow. Jen is super excited and I think she quietly wanted to drive the jet boat or heck even have a go a skiing behind it through the gap. I don’t think it’s been tried before.

    We return to the pontoon after our adrenalin fix to be then invited to swim in the pool with the sharks! That sounds good, hearts still racing, we’ll give it a go.

    The pool is split into two sections, one enclosed and one open to the outside sea. We flip a coin and get the enclosed section!

    As soon as the shark handler baits the water with a bit of barramundi, the resident sharks as well as other fish come visiting from the surrounding sea.

    The sharks are Tawny Nurse Sharks a couple of metres long and they are obviously used to the shark handler and the feeding ritual. Each shark is male and has a name and one’s called Steve. Yeah, that’s right, Steve, not Alan. So we have three things in common, male, same name and a bit of a shark... When feeding, the sharks literally suck their food up like a vacuum cleaner even though they have plentiful teeth.

    Before dinner, we are back in the jetboat for a leisurely sunset cruise into Cyclone Creek. Cyclone Creek is aptly named because it’s high sandstone walls provide a natural safe haven from cyclones and storms. This is where the Horizontal Falls group store their pontoon and equipment during the wet season. I capture a near full moon rising from behind one of the towering walls.

    Back at the pontoon, we sit and unwind to reflect on today’s epic adventures, tucking into platters of cheese and dip and our supplies of beer, cider and wine. Dinner is served soon after as our hosts have been busy preparing fresh seared Barramundi on the bbq with salads followed by choc brownies. Again we’ve been doing it tough on this trip and tonight, we don’t even have to do the dishes.

    It’s not a late night as we will be up and ready to go again at 5.45am in the morning so we retire to our Montgomery Reef room at 9.30pm.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Seaplane to Amazing Horizontal Falls

    15 juin 2019, Indian Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Today is the most exciting and anticipated event on our highlights trip of the Kimberley.

    We are venturing to Horizontal Falls by seaplane for a remote and isolated overnight stay on a floating pontoon and an adrenalin pumping jetboat ride through the falls.

    Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures runs out of Broome and Derby. The overnight tour runs exclusively from Derby so with our 4WD packed up and stored, we are picked up from Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park at 2.15pm for bus transfer to Derby Airport.

    There are three seaplanes, each carrying up to 11 passengers out to Horizontal Falls. We are the last group to go as we wait for our seaplane to return from a trip and refuel.

    As we prepare to board, the pilot singles me out as an obviously experienced and well groomed co-pilot and gets me to sit next to him in the cockpit. Awesome. I take it all on board and act professional and even resist pushing buttons and turning the numerous dials around me, especially the ones coloured RED.

    Jenny has a prime seat behind the pilot in cattle class. Clearance is given and the seaplane shoots down the runway for a smooth take off, slowly climbing to 5,500ft above sea level. I ask the pilot how come it’s a slow and shallow trajectory up to 5,500ft and his response is, “we’re very heavy mate, too much beer loaded onboard”. That’s right, it’s BYO on the pontoon so everyone has brought a weight load of grog. Blimey, ditch the Sheila at the back, she weighs way too much...

    The flight is 30 minutes out to Horizontal Falls briefly crossing King Sound and then intricate patterns of salt beds and mud flats followed by King Leopold Sansdstone landscape. The view is stunning. Soon we reach our destination and fly over a series of beautiful bays and remote islands surrounded by turquoise water to capture our first view of the pontoon and landing area below.

    We do a fly over then bank to turn 360 degrees and fly towards and over the spectacular Horizontal Falls. We can see a jetboat riding the tides up to the falls. There are two falls that flow during two tidal events each day with high tide being over 11 metres.

    After flying over the Horizontal Falls, it’s time to land the seaplane... well, in the sea of course...

    It’s our first seaplane landing but it’s a smooth, calm glide into the Timor sea as the sun filters through, lighting up the sea ahead like a crystal. We land adjacent to the pontoon and disembark. Well done Captain I say, it’s every co-pilot’s duty!

    The Pontoon which is actual a series of pontoons connected via platforms is a lot bigger than expected and we are shown to our Montgomery Reef room, our accommodation for the night.

    After an introduction to the pontoon and our itinerary for the day, we swiftly board a high speed jetboat and make our way to the Horizontal Falls which is literally 500m away.

    The afternoon tide is going out so the first run through the lower falls is going to be quite a ride.

    See my next footprint/post for video and photos of the jetboat ride.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    The Boab Prison Tree In Derby

    15 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Boabs are the only member of the genus Adansonia. Africa has one species and there are six on the island of Madagascar, that’s right, ask King Julian...!

    The Nyikina people of Derby call the boab tree Larrkardiy and it has many uses including food, medicine, string, water in its hollow cavities and shade for camping.

    The boab trees are hollow so has no growth rings to determine age. However, some of the very large trees could be thousands of years old and can withstand bush fires and droughts. They have historical and cultural significance to the indigenous people and are one of the key symbols of their heritage and stories. The Boab nut is used for art and decorative purposes with many aboriginal stories and wildlife calved into the shells of the nut.

    We visit the Boab Prison tree this morning as we await our pick up for our overnight Horizontal Falls trip.

    Before Derby was established in 1883, Aboriginal people were kidnapped from the West Kimberley. The kidnappers known as Blackbirders were settlers connected with the Pearl industry and they needed divers and workers for the pearling boats. Aboriginals were put in chains, marched to the coast and held captive in the Boab Prison Tree until a boat transfer arrived and they were shipped to do hard labour.

    The prisoners brought to Derby via the Boab Prison Tree came from as far away as Fitzroy Crossing and Christmas Creek, walking in chains 24 to 48km each day.

    Today, the Boab Prison Tree is sacred land. Its an ancient tree that has stood the test of time and survived floods, droughts, fire, lightning storms and prison folk.

    On the way back to Derby town centre, I spot a large boab tree that has grown on a 45 degree angle so I can’t resist climbing it.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur
    1

    Air Force One Sunset on Derby Pier

    14 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Ok so the first picture is for The Lloydes and in particular Anne as she told me there’s no way I will keep my Nike Air Force One clean. Well I climbed down some rocks to get a setting sun photo at Derby Pier and put my foot in the mud. Doh! If it wasn’t for the unique light weight cushioned design of my beloved Air Force One, I would have sank and become a mud crab.

    We decide to walk the 3km to the pier for sunset following a bitumen walkway with mud flats on either side. On the way up to the pier, there one of those outdoor gyms in the middle of nowhere so we decide to stop and get fit! This must be one of the most remote gyms on the planet and no membership required. After completing 50 unassisted chin pull ups and Jen doing lat bar raises for 30 minutes continuously, we decided that enough is enough, we could have worked out all day in the 30 degree heat...

    We finally reach the pier cafe and quite parched, I get a blue tongue slurpy which even in the heat freezes my brain and Jen gets a nice cold milk shake.

    There’s fishermen on the pier catching... well nothing much and people grabbing mud crabs down below in the shadows. A couple set up their deck chairs on the pier and crack open a bottle of fizz, obviously a sunset celebration moment. From behind, a big croc... whoops sorry, let my imagination go for a moment there, another couple arrive and surprise the female as it’s her 50th birthday. She is elated with joy and the friend a enjoy a special moment together.

    I climb down the rocks as sunset is always best with a bit of perspective and something of interest to contrast the sun. It’s a great angle to get the pier from and then I take one Nike step too far and into the mud.

    We leave as soon as the sun dips beneath the horizon as we have a 3km walk back to camp and this time of the year, sunset is like flicking the light switch off.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Windjana Spirit & Norval Gallery, Derby

    13 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    This morning, Jen has the privilege of sitting in on a kindy class at School of the Air. The teacher name is Clare and the kids had logged in to school from Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary, Jubilee Downs and others that are travelling around Australia. The Kimberley School of the Air is one of five in Western Australia and has 32 kids enrolled from 4-12 years of age.

    I grab my morning coffee and meet Jen afterwards and we walk a couple of kilometres to visit the Morval Art Gallery, a gallery that showcases indigenous artist and art from the Kimberley region. Mark Morval is a white folk and he set the gallery up after teaching art at the Mowanjum Art Centre in Derby. The inspiration behind the gallery was to not only showcase his own art but use the gallery as a creative meeting place and workshop for local Aboriginal artists.

    The sunset sculpture we enjoyed last night is a Norval creation and Mark seems to depict the same Aboriginal faces in many different ways through his artwork.

    When we arrive at the gallery, a number of local Wandjina artists are busy working on their art pieces on outside tables which have been covered with colourful paint over time.

    The gallery has a great variety of work on display and for sale, any proceeds of which will benefit the local Aboriginal Artist.

    Not one to be overly enthused about Aboriginal art, this gallery captured my imagination as all the art work depicts stories from the Wandjina and the Kimberley region and follows in story, our journey across this sun burnt spiritual land.

    In particular, the artwork depicts many of the stories and symbols that we saw preserved as cave or rock art drawings back at Munurru, King Edward River which is thousands of years old.

    Wandjinas are spirit beings recognised by three indigenous groups, Ngarinyin, Worora and Wunumbal. They look like aliens and the slit between their eyes is where the Windjana pushes his power down. The belief system remains the world’s oldest still practiced religion at approx 8.000 years old. The father of all Wandjinas is Idjair who lives inside the head of the great emu spirit in the Milky Way just above the Southern Cross. I think we will look for him tonight.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Geike Gorge Cruise Then On To Derby

    12 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    It’s 18km of sealed road from Fitzroy River Resort to Geike Gorge, passing through the township as we go. The one hour Danggu Geike Gorge Cruise is owned and operated by the local Aboriginal tribe and is a popular attraction.

    At Geike Gorge, the Fitzroy River cuts through the junction of the Geike Range and the Oscar Range before passing through Fitzroy Crossing and on to Derby. This again is part of the 350 million year old Devonian reef which actually extends the full length of the Gibb from Kununurra to Derby.

    Geike Gorge is 14km long with up to 60m high limestone walls partially polished white by floodwaters. As we make our way up river, it’s evident that the depth of the river is about 1m lower than normal at this time of the season. In the wet season, the Fitzroy River floods the gorge and the surrounding landscape and water marks can be seen near the top of some of the sandstone walls.

    Straight away we spot fresh water crocodiles lying on rocks and ledges in the river. The fresh water crocodile is smaller and has a narrower snout than it’s salty cousin and has jagged teeth running exposed from the outside of its mouth. Look at his teeth. He uses his open mouth to regulate his temperature.

    Further down the Fitzroy River towards Derby and the sea,, fresh water crocodile habitat become salt water or esturine crocodile territory.

    Amongst other species living in and around the gorge river, you can find the Purple Crowned Fairy Wren, Black Fruit Bats, the Short Eared Wallaby, Leichardt’s Sawdish, the Coach Whip Stingray and even Sharks. It’s home to an array of wildlife reliant on the river source to sustain life.

    DRIVE: Fitzroy Crossing to Derby WA (237km).
    After an enjoyable and relaxing cruise, it’s time to move on again and head up National Highway 1 and the Derby Highway to Derby. It’s pure bitumen all the way and 110km/hr speed limit and Jen even gets to engage the cruise control.

    On the way up, we pass the western end and the start of the Gibb River Road and we both shudder as we remember the dirt, the corrugations, the blow outs, the flies, the dryness of the land. The Gibb has been an adventure and a challenge and we have finally made it from Kununurra to Derby.

    CAMP: Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park / 3 Nights

    We have decided to settle in Derby until Saturday when we do an overnight adventure to Horizontal Falls. It will give us time to chill, watch the sunset from the pier and put the breaks on for a while. Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park is exactly as it’s named, the main gateway to the Kimberley and the 660km Gibb River Road journey.

    Talking about Sunset, there’s an Aboriginal art sculpture a stroll away from the caravan park which faces towards us and in front of the setting sun. The sculpture has been created by Mark Norval who owns and runs The Norval Art Gallery in Derby. Once the sun reaches a certain point, the sculpture is lit up and an Aboriginal face is revealed. Quite a creative way to enjoy and appreciate the sunset and it’s a ritual that all who travel the Gibb River Road do.

    Jen wants to visit School Of The Air tomorrow, a remote online school community we n Derby. I just want sit in shade at the pier cafe and drink good coffee.

    Just about to retire to bed and we hear Mr Whippy Van driving around the caravan park. So I follow the sound and lights expecting kids lined up for an ice cream and then remembered, there’s no kids in the park, it’s full of adult travellers.

    Well the line at Mr Whippy was building and all the grown ups come flooding in like a farmer mustering his cattle. Everyones buying choc tops, (in English, that’s ice cream cones with the ice cream dipped in chocolate). I wait my turn and grab two freshly made choc tops for me and Jen. I disappear into the night and past a few caravans and find my way back to our site to share the treats with Jen.

    Talk about highlights of our trip, this one’s gotta be up there. Thanks Mr Whippy.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    The Mighty River at Fitzroy Crossing

    11 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ 🌫 32 °C

    This morning, Jen spots a bird of prey majestically swooping past our camp site and then perching in a tree. The bird is a black kite. Although he is more brown than black, the Black Kite is revered by the Aboriginals as the fire stick bird, Girrganyi.

    Winythali... The Story Of Fire
    Long ago Bunuba people didn’t have fire and so they ate raw meat. At the west wall the old crocodile Gayi greedily kept the fire sticks for himself. One day the animals plotted to steal the fire sticks from Gayi but no one was brave enough except the bird of prey, Girrganyi.

    Girrganyi dives down into the murky depths where Gayi lives and stole the sticks from him. Girrganyi then changed into his bird form and set the bush alight to produce fires for cooking.

    Today Girrganyi can be seen wherever there are fires, maintaining the fires for everyone else.

    So we’re back on the Fitzroy River, having already canoed & swum in it a few hundred kilometres away at Mornington. Now though we’re at Fitzroy Crossing which was settled in the 1880s by Solomon Emanuel to serve the surrounding pastoralists. Really it was simply a good place to cross the Fitzroy River. For its first 20 years it didn’t even make it on to a map; that first happened in 1903. Talk about being “off grid”. Even then, the town was not gazetted until 1975.

    The Fitzroy Valley is now home to over 40 Aboriginal communities who speak 5 different languages - Bunuba, Gooniyandi, Nyikina, Wangkatjunka and Walmajarri.

    The river itself is one of the longest in Australia with a catchment area of over 90,000 square kilometres. When in full flow (23,000 cubic metres per second), it could fill Sydney Harbour in 6 hours! With this year’s dry wet season, it’s more a disconnected series of puddles. Wonder where the crocs are? Well I think they’ve moved up to Windjana Gorge

    Before the building of the high clearance bridge in 1974, the old concrete crossing could be closed for months at a time during the wet season. So how might you get across? Tinny? No - flying fox of course!!

    It’s definitely clothes washing and clean up day. Apparently Fitzroy River Lodge is usually lush with green grass but it’s currently a dust bowl with sprinklers trying to get the grass seeds to germinate. Regardless, we have a good shady powered site and the resort facilities are close by.

    After a morning hanging out in the resort restaurant with wifi, we walk across to the swimming pool and jump in. It’s 35 degrees in Fitzroy Crossing today so how come the resort pool is freezing. We don’t mind one bit and lazy lizard finds a sun lounge to sit on.

    We basically limit any activity today to laundry wifi, swimming pool, bar and fish n chips from the bar as even cooking our scotch fillet steak seems a chore too far. It’s an exhausting day I know.

    There are lots of folk in the pub all scrambling for chairs to sit on for dinner from the bar. We’ve been here so long today that the tourists think we are locals doing important work on our laptops.

    The fish n chips were a winner and we retire to “the Lim” for another night’s rest before a Geike Gorge River Cruise in the morning.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Crocs at Windjana Gorge & Tunnel Creek

    10 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    DRIVE: Bell Gorge to Fitzroy Crossing via Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek (314km).

    We had a silent sleep at Silent Grove Campground, Bell Gorge last night and moved on early to Windjana Gorge, 146km down the Gibb onto the Fairfield Leopold Road.

    Not knowing what to expect, Windjana Gorge looks and feels so prehistoric, calved out by the Lenard River, it’s a 3.5km long gorge through the limestone of the Napier Range.. It’s part of an ancient sea bed and extensive fossilised barrier reef from 360 million years ago.

    The reef was offshore from the mainland and what is today the central Kimberley Plateau. So basically we are by the beach and standing in a place that was originally part of the Devonian Sea.

    We view a fossil of a fish and other sea life embedded in the wall of a sandstone cove which has been shaped and calved out over time.

    The river is low but within its murky pools of water and on the river banks are dozens and dozens of crocs. That’s right, crocodiles, the fresh water variety. Unless gentle moving on top of the water, they sit perfectly still on the banks taking in the heat of the sun. This is the closest to wild crocodiles we have been except for maybe the ones we have swam with already, unaware of their presence. Jen hates crocs so to be this close is a big deal. No swimming here though unless we want to lose our toes, but cheekily I comment to passers by, “that was a refreshing swim dear”.

    Above the river on a shady branch we spot a Nankeen Night Heron also known as a Rufous Night Heron. He’s pretty, majestic and quite eye catching really. Wait on our eyes are meant to be on the crocs within 2 metres of our feet. Aha, a decoy obviously!!!

    35km further down the road is a unique natural attraction named Tunnel Creek in The Devonian Reef Conservation Area.

    The cave has been carved out by the waters of Tunnel Creek flowing beneath the Napier Range and we walk mainly in darkness with our iPhone torches in for a good kilometre wading through fresh water pools knee deep.

    The cave features many beautiful formations, including stalactites and stalagmites, and is also home to a variety of bats, olive pythons and knee deep freshwater crocodiles.! Tunnel Creek is a site of cultural significance for the local Bunuba people.

    CAMP: Fitzroy River Lodge / 2 Nights
    We are well on track and make it to Fitzroy Crossing and Fitzroy River Lodge for mid afternoon. Reaching the end of the dirt road and finding a bitumen highway is like a spiritual cleansing experience. We pump up the tyres to correct pressure for on road and trundle on. Crossing the mighty Fitzroy River, it’s pretty dry and barren in contrast to the resort pub which is wet and lush as it has beer and burgers... yeah!

    .    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Over The Range & On To Bell Gorge

    9 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    It’s Sunday morning, 8.30am. After a yummy banana, peanut butter and strawberry Jam fried bread, well you’ve got to improvise out here, we pack up camp and I call Neville from Over The Edge Tyre Repairs. He’s 50km back up the road. There’s just an answering machine so I leave a message to call me back in the next 30mins as we are hanging for yet another tyre fix.

    Our options today are as follows:
    1. Abandon the 4WD, eat our remaining chocolate and run into the wilderness in despair.
    2. Chance the 230km drive from here to Derby with no spare tyre with two thirds of it still on dirt, therefore option 1. also may come into play.
    3. Stay here at Imantji Campground another night as Neville will be around tomorrow for sure.

    It’s looking desperate so Jen gives Neville another call, “Obe one, your my only hope...” and a customer picks up. Great, ask Nev nicely if we can drive up for a tyre fix as we know it’s Sunday. No worries is the response in the background from Nev. Relieved, we are now in business again.

    I carefully drive the 50km back up the Gibb River Road avoiding every ground rock, pebble and corrugation that I possibly can. It seems to take forever and the closer we get to Over The Range Tyre Repairs, the more corrugated the road becomes. Neville has a perfect business and he must rough up the road in the middle of the night on his doorstep to capture a few new tyre blow outs on their way through. Just kidding Nev, the man is a saviour even if he supports the West Coast Eagles.

    We finally see the sign and turn off the Gibb to drive into a car yard in the middle of the outback. He has old clapped out Toyota 4WD’s and blown out tyres strewn about the place like tomb stones in a cemetery, each telling a story about a terrible demise on the Gibb.

    Neville is a kind hearted, friendly bloke who is built tough to live so remote in the Kimberley’s but he is also as soft as butter and a good laugh to boot.. He has a wife and 3 year old daughter living in the wilderness. He’s a man in love with The Kimberley’s and his photography book of the wet season up here is quite impressive.

    As soon as we arrive, a few more cars join our line to be serviced or repaired. Sunday like any other is not a quiet day for Neville and he takes business in the peak dry season when he can get it.

    After a bit of banter and chat about the footie, he fixes us up with a new tyre and we are on our way again.

    On the road, we have really learnt to appreciate the genuine help that local folk give in such an isolated and remote area. They always smile and nothing is too much trouble to them. There generosity and spirit shines through.

    We drive back to Imantji Roadhouse and find a couple of meat pies in the warmer so that’s our treat for lunch. We can’t resist buying a few more veggies because they look so mouth watering good.

    From the Roadhouse, it’s 27km to Silent Grove Campground as we head South West, our base for tonight and access to Bell Gorge.

    We find a nice shady spot in the campground, that’s always my prerequisite and set up our table, chairs and tarp on the ground to secure our spot. Then it’s just a 10km drive to the car park for Bell Gorge.

    Bell Gorge is a 1km easy walk from the car park and on reaching the top of the falls first, we traverse across stepping stones/rocks to cross the trickling river. Following sign posts, we climb over the gorge and then down into an expansive pool fed by the waterfall we had just crossed. It’s still flowing ok, not quite like a wetter season flow but still beautiful. Jen likes Bell Gorge and thinks it’s the most picturesque swimming hole we have been to. Besides it has warm rocks that a lazy lizard can lie on after a dip in the gorge.

    As we go in for another dip, someone mentioned a sighting of a small freshie slightly further down the gorge so I gently push Jen in that direction as an offering...!

    It’s quite busy here and to make the most of the swimming hole, you need to capture the midday sun before it crosses and gives shade to the towering walls of the gorge.

    Back at camp, it’s my favourite time of the day, 3.30pm. We are set up, I pour myself the last of our red wine and sit to relax and enjoy sunset.

    Strewth, is there anyone out there close to the Barossa Valley that could send us some Shiraz up the Gibb River Road for us. Don’t mind if you deliver it personally!!!    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Sir John Gorge to Imintji Campground

    8 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    For this morning’s activity, there are two wildlife tracks that can be walked from camp. We first follow Annie Creek, a tributary of the Adcock River, which forms part of the catchment of the mighty Fitzroy River. It’s classed as a Riparian Habitat which means a vegetation community that occurs along a water course that provides habitat for many species that could not survive in the dry, open savannas. Annie Creek is defined by lush palms along its banks as well as a canopy of thriving trees and bushes. Its a bird watcher’s paradise.

    To be honest, there’s not much wildlife to see other than a red necked finch and a flock of cockatoos overhead. Fresh Water Crocodiles lurk in the dark water of the creek seeking refuge but we don’t spot any beady eyes.

    The savannah woodland habitat trail is literally across the dirt road from Annie creek and is a complete contrast. There are spinifex and other tall native grasses surrounded by snow gums and Boab trees plus many other hardy species. The rocky escarpment above is King Leopold limestone formed 1.8 billion years ago when the land was an ancient sea floor.

    Here we can expect to find snakes in the grasses but again, to our relief, non cross our path and we spend most of our time walking looking down at our feet rather than the scenery just in case.

    Our next activity is a 14km drive out to Sir John Gorge. The road is trickier than yesterday’s drive out to Diamond Gorge passing through sections of wilderness that have been burnt off creating fire scars on the open landscape. It’s a perfect example of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s fire management strategy as pockets of wilderness remain amongst the blackened land and we can even see young green sprouts shooting up as new life.

    On return to camp, it’s just in midday so we decode to move on to Imintji on the way to Bell Gorge as we are already packed up.

    With 10km to go of the 80km dirt road leading to the Gibb, we cross a grate and get a tyre puncture on the right rear. Not again, this one is a flat tyre and not shredded like the last one. Even so, out comes the jack and the tools and I put the old spare tyre back on the right rear in quick time as I am used to the process by now.

    With no spare tyre, we turn left at the Gibb River Road and slowly make our way, fingers crossed, to Imintji Roadhouse 30km down the road.

    Alas, they don’t do tyre repairs anymore as Neville, the tyre repair man set up shop a few years ago 50k back up the road at Over The Range. So if we would have only turned right instead of left... doh!

    Well we are here now and silver lining, the Imintji Roadhouse has a small range of fresh vegetables and we haven’t seen a veggie for a whole week. The little things count... vegetables, yum, even tomatoes and a fresh cucumber and bananas too, heaven. We treat ourselves to Maxi Bon Ice Creams to soothe the nerves from another frustrating day driving the dirt.

    The Imintji Campground is 400m away and we have heard good stories about how nice it is and it even has some green grass. So we bed there for the night and worry about a spare tyre tomorrow.

    Those veggies we bought, well I have some rump steak in the fridge and cook it medium rare with a touch of balsamic to finish. We cube some potatoes, dice some onion, chop red pepper and tomatoe, forget to add the carrots, throw in some spices to fry in the pan and we have a sumptuous meal to finish off an eventful day.

    A crescent moon is high in the sky, a million stars shine above and the southern cross stands proudly centre stage. A bat passes me by as twilight becomes darkness and soon everything and everywhere is well... quiet!    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Australian Wildlife Conservancy

    7 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    So we are here at Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary in King Leopold Ranges, Central Kimberley

    The sanctuary is 320,000 ha and the base for the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) and it’s award winning conservation program.

    Australian Wildlife Conservancy is the largest private (non profit) owner of conservation land in Australia

    The mission of AWC is the effective conservation of all Australian animal species and the habitats in which they live. Wildlife matters and the AWC have established a national sanctuary network protecting endangered wildlife across 4.8 million hectares with 28 sanctuaries.

    The sanctuaries are found in pristine wilderness areas that need managing and protecting including The Kimberley, The Top End, The Central Deserts and The South West Forests.

    Conservation programs include feral animal control, fire management, the translocation of endangered species and scientific research that will help address key threats to native wildlife.

    The two main predators to the indigenous wildlife are wild cats and foxes. There are estimated to be over 1,000,000 wild cats roaming Australia and each one can kill on average 6 wildlife per day. You do the math.

    Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary is Home to critically important populations of threatened species including the Northern Quoll, Gouldian Finch and the Purple Crowned Jenny Wren, whoops, I meant Fairy Wren.

    You can find out about AWC at :

    www.australianwildlife.org

    Nothing is close or easy to get to in the Kimberley and today we have booked a double canoe to paddle on the Fitzroy River at Diamond Gorge. It’s about a one hour, 24km drive on off road track from our camp at Mornington. 24km doesn’t sound like much but its slow going as the terrain is very rocky.

    We grab 2 paddles and 2 life jackets from reception and set off in the morning before the intensity of the sun. We finally stumble on a group of canoes on the banks of Diamond Gorge as we try to follow the white Wallaby footprints on the ground.

    Jen is the bow and I am the stern so obviously I will be steering so I do a couple of donuts and crash into some rocks just to be annoying... Its so peaceful here, just us, the river, the sun, the shade and towering walls of ancient, contorted sandstone. The layers of King Leopoldo Sandstone are some of the oldest rock found in Australia, dating 1.8 billion years old. We don’t see any wildlife other than a long necked bird diving deep into the river and then popping back up looking like a water snake. If we do the bird watching tour, I can find out what bird it is.

    The 1.9km trip down the the Fitzroy River takes about an hour if you gently paddle and enjoy the scenery. At the end of Diamond Gorge, there is a younger intrusion of volcanic dolerite forming huge mounds of black boulders in contrast to the surrounding orange sandstone.

    Returning to camp, there’s not much more we want to do today so it’s lunch and then siesta.

    There’s a 7.30pm presentation tonight about the work that Australian Wildlife Conservancy do. I know, its a bit past our bed time but we are keen.

    We walk to the Mornington Station, a stones throw from camp and sit around the communal camp fire before the presentation. Ashwen from AWC is presenting tonight and he gives us an insight into in the field work they do.

    Ashwen explains that fire management is a key part of their conservation strategy. Traditionally, Aboriginals would use fire to burn off and create fire scares across the land. Australian Wildlife Conservancy follow a similar strategy.

    The fire scars serve to break up the land into a patchwork of habitats and new growth so that when a major fire breaks out at the end of a dry season, the fire would be isolated and less invasive. In turn, the fires would leave behind pockets of habitat that the wildlife can survive on.

    Also for critically endangered species, AWC use translocation. They have acquired a number of wilderness areas and have built special 3m fenced areas some 45km long to keep predators like cats and foxes out. They then reintroduce via translocation a species like the large Bilbi into the protected wilderness and watch their populations grow.

    The work they do is critically important and quite inspirational as Australia has lost 31 mammal species though extinction since European settlement.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Barra & Brownie at Mornington Sanctuary

    6 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    DRIVE: Manning Gorge Campground to Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary (140km).

    It seems like a day is plenty enough to explore one of the main gorges on the Gibb River Road. After that, we get itchy feet, pack up and move on.

    We have brought forward our 3 night booking at Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary. On the way, we stop at Adcock Gorge and Galvins Gorge and enjoy short walks to explore them. At about 50km down the Gibb, we find the turn off for Mornington. It’s 80km from here into the sanctuary crossing gated cattle farming country.

    Unlike the Gibb, the majority of the road in is a softer limestone base that is well graded. We reach Mornington at midday, check in and find ourselves a camping site.

    CAMP: Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary / 3 Nights

    Each afternoon, a tour bus comes in ferrying package wilderness tour groups to their ready made bedouin tents at the sanctuary. There’s a reception area, bar and restaurant with a tasty set menu board displaying tonight’s meal, Barramundi with polenta chips and vegetables followed by chocolate brownie. We quite fancy that but tonight they are booked out already as after catering for the tour groups, they only have about 6 meals left, already taken.

    No worries, tomorrow is lamb so we book in for that instead. The bar area is nice so we buy a coldie and finally access some wifi. Whilst I am logging in, I hear 2 guests enquiring about tonights meal as there’s been a cancellation. They enquire but don’t make a booking so jack rabbit, I jump up straight after them in an obvious and desperate fashion and ask...”did you say you have a cancellation for the barramundi tonight?” Yes is the reply, “we’ll take it”. Jen was drooling at the mouth over the thought of a chocolate brownie.

    Needless to say, dinner was exquisite but there were too many watching for me to lick the plate.

    Now little stories like these may be trivial to you when you read them but for us, they represent a highlight in the day and an escape from the dry and the dust.

    I always like to showcase the highlights so today barra and choc brownie it is.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Leaking Tinny to Manning Gorge

    5 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Pancakes for breakfast again. Yippee!!

    Today we rejoin the Gibb River Road 59km from Drysdale Station and head towards Mt Barnett to visit Manning Gorge.

    DRIVE: Drysdale Station to Manning Gorge Campground, Mt Barnett (165km).

    The further towards Mt Barnett, the smoother the dirt road becomes which is a pleasure to drive compared to the Kulumburu road and the Mitchell Falls road.

    We stop at the Mt Barnett Roadhouse to buy our camping permit and top up on a few supplies. Chicken fillets, that’s good because we have lots of pasta sauce and curry sauce but no chicken to add to them. It’s Wednesday and fresh fruit and veggies are not due in until tomorrow so alas, we grab an onion, 3 carrots and the remaining two potatoes that are on the shelf.

    Still no mobile coverage but the Roadhouse has limited internet if you pay a fee, $8 for 100mb, daylight robbery. I cough up the dough but the username and password is useless so I get my money back. Jen still doesn’t know the Collingwood footy score vs the Dockers so now she will have to wait a little longer for Internet. It’s tragic I know...

    Mt Barnett Roadhouse seems the centre of civilisation out here, a transit point when you have been remote on the Gibb and you fancy a good burger and chips. Not that we indulge, I still have tuna pasta left over from last night for lunch.

    CAMP: Manning Gorge Campground / 1 Night

    We had spoken to a couple of travellers in Mitchell Falls, and they said that Manning Gorge Campground is not that good. Everyone has an opinion and each to their own. They must have been 50% empty as we are pleasantly surprised by the camping area. As we have arrived before midday, we have the pick of the best shady sites. In fact tonight, myself and Jen will be sleeping in the canopy of a couple of trees with our roof top tent. There are flush toilets and even showers, much more than we have been used to.

    Manning Gorge is about 3km away from camp and a highlight swimming hole in The Kimberleys. To get there, we have to first cross a river 60m wide. There’s a tinny (little metal boat) with a pulley rope system attached to pull ourselves across to the river bank on the other side. It’s so much fun and we feel like real adventurers.

    Jen carefully gets in the tinny first, avoiding putting her feet in the water at the bottom of the boat. I follow and grab the pulley rope and off we go. It’s a bit like punting on the river Avon... well not really, my feet are soaked, the flies are in my eyes and the queen sat on the bow of the boat is hard to please as she get out the whip and gives me a lashing.

    We reach the bank on the other side and ungracefully get out of the slowly sinking aluminium object shaped like a boat. Obviously, there’s a leak so it’s like a race against time to get to the other side. It would be even more fun if there were crocs in the river!

    Its an easy hike for us to Manning Gorge and we follow the rocks to a 2nd pool partly in shade. The water is deep and ok to jump or even dive in. I attempt my safety jump, a technique to jump in the water but keep my head from submerging. Jen taught me the safety jump at summer camp in America in 1989 and she gave me the same fail score today as she did back then. That’s not how you do it she says as she jumps majestically into Manning Gorge. Lesson learnt... again!!

    Not to bore you but the water is... is there another word for refreshing as I have used it a lot of late? Ok, it’s like jumping into a big pool of Corona with a slice of lemon. Get the idea?

    The lizard finds sun and rock whilst I climb up to a vantage point overlooking Manning Gorge where a black granite base signifies a dry waterfall. The view down the gorge is quite a picture and with the sun behind me, I capture some good shots.

    The lizard is still warming her blood by the time I get down and we decide to have one more dip before heading back. I do my best dive from a rock and then invite Jen to do the same as I can’t recall seeing her dive before. As expected, It’s a good dive from Jen, a 9.45, but I nearly drown with laughter anyway as I had already imagined a belly flop. No chance, not from Jen.

    On the way back, we pass a cairn (pile of stones) that have been stacked by fellow adventurers. I happen to find a heart shaped rock close by as if it magically appeared and I add it to the stack on behalf of my mum as she was an avid hiker and also for Anne’s mum and The Lloydes. Hopefully the little heart shape rock will be there for many a year to come. XXX

    We storm home across rocks and boulders like “ain’t no mountain high enough” and make it back to the boat crossing in 30 minutes. Jen does the hard yards to retrieve the boat from the other side of the river but nearly falls in trying to get into the tinny once it arrived.

    Back at camp, I go searching for firewood and soon have a cozy fire going. It’s only 5.30pm but feels like 8.00pm already. The gourmet meal tonight is peppered steak hot pot for me, a soup from a can of course and chicken and sweet corn for Jen.

    We miss the Lloyde’s and trust they are back in Melbourne but we won’t be able to make contact until tomorrow when we head to Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary. If they were with us today, we would have sunk the tinny for sure, bailed overboard and drowned with laughter.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Munurru Aboriginal Rock Art

    4 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Two rock clusters beside the track to the Mitchell Plateau contain a wealth of Aboriginal paintings.

    This Kimberley Aboriginal rock art is located on the western side of King Edward River, in an area known as Munurru, within Wunambal country. It’s right beside our Munurru camping area.

    Paintings in Munurru span thousands of years with depictions of plants from the earliest Archaic period. There are people dressed up for ceremony and depictions of thylacines (Tasmanian Tigers), extinct on the mainland of Australia for 3,000 years. There are also brightly coloured Wandjina, the god like ancestor who bring each wet season’s rains. The Wandjina is the figure with his hands in the air praying for rain.

    Two of Jen’s favourites are the Echidna and what looks like two birds (brolgas) facing each other with birds eggs depicted on one of them.

    My favourite has to be the alien looking faces that are indeed a good few thousand years old. Maybe the Aboriginals had visitors from space well before we even imagined what an alien could look like and they have depicted them in their stories though rock art.

    It’s obvious that this is a sacred and special place with lots of sheltered rocks for dwellings, next to a river source and full of plants and animals.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Remote and Alone In an Oasis

    4 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Sadly this morning our great companions Andrew and Anne packed up early from King Edward River and started the journey to Broome. Anne’s mum is very ill and they have been checking in on the satellite phone to see how she is. They have decided to head back home to Melbourne and will fly out from Broome. Broome is about 700km from here so they will camp overnight on the way as a fair chunk of the distance is the slow going Gibb River Road.

    We will miss The Lloyde’s as we have had so much fun on our adventures together. They leave us this morning with half a packet of Weetbix. That’s nice of them... Hang on, our spare tyre is missing, they’ve taken our food supplies and wait a minute, they’ve bloody syphoned the fuel from our petrol tank... thank god we still have water... what water?, Jenny replies.

    On that note, here’s 5 things we couldn’t do without.

    1. Memory Foam Mattress Topper
    2. Foldable Plastic Washing Basin
    3. Hiking Stove and Kettle for a Cuppa
    4. USB Phone Charger
    5. Chocolate, lots of it

    It’s time for a morning dip in the King Edward. We follow the track further up the river to another step ladder leading into a fresh water pool. Before we take the plunge, we venture further and follow a trickle from the main river through an oasis of lush greenery and abundant trees. The trickle becomes a small pretty waterfall cascading into a natural water hollow.

    We are surrounded by bronzed stone rocks which are the base of a dry river floor. The rock is smooth as silk and weathered by fast running water for Millenia. In some places, big rock pools have been carved from the river bed and the rock has a shiny glazed look like its pottery, just come out of the kiln.

    We are all alone in our amazing oasis, miles from anywhere and at least a day’s trip from the nearest mobile and internet communication. It’s a magical place.

    Returning to the ladder, we enjoy a morning wash in the fresh water pool and walk back to our camp site. With the Lloyde’s gone, the site is massive and like a giant crop circle. I make a coffee and for a change, have a morning nap whilst Jen has her head stuck in a book.

    We pack up our camp at about 10.30am and move on. Before we leave King Edward River, there are two Aboriginal art sites to visit depicting stories up to 20,000 years old within this area called Munurru. (See next footprint for pics and info).

    As we drive up the dirt road, a stubby and muscular Dingo crosses our path. It looked more like the size of a Bull Dog and nothing like the Dingoes we saw on Fraser Island. These Dingoes are completely wild and not used to human contact scavenging for food so they are built solid and tough.

    DRIVE: King Edward River to Drysdale Station (120km).

    We head back to Drysdale Station passing the bull and Brumbies we saw on the way up. After being remote, it’s time for a big clean up. The clothes washing is on, our supplies are sorted, we have a proper shower and I plug in everything we have to charge up on our powered site.

    Drysdale Station has an outdoor bar and restaurant which opens at 4.00pm. We walk over and grab a coldie before returning to our camp site to make dinner. I have a few vacuum sealed steaks in the 12v fridge so we decide to make steak sangas for dinner, a simple but tasty meal to finish the day.

    CAMP: Drysdale Station / 1 Night    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Sunset swim at King Edward River

    3 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Munurru Campground is on the banks of the King Edward River. The sites here are large and spacious, each one giving privacy from neighbours.

    Munurru has an Aboriginal Art site.

    It’s 4.00pm and after a much needed coffee, myself and Jen follow a natural stone pathway next to the river’s edge. It leads to a small ladder inviting us in, just like you would see at the swimming baths. There’s plenty of water in the river and it’s deep in this section at least. Don’t think for a minute that we spend much of our time swimming in rock pools, rivers, billabongs and creeks. We don’t have the luxury of a shower or bath out here so our indulgence is a valid one. It’s a nice temperature in as we bask in the remaining sunlight.

    The fading sunlight on the river is brilliant creating a mirrored image of the bank on the opposite side. King Edward River is a real oasis.

    Back at camp, a couple of Aboriginal folk pass by and give us some firewood for the fire pit. That’s very kind of them as there’s not much dead wood around.

    It’s tuna pasta night as we are both cooking the same meal. We could share but we all want to use up some supplies. I make enough tuna pasta for lunch tomorrow and we tuck into our meal.

    We have run out of beer and cider and there’s one bottle of red wine and an emergency unopened bottle of Bacardi left. In case we get stranded, we agree to drink the rum and wander off into the bush never to be seen again...    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Magnificent Mitchell Falls

    3 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Before our hike to Mitchell Falls, we visit Helihike for a weigh in and safety briefing for our helicopter ride this afternoon. The helicopters are 5 seater so they can carry all of us. Our combined weight was... well let’s just say we are under the limit!

    We have allowed 4.5 hours to complete the experience with a 12.15pm flight back to camp. The camp and roof top tent are already packed away so that we can drive off once we return from Mitchell Falls.

    Passing Little Merton Falls once again, we continue the hike in and follow a dry creek bed all the way to an impressive canyon 150m deep. It’s Merton Falls, Big brother of little Merton Falls and 10 times the size. The main waterfall has dried up but there’s still a small waterfall feeding the gorge which comes out half way down the rock face.

    Mitchell Falls is on the other side of Merton Falls so we follow the path and soon reach the top of the falls. It’s a rock hop over smooth boulders to the edge of the falls. In the wet season, the whole area would be flooded filling up all the dry rock beds and flowing endlessly over the falls.

    The main river feeding the falls is calm as it slowly makes its way to the first waterfall and cascades down. There are three pools in Mitchell Falls separated by waterfalls as they quickly follow gravity down to the river at the bottom. One can imagine the sheer force and volume of water flowing over the falls in the wet season. Even now at the start of June, it’s impressive considering how dry the season has been.

    I find the edge of the top falls and do my impersonation of Usain Bolt.

    Further up the river, there’s a pool which is ok to swim in. The 3 main pools of the Mitchell Falls are sacred ground and the Aboriginals believe that anyone who swims in them will be cursed.

    A track at the top provides access to the cliff edge where we are treated to a full frontal view of the magnificent Mitchell Falls. It’s an amazing natural wonder and we sit and take in the view in awe of nature’s work over millions of years to form the deep gouging waterfalls.

    We are only 20km from the ocean but this is as remote as it gets as the land is so raw and isolated.

    We track back to the swimming hole and take a dip then make our way to our 12.15pm rendezvous for our Heli ride. All on board. Jen gets the front and myself and Andrew take the rear exit doors (sorry, there’s no rear doors...) with Anne safely sitting in between us. It’s a six minute ride looping over Mitchell Falls a number of times then heading back to camp.

    The view is awesome but with the rotor blades creating a wave of energy, it’s difficult to take photos and video. We do our best whilst making sure we enjoy the moment. The river widens in the distance and we can see the shore line and the sea 20km away from our Heli vantage point.

    The helicopter ride is over all too soon but a great experience and so worth the difficult drive up here. Back at camp, we make sandwiches for lunch then start the return journey back down the rough road to King Edward River.

    DRIVE: Mitchell Falls to King Edward River (80km).

    We pass a grader machine making its way up to Mitchell Plateau followed by a semi carrying a mechanical digger and towing a 4WD on the back. It’s quite a convoy of heavy equipment going up the steep road ahead. They are preparing the road for grading and I am not quite sure if the grader at the front has made the road any smoother as we sit inside his tracks on our way down the road. It’s still as bumpy as ever and the vibration inside the 4WD is endless.

    Finally, we reach King Edward River Campground on the banks of the river and the rattling stops. I need a coffee, quick...

    Camp: King Edward River Campground / 1 Night    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    196k of Corrugation to Mitchell Plateau

    2 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The cooler evenings are agreeing with me as I slept right through the night in our cosy roof top tent.

    Bacon butty for breakfast and with no toaster, it’s improvised fried bread which turns out a treat.

    DRIVE: Drysdale River Station to Mitchel Falls (196km).

    The road ahead is 196km to Mitchell Plateau and our campground at Mitchell Falls. If we break it up, that’s 120km to King Edward River Crossing on harsh corrugated dirt road and 76km of even rougher terrain all the way up to Mitchell Falls camp ground.

    The first section Jen tackles in the 4WD. I would describe the road more annoying than challenging as sometimes we get smoother sections which makes for pleasurable driving, then we turn a corner and the corrugated darker rock surface becomes so bumpy that we are shaking our bones.

    On reaching the King Edward River Crossing, it’s smaller and shallower than I had imagined but the ferns and vivid tree canopy provide for a very picturesque drive.

    I take over the reins, sorry steering wheel for the 76km section from King Edward Campsite to Mitchell Falls. Straight away the corrugations are deeper and rattle our grog and other drink bottles like a heavy laiden milk float delivering pints of milk down a cobbled street.

    It’s strange because we go through quite a varied road surface from smooth and sandy, dry dusty clay, flat bedrock and small pebbly rock obstacles sticking out of the ground, to all out shakin in my boots corrugated chunks of rough rock like driving through mounds of purple volcanic dust. We average about 50km/hr and often less than that around corners.

    Our theory is, the darker the rock, like deep orange/purple, the more coarse it is as it will contain basalt. The good stuff is sandstone. We hit a smooth patch of sandstone then look up the road in the distance and can see the dirt change to darker rock and we cry... here we go again!!!

    The landscape is more interesting though as we are on the climb to 350m above sea level. Jen spots a couple of wild Brumbies and the horses obviously know the land because they look in excellent condition.

    The total drive from Drysdale Station Campground took about 3.5hrs and we arrive at Mitchell Falls in time for lunch.

    CAMP: Mitchell Falls Camp Ground / 1 Night

    Mitchell Falls campground is a bit dusty but we assess the direction of the afternoon sun, find a nice shady spot and set up.

    The helicopters are nearby so we decide to book in a return Heli from the top of Michell Falls tomorrow. We will hike in the 4km and once there, we will enjoy a scenic Heli flight over the falls back to camp.

    From camp, there’s an easy 800m hike to Little Merton Falls where we can swim. The falls are dry but the pool below is full and refreshing. Whilst Jen is paddling, she spots a snake pass by her feet in the water. The snake was most likely a Water Python.

    There’s also Aboriginal art here inside a rock overhang dated back to 17,000 years ago. A fat devil creature is adorned on the rock which as the story goes was used to stop Aboriginal children from running away as the spirit will follow them and catch them.

    We see evening clouds in the sky for the first time for ages making for a glorious fiery sunset.

    Andrew and Anne invite us to their side of the island for dinner, a yummy vegetable curry with what few veggies we have left.

    I question, was it the vegetarian or carnivore dinosaurs that died out first? We all agreed that the vegetarian dinosaurs ran out of plants and veggies first and then the meat eating carnivores ate all the vegetarian dinosaurs. Hence the crocodile survived supreme.

    We then look at each other, drooling at the mouth like we are all t-bone steaks knowing that the last veggie had been eaten and now we are all meat eaters... who’s going in the pot first... and, can anyone find the bbq sauce!!!    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    Shredded Tyre on the Gibb River Road

    1 juin 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    DRIVE: Home Valley Station to Drysdale Station (236km).
    It’s a fair distance from Home Valley Station to Drysdale River Station following the Gibb River Road especially considering we will average 60km/hr. I plug the coordinates into google maps and it’s saying 9 hours journey time...!

    The Gibb River road from here gets quite rough with sections of corrugations which vibrate the car and rattle our teeth. We are limited to 60km/hr, any faster and we could lose control on the rough surface, any slower and the corrugations become more pronounced and we would have nothing left holding the 4WD together.

    About 80km in, the corrugations became harsh and we blew the right rear tyre which seems to be a theme for our trip. It’s not uncommon and blow outs happen all the time on the Gibb. We stop and call the Lloyde’s who are ahead, then proceed to find the jack and also undo the spare tyre.

    Our help arrives and myself and Andrew jack up the rear right and replace the split old tyre with the spare. Both the rear tyres on our hire 4WD have signs of wear and tear and have likely done a lot of mileage before us. The spare tyre has deeper ridges and is obviously fresh and new.

    We are only 20km from Ellenbrae Station and almost half way to Drysdale. We had already decided to visit Ellenbrae as they are renowned for their scones, jam and cream. In fact they sold 20,000 of them last year and some of the proceeds go to The Royal Flying Doctors. The scones are a family recipe and fabulous.

    Whilst indulging, I enquire with Logan, the Manager of the station if they have any replacement tyres for our 4WD as they have a limited tyre service. Well an American has just bought two of the type we need and there is one left so phew we are in business. I get the wrecked tyre replaced and switch the new one with the old rear left tyre as it is worn. That one can be our spare and at least we have two brand new tyres to tackle the rest of the Gibb and Mitchel Plateau.

    Leaving Ellenbrae, the road ahead doesn’t get any better so we ride with the bumps all the way to Drysdale Station, our stop over for the night. Petrol here is expensive, $2.15 per litre and a packet of Scotch Finger Biscuits is $6.00. I buy the essential item and fill the 4WD with diesel.

    Drysdale Station is still 196km to Mitchel Falls, our final destination and apparently the road is even more difficult. For now, we have set up camp here at Drysdale Station and as I type this footprint, the night has become much colder than we are used to. I think it’s another early night so that we make the most of tomorrow morning.

    We are remote, dusty, shaken from the corrugations and cold for a change but it’s still fun and adds to the story of our adventure through The Kimberleys.    En savoir plus

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  • Walshies Down UnderKimberley 4WD AdventureVoyageur

    The Dusty Bar at Home Valley Station

    31 mai 2019, Australie ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    DRIVE: El Questro to Home Valley Station (50km).

    Leaving El Questro, we spot the resident donkey on the side of the road standing perfectly still and looking forlorn. Jen tells me to pull over as she wants to pat the donkey and say goodbye. Jen hates seeing animals distressed so she just wants to comfort the donkey. As she walks up to the donkey, it catches her eye and suddenly bolts, dashing down the dirt road, it’s little legs spinning at 100 mile an hour, as if it had seen a ghost or something. It’s so funny. It wasn’t the reaction Jen was expecting and last time we heard, the donkey had been sighted on the Gibb River Road scared shitless on its way to Broome...

    From El Questro it’s just 50km to Home Valley Station and our first real taste of the dirt, dust and corrugation of the Gibb River Road.

    The highlight for the day was supposed to be the Pentecost River Crossing as we had seen video footage of the crossing in full flow. With the driest of wet seasons since the 70’s, the river is barely a couple of puddles across the rocky river bed so its no challenge to navigate in the 4WD.

    CAMP: Home Valley Station / 1 Night.

    We choose our unpowered shady sites for the night and unwind. Jen explores the area and takes some interesting shots. The rock sculptures with a rock the shape of Australia in between them is of note. There are lots of young families here and the kids are having a ball, bare feet and running wild having their own fun adventures and chasing bulls away.

    Home Valley Station has an excellent restaurant called Dusty Bar and travellers drive for miles just to enjoy a meal. We will have to choose between tuna pasta from our supplies or a Chicken Parma at Dusty Bar. This may well be the last opportunity for a dine out experience for a while so we choose the Parma at Dusty Bar. Now that was a meal and a half. Jen chooses the Pork Ribs and they are massive.    En savoir plus

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