Day 15 – Packed up the tent and departed El Questro for Emma Gorge. A 45 minute walk into the gorge but well worth the effort. A spectacular gorge with tall majestic walls surrounding a clear freezing cold pool into which water cascades down the walls like rain. We bit the bullet and dove into the water. It was absolutely freezing and made your arms ache. The cascading water felt like icicles when it hit your skin. Hundreds of photos later we walked back to the car and headed off on the final 70 kms of the Gibb River Road. More shaly rocks with the odd bit of bitumen thrown in saw us reach our destination without any drama. Our journey completed we headed for Kununurra where we booked into the Kimberley Grande for a night of debauchery and laundry!! We swam in the pool then went to dinner in the restaurant. How luxurious it all was.
Some vital information on the GRR:
• 1882 kms travelled
• 20,695,211 corrugations at an average height of 5.41 cm
• 17,148 large rocks
• 117 creeks, floodways and rivers
• 628 dead tyres
• 207 wrecked shockers
• 14 broken main springs
• 482 songs on the IPod
• 2 very happy people
Day 16 – We awoke fresh as a daisy after a good nights sleep in a kingsize bed. Reality soon checked in when we registered at the Discovery Caravan Park – trailer trash, or worse, tent trash yet again. We spent the day booking tours and replenishing our diminished food supplies. Fresh fruit and vegies were the order of the day. Most importantly we stocked up on grog, our two week ‘drying out period’ – well sort of – officially over.
Day 17 – Picked up at 8.00am for a tour of the Argyle Dam and Ord River. We travelled by bus to the dam where we went on a 2 hour cruise of the dam. Triple J run a pretty slick operation with tour guides who are very knowledgeable and provide lots of facts and figures on the making of the dam and its uses. After lunch we boarded another boat for a return cruise to Kununurra via the Ord River. Our tour guide, Cam, was a font of knowledge re flora and fauna and we spotted a Nankeen Night Heron and two Black Bitterns which are quite rare. We have done lots of tours during our trip and this one, along with the mailrun out of Coober Pedy, have been the best. As the boat pulled back into Lake Kununurra around 6pm we were treated to the site of millions (no exaggeration) of fruit bats flying into the sky as a full moon rose over the lake. Back at the tent I had received a message from one W J Wilding on my phone. Bill was also in Kununurra. After a lengthy chat we arranged to catch up with him in Broome. He was having dinner with the Josephite nuns that night and we were heading for the Bungles the next day.
Day 18 – Up at 4.30am – no I am not kidding – for a 6am flight over Lake Argyle and the Bungle Bungles. To make a very long story short (not like me at all) Stephen, who was sitting on the right side of the plane saw everything and his photo finger was almost herniated. Anne, who was sitting on the left side of the plane, negotiated a $200 refund with the General Manager of the flight company - not happy Jan. Back to the caravan park to pack up and head for Purnululu National Park – the Bungle Bungles. The road into the national park was windy, rocky and had a number of very high crests and river crossings. Demanding drive but Stephen enjoyed the challenge. A long day with just enough time to go to the Kungkalahayi lookout for sunset. Dinner and then off to bed on a very cool night.
Day 19 – Up very early as we wanted to start our first walk at 7.30am as the heat can take its toll if you start much later. The Mini Palms walk was hard on the legs as it followed a creek bed with lots of pebbles. Thankfully the ankle is coping well and is getting stronger each day. After 40 minutes of boulder climbing and through tiny crevices (this walk isn’t for those who luv cheese) we reached a platform overlooking a chasm. At the end of the chasm was a tunnel that appeared to us to have a neon sign saying, “come and look at me”. We ventured past the No Entry sign and climbed down to the floor of the chasm because we all know that No Entry means Be Careful, right!! We also just happened to have a torch with us so we went through the tunnel opening to find – not much – just a very big hole, however it was a great view back up towards the platform. As we were there on our own we made lots of noise and enjoyed the cathedral like acoustics. Next we drove back to Echidna Chasm, a unique chasm which the photos will give you a better perspective than I can. We drove to the south end of the Bungles for lunch. It was now hitting about 35 degrees and too hot for us to try the Piccaninni Creek Lookout walk so we decided on the Cathedral Gorge walk as we were told it was nice and cool in there. The 60 minute walk took us 20 minutes – they must time this walk with the old lady factor included – and we were happy to find it about 10 degrees cooler than outside. We dallied in here for about an hour and when we emerged around 2pm the heat had gone out of the sun so we continued onto the lookout walk. By this stage we were a bit Bungled Out , however we finished the day with the Dome walk so that we could say we had done all the walks at the Bungles. As we arrived back at the camping ground a fellow camper had his hose out so we asked if we could use it to have a shower. Out came the soap and we soon felt human again. We cooked some chops on the open fire and Stephen wouldn’t let me go to bed at 6.15 so I had to wait until 7.30pm when I fell into the sleep of the dead.
Day 20 – Our day commenced at 5.20am when a flock of yellow-crested cockatoos landed in the tree above our tent. I swear they were louder than a Strathmore girls lunch . Fortunately they were toilet trained and our tent was saved. We drove out of the national park at 7.20am, a record. We were driving to Fitzroy Crossing today which would be our last night in the tent – yeah!! We made a couple of stops along the way at Mary’s Pool, Ngumban Cliffs and an aboriginal art gallery at one of the communities. We arrived at the Fitzroy Crossing Lodge at 2pm and couldn’t believe it when they told us they didn’t even have an unpowered tent site. Fortunately we had Plan B available down the road so at least we had somewhere to stay. Enjoyed a buffet roast at the Crossing Inn.
Day 21 – Well this is it – 21 days since we left Broome for our camping adventure. It certainly has been enlightening to see the Kimberley. The homesteads, aboriginal communities, gorges, waterfalls, chasms, rivers, roads, flora, fauna, bugs and insects have given us a wonderful experience and I only hope that one day some of you decide to take the time to see this fabulous part of Australia. I must say, we have had enough of the dust and can’t wait to find a bit of grass to rub our toes in. My gorgeous Stephen’s comment was: “You haven’t been anywhere until you have been bitten on the bum by a mossie at Mitchell Falls camping ground.” I guess that says it all.
• While watching the sunset at Kungkalahayi lookout in the Bungles one lady was heard to say: “I wonder how long this goes for?”
• Recently the Premier of WA, Mr Barnett, was addressing the Derby community regarding the viability of tidal power generation and made the following statement: “How can you be sure that the tides will occur everyday?”
Some people are just uummmmph - stupid
Photos: Stephen has gone a bit overboard on this edition but persist as they are very good.
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/BroomeGibbRiverRoadWeek3?authkey=Gv1sRgCNTCwuvFvpK_KQ#
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment