More Kimberly Photos

Bats at Windjana

Crocs at Windjana

Windjana Gorge

Tunnel Creek

Bell Creek Gorge

Water Hole Old Mornington
Canoeing Old Mornington

Boating Manning Gorge

Swimming Barnett River Gorge

Bradshaw Paintings near King Edward

25TH August, Broome and Photos

After the Helicopter Flight

The Falls from the air


Boys at Mitchell River Falls


King Edward River

Emma Gorge El Questro

Pentecost River Flats


Prison Boab Tree

Camping by the King River

Well we have made it to Broome where half of Australia appears to be staying, so we are going to high tail it out of here tomorrow after all the domestics are done. The boys are enjoying the pool and we had a lovely night of fish and chips on cable beach last night. Some travellers even entertained us with some fireworks. We have found the Stuart's, and also some other friends from Melbourne heading in tomorrow. We're all heading north to Cape Leveque which will be loads of fun. Of course, Craig, Louise and Sam are camped next to Jamie and Jimmy Stuart in Broome, such a small world.

Here are some photos of the Gibb River Road.

24 August Gibb River Road Conquered

Hi All, we have conquered the Gibb River Road and are now heading to Broome for some civilisation after 2 ½ weeks of red dusty roads and campsites. We have had a fantastic time and seen some amazing sights and experienced some really beautiful places. From Kununurra we headed north to Wyndham where we met up with the Cracknells again and visited the crocodile farm to learn the difference between Freshwater and Saltwater crocodiles. You really don’t want to meet a Salt Water crocodile which are huge and very nasty. After viewing where the 5 rivers meet we headed down the Karunjie Track, a back road that meets the Gibb River road. After visiting some aboriginal art, we headed to the banks of the King River to bush camp. We soon discovered we were sharing the river with some Salties and the next morning (Luke’s Birthday) we saw a Salty with a Kangaroo in its mouth going upstream. That day we had a beautiful drive next to the Cockburn Mountain Range across the Pentecost River flats, visiting a Prison Boab Tree enroute.
We then arrived at El Questro where we spent 3 nights bush camped by the River. El Questro was a nice surprise with beautiful gorges, hot springs and swimming holes, but being reasonably priced for those wanting to bush camp. Still with the Cracknells we left El Questro visiting Emma Gorge the most beautiful of the waterholes with freezing water before heading to the banks of the Pentecost River to camp. There was a lot of water activity that night and we were told the next day that a 6m crocodile was residing there The following morning, the Cracknells discovered a broken spring on their camper so we headed over the river and went to Home Valley homestead where we ended up staying the night much to the kids delight due to a very nice swimming pool, whilst the Dad’s sorted out the springs back in Kununurra. Alison and I even got to vote as the roaming electoral people happened to be there that afternoon. Next morning all fixed up we headed back down the Gibb River Road, not nearly as notorious as its reputation, although we did go past a number of break downs. We managed about 100km and were just stopping for a break near the next homestead Ellen Brae when the Cracknells discovered another broken spring. Luck has definitely not been on their side, however they were very good at breaking down right next to homesteads. They limped into Ellen Brae where we all spent the night and they arranged to have their camper fixed.
We all decided it was time to part company for a while, so the next day the Kelly/VC gang headed up north on the Kalumburu Road to King Edward River. Again the road, did not live up to expectations in how bad it would be and we made it by lunchtime. This was a very special spot where we ended up spending 4 nights camped just near the King Edward River where we enjoyed swimming(with freshies), boating, attempts at fishing and the boys had a great time tadpoling. On one of the days we went up to the Mitchell Plateau and walked into the Mitchell Falls which were particularly impressive with a lot of water. One of the highlights of the trip to date for all, was taking a helicopter back from the Falls and flying over them back to the car park. The road here was particularly awful and took us 2 hours to get to the plateau 80km’s away. The weather was now really heating up and reaching the high 30’s so the priority for travelling now was to leave early and find swimming holes. After leaving King Edward we came back to the Gibb River Road and spent the night at Barnett River Gorge. The boys enjoyed mucking around in the river where there were shallow water holes, and later in the afternoon we walked further up to find a beautifully deep swimming hole near the edge of the gorge. The next day we headed to Old Mornington via Manning Gorge and guess what another fabulous swimming hole where we swam with a water monitor. Old Mornington (named after the Mornington Peninsula as its founder rode a horse from the Mornington Peninsula to the Kimberly to help with droving) is a wilderness conservation park. It was particularly special as it limits the number of people in there at any particular time so we could visit the gorges and waterholes and most of the time had them entirely to ourselves. The wakeup call front the birds in the mornings was really exceptional and the surrounding scenery and mountain ranges spectacular. The boys enjoyed making bows and arrows there, and we spent a day canoeing down one of the gorges on the Fitzroy river. From Old Mornington we headed to Bell Creek Gorge which was probably the most enjoyable swimming hole we were at with a stunning waterfall. Just as we were leaving who should arrive but the Cracknell’s, a fantastic location for a reunion. We all camped together that night, the Cracknells back with their campervan and the following morning headed to Windjana Gorge. After setting up camp we explored Tunnel Creek where we walked through water in a massive underground cave system for nearly a km. Although we were told there was a croc, we missed him but did come across lots of flyng foxes. The boys all really enjoyed exploring through the massive tunnel in the dark with their torches and finding the fish and frogs in the cold water.
And that brings us to today! This morning we went for a walk along the Windjana Gorge which again was really specy, but I think we are all now at our limit with the gorges. Unfortunately despite the really hot weather this was not the place to swim as we could easily see lots of crocodiles, which despite bein g freshies were a little off putting. We also came across again a massive group of bats which were fascinating to watch. So we have now completed the Gibb River road, which I think is fair to say has been the highlight. We have called into Derby and are now heading to Broome where the boys are particularly excited about staying at a caravan park, I am looking forward not to having to eat pasta or rice for a while and clean sheets and clothes will also be a bonus. We may even wash the car which is still very red in appearance. We have all really enjoyed swimming in the fresh water swimming holes and rivers so it will be interesting to see how we find the sea. Broome is likely to be heaving and we’re lucky to get in. There is a big festival on this weekend which we may stay for before heading to the more secluded beaches up north of Middle Lagoon and Cape Laveque.
We are all travelling well, seem to be experiencing no home sickness, physical sickness and even mentally all seem to be coping well. Homework could maybe be doing a bit better but we’re doing our best. We’re very much looking forward to a break from the dust and dirt but I suspect we won’t be getting much sympathy from anyone reading this Until Broome.... photos to come.

Bungle Bungles

Echdina Chasm - very awe inspiring (goes in for about 300m)

Echidna Chasm
Bungle Bungle Primary

Cannys drop in for a drink

Echidna Chasm

Star Wars in Mini Palm Gorge


Mini Palm Gorge
The Bungles
Beehives at the Bungles
Cathedral Gorge Cracknells and Kelly's
Boys daming the Gorge

Arrived last night in Kununurra after 3 lovely days in the Bungle Bungles. The weather slowly cleared so that we had sunny days their, but not too hot for doing the different walks. We heard that the Tanami was closed the day after we finished it so we were lucky to get across. We met another couple in Halls Creek, Craig and Louise with their boy Sam who joined us for a few nights and also met the Cracknells for our time in the Bungles which was lots of fun. The Bungles were as spectacular as expected, even more so and probably the highlight todate. We did the walks in the mornings and hung around the campsite in the afternoons. The boys all had lots of fun together but it was difficult to get homework done in the Bungle Bungle primary. The Cathedral Gorge, Echnida Chasm and Mini Palm Valley were all stunning. The photos don't do them justice. The walks were relatively easy and despite their being a lot of people it didn't feel crowded when we were wandering around.

At Echnida Chasm, who should we bump into but the Canny's and another couple from Red Hill. Great to see them and catch up on their trip which sounds like they're having lots of fun.

Kununurra is a lovely town, where we get to do lots of washing :) and stock up before heading down the Gibb Rd, now known as the Gibb River Highway. W're camped by the Ord River which is beautiful and may have our first trial of the boat (in croc infested waters). Hoping to head out down the Gibb River with the Cracknells which will be fun. Luke gets to visit a Dr as we suspect he may have Giardia, courtesy of drinking out of some of the water holes...otherwise we all fit and healthy. 9 squares on the blanket!

1st August Halls Creek

Tanami Wildlife...

Wolfe Creek Crater (wasn't there a horror movie about Wolfe Creek?)

Fellow Road Travellers

The "little" ant hills of which there were literally thousands

The Tanami Road :)

We have made it across the 1000 odd kms of the Tanami Desert... not the best part of our trip to date. It started to rain as we left Alice and pretty much followed us all the way here to Halls Creek. We didn't get away from Alice till late on Thursday and the weather was so miserable we continued on to the campground of Tilmouth Well where we were lucky to have a break in the weather to set up and have dinner before it started raining again. It had partially cleared again in the morning and we headed out to Yuendumu an Aboriginal Community quite well known for it's art. They were opening a new store there so there was a bit of a ceremony, unfortunately although we glimpsed a few of the aboriginal women in their traditional costume (or painted bodies), we missed the dancing. Enjoyed the art gallery where we purchased a number of items. Its amazing the difference in prices of art. If you buy paintings on wood or bark, it is very reasonably priced. As soon as you want anything on canvas the prices start at around $400 but are more likely to be in the thousands. The gallery is well run by mainly white female volunteers and the art all from the local community and going back to the community so it seemed like a good place to purchase some work. Christopher had been looking out for clap sticks and we got a number of them there. Sorry Dad, a big parcel coming your way!
From there we headed back to the Tanami where it had just rained so we had fun literally skidding our way up the track, with one particularly hair raising incident, but we came out ok. Very little traffic except some road trains. Camped out near a bore which was not particularly spectacular except for the sunset. Back on the road again it was a long hard slog of a day, corrugations periodically but not too much mud. Raining on and off and very little to see. The boys were really good,with no are we there yet? Stopped for lunch at Rabbit Flat, a very dismal place that is closing up this year after 35 years. Not sure how they have survived so long. We were joined by some local aboriginals well on their way to having an afternoons football game, if they actually got there would have been interesting to see. The landscape is still incredibly green and flat and not really desert like. No signs of wildlife except for massive termite hills. We passed a number of gold mines that you are not permitted to enter. Our campsite last night was a bit more pleasant next to a billabong with some wild brumbies. Thought we had got through the bad weather to wake up this morning to more and more rain, leading to mud :) Waited for it to stop before doing the final leg. Gambled on having enough petrol to make it to Halls Creek and visit the Wolfe Creek Meteor, which we did manage. The meteorite site was very interesting and caught the boys imagination. It really is a massive hole with large walls in a big flat plain. Quite lush in the middle of it which we walked into. From there it was an easy drive and the most pleasant to Halls Creek. Mountains have appeared making the landscape more interesting. The weather has closed in again and the shops are all closed, so we are holed up at Halls Creek Caravan park, not the most exciting place in the world. However, hopefully tomorrow the weather will be better and we head to the Bungle Bungles to meet the Cracknells ( and their new caravan!) tomorrow afternoon. It will be nice to spend a number of days in one place before heading to Kunanurra and the Gibb River road. Everyone is well, but very relieved to be off the Tanami. Au Revoir.