KUNUNURRA was our next stop and we were lucky to get a campsite right next to the lagoon. Freshwater crocs inhabit this area but we’re assured they won’t harm us – it’s the salties you have to be aware of. Kununurra has flourished since the dam was built - in fact it hardly existed before then. Now a lot of produce, melons, mangoes etc are grown here.
We did a drive to Wyndham, the northernmost town in WA. A lot of live cattle are shipped from this port as well as nickel and sugar. There is a great view from a vantage point above the town showing where 5 rivers meet. On the way we passed through Parry Lagoon where the bird life was amazing and drove back to Kununnurra via Parry Creek Road, a dirt road through pastoral land.
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| Boab Tree |
The boab tree grows on sandy plains, creek beds and stony ridges throughout the Kinberleys. It can have agirth of 20m and canopies over 25m high. The wood is soft and spongy.
We have just spent the most amazing two days at the BUNGLE BUNGLE RANGE in PURNULULU NATIONAL PARK which has only been a tourist attraction since 1983 and was granted World Heritage listing in 2003.
We have just spent the most amazing two days at the BUNGLE BUNGLE RANGE in PURNULULU NATIONAL PARK which has only been a tourist attraction since 1983 and was granted World Heritage listing in 2003.
The road in to the visitor's centre is a rough 4WD 53km 2 hour trip then each major attraction is a few more kms but oh so worth it. We took our tent and all provisions (remembered the air bed this time) and camped for the night which was good as we had to walk quite a bit to reach each attraction and it was very hot and would be impossible to do it all in one day and still appreciate the spectacular beauty of the area. |
| Cathedral Cave |
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| Our tent we used for overnight trips without the caravan |
The striped dome formations have fragile thin outer skins. The black rings are where lichen (cyanobacteria) grows in layers where water accumulates and the orange rings are silica (oxidized iron) that dry out too quickly for lichen to grow. If the crust is broken it will expose the soft sandstone beneath and the wind and torrential rains of the wet season will erode them away.
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We visited Cathedral, Mini Palms and Echnida Gorges all different and all spectacular but very hard to get photos to do them justice. But I tried .....I took so many photos .... so many.
We free camped for the next three nights driving across the top of WA and did a cruise on the Fitzroy River through the Giekie Gorge.
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| Geikie Gorge |
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| Spot the crocodiles |
We met up with Pat and Ken again when we arrived at DERBY. Derby has the biggest tides in the southern hemisphere - can reach 14 metres. Only stayed 2 nights then on to beautiful Broome.
BROOME is very popular and we were lucky to get a site in a caravan park but we did leave Derby early to get here by about 10am and got the last site. We’ve booked in for a week but it might be nice to stay longer .....
Broome, famous for it’s pearling industry, camel rides and beautiful Cable Beach. As nobody knows how long they’re going to stay in Broome you, can’t book caravan sites and just have to arrive early and take pot luck. We were lucky the day we arrived and ended up staying 12 nights. A really nice place to stay, during April to September, although the temperatures were a little cool (25 deg) when we arrived but soon warmed up.
Broome has a population of about 14,000 but have over 100,000 visitors each year.
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| Cable Beach, Broome |
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| Colourful rocks |
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| Party time - sister Pat's birthday |
In the first decade of the twentieth century Broome produced 80% of the world’s “Mother of Pearl” shell. Many divers lost their lives diving for the ‘Pinctada maxima’ the largest pearl shell in the world while making pearling masters wealthy.
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| Dirt road at Broome |
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| How beautiful is that? |
The development of the plastic button in the 1950’s sealed the fate of the “Mother of Pearl” industry but the advent of the cultured pearl brought the pearling industry back to life. By the 1970’s Broome was producing over 60% of the worlds largest cultured pearls. Tourism started in Broome in the 1980’s so it’s quite a new tourist town.
Cable Beach is beautiful with stark white sands, turquoise waters and pindan cliffs. The sand below the high water mark is very firm and cars are able to drive along the beach. Cable Beach also sports a nuddy area but we only drove through it!
John caught fish off the wharf so Australia does have fish in it’s waters after all.
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| The beach at Barn Hill |
We left Pat and Ken in Broome and travelled 130km to BARN HILL, a working cattle station / caravan park on the coast where we bush camped for 5 nights. A gorgeous beach with spectacular rock formations.
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| Glenys taking this game very seriously |
Another attraction was the Sunday night roast dinner for $12.50. They cater for only 200 so bookings must be made the day before. We had pumpkin or beef soup, roast lamb and vegies and fruit salad and ice cream. Sounds “so what”, but it really was good. We were entertained by a local Aboriginal family band and they were great. The drummer was a 12 yr old boy and was especially good. We danced to rock and roll music and didgeridoos, the genuine one and also one made from plastic drainpipe – sounded the same.
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| Rock formations at Barn Hill |
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| Our 3 course dinner setting |
The pizzas and lamingtons available each day were the best too!
There was also a bowling green which we could use. All this miles away from civilisation!
August 2006
From Barn Hill we called at EIGHTY MILE BEACH for a couple of nights then
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| Catching fish on a nearby river |
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| Rocky coast nearby Pardoo Station |
on to PARDOO CATTLE STATION where the new owner is upgrading facilities.
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| Pardoo Station beach |
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| Driving along sandy beach at Pardoo |
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| Cattle at Pardoo Station |
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| The landcruisers used at Pardoo for rounding up cattle |
When mustering they use an aeroplane and the “cowboys” used well beaten up “off roaders” (short wheelbased landcruisers) to herd the cattle. How they stay in them when they’re travelling at speed over all the bumps in the paddocks is amazing. And the dust created - just glad the wind was blowing the other way.
Fishing was the best we’ve experienced so far; fishing in the rivers close by.
We spent a couple of days at PORT HEDLAND, a port town for iron ore and salt - a huge business here. Interesting place but 2 nights was enough.
Headed inland for a bit.
We drove 270km and free camped at MUNJINA EAST GORGE lookout then next day drove 160km to visit the largest open cast iron ore mine in the world, Newman Mt Whaleback, which was very interesting |
| Mt Whaleback mine at Newman |
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| Mt Whaleback mine at Newman |
As we couldn’t find anything else of interest in Newman we drove back to KARIJINI NATIONAL PARK.
We visited several gorges here and all were spectacular and all very different. Photos do not do them justice. That’s the trouble with Australia - everything is so vast.
The colourful rocks and formations in this region are all so different and quite awe inspiring showing how the force of nature over many millions of years has moved the land and created such spectacular scenery.
The wildflowers are out in bloom so even driving the many kms we do the landscape is lovely and always changing.
