Way Out West 2011

Emma is too busy reading; she hasn’t even blogged about Broome. I must admit I now have a new appreciation for my pearls after going to Willie Creek and seeing what those little pearls have to do and even the work that goes into cultured pearls. I even think I NEED a set of Keshi pearls. (Only $8950.00)   They’re the ones that the pearl shell does all the work and they come out all different shapes and sizes.

This set of keshi pearls is worth ONLY $8950...

This big cultured pearl is only $100,000.00 worth.

$100,000. ( I told you she is a gem or a pearl)

So girls, get those pearls out of your safe place because we were told they need a little moisture to keep up their lustre. (A moist micro fibre cloth wiped over your pearls does wonders).

Sorry I got a bit side tracked. The boys are too busy fishing and the girls are too busy playing in the sand, snorkelling or swimming to do any blogging, so I had better try to tell you about our whale watching and snorkelling adventure.  We picked up our flippers and snorkelling equipment and set off in a mini bus and were met by Graeme our skipper who said even though it was windy, it should die down in about an hour and he would try and make our trip as comfortable as he possibly could.  We travelled for about an hour inside the reef but there were no whales in sight so he informed us we would have to go out through the reef.

Cruising

Another 30 minutes later and our skipper saw some spouts on the horizon.  Cruising ahead for about 20 minutes we came up to our first sighting and saw the whales spouting much closer.  Next thing we saw the whales ‘round out’, ‘fluke up and down’, a couple of ‘pec slaps’ and then just about one after the other they gave us some ‘tail slaps’.

Shake your tail feather!!

The skipper reckoned on a pod of about 8 whales.  For the next 30 minutes or so, you could hear the oohs and aahs and delighted exclamations from passengers on the boat.  The skipper then said one more presentation and then we had better turn around.  Much to our joy, the big one gave us a ‘breach’.  Excuse the lingo but that’s how they are described.

Wish I could jump that high.

Cruising back through the swell to the inside of the reef, it was time to ‘don’ the snorkelling gear!!  I must admit I was 2^nd in the water as I thought I had better have a little practice.  I decided not to go to the shark cleaning pool (where the sharks come in, open their mouths and little fish swim in and out of their mouths to clean them.  John and Ro went out with 4 of the other passengers and Mark (the mate, who is an experienced diver). The rest of us snorkelled around the boat, seeing schools of little blue, yellow, black and white fish, along with coral, trumpet, emperor and parrot fish.

Too busy

The coral was all different shapes and sizes and every now and then there would be patches of sand or clumps of green weed and surprise, surprise, I was very comfortable out there in the deep blue sea.  While cruising back to shore we enjoyed fresh buttered fruit loaf, biscuits and fresh fruit with tea, coffee or cool drinks.  So you can see we are just too busy!!  H & xxx

Too busy

Also too busy

Thinking we had left the red dirt behind at Tom Price, we had washed the cars and even washed the caravan floor.  We had forgotten our House Creek Roadside stop before we hit Coral Bay. (A little traumatic) not really but we finished reading Red Dog!! But that wasn’t the only thing that happened.  Just as we were getting into bed a young French couple pulled into the roadside camp and proceeded to set up camp.  We are sure that their car had 14 doors that they opened and shut twice and STARTED TALKING AS SOON AS THEY GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND DIDN’T STOP UNTIL THEIR JAWS COULDN’T WORK ANY LONGER.  Emma and I even think they had a little tiff (even though we couldn’t understand a word they were saying) as Mr French seemed to raise his voice and the tone changed dramatically at French chic.  I might add that at the beginning of our holiday Emma had taken Sarah and Matilda aside and explained that sometimes we would have very close neighbours- to speak quietly and at night time speak in hushed tones.  They prepared their dinner and for at least 14 minutes there was quiet while they ate.  It then came time for them to pump up their bed.  Emma described the sound as A HACKSAW CUTTING THE TOP OF THEIR CAR AND MAKING IT INTO A CONVERTIBLE AND TAKING THAT LONG!!  I then heard a thumping noise. (Careful of your thoughts).  Rohan said that it was Mr French stomping out the fire that they had lit.  I told myself that I was going to get up at 5.30 am and stand by their tent and sing Old MacDonald had a farm over and over and over.  Emma had decided on something else.

Leaving all that behind, we set off for Coral Bay and just as we came up over the last rise; there, spread out before us were white sand dunes, beautiful blue water and darker blue water on the reef with white tipped waves rippling over the coral.  A Touch of Paradise!!

I’ll leave our Whale Watch tour, which included snorkelling (yes I did it) that we enjoyed so much this morning for someone else to tell you about.  I don’t have enough vocabulary to tell you.  H & xxx

Setting out from Broome, we were heading for a roadside stop before getting to Karijini.  Our lunch time stop was a little eventful.  We had pulled into a side parking and had set up our table and just as we were cutting up our tomatoes and cucumber another car and caravan pulled in.  The lady jumped out and asked if anyone was a smoker and please don’t light up if we were.  Next minute another car and caravan pulled in behind us.  The lady then said the second car had a gas leak!!  We all looked at each other as we could hear the hissing of the gas.  John went and asked if the guy knew how to turn of the valves.  Of course he didn’t have a clue.  John then got under the car and started turning off the valves, burning his finger in the proceedings.  We hightailed it out of there as soon as we could put our picnic lunch back in the car.

With adrenalin a little high we continued on to Port Hedland, not bothering with the roadside stop.  On arrival on the outskirts of Port Hedland, there were white 4 wheel utes with iridescent logos on the side, aerials about six feet high with orange flags on them, buzzing around like ants.  Every second house had a 40ft boat parked in the driveway or out the front and there was a huge stock pile of salt, just before we crossed over the bridge.

All caravan parks were full but one receptionist phoned another and we could have an unpowered site if we got there straight away.  On arrival we were told we could have any site around the pool.  John noticed a power point on the side of the swimming pool shed so we set up camp.  In the cover of the setting sun we plugged our van in and enjoyed the free power.  Emma did some running sewing repairs to the neighbour’s little girl’s bathers in the glow of a head lamp, while the girls enjoyed a swim in the pool.

Running repairs

Next day we headed to Karijini where we knew that there wouldn’t be any power or water but we were prepared.  After setting up camp and lunch we headed for some sightseeing of the rugged beauty of the Gorges, beautiful waterfalls and sparkling rock pools.  The pools called so we climbed down to Fern Pool and slipped into the cool water to take some of the ‘pindan’ dust off and cool down.  Next day we drove over some b….. dusty, b…..bumpy, b…..road to more gorges and pools and came back to camp and set off for a swim at Fortescue Falls.  Beautiful.

Relaxing in Fern Pool

Weano Gorge

Next stop was Tom Price.  Only one caravan park in the place and the dearest of all our stops, so we had two showers and handwashed as much as we could and let it drip dry while the girls didn’t leave the pool.  We are going on a mine tour but that will be the next story.

World Maths Day was just last week, we couldn’t log on because we were camping at a rest area out of range.

Here’s the answer to “Are we there yet?”.  Everyone get a calculator … the equation is

How far?

Divided by How fast?

Times 60

Equals how many minutes until your next destination.

So, Mums and Dads put a calculator in the car for your next long drive.

Sincerely Matilda xxxxoooo

PS We drove 633 kilometres at 92 kilometres per hours (average speed) today and it took 413 minutes. Broome to Port Headland

OK so I haven’t blogged since about Alice Springs, must be a sign that we are having too much fun and making the most of every bit of every day!

TENNANT CREEK  Just a place to stay for the night, probably even lower in my opinion than Alice.

MATARANKA  Starting to have very clear memories of the last trip in this direction 28 years ago, after defoliation by a bat invasion, major flooding (most of the huge palms in this oasis were under water) and redevelopment the thermal pool has been relocated since I was here, though Rainbow Spring the source of the 34°C waters remains very much as I remember it.

DARWIN  “Holiday” with Dan, Tach & James and his mates (Boss & Brindy the gorgeous boxer dogs).  A luxury to set up camp in their backyard, the girls made the most of their plunge pool and we all enjoyed the loving from the dogs and of course the hospitality of Dan & Tach; it really felt like a holiday to use a civilized bathroom and not have to do yoga to get dressed without wetting one’s clothes in the process.  Our four nights there included visits to Crocodylus where I fed a 14’ 11” croc (thank goodness for small enclosures because he was enormous, if he’d come with any greater distance, speed and force I would have been over the fence and into the enclosure behind me), we also held a baby croc, a cold squishy sensation.  We did the Mindil Sunset Market on Thursday for a gastronomes dinner delight, every imaginable type of food to enjoy and delicious mango smoothies.  Caught up with Rohan’s cousin Dean and his wife Libby who are Darwin locals, for lunch at Stokes Hill Wharf, delicious local seafood yum. A quick visit to the Museum for a look at their current exhibition on Cyclone Tracey, very interesting.  Aquascene at Doctors Gully was a bit disappointing, I think the tides were at neep so the fish weren’t as numbered as usual.  Of course we took a whole day into Litchfield which Colleen has already written of, it was fantastic.  And not to forget the Leanyer Recreation Park, a FREE water park a downscaled version of Qld’s Wet’n'Wild, the main feature of Buchaneer Bay, a huge graduated swimming pool and 3 water slides; 6 days a week from 10am and yes, FREE.

the dinner table at Mindil Sunset Beach Market

Leanyer Recreation Park

MATHISON REST AREA  These fires!  Every day since we left Yulara we have seen fires, smoke or evidence of very recent fires (right up to today reaching Broome) at Mathison rest area there was smoke all too close to our roadside camp on this particular night and I didn’t sleep well because in my head I had to have our escape all worked out, apparently Colleen was the same (would have been interesting if we’d had to put our two different plans into action!).

KUNUNURRA  Two nights here, plenty of brochures suggested what to do if you had a week, here’s my recommendation if you only have limited time.  You’ve just gained an hour and a half crossing the NT border so make the most of it and get up for the first flight over the Bungle Bungles (the wind and the heat aren’t up yet so it is a pleasant way to start the day).  Make sure you pick up your mango (frozen or fresh) from Ivanhoe Farm Café and buy the ice cream and milk from Coles (just before they close at 9.30pm) and mix up your own smoothies for a fraction of the café price.  Visit Zebra Rock Gallery which has fish feeding in the Ord River and while we were there the Kiwi bloke in the workshop showed us how easy it is to cut and finish the lovely stones, we bought a bag of unfinished stones to take home and cut, finish, set and enjoy.  The Lovell gallery is well worth a visit, Nadeen Lovell’s Beyond the Beehives mega canvases and her other scenes from the Kimberley are great to enjoy (the quilter in me is truly inspired by her use of colour in a contemporary art quilt way).  Visit Kimberley Fine Diamonds for a look at the famous pink diamonds of the area but don’t expect to make a purchase unless your budget is in the league of high end French Champagne, to swap my engagement ring over to pink stones would leave me with something in the league of five houses on my finger, good thing I don’t like pink!  Colleen & John visited the Mirima National Park, which the locals refer to as the Mini Bungles.  We went to Kelly’s Knob Lookout at sunset which was pretty, but stick to the main roads, no one mentions what’s in the shaded areas of the local maps … shaded = shady.

Zebra Rock Gallery Workshop

ENROUTE TO DERBY/BROOME  Gorgeous scenery, the abruptly changing landscape is stunning and I just love all the boab trees.  We stopped for the night at Mary Pool Rest Area across the causeway (no water across it now in the dry season), heaps of other campers, at least 30 by the time we turned in.

DERBY  I really don’t know what keeps this place going, it shortens the trip to Broome, has gorgeous boabs and huge tides (check out the times of high and low when you arrive and try to see both in daylight, let the incoming tide chase you up the mudflats but don’t let it catch you if you don’t want to get filthy).  Sunset at the Dinner Tree, take a chair and wait at least 20 mins after the last glimpse of sun on the horizon, the colours in the sky intensify beautifully.  There is a large hollow boab on Rowan street perfect for photos, it is amazing that it is so spacious inside and yet still living, I wonder how you age a tree like this that is missing it’s central growth rings?  On the way out of town stop off and look at the Boab Jail tree (you are asked to remain behind the fence and not enter this sacred site) at the same place you can see the 120m long water trough and Frosty’s pool (not much to see here).

Hollow Boab on Rowan Street

BROOME  Book your accom at least 2 days in advance to be sure you get into the park you wish (we are at Palm Grove CP), choose your tours (Camels, Pearling etc) as soon as you arrive or before and book ASAP especially if you are on a limited time line, if you ride camels pre-sunset you will save a fortune and still be able to photograph the camels at sunset (and you wont be as long in the saddle either).
We’re back from our sunset camel ride (got a good deal on 6 people at the last minute to fill the camel train), a little saddle sore and at least 3 of us willing to fly our favourite chiro Ken to Broome for a bit of adjustment ( Rohan still suffering from water slide bruising and would you believe I sprained a finger 3 days ago puting on my walking shoes! flipping difficult to type with pointer and tall man taped together), we’re sure after 5 weeks back at work he needs a short break after his recent trip to NY!  The sunset was GLORIOUS, I look forward to watching the camels tomorrow evening, Cable Beach isn’t far from where we are staying. During the day we’re off on our pearl farming expedition, birthday money burning a hole in my pocket …

Camels in Thongs

Broome feels very Noosa, though we haven’t been into the town centre yet, stay tuned.

In Broome at Cable Beach, I was lucky to take a sunset camel ride.  We drove to the beach and then walked along the sand to the yellow tent where all the camels were lined up ready to go for a walk.  They all had saddles and two people could ride on one camel.  I walked up to the front camel and started to pat it, then Mummy called out my name and Chris the camel driver, heard that my name wad Matilda and he said “let me introduce you to Waltzing Matilda”.  Daddy and I were lucky enough to ride on Tilly.  When Tilly was younger, she used to work on a farm.  Instead of the farmer using a horse or motorbike to work on the farm he used to ride Tilly but one day, Tilly had a car accident and the farmer thought she may be too old and lame to work on the farm anymore.  Tilly was lucky enough to be bought by the Sunset Camel Riders and if she hadn’t been, she would have been sold for dog food.  I enjoyed the camel ride and watching the sunset over the water.  Love Matilda xxxxoooo

Riding on Matilda the camel with my daddy on Cable Beach at sunset

Can you pick which shadow is mine?

Here is a picture of the sunset my daddy took after we finished our camel ride.

Did you know that in SA and NT, Victoria time goes back half an hour, and in Western Australia,Victoria time goes back two hours, meaning to say that right now as it is 9:11pm in Victoria, it is 7:11pm here, in Western Australia.

I’m having such a good time here we are just over the border of Western Australia and in Kununurra.
This morning(at 4:45am, WA time) we got up and dressed in less than half an hour and headed to the gazebo at the front of the caravan park where we waited to get on the bus to the airport to board the plane to the Bungle Bungles!
When we got to the airport we waited in the reception room and were quickly advised of where water and toilets were. We were introduced to our pilot and when “Four adults and two children,” were mentioned, the other pilot joked and said “Well counting him (our pilot) there’s three kids!”
we left the building and walked on the tarmac to the plane . When we reached the plane we were shown how to board and get out of it. Then we got in. There were only seven of us including the pilot, as there were two other planes going up as well, so it was not too tight or noisy.

Ready for take off

Once we were in the air we flew across:first Diversion Dam which diverts the Upper Ord River through Lake Kununurra to the Lower Ord River, second Lake Argyle which is 10,763,000 mega litres, which in comparison to Sydney Harbour, is around 23 times larger in volume and can be up to 63 times larger in flood conditions, third was Smoke Creek, fourth was Lissadell Station, fifth was the Argyle Diamond Factory, and a couple of the last few things to see before the Bungles was Texas Downs Station and the Osmand Ranges which appear as two seperate waves of rock.
Then finally arrived at the Bungle Bungles!

A photo doesn't show how big or how colourful they are! Those fuzzy bits on the green are large gum trees.

The rock formation and colour was amazing, but sadly I was drawn towards motion sickness, but I was not sick.
So on the way back we passed all the same stuff and I got really dizzy, but thanks to Mrs Hamilton (my teacher, for those of you who don’t know)I used her strategy of looking into the horizon where the sky meets the land.
And so we came into land and because we took the morning flight we got served breakfast at the Ivanhoe Cafe, including: a salad, baked beans, eggs, toast and bacon.
After we were dropped off, back at our caravan park we left again and visited some of the local attractions, including:the local gallery and zebra rock souvenir shops.
Then we came back and swam and at 5:19pm we went up to Kelly’s Knob and watched the sun set.

(Sadly during the flight we could not land and take a look around at the places we flew above.)