Derby, Broome & Dampier Peninsula

Derby

Derby is located a few hours NW of Fitzroy Crossing and a couple of hours NE of Broome. We saw the Derby prison tree (an ancient Boab) along with the longest cattle water trough! They breed things big up here ;) We watched some Aboriginal men carve Boab nuts outside the visitors centre. Miss E being the extravert she is, started chatting to them and ended up buying one of the Boab nuts that a guy named Michael had been carving. He also showed Mr J how to make a sore throat remedy out of the nut kernel by mixing it with water & a little sugar. Surprisingly it wasn’t too bad – tasted a little lemony & has one of the highest sources of vitamin C!

Derby is a small point of land amongst massive mud flats on King Sound. Its claim to fame is the massive tides that range from 1-11m. We saw it on pretty much a full tide which was fantastic but there’s not much else to do in Derby. So we ate fish & chips, had mango smoothies at the CWA markets and then headed for Broome! We had to go through a crazy bush fire on both sides of the highway with birds of prey swooping left right & centre. That was just a bit hair-raising!!

Broome

We stayed 30km out of Broome as the caravan parks charge an arm and a leg for children and electricity! We enjoyed lots of day trips in to see & swim at Cable Beach, visit the library, wander around Chinatown & pearl shops (window shopping ;) ), visit markets (Darwin was better!), and patch up our caravan & car after the destruction from the Tanami Track!

Last Thursday we said goodbye to our caravan and drove up to Beagle Bay with our tenting equipment all ready for a good camping trip up at Cape Leveque! We visited Sacred Heart Church at Beagle Bay – the most stunning little white washed chapel with beautiful mother-of-pearl altars. Miss A sang for us acapella – it had stunning acoustics. Sacred Heart students back home – we’re sending a postcard of this church so you can see it too!

After another hour of very sandy 4WD tracks we arrived at our bush retreat – right on a little cove of Beagle Bay. The stunning turquoise water was beautiful along with all the shells on the beach! We got our tent set up quickly then enjoyed a lovely walk (Jesse swam even though it was cool & windy) to collect shells.

That night Kieren and the kids went crab hunting. They came back to the camp fire with a large container of hermit crabs!! They were so noisy that we had to move them away from our campsite so we could sleep!

The next morning we met a family of 4 and enjoyed a perfect, still & sunny day swimming & walking along rock pools & reefs. The boy Mr J’s age spotted a claw of a crab in a rock pool on our walk and we quickly discovered it was a feisty huge Blue Swimmer Crab. After an unsuccessful attempt to extract him from his hiding spot with sticks, Kieren borrowed a crab hook and our washing up container to wrestle this crab out of his cave. It was a fight to the death – the crab attacked the container with his claw and ripped his whole arm off (the crab’s own not Kieren’s!) rather than release his hold! The kids thought that was very valiant of him. So that afternoon we enjoyed comparing boiled crab to grilled crab. Miss T doesn’t like either but the rest of us preferred grilled! What an amazing experience of hunting and putting food on the table! Later that afternoon we tried some kayaking and then had a lovely camp fire complete with marshmallows.

The next morning we packed up in sandy mud after very heavy sea dew.

 We then spent the rest of the day at Cygnet Bay Pearl farm learning about how pearls are made and also enjoying a lazy afternoon tea on the deck of the café. We really didn’t want to leave but had a not-so-fun 3 hour corrugated 4WD journey ahead of us. We would love to go back and see Cape Leveque a little better but fear it won’t be as much of a retreat next time as they are tarring the road in next year. I think I prefer it as an off-the-beaten-track destination. The Aboriginal people we met who own the campgrounds were so lovely and hospitable – but I wonder how they’ll cope with the sheer number of tourists next year.

Mimbi Caves, Tunnel Creek & Windjana Gorge (By Miss E & Miss A)

We went on a fantastic tour with Anthea from the Bunuba Aboriginals at Mimbi Caves, Mueller Ranges. Before entering the caves she welcomed us to country with a smoking ceremony. Before we entered the caves we had to take a small rock and wipe under our arms then throw it in the pool of water so the Rainbow Serpent would know us by our sweat. The pool of the Rainbow Serpent continued through the first cave. This is where the Bunuba ancestors used to hide from the white people – even during the stolen generation era. Some of the tunnels were very tight – you had to squeeze through them. It was also very cold. You eventually came out into a rocky chamber where the spring came out of the rock.

Anthea taught us about bush tucker. We ate bush fig which is like a small fig except you eat it with insects inside to make it sweeter! She taught us about yams. She also taught us about different trees and their uses.

We saw some rock art in the second cave of cloudman and min min. In the second cave we saw a second spring that was longer than the first. Miss T and Mum also spied some ghost bats. We had damper and billy tea for morning tea that Anthea’s sister made.

We also saw a humpy that 2 German squatters made and tried to hide from Anthea’s tribe.

The females of our family got to visit a birthing cave but we can’t tell you about this as it’s secret women’s business. It hasn't been in use since the 1930’s due to a massacre that took place outside the cave. It has bad memories associated with it now.

Geike Gorge, Tunnel Creek & Windjana Gorge

We did the National Park boat trip up Geike Gorge. It is part of the Devonian Reef. We don’t have much more to say cos we are gorged out!

At Windjana Gorge we got up nice & close to the freshwater crocodiles! There were heaps of them – Miss A counted about 83 within a 250m length of the gorge! We also found some more bush fig here to share with other tourists ;)

Tunnel creek is the resting place of a famous Bunuba Aborigine who led an armed resistance against the white pioneers in the Napier Ranges. It was very dark in the Cave and there was lots of places we ahd to wade across water. Miss T got a bit scared. It is 750m long – half way through we went into an adjoining cave that looks like it is held up by columns. There were some amazing stalagtites in the tunnel. We saw a freshie (crocodile) hibernating in a little side cave. We were surprised as it was so cold in the tunnel. At the end of the caves were some more rock art.

After tunnel creek we headed back to Fitzroy crossing but very nearly ran out of fuel! 

Purnlulu to Fitzroy Crossing

Bungle Bungles

We stopped at a free camp just outside the Bungle Bungle (we could have paid $50/night at the caravan park or stayed for free here – no brainer!). The road in was 53km of unforgiving corrugation, winds & turns, creek crossings and nasty rock obstacle courses! By the time we made it to the visitor centre ¾ of the children were carsick and even us adults were feeling pretty seedy. Luckily the roads inside the National Park were straighter and less corrugated!  The actual domes are amazing – striped beehives of rock coloured red & black. We also did a very hot trek into Cathedral Gorge which was beautiful. It was far too hot for Miss T though so we didn’t stay long to look around. 

We raced up north to Echidna Chasm hoping to see the sunlight penetrate through the Chasm at midday. Unfortunately we were a bit late after the difficult walk through the creekbed to get there. But we still really enjoyed the adventure and made it right to the end of the chasm! 

Wolfe Creek Crater (By Kieren)

Being the adventurers that we are we decided the brave a trip to the second largest crater in the world. So after applying some psycho killer repellent we took a short trip down the Tanami Track. I must say this was a surprisingly smooth ride for a 4wd track – then we turned left!! After a bone shuddering ride that rearranged all of our internal organs we arrived at the sign warning us that a gate was ahead (..mate) – very Australian and made us smile.

The crater itself was something of a marvel. The photos really don’t do the crater justice as it is really quite large and about 20meters deep. Quite a steep descent into the crater with some lose rocks but we managed to get down and to the centre of the crater upon which miss T announced that she was just like a billy goat.

That night we camped along the edge of the Tanami Track at a camping spot where we had left the caravan on the trip in. No moon (it was a new moon), no lights and the most amazing star show we have ever seen. The Milky Way seemed so bright, and of course the monkeys had fun with a fire J

Kununurra & a bit of the Gibb River Road!

Kununurra

It was Miss T’s birthday the day after we arrived so we had a quiet day planned so she could play with her new horsie Lego. Unfortunately Master J became very sick with gastro and headaches so while Kieren took him to the hospital (there were no GP services available for 5 days) I took the girls out to a gallery for smoothies, devonshire tea and some fish/turtle feeding by the lake. That night we had nachos as Miss T’s dinner request and icecream birthday cake (a novelty for a June birthday down south!) Master J must have been feeling really ill cos he didn’t want to eat any birthday dinner!! Nan & Pa via skype and the rest of our section of the caravan park joined in singing happy birthday to Miss T.

We stayed another day for me to finish EOFY bookkeeping and to see if Master J was getting better. The caravan parks were so full that they didn’t have any availability to stay extra nights.  Master J stopped vomiting and his temperature appeared to decrease so we decided to keep going to El Questro along the Gibb River Road.

El Questro

We got an unpowered site here so we could have a campfire. We set up camp next to a very friendly NT family with 3 girls who we all got on famously with. Over the next couple of days we spent lots of time lounging by the campfire, the girls playing together, working out our solar power issues (thanks a million Tony!!!), and doing some sightseeing to Zebedee Springs and El Questro Gorge. Mr J was ok but still not himself – just content to laze around. One night our friends offered to babysit so we could go out for dinner. This was first time in 2 months that we had had a date night or anytime together without 4 pairs of ears listening in ;) Bliss!

El Questro Gorge where Mr J faded fast. 

On the walk out to El Questro gorge Master J spiked a bad temp and had balance issues as well as a stiff neck. This scared Kieren and I so we cashed in our last night and took off back to Kununurra after a call to the hospital. It was a bit of a rough trip for Master J with all the corrugated roads accentuating his headaches. It felt very remote at this stage. Kieren dropped us off at the hospital a couple of hours later. His temp was now 40.1 and he wasn’t conversing very well. They still thought he had a viral gastro (I did remind them that we were living in a caravan 8m long and NO ONE else had caught it). So they opted to cannulate and give him fluids and take a blood test which was just as well as he was later diagnosed with salmonella septicaemia. He stayed on the ward for another 2 nights and then had to go back in as a day patient to get more IV antibiotics (the bonus of having a dad who can flush cannulas at home).  The time in the ward was very interesting – certainly like no other hospital I’ve ever worked in. There is only one ward. So paediatric rooms were next to birthing rooms, with dementia rooms across the corridor and even an inmate from the local prison being guarded 3 rooms away. The kids visiting their mum who’d just had a baby were riding scooters up & down the hospital corridor. Unique! Doctor Simon and the nurses (Jaime & Kate) who looked after Master J were amazing. We really couldn’t have asked for better! And unlike city hospitals, the carers get a bed and food – how’s that for country hospitality!

IV bound & first TV access in 2.5 months!

So our stay in Kununurra was much longer than anticipated. We were very thankful to the caravan park for fitting us in down the back of their park at the last minute. They checked every day to see how Master J was coming along! We decided not to do the Gibb River Road (even though I REALLY wanted to) due to its remoteness just in case Master J needed further medical attention. So after a few days recuperation, and with promised Telstra reception we drove south. 

Towards WA

Zebra Rock Mine

This mine & camp-site is situated on the NT side of Lake Argyle (which is in WA) – confusing? Well it certainly was for our devices! They didn't know what time zone we were in! This was a great unpowered campsite run by a unique couple. We got to see the open cut mine – one of only 2 places in Australia where zebra rock forms. We got to choose a family piece to keep which will look great all polished up. Interestingly, scientists are still undecided on how zebra rock forms. Miss E got to babysit a 2 year old and a turtle. Unfortunately the turtle escaped (but not the 2 year old!) There was a fantastic communal campfire and some of the grey nomads encouraged the girls to have a go at cooking damper. So their first go at damper was ok – a bit gooey still inside but the golden syrup made up for it!

polishing the zebra rock with Opal

I was also lucky enough to score a cruise out on Lake Argyle one evening while Kieren looked after the kids. It was absolutely stunning – comparable to Kakadu in bird life but the sunsets were sublime. A highlight of my trip so far. And having silence for a few hours was priceless too.

Lake Argyle, NT Sunset

Lake Argyle

From Zebra Rock Mine we went through Quarantine at the WA border. Kieren wasn’t paying attention to the inspector who asked if we had 5 in the car and Kieren answered ‘yep’. The inspector was a bit surprised therefore to find a 6^th person in the boot of our vehicle. He inspected our vehicle & caravan very carefully after that! Oooops Too carefully in fact – he opened our snack cupboard in the caravan and was bombarded by falling biscuits that had come loose over the corrugated road. :P

We got to Lake Argyle Village in the afternoon after visiting Durack Homestead (pioneering movie Kings in Grass Castles). It’s certainly the best caravan park for amazing views. The orange Kimberley mountain range against the brilliant blue water was stunning. We drove down across the dam wall late afternoon and saw the water pump in action – it pumps a ridiculous amount of water per second for irrigaton in the Kununurra region. The infinity pool perched high on the side of the park was the main drawcard but it was so freezing it was a 1 minute photo dip!

This was a very noisy park though so we moved on the next day towards Kununurra (and also to shop after coming through quarantine!) 

Adelaide River & Douglas Hot Springs

Over the next week we spent a few days relaxing (for most) and working (for me – EOFY!) at Adelaide River. We had our first pub meal which was lovely! This was the site of the army base during WWII so we walked out to the war cemetery the next morning. Master J walked the entire cemetery reading out the inscriptions on each tombstone and in doing so obviously brought home to him how many young men – brothers, husbands, fathers – lost their lives on Australian soil. Miss E also found the cemetery sobering after finding the burial place of the Post Office workers, and in particular, Iris who died in the bombing of Darwin. Miss E had read a book earlier this year called “The Forgotten Pearl” which had a fictional account of the bombing of Darwin and included “Iris”.

That evening we were next to some travelling GREAT-grandparents (in their late 80’s) who took a particular interest in the younger members of our clan. They spent a good hour teaching them how to make and throw a great acrobatic paper airplane! I want to be just like them when I’m a great-grandie!!

From Adelaide River we moved a little bit southwest to a place called Douglas Hot Springs. Cindy – please thank your sister for this recommendation – it was Lovely!! It was now NT school holidays so there were quite a few families around including some very hospitable locals (thanks Lisa!) and another family from Ballarat. We spent 2 lovely days relaxing in the hot springs, singing by campfires (still not sure Dutchmen playing guitar to Waltzing Matilda works – at least not in waltz style!), kids making clay art in the riverbed and trying to catch little fish. 

Hot Springs at dawn

We went up the 4WD track with another Victorian family to Butterfly Gorge – now voted by the kids as the worst gorge we’ve ever visited. We were forewarned by a local and will now heed all local warnings ;)

Butterfly Gorge is meant to be renowned for butterflies and we saw a couple but not many. Instead, we tromped through a half burnt out monsoon rainforest, waded through a stagnant, scum-topped pool (up to our ARMPITS) only to reach the gorge that was a little less stagnant, although had potential IN THE WET SEASON! Jesse was about the only person who had fun as there was another boy his age to romp around with in the filth :P

Deceptively pretty Butterfly Gorge

When we got back to our campsite, we then spent the next few hours trying to

a)      Get the scum off our legs by rubbing sand and water from the running creek  over them

b)      Get the orange muck out of our bathers

c)       Work out what to do with Kieren’s white shirt that was now stained orange! (I ended up chucking it out after napisan x 2 failed)

d)      Remind myself to not trust wikicamp apps but listen to locals!

The day finished on a high though with another campfire with friends in which all of the primary school girls sang songs (complete with actions from the preppies!).

I also had to do some business banking – the only place I could get mobile reception was in a pub 10km’s down the road beside the Douglas River. So I sat on a barstool all afternoon doing the pays listening to fishing stories care of the locals. Life’s never boring on the road!

Back on the road again, we had to stop in Katherine for a day to refuel, restock and take advantage of free wifi in their library (BOOKS! The kids want books!). We ran into our friends that we met at the Devil’s Marbles and had a wonderful dinner together swapping stories and having fun. We were sad to leave as they were heading north and we were heading west. I’m sure we’ll cross paths again though!

The drive from Katherine to the WA border was a long one so we set out early. Our only stop was a trip out to the Gregory Tree – an amazing Boab tree inscribed with the pioneering expedition dates from 169 years ago!! We then made our way over a very dusty track to the Zebra Rock Mine Campsite. But that’s a story for the next blog post :)

Litchfield Adventure

Hi! This is little miss sunshine, and I'll be doing the next post. about an hour out of Darwin is Litchfield national park. This beautiful nature park  is home to some of the most stunning waterholes, falls and billabong's. The place we were camping was just out of the park, and absoulutley filled with termite mounds! the bathrooms were ok, better than some we've seen on out trip so far!


                                                          Buley Waterhole
On our first trip into Litchfeild, we went to buley waterhole, This wonderful series of deep pool and small water falls is a fabulous way to cool down in the heat of the day. the water is very clear with usually  rocky bottoms. There is almost no pond scum or seaweed, and the rock shelf's provide perfect dive boards for cliff bombing!! We stayed there until almost midday, when it was getting a bit busy. We all decided that Buley was definitely on our favourites list!


                                                              Florence Falls
After a bit of lunch, we decided we needed another swim and a change of scenery. Florence seemed like the perfect idea. The falls themselves were cool, though it would have more impressive in the wet season. Down the end was deep, so the little two had to use their noodles. up the shallow end there was MASSIVE fish! We used my rash top as 'net'. We didn't catch any though.
All of this beautiful lush nature is nearly completely surrounded by smooth rock face. We would definitely do this again!

                                                         Magnetic Termite Mounds.
Termite mounds are becoming more and more of a normal sight. We have seen hundreds, but these ones are special. the normal ones are called cathedral mounds, while the ones here are magnetic. They also look different, as cathedral mounds are more rounded on top, while magnetic are horizontally pointy.

Us in front of a cathedral termite mound!!

We all agreed that together they looked like a very messy grave yard. Spooky!

                                                                       Wangai Falls

In the heat of the day, under the shade of  a cool rock face with the roar of a water fall in your ears, it doesn't get much better than this! Unless your me and had a MASSIVE spider on your back! I am mega afraid of spiders, and when my dad suddenly tells me to put on you goggles and get under water NOW... Yep. I totally freaked out! Apart from that 'incident', Wangai falls was stunningly clear and cool. We even  saw a water monitor (a type of goanna)!

Blyth homestead

After a 4 wheel drive track, a dusty track and a small river crossing comes Blyth homestead! This hundred year old web ridden shack was once home to 8 children, Working day and night without parent's. Their dad and mum left them to find work. Not that they got payed, they worked dawn till dusk in the tin mine and still had to do the usual chores around the farm! Even  the youngest had to pitch in! Mum made a point that no matter how much we complained, at least we were better off than them.