BROOME! / first impressions

So - it's actually 3 months now since we arrived here, got a little bit behind in the posts!  But it's fun to go back and look through the photos from our first weekend in Broome, remembering that feeling of looking out across the bluest sea after weeks of dragging ourselves on and on through the dusty vastness of nowhere...

Photos are -
 / boab at town beach
 / the courthouse markets (unbeleivable!  these two were playing at our local market in Brisbane just before we left, then we arrive in Broome and... voila)
 / roebuck bay
 / camels?  yes - camels!
 / cable beach
 / cable beach again
 / stepping into a new sea - gav...
 / ... and mel
 / streeters jetty
 / sunset at gantheaume point

DARNGKU / Geikie Gorge

So right here at the end of our trip (almost!) we finally booked ourselves in for a tour.  We had read about the cultural tour on Geikie Gorge (read about it here, get the details here) and were keen to book in, not just for a boat trip on a beautiful gorge, but also to get some insight into the aboriginal culture around where we'd be living for the next 6 months.  Geikie Gorge is just out of Fitzroy Crossing, a town about 4 hours drive from Broome where Gav would be spending a bit of time doing some work.  The drive from Parry's Lagoon took us through some of the dramatic East Kimberley ranges, through Warmun (where we stopped at an amazing arts centre - you can now view a Warmun artwork from the Eiffel Tower!), and Halls Creek (where we stopped at the best visitor's centre we've seen, but missed the famous IGA), and finally into FX.  It's a bit of a unique town, hopefully some more on it some other time.  And after a day in FX, we headed out for our gorge tour, with our local Bunuba guide, Bill.

The gorge was formed by the Fitzroy river cutting through a limestone range that is actually an ancient fossilised reef, made by some distant ancestor of our modern corals back in Devonian period.  The river cutting through the limestone creates amazing rock formations, and the annual wet season floods keep the lower parts of the cliffs a pristine white.  Bill's tour took us through the natural history of the area as well as touching on some aspects of Bunuba culture.  He took us up the gorge in his boat, spotting freshwater crocs on the way, and for a bit of a climb up through a cleft to the top of the reef, pointing out bush foods and bush medicines.  Looking out across the reef was like gazing over some alien landscape - with all the jagged rocks, deep clefts and caves, it's easy to see how the Bunuba people were able to hold out against the European invaders back in the 1880s.

We camped out beside the Fitzroy river a couple of nights, then got up early on Saturday morning for our final dash into Broome!

WYNDHAM / Sea At Last!

In the end we couldn't get out of Kununurra too soon - not because of any problem with the town so much as the backpackers in our caravan park keeping us awake all night, the grey nomads with their caravans packed in shoulder to shoulder on all sides, and a bit of a sense that we hadn't come all this way just so we could hang out in a town and drink coffee all day.  So we gave up our plans to spend Mel's birthday relaxing under a tree, packed ourselved up, and hit the road.  [actually, to be more accurate, Gav did the packing up.  And in his eagerness to prove that he was a big boy who could do it all by himself he successfully reversed the car into the camper trailer.  Happy birthday darling.]

We set out through the East Kimberley - vast dry open ranges and distant gorges.  We'd heard of a little out-of-the-way place called Parry's Lagoon where we could camp, and we found it down a corrugated road not far from Wyndham, a little tumbleweedy sort of a town on the coast.  Parry's Lagoon was one of the great finds of our trip - nothing spectacular, but a quiet little campground run a couple who cooked up homestyle meals for us (such a relief after some of the crap we'd been eating!) which we shared with a select group of companions, including some very sincere bird-watchers.  They (the bird-watchers that is) would say things like: "we got 60 this morning" and "that one's a Yellow-Tinted" and "have you seen any Gouldians?".  They were far more interesting than drunken backpackers, and we even got in a bit of bird-watching ourselves: Plumed Whistling Ducks, Brolgas, Grey-Crowned Babblers, a Brown Goshawk and our very first Mistletoebird - among many more.

We stayed 3 nights at Parry's and used it as our base for exploring Wyndham and some of waterholes in the area.  It's an area I'd be happy to explore some more one day - the landscape feels a lot like central Australia, but with stunning little water-filled oases tucked away here and there.  And, or course, The Sea.

The photos:
 / five rivers lookout at Wyndham
 / Old Wyndham
 / The Wyndham train
 / Emma Gorge lower waterhole
 / and higher waterhole
 / reflections in The Grotto
 / a Kimberley sunset

MIRIMA NP / the mini-bungles for mini-adventurers

     

  

KUNUNURRA TOWN / pretending like we're in the big smoke

  

  

  

Our last night in NT was spent at the Victoria River Roadhouse. We picked a spot away from the highway, amongst some trees, and made use of the good facilities. Heading towards WA we had a time change ahead. It would be Saturday morning so we decided to use the time change to our advantage and head to the markets in Kununurra before setting up camp there for a couple of nights. 

The temperature was definitely warming up for us, but Kununurra looked so green and vibrant, the markets held under the trees in a park in town. We browsed, brought fruit and veg, ate fruit ice cream and then headed to a cafe we had heard about - Wild Mango. The coffee was good (even the decaf!), as was the food, and we were happy to be here. 

About the photos - 
/ Wild Mango coffee
/ The appearance of a tiny baby bump and brunch
/ Time at the beautiful park by the Lily pond, birdwatching (beware the poo!)
/ The Lily pond has a huge, old Boab
/ Time spent drawing, this is a Double Barred Finch. 

Things to note:
- Crossing the border there is a quarantine - no fresh fruit or veg, seeds or some nuts. Make sure you've eaten your food! They will make you open up things. 
- We camped at Hidden Valley Caravan Park. The shady sites are cool but some are teeny, tiny. The vibe is a little bit strange with the mix of grey nomads and long-termers. Next time we'd stay by the Lily pond.
- Mirima NP (Hidden Valley) is described as the mini-bungles. It has beautiful rock formations, is right next to town and is 'mini' so easy walks and bird-watching. This is where we first spotted the finches I was drawing.
- Kununurra has a decent Coles, a good cafe, a pool, Target, several options for camping, and good asian next to the visitors centre. El Questro has their own centre in between the visitors and asian.
- The Pump House is a restaurant just out of town, on the Ord River. DON'T GO ON TAPAS NIGHT (Sunday)! It's much better any other night of the week with the full menu. 
- Like most places in the Kimberley, things get quiet in the 'wet', the markets have finished now and I think El Questro is closed for the season. 
- We also went out to the Zebra Rock Cafe for a change of scenery. Fresh mango smoothie was good, menu fairly basic and straightforward.

GREGORY NP

One magical afternoon spent wandering up and around the escarpment at Gregory NP. Spying bright flowers and a little rock wallaby. Funny attempts at self-timer photos. Gav looking like he's about to hop off the rocks. Late afternoon sun in the grass. 

We stayed the night at the roadhouse just 5 km's before the Escarpment Walk. The NP can be explored by 4wd and looks like it would be pretty amazing.