SAFARI TO THE NORTHAM RALLY - PART 3
Day 15 - Sun. 1st Sept. - We visited Mirima National Park, in Kununurra’s backyard with its "beehive" limestone formations similar to the formations of the Bungle Bungle and Keep River National Park.
During the trip we have had lots of jokes about collecting and cooking roadkill. I thought at least we could try some kangaroo - from the supermarket frig. Roo meat has to be cooked quickly at high temperature and my "other half" insists on his meat being overcooked, so I thought overcooked kangaroo steaks would end up like shoe leather. I decided I could cook kangaroo sausages well enough to satisfy "him" and they wouldn’t be tough. We are both hearty eaters, but these sausages defeated us. We couldn’t off-load the remainder to our fellow travellers and we couldn’t even tempt the crows we encountered the next day to finish them off.
We headed west towards Wyndham. Having in mind that Goldie’s motorhome engine had overheated, Joe keep reminding us by UHF radio to check our engine temperature gauges. It became a running joke, but unfortunately, it didn’t remain a joke for much longer.
Everyone told us we just "had" to drive to the top of the Bastion in Wyndham to the Five Rivers Lookout. Neil & Sandy decided not to attempt it in "Myrtle" and Jim & Dell opted out part way up. Joe & Kath drove up behind us and, just before the summit, Joe remarked that his engine was heating up. On stopping at the top, Joe opened the bonnet and left the motor running so the fan would cool the engine. On attempting to re-start the engine after it had a rest, it was completely dead. Great consternation. Did we tempt fate with the jokes about motors overheating?
The vehicle had to be taken back to Kununurra for repairs as the local garage was not equipped to handle the job. As usual our CMCA insurance came up trumps, the tow was authorised immediately and a tilt tray truck arrived from Kununurra in well under two hours from the first phone call. All this happened on a Sunday afternoon. Doesn’t it always?
As we went to so much trouble to reach the Five Rivers Lookout, I had better tell you a bit about it. The view from the lookout was breathtaking and the vista encompassed the King, Pentecost, Durack, Forrest and Ord rivers where they enter Cambridge Gulf. Unfortunately, our appreciation of the view was tempered by our concern about Joe & Kath’s plight.
After the tow truck arrived to take "Kinnell" back to Kununurra, the rest of us set off. We stopped to have a look at the Grotto, an enormous chasm that, in the wet season, has quite a few significant waterfalls tumbling into it. The 300ft deep waterhold is accessed by 140 stone steps but, after the events of the day, we didn’t feel like a swim. It was a very subdued group that sat around in a rest area for Happy Hour that afternoon.
Day 16 - Mon. 2nd Sept - The day started with a round table discussion and we agreed we all wanted to return to Kununurra and wait until Joe & Kath could proceed. We had no idea how long that would be, but our heavy hearts lifted when the decision was made. On arrival in Kununurra we were delighted to find that the motor had not seized and that an electronic safety device had overheated (as it was designed to do) and prevented damage to the engine. The repair bill was minor and we were all ready to go by lunch time.
We set off westward again, then turned south, through dramatic red mountains. There were no rest areas in the last couple of hours’ driving before Halls Creek so we were committed to go that far. Our rest area guides mentioned Caroline Pool and described the road as 15km of "good gravel". We have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as "good gravel" or, alternatively, we have come just before the next grading is scheduled. The road to Caroline Pool was badly corrugated and our careful driving meant that darkness fell before we reached our destination. We have seen car/caravan combos hurtle past us on these roads and wondered if the driver would be going quite so fast if he could hear the banging and rattling going on in his caravan the way we can in our motorhomes. Yes, you can skim over the corrugations at around 80kph, but we do not feel that is a safe or appropriate way to travel in a motorhome.
Day 17 - Tues. 3rd Sept. - Caroline Pool is absolutely gorgeous with red hills dotted with green and cream spinifex dropping to the waterhole fringed with white gums. Pity the road was so bad. Peter & I detoured to see China Wall, an amazing natural quartz wall up to 4 metres high, only half a metre or so wide marching for kilometres across the hills. The road was edged by lots of Sturt’s Desert Rose bushes in bloom.
Thankfully, we were back on bitumen at Halls Creek. We stopped for lunch at Mary’s Pool, 105km from halls Creek and all agreed it was a lovely spot, but a bit dry and dusty at this time of year. The highway skirts the Great Sandy Desert to the south and the countryside is mostly flat red plains dotted with clumps of spinifex. For the last couple of days there has been no wildlife near the road except birds, and virtually no roadkill. We stayed at the Fitzroy River Lodge and enjoyed a swim and a leisurely happy hour.
Day 18 - Wed. 4th Sept. - We took an early tour in Geikie Gorge run by C.A.L.M. (Dept. of Conservation and Land Management). Boat trips leave at 8am, 9.30 and 3pm, with an extra tour at 11am in winter - cost $20. Sunscreen is provided as it is in an open boat.
Geikie Gorge
Geikie Gorge is absolutely lovely with the Fitzroy River perfectly reflecting the colours of the cliffs, the top half of which is streaked red and dark grey while the lower half is natural white limestone. The action of the flood waters carrying abrasive sands, not only cleans, but also erodes the limestone into fantastic shapes.
There were plenty of freshwater crocs - on the mud banks, lying quietly in the water and sunning themselves on branches. I could say we saw more than 60, none very large, but it was likely to be the same 30 spotted twice. Sandy was thrilled to catch them on video. We saw plenty of birds - darter, cormorants, ibis and an osprey. A great trip.
Peter and I headed off towards Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge National Parks, while the rest of the group relaxed in the caravan park. From the warnings to "take care" and "look after ourselves" etc. it appeared that we were heading off into "Terra Incognita".
Guy Minter had told us that the Leopold Downs Road to Tunnel Creek was quite O.K. if we took it slowly. Unfortunately, at the speed we were taking it, the trip to the National Parks would have taken us a couple of days. Maybe Guy didn’t mean quite that slowly. After 15 minutes or so of trying to find the least corrugated path in the road and driving around the bits and pieces that had been shaken off other vehicles, Peter "spat the dummy". When I suggested that we could take a tour, he grabbed that option like a lifeline.
Quick trip back to the Fitzroy Crossing Info Centre where we booked a trip for the following day leaving from Derby ($90 p.h.).
Day 19 - Thurs. 5th Sept. - Our day trip to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek was in a Coaster bus. The first 50km or so of the Gibb River Road is bitumen, and then it was corrugated dirt which we travelled at around 80 kph - a teeth-chattering and window-rattling speed to skim over the corrugations. That is one bus you would not like to buy to convert to a motorhome.
Our first stop was at an enormous boab tree, 2,000 to 2,500 years old. This was an opportunity to check the tyres which the driver did at every stop. We came across a huge 4WD tour bus lying at a strange angle with a broken rear axle - a sobering demonstration of what can happen on these roads.
The spectacular limestone cliffs of Windjana Gorge soar 90m above the Lennard River that rushes through the gorge in the wet, but was a series of large waterholes when we visited. The dramatic cliffs are streaked with red and dark grey algae with natural white limestone on the lower section that is cleaned by floodwaters. These colours are offset by beautiful River Red Gums with their graceful gleaming white trunks.
Windjana Gorge
There were lots of freshwater crocodiles sunning themselves on the banks of the waterholes and languishing in the shallows and one particularly large one on a log right beside the walking path.
Though we saw many Crocs, this one was almost too close for comfort…
Tunnel Creek National Park is also part of the ancient coral reef from the Devonian era 350 million years ago. The exposed edge of the reef towers around 90 m above ground but it is estimated to extend at least 900m below ground. Visitors walk and wade through a 750 metre long tunnel carved by the stream through the reef. Mid way a partial collapse of the roof gives a welcome infusion of light, creating an eerie green effect in the water. A visit to Tunnel Creek is an unforgettable experience.
A partial ceiling collapse halfway through lets light stream into Tunnel Creek
Some idea of the scale can be appreciated from the back entrance to Tunnel Creek
Lillimooloora homestead, now in ruins, served as a police outpost from 1893 and it was here that the Aboriginal tracker Jandamarra (Pigeon) shot his friend and colleague, Constable Richardson. He eluded police for three years by hiding out in Tunnel Creek and in a cave high in the cliffs of Windjana Gorge.
This day tour has been one of the highlights of our trip so far.
Day 20 - Fri. 6th Sept. - It didn’t take long to look around Derby. The wharf stands on enormous wooden stilts above mud flats, exposed because of the tremendous tidal variation in this area of up to 11 metres. The Prison Tree is a 1,000 year old boab with a hollow trunk where prisoners were supposedly detained.
We drove on to Broome where we met up with the others in our group who had gone directly from Fitzroy Crossing. We had chosen the Cable Beach Caravan Park - very nice but quite a hike from the beach. At "Happy Hour" I suggested to Jim that they could ride their bicycles to Cable Beach instead of driving in their motorhome. They had bought the bikes and bike rack for the trip and had not had the opportunity to use them so far. Jim jokingly said that the only use for the bicycles would be, if he backed into something, he would hit it with the bikes before hitting it with the motorhome. Prophetic words in view of what happened next morning.
Day 21 - Sat. 7th Sept. - As we were driving out of the caravan park this morning Jim advised by radio that there would be a delay because he had backed into Alex (another CMCA member). I had an awful vision of this 70-something gentleman lying on the roadway with "Bluebird" on top of him. Luckily, all that had happened was that, as Jim reversed out of his campsite, the bikes on the back of his motorhome had contacted with Alex’s motorhome which was being driven past the site at the time. The passenger door and front corner of Alex’s motorhome were damaged and the bicycles resembled modern sculptures. The collision had been at such a low speed that there was not a mark on Jim’s motorhome. The bikes were useful after all!
Sandy & Neil told us this morning they have more problems with their motorhome, including a leak in their new radiator and they will have to stay in Broome for repairs. They insisted we continue with our trip as they want to move slowly down the coast to Northam and not follow our planned itinerary.
Our sightseeing today started at the markets at the old Courthouse, then we drove to Gantheaume Point where there is a spectacular view of the white sands of Cable Beach fringing the incredible blue of the ocean, both contrasting with the dramatic red soil and rocks. Anastasia’s Pool, built by a former lighthouse keeper for his arthritic wife, shares the Point with the new light tower that
doubles as home to a family of ospreys.
Cable Beach is very inviting, with a wide stretch of dazzling white sand sweeping from Gantheaume Point and edging an azure blue sea. At sunset the dunes have a line of spectators waiting with hightened anticipation for nature’s spectacle. The disappearance of the glowing orange orb of the sun was greeted by a collective sigh from the assembled crowd.
Sunset from Cable Beach, Broome.
Day 22 - Sun 8th Sept. -
The Japanese cemetery in Broome is a sad monument to the hundreds of men who came, hoping to make their fortunes in the pearling industry, but who never went home. The eucalypt trees in the cemetery under-score the foreignness of their final resting place.The Pearl Luggers museum gives an insight into the world of the pearl diver and talks are given by an ex-diver. In the hey day of the industry in the early 1900’s there were around 400 luggers working out of Broome, and this has reduced to a mere handful today. In the early days the sale of pearl shell was the main income earner, but now the harvesting of pearls is the focus of the industry. Immature pearl shells are collected and taken to a pearl farm where technicians implant a nucleus in the oyster. Our visit to this museum was well worthwhile.
We all enjoyed our visit to Broome which Peter likened to the "Noosa Heads of the Kimberley".
Since I wrote this article I have written two books to help travellers in Australia, more details can be found at http://evons-books.blogspot.com/, I also post new articles to associated blogs linked off that site.