Day 85 – Thursday 21 August – Broome to Ngumban Cliffs - 485 km
It would be easy to
say that we got out of bed, drove 485 km and set-up camp on the top of a
Kimberley rock formation. However, that does not do our day justice.
The next-door kids
woke us early and loudly again, although not quite as loud or as early as
yesterday. As we had only 305 km to go we took it easy but still departed
before 8:30 am.
I ignored the Derby
turnoff and saved 90 km and two hours. Shirley was sort of OK with that. We
filled up with diesel at Willara Roadhouse as we were not sure what lay ahead.
We arrived at our
destination at 12:20 pm. It was 23 in the car and 33 out of it, so we had lunch
and pressed on. Another 180 km had just been added to the day. We again filled
up at Fitzroy Crossing – for the same reason – and had an ice-cream.
Our day was a trip of constantly changing scenery. Termite mounds were present for maybe 60% of the trip. Big mounds, little mounds, red mounds, grey mounds, complex formations, simple mounds, some with plants embedded – most without.
Much of the trip featured Boab trees – one of our favourite items of flora in this corner of Australia. Big, small, wide, narrow, with leaves, without leaves, with lotsa nuts, with few nuts, with no nuts.
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| A very big Boab tree |
We passed over a number of rivers with water, and many more without water. Some of them had one lane bridges. A couple of them had no sides on the bridges. There were undulating roads, flat roads, straight roads and twisting roads. Most were in an excellent condition.
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| A One-Lane Bridge - with sides |
We saw barren plains,
and lots of evidence of cool burns – and a fair share of hot burns.
Kimberley rock
formations appeared and we smiled. Many different plants with flowers appeared.
If you took the
tourists off the road it would be a lonely place to drive. Most wave to you.
By 3:30 camp had been established at the top of a Kimberley range, at Ngumban Cliff Rest Area. The views were breathtaking in all directions – 360 degrees. The photos do not do it justice.Some of the views from our camp are below.
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Above & Below - Views from Ngumban Cliff Rest Area |
Just after 5 pm we positioned our chairs to watch the sunset. It was better than OK.
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| Sunset at Ngumban Cliff Rest Area |
So, yep, we got out of bed, drove 485 km and set-up camp on the top of a Kimberley rock formation. Life is OK.
Day 86 – Friday 22 August – Ngumban Cliffs to Mary Pool - 102 km
It was a 2am trip outside to look at the heavens. No moon, no artificial light – just stars. Being on top of a plateau we could see everything that there was to see. It was magnificent.
I went for a 7:30 am walk to get a couple of photos. We had breakfast around 8:15 am and relaxed as we have 10 km to drive before 10:30 am. A flock of corellas came for a look and breakfast on the yellow flowers.
Around 10:15 am we
retraced our steps about 10 km to do a tour of Mimbi Caves. Our aboriginal
guide – Germaine – met us at 10:45 and looked after us for over two hours. We
walked about 500 metres to the entrance of two caves where camping chairs were
set up around a campfire. Germaine took us through two caves and told many
stories of his life, his forebears and dreamtime stories. He showed us some
rock art and explained the meaning of each.
Our total walk was
over 2 km and much of the cave walking was over rocky paths, some of it
stepping stones over water. One visitor took a wrong step and found out the
temperature of the water the hard way. Tepid.
It was an enjoyable
and educational two hours that finished with billy tea and damper.
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| A sample of the above ground rock formations |
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| Below - Germaine - our guide - at our meeting place. |
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| Local Fossils |
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| Rock Art |
Click here to see the full list of Mimbi Cave photos.
We drove above 90 km
and camped beside the Mary River. It is a well-used site with lots of shady
trees.
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| Our site at Mary Pool Free Camp |
Although the temperature was in the mid 30’s I lit a fire and cooked a beef camp-oven stew and herb damper. Luckily the shiraz had been in the fridge for a day or two. It was a pleasant evening dining under the trees and the stars.
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| Camp-fire and camp-oven dinner |
Day 87 – Saturday 23 August – Mary Pool to Durham River - 405 km
We were on the road
just after 8 am after a pleasant stop at Mary Pool. Around 120 km later we had
filled up with fuel at Halls Creek and were inspecting “China Wall", a natural
vein of sub-vertical white quartz, often rising six metres above surrounding landscape.
We saw three instances of the wall from the same car-park, and also saw more
instances of the wall 240 km east of where we took our first photo. The wall
‘snakes’ across the country like the Loch Ness monster.
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| Above - The main bit of China Wall on display Below - Two other sections of China Wall (Left - 500 m west of the above photo) (Right - 220 km east of the above photo) |
Thanks to frequent ‘quarantine’ signs advising that we could not take fresh fruit or veggies into/or within 100 km of Kununurra we stopped for lunch and cooked spuds/carrot/broccoli/tomatoes and apples. An onion was sliced and frozen. Bananas, mandarin, cucumber, tomato and avocado became lunch. No waste in the Kelly caravan.
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Above & Below - Great scenery to drive through |
Onwards we pressed through some magnificent Kimberley scenery. There was lots of cool burning going on, some with a decent flame. Just after the photo below was taken a magnificent red kangaroo (about the height of the car bonnet) decided to get away from the flames and cross the road.
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| Kangaroo-scaring 'cool burn' |
There was no way that I could stop or dodge. However prayer seemed to work as the striking creature changed its mind when it was about one metre from the car. Phew.
We needed an ice-cream
at some remote roadhouse.
Around 3pm we pulled
into Durham River Rest Area and relaxed. For the third day in a row I could
write words for the blog but did not have internet access to publish it.
The sunset and post-sunset photos involved the burn-off smoke haze. There are no clouds in the photos below.
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Above - Sunset at 4:50 pm Below - The sky at 5:25 pm |
Thankfully the evening
cooled down and was pleasant for sleeping.
Day 88 – Sunday 24 August – Durham River to Kununurra - 87 km
It was an easy and picturesque drive in to Kununurra, a mere 80 km.
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| A sample of the scenery and excellent quality road in the Kimberley |
We arrived by 9am and needed to fill in two hours before check-in time. So we went to Coles and restocked the fruit bowl. Then we joined a queue to give the caravan and car a much-needed wash. That was achieved and we still had time for a mango smoothie before we checked-in.
Camp was established.
A few jobs were done. The pool was visited and was refreshing as it was 35
degrees by now. Some washing was done, a couple of additional jobs were
completed, and we hit the pool again.
Day 89 – Monday 25 August – Kununurra Day 2
The western section of Mirima National Park virtually bordered the caravan park that we were in, so it was the first place to visit and walk - before it got too hot.
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| Left - Our caravan from Mirima National Park Right - Mirima National Park from our caravan |
We should have started earlier as our 2.5 km walk started around 30 degrees and ended around 34 degrees. However the views were magnificent and reminiscent of the Bungles Bungles (as it was called when we first visited that amazing place).
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Above & Below - Views in the Mirima NP |
We then visited an art gallery (Artopia) and a diamond jeweller before heading back to camp for lunch. As we drove around town we spotted a small flock of red-tailed black cockatoos.
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| Red-tailed black cockatoos |
It was then time to visit Ord Metal Art (which was closed) and Kimberley Ornamental Stonecraft who mine, model and sell zebra rock ornaments. Zero investment so far.
It was touching 37 degrees as we stopped at the mango smoothie place and drank them in the cool of shade from a mango tree. Our caravan park was a former mango farm and it still has five types of mangos. Locals are free to grab some before the bats move in and destroy the fruit.
It was apparently 39 degrees as we decided that the pool was the preferred spot to be - twice.
We headed out to Ivanhoe Crossing - the home of a 3 metre croc - for a sunset photo.
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| Ivanhoe Crossing at Sunset |
Day 90 – Tuesday 26 August – Kununurra Day 3
Our day started at Mollie Springs, a natural spring-fed waterfall and pool. It was 30 km of superb highway and 3 km of terrible rocky bush track. But it was worth the effort.
We got wet and enjoyed getting wet. We chatted to other people enjoying the pleasant spot.
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Above - Mollie Pool as we first saw it. Below - Mollie Pool from above the waterfall |
As we headed back to town we stopped at the Ord River dam and took a photo, as well as watched a crocodile looking for 'customers'.
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| Ord River below the dam wall and a local resident |
We headed back to camp for a relax and lunch, then we went shopping and stocked up on necessary items.
I provide the following two signs to enlighten your day. The sign on the right was on a tree that was overhanging the pool.
*** This chapter is Now complete ***
Bridges with no sides. We know I love them. Sounds like you are having a great time. Lots of memories.
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