Month: May 2021

Sweeping up the coast via Broome

May 28, 2021 / fiandadrian

By Fi

We last left off exiting Karijini National Park due to the unfortunate rain. I was excited in a way as I seem to continue to gravitate towards the coast, and this is where we were headed again – to Broome via Eighty Mile Beach.

Our first stop would be on the beach. We found a conservation reserve called Cape Keraudren that had a campground perched on a cliff with stunning views of the coast. With mobile phone reception, we took some time out to catch up with family. Alas, we later paid dearly for this time on the phone, with hundreds of sandfly bites, so a quick walk the next morning was enough, and we headed off further up the beach. Here’s a shot of Adrian apparently pondering the salt water at Eighty Mile Beach.

Our next camp we were hopeful would be sans sandflies. It was pretty good! Port Smith Caravan Park touted a picture perfect lagoon, and we wandered down the road for a quick dip. The people running the place assured us there were no problems with crocodiles, and in this case, and given the yummier people who had gone before, we had a lovely dip in the shallows.

After our new mate the frill necked lizard had finished his breakfast of preying mantis the next day, we were off and headed to Broome. Broome was the place we were going to be able to stock up, get into the Apollo hire place for a few things we needed and hopefully enjoy cable beach. We sure did, we hired paddleboards and paddled out to sea, to play with the turtles off the beach.

It was afterwards our new friend at the paddleboard hire place mentioned that next month the crocodiles would be out there cruising up the coast. Right, I guess again we picked the right time to be on the coast – the previous time it was accidentally picking the perfect time to swim with whale sharks and manta rays.

Broome was also our kick off point for a beautiful weekend at Cape Leveque. Cape Leveque is just north of Broome on the peninsular, and we had chosen a wilderness camp called Kooljaman on the western side of the cape with stunning views over the Indian Ocean and some of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve been lucky enough to have.

We were able to enjoy swimming in their lagoon in warm tropical water without too much fear of crocs or stingers, and we also took some time out to complete a bushtucker tour of the area. I think we ate enough vitamin C that morning to keep us going for a year! The views were spectacular from our campsite and the place was just stunning with its white beaches, red cliffs and blue water.

We didn’t want to leave, but we had a tour booked at Derby, which involved going back to Broome (for more swimming at Cable Beach naturally – apparently with no photos on that day), then on to Derby.

We were picked up at our caravan park early (8AM is early…) and ferried out to the airfield. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but our pilot gave us a quick run through of the day. He would fly us out to the horizontal falls base where we would be greeted by the staff there, then taken for our boat tour of the falls. He would then pick us up and fly us low over the coast depositing us back mid afternoon.

Sounds simple enough. We flew out out over Derby and north-ish to the falls. The falls came into sight briefly, before our water landing near the houseboats. It was a really great setup there, morning teas before being ferried onto the fast boat for a leisurely cruise down “Cyclone Creek” named aptly as it is used as a cyclone bolt hole for boats, particularly their houseboats in the offseason. The water was absolutely pumping into the creek, and our skipper switched off the engines and let us float a few hundred metres down the creek through the narrow S bends.

Later is was time to visit the “Horizontal Falls” named as they appear like waterfalls. The tide rips through the two small openings so hard, that at the smallest part, the difference in height between the water on either side can be up to 4 metres. At 1.5 metres difference, the boat can take us through on a fast ride and drop through the cliff faces – much like a rollercoaster – so that was fun!

The scenery is special, and we were fed a beautiful barramundi lunch while appreciating this stunning area. Not content with just one trip through the falls, our skipper got us back on the boat for another fast ride through the second lot of falls, before we were put back on our plane for the 40 minute trip back into Derby. Pretty impressive operation there, we learned they have 32 flights in there a day, as well as overnight stays available, and to keep that many people going through the place, all fed and happy with their experience is pretty impressive.

Adrian and I however, were happy to ferry ourselves the next day, out of Derby (via a quick stop to look at the mud) and back into the dirt – on to the Gibb River Road.

The Pilbara

May 20, 2021 / fiandadrian

By Fi & Adrian

We had hoped to go for a microlight flight on our last day at the reef, but the weather conspired against us and we used to time to head inland towards the Karijini national park. We picked a suitable station stay a short distance from the park and arrived for sunset.

The next day we topped up the fuel and tourist information at Tom Price before heading to Hamersley Gorge.

A short steep walk into the gorge was rewarded by a cool swim and a massage under the waterfall.

We returned to a free campsite next to a dry riverbed that we had scoped out in the morning. But now the road in was blocked by 2 cones. Following the mantra of always leaving the camp site as it was when you arrived, we carefully replaced the cones across the road and found our quiet spot beside the river.

The next day we set off up Mt Bruce that is well known as West Australia’s second highest mountain (hill). A four hour round trip took us to the summit and back, with a few steep sections to negotiate along the way.

The Mt Bruce walk has fantastic views all the way to the top. On one side the mountains of red rock dotted with green spinifex and on the other a large iron ore mine with mega trucks and mile long trains.

We stayed within the national park at Dales campground, ducking into the gorge for a much needed swim after the days exertions. Small fish removed any excess skin on our feet and the waterfall provided our massage.

Unusually it rained overnight with the campground waterlogged in the morning. The tent people had mostly left by the time we crawled out of the snail.

Before heading out for our gorge exploration we checked at the nearby visitor centre in case the water levels were dangerous in the gorges. It turned out that the rocks in the park are so treacherous to the unwary tourist that all gorges and even Mt Bruce were closed.

Time for a plan change…we headed north to the coast.

Ningaloo Coast

May 12, 2021 / fiandadrian

By Fi & Adrian

The main stop on the way north from Denham was at Carnarvon where we followed a sign promising preserves, farm produce and the best mango ice cream. We weren’t disappointed and stocked up on everything from dried mangoes to sauerkraut. In this photo Adrian is still really happy with the purchase clearly. Carnarvon is also the start of the 300km Ningaloo reef.

After sleepy Denham, in Coral Bay we were met by a mass of humanity with the large caravan parks filled to overflowing. We had a quick dinner and prepared for our Manta Ray experience starting early the next day.

It turned out we chose a good tour as the boat was not full, the owner was a marine researcher and his team couldn’t have been more helpful. We performed the warm up snorkel (mostly to identify the ‘drowners’) and went searching for manta rays. After locating a ‘fast’ manta we got in the water and watched her ‘flying’ up and down collecting food.

With the manta ticked off we went searching along the reef. Suddenly there was lots of excitement as splashing led us to a group of sharks eating a turtle. We didn’t enter the water but watched through our masks lying on the back of the boat until a very large tiger shark checked us out. The large tiger took the remains of the turtle and headed off towards the reef. It was described as a happy dog with a bone looking for a quiet place to munch.

After a couple of snorkels on the reef another tiger shark was spotted and we were all herded into the water for quick encounter. Apparently they usually move on quickly when a group of tourists arrive so we needed to swim quickly. I (Adrian) had a moment of concern when I realised I was closest to it and it wasn’t moving away.

The next day we headed north to Exmouth and had a quick windscreen change before settling into the caravan park. All that bumping around on dirt tracks had big cracks walking across the windscreen!

We were back in the water the next day to chat to the whale sharks. A similar process to swimming with the manta rays, we were going to be told to enter the water quickly from the back of the boat, line up and wait for the shark to come past then start swimming.

“Go” came the command, and we were in and looking to the direction indicated. by our guide. Hours seemed to pass staring into the blue, but soon enough, a dark shadow appeared, then the shadow gained form, and out of the blueness, this giant fish cruised past, munching away happily on its krill, seeing us merely as flies.

These guys were much slower than the mantas and easier to swim with. We were able to let it pass, admiring its majesty, then swim quickly around behind it around to the other side where we could have an amazing uninterrupted view of this gentle giant.

A cracked rib (not ours) shortened our trip but we went out for a bonus snorkel on the reef to finish the day off and got to hang out with this guy.

On our last day at Exmouth we rented some paddle boards and explored the Cape Range coastal area. First stop was Turquoise Bay for a paddle around on our boards in the perfect little bay. It was quite busy so after some good body movement, we headed south along the parks coast to Sandy Beach for a swim and practiced some handstands because, why not.

Finally, we took off to the very southern part of the road in the park and paddleboarded Yardie Creek. Paddling down the creek, it wasn’t long before we felt numerous eyes on us… Looking up we clocked the local protected wildlife, the black footed rock wallabies staring at us from their perches on the creeks sheer cliff walls. A stunning little creek, it didn’t take us long to head up to the end and back, so we had time for extra swimming at Sandy Bay.

Sunset at the lighthouse is mandatory and didn’t disappoint.

Enough coast for a while. Its back to the hills…

Half way map and a bit about our temporary home

May 11, 2021 / fiandadrian

By Adrian

We can tell that we are a bit over halfway through the trip because the fridge is a bit over half full of magnets.

Writing from Broome we have covered a little over 9000km and still have three and a half weeks to go. We have had a request for a map, so the map below shows our track so far (the blog is a little behind the map ;-)) and the letters are the approximate locations we spent an evening or two. This plan gives us some time to enjoy the Kimberly and duck into Kakadu on the way back to Darwin. That is the current plan, but the only certainty is the plan will change…

The ‘snail’ (our Apollo Hilux pop top camper) has proved ideal. With the large distances to travel we rarely stay in a camp site more than 1 or 2 nights, so setup and take-down time is important. Setup isn’t much more than sweeping out the red dust, popping the top and opening the stove.

The 4WD won’t get us over ‘serious’ 4WD tracks but has got over some pretty rough tracks into remote campsites.

When the extra diesel jerry cans are full we have around a 1000km range which has been more than enough.

We can be off-grid which often results in quieter more remote camp sites. It has become a running joke how often there is an empty campsite with great views around the corner from the crowded site with showers and ‘toilets’.

We have also tried some caravan parks in bigger towns which has given us the chance to catch up on washing and refill water.

So far the snails only injury was a windscreen that ended up with too many chips and cracks. We replaced that in Exmouth.

Normal blogging to resume shortly…

Heading to the Coast

May 8, 2021 / fiandadrian

By Adrian

Leaving Laverton we opted to head to the coast rather than an inland route through the wheat belt. Our route took us west to Leonora and north to Leinster for the night before we could turn west for the coast.

Leinster was our first mining town catering almost exclusively to fly-in fly-out workforce from the local mines. It worked well for an overnight stop: $20 for a powered site, wide variety of food at the pub, and no reason to linger in the morning.

A visit to Mt Magnet was mandatory to acquire a Mt Magnet fridge magnet for Fi’s fridge magnet collection. Grids on the road announced the start of ‘sheep’ country. We spotted an occasional lonely sheep searching for feed where once there had been grasses. Now devoid of ground cover plants we had perhaps found the Australian desert.

Our habit of searching Wiki Camps for an appropriate overnight stop near Geraldton revealed a highly rated farm stay with a tour of the animals. It turned out they rescued injured and unwanted animals from ostriches to kangaroos. They all expected us to feed them and we spent a pleasant morning learning about their background whilst handing out breakfast.

The coast beckoned and after passing a pink lake we bypassed Kalbarri which was recovering from a recent blow, and made for Denham on the edge of the Francois Peron National Park. Unpowered sites are often ‘a field down the back’ but here we had absolute beach front with an uninterrupted view of our first sunset over the ocean.

Our tour the next day was with ‘Capes’, a local man who had grown up in the area when it was a goat farm and later helped the area gain National Heritage listing. After a short drive and introduction to the area we kayaked through the shallow turquoise waters of “Big Lagoon”, stopping to identify animal tracks, take in the views and learn how the native animals were returning to the area as in the invaders were being removed. Who knew that echidna tracks head away from their destination?

We spent the day like this, kayaking and learning about the area. We saw sharks, rays and fish, and the odd kangaroo. We went for a cooling swim in the turquoise before working out kayaking muscles and getting back to land for a fresh cook up of locally caught snapper and salad. Each time we landed we were introduced to the country as its not good to surprise the country.