Lake Argyle

This morning we caught up with Mel and Harry who had arrived the night before, before packing up camp and heading into town to check out the local market. We bought a boab tree for our wall and also checked out the Pink Diamonds from the local Argyle diamond mine. I thought I might add another sparkle to my finger. They were so beautiful, but sadly we couldn't even afford a speck!! While we were there there were some regular customers that come over from Switzerland to purchase the very rare pink diamonds, and the owner of the store had her personal collection out. The best diamond in this collection was valued at $800k. Nice!! But the best diamond in the store was on her finger, and it was amazing!!!

We then made our way to Lake Argyle. There is nothing at all there except for a caravan park and a dam wall! The caravan park has a fabulous swimming pool with a great view.

We then sat with Andy and Marilyn, our adopted granddies, and watched the sun set on the cliffs surrounding the dam.

El Questro

We left very early this morning with the hope that we would beat a majority of the bus loads of people into El Questro. We went in to Emma Gorge to get a permit and by the time we got to Zebedee Springs, we realised that about a hundred other people had the same idea. It was pretty full, but we found some space in the warm water and had a dip. 

This place was so enjoyable! There were three main pools with a few smaller areas that you could submerge yourself in. It would have been great to go there later in the day after all the hiking, but they close the springs at 12 for some reason or another! 

From here we went to El Questro gorge. To get there we had to go through quite a big water crossing, much to all of our delight!! Troy even let the kids travel in the back, which they thought was awesome!

The hike up to El Questro gorge was pretty tough, mainly because you had to walk along uneven rocks most of the way, but it was very picturesque. We went to the halfway pool, as past this point you had to walk up a sheer cliff face, and we weren't real keen to do that! We had a swim at the pool before hiking back down again. 

We then went in to the Station to see what was there and found a really nice campsite and a tours office. We sat in the grounds and had morning tea before moving on to have a look at Chamberlain gorge.  We then drove back to Emma gorge, where we ran into our fellow travellers from Sydney! After a quick chat, we set off on our hike up Emma gorge, which proved to be so rewarding. At the top there is water falling down the 65m sheer cliffs that surround the pool. 

The water was fresh, but we were hot after the hike so it was lovely getting in! We saw a few cane toads in and around this pool, so we did our bit in helping to eradicate this pest by killing two. One had hidden under a rock and when Troy moved the rock the toad jumped out, surprising Ronan, who jumped nearly as high. It was pretty funny!! 

We hiked back down, stopping to have a swim in the lower pool too.  When we reached the bottom, we had lunch and a much deserved ice cream. 

We left El Questro and made our way down to check out Wyndham. We stopped at the Grotto for a bit more hiking. This too was picturesque. 

We continued on, making it to Wyndham just in time to watch the sunset over the five river lookout. 

You were right Dad, not much to see there! We took a photo of the giant croc and high tailed it back to Kununurra. 

Will sleep well tonight!

The BBQ Boat

Today we spent the day exploring Kununurra. We went to Kelly's Knob lookout, and got a great view over the town.

We also went to Celebrity Tree park, where we saw another fabulous boab! 

We then went to the Warringarri Aboriginal art gallery, then to Ivanhoe Crossing.

We had lunch at the Mango Cafe where they have delicious mango smoothies. We organised and picked up our 4WD for tomorrow, then went on a BBQ boat down the Ord river. 

We ate a lovely BBQ dinner while cruising down the Upper Ord River at sunset. We then watched as about a million bats migrated south. We searched the water for fresh water crocs, but only saw the reds of their eyes once night fell and the captain of the boat, Rod, got out a huge spot light. We were returned back to the park and got an early night, ready for El Questro tomorrow.

Purnululu From The Air

This morning we left Mary's Pool bound for Purnululu National Park, home of the Bungle Bungles. We decided we would stay in a free stay across from the National Park, and go from there to check out our tour options. The free stay turned out to be closed, so we drove into the park instead. We arrived to find a chopper pilot, Duncan, ready and waiting, so without further ado, other than payment!, we climbed aboard and were off! 

The flight was amazing, and having no doors made it even better!! We didn't seem to be going very fast, until you tried to point at something and nearly lost an arm!! Duncan was also obliging with the photography, tilting the chopper so Troy could get a great pic! Ronan, who was on the side, thought that was awesome!! 

Duncan used to be a chopper pilot during the cattle muster, so he and Troy had a great chat while we flew. Unfortunately for me, my hair tie gave way about three minutes in, and I spent the flight with my hair whipping around, so much so that when we landed I looked like I had a straw broom hair!! Man it was knotty!!

After the flight we continued on our journey to Kununurra. We did intend to stop along the way, but there was nowhere that appealed to me, mainly because I really needed to wash my hair!! The caravan park here is really nice, and on arrival Troy washed Yeti and Oz, and I washed my hair!!!

Geikie Gorge......Or Soon To Be Darngoo

This morning we took our adopted Grandmother Marilyn and went to Geikie Gorge National Park, arriving in time for the first cruise of the morning at 8am. While we were waiting for the cruise to begin we were given a lecture on toilet etiquette. We were told to make sure we close the toilet lid after use to ensure frogs don't get in. Then we were shown why. A massive 3m olive python had been found in a toilet bowl, obviously lying in wait for an unsuspecting frog!! Imagine finding that in your cistern!!  We then walked down to the waters edge where we were to board the boat. Having children paid off for the first time on this trip as we were given the front seats! As it was early it was very pleasant cruising, looking at the fabulous surroundings of Geikie Gorge, which is about to be renamed Darngoo in honour of its original inhabitants. The cruise went for an hour and we saw some stunning eroding cliff faces and a few fresh water crocs.

We went back to the caravan park, said goodbye to Marilyn and Andy, had a quick swim in the resort pool, and set off. We had a quick look around Fitzroy Crossing, before making our way toward Kununurra. We stopped for the night at Mary's Pool on Mary River, a very popular free stay. 

As we were setting up camp we saw a few people with towels over their shoulders heading toward the water. The sign said their were crocs in the water, so surely these people wouldn't be swimming in the water. Troy went to investigate, and came back all wet. Yes sure enough, everyone had gone for a swim. There was a great little water hole that a few of the regulars had told Troy was croc free, so in we went. The water was very refreshing! 

We then had dinner under the stars! Great night!

Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek

We left Oz this morning at the campsite and set off once again on the unsealed road toward Tunnel Creek. Our Sydney friends had told us of a river crossing along the road at some point that may be our undoing, but we were travelling along nicely and thought that maybe in the couple of days since they had been there it had dried up, when we rounded the corner and found this!!

Troy got out and had a bit of a wade through the water, deciding it was too deep for us to get across. We were humming and haaring about what do do when a knight in shining armour came bounding around the corner. Or more to the point Andy and Marilyn from Queensland in a trusty 4WD!!

And being the wonderful people that they are offered to take us in their car to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek! We piled in the back and set off. Windjana gorge was amazing, a really large rock face with a gorge running through the middle. 

The gorge had a few fresh water crocs, so there was no swimming, but you could get up very close to them, and they were small and quite friendly looking!! 

We then went back to Tunnel Creek, which is a creek that runs through a cave, infamous because an Aboriginal outlaw hid here from the authorities. That is about all I know as we opted out of the $60 per head Aboriginal guided tour!! You had to climb over some big rocks to get into the cave, and but once inside it was mainly smaller rocks and was quite sandy and dark. 

At times we had to walk through water, but it only got to about knee deep. About half way along a section of the cave had collapsed, giving a great view of some of the cave walls. It almost looked like a sandcastle! 

We made it to the other end, where you could swim in the creek. We didn't see any crocs here, and Troy and the kids had a quick dip before we made our way back through the cave. 

It took us a while to get out as a big tour group had just arrived and were climbing in through the entrance! We drove back to Yeti, said our goodbyes to Andy and Marilyn and drove back to Oz. We did a quick pack up, and then made our way to Fitzroy Crossing, arriving at the caravan park at the same time some other fellow travellers Mel and Harry from Balnarring, who we first met at Kurrajong, arrived too! We set up camp, then went and had a drink with Andy and Marilyn, who happened to be in the park also, and then another drink with Mel and Harry, before bed!

Oscar's Ranges

This morning we woke up to our last morning in Broome, again a great day! Our path from here was still undecided as Troy was very keen to see Tunnel Creek, but as we didn't have a 4WD and we couldn't hire one in Fitzroy Crossing, we contemplated going to Derby, hiring a 4WD and go into Tunnel Creek from there. This route would take us an extra day, with extra cost, so in the end we decided to head to Fitzroy Crossing and wing it!! On the way we saw a fabulous boab tree, and stopped to take a picture, only to discover heaps more along the way!!

We found a great little free stay in Oscar's Ranges, just before Fitzroy Crossing, although it was 11km off the main road, all unsealed, but heading toward Tunnel Creek. We made it that far, travelling very carefully, and set up camp. 

This was an old quarry site and very picturesque! There was even a water hole and as there were other people in there having a swim we jumped in too! 

Not sure why there were no crocs here, but tried not to think too much about them!! We did a bit of a hike up over the rocks for some great views of the surrounding area, then had another swim. 

Ronan was super excited as he got to build another fire. It was a bit hot for a fire, but it did cool off a little once the sun went down. 

Polo at Cable Beach

Today was our last at Broome, much to all of our disappointment! The kids started the day with a swim, then we went into town to visit the historical society museum. Here we learned a lot about early Broome, including the dangers of the pearling industry back in the 1890's as well as the involvement of Broome in the Second World War. I finally got a pic of a boab tree, although it doesn't really look like an upside down tree when it has leaves on it. All the same they have a very impressive trunk! 

After stocking up on supplies for the next leg of our journey we went to Cable Beach for the polo tournament that is on this weekend. They have roped off a section of the beach for the event and we watched a few three-a-side polo matches.

They are using a plastic type ball, and after watching it go into the surrounding crowd several times, we figured out why!! The horses were very disciplined and fabulous to watch. 

It was a fantastic setting, we watched until we got too hot, then went for a swim!! Tonight we had take away Chinese for dinner while watching the Hawks sadly lose to Port Adelaide.