Broome Time

Ahhh Broome-picture this-shimmering turquoise water, 28-30 degs every day, water temp 20 degs, historic town, good coffee, mango smoothies aplenty; and enough remote scenery, whacky characters and indigenous culture to stop it being too bland and gentrified. Damn near perfect place - never wanna leave! We've ticked off a few 'must do' Broome tourist pleasures. First stop a camel ride for the kids on Cable Beach. The camels look cute and make for a great photo opportunity, but the girls found them a bit grumpy and were a little bit scared being that high off the ground. It was fun never the less and the camels look quite majestic against the beautiful beach sunset.One afternoon we drove the 4WD onto Cable beach (as you do up here) and had a beach BBQ as the sun was setting. The next night we did sunset drinks all over again with our friends Terry and Trina who we initially met in Kununnura. The kids loved swimming and playing on the beach until it is dark ( pitch black by 5.45pm here).We took a couple of days out from our Broome sojourn, to visit some more remote beaches on the Dampier Peninsula. All land on the peninsula is owned by indigenous communities, so much less touristy and developed than Broome. We stayed two nights in Middle Lagoon, beautiful beach and the most magnificent shells to be found. Surrounded by water, the winds were howling at night, so a few restless nights while we listened to the tent squawking and groaning. We also spent a few nights in a remote Aboriginal bush camp past Cape Leveque called Gambanan, where some of the local folk still manage to live in a semi-traditional way, catching their own food and telling some tales around the campfire...Sadly, this will be my last blogspot, the travelling carnival is almost over for now. Time/energy/finances have caught up with us, not to mention wanting to spend more time up here in the warmer parts while we can. We will be travelling home from here along the Tanami Track,a long and cold road it will be, having been spoilt living up here in paradise for so long. We look forward to catching up with you all in person and boring you with even more stories and more photos (wait there's more...). We hope we've encouraged some of you to get out and explore this diverse and unique country ( if I can survive camping for 3mths you all can too!),it really is a very special and interesting place (hope it stays that way for a long time too come!). I will do a wrap up blog when I get home- hits/misses, highlights and observations from our trip. Hope you've enjoyed the ride-we have.... Xxx

Burger challenge

Even the burgers are big in the Kimberley! But not too big for Kylie:-)

The Gibb River Rd ( eat my dust...) Kunnunura to Derby W.A.

We made it! The Gibb River rd is officially ticked off the 'bucket list'! The Gibb River rd is a much hyped (and even notorious) 4wd track from one side of W.A.to the other, across the remote Kimberley region beginning for us in Kunnunura and finishing in Derby. There is of course a perfectly good, sealed road running alongside the Gibb but that is for 'caravanners' and mere mortals:)We spent 10 days exploring the Gibb River rd, and actually found it to be much less challenging than the 'hype'. Some sections of the road are in the process of being sealed and graded so much less thrills and spills than anticipated. The main reason tourists drive along the Gibb is to see the remote gorges/ waterfalls that populate this harsh landscape. The first stop, was the famous El Questro station, over a million acres of spectacular land that they luckily share with the uber-rich and us scruffy camper types also. El Questro have an ultra slick marketing arm, so the campsite and gorges were pretty crowded with local/international tourists. We had a long walk into the spectacular Emma Gorge and a dip in the warm Zebeedee springs. We also did a few 4wd tracks around the property, such vast and stunning scenery.The most remote part of the Gibb is the drive further north off the road to the Mitchell Plateau. This was most definitely a heart thumping road, 5hrs of heavy corrugations, heat and dust and an overnight stop at Drysdale Station to complete the journey. The Mitchell Falls were an awesome sight- in a 'Bear Grylls' moment we caught a chopper into the falls ( it took 6mins), climbed down a cliff for some happy snaps and then stripped down for a river crossing to start the walk (this was all before 8.15 in the morning). As Alice said " this is like a real adventure", sure felt like it!We explored the Manning gorge, that involved yet another river crossing, this time with a small boat and an interesting pulley system ( see pic). A stunning waterfall and beautiful plunge pool was our reward at the end of the walk. The Bell gorge was another beautiful cascading waterfall past wonderfully smooth rocks and meandering creeks. The Silent Grove campsite here was particularly pretty, set amongst huge boulders and shady trees.Towards the Derby end of the Gibb, the kids were excited to explore the Tunnel Creek N.P. The tunnel was a hangout of a famous Aboriginal man on the run from the law. The walk involved a 1km long tunnel crossing through a cave system, wading though freezing waters and negotiating a dark passage with our torch. We saw a few ghost bats and imagined a lot more lurking in the dark depths of the cave, a fun distraction and something different from all those gorges.What a great adventure, we arrived in the town of Derby in desperate need of food supplies, a washing machine and a hot shower. We were feeling pretty chuffed with our outback challenge complete, until we started chatting to some ladies who just finished riding their pushbikes along the length of the Gibb...amazing.We are currently enjoying the beautiful turquoise waters of Broome, more from here later...

Kununurra/Bungle Bungles

We have spent over a week in Kununurra in a great caravan park next to the scenic Ord river system. It is great to find a place lush with waterways and green parks,unlike most of the Kimberley. We have enjoyed relaxing here, watching the magnificent sunsets over the Kimberley,the river teeming with bird and plant life. We went croc spotting at night just metres from our campsite after watching some Aboriginal kids with their torches the night before. We managed to find a fairly big freshwater croc smiling back at us under the torchlight, a cheap thrill for the evening.On our first day here, cooling off in the pool we met a teacher from Woodend Primary, it had to happen...It was good to see a familiar face from home and have spent most nights with her and her husband, watching the sunset and smugly basking in the warmth of this place far from home. Trina and Terry have heaps of local knowledge, they travel up here to do some casual teaching every year whilst escaping the winter. Nice lifestyle.While based here we camped two nights in the Bungle Bungles ( Purnululu N.P.). Did some great walks to see the beautiful bee-hive domes the park is famous for and walked into a great cave like chasm called Echidna chasm. The Bungle Bungles were formed over millions of years, the patterns of conglomerate rocks are amazing, a very impressive sight, worth the hour long very slow and bumpy drive into the park.The Kimberley is of course famous for the Boab tree, we have been interested to spot many a fine specimen. At our camp site we have a Boab washing line, a rope strung between two fine, majestic old Boabs, a real symbol of the outback.We are taking off on the Gibb River rd tomorrow, first stop El Questro homestead. Will write more once we have survived the infamous road, should be a thrilling ride....

Darwin-hot city delights

We have just spent 4 nights exploring the wonderful tropical city of Darwin. Having done some internet research, I was keen to explore the local foodie market, Parap market,so we arrived early on the Saturday morning. It was hot,busy, wok scented smoke filled the air and there was a queue for coffee, I knew I was in the right place for some foodie action. The selection of authentic Asian food was great, the kids were on their best behaviour having been bribed with the promise of an afternoon at the waterslides. I was keen to try as much Asian food on offer as I could, having survived thus far on fairly simple camp meals. For the foodies the menu sampled went a little like this: fantastic authentic satay kebabs, spicy chicken and prawn laksa, coconut and banana pancakes, mango lassi and coconut juice, very spicy and very tropical. This was all before 11am, no wonder my shorts are a little tight! But alas I digress,there were many other highlights to this tropical city. We spent quite a few hours exploring the NT museum, which had a great Cyclone Tracey display and excellent bird and animal sections for the kids. Lots of water action is essential up here in the tropics, any time after lunch requires a swim, so we took the kids off to a great free waterslide park, they had a ball and also to the wave pool at the Darwin waterfront. We did the obligatory trip to the Mindil beach sunset market, great sunset but markets were very ordinary.Darwin, being a city built on a harbor has some beautiful bays to explore, all turquoise shimmering water, Fannie bay was beautiful and Cullen bay was a great marina with some interesting bayside eateries. You get the impression that Darwin is just starting to emerge as an interesting city, development is half finished and it still has an outback town feel to it, which is part of its charm.After Darwin we drove through Litchfield National Park, a day trip for Darwin people so it was fairly busy. The Wangi falls were spectacular, as were the giant termite mounds at the entrance to the park. We stayed a night at Buley rockhole, which were a series of cascading pools and waterfalls, the kids were in heaven sliding and jumping from pool to pool.We are currently in the Kimberley, the hottest we have been so far. We spent last night at a bush camp (ie.no pool/shower) in the Gregory National Park, it was 35 deg and humid. The kids were so hot they decided to use some bush ingenuity and create their own 'bush shower' (see pic), amazing what you can do with some bread bags and tank water!I am writing this from Kununurra, just over the W.A. Border in the Kimberley, such a pretty spot by the lake. We will be here for a few days, awaiting a service on the car before we tackle the mighty Gibb River Rd over to Derby. Over and out from Kylie in the Kimberley...

Kakadu National Park

We've just finished finished exploring the behemoth that is Kakadu National Park. Highlights include the fabulous Gunlom Falls, that were still flowing and just opened after the wet season clean up. Gunlom is a beautiful waterfall cascading down to a wide open pool. Climbing to the top of the falls were several other pools beautifully clear for swimming after the sweaty ascent ( see pics: you may recognize the shot, it's used for a lot of tourism ads). It's mostly a 4wd track on the way in, so that keeps some of the 'terry tourists' ( like ourselves :) away, and makes for a nice campsite. Great spot and not as well known as Jim Jim and Twin falls, that were currently still closed due to the number of crocs still present after the Wet season.We also did the classic Yellow Water billabong cruise on the Kakadu wetlands. It was great bird and croc spotting, not crowded ( we figure we are about 2-3wks ahead of the tourist pack) and very peaceful and serene cruising around such a complex Eco-system. The girls were expecting to see crocs leaping out of the water ( like on the front of the tacky tour brochure where they hand feed them meat in a grand display) but instead found the crocs spend most of the day not moving an inch on the sunny banks.The Ubirr rock art was also amazing, we did a tour there with a ranger who thrilled the kids with the indigenous tales of wonder and dreaming, usually ending with someone being killed or eaten ( most of the stories from the rock paintings are cautionary moral tales about right and wrong). The view over the floodplain at Ubirr was stunning, another classic shot for the Macca-Myer photo album...We really enjoyed Kakadu, there is an argument among travellers to Kaka-don't ( thinking the park is overated)but most people race through the park with not enough time, expecting to see everything.The locals generally seem to prefer Litchfield National Park which is smaller and can be seen as a day trip from Darwin. We were surprised too find that the weather wasn't as hot as we were expecting in Kakadu. Apparently the weather had moved from Yegge (cool but still humid) to Wurrgeng (cold weather) a month earlier than usual. It was still 27 degs every day so it certainly wasn't cool by Woodend standards!Interesting bits: Jules is keeping stats on the amount of kms's we've driven and the petrol price on an I- phone app called 'Gas Cubby'. For the record we've driven 7,000km's, the most expensive diesel price being $2.33 at Kings Canyon ( any more specific boy details will need to be directed to Jules, not my department...) Jules is trying to save money on fuel by keeping the air-con in the car off as much as possible, the girls usually 'crack it' by mid arvo and demand it goes on...Ahhh the negotiations that come with life on the road....Best wishes to you all from the top of Australia...next report from Darwin.

The Tropics- Mataranka, Katherine Gorge

It's hot,it's humid, the Mozzies are a bitin', it's the tropics...After some freezing nights in the desert, the girls were keen to 'fastrack' it to warmer parts. After 2 big days of driving we were promised some serious swimming time in the thermal pools Mataranka is famous for. We'd been given a few travellers tips by some grey nomads eager to impart knowledge to us 'youngsters', that the less commercial thermal springs, 'Bitter Springs' was a much nicer natural alternative to the main Mataranka spring pool. They were sure right, we spent hours drifting down a warm creek (water temp 33degs) with a gentle current floating us past tropical palms and pandanus. The girls came equipped with floating mats to drift down the creek on, joining the gaggle of grey nomads (having done it all before) on their pool 'noodles'. Just delightful ( apologies for such boastful descriptions to those back in the Melbourne winter) and exactly what we needed to soak away the travel miles.We are now in the town of Katherine, having spent the morning on a cruise on the Katherine Gorge. The sheer cliffs were impressive and we saw our first crocs (small freshwater) on the riverbeds. The Nitmiluk National Park ( of which the Katherine Gorge is a part) is jointly owned with the local indigenous people after a land claim hearing of over a decade. It would great to hear some of the indigenous people speak about their country but of course our cruise guide was a wise-cracking Kiwi....In the next blogspot the Macca-Myers go chasing the 'big salties' in Kakadu National Park ( drum roll please) ...

In chase of the big red rocks-Uluru/Olgas/Kings Canyon

Well we have been in search of some big red rocks in the past week. First stop the majestic Uluru.The first sighting of Uluru is awe inspiring, the size of it blew us all away. We have both seen it before (remember that crazy trip Vee?) but we still found it amazing and interesting. We walked the base of the rock in two parts, first a ranger led walk that explained about the plant/animal life around the rock and the indigenous people's connection to it. We learned a lot by listening to this passionate ranger talk about the Mala people's (the local mob) spiritual connection to Uluru. The second walk was a smaller walk into one of the waterholes, to see the huge red cascading cliffs and some Aboriginal rock art.We even managed to see a Aboriginal didgeridoo and dancing show ( a bit touristy but the kids liked it). It was fascinating also to see some Aboriginal women doing dot painting at the cultural centre. The Aboriginal people are such a quiet people it seems voyeuristic to be watching them but I bought a small painting so they may be happy with that.We did a day trip to the Olga's while based at Yulara and walked through and around the magnificent rocks. The weather has been beautiful for walking, bright and sunny, although a bit cold at night for my liking! The kids did well to back up for another half day of walking, they know a few sugary snacks are awaiting at the top of the hill..Again, another majestic scene at the Olga's.Family news: Bridget lost one of her front teeth while at Uluru, was promptly visited by the bush fairy leaving a trail of red dust, you will see her toothy grin in the pics ( if she feels like smiling that day!)We stayed 2 nights at Kings Canyon and did the fantastic rim walk around the canyon. It was a great walk taking you on a steep climb up the canyon, lots of rock hopping on ancient stone and great views of the differing escarpments. I can see why it is such a popular walk and on the 'tourist hit list' with Uluru and the Olga's. We have been amazed at how lush and green it has been on all our walks, beautiful big palms, waterholes full and trees thriving. A ranger explained that the tourists have taken to calling this place the 'green centre', spurred on by recent years of good rainfall, especially in 2010 when the drought was broken. We are fortunate to be seeing the landscape in such a fertile and lush period.We have spent the last 2 nights at the glorious Palm Valley,a great camping spot with lots of green grass and a flowing creekbed on our doorstep. We did a great walk to view the ancient palms the place is renowned for. The girls got to know a few resident dingoes, that make a haunting howling throughout the night. Jules had just relayed a story from the book ' a Fortunate Life' about a mans tent being surrounded by a mob of dingoes, so the kids were scared silly of the skinny dingoes that sniffed around the campsite. We had a fascinating campfire talk with the resident ranger of Palm Valley, she was French,young and blonde, Jules asked lots of questions...!!!Tomorrow we are going to polish off a few gorges in the west Macdonell Ranges and then the big drive up the centre towards the Top End....love from the nomads...