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...