Last of the Red Dirt

We are heading South now and are approaching the last few days of red dirt camping as the ground will improve from here down. We left Exmouth and headed for Carnarvon with an overnight in a free camp before getting there, today we have encountered a headwind and have watched the fuel guage plummet!

It still amazes me how some of the most amazing flowers grow in this soil

Pink & Orange two of my favourite colours together.

Exmouth & Ningaloo

Exmouth is situated on the left hand tip of Exmouth gulf, and after leaving the free camp early we arrived here at about 11am, Mick is happy he has been able to buy some fresh prawns, first time since Queensland, Exmouth was established to service the US Navy. Nothing here is cheap, $42 per night for your dirt and fuel $1.86 per litre.

Up early and wagon's ho!

Exmouth old wharf

Clear water, I even saw a whale out the front but too far to be able to capture on film.
Ningaloo is on the left hand side of the point about 70 k's to the south, to be able to get a camp site there you need to be at the Rangers office (40k's from Exmouth) at 7am on the off chance someone has packed up and left as everything there is sold out!!! Guess we won't be seeing Ningaloo.

Port Smith to Robe River Freecamp

Having escaped Port Smith early we thought we would head to Exmouth, this would take a couple of days driving. First night we camped at De Grey roadside with about 30 other caravans and headed out at 7am the next morning, we were only 82 k's from Port Headland and drove in to have a quick look around. We were not planning to stay as houses rent for $1700 per week so imagine the park fee's! While there we spotted Mum & Aunty Mar's dream, Salt, mountains of it!

The drive is beautiful if you are looking at the wildflowers, at times there is a sea of mauve, don't know what these are but there sure are plenty of them.

The drive through the Pilbra would drive you crazy if you let it, long unchanging roads, no towns, only the odd roadhouse where you will get ripped off, try $5.90 for a Chicko Roll and $4.25 for a small packet of chips, nothing like a captive audience! Thank God for the free roadside camps.

Sunset over the Robe River free camp.

Port Smith no Port Midgie

We left Broome for Port Smith which advertised a great park on a pristine beach, 23 kilometers of red dirt and sand brings you to "midgie heaven" and water about 1 kilometer away! We paid for 2 nights but left after one as Mick got caned by the Midgies, should have picked up on that when I saw the no refund policy!!!

What were we thinking?

Port Smith beachfront, biggest beach I have ever seen, you can only get to the real beach via boat and only 2hrs either side of high tide!

Good Light in Broome

We arrived in Brome early as we were told you have to get there first thing to get into a caravan park, you need to go to the visitor info centre and they will assist you with bookings, not! There is a notice board out front which tells you were there may be a vacancy! We ended up in an overflow park, the PCYC park which charged $35pn for a plot of red dirt. This is an example of the park's fire safety.

All was forgived though when we went to the beautiful Cable Beach and swam and relaxed for a few hours, magic!

The town is beautiful with lots of interesting stuff to see, Mick loved the Pearl Luggers museum and the Japanese and Chinese cemeteries

There was also lots of lovely pearl jewellery in here for sale!

The boats are much smaller than you would expect.

Imagine wearing this!

The Japanese Cemetery was much flasher than the poorer Chinese one!

Quite a difference

The water here is the most amazing blue.

Park Pet

Our park here in Derby has a resident pet, Percy the albino peacock, he is quite a sight and put on a great show for us.

I don't know who he was dancing for as he is the only peacock in the village! And how does he stay so white because nothing else here can stay white, everything is tinged a certain shade of terracotta.

Derby Landmarks

Derby has a few historical sites, the Prison Boab Tree is where they used to rest the aboriginals on the way to goal, it is believed to be 1500 years old, Boabs are frequently hit by lightening as they hold a huge water concentration. Next to this is a water trough where they used to water the cattle, it is supposed to be able to water 500 head of stock at one time, it's 120 metres long.

The Prison Boab

Old photo's of prisoners, they were chained at the neck!

Doesn't look like it would water 500 head!

Derby Wharf

We landed in Derby on Sunday, its 300k's north of Broome and has the largest tidal fluctuations in Australia, 11 metres, you could really get caught out in a boat. The wharf is famous for the fishing, not sure why I caught a catfish and Mick caught nothing! Some locals did catch a Mulloway about 75cm long on a handline. The current flows so quickly you need 8oz sinkers to keep the bait down there.

This is the tide about half way to full

Low tide, quite a difference. The tankers load minerals from this wharf and have to get loaded in a 5 hour timeframe or come back on the next available tide 25 hours away!

The sunsets are quite beautiful up here.

That's Mick and I, we look well don't we, I asked a local to help and take our photo, didn't have the heart to say it didn't really work!



Geikie Gorge

Well, as they say when in Rome, which is a Gorge out this way, Mick and I decided we should do at least a few touristy things so headed off to Geikie Gorge this morning for the boat tour, it is a beautiful place with magnificent limestone cliffs which are weathered by rain and floods. Some of the erosion would be considered pieces of art if standing inside a building. The water is not suitable for swimming as there are fresh water crocs in plentiful supply.
The flood level can be seen where the rock changes colour, you really have to be inside the gorge to realise the volume of water it carries when in flood.

Imagine this flooded.

Look close can you see the croc?

Beautiful erosion, looks a bit like a luck dragon.

Massive walls of limestone

Free Camps Kununurra- Fitzroy Crossing

We have taken a slow pace to get from Kununurra to Fitzroy Crossing as we had been told about a few free camps people said were pretty, and they were, both of these were situated on the rivers edge and busy to the point of being almost full by dusk. We have learn't you really have to be in them by 2pm to have a chance of getting a half decent spot.
Mick and I even had a dip in the one above as it was so hot!

Not here at Mary Pool though as the sign said crocs!

Caravans everywhere, hardly another vehicle on the road except the odd road train.

Some of the scenery on the way, this country just goes on forever.

Kununurra

Kununurra is a bit of an Oasis in the vast red  landscape, this lagoon is at the entrance to the town.

There are also some massive old Boab Tree's in Kununurra.

Flowers

As you know WA is famous for the wildflowers and I have seen some beautiful one's, here are a few.

Beautiful aren't they.

Argyle Dam Ord River

The Argyle Dam is situated 70k's from Kununurra and holds 40 times the capacity as Sydney Harbour. The original land owners were the Durak's and their homestead was moved stone by stone to higher ground prior to the valley being flooded. The spillway pours water at a rapid pace and the noise is quite deafening.
The caravan park at the dam has an amazing pool which looks out over the dam, made us wish we had booked in here and not in Kununurra, mind you it was hard enought to get to the bottle shop from in town let alone out here. You were only permitted to buy 2 bottles of wine per person and not till after 5pm, you should have seen the queue!! and it was only white people!

The Spillway

The Pool & Dam Beyond

The Durak Homestead  

A Lost Week

We are now in WA at Kununurra, I would like to post the photo's I have taken getting here but some gremlins have been in my camera!!!! So sad as I have taken beautiful photo's of massive boab trees so huge and old they are amazing. We crossed from Kathrine to Kununurra via Gregory National Park which includes the Victoria River, now that was a great photo, I'm nearly ready to cry now, this was where we took photo's of the river with the red mountains reflected in the water and also where we saw the Jone's helicopter from that show Keeping us with the Jone's, we then passed their property Coolibah. I do have a photo of where we are in Kununurra.

My next few days will be busy trying to make up for those lost photo's!