Every day while on the road, we would stop for morning tea (think coffee break), lunch, and afternoon tea. Norm and I are digging out the tables for tea time. Right behind where I am standing is a large hot water urn that keeps water at just the right temperature for tea or coffee. Outback Spirit have thought of everything!
Now, you will recall what I told you about the washboard roads. Well, this is the Kimberley, and there are parts of the road that are better or worse than others. This one was not all that bad in the scheme of things but is somewhat representative of parts of the journey.
We made our way to El Questro and the Emma Gorge Resort within this station. Yes, this is a station, as in cattle station. Well, at least it was a cattle station. Because the terrain is inhospitable to raising cattle, the station lease changed hands many times. In 1991, a couple recognized the potential of the area as a tourist destination and it has been such ever since.
The next morning, we set out for a cruise through the Chamberlain Gorge area. Sonya insisted I put this photo of our river boat tour guide in - as the modern "Crocodile Dundee". In fact, he did point out a few river crocs. He also had us feeding the Archerfish, who would spit back hitting us square in the face. When you hold out the bait, the fish believe it to be an insect, and are actually shooting water at the target so it will fall to the water - but actually, they were squirting us! Imagine the surprise the first time this happened!
While on that river boat tour, our guides pointed out a rock wallaby tucked away in the rocks. These guys are very adept at getting into tight nooks and crannies to keep clear of the raptors that are constantly searching for their next meal!
We spotted this female dingo while on one of our outings. She is somewhat emaciated as she was likely out hunting to feed her relatively new pups. Dingos have 360 degree vision because they can swivel their heads 180 degrees making them incredible hunters.
During our stay at El Questro, this little Kookaburra graced our dining experience with his presence. No doubt, he was looking for free handouts, which many of the tourists no doubt provide. Jamie (our tour guide and driver) reminded us not to feed them as there would be no tourists around during the wet to provide for them, making it imperative that they maintain their natural hunting skills - something we don't think about when we innocently feed the birds.
On this trip I was the resident tech expert for the group - just like at home!
OK, time for bragging rights! Our group is gathered here to celebrate and memorialize the fact that we all drove (well rode at least) the 660 kilometer Gibb River Road from END TO END. YAY US!!!
One of our many stops is the Parry Lagoons. This nature reserve is home to a vast array of bird life and other animals. According to Tourism West Australia, over 160 species have been recorded at the Marlgu Billabong (remember what that is?). As you can see, this looks something akin to a traffic jam on your local freeway during rush hour. There was certainly some honking going on as they struggled for landing and parking space.
OK, time for part one of crocodile lessons. This is a saltie, or a saltwater crocodile. You can tell the difference between a saltie and a freshie (a freshwater crocodile) by the size of their jaw. As you can see, this one is quite wide compared to the narrow jaw of the freshie (more on these later). The saltie can grow to 6 metres (20 feet) and is quite capable of taking on a human being (and almost always winning), so you need to steer well clear of this fella. Jamie calls the renowned croc "death roll" a sushi roll, because the croc is just trying to break off a bite-sized (hence sushi) piece of you! He takes the bite out of you, (by which time you will have drowned) and lets the rest of you float down the river for his next compatriot croc to get a piece of sushi too!
Crocs lay their eggs in the sand near the water. They wait until the temperature of the sand is just right, as the eggs have a very narrow incubation window. They must incubate for approximately 80 days, and the temperature needs to be in the range of 29 to 33C. The eggs will become female crocs unless the temperature is consistently between (approximately) 31C and 33C, which will produce male crocs. Above 33C and below 29C temperature, the eggs are generally not viable. The male daddy crocs eat half of the eggs almost immediately. A further 30% of the eggs get dug up by other predators, and only 1-2% lead to full grown crocs. Isn’t nature strange and wonderful!
Here, we are at Wyndham Port, where some of Australia’s products leave for Asia. Both iron ore and nickle are loaded and shipped in vast quantities and value. At the bottom right of this photo are seven rows of nickel. Each row is worth approximately $7 Million (AUD). That’s a lot of inventory sitting there!
In the same port area is a cattle facility, that loads live cattle onto ships, also bound for Asia (if the animal is less than 320 kg) or elsewhere if a little hefftier. The cattle yards are on the right, and they get loaded on the jetty that is seen in the top left portion of the picture. Only live cattle leave from here now, but in the past, there was a meat works here that was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere at the time. From 1919 to 1985, they processed more than 2,000,000 head of cattle. Now that’s a lotta bull! At the time, it was a humongous crocodile pond given all the available fresh cut remains from the processing plant.
Back at El Questro, we did an afternoon walk of the beautiful Emma Gorge, as seen here. By the time we got there, we both decided to forego the swim in the gorge for a simple soak of the feet and legs in the cool waters.
As you would expect, curiosity got the better of us and we started exploring some of the other parts of the water hole.
Now the walk in (and walk out) of Emma Gorge is considered a grade 4 walk. Trail Hiking Australia defines it as follows: “Bush walking experience recommended. Tracks may be long, rough and very steep. Directional signage may be limited.” OK, maybe we should have read that before, particularly the part about bush walking experience recommended! Good thing that Jamie was our leader and very aware of our capabilities. In fact, at the start of the tour, Jamie said to Sonya, “I will never put you in harm’s way", and he was true to his word. However, he did not say, he would not challenge us – and we are very glad of it! In this case, he did warn us this walk required some hopping across the top of boulders!
The rocks that you see across the water were part of the path in and out. Definitely not wheelchair friendly!!
The next morning, we were off to Kununarra (say that fast three times!) and a view of the Ord River Irrigation Scheme. No, this is not a con artist scheme, but a plan for a dam that would see one of the fastest flowing rivers during the wet season harnessed to create a large irrigation catchment, providing a fertile growing area resulting in much needed potential economic prosperity. The power of water and sunshine allows this area to grow mangoes, chia seeds, cotton, and many other water intensive crops.
While the area has huge potential, the opportunity has not been maximized - the Wyndham Port is limited to the size of ships and loading times because of the large tidal floes. Remember that the Kimberley has the second highest tides in the world. Rail would normally be an option, but because the "wet" floods the entire area, this is not possible. Consequently fruit and veg go out to Perth by road train, and roads are also flooded out in the "wet".
In fact, due to the wet, mango pricing is at times insufficient to cover the transportation cost. Jamie spoke of one poor fella who ended up with a bill for $200 to cover the loss on shipping the mangoes south.
These are the flood gates of the dam. The dam took three years to build and was completed in 1972. It was constructed without steel or concrete. They used sand, grit and rocks from an area within 11 kilometers of the dam. The dam has dropped only 25 centimetres since it was built. The hydro power was added later, saving the area from its high cost of running generators. Prior to the hydro power, the area would spend $1.4 Million per week on diesel fuel!
Each of these gates of the dam weigh 96.5 tonnes, are 15 metres wide and 11 metres high. They hold an immense amount of water behind them. Lake Argyle, created by the catchment is more that 40 kilometres long. For comparison, the water held back by the dam would fill Sydney Harbour 21 times. That is a lot of water.
Although there is a road over the top of the dam, vehicle height is restricted. Vehicles that are too high to cross the dam must cross over the Ivanhoe Crossing, the original road across the Ord River, seen above. Cool – but don’t step too near the edges, as crocs (salties) are resident in the area, so swimming is not a good plan!
Speaking of crocs, this one is a freshie. They are much smaller than salties, with males growing up to 3 metres (9.5 feet) long, and females somewhat smaller. This one was spotted while we were boating on the Ord River.
Now who knew that we would have to sit through a school lesson while on a trip! This was actually a bonus for us, as the guide was covering some of the basics of the irrigation system, some of which is being passed on to you as I write this blog!
And as with our driving days, we had to stop for afternoon tea. Pauline is stepping off the boat to an area on the riverbank set aside for just this purpose. This stop was complete with scones, cream and jam. OK, so the Aussies have a few more British traditions than we do in Canada!
On our way once again, we ran across Larry, Curly and Moe sitting in a tree. If you are not old enough to understand this reference, simply read on!
Now doesn’t this rock wallaby look comfy? He apparently wasn’t too worried about us. No wonder, since he was well above our reach by several metres.
As we neared our final destination, we were treated with another beautiful Australian sunset. By the way, can you spot the crop duster aeroplane in the picture?
The next morning after visiting a sandalwood factory, we were off to the Hoochery. Yes, you read that correctly. The Hoochery Distillery is a small batch rum distillery.
The distillery was founded by an American fellow from California who came to the Kimberley to develop his seed business. As most North Americans will know, hooch is a common term for illicit or inferior alcohol, usually whiskey, but also other spirits. If you want to read more about the Hoochery, see here:
https://www.hoochery.com.au/about/our-story
The next morning we jumped into yet another helicopter to fly over the Bungle Bungles. These hills, described as striped beehive hills by the Australian Broadcast Corporation, are amazing to behold and their territorial coverage is vast. The origin of the name Bungle Bungles is unclear, but it would seem that whoever named them did in fact 'bungle' it up. While the local Aboriginals have known about this formation for eons, a filmmaker "discovered" them while doing a documentary. Since then they have captured the imagination of all visitors.
Here was one of the first views of these amazing hills. The tiger striping is the result of orange silica being interspersed with thin layers of black lichens.
The hills cover approximately 450 square kilometres (about 175 square miles). They are incorporated into a National Park know as Purnululu. Interestingly enough, this word was also 'bungled' as it were, because the Djaru word for the surrounding area is Bullmanlulu.
After we finished the helicopter tour, we were back on the bus to explore these beautiful structures up close.Within these beautiful hills is an equally breathtaking natural amphitheatre known as Cathedral Gorge.
Those little dots at the bottom of th picture are people taking it all in. I feel like words are not enough to describe this beautiful place.
After lunch we headed for the Echidna Chasm. While not a grade 4 walk like Emma Gorge, there are some steep sections that were eased a bit by human intervention.
The chasm itself is very tall and quite narrow, similar to Antelope Canyon in Page Arizona.
As you can see, this is Antelope Canyon on an epic scale.
That evening, Jamie stopped on the way back to our lodgings for sunset on the Bungle Bungles.
He asked us to be patient and to take the same or very similar picture every few minutes when he directed us "shot" - military precision on the shutter releases, please!
As the sun sets, the atmosphere filters out some of the colour, leaving a different looking sky and a different hue on the hill face.
It was fascinating to watch the colours change as sunset progressed.
The next day we headed off to Geikie Gorge National Park for a cruise on the Fitzroy River.
These limestone walls are part of the Devonian reef, formed more than 350 million years ago during, you guessed it, the Devonian period. Jamie told us that this reef is actually larger than the Great Barrier Reef, but of course on land. It too is a living organism, with much flora and fauna making it home ...
including this freshie, who has its mouth open to cool itself. Being cold blooded, this is one of the few ways it can cool itself. The other is to slip into the water.
The next morning we visited Tunnel Creek, where the river goes underground. We walked and waded our way through the tunnel, which is only passable during the dry season, as the river runs very fast through it during the wet.
While walking through we saw several freshies along the way, including this one that was mere feet from us. Jamie had to convince Sonya to come closer to take a picture of the croc. It was very calm however, as it he was nice and cool in this underground oasis (at least from his perspective).
This fella was in the water with us and exited the water just ahead of us. I said to Sonya, “Well, you can now say that you have walked with the crocs!” Not many can say that I would imagine!
Tunnel creek was also the site of Jandamarra’s last stand. North Americans are familiar with Custer’s Last Stand. This would be an Australian equivalent in some sense, but more from the Aboriginal perspective. Jandamarra was an Aboriginal warrior who rebelled against the whites when he saw much abuse against his own society and his own relatives.
We learned a great deal of Aboriginal history and lore from Jamie. I would like to write some about these stories and history, but I cannot do them justice. Suffice it to say that I was deeply touched by the perspective that Jamie provided throughout our journey, and I am grateful for his willingness to share.
After getting back to Broome, we were treated to two nights at the Cable Beach Club Resort and Spa, coming full circle from where we started. On our last full day we were off in a seaplane and jet boat adventure to the Horizontal Falls.
This is the view from the seaplane as we come in to land near the falls. The current you see flowing in both of those channels is the tide rushing in (at this time). The smaller inlet you see, in the lower part of the picture, is the only inlet for the water to get to Talbot Bay. The difference in height during the tidal change can be as much 3 meters (10 feet).
If you can play the video, you will see that the back of the boat is almost in the narrow part of the inlet. Although hard to hear, the guide says that the boat is maintaining about 12 knots (22 kmh) to maintain its position, and not topple backwards. The rush of the water is too strong for us to safely go through the falls without potentially ending up upside down!
A little later we went through the falls and watched them reverse direction. It does this four times a day, every day, with the changing of the tides. In a few years (thousands or millions), the tides will erode the rock away enough that the effect will be lost. Glad we went when we did!
After a scenic flight back to Broome, we had our farewell dinner with our travel mates.
They were a great group and were very patient explaining their version of the English language and listening to our twangy accent! Yes, Canadians do have an accent, at least according to our mates!
As we close out this segment of our blog, we wish to take a moment to thank Jamie, our great driver, tour guide and, most of all, leader!
Jamie, you are the consummate guide and leader - by sharing your personal stories, the land, its people, history and culture are brought to life in a way that makes the Kimberley truly an experience to remember forever.
Thank you Red Fox Leader One!
Over and out,
SnP
