The Pilbara and The Kimberley

Leaving Exmouth we planned to head up the coast road towards Broome but decided when on the road to head inland to The Pilbara and the mining town of Tom Price, named after an American mining employee who convinced his company to mine Iron Ore in the region. The open cast mine is now one of the biggest in the world.

Our 6.5hr journey (on tarmac and dirt roads) wasn’t to see a mining town but to visit the Karijini National Park. Recent rains had turned the country green and driving along the red dirt roads we saw thousands of Budgies, Parrots and Finches of all colours and sizes. Our trip into the National Park saw us visit the beautiful Oxer lookout where 3 deep gorges meet. We visited Knox  and Joffre lookout before we all set off for a 3km walk up Kalamina Gorge where the girls loved jumping on the rocks and crossing the fresh water streams and waterfalls. The rock formations were beautiful and for those of you who have read the previous blog it was the Stromatolites at Hamlin Pool who are responsible for the rich Iron Ore deposits (and ultimately the strong economy Australia is now experiencing due to mining) as it was the oxygen that they produced which combined with the iron rich sea at the time. After an amazing day we headed back and decided to drive up Western Australia’s highest mountain, Mount Nameless where we got a great view of Rio Tintos Iron Ore Mine.

We stopped off for a night in the mining Town of Port Headland to stock up on supplies and our first real taste of humidity and mosquitos! We stayed at the aptly named Cooke Point Caravan Park  (some of the caravans still chained to the ground from the cyclone threat the week before) and had a brief look around the port and the hundreds of ships waiting to be loaded with ore from the huge trains (some which can be up to 600 carriages long).  It was here onwards that we noticed the indigenous population starting to increase and along with it fabulous aboriginal art, digeridoos and boomerangs.   

Our first tropical thunderstorm in the morning and we hit the road again for 80 Mile Beach. We stopped at Pardoo Roadhouse, the centre of the cyclone and home to a great sausage roll, before turning off the road and up 10km of dirt to the caravan park right on the beach. We weren’t ready for what we found; shells and thousands of them as far as the eye could see and not just small ones but all shapes and sizes! It goes without saying the girls had an amazing afternoon collecting simply beautiful big shells!

Broome was our next stop and we stayed just out of town on Cable Beach for a relaxing couple of days. We invested in a pair of goggles for Daisy who now seems to spend more time under water than above and trolled through the many Pearl shops as this area remains famous mostly for its Pearl diving history as well as its beach. After a busy morning looking round and as the humidity level had started to increase the girls cooled of at a great waterpark next to Town Beach.

One evening we took fish and chips down to Gantheaume Point to watch the sunset and search the shore line for one of the worlds most varied collections of dinosaur footprints some 135 million years old.

Our next stop on the way to Kununurra was an overnighter in the small town of Fitzroy Crossing in The Kimberley and we spotted our first Boab tree and many more followed. The Kimberley region itself is bigger than 75% of the world’s countries and the next day we drove 7 hours to Kununurra arriving just in time to set up before it went dark mainly due to the fact that both of the campsites we went to along the way were closed for one reason or another.Luckily the girls coped quite well considering the long day. The landscape in the Kimberley is stunning and really is one of the last unexplored outposts of this vast country.

We had hoped to visit El Questro and stay at Home Valley Homestead ( location for filming the movie Australia) but with the Penticost River still in flood and the National Park opening up later the next week we visited the local Mirima National Park (often refered to as the mini Bungle Bungles) to walk through the Gorges and drove up Kelly’s knob for a view of the area. In the afternoon we visited Valentine Springs after negotiating a creek in flood and visited a nearby rock gallery which has a license to mine the Zebra rock siltstone which is only found in this area. We ended the day at a local rum distillery and Aborigional Art Gallery.

A short trip the next day up the road to Lake Argyle to a caravan park with an amazing infinity pool overlooking the lake and the Kimberley. Lake Argyle, Australia’s second largest was created in 1972 and is big enough to hold 18 Sydney Harbours and provides much needed water to the surrounding area. After crossing the dam and having a look around, noticing that both fresh and Salt water Crocs live in the area Tom went off fishing on the river and caught a small fish; no Barramundi yet!

On our way out the next morning we stopped at Argyle Downs (we were the first visitors for the new season) the homestead of the famous pastoral/pioneering Durack family. The family came out from Ireland in 1853 to avoid starvation and with an inspiring pioneering spirit pushed out from their holding near Sydney and settled in Queensland where no white people had been before farming over 13,000,000 acres between the family before, after a number of droughts, speculated on this distance land in the Kimberley. They set out in 1883 on a journey of over 3000 miles with 7500 head of cattle and reached the River Ord in 1885 with less than half their stock! They settled/claimed a holding of 2,500,000 acres.  A truly inspiring family of its time and would urge anyone to pick a copy of ‘Kings in Grass Castles’ by Mary Durack  for further reading!

Northern Territory Next stop!

01.04.2012

The Coral Coast....Nambung to Ningaloo.

Our first destination after Perth was the small crayfishing town of Cervantes, established in 1960’s, and  forming our base for a couple of nights to explore the Pinnacles Desert in the Nambung National Park and a visit to Kangaroo Point and the Stromatolites (more about them later) at Lake Thetis.  The Pinnacles Desert is home to thousands of limestone pillars rising up out of the desert floor and we were able to drive through them and enjoyed it so much returned at sunset to get some more amazing views  of these strange formations.

We then stopped in Geraldton for a night to get supplies and restock on everything before prices increase as we head north.

As the temperature had remained in the low 40’s since Perth our trip to Kalbarri probably saw the thermometer reach nearer 50 degrees in places! We first took a visit to the Parrot breeding centre, the largest in Australia, to get up to speed on our Parrot identification before the next day heading into the Kalbarri National Park to view the stunning Gorges and the famous Natures Window. We left for the national park at 8.45am and by 9.30 the temperature had reached 40 degrees. We parked the car and walked into the Gorge where the temperature can increase by 10 degrees…and it did! As well as the temperature we got our first experience of flies and lots of them but the view was simply stunning and well worth the pain in places. We have now invested in some fly nets to cover our faces!

From Kalbarri we went to Denham on Shark Bay stopping of on the way at the Stromatolites at Hamelin Pool. These Coral like formations are the oldest living thing on the planet existing 3500 million years ago and responsible for putting oxygen into the atmosphere and thus allowing air breathing  creatures to evolve from the ocean onto land . This is one of the few places on earth they still exist and although they don’t look like much without them I’m sure the world might have been very different.  After considering ‘what if’ we stopped at Shell Beach where the bright white compacted shells, 8m deep in places, flowed into a warm shallow sea and we cooled off in the crystal clear waters.

Denham was our base for a trip to Monkey Mia. Although we had heard mixed things from other travellers, mainly the grey nomads, we had an amazing day! We got there at 7.45am and by 8.30 we were paddling in the waters with the Dolphins who visit most mornings. As we all retreated out of the water for the feeding to take place Holly, together with Tom, was selected to feed one of the Dolphins! Amazing morning only got better as we spotted a Dugong in the water and snorkelled with a Turtle. Holly and Daisy also tried snorkelling and got the hang of it straight away. We stopped at little lagoon for lunch (another warm clear sea lagoon) before driving up to Eagle Bluff and walked along an elevated boardwalk above the ocean looking down to spot more Dugongs, Rays and numerous lemon and reef sharks swimming below. Having sighted the marine life we decided to get a little educated as to what lurks in these tropical waters and so visited the Ocean Park to view the many reef and sea fish and to feed the sharks! When we thought we had seen enough wildlife for one day a tiger snake crossed the road in front of us. The day was complete with a great sunset from the caravan which perched on the cliff top above the Indian Ocean…..very windy though.

Heading north again we stopped for one night in Carnarvon for supplies. The area suffered badly from floods last year and this season 820,000ha have been destroyed by bush fires with 60,000ha being destroyed nearby in less than two weeks!  

Coral Bay on the Ningaloo Reef was our next stop for the night and we arrived as the Coral started to spawn, an annual event which brings in the largest fish on planet , the whaleshark. We tried to cool off in the warm water and had a peaceful day on the beach.

Exmouth was our next stop and probably our last few days in one place before we head for Broome, although a cyclone has formed and due to hit south of Broome in the next couple of days so we may yet have to head inland before we head north. The first afternoon we booked on a glass bottom boat reef and snorkel tour and headed up the coast for a fish, catching Bream and Emperor, none of them big enough for eating though. Next day we headed into the national park and stopped at Turquoise Bay for a swim and a snorkel. The Ningaloo reef is the largest fringe reef in the world and in places you can swim out to the coral only a few meters from shore. We spotted shovel nosed rays, parrot fish, all the usual reef fish and a huge barracuda went past Jo. We drove further down the coast stopping at Sandy Bay for lunch before heading back and exploring a few more beaches and the reef on the way.

Exmouth was another town built in the 1960’s by the Americans who built massive low frequency radio masts to communicate with subs. The town was devastated by a cyclone in the 1990’s (recording wind speeds of over 275km/h before the meter broke) and has rebuilt itself as a base to view the reef and for game fishing. We got to our glass bottom boat and enjoyed a great morning snorkelling and learning about the reef, parts of which are over 1000 years old. We saw a huge range of fish, turtles and rays and Jo was lucky enough to swim over a reef shark. Even the girls got in the water for a float round. On the way back we stopped at the turtle centre to learn about how the turtles come to this stretch of coast every year to lay their eggs. Another great trip and Holly and Daisy’s day was completed with a round of mini golf and ice creams!

Our last full day in the area and Tom spent the day swimming with the largest fish in the sea, the whaleshark.  The trip started in the morning with another snorkel where he spotted a white tipped reef shark. He spotted more Dugong, Dolphin and Turtle before the spotter plane located the first of three whalesharks. An amazing experience swimming alongside these huge fish which can grow to 18m in length. So little is known about these fish and swimming alongside them for over an hour was a totally unforgettable experience.  On the way back he stopped at another reef for a snorkel and a Tiger shark swam by!

Back at base the girls had a great day chilling out by the pool with Daisy gaining in confidence and  now swimming under water.

We will be sorry to leave the marine life behind but with the cyclone passed we now head north once again!

19.03.12

The South West and Perth….and a rainy day!!

Arrived in Albany to rain!! First grey and cool afternoon we have had whilst being on the road and it came as a bit of a shock however it didn’t last long and the next day we took a drive to the National park to view the famous coastal blow holes, natural bridge and gap.  We stopped for lunch at the oldest hotel in WA before a long walk along the beach to Emu point, recently voted the cleanest beach in WA.

We then headed to Pemberton and the famous wine regions via Denmark and Walpole where we stopped to walk in the ‘Tree Tops’ of the huge Karri and Tingle trees, some reaching 60m in height and 12 metres round. A walking suspension bridge passed through the tree tops (40m at the highest point) for amazing views of the tree canopy and forest floor. We stopped at Northcliffe for lunch where we clocked up 10,000km and decided to continue through Pemberton to Hamelin Bay and our first view of the Indian Ocean and sunsets over water.

 Hamelin Bay provided yet another spectacular beach with the campground right on the beach under the shade of the gum trees. The old wooden jetty now provides a home to numerous types of ray and you could walk into the water and watch them swim next to you and feed them.

Our first morning we drove down to Augusta to view the Cape Llewin  Lighthouse which marks the spot where the Southern ocean meets the Indian Ocean  before Daisy and Tom visited the ‘Jewel Cave’ (one of many in the region) 40m underground and 500 steps to view amazing stalactites and stalagmites and many formations. Back on the beach we saw dolphins swimming  10m away from us and later returned with the girls to watch the sunset with a few cold drinks! One of our favourite places so far!

Next day we took a short drive up the coast to Margaret River, staying near the river mouth at Prevelly Beach, via a 14km off road track through Karri forest. These trees truly are magnificent  giants!!! The afternoon was spent collecting cowrie shells on the beach  and the girls trying to catch a fish in the many  rockpools. The area suffered a bush fire before Christmas with over 40 houses destroyed.

We headed for Freemantle in Perth via Canal Rocks, Yallingup, Bussleton and Bunbury before we stumbled across a great lunch stop on the beach. The girls seem to be enjoying painting all the shells they collect and playing with them in made up ‘dens’ and continue to adapt to travelling on the road without any issue.  In Freemantle we visited the old Goal, Cottesloe beach to the north and stocked up with fresh food from the many markets before booking out day to Rottnest Island.

We took the fast ferry to ‘Rotto’ the next morning and hired some bikes to explore the island. Holly had the luxury off sitting behind Tom whilst Daisy had her own bike with stabilisers. In the 38 degree heat she managed so well and must have covered a good distance via crystal clear beaches and of course past the famous Quokas which can only be described as a cross between a large rat and a small kangaroo. We cooled off in the water as we needed to and returned on the ferry, after a well-earned drink; a great day out!

We then headed to North Perth visiting friends who live at Claremont on the swan river and took a stroll down for a paddle in the River. The amazing pool and spa at the caravan park was most welcome as Perth continued to experience its hottest summer on record. Total fire bans are in place and no agricultural was to be operated in some regions due to risk of starting a bush fire.

We couldn’t visit Perth without a visit to the botanical gardens with its great views over the city and  river but as the temperature touched 40 degree we headed back to the pool. Tom went for a final check up and got the all clear and whilst dealing with maintenance we took the 4wd in for a service and oil change before we set up north along the coral coast towards Broome and eventually the Northern Territory!

06.03.12

The Longest Straight Roads and the Whitest Beaches …..and Holly’s Birthday!!!!

Well we made it! We left Port Augusta in good time and drove 5 hours via Poochera (home of some prehistoric rare ant) to arrive in the 40 degree heat of Ceduna and a much needed swim in the warmest water  we have been in to date. On the way back we recognised a campervan belonging to an old school friend of Jo’s, Bruce Levick, parked right across from our own caravan. Great to catch up with Bruce and look at his amazing photos and get a copy of his children’s book, Drop Bear Roy, for Holly’s birthday!

Another long drive to the Western Australian border town of Eucla saw us passing the dog fence on the way. This fence is the longest continuous vermin fence in the world running 5614km from Queensland to South Australia. We passed through the famous flat and treeless Nullarbor Plain covering 200,000sqkm and took in the views from the cliffs of The Great Australian Bight. Tom played a hole on the longest Golf course in the world which also starts in Port Augusta and finishes in Kalgoolie! Before we arrived at WA we drove the famous 90 miles straight, Australia’s longest straight road which seemed to go on for ever! At the WA border we had a quarantine inspection before setting up for the night at Eucla.

Holly’s birthday was spent driving from Eucla to Balladonia stopping at Midura in the middle of nowhere for pink birthday cake with candles as well as balloons and party hats! We stopped at Cocklebiddy for lunch before arriving at Balladonia 6 hours later for more cake and Strawberry Jelly. Holly had a great day and had some great presents including the Muppets Treasure Island on DVD, clothes and books.

The last leg of the big crossing saw us arrive back in civilisation and to beautiful Esperance via Norseman for a lunch stop. We stayed across the road from the beach where Sammy the sealion still frequents 18 years after Tom last saw him!  The girls loved seeing him each day whilst scooting along the foreshore.

We have visited so many beautiful beaches all with white sand and clear blue waters and our first day was spent exploring Twilight Cove where we all enjoyed the cool water and the girls played in the surf and went for a long walk through the limestone rocks collecting fossils and shells!

Next day we visited Cape Le Grande National Park which boasts Australia’s whitest beach at Lucky Bay. The water was so clear and the sand squeaked under foot.  Other bays we visited included Hellfire Bay (just as the temperature reached 40 degrees) and Thistle Cove. We stopped at Le Grande Beach near Frenchman’s peak before heading back to Twilight Cove where the temperature topped 45 degrees, we have never enjoyed cool water so much! At Twilight Cove we were all pulled out of the water as a 7ft shark was spotted in the bay! A great few days in Esperance after crossing the Nullarbor and now onto Albany and south west corner of WA!

24.02.12

Great Ocean Road, The Grampians, Adelaide Hills and The Flinders Rangers……on the road again!!

Having left Melbourne as planned we headed for the Great Ocean Road and first stop for a break was Bells Beach just outside Torquay before stopping in Anglesea (where else!) for lunch. We stopped for the night in beautiful Apollo Bay heading to the hotel to try the local beer. An early start the next day taking in the sights of the famous coastline; firstly the Twelve Apostles, where we all went down the cliff face to walk along the beach, London Bridge, The Arch and The Grotto rock formations. Amazing views and drive and we ended the Day in Port Fairy before heading back inland to The Grampians National Park.

Our arrival to Halls Gap in The Grampians coincided with the annual jazz festival so we headed out of town to a caravan park on Lake Fyans with lovely views over the lake back to the mountains. The next day we headed into the mountains with the girls managing to walk about 5km in total to take in the views from Reid Lookout and The Balconies and Boroka lookout stopping at Mckenzie falls for lunch. Tom and Daisy went to look at some rock art nearby at Bunjils cave while Holly had a well earned sleep.

Back on the road and after a 5 hour journey through open farmland stopping at Keith(!) for lunch we ended up in the leafy and attractive village of Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills where the girls had an amazing time visiting fairy caves and gardens and making friends with Josie and Jackson from Perth who were staying in the same caravan park. Hahndorf is an old settlement with a German influence and we decided to stay an extra day so we could explore the pretty local towns of Stirling and Bridgewater. We even spotted a Koala in a pine tree of all places!! We also drove through Adelaide taking in The Adelaide Oval and the central market where we stocked up on some amazing food and fresh fruit and veg. We stopped at Glenelg Beach for lunch and we all had a swim to cool off in the 36 degree heat.

Another 5 hour drive took us north through open country to the stunning Flinders Ranges. We drove via the town of Laura for lunch and stopped at Orroroo and saw the 500 year old gum tree with a 10m diameter. RM Williams way then took us on to the Flinders, passing Rankine Road and countless Kangaroos and Emus. We arrived at 4pm with the temperature still a cool 38 degrees and the girls swam in the pool after playing in the red dirt while we had a cold beer or three!

The next day, marking our 10 year anniversary since we met, we drove through  countless dry gorges and lookouts spotting more kangaroos, emus, yellow footed rock wallabies, wedge tail eagles and just taking in the stunning landscape and surroundings. The temperature reached 39 degress as we sat under the twisted red river gums and tried to cool down. The colours of the rocks changed throughout the day and we ended the day with ice creams and a swim after a visit to the sacred canyon to look at the Aboriginal rock engravings.

We are now in Port Augusta preparing ourselves for the short trip of some 1850km across the Nullarbor desert to Esperance where we hope to be in 4 days time! So far the girls have entertained themselves with only the Wiggles via headphones and lots of stickers and colouring, as well as the odd snack…..let’s hope it continues!

18.02.12

Melbourne

Our stay in Melbourne started with  Jo’s  family get together  with  Aunties, Uncles,  cousins and their families.  Great day catching up on a lot of years and the girls loved playing with all their second cousins.  Australia Day was spent with a few drinks enjoying the gorgeous weather.  The next day we visited some old friends who live a few streets away from Pinoak court aka ‘Ramsey St’ so Tom couldn’t resist a photo.  We also spent a day visiting Seaford and the houses Jo lived in, her first primary school (Seaford North) and  got a photo of the church her parents were married in.  Then the girls played and swam on Seaford beach. We even managed a drive past nearby Frankston Hospital where Jo was born. 

A trip into the city was on the cards and we chose the hottest day of the year (38C) and final day of the Australian open tennis.  Saw beautiful Fitzroy gardens and Captain Cooks cottage as well as the botanical gardens where the girls played in the water park to cool off.  Walked over the Yarra river to Flinders Street station with views of the MCG before catching the train home where Uncle Brian had bought another Alpaca called Tom much to the girls delight.  More excitement was to come when we discovered a baby Alpaca in the paddock one morning and Daisy promptly named her Lily.  We were also lucky enough to see all 6 of the others get shorn and finish up looking like stick insects.  Daisy has also taken up mechanics and spent one morning with Brian under the car with spanners and plenty of grease!

Our last week was spent visiting a wildlife park where we saw wombats, cockatoos, emus, dingoes, wallabies, snakes, koalas and lizards. Daisy added more colourful feathers, seeds, and leaves to her collections which seem to be growing rapidly…..

We also did a day trip to the Mornington Peninsula  where we spent the morning on the beach at beautiful  Sorrento, one of the first settled colonies in Australia and now has one of the country’s most expensive postcodes. Fish and Chips in the shade on the beach followed a busy morning building sandcastles! We then travelled back via the ocean beaches.

Well we thought we would be in Melbourne for a week but Tom has been for numerous appointments and tests since we first arrived which has set us back 10/12 days. Thank you to Brian and Leah for putting us up for so long. Fingers crossed we shall be heading for the Great Ocean Road shortly!

Canberra to Melbourne...via a few places!!!!

Soni and Mick kindly put us up in Canberra as the temperature dropped to a record January low of 1.6 degrees and the snow fell on the mountains! Luckily the next morning the sun was back out and we all headed to Questacon Science museum for kids where the girls even attended their first lecture on Water! Great fun and from there we headed to the very moving Australian war memorial with its impressive view down Anzac Parade to Parliament House. We later went up Mount Ainsley to get some great views of the city and as Holly started to fall asleep we went to the Captain Cook fountain and then onto Gold Creek where Daisy fed the native parrots and birds!

Next Day we headed up into the snowy mountains along the Monaro Highway to stay in Australia’s highest caravan park in the Kosciuszko National Park, surrounded by snow capped mountains and cooler air we headed up the valley to look at Australia’s highest mountain, Mt Kosciuszko  and took a walk to view the wild flowers, snow gums and the Snowy river itself.  Returned to the camp site to find lots of friendly kangaroos which the girls loved playing with and feeding. Later on that night we had a visit from a number of brush tailed possums one of which must have mistaken Toms toe for a bit of apple!

The next day we headed into the main ski resort in the area, Thredbo and took the ski lift to the top and walked the 4km return trip to the Mt Kosciuszko lookout for some more amazing views. Temperature at the top was a refreshing 8 degrees. Ended  a great day round the camp fire with the girls eating  jaffles for their dinner!

We left the Snowies driving through never ending open country along the Snowy Mountains Way, rejoining the Monaro Highway, before  passing over the border into Victoria and arriving on the South Coast at Lakes Entrance. We took a late stroll over to ninety mile beach where the girls happily played in the sand having not seen the sea for over a week! Tom had started to feel unwell so we decided to stay a couple of night and relax before we headed north again along the Great Alpine Way to Bright through some serious skiing country. We passed Mt Hotham on the way and saw the Great Dividing Range again in all its glory. Bright was beautiful and the girls played in the river. Next day we headed south again and stopped at Glenrowen for lunch. This was the place of the last stand of Ned Kelly and his gang, famous Australian outlaw!

The big day then finally arrived, we were “going to Bonnie Doon”.  For those of you that have not seen the Australian Movie “The Castle” then we suggest you try and get hold of a copy as the following few sentences probably won’t make any sense! Bonnie Doon, arh the serenity, in all honesty it was beautiful as Lake Eildon was a full capacity and there wasn’t then smell of 2 stroke anywhere. Tom had to dig a hole to get the caravan level before we took a trip out to 3491 Maintongoon Road, home of the Kerrigans.  We thought, what would you want with a kit home, but it was complete with Mozzi zapper and power lines.

The serenity didn’t last long as the next morning we headed into Melbourne to stay with Jo’s Uncle and Aunt, Brian and Leah, and meet up with Jo’s parents. Tom went straight to the Doctors and then onto A&E to be diagnosed with Pneumonia.  Luckily we are in Melbourne for a while and the antibiotics started to do their job straight away.

From Melbourne we have no schedule to keep and so not sure how much internet access we will have but we will continue to post as often as we can!