Days 7 and 8: Broome to Derby and Horizontal Waterfalls

Yes, I know this entry covers 2 days. Yes, I have a good reason. No, you don't want to know how many expletives were colouring the air last night when I should have been writing the Blog...

It all started so well yesterday. Threw Jen the car keys (after 2500kms, I couldn't be arsed when there was a willing volunteer to drive available) for the couple hundtred kms to Derby. For the Poms this is pronounced Dur-be. Yes, I know they're wrong, but they just won't be told!
Before we left Broome, I took her for a quick drive around town, including Town Beach where I had seen people wading thigh deep in the water the day before... Oops. Guess the crocs noticed.

The snappy handbags are back..!

The drive to Derby took us past the Prison Boab. A large boab where they kept aboriginal workers as they were force marched to the pearling sites in a darker period of WA history. These trees grow very slowly (some may be thousands of years old) and are generally hollow. So while being very special to aboriginal people here they are everywhere in the Kimberley.

Prison Boab. Diminutive Houston for scale.

 It wasn't until we got to camp, and after we had done the shopping for the trip that things started to go wrong. The Engel fridge wasn't keeping food cool when the engine wasn't running. A bit of swearing as I went through a troubleshooting list ventually got us to the point where it was either the fridge compressor, or the auxiliary battery. The multi meter said battery. Cue more swearing as Country WA isn't open much on a weekend, let alone a bank holiday weekend. I had visions of having to miss the trip planned for the next day while I stayed at a garage getting the battery replaced. I called a local 4wd shop and left a desperate sounding message, expecting a call back some time the next day. He called back within an hour offereing to open the store at 0630 so I could still make the trip. Words cannot express what a star this guy is. His name is Greg Rosser at Derby 4x4 & Marine. Top Bloke.

So, the big trip that I was pissed at the prospect of missing? A seaplane trip over Horizontal Falls, followed by 2 lots of power boat runs through it. As a bonus we also got to swim in a cage while the nurse sharks were fed, a boat ride up Cyclone Creek (one of the best Cyclone moorings in the area) and a feed of fresh Barramundi. There will be lots of photos, but words don't do this place justice. If you get chance, you must see this place. One of the best trips I have done for a long time.

Thankfully, Jen could't reach the controls. She got to sit in the co-pilot chair as she was the smallest person on the flight

Part of the drainage into the Fitzroy river area

Horzontal Falls from the air

Our Cessna Caravan I amphibian at the Horizontal Falls Hotel pontoon

On the fast boat going through the falls

Mangroves and sedimentary cliffs on Cyclone Creek

Nurse sharks enjoying a free fed

Great view of the fish and sharks from the cage

Horizontal Falls

Unfortunately our plane came back to get us...

Part of Dampier Archipelago

Derby showing the extent of tidal range.

When we got back it was time to get back to reality with a bit of shopping for the items we forgot, then a spur of the moment decision to go to Derby Jetty to catch the last of the sunset. Not only did we get some great shots, but the cafe there gave us some of the best pork ribs we've had anywhere.

Tomorrow the Gibb River Road Begins!

Derby Jetty at Sunset

The wharf at the end of the jetty

Day 6: Historical Broome

So that's it . 2600kms of driving. Done. Part one of this WA driving trilogy. Done. Peace about to be shattered... Done.

Today was going to be fantastically quiet as all I had to do was wait for Jen to arrive. So I got my tyre repair skills checked, some dodgy tailoring corrected, and still had time to go to the Historical Society Museum, Town Beach, China Town and the Japanese Cemetery. So I had a bit of driving around and seeing Broome, which allowed me to come to this conclusion. Broome is a town with (by Western Australian standards) a good amount of history. A fair bit good, but without glossing over the bad bits. But all the old buildings are gone. There is no character here. The town plays on its history, but sold it's soul for the tourist dollar. I want to be disappointed, but that would require surprise and Perth removed that amazement at the destruction of it's history many years ago.

My ambivalence demands to be sated, and only Mango beer will do. I must obey...

An old rickshaw from Pre-war China town

A Japanese gate overlooking Town Beach. This says quite a lot about Broome.

Streeters Jetty. One of the very few pieces of older Broome left

Japanese Cemetery

Town Beach from the Old Jetty/Groyne

Day 5: Pardoo Station to Broome

It seems appropriate to start today's notes about the end of the day. There is something very pleasant about the Tropics in the dry season. Broome definitely fits this mould. Being able to sit outside on a pleasantly warm evening and watch the sun setting over than mangroves, while sipping a mango beer just makes everything feel good. I can imagine it would be hard to feel stressed while doing it. Although I'll be the first to admit that it might be different if you had to work here, rather than just relaxing with a cold beer...

But all that comes later. The day started with listening to the rain falling on my swag while trying to ignore the needs of my bladder. Thankfully, there wasn't much of it and it soon ended so I could emerge and check the effect which amounted to the horrifying total of slightly damp camp chair and shoes which weren't covered properly when I went to bed. Bugger. Still, a couple of hours loitering and the swag dried enough to be rolled up and the drive could start. 

On paper, today should have been easy. Only 460kms. The reality was that where yesterday was engaging, today wasn't. Mostly plains, scrub bushland and long straight bits of road. For anyone that's driven from Perth to Kalgoorlie, or along the Nullabor, this is up there with them on a boredom-whilst-driving scale. 

One of several Peacocks at Sandfire Roadhouse. But no Peahens?

Sandfire Roadhouse

So I arrived at the end of the day a bit more fatigued than normal to find Matso's brewery is the other side of the street from the motel I'm crashing in. Ahhh , Mango beer in warm weather (somehow doesn't work as well in cooler weather). Hello old friend, let's get reacquainted...

Matso's Brewery

Day 4: Coral Bay to Pardoo Station

Today wasn't a day I was looking forward to very much. Sure, it would put me within striking distance of Broome, but it also meant driving about 860km. 

But what a day it was. I'd forgotten how much the scenery changes as you drive across the Pilbara. From coastal plains and ancient mesas, to flood plains and ghost gums. Interspersed with gas plants, mine sites, giant trains and massive ports. It really didn't didn't feel like I drove for 9 and a bit hours. But therein lies the problem. I drove THROUGH the Pilbara. To reach my destination I couldn’t stop and explore the myriad of National Parks, tracks, pools, and rivers that still held water. Guess this'll be yet another trip…

Eventually I turned off onto the 17km dirt track to Pardoo Station and less than 1km from it, the tyre pressure monitor shouts at me that my rear passenger tyre has lost pressure. Once I checked in at camp and got to my campsite I changed the wheel and inspected the tyre to find a flippin’ great tec screw through a block on the tread. Without TPMS that would have been a nasty surprise in the morning. I might have damaged the tyre. This is the second time it's alerted me to a problem, so if it has just saved one tyre it's paid for itself. As for the puncture, I'm pretty hopeful that as it’s in a tread block, the repair should be ok, but I'll get it checked in Broome. 

While I'm singing the praises of kit I must mention my 12v oven. About an hour and a half from camp I put in a frozen lasagne to cook. It worked beautifully and meant that when I was tired and grumpy after fixing the tyre, dinner was already sorted. That was very welcome. 

But it's not all good. The aftermarket 4000kg bottle jack I got to supplement the Toyota one appears to have shit itself at first use. Not impressed and it's going in the bin. No point in carrying useless crap. 

Now for another relaxing beer and dream of arriving in Broome. I've earned both..!

Day 3: Loitering in Coral Bay

I couldn't come all this way and just overnight here, So before I left Perth I did a quick search of dive/snorkelling providers and settled on a half day trip to snorkel with the resident Manta Rays through Ningaloo Reef Dive. I had the choice of swimming with Whale sharks, but for this trip there was something about swimming close to such large graceful animals that the Mantas won out. Plus I figured that while Jen is jealous of the Mantas, she'd kill me if I swam with the Whale sharks without her...

The first part was snorkelling round a shallow reef (1-10m water depth). Loads of fish, a Hawksbill turtle, and a pair of inquisitive reef sharks. It was quite good seeing this with a small group as we didn't get in each others way, plus I seemed to be the only one diving down to get a clearer view, rather than float at the surface. What was most impressive though was a family with 2 small children. The 6 year old girl did the full trip clinging on to her noodle (swim float) and was really excited to see the sharks and wanted to follow them when they swam away.

Reef fish. Identification someone?

Reef shark attracted to flailings of snorkellers

A grazing Hawksbill turtle

Snapper. Good eating...

The Manta Rays were amazing. Such large majestic creatures. Apparently the ones we saw were the smaller (3m) inshore species. Oceanic ones get up to 8m across the wings. The downside is that they stayed about 6m down and we had to stay at surface so we didn't disturb them. While we could see them fairly clearly, the back scatter in the water means the photos weren't much cop. Yes, I can hear your sympathy from here...

This afternoon was spent trying to wash half a tub of vaseline out of my beard (needed for the diving mask to get a good seal) then a wander round Coral Bay town. If you are envisaging anything special, you're a bit wide of the mark. It's pretty much a collection of shacks, a couple of large caravan parks and basic amenities. If you are thinking of heading this way at this time of year, make sure you book a site or villa in advance as they fill pretty quickly. The caravan parks are almost an attraction in themselves as you find yourself wondering how some of the massive rigs get towed anywhere, let alone round Australia! What's also amazing is that some people spend a lot of time and money to get here, only to set up the satellite dishes and stay inside their caravans watching daytime tv. For those of you reading this from the UK, Australian daytime tv is even worse than yours.

Tomorrow is going to be a long drive to Pardoo Station (another 800km+ day), and the current forecast across the Pilbara is not great, although the final destination of Broome is looking good.

Day 2: Monkey Mia to Coral Bay

I didn't expect today to be both fabulous and frustrating at times. But it was, and I was quite surprised by it.

But first, Monkey Mia itself. A fabulous place that everyone should visit at least once. I've put a panorama on Facebook already but here's a better shot.

Early morning on Monkey Mia beach

Having arrived late, I just went for the quick and simple setup as it was dark and I was hungry and knackered.

A comfy swag close to the coffee

Now for the fabulous bits. Starting with the dolphins. Getting close to these amazing animals is always good, and when it's done in an environment that is designed to educate the public and allow them to get very close without creating too much impact on what are, after all, wild animals is great. The chosen few will never forget being able to give a fish to a wild dolphin, and one mother turning up with her two year old calf was just perfect.

Mother and calf

The Dolphins came in really close

There aren't times for feeding. The Dolphins know the routine and come in if they want to. For the first session they stayed about 10m out, then went off chasing fish. This is from about 20 mins later when another party came in. Interestingly, they only do the interactions with the females as the males get a bit aggressive and nippy.

As time was marching on I had to get going. This is where the frustration kicked in. Driving out in daylight you start to get an appreciation for how much exploring you can do on tracks in the area. And I had to drive past! Argh!!

Still, I did stop at two places I really couldn't drive past, both in Hamelin Bay. The Shell beach is formed from millions of Fragum cockles that thrive in the heightened salinity found in shallow lagoons where there is a lot of evaporation. As their predators can't handle these conditions, they thrive to the extent that the beach is 9m deep in places of just shells. Limestone in the making, and it has been quarried in this area. Amazing to see.

Just shells, and shell fragments on this beach. No sand.

For the same reason, the Stromatolites and Microbialites love it here as well. This is one of the few places you can see them (and it's way better than the ones at Cervantes). To protect thm, you're restricted to a walkway, but the geologist in me was dying to get a closer look...

Masses of Stromatolites (the ones raised up) and Microbialites (the ground mass carpeting the rest of the area)

The rest of the day was just driving to Coral Bay, where I'll stay tomorrow as well. It's been a couple of decent days driving, so the rest will do me good.That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Day 1: Perth to Monkey Mia

So the trip has started for real, and what a day it was. At least I made it which is more than some poor sod did.

As always, starting is one of the hardest things, and this time was no different... Beginning with standing at the back of a very full vehicle wondering if I really need to take all this stuff, before realising it's far too early (with not enough caffeine) to be thinking about this and as there is a lot of distance between me and today's destination, I'd better get going

A full load. Wonder how long it'll stay this well packed..?

Route of choice has to be the Indian Ocean Drive rather than the Brand Highway. So much better scenery, less trucks and not much slower. Plus it has the added bonus of the Jurien Bay Jetty Cafe for the first stop. So if you're thinking of taking the Brand, well done. It leaves the prettier route less congested for me, and on a perfect day like this (so far) it's the only way to go.

Jurien Bay

The rest of it is fairly standard driving, except an accident just past the Kalbarri turnoff blocked the road for a couple of hours. A car (mostly) had apparently met a truck. Which was on its side across the road. Nasty. Credit to the emergency services who got the injured person out and opened the road pretty quickly considering. But it did mean my 6pm arrival became 7:30. A long day made better by Guinness and the ease of setting up the swag by the wagon. 

Roll on tomorrow and the Dolphins!

So this is really happening...

So this is how it starts... After planning for several months, with various phone calls for Indigenous permits and booking camp sites, it's time to start the process of packing. OK, so this also means a bit of prevarication and real work avoidance so it's not all bad...

The broad outline is that I spend a few days driving round the coast before meeting Jen in Broome. We then do 3 1/2 weeks of the Gibb River Road with a few side tracks, Purnululu and Wolf Creek crater, before depositing her back in Broome. I then get to drive home, and I'm thinking about taking a couple of days fishing in the north of the state, then taking the scenic (as well as less travelled) route back to Perth.

But for now, all this is in the future and we're back to the reality of filling a Landcruiser with a couple tonnes of stuff and toys