Day 33 and 34. Broome to Marble Bar

An unexpected post.

A fairly normal start to a big mileage day. Delayed so I could get to Bunnings to get firelighters, the onto Mango coffee. Then the drive started, and what a difference 5 weeks makes. When I drove up, there was a small trickle of caravans heading to Broome/Derby. Yesterday that had turned into a flood. Just really reinforced the value of doing your research on when to go on a trip.

As expected, the volume of traffic fell away when I turned onto the Marble Bar road, but there is one section of note. The road gets to Coongan Gorge just before Maqrble Bar. What a bit of road. Suddenly the flat, boring road is replaced by a lovely twisty road that rises and falls as you go through the gorge. It would be fantastic on a motorbike, but I don't envy the road trains that use it.

Entering Australia's hottest town, unaware of the joy to come...

Drove through Marble Bar to refuel, then went back to the campsite, expecting it to be fairly quiet. How wrong I was. Caravans and tents everywhere, but I managed to tuck myself away in a corner, open the foxwing and roll out the swag. After a quick call to Jen, it was off to the Ironclad Hotel for dinner and a beer. Then things started to go wrong...

Just after dinner, there was a gurgle. So I decided to forego the entertainment at the hotel (Skimpies) and returned to the campsite. Lets just say the reason for the gurgling got worse overnight, so I decided it was probably best to stay here another day to try and get things calmed down a bit. It's now mid afternoon and it's just starting to get better, so hopefully I can continue tomorrow. Otherwise I could be here for a while as Kunawaritji servo is only open Saturday morning, and not at all on Sunday. I need to refuel here to get to Warburton, but won't make it in a morning. So it it's going to happen, it has to be tomorrow...

But now the stomach is calming a bit, it's given me some time to look around the campsite, and it's a pretty strange place. There are several caravans that look like they were parked up and left a long time ago judging by the decay around them. There is a second ablutions block that is out of action and has a couple of old, rusting wrecks dumped in front of it. Oh, and there is no hot water in the showers, but boy, am I glad for a flushing toilet!

One other thing, if you want something to eat when you have diarrhoea, don't go for Weetbix and water. Truly disgusting. Boiled rice is tasty by comparison.

Day 32: Broome

The end and the beginning...

Today was the day that Jen flew out, marking the end of a trip that had been a few months in the planning, so it was a little sad in a few ways. But it also marked the start of my trip home, which meant getting the supplies together for 2 weeks of desert travel with probably bugger all resupply opportunities and few fuel stops at community servos along the route.

So as with all desert travel, we start with the preparations. Especially as I'll be doing this bit solo... I'll be keeping the daily blog going, but it will not be updated daily as there is no mobile or wifi for much of the trip. Instead, I'll be keeping in touch with Jen (for safety reasons) through route tracking and checking in on the Spot Tracker, and occasional calls on the satellite phone, both of which have been re-checked in the last couple of days.

So once Jen had gone, I wandered around doing the normal stuff of large shopping trip, but getting mostly cans or soft packed goods as fridge space is limited. It also meant checking the expiry dates on the fresh meat products and reaching to the back of the shelves to get the longest lead time stuff. Worryingly for me (although something I'd usually enjoy) most items are meant for consumption in the next few days. Eek! Although there were a few vacuum packed items that will be kept for later. Then it's the usual gas and fuel refills before hitting the internet for the last minute track checks. Since the roadhouse and community store managers all said the tracks had been used, it's a good sign the trip will be possible, but their comment that conditions vary between rough and bloody rough, or that the last time they saw a grader was probably when Len Beadell passed through may mean my decision to pack food for a fortnight to do an 1800km trip could be useful...

Then to my digs for tonight. The Billi. It's a luxury tent, with no bar or dining facilities on site although there are cooking options in the tent, or a barbecue outside. Sod that! I have to eat my own cooking for the next fortnight. Tonight someone else can do the cooking! And with that, I'm off to the pub. A final Mango beer at Matsos seems in order...

My posh tent

A little bit better than swag on a stretcher bed...

Nice garden setting

Days 30 and 31: Cable Beach Resort, Broome

Rest and repair. For us and the car...

A couple of relaxing days with a bit of running around as I prep for the solo desert legs of the trip. The first day here (I think it was a Sunday?) saw me get a new soldering iron and successfully repair my tyre sensor. How long it will hold is another matter, but I managed to get a couple of spare sensors here, so I'm prepared! I also got a few bolts, nyloc nuts and washers to add to the repair kit for when other stuff starts hanging off. I know a couple will be used soon to re-attach the plastic inner mudguards. The original bolts are still there, so a couple of large washers will cover the hole where they pulled through.

Around mid afternoon we drove onto Cable Beach to try and snag a good spot for when the Camels wandered past, laden with tourists on their sunset ride along the beach. What we hadn't expected was how many other people were doing the same thing! I don't think I've seen that many 4WDs in one place away from one of the shows! Anyway, the smug satisfaction of sitting in a comfy chair with a cold beer in your hand as the camels came past with their bored, uncomfortable and thirsty riders was worth the effort. I wonder if the tourists on camels realised that they were also part of the show as well as observers of it?

Sunset on Cable beach

A small portion of the hoardes we shared the beach with

Sunset had fabulous colours

Standard shot of the camels on the beach at sunset. By the time they came back, I'd drunk my beer so was able to take photos...

Over dinner in the Malay restaurant at the hotel, we started talking about the hotel. We both thinks it's OK, and in many ways good, but it misses that spark or attention to detail that makes you go "wow!" It's almost like it's found it's place in the market, noticed there's no-one competing in the same area, and has taken it's foot off the gas and is just coasting. Dinner in the Sunset bar had one of the best locations in Australia. The food was below expectations. The Malay restaurant food was better, and my lobster was great, but not exceptional. There are no spirits or dessert wines on any menu I've seen so far. The rooms are fine, but the buildings are starting to look a little...faded. The tables are wiped at breakfast with a clean damp cloth, but not dried so you sit down at a wet, smeared table. There is no 24 hour room service. The verbal English of several staff members extends to the menu, but no further, etc. If it wasn't for the location and reputation of this place, I think it would have been overtaken. Which is a shame as I don't think it would take much to restore it to being the premier spot in town.

The second day was more prep and relaxing. Finding that Kimberley Camping is an Aladdins cave of kit, and that some staff Repco Broome don't know their product lines. Then more coffee in Chinatown, a swim in the pool, and a movie at Sun Pictures. A great day, marred only by the realisation that Broome dining closes before 9pm even more comprehensively than Perth!

It's also a sad day. My last full day with Jen for a while. She flies back to Perth tomorrow morning. The car and deserts are going to be quiet without her travelling with me.

Day 29: Wolfe Creek to Broome

This was never going to be a fun day. 860km or so to do, but at least it's mostly bitumen and there are 2 drivers.

The pack up of camp got done in record time so we had a small amount of time to go and have another look at te crater and get a better shot of it  with less shadow...

Wolfe Creek Metorite Crater

It wasn't until I started reading the boards this morning that I realised this is a rather recent addition to the landscape. It hit only about 300,000 years ago. No wonder it's so well preserved. Another fact garnered from the info boards speaks to the isolation of the place. Although the area has been leased to pastoralists and explored since the 1880s, the crater wasn't identified until the Geological Survey did and aerial survey of the area in 1947...

The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful and we arrived in Broome around 4:30pm to the sumptuous Cable Beach Resort

Day 28: Purnululu to Wolfe Creek

Up, up and away...

What a way to start the day and celebrate 4 weeks on the road for me. A 40 minute helicopter flight around Purnulu. Unfortunately only the Southern bit, but I guess the northern part doesn't look so good from the air. Even better is that for this one, I was in the front seat next to the pilot. What a view! Truly a highlight of the trip, and neither of us wanted it to end.

Taking off in the prime viewpoint

One of the 'fingers' of Piccaninny

The scale is truly awesome from up here...

One of the world's truly amazing sights

Flying over Piccaninny Creek you start to get an idea of just how little you see whilst walking

Unfortuantely it did, and the reality of a 380km drive reared its ugly head. All well and good to get out of the park, the about 120km of tarmac. Easy… Unfortunately the drive in to the crater takes you down the Tanami Road (Gravel road that links the Kimberley with Alice Springs) for a hundred kms before you turn off onto unmaintained, very corrugated tracks for the final 23km to the crater. We got here just in time for sunset. I don’t hink Jen quite belives we’ll have done a 250km detour to spend less than 10 minutes looking at a meteor crater… oops.

Thankfully, the campsite is right by the crater, and the lamb roast we put in the oven as we left Purnululu was ready to eat (albeit with a bit of an explosion of Fat and juices from the covered roasting tray thanks to the corrugations…)

Best get to bed early tonight as tomorrow is going to be a 10 hour bugger of a drive to Broome…

Day 27: Purnululu, the southern bit.

A walk among the beehives...

Another day where the long walks were being studiously ignored in favour of an easy day with an

early return to camp and cold beer. One difference for today was the resolve to make an early start.

Which, for once, we did.

After a minor detour to the helicopter office to check tomorrow’s flight, it was a short drive to

Piccaninny from where all the walks to todays attractions start.

The awe starts from the drive in. You start to see the domes and it gets better and better as you get closer. 

The start of that layered sandstone and unique weathering...

First sight of the beehives

Then you get to the carpark and realise that all the promo shots are just of a very small corner of this area, which in itself is a very small corner of the National Park. So, after a brief pause to pick up your jaw, you start on the first walk which is part of The Domes Loop. Wow. No conglomerate today, just banded sandstones, but just as sensational. 

Starting the Domes loop

From here the walk carries on into Cathedral Gorge where the beehives are temporarily replaced by high gorge walls before suddenly opening into the "Cathedral" at the end.

You can imagine this place being popular with Aboriginals for the helter it would provide, but the

pool was one you wouldn’t want to bathe in, let alone drink

The entrance to Cathedral Gorge

Taking in the scene

Cathedral Gorge is quite a large place...

Then the path followed the creek bed towards what for us would be the furthest point, The Window. You can follow it for another nearly 20km up intp Piccaninny creek. I had cold beer calling. The Window itself is not overly impressive, but the walk there is picturesque as it’s a continuation of the beehive and gorge formations. The on our way back we took a detour into Piccaninny creek lookout. This detour is worth the effort as we got a slightly elevated viewpoint towards the gorges.

Walking up Piccaninny Creek

The patterns caused in the riverbed by boulders in the turbulent flow are nearly as cool as the Beehives themselves

The view from Piccaninny lookout

With beehive overload, it was time to head back to the car. It’s about now we realised that our slow saunter had kept us wandering around the area for nearly 6 hours. Maybe I’d better thave a couple of beers. Rehydration purposes, of course…

Day 26: North Purnululu

Since Mini Palms Grove is closed while they rebuild a some of the walkways, today was always going to be fairly relaxed. We were going to start with a drive to the Bloodwoods lookout, then Echidna Chasm and Osmand Lookout. How quickly plans can change. We got to The Bloodwoods, and saw the comment of Homestead Valley only being 2.2km along an easy track… Its worth the minimal effort required.

The walk into Homestead Valley

Homestead is a lovely gorge, but then you walk down Echidna… The best time of day is just before midday when the sun turns the walls of the chasm fabulous shades of orange, yellows and reds. It’s narrow walls also mean it stays shaded and add to the dramatic effect.

Bowerbird nest

A tour group leaving the chasm

Je walking into the far end of Echidna Chasm

Jen surveying the scale of Echidna Chasm

You can’t walk through these chasms/gorges without commenting on the rocks you walking past. The poorly sorted conglomerate consists of a well rounded clasts ranging in size from pebble to large boulders, in a sandstone matrix; while the dark sandstone banding still contains occasional horizons of pebble sized clasts. The dark colour is apparently caused by cyanobacteria . The energy required to transport this far enough for the clasts to become rounded is mind boggling. The thickness the unit says that this was a regular event in the Devonian  at this location. I will need to get the GSWA notes on the area as this is fascinating…

Finish the day with another short walk and scramble to a lookout to watch sunset strike the Bungles. All with a cold beer in our hands. Bliss. Even better is returning to find we still have a quiet campsite!

Sunset from a vantage point with a cold beer. Jen finds her happy place.