The Kimberly continued

Geikie Gorge
Geologists tell us that back in the Devonian Age much of Northern Australia was under the sea and during this time a massive coral reef, much like the Great Barrier reef, was formed. The land was raised, the water retreated and over eons of erosion much of the sandstone has been removed but the harder limestone of the reef remains and now exists in many places as an exposed range, often much higher than the surrounding country. Our first encounter with this reef/range was at Geikie Gorge where the mighty Fitzroy River has cut through the range. We did a one hour, Ranger led boat trip which was interesting and informative.

The lighter rock is limestone which has been polished by the river during the Wet and shows the height of the river in a normal year, the 2011 Wet was some 3m above this height.The darker rock above this is weathered limestone with some traces of iron. The Fitzroy River is Australia's largest in terms of volume of water carried - they estimate that the 2011 flow would have filled the large reservoirs supplying Perths water in 10 minutes - the impact of the water on the walls of the Gorge produces many interesting formations. 

Returning back to camp at the Fitzroy River Lodge, which was a lovely park, we drove across the original crossing.

Tunnel Creek

Travelling west from Fitzroy Crossing we turned off the Highway on to a road that a large sign said was open to high clearance 4wd vehicles - not exactly us. The first 10kms were terrible, lots of sandy bits, then rocky, and some awful corrugations. Then it settled down to quite a good gravel road and we again encountered the Devonian Reef we were following. A long section over a river plain had been recently worked on and you could easily sit on 80km/hr. Then came the creek crossings! The first was small and easily crossed. The second had a gravel base and we dropped onto a few holes but kept traction and pulled through OK, although we were a bit nervous by now because we had only seen one other vehicle for the morning. The third was much wider than the other two and as we found out, much deeper. We slowly crossed with some water splashing over the bonnet, hoping there would be no holes to swallow us up. In the middle I thought 'This is it, we are in trouble', but we weren't, we just kept going. The fourth was only a short distance across but we could see the opposite side was  steep and muddy with a distinct ledge to be negotiated just above the water line. Once again the Santa Fe easily got us through. We were  relieved to reach the Tunnel Creel N.P. and you can imagine our suprise to find the carpark full of 4WD,s and a couple of tourist buses. They had come from the Derby direction. You can also imagine our suprise when we opened the van to have a much needed morning coffee, to discover the fridge door completely off and much of the fridge contents on the floor mingled with the contents of the cutlery draw which had lost it's front panel - it had been a rough road. We were able to get things back together - thank goodness for gaffer tape. And then it was off to explore Tunnel Creek, which proved to be quite a highlight.

The tunnel was formed by a creek actually following fault lines through the range and over the centurys carving out huge caverns. We had to wade for much of the 750m and needed torches to find our way and to see the features of the caves. In about the middle the roof had collapsed providing a sunny, sandy, break along the way. The caves are home to many bats, fish and sometimes freshwater crocodiles.

Heading in



Half way

From Tunnel Creek we travelled over very corrugated road to Windjana Gorge National Park where we set up camp for a late lunch and restored order in the van. Merilyn wiped out and restored the fridge, Bruce glued the drawer, tightened up some screws and washed the van floor, removing the art work of beetroot juice and red dust. Late in the day we did a short walk through the grassland along side the rocky range - that Devonian Reef again.

Windjana Gorge

Apart from the reef/range the surrounding country is grassland, with some larger eucalypts and boabs, as far as the eye can see. We  entered the gorge through a natural arch and immediately the yellow grasslands gave way to a tropical oasis with deep green pools and green trees and shrubs, at the base of immensely high, straight cliffs, quite overwhelming. Most of the walk was through the trees and bushes - especially large paperbarks with leaves hanging like weeping willows. Freshwater crocodiles were sunning themselves on the banks - we saw 3 groups of 4 or 5 altogether. We walked close to eroded limestone that was truly beautiful - pink with white marbling going through it. Just a beautiful place.

                   

Derby                                                                                                                                              

We enjoyed two days exploring the town of Derby. One day we did 30km on our bikes. People would see us and say "we saw you down at the wharf this morning". Obviously we are very 'noticeable". I am not sure if it is our fashionable clothes, our striking looks or the fancy bikes.

Derby is on a sandy peninsula that juts out into wide mudflats. The town is about 1km from the port. A new bike track runs from the caravan park to the port and we enjoyed using it. We found the port quite fascinating with its semi-circular jetty. Tidal variations are huge - up to 11m, one of the highest in the world. This is because King Sound narrows markedly below Derby and the mighty Fitzroy River runs in at the bottom of the Sound. The combination of all the material the river brings down in the Wet with the high tidal flows results in the water being a very muddy colour.

Tide's out

 We were very interested watching a barge which serviced an island near the head of the Sound,  fuel up from a road train on the pier and then move to a ramp where it took on equipment for a mine on the island. All of this had to be done quickly and efficiently because if they miss the tide they end up sitting on the mud for 6 hours.

Derby's early history was closely associated with the development of the cattle industry in the Kimberly. Drovers brought cattle to the port over vast distances. Clashes with the aboriginal population was also part of the 'frontier' history of this region and reading about this at the historic Derby Gaol, an awful place, was quite disturbing. Many aboriginals were chained up in the gaol for up to two years for slaughtering a cow. This was less than 100 years ago.

50 cattle could water at this trough in the holding paddock.

Chained aboriginals were imprisoned inside this hollow boab on their way to the infamous Derby Gaol

A week in Broome will be the end of our Kimberly experience.

 

  

  

                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                           

The Kimberly

We have been off-line for over 2 weeks, mainly because our computer died. It happened just after I finished the last blog and was playing chess against the computer. I was winning (again) and the computer spat the dummy and closed down. I re-started it 2 or 3 times on Safe Start Up but each time it closed down again after a short time and finally would not start at all. We had to wait until we got to Broome where they diagnosed the problem as a motherboard fault and hence, after much discussion and soul searching, we now have a new computer. So here is a summary of the last two weeks.
Distance travelled: 1,400km - all in the Kimberly
Weather: Sunny - have not seen a cloud for over a month, 28 - 32 degrees max, cool overnight, 10 - 15 degreees
National Parks Visited: 4
Tours: 2
Lattes: not enough

Parry Creek Farm
Lovely place with large, grassy, shady site (much different to our site at Kununurra).

Cambridge Gulf - Wyndham

Enjoyed visiting Wyndham where there were great views from the 'Five Rivers Lookout', on a hill behind the town called 'the Bastion'.





Had two visits to nearby Marglus Billabong, part of the Parry Lagoon Nature Reserve, where there was a bird hide where we observed thousands of water birds. Our second visit was at dawn with track suits on over our PJ's.

 Purnululu National Park
Stayed at Bungle Bungle Caravan Park near the start of the access road. We were on the tour bus at 7.00am and it took 2 hours to do the 53km to the National Park on an awful road.

                 Walks to Picanniny Lookout (2km)

                          Cathedral Gorge (4km) - huge and awesome, impossible to photograph

and the Domes Walk (400m)

After lunch we drove to the northern end of the park to the Echidna Chasm. An amazing place, narrow like Silent Street in the Grampians, but 100s of metres high and a long way in. In some places huge lumps of conglomerate were wedged high above where you walked. 

After the rough ride home we were well and truly ready for the lovely meal provided as part of the tour.

Aboriginal Art Gallery and School    

Whilst driving between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing we saw a sign to an Aboriginal Art Gallery, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The 8km track in was quite rough, Merilyn was driving and handled it very well. Near the entrance to the  community was a new orchard and large vegie garden. Next to the carpark was an attractive pavilion with boards detailing how the community was founded and a brief history. Then we walked past the school to the art gallery which contained some wonderful art. We were thrilled with the conversation with Annette, the curator who was from the Mornington Peninsula and had been employed by the Community for the last 5 years. She also drove the school bus and had started the school orchard and vegetable garden. She told us about the history of the community. The school and gallery were the vision of one of the aboriginal elders who was also a wonderful artist. There are 70 students in the school, prep to Year 10, which is an Independent School run by a Community Board and serving several surrounding comminities. The school children we met spoke politely and well with beaming smiles. The whole place was neat and clean. It was quite a contrast with what we have seen in the bigger centres. Very much an indigenous led community. Annette said there were many similar communities in the district. We left feeling much encouraged, also with a new art work for the wall of the new house.

As we drove on to a lookout for lunch strong winds raised black willy-willy's out on the burnt plains.

.....to be continued

                                                                                                 

                                                                                                       

West to the East Kimberly

Katherine - Victoria River Roadhouse 200 km
Victoria River - Bullita Homestead 128kms
Bullita Homestead - Timber Creek 62km
Timber Creek - Keep River N.P. 191km
Keep River N.P. - Lake Argyle via Kununnura 111km
Lake Argyle - Kununurra 70km

You can see that we have been on the move since we left Katherine, relatively short distances and short stays. Seven days 'out of contact with the world'

Some amazing facts:

• There is only one settlement (Timber Creek) of 100 people, predominately aboriginal, in the 510 kms between Katherine and Kununnura.
• Lake Argyle holds up to 80 times the volume of water of Sydney Harbour 
• We have not seen a cloud - daily maximum temperatures have been between 28 and 34 degrees
•  The Hyundai is a Time Machine - last Sunday we left Keep River N.P. at 9.30am and after 1hour driving arrived in Kununnura to shop at 9.00 am. That's right, we had arrived half an hour before we had departed - think about that! Merilyn says she has jet lag and will take weeks to recover.
• We are still talking to each other even though we have lived in this van with a useable floor space of  only two square metres (ie half the floor space of a small bathroom) for nearly 5 months.

After leaving Katherine the seemingly endless woodland plains eventually gave way to some undulations and mesas until we were in the beautiful Victoria River Valley in the eastern section of the Gregory National Park. A walk to the escarpment gave us spectacular views of the valley and a second walk took us, after a fair bit of solid climbing, up and along the base of an overwhelming escarpment, amongst Livinstonia Palms, to some rock art.

Next day we moved on to the main part of Gregory (Judbarra) N.P. Before Timber Creek we turned off the highway and after 50 somewhat challenging kms arrived at Bullita near the site of the old stockyards and homestead. This country is quite different to the eastern section of the park - dry open woodland with some huge Boab trees. It felt like harsh country and reading about what life was like in its cattle station days, it certainly was a challenging place to live. I felt somewhat humbled being in an area near Victoria River Downs Station and where identities from history, like Nat Buchanan (drover) and Patsy Durack (pioneer cattleman), have an association.

                                                                                              We discovered that the track to the Gorge we were going to visit had a creek crossing that reqired low ratio 4WD, which we haven't got, so next day we re-negotiated the 50 km back to the highway, explored the settlement of Timber Creek, and spent the night at a roadside stop alongside the Victoria River. We did see one crocodile in the distance sunning itself on the river bank. Timber Creek was quite a pleasant place with aboriginal kids playing on the grass outside the store after school.

On Friday we had an easy drive to Keep River N.P. near the W.A. border. This park has been a real highlight. Good camping area, two wonderful walks, plenty of space, some new birds - how about a White Quilled Rock Pigeon - and a lovely campfire at night.

Sunday saw us crossing the border early, shopping at Kununnura and back and set up at Lake Argyle before lunch! In the afternoon we explored the area, almost had a swim (water temperature a bit too cold), and booked a river trip on the Ord for the next day.

The river cruise of 21/2 hours was very enjoyable. There were only 8 of us, the driver was very knowledgable and supplied us with good information about the area and the Ord River Irrigation scheme. We saw freshwater crocodiles, birds, and wallabies on the rock cliffs. Sometimes we travelled quickly and other times we just drifted and took in the grandeur. In the afternoon we drove to the Argyle Downs Homestead which had been moved and rebuilt on its present site befoe the valley was flooded. It was the home built by Patsy Durack for his family and featured in Mary Durack's book Kings in Grass Castles.

The past 2 days have been in Kununnura, doing domestic and touristy things. It has been very hot - 35 today, and there has been a lot of smoke from fires in the surrounding hills. We have enjoyed learning more about the Ord scheme, most of the land is now taken up with production of Indian Sandalwood, the extracted oil from which is used in perfume production. It is not harvested for 15 years, the first harvest here will be in 2 or 3 years, so the land is tied up for a long time. Fruits and vegetables are also produced and they plan to try cotton in the new area which is opening up soon.

Kununnura - we are camped below the right hand hill.

We are off again tomorrow and will probably be out of touch for another week.

A Long Way to the Top

Alice Springs - Karlu Karlu (Devils Marbles) 406km
Karlu Karlu - Dunmarra  468km
Dunmarra - Elsey N.P. 228km
Elsey N.P - Katherine 134km

What a change as we have moved 'up the track'. We have left behind the red sand dunes, rocky gorges, ghost gums, dry river beds, vast plains of spinifex and mulga, dingoes, NOW it's all shades of green with palm trees, frangipanni, flowing rivers, flowering eucalypts, yellow wattles, very dense bush with high grass and small delicate kangaroos, new birds. And it's WARM. the last 2 days have been near perfect. 28-30 degrees during the day, clear blue sky and a light breeze, 12 degrees overnight - an aboriginal chap we talked to in Katherine today said the nights were freezing, we thought they were just about right for a good nights sleep. 

The first day from Alice took us to Kurlu Kurlu, a much nicer name than Devils Marbles. We arrived about 1.00pm and got a good spot but there were not many places left to choose from. By 2.30pm it was full - 42 units all lined up about 2m apart. There was a fair demand on the 2 pit toilets. A lazy afternoon and late walk through the formations.

 We had been up since 5.30 in the morning so it was early to bed. We have found that most campsites are completely quiet by about 9 o'clock - except for the howling dingoes.

On the road by 8.00am. shopped at Tennant Creek, lunch at Elliot which was larger than we remembered with a mainly aboriginal population. Had planned to stay there but park was closed because of a power failure so drove for another hour to Dunmarra roadhouse. The distances are so vast in this country, an hour means you are another 100km up the road. There was a very pleasant caravan park with power but no phone. A Brahmin cow and calf welcomed us to our site,

huge (56 metres long) road trains came and went

(this truck took $634.00 of diesel), and two helicopters dropped in and left after purchasing 2 bags of ice.

After a 2nd long day of travel we decided to change our plans and travel for only a couple of hours to Elsey National Park. Back in 1985 the family had enjoyed the hot spings at Mataranka but this time we travelled out to a lovely campground with large bush sites just near the Roper River. A proper toilet block with solar hot water added to the appeal of the place. It was hot (over 30) and humid so we sat in deep shade with our books (Merilyn slept) and watched the passing parade of some delightful birds, including Shining Flycatchers, both male and female and an Olive Backed Oriole - I bet that excites some of the readers!

Next day a morning walk (8km return) to Mataranka Falls, alongside the green Roper River, flanked by tall palms was delightful. About 1km from camp over a distance of about 20m we were engulfed by a myriad of butterflies, hundreds of them. The afternoon was spent much the same as the previous one. We did not hear dingoes at night at this park BUT we did hear (quite a lot) wild donkeys.

Today was a quick trip of one and a half hours to Katherine where we are staying in the BIG4 park which is large and green with lovely trees and gardens. After lunch we rode on a track into town and back out again on another track on the opposite side of the Katherine River. A black, skinny slithering snake crossed our path but quickly got out of the way when it saw Merilyn bearing down -who wouldn't. 

We had a nice brief chat with a young aboriginal man near the  Katherine Road Bridge. He was a 'local' and lived in a nearby community of about 30 homes. We have encountered several bright, pleasant aboriginal people working in cafes, stores and the bank and it is most encouraging. However alcohol abuse  problems are still very evident and it is most distressing to see some of the other health problems of many of the people, there is much diabetes because of high sugar diets. Law and Order issues are also of concern in many of the communities. There is a program where many shops won't serve minors during school hours unless they have a permission slip from the school. School attendance is an obvious issue and we saw several uniformed aboriginal truancy officers in Alice Springs. The more leaders that come from the aboriginal community the better our future will be. Some of the racist attitudes of people of my generation is quite disturbing. One fellow I was chatting with in Alice, who seemed a very nice chap, started talking about all of the aboriginals hanging about in town, suggesting that the problem is that we have put a white mans head into a black mans body - I didn't stay chatting for long. Another very conservative type of man in Dunmarra started talking about the 'coloured folk' he had seen in Elliot. I asked him did he mean aboriginal. When will we learn?

Tomorrow we are heading West to Gregory National Park and will be off-line for some days.