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BROOME to WYNDHAM
Mon 28th & Tues 29th June, We left Broome at 8-45 and headed off toward Fitzroy Crossing, as we had decided to give Derby a miss as from all reports there is not much to see due to the wharf area being closed off to tourists.
Stopped off at Willara Bridge roadhouse for a break. (nice little camping ground there). We had lunch at the Ellendale roadside stop where we met up with some more Victorians. There can’t be many left over there. The Fitzroy River Lodge Park had been recommended to us, and we weren’t disappointed.
It is a very nice, well laid out caravan park. We decided to stay for two nights to have a break.
Swam each day in their ice cold pool, it was quite invigorating.
Wed 30th June, It was a 9-00am start as we had decided to stay at the Mary Pool 24 hr wayside camping area which was only 180 kms away. It is a very large area that we heard had over 100 vans there one day last week. There ended up being 60+ vans this time. We were early enough to get a nice shady spot, night,
except that it started raining during the night. There are cattle grazing in the area around the camping area and they often wandered around the vans and trees looking for feed.
We met a nice middle aged couple on their way around working at cattle stations as they went along.
A couple of nights ago a young couple and their children were late getting on the road and hit a cow at 100km in the dark writing off their 4wd. An RAC tray truck came and picked up the wreck whilst we were there. The whole front was pushed in nearly to the windscreen.
Thurs 1st July, Headed off toward Halls Creek in the rain, and called in to their information centre to try to book a tour into the Bungle Bungles. We were told that there was nothing until Monday so we decided to go on to Turkey Creek and check things out. As it turned out there was a direct booking line to East Kimberley Tours there and we were able to get on the 2 day tour tomorrow. Great news.
It rained nearly all day so we were a bit worried that the tour would be
washed out.
Turkey Creek is just a roadhouse / caravan park that was fully booked except for some un power3ed sites.
We decided to take one and leave our car and van there whilst we were on the tour. The showers were cold and fuel was very expensive. ($1-80 for petrol & 1-30 for LPG) The roadhouse and garage were owned and being run by the local Warmin aboriginal community.
Frid 2nd July, Up at 4-45am as we were being picked up at 5-30 for our tour. No rain. We left in the bus with 12 others, however, only 5kms up the road we had a flat tyre and lost nearly an hour trying to fix it.
The 53km road trip from the highway into the Bungle Bungles took 2 ½ hours as it is very hilly, twisty and rough, with 3 creek crossings with water to navigate through. At the visitors centre we met Bruce, another tour guide who was to take us on the 2 day tour along with 8 other people.
The walks and views were something to see, especially Echidna Chasm and Mini Palms Gorge.
The tour company had provided us all with a
little lunchbox with a salad, fruit & drink. Very nice.
Late afternoon we stopped at their permanent camping area where we were allocated a safari tent and personal toilet/shower. Very well laid out. After a roast beef & chicken dinner followed by cheesecake sweets we settled down for the night. Hard to take Eh ?
Sat 3rd July, After a nice cooked breakfast we drove to the Piccaninny Creek area where we walked up the creek for 1 ½ - 2 kms to a lookout. A very beautiful area, well worth it.
Lunch was in the cavern in Cathedral Gorge, a spectacular cave with incredible acoustics.
We then walked around the bee hive domes to a small rock pool area and back to the bus.
Afternoon tea at the lodge then on the bus to drop off some people at the airstrip, then back to Turkey Creek.
There were many 4wd’s with camper trailers coming in to the park in the afternoon, due mainly to the local school holidays I believe. When we got to the highway Bruce found that we had another flat tyre, due to the very rough terrain we had been over. A great 2 days,
very professionally organized and conducted.
Sun 4th July, It is very hard to organize accommodation up here as the caravan parks are always full at this time of year and they don’t take bookings. You have to camp at a roadside stop and go into Kununurra early and quay up to get in. We decided to go on to Wyndham as there appeared to be a better chance of getting in there. A nice little park with plenty of trees and only $150 for the week, so we are staying for the week.
Mon 5th, to Sat 10th, July, Not much to report except that we did a few of the touristy things, around Wyndham, a small run down (many derelict shops and buildings in the port area) coastal town currently over run with tourists. There is a great view from one of the hilltops overlooking the inlet and the Penticost Ranges but not much else to see.
We spent the whole week reading / relaxing and talking with other travellers.
On Thursday I took Pam to the doctors as her knee is playing up again. Needs more R & R. It is a good excuse for both
of us to continue to do very little at all.
We heard on Monday that the highway at Ellendale (the other side of Fitzroy Crossing had been cut due to flooding and the road wouldn’t be open for 2 - 3 days.) This has caused people travelling by road to bank up on both sides of the cut. Even without the local Agricultural Show at Kununurra it is a real headache.
We may end up staying here until Monday to let things sort out.
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George and Marilyn Hannah
non-member comment
Wow, Doug and Pam, keep on enjoying your trip, sure sounds great and makes for great reading.