Broome to Kununurra

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Broome to Kununurra

We started off this segment of our trip at the fuel bowser again – Broome Caltex – 85.8L @ 161.9c/L.
It didn’t seem far down the bitumen and we had already reached Derby, where we discovered a boab prison tree used prior to 1887 to hold captive Aboriginal people until a boat could be arranged for slavery in the pearling industry. Nearby we found Myall’s bore and cattle trough with a fully functional windmill to supply drinking water.
After having a chat with the tourist information centre, we found out that Derby has the largest fluctuating tidal waters in Australia – on that particular day varying from 2 to 12 meters. As we arrived at the jetty, it appeared to be on the change of tides, with the current coming in at the end of a low tide. This was perfect time for mudcrabbing despite the big vertical hoist required to bring the crabs out of the muddy water and onto the jetty! After about 30 minutes Lach had great success with two reasonable sized mudcrabs that made a tasty meal later in the day!
We camped at Ellendale rest area 88km west of Fitzroy crossing, enjoying the beautiful sunset amongst the nearby boab trees.
Early in the morning we noticed our LPG cylinder had run out, so we made a start for Fitzroy Crossing, where we also fuelled at BP – 55.3L @ 174.4c/L.
After some unsuccessful barra fishing in the Fitzroy River, we continued through Halls Creek – knowing this was our last fuel stop for a while so made it to the Caltex for 50.3L @ 179.9c/L – after being told this was the only place in town with Diesel left!
We free-camped at Spring Creek the next couple of nights, as this was a great base to set out for Purnululu National Park.
On entry into Mabel Downs (Purnululu), we came across our first major river crossing (Frank River). Sheree managed to capture a photo of the triton towing the Jayco into the river. About 4 metres after the photo was taken, both car and trailer were bogged to the sidesteps in VERY loose sand.
After a bit of mucking around, we finally retrieved our Jayco and returned it to safer land, continuing on in the Triton with no worries...No worries that was – until our pin came loose on the towbar, and rattled straight off! Thank god the bloke behind us picked up the towbar (minus the pin!).
Bungle Bungles were fascinating, about 70km (almost 3 hours) down a high-clearance 4-wheel drive track, in the middle of nowhere – it was no wonder these formations remained undiscovered by tourists until the 1970’s!
There were several bushwalks to go on – including the Domes walk, Cathedral Gorge and Picanninny Lookout – so very hard to demonstrate the enormity of these domes in a photograph!
On exiting the national park, we decided to take a chance at the airstrip – where the helicopter pilots rattled around in the shed and found us a high tensile bolt – not the right size, but would get us closer to a town to purchase a pin.
Hitting the bitumen the following day, we headed for El Questro Station, west of Kununurra.
This property is around a million acres in size, with many beautiful bushwalking tracks that led to hours of entertainment for us. In particular we enjoyed El Questro gorge, finding an 8-foot olive python hiding in shallow waters not far from where we’d been swimming.
Zebedee Springs was our favourite, only a short walk to some thermal pools – VERY relaxing.
On our way back via the Gibb River Road we stopped at Emma Gorge where we found dramatic red cliffs with a beautiful waterfall descending into icy cold water! Through our travels we have found these amazing yet understated locations, and look forward to returning to the Kimberly’s and travelling the Gibb River Road in the future.
Our journey carried on towards Kununurra, finding that the town is hosting the Ord Valley Muster, so may spend a couple of nights here staying with Emma’s (Lach’s sister) old housemate – accommodation is booked out so a big thanks to Jen for hosting us! First time we’ve been in a house since visiting Alex in the Barossa a couple of months ago!

1419Km’s this leg of our journey
Total Km’s so far this trip 12,716

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