Advertisement
Published: August 23rd 2009
Stairway to the Moon
This natural phenomenon is caused by a full moon reflecting off the exposed mudflats at Roebuck Bay at extremely low tides, to create a beautiful optical illusion of a staircase reaching to the moon.BROOME - DERBY - KUNUNURA - TIMBER CREEK
I had better start with the bad news !. I hereby confirm I am a weak man, I just can’t say no when Jacquie looks at me with pleading eyes and says “I really like that pearl can we just get that one.”
This happened on three occasions, firstly at the pearl wholesaler at Broome. Secondly at the pearl farm we visited near Cape Leveque and thirdly at Kununurra there was an oval shaped diamond she just had to own.
I suppose I should look at the bright side. If the bank balance disappears we can always start a jewellery shop, we already have the stock.
Our last week in Broome was mostly relaxing at the beach and reading.
We drove out to Cape Leveque one day visiting Beagle Bay on the way. It was a 400k round trip. We left early in the morning and arrived home at night. The first 100k was a very corrugated red dirt road that challenged the Toyota’s suspension.
We visited the church at Beagle Bay. This church has quite a history, it was built by the Trappist Monks in 1890.
Bob the Super Hero
Fighting crocodiles is one of the skills I have picked up. The interior of the church and alter is extensively decorated with pearl shell and is very unusual.
We continued on to Cape Leveque where we walked around the Beach and ate our lunch.
The top of the other side of the Dampier Peninsula just east of Cape Leveque is the aboriginal community at One Arm Point. We drove there to look at the community and visit the fish breeding farm.
Our next destination was Derby.
The town of Derby is located on the tidal mud flats on the edge of the King Sound. It has the highest tidal range of any port in Australia at around 11 meters.
The boab tree is a major feature of Derby.
The main street is lined with large Boabs and makes a very impressive sight.
The famous Boab Prison Tree is located 7 kilometres from the town. The hollow centre of this tree was used to hold prisoners.
I took some good photos of the sun setting over the Boabs.
The town has a population of some 4,500 people of which half are Aboriginal.
Driving around the u shape pier at low tide is
Beagle Bay
This is the alter inside the church at the Aboriginal Community of Beagle Bay.
The whole interior of the church is decorated with pearl shell. interesting. We looked down nearly 20 metres over the edge of the narrow pier as we drove around.
Derby is now a very small town with very little industry and a big change from the early days when it was a busy port. The only thing it has going for it is that there are no jewellery shops.
From Derby we set off for Wyndam and Kununurra.
The panoramic view at the Wyndam five rivers lookout where the King, Ord, Pentecost, Durack and Forest rivers empty into the Cambridge Gulf is worth seeing.
These rivers drain a large portion of the Kimberly during the wet season.
Wyndam was originally a service town for the cattle barons. It saw a huge influx during the gold rush and then supported a large meat exporting works. Everything has gone now and it is now a small run down town.
We turned east next to Kununurra, the last town before crossing into the Northern Territory.
The east Kimberley town of Kununurra, is the springboard into various natural and man made wonders. The Bungle Bungles; man made Lake Argyle at 9.5 times the size of Sydney Harbour; Ord River;
Cape Leveque main beach
This is the beach infront of the Cape Leveque resort.
I was fascinated by the colour of the skye and water. Ord River Irrigation Scheme; Lake Kununurra.
This was our base for the next six days.
We walked around the “Hidden Valley” in the Mirima National Park at Kununurra which is a miniature version of the Bungle Bungles.
We drove about 200k along the very corrugated and dusty Gibb River road and visited El Questo, Emma Gorge and Zebedee hot springs.
The El Questo wilderness park cover one million acres.
The landscape is diverse to say the least - from rugged ranges and broad tidal flats, to rainforest pockets, gorges and waterfalls
Everything is a bit pricey in this areas. The thing that sticks in my mind was 500 grams of butter at El Questo for $8.75.
We enjoyed Kununurra and could have stayed longer.
Timber Creek 350 k east of Kununurra was our next overnight stop. We joined the sunset cruise on the Victoria River.
The cruise took us 40 Km down the river. I was happy we were in a large boat as we sighted many crocodiles along the banks.
The bird life was diverse, we saw Osprey Eagles, Jabirus and many other birds. We watched the sun set over
Cape Leveque Cliffs
This is the beach behind the resort. The bright red cliffs are a feature of this area. the mountains on the exhilarating ride home.
The two Honda 200 HP motors pushed the boat along at 60 KPH.
Our next destination is Darwin before we start to head home via Alice Springs.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.256s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 10; qc: 56; dbt: 0.1071s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Kerin G
non-member comment
What a disappointment!!!!
I thought Andrew and I had taught you better Bob. We just wondering now who's side you are on. I will now have to censor this latest blog from Kayoko otherwise she too will start to get some silly notions of another Pearl. Apart from this obvious slip in your sensibilities this latest section would have brought back many memories of a few years ago. Reading your comments and enjoying your pics certainly did so for us. Suppose it all looks different from ground level and makes us very envious to do it this way also. Try and behave a bit better Bob for the rest of the journey. Be good. Kerin and Kayoko.