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Published: August 24th 2008
...leaving the Bungle Bungles our flight dipped low over the Argyle Diamond Mine, what a HUGE excavation!
The Argyle Diamond Mine supplies 1/3 of the worlds diamonds and is well known for its beautiful pink diamonds...when the mine has ceased operation the landscape will be restored with a massive 2 year project...which will be around 2020.
Flying towards Emma Gorge airstrip we started to go down, down we went, lower and lower, I thought 'oh my goodness, I hope he knows where he has to land' as there appeared to be nothing down there that any of us could see!
Heading for the mountain then suddenly banking to the left we thankfully landed, bounced up and down along the rocky, red, dusty airstrip passing the lone wind sock we came to a halt...I felt like kissing the ground, the flight was more than exciting and certainly I was pleased that the one engine had served us well!
We stood around for about 1/2 hour waiting for our transport to El Questro Station...finally around the corner bumping up and down came our transport!
Now, this sort of 'hotel pickup' was not the ordinary sort...see photo
of open air cage towed by a 4 wheel drive! It was a bit of a challenge when a car came the other way kicking up dust and trying to hold on at the same time as we bounced in and out of the corragations on the track!
Our stay at El Questro's Emma Gorge was amazing...surrounded by one million of the most spectacularly remote acres in the world.
More than 100 klm from the nearest town, El Questro sits in spectacular isolation...a perfect base to explore more of The Kimberley.
'Chilli' proved to be one of those outback characters, our Bush Tucker Tour with Chilli taught us many things and he was extremely entertaining and he knew exactly how to crack a whip BIG TIME!
Did you know that the fruit from the BOAB tree has a high level of ascorpic acid which is Vitamin C!
That afternoon we went to Zebedee Springs, after a short walk we were delighted to find the most beautiful fresh water hot springs...after carefully making our way over some slippery rocks Keith, David and I were happily soaking away.
The spring water seemed to have 3 levels
of warmth...we found a very comfortable spot on some underwater rocks surrounded by beautiful tree ferns and there we stayed until we absolutely had to leave!
Kimberley Hotel at Halls Creek was our next nights stay, all quite familiar to me as I had been reading a book which was written by a girl who had worked at the Hotel some years ago.
Next morning we walked around the town admiring the display of Desert Pea in full bloom just around the corner...we left Halls Creek with this feeling...one town two worlds.
Our cruise on the mighty Fitzroy River between the two tone cliffs of Geike Gorge was yet another spectacular sight, settling in to Fitzroy River Lodge for the night after a buffet dinner.
An early start to the last day of our APT Tour - we were having such a good time together!
Windjana Gorge was beautiful, we all were very brave as we walked along the banks checking out the 'freshies' lying in the sun.
Arriving in Broome we quickly found our room at the Cable Beach Resort, gardens everywhere and walkways everywhere, very easy to get lost! Our Farewell Dinner
was enjoyed by all...we gathered for a group photo, exchanged emails addresses and then went our separate way.
Footnote:
We ventured into one of the world's last frontiers and discovered inspiring landscapes.
We discovered secret gardens, springs and waterfalls.
We walked through canyons, admired blue skies, counted stars and listened to the birds.
The Kimberley is an immense region, it covers 420,000 square kilometres and is 5 times the size of Tasmania.
The remoteness of The Kimberley is part of the attraction...
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