Blogs from Kimberley, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

I am not indigenous by blood, yet I am Aussie through and through. How is it that indigenous art from a culture that has inhabited our sunburnt country for 40,000 to 60,000 years fascinates and grabs my soul so profoundly? I look into the Shailyn Peris Bungle Bungles "Purnululu" hanging above my screen monitor and drift into its allure...into ancient country that I have trekked in the physical and the spirits of the Dreamtime inhabit. But as a white man I am not supposed to have any place in the Dreamtime. Yet I enter that spiritual realm and am welcomed to take my place around the campfires where we become one. Where art overcomes prejudice and indigenous culture becomes the baton that may not be passed to me by right...but I take hold of nevertheless...and embrace. ... read more

We slipped down the road toward Mt Barnett to grab fuel, food and beer only to discover THERE WAS NO BLOODY BEER!!! WTF??? We quickly found out that there is nowhere East of Derby that sells take away grog which was a bit of an issue. Therefore we (that night) broke into the emergency stash of beer inside the spare tyre in my trailer - times were getting desperate! Not too mention that I noted the trailer was sitting a bit low on one side and we found that I’d lost a U-bolt on the axle and things were troublesome. In at the MTB roadhouse they said “go see Nev at Over the Hill Tyre and Mechanical. So in the meantime we used some chain and shackles to get us to Nev. After a quick fill ... read more

We thought that we had hit the jackpot at Miner’s Pool but bugger me if Honeymoon Bay is not one of the best camp spots I have ever seen! We are currently parked up around 30 metres from the high tide line enjoying the morning breeze after arriving yesterday after another early start to beat the travelling hoards. The drive up was quite nice with a lot of different country between the hills - a bit similar to the Simpson Desert between the dunes in that each time you go over a rise you do not know what you’ll see in terms of terrain and plant life. Nothing major to report from the 200km trek into Kalumburu except that my trailer light plug bracket has broken. Nothing that a cable tie and gaff tape won’t fix ... read more

The drive from Nev’s camp to our eventual camp at Lennard River was a good one. Lots of different terrain and hills - imagine that! Good fun times. On the way Tony and Di kindly took the dogs (Bella and Jack) to camp while Phil and Jen, and my lot headed into Bell Gorge. Wow! What a spot. A short walk in to a gorge that had a waterfall flowing and a river system that we followed (swimming) for several hundred metres to another gorge that had no-one there. It was a sensational spot - one that will stay in our minds as the cameras couldn’t swim with us. So cool to see these sorts of places. A lot of fun swimming down over mini-falls and through small, but deep, rock pools. Well recommended by us. ... read more

We managed to complete the 88ks to the Kalumburu Road with all 4 wheels and stopped in at Drysdale Station for fuel, lunch and a shower. Otto, the WWII fighter pilot, wouldn’t let Becs have a shower even if we paid for it as we hadn’t stayed there that night. She had one anyway. Given it had taken us 5 hours to go the 160 odd ks to the Gibb River Road we felt reaching Wandjina NP that night was a stretch plus the unthinkable had happened. We’d run out of alcohol. This was potentially worse than the wheel falling off. No alcohol at Drysdale Station, none at Mt Barnett Road House, the only option looked like Mount Hart Station. It seemed to have a bar. The Gibb River Road is not that bad and there ... read more