Blogs from Kimberleys, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

Well this is the part 2, The Kimberley and BE WARNED THIS IS A LONG ONE! So if you are busy leave it, if you have time for this get a cup of tea and sit down. Well firstly thank you to anyone who took up my appeal for prayers as they have been answered many fold, we left Broome, headed for Derby and turned onto the infamous Gibb River Road. It needs to be pointed out that we are travelling in a Ford Territory called Bruce and this is considered by most people to be "marginal" or not up to it. Well apart from 1 dead tyre (more about that later) we are through and out the other side. There are roads up to Mitchell or the Drysdale road that we knew were out of ... read more

Derby to Bell Gorge on the Gibb River Road. Derby is the gateway to outback adventure. We started our day getting information from the information center, re-gassing the gas bottle, filling with water, jerry cans with fuel and tying up odds and ends, up to 7 days with out re stocking supplies. According to all the tourist brochures a journey along the Gibb River Road is one of the last true Aussie Adventures Originally constructed in the 1960's to transport cattle from outlying stations to the port of Wyndham and Derby Today, it travels some 660kms through the central Kimberly Plateau from King Sound in Derby to Cambridge Gulf Wyndham. The road depends heavily on weather conditions and having rained heavily a week prior to our entry, the Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek road remained closed. ... read more

Day 9 Kimberly Exploration 20 May 2014 Montgomery Reef, WA We were about to see, what is sometimes is unofficially titled the 6th wonder of the world - Montgomery Reef. It was named by Phillip Parker King, a key explorer of the region, in recognition of Andrew Montgomery, the surgeon on his 1821 voyage. We hopped in the zodiacs again after another beautiful breakfast. The weather was overcast, and in fact it rained just before sun rise. I didn't see or hear the storm but saw sunrise. It is a true spectacle to behold as the entire reef appears to rise from the ocean on a falling tide. With tidal differences of over 10m over a single spring tide cycle, nearly 5 m of reef gradually emerges from the ocean, as water cascades down numerous channels. ... read more

Day 7 Kimberly Expedition 18 May 2014 Hunter River & Mitchell Falls Today was going to be a BIG day - Hunter River zodiac tour, Mitchell Falls in a helicopter, Listening to a presentation on "Cataclysmic Cyclones & Terrible Tides", seeing a movie "The Big Wet", attending Trivia (!!!), dinner and then a Show put on by the Philippine Crew. at low tide We got up at 5.30am (ouch!), had breakfast and hopped on the Zodiac for the Hunter River Tour. More SPECTACULAR scenery. Mitchell River National Park, which is 115,300 hectares is one of the Kimberley's two newest national parks. The park lies in one of the most remote and inaccessible country in Australia. It's about 350km north-west of Wyndham. We saw crocs (several who came right up to our zodiac very inquisitively), some birds, ... read more

Day 5 Kimberly Exploration 16 May 2014 King George River & Falls This was another day we were really looking forward to as we were off to see the King George Falls. Our plan was to hop into the zodiac, motor up the King George River and when we arrive at the falls, to walk up the cliff face so that we can see the falls from above and at different angles. We were looking forward to a swim as well. All that happened. The scenery along the river was spectacular. The sun was shining on the massive cliff faces, with brilliant reds, ochre and black (from the algae). The weather was hot but we had hats and sunscreen on and the breeze was lovely as we motored along in the zodiacs at differing speeds. The ... read more