Broome to Kununurra

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23/9/11
Friends, Romans, Countrymen… lend me your ears…
After leaving Broome, we headed to our next destination, Derby. The reason for a visit there was to see an old friend, Joy. When I say, ''old", she is in fact one month to the day younger than me! But "old" in that she was my best friend in grades 5 and 6 and we reconnected through Facebook a couple of years ago. What we discovered then was that we both worked in the same hospital and didn't know it! Anyway, Joy has just recently started with the Royal Flying Doctor Service and we were pretty excited to visit her at work and have the chance to see one of the planes! We then enjoyed drinks on the semi-circular Derby jetty while watching the plump orange sun slump into the horizon! We were shocked to learn that due to the mining boom, rents there in the "middle of no-where" are quite ridiculous with some of the larger, new homes costing up to $1800 per WEEK to rent!!! No wonder there is a lot of discontent in these areas among people who are not earning big mining bucks. And I realised too that it was the first time I'd had a sleep-over at Joy's place since…umm…. about 1974!!
We visited the prison boab tree where Aborigines in the late 1800's who had been kidnapped for slavery in the pearling industry in Broome were chained by the neck and held captive in this huge Boab while awaiting transportation. As far as the Boab trees go, the ones here in WA are the only Australian member of the genus Adansonia. Africa has 1 species and Madagascar has 6. It is believed that the Australian one originated from plant material that washed ashore from Madagascar!! Some of the older larger trees are thought to be thousands of years old.
The next morning we headed East to Fitzroy Crossing where we visited the old Fitzroy Crossing Inn - an old pub with a garden bar. It was all very quiet there at 10am but we were surprised to see a big white-board behind the bar listing the many names of those barred for various periods from three months to life! A sign listed many of the possible misdemeanours one might be guilty of and the period of time one might be banned for as a consequence. For example, if you ever go there, don't spit! That'll see you banned for 3 months! Aggressive arguing will see you banned for 1-7 days and if you hit a staff member the bar will closed immediately. Sad really that alcohol is such a destructive force in so many lives.
We visited the nearby old Pioneer Cemetery but 5 metres inside the gate the earth had fallen away altogether! The cemetery had been washed away in one of the massive Wet Season floods and the new river bank held old headstones and even a bone or two. Uhhh!
Next morning we went off to Geikie Gorge, a beautiful place where we hiked along by the Fitzroy river with tall gorge walls on either side. Sue pulled out her fishing rod and I could not resist slipping into the water for a dip! Long-snouted fresh-water crocs inhabit the river which was a bit disconcerting but they are shy and are not known to be aggressive unless cornered or attacked (unlike their cousins - the Salties - who are found in both salt and fresh water and are so aggressive they drag people and pets from the bank!). Several years ago we swam in the Katherine Gorge with Freshies and was assured it was relatively safe, so I slid into the Fitzroy to wash off the dust and feel invigorated by the cool, deep, dark mysterious water - though I must admit I didn't stay in long and was half expecting a nip at the toes!!
Having travelled many thousands of kilometres in the past 6 months, we had considered ourselves lucky not to have collided with a kangaroo, emu or feral camel or donkey etc etc. Sadly our luck ran out that day… or more to the point, the luck of a poor little roo ran out. It was rather distressing and we were also concerned he may have been a she. After some investigation we found bits that wouldn't have been there had he been a she and there was no pouch, so we were relieved at least not to have orphaned a little joey. Sorry little Kanga.
After this we headed into the absolutely amazing World Heritage Purnululu National Park to the Bungle Bungle Range! The road in to the Ranger's station is unsealed, corrugated, rocky and includes several (not too deep) creek crossings! Consequently we took in our small tent and lilos as we could not take our van in and had to store it at the Mabel Downs Station van park at the entrance. Now I don't want to sound stingy but $60 for 3 nights of storage in a dusty paddock seemed expensive considering we took up about 5 square metres of their 245,000 hectares!! Anyway, the 53km's took us 2 hours after which we set up our tent and, as it was a Total Fire Ban and too hot to have a camp-fire anyway, went to bed at 7.30pm!!
The next two days found us thoroughly awed by the ancient landscape around us as we went for long, hot hikes among the gorges and chasms, some with steep walls up to 200 metres high. The Bungle Bungle domes are made of sandstone deposited about 360 million years ago which are bright orange (oxidised iron compounds)and black (cyanobacteria). A walk into the Mini Palms gorge required clambering around and over boulders - some as big as cars - and at one point the only way forward was through a narrow space between two huge boulders! Lucky adipose tissue protected the internal organs from being too squashed!! The Echidna Chasm was a highlight. A chasm which formed over millions of years as a result of erosion from a crack in the rock, the walls are 180 metres high and are so narrow at points that one can touch the walls with both hands! The sun shines through the narrow space for only a brief period at around midday and the walls light up with the rays of the sun. We hurried to be there on time but our passage was slowed as we were warned by those returning to look out for the snake up ahead on the chasm wall!! We gingerly moved forward until we spotted the snake which was narrow and long. We clung to the opposite wall and ran, but later were told that from photos, the ranger had determined that it was a non-venomous green tree snake. A bit of an anti-climax after all the drama!!
Of course such a site is of great significance to the local Aboriginal people who have been there for at least 20,000 years and the park is jointly managed by the Traditional Owners and the Dept of Environment and Conservation.We were pleased to discover that the Aborigines maintain a strong attachment to the land and spend significant periods of time there including hunting and gathering food and that sites of cultural significance including rock art are not open to the general public.The word Purnululu means 'sandstone' in one of the local languages while the term "Bungle Bungle" is thought to be a misspelling of one of the common Kimberley grasses, Bundle Bundle!
And now, here we are in Kununurra where Sue has attempted to catch a Barramundi in the Lower Ord River! It is 11.45pm and is 32 degrees in our van and is expected to reach a humid 37 degrees tomorrow (still not complaining!).
Our site is by the huge Lake Kununurra which came about by the damming of the Ord River to manage Wet Season flood levels and for irrigation. Apparently there is a resident Fresh Water Croc who sometimes sits on the edge of the bank here called George, but we haven't spotted him yet! And there is a sign to say,"Please don't feed the crocodiles"!!... here boy!!
So that's all for now.
Hope you are all well,
Ros (and Sue)
xxx

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Photos

Cathedral Gorge, Purnululu
(note the person on the far side of the water!)