Blogs from The Kimberleys, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania

Tunnel Creek. An Early start, everyone finding it difficult to sleep. Too Quiet! Our morning began with s chat with the Hema Mapping team who we brought our 'Sat Nav' from. These guys were re mapping the area with another team following them up with the photography and descriptions. They kindly gave us a paper map of the Kimberly and some stickers. Leaving the van behind we packed up and drove 35km to Tunnel Creek, The road partly graded and sharp new rocks up turned. Some very rocky dry creek crossings and one concreted creek crossing that had a 20cm lip where the concrete and gravel road were supposed to meet. Arriving at Tunnel Creek we investigated the 75 metre long tunnel. The tunnel is carved out of the limestone range by flowing water. The creek ... read more

Saturday 30thJune 2012 We parked our camper trailers and caravan in the long term parking area of Drysdale River Station. A lot of travellers leave their towed accommodation here whilst they travel to the Mitchell River National Park. We then continued north along Kalumburu Road for 100km and then took a west road about 87km in to the Mitchell Falls campground. The Kalumburu Road continued in poor condition, and the minor road to the campground was much worse, so whilst we left the station at 8:30am we didn’t arrive at the campground until 1:30pm. Mike did a good job negotiating the rocky roads and creek crossings. We were glad we had decided not to bring the camper trailer. The fan palms (Livingstonia, I think) were dense in places along the drive, particularly near Doongan station. They ... read more

Monday 25thJune 2012 Mike, the kids and I decided to make the long drive to see Geikie Gorge. Mum, Dad, Richard and Marion didn’t want to do it at this time. We set out in the early morning chill, just before 7am, and not far from camp we saw several wallabies and two dingoes, one of which stopped on the road for a photo. We then drove past the Napier Range, with the King Leopold Range further in the distance, along some average gravel road, before reaching the main highway. We went through Fitzroy Crossing and out to Geikie Gorge. We went on the one hour boat tour along the gorge, run by DEC. The staff apologised for the cold weather but it was actually a very pleasant mild day. Geikie Gorge is also part of ... read more

Tunnel Creek & Windjana Gorge 6th June 2012 Leaving Fitzroy Crossing this morning was the start of what we hoped would be an experience that we will unlikely never forget, to travel the Kimberley region along iconic roads that followed famous old stock routes and visit some of, arguably, the most scenic isolated places in Australia. Firstly we had to travel back 43klm towards Derby to the Fairfield Leopold Downs Road. The road’s name is derived from the two Cattle Stations it passes through to reach the Gibb River road at its western end. Leopold Downs, purchased by the Bunuba people in 1991, is a dramatically beautiful piece of country and we can only imagine what it will be like when we see the famous Cockburn Range on ‘the Gibb’, Leopold Downs encompasses both the Devonian ... read more

I think I am slowly coming to an end of writting the blog on the rest of our Oz trip which is good. Ian was the one who told me to write this all up and he hasn't even bothered to read them. I'm thinking about adding a few nasty comments about him in the blog to see if he does ever read it!! After Mitchell Falls we made our way to Ellenbrae Station where we had some lovely tea and scones! Not what you expect in the middle of the desert. It was such a lovely place. They must spend ages on the gardens as they were beautifal and really lush. The gardens must be watered constatly in the dry season for them to survive. It is so strange to see them waste water like ... read more