Wildcats & Flooded Flats

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And then we drove to........

Let's Go Wildcats, Let's Go

Arriving in Perth meant something different was happening in this city, it was where Kirstin was to meet family friends that she had not seen for 26 years!! The arrangements had been made and the day had arrived and with it came the apprehension of not knowing if we would recognise each other, even more worrying would we be able to pick up where we left off 26 years ago? Of course we would! It was great to see everyone and cram in so many years of catching up, not only did we meet the loveliest people, we were welcomed like part of the family. As if anymore were needed we were treated by Stuart to a basketball game, not any old basketball game but the end of season final between the Perth Wildcats vs Townsville Crocodiles, being televised live. We would be the first to admit that going to a basketball match was not on our list of things to do in Oz but this is an evening we would not have missed. We arrived to be led down the red carpet, we'd only been treated to the best seats in the house, this meant we had to endure bottles of beer being thrust at us as soon as the last one was empty and food arriving throughout the game followed by ice creams in the second half; it may sound like things could not get any better but watching the game became more and more engrossing to the point that Rob was yelling (causing him to become the “Hoarse Whisperer” the next day) and we could bang our inflatable clappers no harder. Unfortunately, it was not to be the Wildcats night, which was a shame given that it was such a close game; Rob is still going over the half time analysis to see where it all went wrong! After the match it was time to drown our sorrows in the bar and to meet the players.

It was back to Joanne's for coffee and the sport debrief on the news; as if it had been arranged specially for us there we were on Fox sports news at the match; fame at last! Jo kindly invited us to stay for the evening, the luxury of sleeping in a bed was lush.

All too soon it was time to say our goodbye's, we would have loved to have spent more time with everyone but a tight schedule meant we needed to push on. Thank you so much guys for making us feel so at home, it was great to catch up, hopefully it won't be another 26 years next time.

Nearly forgot to mention that we were staying in Freemantle (“Freo” as it is known by the locals) on the outskirts of Perth, a buzzy area with a relaxed feel, a cafe society and not forgetting the working harbour where great fish & chips can be sampled along with a local beer - delicious!

Cometh The Heat, Cometh The FLIES

We set off from Perth, Pris having had a service ready for the huge distances involved in crossing Western Oz. It was a short hop to reach The Pinnacles a huge area covered in limestone columns that have become exposed as the sand has blown away, they resemble some sort of Jason and the Argonauts army appearing from the earth. From here it was a rather longer hop, skip, jump and giant leap to Shark Bay a huge National Park consisting of two large bays. Our first night was spent at Eagle Bluff, a lookout platform where the sea was so clear you could view the sea life below, we were lucky enough to see lots of sharks swimming in the shallows and Manta Rays flying and unlucky enough to be surround by flies, the elusive Dugongs that we had hoped to see were remaining elusive. This was also home to Shell Beach, an entire beach made up of tiny white shells, they are so compact in places that bricks are cut out to restore old buildings in the area.

The place most visited in the National Park is Monkey Mia, just to clear up nothing to do with Monkey's but more to do with dolphin's, a pod visit the beach daily in the mornings where they are fed by rangers and then head off into the deep blue for the rest of the day. It was a privilege to see the dolphins so close but it all felt too touristy and contrived for our liking and you always get one spanner of a tourist who is told not to touch the dolphins, jumps in and tries to hug the poor thing, we much rather enjoyed viewing them doing their own thing, which we had several times the day before as they trawled the bay.

The Art Of Diving, Without Diving!

This however did not beat the experience we had at Cape Range on the Ningaloo reef, where yet again we had a camping area to ourselves which was surrounded by sand dunes, on the other side was the Indian Ocean, the azure colours were stunning. Before we left camp we had a final stroll on the beach, as we were about to leave we spotted a pod of dolphins 10 feet from shore, slowly trawling their way along the bay, we were able to view them up close for some time and see them flick, flacking around. It was just the white sand, azure blue sea, the dolphins and us, this is what dolphin spotting is all about. It did not end there though, we spotted a shark, a huge shovel headed ray and a turtle, this was all before we had got our feet wet! The snorkeling at Ningaloo was spectacular, beautiful coloured coral, an abundance of fish species, reef sharks and rays, the turtles that we did not get to swim with but hopefully we will see next time. We could easily have spent two weeks here exploring the waters but we had to settle with a few days, it was time to move on again.
Good news Rob's surfboard got wet, it rained!

It was going to take 2 days to get to Broome, we had planned to go to Karijini National Park but due to flooding could not access the park so headed straight to Broome, it was going to be a long one. Deciding where to stop overnight was tricky given that our half way point was Port Hedland a town which the guide describes as “the town that has the pub with the highest death rate in Oz” maybe this was a place to give a wide berth? A decision was made to stop before Port Hedland at Whim Creek Motel where there was supposed to be a camp site but this had long gone, the motel was now owned by a mining company but they were happy enough for us to park up at the front. The old motel served as a base with cabin accommodation at the back for the copper mine workers, the motel was a kind of social club for the workers where their meals are served and a bar provides the limited entertainment for miles around, which closes at 9pm, a time presumably set by the mining company for the workers best interests. By this time they are all pretty hammered and off fishing till the wee hours, a trip we were invited to but we had an early start the very next morn. It was a great place to hang out for the night and indulge in some beers with a group of guys and girls from all walks of life and all sorts of places. We were made to feel very welcome, like part of “the mining family”.

We had to build up our courage to leave the bar, all night the sound of grasshoppers thrashing against the windows was constant, like listening to torrential rain. As we opened the door it was like being pelted with rain, very heavy rain that funnily enough felt like grasshoppers hitting you! It was carnage, the floor was covered in them, you had no choice but to crunch your way over the top of them. It seemed that they were all desperate to make a telephone call, the phone box was alive with hoppers that looked like it was moving. It was a mad dash to take cover in Pris.

Be Very Careful What You Wish For.........

“It would be great to see a really good thunderstorm” were Kirstin's words, as the cloud bubbled up in the sky and rain could be seen falling in the distance, we thought there could be a chance of a dowsing. When the clouds got bigger and darker and the lightning arrived we seemed a safe distance away, the thunder was a far away rumble. Suddenly counting the distance between the lightning and thunder became one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three....CRACK! It sounded like a bomb had been dropped and the forks were looking a little too close for comfort, reassuring ourselves with the fact that the surfboard would be our saving grace as our non conductor, Kirstin stepped on the accelerator to avoid the risk of getting a 80's perm and heaven forbid Rob singeing his beard.

Arriving in Broome there was not a whisper of wind, a decision was made to pitch the tent, it was too hot to sleep in Pris. We had arrived in a different climate, the tropics, it was hot and humidity was running high; sweat was pouring not doing anything, pitching the tent we were forming our own puddles. A shower never far from your mind but knowing once out you'll need another by the time you have dried yourself, well not entirely true you are sweating from the exertion of drying yourself, so ideally you would spend all day in the shower.

Sharing Your Shower With A Stranger

This may seem a forward thing to do with a stranger but when camping in Oz it's the norm; some strangers have eight legs, others six or four; we have shared with numerous strangers but here are some favourites; Rob shared with George the Grasshopper, the biggest you would ever care to meet who hogged more than his fair share of the cubicle, Sticky the Stick Insect and Kirstin's favourite Fran the Frog who joined her from the soap tray where a discussion on the joys of cold water drenching us took place, I am not sure Fran was so keen on the soap part but nevertheless she stuck it out.

Ah yes back to the tent...........the tent up this being the cue for the weather to change, enter the lashing wind and rain. A closed cafe frontage was borrowed as our kitchen and dining room while we watched the storm over the sea and dined over a citronella candle whiling away the evening with a bottle of red. We were not confident of the tents durability in such torrential rain and wind but it did us proud and kept us dry and cosy while the elements did their best to try and wrestle it off the ground.

Unfortunately our trip to Broome was cut very short and we had to leave the next day as a low pressure ridge was heading for The Kimberley's and their was a very real threat of it becoming a Cyclone; the road conditions department advised that it would be better to cross straight away to reduce the chance of getting cut off, this was good enough for us.

Driving through the stunning Kimberley's in the wet season we were always one step ahead of the cyclone and behind a heavy downpour, driving pass many “floodway” signs has previously meant a small dip in the road, now it meant so much more, it meant the road is a floodway and could be under five feet of water or the road has been washed away! Other than dodging the cyclones and the rain, tip toeing through the flooded roads, The Kimberley's was just beautiful, lush green grasses and wild flowers set against the backdrop of red rocks which waterfalls cascaded over and a huge sky with fantastic cloud formations, always threatening to dump rain at anytime.

Feeling relieved that we had made it through The Kimberley's without any hold ups but sorry that we were not able to detour off the main road due to flooding, which meant missing out on the Bungle Bungles; one of Western Australia's highlights, having to drive pass the turning was a little galling, but we both agreed that the plus side was seeing the The Kimberley's during the wet season which was stunning.

Just to play safe we called the Northern Territory highway hotline to check the conditions ahead.........”VICTORIA HIGHWAY CLOSED!” Oh, we didn't have a plan B for this part of the trip we were quietly confident that we had got through the worst of it, the new plan was stop at the next big town and sit it out, the road had been closed on and off for the last month and pretty much off for the last two weeks due to the fact it was under two metres of water, it was not looking good, given that Mummy Jean was flying out and we had limited time to get to Cairns.

The next big town on the map was Kununurra the more we read in the guide the more appealing it sounded until we couldn't understand why we hadn't planned a stop there in the first place. Checked onto a campsite right next to Lake Kununurra where we were informed that crocodiles resided, our tent was about 12 feet from the waters edge but we had been assured that we were safe.

At this point it is important to clarify the two types of crocs that reside in Oz, there are your relatively friendly (that is so long as not provoked) “Freshies” that live in freshwater and are big but not your man eaters - hurray! Then you have your “Salties” this title can lead you into a false sense of security because you may think you would be safe in freshwater, not the case they can live in freshwater, they are huge and they eat anything with a pulse, they demand total respect!

When our first croc was pointed out right in front of us on the bank we were relieved to hear it was a “freshie” and got very excited about seeing our first croc in the wild. As close as we were, the sight of his rows of teeth were enough to make us appreciate the distance we kept, especially as he watched us, watching him. Dusk was setting in and it was also the time thousands of flying foxes took to the sky over Lake Kununurra, we didn't know where to look, the bats, Mr Croc, the bats, Mr Croc, Mr Croc, Mr Croc! The rains came in a heavy deluge it was time to take cover, as the puddles formed around the tent we hoped the lake wasn't rising enough to bring the crocs knocking at our flimsy door.

We were up early the next morning to call the highway hotline, to find out to our surprise (we were expecting to be cut off for much longer) that the Victoria River had gone down over night and there was an opening to cross, we still had three hours travel to get there and we were told the opportunity for crossing could be limited as the water can rise again at any time. With the tent packed in double quick time, which mark our words for it is not as quick as you may think, we do seem to faff in the mornings, you just can't start the day without coffee and breakfast. With so much to see in Kununurra it was a shame to be leaving so soon but upwards and onwards and all that we had a date with a rising river!

Back In The Northern Territory

The road sandwiched between mountain ranges that weaved in and out of flooded creeks, always leading us to Victoria River Crossing, we followed the fast flowing chocolate coloured river before the crossing and she was high, bursting banks as she flowed. We had everything crossed that the river was still below the bridge, approaching the bridge we could see she was free from water but only by an inch or so. Bits of tree and reeds tangled in the bridges rails reminding us that only yesterday the bridge was a crossing for fish. Even in Pris we felt a little apprehensive as we looked up river and saw the vast volumes of water rushing past us. Hurray! We'd made it across and were continuing on our way.

Our next stop was going to be Katherine Gorge, we say was because the road leading to the gorge was also under five feet of water, they don't call this the wet season for nothing! With Katherine Gorge closed and after a huge “Saltie” had been dragged out of the gorge a couple of days earlier we thought we should go to plan B, we never had a plan B so plan C was to plan plan B which was to go to Edith Falls instead! The water cascading down the falls was phenomenal and there was only one other person camping, the advantage of visiting in the wet season, the only downside being that you could not swim in the beautiful pools at the bottom of the falls as “Salties” move around in the wet season and there is a very real risk of one appearing anywhere.

Kakadu-du-du Push

Pineapple Shake The Tree!
Next stop Kakadu, which we had been very much looking forward to but knew access would be limited by the wet season. The roads to all the falls were closed and the majority of walks near water which happened to be most of them given the flooding. The campsite we were pitched on had a huge area of flooding and a “saltie” had been sighted close by, a cordon had been put up to stop people venturing near the water. We strolled up to the cordon to see the flood waters that gave a reflection that was like looking into a mirror and then movement, was it a croc or a log? It had stopped and then moved again it had to be a croc, Rob set off for the binoculars to get a closer view, crossing the cordon was not an option. The noculars confirmed we were not imagining things as we watched a pair of eyes and top of head perfectly still, eyeing up some wild horses that were at the waters edge, in some sadistic way we were hoping that one of the horses may venture into the water but they were ever cautious and only dipped their hooves in from a safe distance. As we stood there Rob casually pointed out that a snake was passing, quite a big snake at that, it was a harmless Tree snake that we felt privileged to see, we were having a full on nature frenzy, David Attenborough would have been wetting himself by now, come to think of it so were we! As the horses left the side of the flood plain and we realised that the next closest dinner item was us it was time to respect Mr Croc and leave him be.

Kakadu is one huge park and our limited time and access to areas meant that we only had a lamb's dip but driving through the different environments from open wetlands to forests to flooded rivers you could still appreciate what an amazing place it is.

Never Smile At A Crocodile

We had discussed our options for how to get up close to the “salties”. Option 1: a croc farm, this was not an option for us, option2: waving one of our precious tins of tuna over a pool to try and entice one out, also not an option we had lunch to think about, that left option 3: a river cruise to see wild crocs in their natural habitat all be it that they would be enticed in to feed. As we pulled into the car park to enquire a lady came running out to tell us a cruise was about to leave, we had no chance to deliberate and cogitate, it was a case of grab the cameras and get on board. There was seven of us on the boat in total, we're not keen on tourist trips, in fact this was our first, seven was a pleasantly low number of people. As we chugged up the river our guide was giving us the facts on the crocs and how many resided in the river, the safety briefing seemed futile given that crocs are attracted to bright colours and the life vests were bright orange! Best not to think about the boat sinking! Initially, the crocs were being elusive but a beautiful sea eagle swooped down to try and steal the show. The crocs then started to appear “Stumpy” the huge six metre male, named on account of his two front legs missing, don't be fooled this did not cause him any problems. As he came tanking across the river and into view he was massive, alongside the boat he was absolutely incredible, as he slowly passed us he gave us all a knowing look, saying “yeah, I could, if I really wanted to, I could eat you all”. Sitting on the boat we felt like pray and when the guide said don't put your arms or head over the boat this was the best advice ever, when he came out of the water, jaws wide open, he was a huge strapping lad, you could have nothing but total respect for these guys, to be so close to “salties” in the wild was unbelievable. If we never saw another croc in the wild we would not be too worried seeing them in this environment was enough for us. Disembarking the boat under the watchful eye of a huge male croc, making you feel you were being eyed up for lunch!

Water, Water Everywhere But Not A Drop To Swim in!

Litchfield is a beautiful park with waterfalls that you can get to all year and during this time of year they are spectacular, there are even pools that you can swim in that are croc free however, given our experience the day before this guarantee was not enough for us, even when we looked on longingly at the water which seemed so inviting when you are drenched in sweat and aching to cool down, it was back to the camp pool instead.

Laying in our tent listening to frogs making farting noises, that's what Rob's telling Kirstin and he's sticking to it, dirty frogs! When camping in the tropics it's as if the whole place comes to life at night, there are non stop noises some identifiable and others not, sometimes you don't want to think about what's outside your tent door! Given the humidity during the day the nocturnal creatures are probably the sensible ones.

We now have 2500km's to get to Cairns with not much to see along the way! This could be a long slog but we'll see what adventures we have along the way..........

Till next time
Kiro
XXX

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Photos

Before the sun rises
Eagle Bluff

Still Smiling
We can also smile underwater!
Ningaloo reef

Bizarre but stunning sunset
Ningaloo

Wild Flowers
The Kimberlys

Army of stone
The Pinnacles

Kirstin & Linda
after 26 years

Before the rain
Lake Kununurra

Every shade of blue
Ningaloo

Monkey Mia
A family of dolphins have been coming to Monkey Mia for over 50 years

Watermill sunset
Litchfield Park

Found Nemo's brother!
Ningaloo reef

There's a storm abrewing
The Kimberlys

Aboriginal Art
Nourlangie Rock, Kakadu

Wangi Falls
Litchfield Falls

Put em up!
Ningaloo

Please do not lean out of the boat!
it's more than your lifes worth

Chocolate river
Victoria River

Just the two of us
and the person taking the picture and the rest of his family! Tolmer Falls, Litchfield Park

Where's my coffee!
Rob taking it easy at our camp spot. Near The Pinnacles

Comments

[Leiah]

stunning!
Stunning amazing, beautiful, good caption

[Leiah]

like
ike like like like like like like like like like like like like

[Anastasia78]

O-M-G!
What else can I say?

[Pooja]

wow
I loved this pic simply awesome.