Thursday 20 October 2011

Happy snaps!

Fern Pool, Karijini National Park 

Oxer lookout


Handrail pool - a long way to fall!

Our little miners!

Nice glasses!


Turquoise Bay

Limited toys means we have to be versatile with their entertainment!

Sandy Bay

Coral Bay

Steam train at Carnarvon

Blowing the whistle - joy!

Down the coast to Monkey Mia

Next installment;

Reluctantly, we left Broome and made our way down the West coast, via Barn Hill and 80 Mile Beach, to Pardoo Station.  Although we were only there for one night, we were well looked after by the Pardoo “coffin dodgers” via freshly made berry damper around the fire!  The following day we had a very long and tedious drive to Karijini National Park.  We stopped off at Port Headland for groceries, fuel and a flat battery.  Thankfully that issue was resolved very quickly as it was not really the sort of place we had planned to stay for long.  We pulled in to the peaceful Dales camp ground which felt like an oasis after such a long day.

Karijini is a beautiful place and we enjoyed one of the best swimming spots on the trip so far at Fern Pool.  A short, steep hike took us to a warm, clear water hole fed by two waterfalls.  So good we went back that afternoon for a second swim!  The next day we enjoyed Oxford look out and trekked down to handrail pool in the Weano Gorge.  It was one of the more challenging walks we have done so far and although we did not quite make it in to the pool we managed to have a good look at it from just above.  Approximately five minutes before we got to that point, a poor woman slipped down the sharp rocks and in to the pool.  We felt it was best to preserve our current state of excellent health and quit whilst we were ahead as she was very sore and sorry for herself.

From Karijini we moved on to Top Price which is town servicing the Rio Tinto mine.  We found the tour of the mine was fascinating and both Charlie and Gil loved the enormous dump trucks and diggers.  The caravan park there was fine apart from a group of rowdy drillers that managed to wake up the whole park at 1am celebrating the end of a shift - I suspect their "strict" no alcohol policy had been breached!  They were promptly dealt with the following morning, bidding farewell to their accommodation and their jobs, no messing about in Tom Price!

We headed to the extremely windy coast and spent five days in the Exmouth area.  It is a really beautiful place with white sandy beaches, Nigaloo reef right off the shore and GREAT fish and chips!  However, we did find the constant breeze hard going!  Not to be outdone by the elements, we still managed to fit in some lovely snorkeling at Turquoise Bay, some (rather unsuccessful) fishing and Jase enjoyed two dives off the Navy Pier which he loved.  The water was warm and crystal clear so the coast line was magnificent, especially at Sandy Bay in the National Park.

Traveling south we arrived at the slightly less windy, Coral Bay, a resort town very similar to Blueys Beach.  We were incredibly lucky to secure a great spot in the caravan park right on the beach.  These spots usually have to be booked one to two years in advance so we were fortunate to be in the right place at the right time and take advantage of a cancellation.  We instantly made friends with our neighbours when we spotted a myriad of toys, bikes and the usual paraphernalia that comes with little people, surrounding their van.  Luke and Gillian were lovely and we really enjoyed their company (and toys) over the three days we were there.  The boys loved the change of scenery and company, so much so that they were not very interested in the pristine beach laying just beyond the caravan although we did manage to drag them there for a morning!

Feeling socially refreshed (and perhaps a little dusty) we moved on to Carnarvon to stock up and have a look around.  We drove to the blow holes at Quobba Point which were very impressive.  Despite my intuitive warnings, Jason and Charlie wanted to get a little closer and were subsequently dowsed by a rogue wave.  This was extremely entertaining for Gil and I however Charlie Woods was not impressed, never mind!  We drove a little further to Red Bluff where the coast line was rugged and beautiful with huge waves crashing on to the beach.

This part of the trip has been very easy going and enjoyable.  We are looking forward to the dolphins at money Mia, Kalbarri National Park and making our way down to Perth.  I will be in touch again soon, take care,

Love, Chippy xx




Monday 3 October 2011

Photos!



A few photos didn't work last time so there are a few extras from Mitchell Falls and Kalumburu.
Gil at Little Mertens Falls, Mitchell Plateau

Mitchell Falls

Coast meets the country at Kalumburu

Tunnel Creek, it is a great tan or is it just dirt?! I suspect the latter!

After a hard day of touring!

Shark feeding

The beautiful Cable Beach

Mick and the clean car!

Eddie and our new spears

Gil, dirty, as usual!

Cape Leveque


Log hut at Kooljaman

Swimming beach at Cape Leveque

View from One Arm Point

Broome and Cape Leveque

I know that Broome is not everyone’s cup of tea but we found it was ours – we loved it!  A large part of this was due to our fabulous hosts. My cousin Bron and her family were the providers of everything from tourist information and washing facilities to auto electrical advice and Nutella pizza!  We felt so lucky to have Bron, Mick, Tom and Jack looking after us so well at Club Sanderson!  We indulged in sunset drinks on Cable Beach - just beautiful.  Gorgeous sunset, gassy lawn for the kids to play on, Bloody Marys and hot chips, it does not get much better for me!  It really was a lovely break from the dirt roads of the Kimberley.  We also managed to catch up with some of our other travelling buddies and even ran in to friends from home.  As a result it was a very social week for us.

Amongst the frivolity we managed to take a tour to see the “Horizontal Waterfalls” which was quite a spectacle.  The huge tides of the Buccaneer Archipelago rush in and out of narrow gorges creating a “waterfall” of sorts.  A seaplane dropped us off to a pontoon run by good looking backpackers and a charismatic jet boat driver named Adrian.  Apart from a fantastic boat ride through the falls it was very entertaining to watch our backpacking hosts hand feed the sharks (as you do) and take a tour to Adrian’s digs which is an old pearling barge complete with disco ball and a sound system that can ”shake the rust off the roof”!  We found it very entertaining and Jase and I both agreed that it was the kind of place that we would have liked to party…… if we were 15 years younger!  It was a fun day out we even managed to spot some whales frolicking in the ocean on the way home in the sea plane.

Of course, a trip to a major centre for the Woods family is not complete without some kind of repair work to the van!  This time it was relatively minor, a gas issue, however not the kind that Jase and I are used to dealing with!  We had to leave to van so we thought it was a good opportunity to visit Cape Leveque and stay in a cabin there.

Cape Leveque is on the Dampier Peninsula, North of Broome.  It is a stunning coastline of pristine beaches, clear water and red rock cliffs and is quite simply, beautiful.  We had heard several reports that access is difficult due to the 4WD only (mainly) dirt road however we found it was no problem at all, I think we are well seasoned after the Gibb!  We stopped off at Beagle Bay church to see the beautiful alter made of mother-of-pearl and then lunch and a swim at Middle lagoon.  Our accommodation was at Kooljaman resort in an open log cabin about 100m from the beach – all rather “Swiss family Robinson”!  The beach was excellent and one of the few that have rivaled home.  Similar to Shelly Beach at home without the wrinkly nudists!

One of the local Indigenous blokes, Eddie, took us to his place where we could watch him make a spear and go mud crabbing.  Off we traipsed through the mangroves and sand dunes.  The mud crabs seemed a little shy but we (well, Eddie) managed to dig one out much to our delight.  After such a successful venture Eddie took us for a drive over the dunes where we managed to get bogged.  After some deflating of tyres and a recovery of sorts I handed the wheel over the Eddie who proceeded to get us bogged again!   This made me feel much less dim witted however it did mean that we had to be dragged out by a lovely family from Adelaide driving a ……… Pajero!  This is apparently a rather shameful event for all committed Toyota drivers however I was relieved to be out of the dunes and back in time for lunch!   They graciously accepted the muddie in payment so crab was no longer on the dinner menu, not to worry!  A relaxing afternoon on the beach was a good antidote for the morning’s adventures.  We were lucky enough to run in to a group of lads returning from a very successful fishing expedition.  Although we missed out on the muddie we were lucky enough to dine on fresh Spanish Mackerel which was delicious.

The following day we visited One Arm point and Australia’s only Trochus hatchery.  We fed the greedy Barramundi and patted baby turtles.  We really enjoyed the area and would definitely make the trip back there again as it was a great family experience for us.

From Broome we made a very special trip over to Brisbane to celebrate Jason’s Nanna’s 100th birthday – Happy Birthday Nanna! We had a lovely weekend of family, food and celebration.  A lovely day for us all.

Back in Broome we picked up our gaseous van in our shiny, clean car!  Jack and Tom had been commissioned to give it a bit of a wash and vacuum.  Although the details are scarce I understand that it was quite a mission and I suspect Tom is still scarred despite the financial incentive!  Like all good relatives, we decided to stay a little while longer at Club Sanderson, it was just too good to leave.  We have threatened to return next year, hopefully this plan will come to fruition if Mick and Bron don’t try and move away or change the locks!  From here we head down the west coast and hope to take around a month to get to Perth.

We hope this finds you all well, we are great and very much enjoyed this part of the trip.  Take care all,

Love, Chippy xx