Kimberley country

What could ever top our Bungle Bungle experience, those magnificent beehive Dome structures, towering 250 meters high and being 360 million years in the making, well nothing really, but we thought we would try a little beaching to revive our bodies. Some of the best beaches in Western Australia are found around Broome, our next destination. But first we just had to stop off at Old Halls Creek for a bit of gold prospecting.

The currant Halls Creek is an Aboriginal town of some several hundred people, most of which spend their days loitering in the main street, watching and intimidating white tourists passing through, while they wait to buy their daily alcohol allowance. We had heard en-route that it was not a place to stop, but we badly needed supplies and a prospecting license before going bush again.  The crew at the tourist information centre were most helpful in securing the license, all done by fax in under an hour. Buying food at astronomical prices really hurts, but in these remote communities they charge what they like and you just pay it. But it was the liquor store which hurt the most, a 30 can carton (or brick) of low alcohol beer was $60, and we were only allowed one carton and that's all they sold,  no wine , no spirits and we had to wait till 2pm to buy it along with the locals. There are government restrictions on the sale of alcohol in many outback towns, but this was one of  the worst we had found.

We quickly exited town after our purchases towards Old Halls Creek and Caroline Pool where we were to set up camp. What a beautiful spot, a natural billabong between two towering rock formations, but we almost never got there. The road was the worst we had experienced to date, with huge corrugations and potholes for the entire 18 kilometers of dirt road, which pushed us and the van to our limits. We really wanted to turn around and go elsewhere, but we were committed and besides the road wasn't wide enough to turn around, and the journey did make that beer taste better, when we finally arrived.

The parking area at Caroline Pool had obviously caused many drivers problems, as it was thick gravel and you could see were vehicles had got bogged, but little did we know that during our few days there we would be rescuing 2-3 vehicles per day, along with the help of another young prospector Darren who was camped there too.

The following day we unhooked the van and went adventuring, finding the remains of Old halls creek, and the decaying caravan park , still operational they say, although there's no water and only limited power sometimes?  That day we  detected in two of the more popular fossicking area's with nothing to show but rubbish, still we are cleaning up Australia as we go.

The following day we headed further afield to Palm Springs were we came across two distraught Austrian tourists, who had lost their car keys in the water while swimming and consequently were locked out of their car in the middle of nowhere. They were very pleased to see us and even more happier when we produced a wire diving rod to brake into their car with, to retrieve the spare key, thankfully they had one. We gave them a few tips about hiding their keys in the bush and not taking them adventuring with them. Then it was our turn for a swim, how beautiful was this oasis, complete with  palms tree's, in the hot Kimberly outback.

As we continued on to find a prospecting area we came across a solo lady named "Lorraine" with her Lorikeet "Punkey" on her shoulder, they were panning for gold in the creek. We just had to stop and talk to this larger than life character. Lorraine had been coming to the area for 13 years and camps with her van in a disused aboriginal campsite, which still pumps fresh water , which  was just around the bend of the creek. She warmly invited us to come stay with her, which we had to declined because of the poor condition of the road, the van would most probably not make it, although it was proving to be quiet resilient. Any way while we talked with her "Punkey" climbed into the car and started to peck at my beard, then hoped around my shoulders and over the back seat, said good day to Mylee nose to nose then hoped back out onto Lorraine's shoulder, it was quiet amazing.

Lorraine gave us some info on local places to check out with our metal detectors before wishing us well on our travels. We have meet a number of solo women traveling but not out in remote parts like this, she is one gutsy lady.

To finish the day we rescued another city slicker and family in their Prado, bogged in front of our van , they had tried to make the car climb the embankment  to reach a higher camp spot , which would have been very intrusive, being only a few feet from us. What was worse, was once we had pulled him out, he was going to try it again, till his wife talked him out of it. There is no accounting for common sense and this was no place to be risk taking.

We stayed another day with out finding any gold and we were keen to get to Broome so we headed onwards, with two overnight stops at Mary Pool and Ellendale lake, both very pleasant places to stay along the Great Northern Highway.



Laurie once lived in Western Australia but had never been to Broome, so for her this was a must do stop. After setting up camp at Quondong Beach just North of Broome, again another shocker of a dirt road, but the reward was outstanding. Our van became our own little beach hut  for 11 days, over looking the bluest of oceans I have ever seen. There were other campers scatted around the sand dunes, all there for the fishing, being an area which is known as the Mackerel coast, and the Mackerel were on! Unfortunately our own  tiny " Little toot" was a little too little for taking out to sea, so we would beach fish on the high tide. Low tide revealed the rocky outcrops made famous by their Dinosaur footprints.

In all the time we spent fishing I only caught one small Taylor yet we had either fresh Blue Bone, Spanish flag fish or Mackerel for dinner every night, thanks to the generosity of the Murphy's' ( Mr. and Mrs. Murphy ) and a few others, this also included half of a very large Mackerel, that had been shared with a shark, on its way up from the depths of the sea. We also left Broome with a 60litre freezer full of fish, thanks to these guy's.



A tour of the famous Willy Creek Pearl Farm was first on the list of things to do in Broome. The tour provides visitors with a unique insight into modern cultured pearling. You learn how technicians seed a live Oyster and cruise the azure coloured waters to view Oyster panels in their natural environment. The scenic estuary is ever changing  with incredible 10 meter tidal movements, which we witnessed  during our visit. Laurie won the right to wear a string of cultured Pearls valued at $22,550 by guessing the right price, it's a pity they came with a body guard who wanted them back.

In down town Broome or China Town as it's called there are two of the last remaining wooded Pearl Luggers (boats) and you can learn about the perils of this industry and what drove so many to put their lives on the line in the olden days. We tasted the exclusive pearl meat from the pearl oyster, and viewed artifacts from the early days of deep sea Pearling. Willy Creek pearls are not the only pearlers in town and the main street is abundant with pearls for sale, in all shapes and sizes and for all budgets.  

 

We now have a greater understanding of these unique gems, the five virtues of a Pearl, are Lustre, size, shape, colour and surface and it can take up to 5 years to grow one pearl .

 

With the weather a wonderful 32 degree's , the reddest of sunset sky's over the ocean, white silky sand and the bluest of oceans, Broome is certainly a picture paradise and it was hard to leave knowing we are heading south into Iron ore country and cooler weather.

Our new prospecting friend Darren the young fellow who we met in Old Halls Creek had traveled with us to Quondong and fallen in love with the place and so would stay a while longer and catch up with us in Kalgoorlie.

In the mean time we had news that our dear friends Arie and Topsy were not far ahead of us now and all going well we would catch up with them soon somewhere on the inland way.

And with that, we will say good bye for now and catch up with you  again somewhere on the inland way.

Stay safe and remember, look after those gems!

Alan and Laurie

http://www.gemseek.com.au

alan@gemseek.com.au

Experiencing The Bungle Bungles

As I sit here overlooking the most bluest of Oceans that I've ever seen with white satin beaches in Broome WA, the red dust and towering rocky domes of the Bungle Bungles are long gone, yet the experience is imprinted upon my mind forever.

Our journey to this enchanted land started in Kununurra by booking a scenic flight over the region. From take off to landing this two hour flight encompassed the best of the Kimberley's. I was astounded at the Ord River irrigation area, an agricultural development, still in its first stage yet yielding tea tree and Sandalwood in bulk for international markets. Other crops including thousands of Mangoes tree's were lush and green against the red dirt and blue sky, its amazing what can be grown in the dessert with a little water.

Following lake Kununurra and crossing the Carr Boyd Ranges Lake Argyle came into view, this massive body of water is officially an inland sea, from here we could see the Argyle Downs Homestead an enormous cattle station and the Ord River dam wall site of the Hydro power station. Continuing south into cattle country flying over Lissadell and Texas Downs stations, two very large and remote cattle stations. These stations are currently suffering from Australia's live meat Industry ban, on trade to Indonesia,because of ill treatment and slaughter practices.

A small peninsular came into view on the port side of our plane on Lake Argyle, which we were advised was the only place that Zebra Rock was mined in Australian. A unique stone with Zebra like stripes, how rare is that? The mines now flooded due to the wettest wet season in recorded history.http://www.earthmuseum.see.uwa.edu.au/__data/page/48912/Zebra_Rock2.pdf

Flying low over the spectacular Osmond Ranges we saw first hand what the movement of tectonic plates does to the land; causing a fault line, not unlike waves crashing upon the shore, just awesome to see!

Purnululu National Park (the Bungle Bungles) majestically rose out of the horizon like massive bee hives. The orange and black stripes appeared even, as if painted on, but are in fact a bacteria, put very simply. Layers of Sandstone with a higher clay content , supports an organism called Cyan bacteria. These organisms only inhabit the top few millimeters of Sandstone, but this is enough to provide a coating which protects it from erosion. Sandstone which is clay-poor is more porous , drying quickly, so it does not create ideal conditions for the Cyan Bacteria to grow, and the orange colour is due to the oxidation of Iron in the Sandstone.  20 million years of erosion has lead to these  spectacular sandstone formations  and the world's best!  So there you go, we've seen The "Bungle Bungles"
yahoo!

We spent a good 20 minutes orbiting and diving low over various gorges, including the renown Piccaninny Gorge, which is one of the most remote to access.

But the air turbulence over the Bungles was a little rough and several passengers had their head in their souvenir  paper bag, you know the one  they give you on boarding the plane; so the pilot took us up higher on the return journey towards the Argyle Diamond mine.

The mine was a massive pit in the earth, and the Diamond reef is excavated  by open cut and underground mining.  Apparently there is another untouched reef worth $30 billion or so beneath the company airstrip, which by the way is the only entrance for visitors on the $610 pp tour of the mine, a cost unfortunately which was too steep for our budget.

With the turbulence settled one could relax back and thoroughly enjoy the colors' of the Kimberley's and the Ragged Ranges with a second look at the Ord River development, before landing.

The two hour complete Kimberley experience, will live with us forever, a "must do" if you get the opportunity to.

We camped  at the Hidden Valley Caravan Park for a couple of days while we explored the area, but low and behold there really was a
"Hidden Valley" right behind us in the caravan Park.  

The Sandstone structures with in this Park being very similar in colour to the Bungle Bungles, and which resembled ancient ruins'. With several different pathways through out  the Park we were spoilt for choice and over the two days we explored them all. It was a rather small Park with town housing built around it, one pathway lead us to the Dead centre of town; the cemetery, it was home to one of the biggest and ugliest Boab  tree's you ever did see. Boab's are native  to this region of WA and believe me no two are the same.

Monday we hit the road south towards a free camp area called Spring Creek, on the Highway opposite the road to Purnululu National Park, that's right we were up for the ground experience as well. The Bungle enchantment had got to us and we wanted to see first hand the chasm's and gorges, and walk the walk to Cathedral Gorge, made famous by the Qantas Choir singing their anthem " I still call Australia home" . What an achievement that was to accomplish that footage, with all those children and equipment and obstacles.

 

Getting back to the story, of Spring Creek it was very over crowded the afternoon we arrived and we were forced to park right in the middle of the lower car parking area in a dust bowl.

Thankfully early the next morning a place became available overlooking the Creek on a higher level, just right for us to swing into, by the time most people were rising we had a new camp setup. Allan and Liz from Melbourne were our neighbors' and they were happy to watch the Van while we ventured off into the Bungles, Ivan and Chris from Bundaberg had already offered to mind Mylee so we were set to go adventuring.

We fortunately have a reasonable level of skill at 4Wheel Driving but the road in and out was very rough and more than challenging. Its 106 kilometers of corrugated hell with 49 river crossings, only 11 being dry and sandy, then there's another 100 or so kilometers to travel with in the Park, but that dirt road  is reasonable.  I do pity those city slickers though, who venture in on their annual holidays, several people were rescued the day we went, a drive which is defiantly not for the faint hearted.

Our plan to spend just few days at Spring Creek turned into 10 days, and with such great neighbors' now friends, it was yet again a sad farewell as we headed off to Old Halls Creek en route to Broome, but hey that's another story.

So until next time, stay safe and remember, we look forward to your comments please write us alan@gemseek.com.au

Alan and Laurie