Day 2 on the Gibb River Road - Disaster!

Day 26 Sunday 6^th May- Second day on the Gibb River track

THE WHEELS FALL OFF. AGAIN!!!

They say lightning doesn’t strike in the same place twice! That saying obviously doesn’t apply to trailer wheels.

We had been travelling for about an hour. Paul was very uneasy about the condition of the dust caps on the wheels and also about the bearings. To allay his fears we stopped at a way side rest stop and he took off the hub caps and repacked the bearings with grease, making sure they were completely clean.

I could tell Paul was very anxious about something and I knew he wasn’t enjoying the drive. This is very unusual for Paul. He enjoys the challenge of four wheel driving.

He was worried about the wheels. After his quick servicing of the trailer wheels I assumed everything was OK and became once more engrossed in the every changing views of the Kimberleys.

Great Scenery

 We were driving through the King Leopold ranges, and even though we were disappointed the Bell Gorge track was closed, we continued to wind our way through the Ranges. I learnt a new term. Every so often we came to either a steep descent or ascent which had been bituminized. We drive along a plateau and everynow and then we go down into a water way. These bituminized sections are called Jumpups and all have their own name, eg. Stumpy’s  Jumpup, Macs Jumpup etc.

The other thing was, we were expecting the road to be really bad, but this gravel section from Windjana Gorge was in excellent condition. 

Great Road

So we had a good road, beautiful scenery……..then I heard “Oh No” That’s all Paul said!! But at the same time I heard the same thump as I did a few days ago. ….Surely?... Not again?

It was far worse this time.

The wheel rolled down a steep embankment into a river!

OH NO!!!!!!

The mudguard on the trailer was smashed,

The brakes on the trailer were shattered and

The thread had been stripped off the axle.

Absolutely shattered (The trailer and  Us)

 ( I have learnt a lot this trip about wheels going around!)

"You picked a fine time to leave me Loose Wheel (Lucille)

This time I had the presence to get myself a seat and book as well as water and hat while I prepared for the long vigil as I guarded the trailer.

But… it was now that our luck changed!

The wheel and tyre itself was undamaged.

We lost our wheel only 15 Kms from Imintji, a small road house with the only resident mechanic for the entire Gibb River road.

We also encountered three guardian angels.

1.      Kev;  the mechanic at the road house was  a real bushman’s mechanic , the type who can fix everything with a bit of string (thread tape  and a new wheel nut  for the axle in this instance), and he supplied Paul with the ideas and tools to fix the axle.

2.      Keith and Barb. This nurse and his wife both work in Aboriginal Communities in Northern Territory, stopped to see if I was OK. They decided to keep me company and brought out chairs and drinks. The three of us had a picnic while waiting for Paul

3.      When Paul arrived, Keith informed us that he was an ex diesel mechanic and always travelled with a huge tool box. To cut a long story short (well a bit anyway) the job was efficiently done by Paul and Keith.

Job done. Our guardian angels inspecting the completed job

Our final stroke of good luck for the day was our camp site. Kev, the guardian angel mechanic told us of a beautiful Billabong just past the store that only the locals know about. We set up camp in an idyllic bush camp on the edge of a billabong covered in water lilies, and we still had  enough time to watch the sun go down with our fiveses.

Day one on the Gibb River Road - the Big Adventure

Day 25 Saturday 5^th May

Derby to Windjana Gorge

It was a quick uneventful trip on our first day of travelling the Gibb River Road. A short 2 hour drive and we reached our first camp site in the National park at Windjana Gorge.

We like walking first thing in the morning as the light is good for photography, and it is cooler so we decided to leave the walk through the gorge for early Sunday morning. We instead drove the 30 kms south to Tunnell creek. This phenomenon was caused when the creek began to erode the Devonian reef that makes up this range.

 It eventually made a track underground and became an underground stream.

The entrance to this creek was found at the site of a rock fall, so after about 20m of scrambling over boulders you pass through a gap and down into the bed of the creek.

  This sandy creek bed becomes your path. 

As your wade further into the tunnel it becomes pitch black and the water is deeper and colder. While walking you sight Cherebun ( a species of yabby) and small fish but fortunately no sight of the freshies (crocodiles) that are reported to be also in residence. The walk was invigorating and ideal for the hottest part of the day.

(PS this article includes a "Where's Paul)

Day 26 Sunday 6^th May.

The early morning walk into Windjana Gorge was beautiful, easy walking on Sand and Cool in the shadows of the towering walls of the Gorge.

This gorge is accessed by sliding through a narrow crevasse which opens up into the most spectacular Gorge. Huge sandbars had been deposited in the middle after the recent  wet season. I still had not seen any crocodiles up close, but all the walkers we met yesterday assured us that the large sand bank was full of freshies sunning themselves..

Well guess what! We had started the walk so early that the crocs were not up yet. We did find the nautilog, an ancient fossilized crustacean on the side of the wall.

We walked to the other end of the gorge (about 3 Kms) marveling at the rock formations and colours. The last part of the walk was closed so we retraced our steps.

On our way back the sun became hotter and we finally saw three or four crocs on the sand bar. They really just look like twigs in the photo

That little log is a Crocodile. The closest I've been to one so far!!!

We were back in camp by about  9.00am and sat around looking at each other, and although we had paid for another night we decided to move on further up the Gibb river road. Once you have walked through  the gorge and Tunnell creek, there is not much else to do, So we packed up and left beautiful Windjana Gorge.

BIG MISTAKE!

The vast track

Days  22 to 24 Broome to Derby. 2nd to 4th May

Thursday  3^rd May.

We took a plane ride today!

The track suddenly became a vast expanse of an ever changing palette of colours, textures and shapes.

We have been travelling through what appeared to be unchanging scenery of savannah grasslands; from Fitzroy River to Broome; from Broome to Derby.

The only change in the scenery has been  crossing the floodways at regular intervals and the occasional river, still flowing with water, but the terrain has still remained flat with only the bizarre sculptural outline of the almost prehistoric looking Boab tree to break its monotony.

BIG BOAB!!!

Stating the obvious that this is going to be the case when travelling by car! It makes commonsense to build the roads on the flat plains and not over rugged ranges.

It’s not until you are in the air that you really appreciate the vast Kimberley area, an area which is 10 times the size of Tasmania, and the complexity of its geography and topography.

We took off from Derby airport at 7.00am.

 This pleased our pilot, Kate because it is the best time for flying, no thermals and clear vision. It is also the optimal time for photography, the light is bright and clear. This pleased me…. and Paul?  Paul was pleased because he could sit in the co-pilot seat and look at all the dials and instruments.

Derby is surrounded by mudflats and mangroves and from the ground they are disgusting, slimy grey mud flats and straggly drab green plants poking out through the ooze.

From the air they took on a totally different aspect. The tidal creeks became beautiful sinuous copper green veins, edged with lime green plants winding their way through caramel coloured mud flats. One formation actually took on the shape of a Boab tree.

These gradually merged into the parallel lines of rocky ridges some made of the creamy coloured sand stone and others a bright red iron rich rock.

Flying at 2000 feet we could pick out the shapes of the ranges running in parallel lines like long threads of red and white into the beautiful azure and aquamarines of the coastal waters of Talbot Bay where the ridges became small linear islands. These made up the 1000 islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago.

Then we flew over the amazing Horizontal Waterfalls.

 These are formed because of the huge tides in this area. When the tide is coming in, it  is forced through a narrow 20m wide gap in one of the ridges into a narrow long lake and then through a second gap of 10 m into a third narrow stretch of water. 

The effect from the air is like a waterful flowing over rocks and hence the name Horizontal Falls.

We continued our flight over “Slug Island”, such an unromantic name after the last feature but you can see where it got its name from.

Then onto several iron ore mines which are actually mined under sea level. Next the whirlpool, a maze like structure of islands which set up whirlpools when the tide is flowing through. 

These swirling waters are so treacherous that small boats who are trying to take a short cut through this maze of islands can actually get stuck in the whirlpool.

As we headed back to Derby we could see the outgoing tide drawing out streamers of caramel coloured muddy water into the pristine aqua blues of the King Sound.

A final fly over Derby as Kate expertly brought the plane in to land without a single bump.

We had just flown 240 Kms over an area which is so vast that its true character, majesty and beauty can only be disclosed from the air.
It was only 9.00am! The rest of the day was ours to explore Derby

The Jetty at Derby experiences the highest tidal  change in Australia.Up to 10 metres! This photo was taken about 1 metre before low tide!

Goodnight from Derby! We are off to Windjana Gordge Saturday and so will be out of reporting range for awhile.

Paradise Found

Day 16 to 21  26th April to1st May

After our 2 day “enforced” stay in the lap of luxury (I must say if you are going to break down I can think of far worse places to stay than the Cable Beach Club Resort and Spa) we picked up our camper trailer from the mechanic.

We lost no time in setting up our newly tyred home in the Cable Beach Caravan Park, just a stones throw from the resort, (world’s apart in services offered but both equally enjoyable).

It was so good to be back “on track”, and we thoroughly enjoyed the hospitality of this park.

Our thoughts now turned to our continuing adventure on the Gibb River road. We knew there had been violent thunderstorms while we were staying at Cape Leveque, so it came as no surprise when the Rangers informed us that it could be up to 14 days before the Gibb River road would be opened. We also learned at the same time that the Bungle Bungles had also been flooded out and that this road was also closed.

 Our timing was impeccable.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Broome. This place really does get into your blood. With plenty of time on our side, we decided that this was a great place to wait for the Gibb River road to open.

We have been playing tourist and visited the sights of Broome.

We checked out the pearl shops and Oohed and Aahed at the world’s biggest perfect pearl.

 We viewed Anastasia’s pool and trod through the Dinasaur tracks at Gantheaume Point 

.

Paul had a nostalgic trip down memory lane when we went to see “The Hunger Games” at the outdoor Sun Cinema. The original Projectors that Paul used to help run at the Victa Cinema are on display to the public.

We paid our respects at both the Chinese and Japanese Cemeteries

 and we walked around the old Pearl 

Luggers down at Roebuck Bay.

We’ve driven along cable beach, swam in the beautiful azure blue waters and watched the sunset as the grumbling camels swayed and lunged past.

We have walked the streets of Chinatown and ambled down Johnny Chi Lane, We have visisted the oldest boab tree and the oldest  police lock up and have ticked off all the tourist activities on Broome’s list!

There IS one more thing we have done! We have fallen in love with the Broome lifestyle and the attitude of, there is always tomorrow. Time is not important here; only the season; and we were so lucky, the dry season started the day after we arrived here.

PS There is a Where's Paul and its not the Sun Cinema.Good Luck!

Paradise Lost on the Track

Day 15 Anzac Day 25^th April

This blog is being written from the bedroom of a very expensive resort in Broome!

 We decided to leave Cape Leveque a day early to go back to Broome!

 Kooljamon Resort is beautiful, especially if you are an environmentally friendly camper and the pristine beaches are your main, agenda!

This cute little crab joined us during a morning swim.

We had adopted a great ritual of down to the beach early in the morning for a day break swim and then back to the tent, for coffee and breakfast, then pack up lunch, chairs and a shade tarpaulin and back to the beach and set up our little day time shelter complete with chairs, fridges and food  to relax for three hours. Then back to the tent for a nanna nap!

Sounds great, right!!!

Let me tell you about the mosquitoes!! Two of them were big enough to cart us away, but they chose to send their whole army of 50.000. Paul was worried about which fever he would end up dying of caused by these giant mosquito hoards  which acted more like giant dive bombers from WWII. Which would strike first, Malaria, Dengue fever or Ross River Virus or perhaps some other virus you could relate to a mossie plague!

Even worse, Cape Leveque can- not sell Alcohol, AND PAUL RAN OUT OF BEER!

So we decided to depart from Paradise.

Wrong move!!

We were heading back along the really, really bad road, (appalling track), I had my nose in a riveting book  (just to help the rough ride go quicker), when I felt a rather larger bump.  I heard Paul say "There goes the wheel (actually he said more than that, but I feel it would be wiser to leave some of it out) I really didn't take much notice as we had already had one flat tyre so I assumed that was what he meant. I just gave a quick glance up, only to see our entire wheel rolling past us and on down the track! The wheel bearings had given u the ghost

The following pictures can spell it out for you, and you know why this entry is being written from a Resort (expensive) in Broome.

 All I can say Di and John,  Stewie and Caroline, BEWARE  the Cape Leveque Road. Total bill; Camp Site, $160 dollars, Flat Bed tow truck (after a long discussion and bargaining because he did have to travel nearly the full section of the unsurfaced road) $1000, hotel accommodation and meals, $700 and we still have to get the trailer fixed!

Paradise can be expensive

Days  11, 12 and 13.

21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd April.  Broome to Cape Leveque.

I feel as if I have arrived in heaven, or the earthly form of heaven! But of course like any magic heavenly place, there is a price to pay!! Cape Leveque is only 200 Kms from Broome, BUT 100Kms of that distance is unsurfaced road. I don’t just mean unsurfaced!  I mean a red dusty canal with sides at least a metre high! Bright red sand, not bull dust, lines this canal, but of course every now and then to keep every red blooded 4WD person on their toes there is a particularly sandy patch where the driver fights with the steering wheel , swinging it rapidly from side to side, just to stay on a straight line to get through this challenge, and then just when you think you have this demon sorted out, the road throws in a stony lumpy section!  Pity about the tyres being on 18psi..  Sometimes the road is a wide “dual lane highway” and other times it becomes a one lane bush track. No over taking here!

But when you get to the end of it, what a treat!

We have spent most of the time either on the beach watching sunsets, or Just on the beach.

Oh by the way, this is an ecological resort and we do have to share our conveniences with the local nature.

So with the setting sun lighting our path, I can tell you we have spent a wonderful  few days at Cape Leveque charging up our batteries for Broome.

Tracking along the Fitzroy River

Days 9 and 10

Thursday 19^th and Friday 20^th April.

 We left the Bungle Bungles and Purnululu National Park at 7.00 am. The trip back was event free, fortunately!  We didn’t have another spare tyre for the trailer and I don’t think Paul really wanted to change any more flat tyres! Funny about that! Iknew I certainly didn’t want that experience.  So fingers crossed, we tippy toed over every single sharp looking rock when leaving!  Good Image for a 4WD person isn’t it. My answer is, who in their right minds wants to change a tyre on a 4WD vehicle in 36 degrees on a stony road!

Some of the Obstacles we faced were four legged!

Our next destination was Fitzroy crossing, 270 Kms. from Halls Creek.  A quiet trip – all bitumen and easy travelling.

By 4.00 pm we were parked under shady trees, on beautiful lush grass, arm chairs out and Fiveses had begun.

The main tourist attraction here is the Geike Gorge. The best way to view it is via a flat bottomed boat: and the best time to view it is early in the morning. So up at 6.30 am and a short drive out to the boat landing. The next hour we slowly cruised up the Fitzroy River marveling at the exquisite sculptures on the sand stone cliffs carved out by the swirling currents of the river in full flood.

We “officially” saw our first crocodile – no point taking a photo – it just looked like a twig floating on the surface of the river! So…I’ll just finish with some photos of one of nature’s art works.

 The Geike Gorge on the Fitzroy River.