Week 39/52 - ElQuestro - gorges,palms and thermal pools

Welcome everyone to Week 39 of my 52 week tour around Western Australia.

This week we continue our trek along the Gibb River Road in the Kimberley of Western Australia's north west. It is time for us to move on from our swim at Emma Gorge....

Eleven kilometres from the Emma Gorge entrance is the turnoff to El Questro Wilderness Park. You can base yourself at Station Township bungalows, campgrounds, private riverside camp sites, or the luxurious El Questro Homestead. It is worth staying a few days to explore the various gorges within El Questro. There are guided tours or you can explore self drive. Boat hire, helicopter flights, and horse riding are just a few of the options. You can collect very detailed maps of the various walks from the Visitor Centre.

We were lucky to get a private riverside camp.....now they say there are crocodiles in this river, but we didn't see any. See the little pool lined with rocks in the foreground, that has been provided so you can "safety" take a dip....we used it everyday - it was great for a cool off.

From Western Australia

One of the most popular walks is through El Questro Gorge. The trail passes along a deep narrow gorge featuring crystal clear pools and lush vegetation under a rainforest canopy. It is surprising to see such a profusion of ferns and palms – seemingly out of place from the harsh environment beyond the gorge. There is a short and a long walk. The short walk takes you to halfway pool (2.6km return - allow 2 hours) where you can enjoy a cooling swim. From this point the trail classification turns to difficult and challenging and should only be attempted by physically fit and capable walkers. The full walk through El Questro Gorge to Mac Micking Pool is 6.8km return (allow 5 hours plus swimming time).

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At Chamberlain Gorge you can join a boat tour or hire a boat for a leisurely afternoon floating up the gorge or having a fish. We decided to hire a boat and spent a lovely afternoon on the water. Far up in the Gorge you might even see Aboriginal paintings on the high walls of the Gorge....

From Western Australia

Another popular place is Zebedee Springs; a permanent thermal spring shaded by Livistona Palms. The water temperature is 28 to 32C all year, perfect for a relaxing soak. The best idea is to get here early in the morning with you want a section of the pool to yourself. It is closed to the "general public" after lunch - in the afternoons people staying at the "luxury" homestead come for a soak.

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Another view of Chamberlain Gorge during from our hired "tinny" boat. The boats come with electric motors, so it is very quiet. My son even caught a couple of little fish! It was so wonderful puttering along through the gorge.

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I am constantly amazed how trees can grow on a rock ledge. Their roots go down through the cracks looking for nutrients. This one is in Chamberlain Gorge.

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The view from Brancos Lookout at El Questro.

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This is one of the roads within the park - or rather a road following a creek bed. The bottom was all rocky - 4WD only! Thank goodness not all the roads were like this. THe photo is a bit wonky because we were driving at the time, and it was difficult to stay straight!

From Western Australia

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Week 38/52 - washing off "The Gibb's" dust at Emma Gorge

Hi everyone and welcome to week 38 of my Tour Downunder Western Australia where I take you around my amazingly beautiful state of Western Australia.

We now leave Kununurra and head onto the Gibb River Road - one of the last of the great trecks in Western Australia. We will be on "The Gibb" for the next few weeks, visiting all the amazing outback gorge country along the way, so I hope you have your 4WD well stocked for an amazing adventure.

Here we are at the turnoff to The Gibb - it is good to see the road is open. They have this sign because it is 4WD "recommended" road.

From Western Australia

The Gibb River Road is dusty – they call it “bull dust”. It swirls around, seeps into your car, up your nose and into your mouth. You can taste it. Part of the road is grey dust, so fine it has the texture, colour and taste of cement dust. When a vehicle passes the dust swirls around in a cloud so thick you can’t see one metre in front of you until the dust settles. Further along the road turns to orange red dust and stretches straight ahead into the distance as far as you can see.

Added to this are the corrugations. For those who don’t know what corrugations are – think of corrugated iron but change the substance to gravel and rock as hard as concrete and then imagine driving over it. It is a bone shaking experience that feels like it is trying to shake the car to pieces; everything rattles, including your bones.

There are also gullies and potholes that loom up in front of you, and the possibility of spiking a tyre on the sharp rocks that the grader has turned up. The condition of the road is dependant on when it was last graded so it can vary from very good to very bad. The best time to travel is from April to November, once the creek levels have dropped after the summer “wet” and it is recommended carrying two spare tyres, extra water, food and fuel.

Here you can see the grey dust and the Cockburn Ranges - and that is one of the typical trees up here - the boab.

From Western Australia

Why would anyone want to travel this dusty bone shaking road? Because “The Gibb” catches the imagination of travelers as one of the few remaining 4WD treks and the scenery and gorges are spectacular.

Originally built for large road trains transporting cattle from isolated stations to ports in Derby and Wyndham, the Gibb River Road, which is unsealed for most of its length, stretches 665km from 5km south of Derby in the west to 53km west of Kununurra in the east of Western Australia’s Kimberley.

These are the Cockburn Ranges - a bit of heat haze hanging in this photo. This is country where the movie "Australia" was filled.

From Western Australia

The best way to experience the road is to take your time, travelling from gorge to gorge and camping overnight in bush camps along the way. You can swim at most of the waterfalls and gorges and camp nearby – both a welcome relief from the road conditions and the heat. The waterfalls are at their best early in the season.

Our first stop is Emma Gorge, 76 kilometres from Kununurra. The walk into Emma Gorge is a moderately difficult trail (3.2km return - allow 2-3 hours) along bare creek beds with little shade, through towering cliff faces and over loose, rocky and irregular terrain with some very large boulders to negotiate. The vegetation varies from savanna woodland to Kimberley rainforest. As with most of the gorge walks in the Kimberley you need to be relatively fit and agile, wear a hat, sturdy boots, carry water with you, and be aware of your ability and limitations.

The walk terminates at the beautiful Emma Gorge Falls which plunge over a sheer drop into a crystal clear pool. This is a delightful place to swim so allow time to enjoy the pool, although water temperatures can vary. At one side of the pool thermal spring water seeps through a crevice at the base of the cliff.

From Western Australia

The Gibb River Road puts travellers right in the middle of some of the most magnificent of the Kimberley gorge country. So stay on board for more photos over the coming weeks. Our trip in July09 was the first time we had been there, and it lived up to its reputation of rugged beauty and we are keen to go back again and see what we missed out on. At one time it was strickly 4WD only but now as the gravel road improves it is a bit more easily accessed, but you still have that sense of adventure and remoteness. 

I was amazed by the dust and that you CAN taste it and it does taste like cement dust - even though I have never actually eaten cement dust! LOL

Here is another couple of photos from Emma Gorge. It was a long hot walk in and we certainly enjoyed the "plunge pool" - no crocodiles here! We would walk to the gorge/waterfall - swim in all our clothes. Then get out and walk back out. We were dry by the time we got back and our clothes and ourselves had had a rinse off! Still it was nice to have a shower when we had the opportunity!

These photos bring back wonderful memories of Emma Gorge. There is a Eco Lodge at the commencement of the walk with a huge deck where you sit and eat meals - stunning. I would have liked to have stayed, but we were tenting.

From Western Australia

From Western Australia

Unfortunately we didn't have time on this trip to go to the Mitchell Plateau where the waterfalls fall many hundreds of metres from one ledge to another - truly magnificent after a wet season - and a must see by helicopter. Maybe next time....

Week37/52 - escape Wyndham's heat at Marlgu Billabong

Hi everyone, and welcome to week 37 of my 52 week tour Downunder Western Australia, where I take your around my magnificent state.

This week we go to the most northern port in Western Australia Wyndham. It was a very hot day when we were there - around 35C and the hottest place in the State that day - and it certainly felt like it - hot and still and not a breath of moving air. The heat radiated off everything and we felt enveloped by the heat haze. After taking in the sights, we were glad to be able to escape with a visit to beautiful Parry Lagoon and Marlgu Billabong along with a host of water birds, beautiful waterlillies, and the resident salt water crocodile looking for lunch! .....so we won't be swimming!

But first Wyndham. 101 kilometres north of our last destination, Kununurra, and established in 1886, Wyndham was originally a tiny port used mainly for exporting cattle to Perth and overseas. The State's first gold rush at Halls Creek boosted the town, and in 1919 a meatworks opened. The meatworks has long since closed and Wyndham today survives on tourism.

Here is a photo of the wharf - now used mainly to service fishing boats heading out into Cambridge Gulf and the Timor Sea. The plants growing on the edge of the water are mangroves. Can you see the heat haze and feel the heat?

From Western Australia

I thought this floating jetty was rather amazing - it floats up with the tides which rise many metres every day around here. The jetty is connected by collars to those poles and floats up as the tide comes in - amazing.

From Western Australia

A visit to Wyndham is not complete without a visit to The Bastion Five Rivers Lookout. From here you can see Cambrdige Gulf and the convergence of the Forrest, Pentecost, King, Durack and Ord Rivers. They say it is best viewed early morning, however we were there at mid-day - hence the heat haze. In the foreground on the RHS of the photo you can see the mud on the tidal flats as the tide has gone out.

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And this would have to be one of my favourite photos - boab trees on the way to Parry's lagoon. I love the starkness of this scene - very Australian.

From Western Australia

After Wyndham's heat it was a relief to visit Marlgu Billabong in the Parry Lagoon Nature Reserve south of Wyndham. The reserve covers 36,000 hectares and part of the extensive Ord River flood plains. The fragile wetland system is recognised as an area of international significance. It is a wonderful place for bird watching (including migratory birds) and there is a board walk and bird-hide.

Here is a view of the Billabong from nearby Telegraph Hill where you can see the ruins of the old wireless station built in 1914 built to assist ships entering Wyndham and also used during WWII. In the foreground you can see some more boab trees - native to the Kimberley. They sometimes grow in clumps - probably from where seeds have dropped. They get their bulbous shape from the water that is stored in the wood of their trunk - the older the tree the bigger the bulge.

From Western Australia

a closer view of the Billabong.

From Western Australia

Wading birds at the Billabong - they "walk on water" by stepping from lilly pad to lilly pad.

From Western Australia

Another one of Australia's native birds - the brolga. Pairs do a beautiful mating dance.

From Western Australia

well the afternoon has passed blissfully by but not without some drama - here are some shots on the Billabong....

As we were sitting enjoying the scene from the bird hide, this is what we saw sliding through the water - this is a salt water crocodile - the dangerous kind and definitely not to be messed with...these will eat you!..... he was looking for dinner.... We wondered why the bird hide was lined with steel mesh!!

From Western Australia

He stalked some birds on the bank but I don't know if he wasn't serious or they bluffed him, but he didn't get one - not while we were watching anyway.... I wished I had my bigger zoom and that he wasn't so well hidden in the shade.....

From Western Australia

This photo is not from the Billabong, but one I wanted to share with you from south of the Billabong at "The Grotto" - these are the roots of a rock fig tree - amazing how they cling to the rock walls looking for a tiny crack to reach some nutrients.....

From Western Australia

And I found this road very interesting. It is called the Old Halls Creek-Wyndham Road. It was built around 1894 at the time of the Halls Creek gold rush. The stone blocks were laid down by convicts. The rocks helped identify the track during the dry and helped to relocate it after the wet!

From Western Australia

Week 36/52 -Part 2 - Kununurra - rivers, crocodiles and sunflowers

Welcome everyone to Part 2 of week 36 of our 52 week Tour Downunder Western Australia.

In part 1, I showed you aerial views from around Kununurra and beyond, and tonight I will bring you some photos from the ground.

Kununurra is located only a few kilometres west of the Western Australian/Northern Territory border. The Ord Dan and the Ord River Irrigation Scheme feeds an area covering 14,000 hectares of agriculture. Kununurra itself is a modern town established in 1960 as a centre for the irrigation project. It is the major administrative centre for the East Kimberley.

Here is a view of Kununurra from Mirima National Park on the edge of town. In the distance on the other side of town you can see Elephant Rock, also called Sleeping Buddha, a rock formation on the edge of the Ord River.

From Western Australia

I was amazed to see sunflowers growing in this rugged environment. Sunflowers are just one of the crops that grow in the irrigation area. Those are beehives in the boxes.

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We took a lovely afternoon cruise on the Ord River from the Lake Argyle Dam back to Kununurra. The scenery as you can see was spectacular.

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Some close detail of the cliff faces - amazing how trees grow in tiny cracks.

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This is Ivanhoe Crossing in Kununurra. You can drive across if the water is low enough. On the far left hand side of the photo what appears to be a rock is actually a salt water crocodile laying on a rock - we'll see one a little closer next week when we go to Margloo Billabong near Wyndham. These are the crocodiles you don't want to mess with.

From Western Australia

The gorgeous white dragon tree....

From Wildflowers

A resident fresh water crocodile near our cabin at the caravan park in Kununurra where where stayed. He was on the bank sunning himself every day - and we were able to get quite close to take photos. Freshwater crocs are reputed to not be dangerous - but it is wise not to get too close. The croc really wasn't bothered by us and we saw him every day and were told by people at the caravan park that he always comes up to sun himself on the bank.

From Western Australia

And a colony of fruit bats taking to the air at sunset....  The bats were amazing - just on sunset this huge flock (?) of them flew out of these few trees by the river bank like a big black cloud. I ppd a "bit" to get the sky a bit lighter in this shot so they stood out - but taken hand held on a boat I think I did pretty well!

From Western Australia

here is another photo of the Dragon Tree - I had never seen anything quite like it before and it is so different to the majority of our wildflowers.

From Wildflowers

another couple of wildflowers -

The Kapok bush -

From Wildflowers

One of the native Hibiscus family -

From Wildflowers

And this is a Jabiru stalk

From Western Australia

Thankyou for looking

Week 36/52- Part1 - see the Kimberley from the air

Hi everyone and welcome to Part 1 of Week 36 of our 52 week tour through Western Australia. This week we are in Kununurra in the far north east of the Kimberley - There is so much to show you, that week 36 will be in 2 parts.

First off we will take a flight over Kununurra, Lake Argyle and the Ord River Dam, Purnululu and the Argyle Diamond Mine - so fasten your seatbelts - and up up we go. Please excuse the quality of some of the photos - I was trying to take them through a scratchy window!

Kununurra was established in 1960 on the banks of the Ord River as the centre for the Ord River Irrigation project. Up to 2000 hectares of irrigated land, known as the Packsaddle Plains, surrounds Kununurra. Farming is predominantly sandalwood trees, mangoes, bananas, melons and tropical vegetables, flowers and herbs.

From Western Australia

The life blood of Kununurra comes from Lake Argyle and the Ord River Dam. Lake Argyle is officially classed as an inland sea - its normal capacity is 10.8 billion cub mitres, but at flood levels it triples to about 34.7 billion cubic metres. The Lake is approx 55km long by 30km wide. As well as supplying water to the Ord Irrigation Scheme, a hydroelectric power station generates electricity for Kununurra, Wyndham and the Argyle Diamond Mine.

From Western Australia

We visited Purnululu National Park (the Bungle Bugles) on foot in Week 35. Now you can see it from the air.

From Western Australia

From Western Australia

As promised a few more photos from our plane flight -

here we see the edge of Purnululu with the flat plains beyond

From Western Australia

and mountain ranges. Cattle stations out here cover thousands of acres. Many are staffed by a caretaker for many months of the year - the only time staff increases is when cattle mustering is underway. The Kimberley supports the largest number of cattle in the State. The cattle population is approx 531,000 in the Kimberley. One station, Texas Downs, we were told is so isolated and inaccessible that it was only recently that vehicles could get in - before that it was on horseback or helicopter.

From Western Australia

Here we see the Argyle Diamond Mine - the world's largest supplier of diamonds - approximately one quarter of the worlds production. The mine started mining its main ore body in 1985 and employs approx 800 employees. Diamonds from Argyle come in a range of colours including white, champagne and pink.

From Western Australia

In week 35 I showed you some of Piccaninny Gorge in the Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) National Park from the ground - here it is from the air - the further you walk in the narrower the gorge gets. You can take an overnight hike and camp out in the gorge - I would love to do it - maybe next time if we come more prepared...

From Western Australia

On the edge of Purnululu...

From Western Australia

and the mighty Ord River - in part 2 of week 36 we will take a cruise down the Ord - I hope you will join me then.

From Western Australia