Category: Australia

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Day 39: 7 July – immersed in nature 

Author: Mrs A

We hiked 7km before breakfast, deciding to enjoy the dawn birds. It was a fresh morning, about 15•C and blue, clear skies greeted us as always. 


Many birds were to be found including singing honeyeaters, yellow white eyes, red winged parrots, magpie larks, whistling kites, restless flycatchers, great bowerbird…and more. After breakfast we went down to the bay to see high tide. 


Roebuck Bay looked completely different without the mudflats, its turquoise waters, ochre sands and flocks of birds on the shore.  


We chilled out late afternoon, revising our plans for the next couple of days, trying to stay around Broome for the weekend. The moon is almost full and the region is famous for the view across the mudflats which creates a stairway. Sunday is our opportunity. 

We watched the great bower bird behind our caravan creating his bower – it’s a work of art. He creates a fabulous sculpture out of sticks and decorates it with colours which compliment his silvery feathers – in this bird’s case, shells and pieces of glass from the beach, the occasional piece of bleached wood and silver foil – quite different from the blues collected by the satin bower bird in NSW and Qld. Just lovely. I hope he attracts a nice Mrs bower bird!


Homemade chicken curry tonight with a Shaky Ground Shiraz, one of Mr A’s Broome purchases. Shaky Ground by name and by nature…had worse, but…hmmm…roll on the wine broker!

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Day 38: 6 July – Off twitching!

Author: Mr A

From: Broome

To: Broome Bird Observatory

Distance: 28km

Today we left Gulag Broome (as I call our caravan park there), We had a slight sense of relief to escape its dreary, noisy, clutches and headed into town with the van in tow. We copped a nice spot outside the Tourist Information centre, complete with Telstra Air hotspot (our new best friend), and I went in search of the optometrist that I had made an appointment at. I had rang the place earlier this morning, not holding our much hope that I would be able to get a pressure test on my eyes, but got in straight away. 

All was good news, pressures were stable, I was so relieved so I celebrated with a haircut. Five minutes later I was done. It was chop chop and off! 

Chores complete, Mrs A loaded in our next destination to Google Maps, the Broome Bird Observatory. It’s a Not for Profit organisation based in Roebuck Bay, an internationally important research centre examining the many species of birds who use the calm waters of the bay to rest and feed. 

It was a tight fit into the camp spot, but with less stress each time we have to do it, we were soon settled in. Off we headed down to the bay to explore. 


Then we did another walk through pindan (open, waterless bush) that dominates the sand plains of the Western Kimberley.

We saw a variety of birds including honeyeaters, variagated fairy wrens, peaceful doves, woodswallows, friarbirds, bowerbirds, and many shore wading birds on the mudflats slightly too far out to identify…


Looking foward to a dawn twitch – an early night in order. 

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Day 37: Wednesday 5 July – A day of rebooting

Author: Mrs A

The day commenced at the Broome Doctors Surgery, following up on my allergy-event. The GP prescribed me a steroid inhaler, more steroids for the next 8 days, an epi-pen to use in an emergency, plus a referral letter to see a specialist when I get to Perth. This is turning into a medical tour of Australia! 

Next on our list was supermarket shopping followed by the all important wine cellar restock. We are disappointed to report that as sophisticated as Broome likes to think it is, its wine selections are pretty limited. But not really that surprised. We are definitely thinking our wine broker will get a call to make a delivery down the track – we are glamping after all!

I then abandoned Mr A for a couple of hours, and went for some pampering – a haircut and pedicure – feel slightly less feral now, and ready to head back into the wooly wilds tomorrow. Meanwhile, Mr A hung out with the already beautiful people down at Cable Beach, lunched and chilled out awaiting my call!


Cocktails and nibbles were next on our agenda as we took our car down on the beach to watch the sunset – freshly cooked prawns, crusty olive bread, sweet cherry tomatoes and Aperol spritzers  were the order of the day.

We watched the camels tour up and down the beach…


And admired the view as the sun set – both over the sea…


And behind us as the moon rose over the sand dunes….


 A pretty special farewell to Cable Beach. Tomorrow we move on – not going too far, just to the other side of Broome to the bird observatory – new adventures and sights await us ahead! 

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Day 36: Tuesday 4 July – Cable Beach…fat bike heaven

Author: Mr A

Our day started with a call from the Service Manager at Zone RV (Jackson), we worked through a few minor issues and how we would resolve.  He really has been super helpful. It’s unrealistic to think there wont be something that rattles itself into a frenzy and needs a fix. 

Next was a visit to Broome Toyota, a $2.50 light bulb and a piece of rubber off the end of our side step, the only casualties of the Gibb for our super reliable (touch wood) 200 Series. Sadly our next stop was Tyrepower, I can’t blame the car for the 5 year old Mickey Thompsons showing their age on the sidewalls, and we had to dig deep for a whole new set of tyres….ouch. Going this time for the Coopers, S/T Max. The tyre we had to buy on the Gibb is to be sentenced to the roof basket as a second spare. 

Cable Beach was our next port of call, and as soon as we spied the white sand stretching to the horizon we were hooked. What a stunning place. We sat at a cafe on the beach and by the time I’d smashed down my first iced chocolate, the Broome of yesterday was redeemed. Talk about a different world to downtown. 

After a visit to the fossilised dinosaur footprints….


…we went back and collected the bikes, and launched ourselves down the beach. Awesome….My fatty was very at home..my bike I’m talking about! We rode for miles down this stunning beach before turning round when sunset was in the wings. 



There was a shout from one of the many cars parked on the sand admiring the sunset with a few cold ones, it was some Perth folk we had met at the van park in Derby. We were invited over for beers and bubbles, and watched another spectacular sunset. Marvellous…we just cant speak highly enough of the camaraderie we find on the van parks. 


It’s back to the van now for Thai red curry, with prawns, pumpkin  and broccoli. Matched this evening with what really is (this time!) our last bottle in the “cellar” brought from Sydney. A “Hart of the Barossa”  Limited Release organic Shiraz. It’s from one of the cases left over from my 60th. Donna and Cathy really chose some crackers….thank you if you happen to be reading this. We really do have to go wine shopping tomorrow! 

The evening is perfect with some Eilen Jewell signing her gorgeous melodies in the background. If you haven’t had the listening pleasure check out “Queen of the Minor Key”. Fabulous album, full of sultry blues, and acoustic food for the soul. 

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Day 35: 3 July – we make it to the Indian Ocean!

From: Derby, WA

To: Broome, WA

Distance: 227 km

Drive time: 2.5 hours

Author: Mrs A

Let me start by thanking everyone for their concern and thoughts, I’m definitely on the mend now, the drugs are working well.  Still a mystery as to what triggered my allergic reaction but I’m planning to keep taking antihistamines for a while to keep anything else at bay. 

Today we packed up camp, hitched up and continued our journey westwards. We pulled into a car wash on our way into Broome and cleaned off the last of the red dust from the car and van. After unhitching in our next caravan park, we jumped on our bikes and rode into central Broome. 

We had high expectations for Broome. The marketing for the city waxes lyrical about the fabulous facilities, pearl outlets and incredible eateries. Alas, what we found was not quite up to standard (less Coogee/Bronte and more Wollongong). 

I called into the hospital to ask about an epi-pen and was given a list of doctors to call, all of which are fully booked! I shall try  calling again tomorrow. Next on our task list was lunch… the top 3 venues were very busy with 30+ minute wait times, the next down the list were ordinary fast food joints. A visit to Telstra increased our data allowance so we can continue to blog!


Slightly disappointed, we cycled back to camp, picked up a bottle of bubbles and headed over to Gantheaume Point to watch the sun set. Broome slightly redeemed itself with gorgeous views and interesting geological formations. We hope to return at low tide tomorrow to see the fossilised dinosaur footprints in the rocks there. 



We followed this with a chilled out evening watching our latest Netflix addiction, Suits. 

And finally, facts learned via podcasts today:

  • Dogs see three colours in the rainbow
  • Border Collies understand 1000 words
  • Clouds weigh 600 tons+
  • At 70,000ft the sky is black
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Day. 34: 2 July – Derby Hospital for Mrs A

Author: Mr A

I note that Mrs A failed to tell the whole story yesterday (she was very tired last night, so forgiven). She awoke in the early hours of yesterday labouring to breathe – we were on a boat, miles from anywhere, and every single breath was a struggle. Her airway had swollen and her face puffy – at first we assumed it was related to her old airway issues, but the swelling was so sudden and severe, we realised it wasn’t.

 Just by chance, she took some Travel Calm tablets to ward of sickness on the flight, and this contained antihistamine – and cleared things up enough so she could get back to Derby safely. Of course, being stubborn, Mrs A refused to visit the hospital after this episode (despite my advice).

So, on to today. The day started, of course, with a 7am visit to Derby Hospital, the only one in the Kimberley. Catherine was still struggling to breathe, so off we went with expectations of long wait times, since it was Derby’s biggest annual event yesterday, the races, so we thought lots of drinking injuries would be sustained. But no…Derby folk must be more restrained than the major Australian cities, it was empty!

We were seen immediately and only waited a few minutes for a doctor to come in. Catherine was given some more medication to try and reduce her swelling. It could be all the dust we have lived in for the last few weeks coming along the Gibb finally took its toll. Who knows, but a pretty serious response all the same.


Smiling here, but unable to complete a sentence. I was enjoying the break!

Anyway after that exciting start to the day, we decided to set about cleaning the van inside and out. Four hours later it was time to cycle down to the sunset again. Our last one in Derby before heading off to Broome tomorrow. 



Back now in the van for a home cooked chicken pad thai, and the last of our bottles of red brought from Sydney. How about that for timing…as Broome will be the first place we will hopefully be able to buy some decent stuff. 

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Day 33: 1 July – Boat, plane, bus then bike…back to Derby

Author: Mrs A

After a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs we again mounted our seats in the jet boat to visit the tides, this time turning the other way, rushing through the small gaps between the bays, shortly after sunrise. Such a stunning location, and one everyone visiting was sad to say farewell to. 

For the cost of $25,000 for 5 nights, you and 11 of your friends could stay out here and have a skipper at your beck and call – 5kg of luggage allowed and 30kg of alcohol….anybody keen for an interesting holiday next year…?


The still early morning waters made for some incredible reflections, which were soon ruffled as our skipper sped the jet boat through the race!7.30am we boarded our little sea plane and took off, taking a scenic route back to Derby airport, and returning to camp.


A truly spectacular area, and so interesting to see. Incredibly remote and not another soul to be seen. Up here it is mostly sharks, dugongs, crocodiles and fish – the islands are very rocky and sparse, holding little to no natural water sources of their own. We flew over a barramundi farm, and back into Derby.

We spent the afternoon making plans for the next leg of our trip, before heading down on our bikes to Derby Wharf for dinner and one of the top end’s famous sunsets over the water. 

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Day 32: 30 June: Mudflats and horizontal waterfalls

Author: Mr A

Our day started with a dawn cycle across the mudflats that surround Derby. 

Big Bertha, as I call my big old fat bike, loved ploughing through the dried mud that stretched to the horizon. Quite an eerie landscape. 

The sun climbed up once again into a perfect blue sky, and the mud flats glistened. Miles and miles of nothing but caked mud out to the horizon. 

We were soon back and coking up a BBQ brunch as we had to get ready for our big trip out to…the “Horizontal Waterfalls”. Let me explain..Derby has the second highest tidal changes in the Southern Hemisphere, and we had booked a trip out by seaplane to see them up close. We were waiting to board and the pilot asked for a volunteer to be “co-pilot”. I piped up and was in the hot seat. 


We took off and climbed to 5,500 feet and flew out over some of the 1,000 islands that comprise the Bucaneer Archipelago. Between several of these islands there is a tidal race that is called the Horizontal Waterfall, as up to 5 metres of difference in height can exist between the two sides of the race. We flew over and saw the huge volumes of water pouring through the narrow gap. 


We landed on the water, (odd feeling – our first time in a sea plane)  – I kept well away from the controls, and within a few minutes we were transferred to a powerful speedboat and were racing off to the “falls”. This boat was amazing – it took us up to speeds of 120km an hour and tore across the water towards the gap. Wow what an adrelinin rush as we weaved our way through the maelstrom of water. Back and forwards though the gap we raced, bouncing around like a ….well….fly in a cyclone. 

As the sun started dipping it was time to head to our home for the night on this large houseboat. We were offered a swim in a shark tank. Catherine of course was straight in, well someone needed to man the camera and that was me.


The same sharks (Tawny Sharks) have been fed and handled for 10 years, seeming to enjoy the interaction, or more likely associating human noise with being fed chunks of barramundi!

Dinner on the top deck was freshly caught barramundi for us too, just delicious, and there we are in the middle of this huge wilderness of islands, staring up at the stars and feeling very privileged to be here. 

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Day 27: Mornington Wilderness Camp – Sir John Gorge

Distance: 28km return

Total drive time: 2 hours

Author: Mrs A

Apparently today was Sunday, though we have totally lost track of days of the week, and to be honest, it doesn’t really matter! We had a slower start to the day and headed off around 10am to Sir John Gorge, one of the major attractions on the Fitzroy River. Each of the drives throughout the Mornington Wilderness is accompanied by an information book, full of facts and details of the environment we are travelling through. 


Today we learned about the importance of the termites, and how they are responsible for aerating the soils and the breaking down of plant matter, and the damage that feral animals do – particularly donkeys and cattle which trample the soil solid, meaning the delicate ecosystem can no longer maintain roots and plant life, thereby impacting all animals and birds as a result. It’s certainly a harsh environment here – 7 months of ‘dry’ when there is no rainfall, followed by 5 months of extremely hot temperatures and heavy rains (accompanied by high humidity and lots of mosquitoes) and the flora and fauna are well adapted to cope with it, assuming things are not interfered with.

Sir John Gorge was certainly peaceful and very picturesque. We rock hopped along the shore, spotting bird life and admiring the views, but the water didn’t look that inviting to swim in, despite the hot day. There is a plastic canoe you can  paddle here for the princely sum of $185! It is not a big gorge – this seems a bit of a poor deal, and definitely not worth the money, no matter the good cause it goes to! We pretty much had the place to ourselves the whole time, rare for The Kimberley!


We stayed a couple of hours before driving back towards camp, detouring at a waterhole called Bluebush. This was much prettier (as opposed to majestic), sandy beaches surrounded by paper bark trees and pandanus palms and teeming in bird life. It is about 6km down the Fitzroy River from the previous gorge. We lay in the shade beside the water watching the rainbow bee-eaters swooping and diving and trying the photograph the crimson finches which nested in the palms, and I scared a crocodile into jumping into the water on one of my explorations.


We returned to camp to make a hot chilli accompanied by a baked garlic damper on the BBQ, before an earlyish night.

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Day 26: 24 June – Mornington Wilderness Camp – Twitching and Packrafting…

Distance driven: 28km

Total drive time: 2 hours

Author: Mr A

What a cracker of a day!! Up before dawn and out on a birdwatching trip, guided by the lovely Sally, an Australian Wildlife Conservation  (AWC) twitcher. She and 20 other staff live here on the property for 7 month sat a time. Most of the staff won’t leave the property for the whole time, given its a 2 hour rough drive just to get back to the rough “main road” then another 3 hours to the closest “town”. Quite a few backpackers among the staff I talked to are looking for a different experience from the usual booze tours down the coast. 

We saw an amazing selection of birds as the sun climbed its way up over endless plains of spinifex, with boab trees standing sentinel and providing great avian lookouts. We learnt about how the AWC is engaged across millions of hectares of NW Australia in a fire management program that ensures there are burns early in the season when the spinifex roots can resist and recover. Basically taking over from what the traditional aboriginal custodians of the land were doing for thousands of years, very successfully. 

Next on the agenda was an hour’s drive out down a rough track with numerous water crossings to reach Dimond Gorge on the Fitzroy River, where we inflated our packrafts and headed off down a fun little rapid and out into this stunning landscape where we were dwarfed by towering cliffs on either side of us. It was truly awe inspiring, to feel so insignificant on the water next to these sheer cliffs rising up 70 metres vertically over our heads. We drifted down the river – when there’s not much current a packraft is not the fastest thing on the water, but we weren’t in a rush, just spinning round admiring the scenery. 


It was soon time for our picnic lunch, up on a rock platform, what a spot. There was nowhere else I’d rather have been, no fancy restaurant could have lured me away from that spot, with a delicious smoked salmon and pasta salad, and a cuppa of course. 

All too quickly we we’re back at our little rapid and had some fun trying to see if we could get back up it. I love these little boats. If we had had our big plastic kayak with with us we would not have been able to get in and out of the water. A big tick for these lightweight boats. At the end of last year an Australian company started up designing their own boats to compete with the much more expensive US market leaders, Alpacka Rafts. Check out www.Packraft.com.au. We have been very happy with them so far, and Geoff the owner has been super helpful.  They are a little heavier than the US boats, becuase they are double skin to their single skin, but for less than a kilo more, I choose robustness. 


We decided to have dinner in the AWC restaurant as we were pretty bushed, and locally caught barramundi was on the menu. We invited over the couple we had been birdwatching with that morning, they run a sheep farm outside of Bathurst, and all learnt something about the other couples very different lives. That’s one of the things we are really enjoying about this trip – mixing with people who otherwise our lifestyles would not put us at the same table. 


Another sound sleep coming up with the stars shining though our roof hatch…

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