The Kimberley

19th May Saturday

Cold night and the bites are itchy and sore. Al and Dee gone to Broome today to the market so we are looking after Lily, their poodle, she is such a nice natured dog. After Al and Dee left we took Lily for a walk along the beach,

 the rocks on the beach where the sea comes in look like jewels, and the sea has a red tinge due to the red rocks in the water.

 Lovely walk. Back at site John and Sue joined us for a cuppa and a chat, before we knew it, was lunchtime. Day goes so fast. as afternoon wore on it clouded over. Lovely chatty evening Al and dee had come back with pressies for us of a picture and freshwater pearl earrings for Rose. It will be hard to say our final farewell. Went to beach to watch the sunset but not as spectacular as previous evening.

20th May Sunday

Hot and sunny with a lovely breeze, did laundry and have no energy for anything else. Cooked bacon butties for breakfast for Al and Dee and us. Too lazy to do anything, days are exhausting, finally struggled across campground and had a shower. Dee has given us 2 cakes she baked today. She is trying to set up Skype on her ipod so we can talk to each other when we get home. Early to bed as very tired.

21st May Monday

Dee is on Skype and we can now contact each other. Packed up and away by 8.30. Gave Dee Rose's purple poncho to keep her warm at night:) Our final goodbyes as they are off on a cruise and we are off to The Gibb River Rd. Left station back onto HWay to Broome, long straight roads again, but the bush is green. Very little traffic. As we get closer to Broome traffic building. Went to the library but no computer available till the afternoon so decided will upload when we get to Derby. Found shopping centre, not very impressive, just had a snack and did our small bit of shopping before finding fuel. Drove to the famouse Cable Beach, 

it is 22kms long, the sea looks a beautiful blue, there are people on the beach and lifeguards, had a bite of lunch and decided to drive back to Roebuck Plains Roadhouse to camp for the night. Colin feeling weary. Nice site with swimming pool also camping on grass. Bits and pieces for dinner tonight, can't be bothered to cook. Hope not too noisy with traffic. An older couple out for a walk stopped to chat, they had seen us at De Grey Rest Area, it's like follow my leader up the road. Early to bed as getting chilly.

22nd May Tuesday

Cold night, temperature at 6.30 is 12degs, very cold for us, but the sun is out. Tried to get away early but as usual got talking to the neighbours Marilyn and Gary who are also heading to Derby tomorrow. Left site at 8.30 on Gt Northern HWay to Derby. Landscape very green and lots of trees. Stopped at Willare Roadhouse 

and were given 2 big mugs of tea free so just had to have homemade Quiche to help it go down. Found a great pictorial book about the Gibb River Rd (G.R.R.) in the roadhouse shop. Continued onto Derby passing Boab trees on the way. Stopped at the Boab Prison Tree,

 which was used to hold Aboriginals(it was hollow) and as entrance was narrow only needed one guard. The Boab is a deciduous tree indiginous to this area, it is a protected species and even roads are built round the trees. When at Derby picked up the LRover part from the post office and made our way to the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Pk for 3 nights($36 pn powered) ouch, but only few minutes walk to the shops and nice shady site. Went to bed early, a neighbour has his TV on outside watching the Block followed by a documentary, then later some outdoor entertainment with a DJ came wafting over, we had only said in the afternoon what a lovely quiet place.

23rd May Wednesday

Ricky's birthday. Warm night, eventually got to sleep. Colin fitting part today. Colin fitted part, tightened bolts and will finish off tomorrow with the oils. Rose walked to library after lunch to upload blog, internet very slow so only got charged $3. John and Sue have seen Colin and we will walk down later to see them. We walked round the camp trying to find them, turned out they were just across the road from us, had a great couple of hours with them and their neighbours Kev and Dot. John and Sue are leeving tomorrow so will swap phone numbers as they live in Brisbane and will be home in July. Our neighbours with the TV outside have the footie on and you can hear it from 50mtrs, then the music started with DJ up till 11pm. Rose Robyn and had a lovely chat, Colin tried Ricky and Emma but both went to voicemail.

24th May THursday

Awake early and up at 6.30, bit chilly this morning, had to put jumpers on, only 18degs. After saying goodbye to John and Sue went for a drive to the Jetty 

where the tides race in and out at an alarming 10knots per hour and can rise up to 12mtrs, we saw the tide on the low side ,

 when it is in it reaches the top of the jetty, it was very windy and you felt that you could be blown into the sea. Back in to the visitor centre to buy a tea towel memento for ourselves. Topped up shopping at IGA and got fresh meat cryovaced at the butchers. Colin spoke to Sir Peter and Laurie on the phone, he had also finished maintenance of the LRover, so all need tomorrow is check tyres and fuel up.

25th May Friday

FRIDAY FACT;- DERBY HAS AUSTRALIA'S HIGHEST TIDAL RANGE AND THE 2ND HIGHEST IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE.

Nicky's birthday. Up early and left site 8.45, fueled up. We have heard there is a charity BMX ride starting Sunday from Broome to Kununara with several hundred bikes and their support crews heading across the G.R.R. 

The G.R.R. was initially constructed to transport cattle from surrounding stations to the ports of Derby and Wyndham, it is over 700kms and travels through central Kimberley Plateau from King Sound at Derby to Cambridge Gulf in Wyndham. The road is bitumen for first 80kms then it changes to dirt and gravel. After 3kms we stopped at Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre, which features the local indiginous art. It was very different from the art we have seen previously. Back onto the G.R.R. to Wyndjana Gorge 

passing very green landscape with Boab trees 

in amongst others, some of the Boabs look like bottles with sticks poking out the top whilst others remind Rose of the trees in Lord Of The Rings, and seem to be waving as you pass. Windjana Gorge is 3.5kms in length and was forged by The Lennard River through an ancient Devonian Reef. The rocks are amazing and the river winds through sandy banks,

 we saw crocodiles

 (freshwater) basking in the sun and got to within 50mtrs of one, it was fantastic. Whilst there we bumped into Ron and Carol and also Heath who we met at Indee Station, they were on a trip out of Broome. After leaving the gorge we went back onto the G.R.R. to find our rest area for the night, couldn't find it so drove on through the King Leopold Range Conservation Pk past The Queen Victoria Rock, 

amazing rock formation again. Eventually found March Fly Glen Rest Area for the night , sleeping in the LRover tonight. Nice and shady and friendly chatty fellow campers. Drove more than anticipated today and the road conditions have been pretty good, even with corrugations, gone through some water but not very deep, one crossing got windscreen wet.

the Pilbara

　

　

12th May Saturday.

Very cold night. Packed up and left camp at 8.30. Karijini Drive to the Northern HWay towards Port Headland. Has warmed up nicely now. Lovely hilly landscape, rock formations

 are amazing. Saw our first quadruple road train.

Stopped at Auski Roadhouse(Munjura) for a cuppa and saw several more quads and some escorted rigs come into servo, an amazing amount of red dust

thrown up when air brakes are applied. Now driving through flatlands towards Mungaroona Range Nat Reserve where the scenery changes from barren

to stoney outcrops

 and hills in the distance, also soil not quite as red. No stop for lunch, pressed on for Indee Station, 9kms on dirt road. When we arrived we were given a cup of tea before signing in, only $20pn (no powered sites), camp kitchen, laundry(gold coin donation to RFDS), it also has mobile reception if you really want to climb a great big hill. Happy hour 6-7 and they swop money for drinks as they are not allowed to sell it. Wandered along after 6 and left just about 8 when the workers came in for their dinner, nice pleasant evening chatting. The station used to keep sheep but now has cattle.

13th May Sunday

Warm night, nice breeze first thing, we have been given a map to Red Rock so might drive out later, after domestic duties. Left site to drive along sandy tracks to Red Rock,

 had a walk round it past the rock pools


and up the other side, views are amazing

can see over to the Northern HWay. On the way back found the Aboriginal Rock Engravings, they are very faint. we drove onto the River Pools and saw an eagle/hawk?

stood on a sandbank in the middle of the river. Had toput LRover in 4 wheel drive

and low box at times due to soft sand/rocky bits, it was good to have a drive out, just relaxed and caught up with blog ready to upload when we get to Port Headland. 5 other campers arrived during afternoon, so happy hour was busy. Nice to chat to different people.

14th May Monday

Happy first anniversary Karen and Graig. Up at 6.30 lovely morning. Had breakfast with Rachel and Heath in the camp kitchen. Left at 8.45, back on the Northern HWay. to Port Headland. Indee Station was a great place to stay. First stop in Port Headland was Post Office, parcel not arrived so contacted spares company to get tracking number, back to P.O. and have arranged for parts to be delivered to Derby P.O. Found fuel station and filled up ($1.63) and with water, then over to Woolies for food before finding our way to library. Port Headland is not a place to visit unless you like industrial ports. The landscape as we pass through is featureless with some hills suddenly standing in the middle of nothing. Past the turn off for Marble Bar started getting trees. we pulled into the Grey River Rest Area ti find it has toilets, it has nice grass, trees, river, shade and sun so decided to stay for a few nights, also the breeze is cooler here. Early night.

15th May Tuesday

Warm night, Colin thought he heard something in the night, it was the cattle in the area. Cattle are allowed to wander at will, a lot of stations are not fenced so livestock everywhere which is why you can see dead cattle everywhere on the road. Had a walk down to the De Grey river, which is spanned by a road bridge and rail bridge. A fellow camper was telling us 4years ago there were warning signs up about crocodiles in the river, they had swum up river from the sea. It makes a change to see water in a river bed, can see lots of dragon flies and water is very clear. Breeze has got up this arvo which is very welcome, we keep being told it should be quite a bit cooler now at this time of year. Went out for a walk just before dusk (6pm) and still a few campers coming into the area.

16th May Wednesday

They can keep their blue tailed Kookaburras and cows, both started up when still dark before 6am. It reallyis a lovely spot. Had a chat with another LRover owner and gave them our Email address to give them advice on bringing their LRover to the U.K. Didn't get away till 9am. Message from Al and Dee they are still at Stanley Rest Area for another couple of nights. The road is straight and landscape is quite green with grass bushes. Stopped at Pardoo RHouse for gas bottle refill, only $14 and treated ourselves to a cuppa and shared the best sausage roll in Oz. Stopped at Sandfire RHouse for lunch, they have peacocks wandering through the car park. Landscape now very very flat with no trees or bushes, then it changed again back to trees and bushes. Arrived at Goldwire Rest Area 3ish to find Al and Dee all set up, It is greatto see them again. Had a cuppa then set up tent, nice spot with sun and shade. A lady by the name of Sue followed us in , she had been at De Grey the night before. After chatting and dinner Al set up T.V. outside and we watched a DVD of them on their Whale Shark swimming trip, it looked amazing, showing them snorkling on Ninggaloo Reef, then with the Whale Sharks. Also saw a DVD of th ePilbara and Kimberley regions, the views are amazing. Great evening and mozzies out tonight.

17th May Thursday

Not such a cold night woke to lovely sunny morning. Could hear the roadtrains but nothing after 10pm. Ned(caretaker) at local property came to area this morning with the local zebra rock, some in the raw state and some polished up, it is beatiful, he also showed us some polished stones made from ribbon rock. Rose bought a polished rock

and he gave her a raw state zebra rock.

Sue(hairdresser) decided to stay another night so the 5 of us just sat around talking for the rest of the day. Ned came back for happy hour and gave us some small blocks of local ribbon rock they are also beatiful, it seems you use 1200 grade wet and dry to get the shape and to polish it up then vynil floor polish to give it the shine. Later a couple called John and Sue who we met at Osprey and Exmouth pulled in and joined us, they are also going to Barn Hill Station tomorrow. Dee gave Rose an aerial for the mobile broadband to boost the signal and it works, got internet but still no phone!! She also gave us some homemade tomato and apple chutney-delicious. Great day.

18th May Friday

FRIDAY FACT;- COVERING THE SAME AREA AS FRANCE, THE SHIRE OF EAST PILBARA IS THE LARGEST SHIRE IN THE WORLD.

Forgot to set the alarm, we wanted an early start as we have so far to travel today 38kms:). Last night Colin was talking to Al and Al described Rose as being "petite" what a compliment. 36kms and 45mins later including 10kms dirt road we are at Barn Hill Station. Decided to stay 2 nights with power ($25 pn) and on grass and shade next to Al and Dee. An old bloke stopped to speak with Colin about the LRover. he has a tray back LR from 1972 with over 1.2 million kilometres on the clock. We went and had a look at his vechicle and the changes he had made to make it into a motorhome with a pop-top roof,

he showed us how he had gained extra storage

inside and out. Had a walk down to the beach and then back to have a shower, the toilets and showers are open to the sky, wonderful. The camp is in the middle of a working cattle station, which covers over 430,000 acres and 83 kms of coastline, and is only open from May to October. Rose has some huge insect bits on legs and they are very itchy. Colin and Al went fishing but all they did was get wet, an amazing sunset. Sat chatting till late, after 9pm

Top to Bottom

5th May Saturday

7am 23degs. Lots of ants at this place, warm night. Left site at 9am. Quite a few clouds about. Long straight roads but the bush is greener. We are coming to hills, some are flat topped

others with pointy tops,

saw another dead camel beside the road. Stopped at Nanutarra Roadhouse for tea and scones with cream and jam, air conditioning, flush toilets and running water, what more could a girl ask for) On return to vehicle saw a bright green beetle

on the ground along with a grey, white and yellow bird.

5km north of Nanutarra turned off east towards Tom Price on the Nanutarra Wittenoom Rd. The landscape is amazing , rolling hills,

straight and twisty roads, one lane bridges over dry river beds. Some of the hills we are passing you can see the strata in the rocks. The clouds have cleared and virtually no breeze today. Decided to stop at Beasley River Rest Area for the night. Flies. Speaking to another couple they were unable to drive the Gibb River Rd just over a week ago due to flooding in some places of over 6ft. Had dinner at 3.30pm and just snacks at dinner time, both feeling weary. Sleep in LRover again tonight. Mozzies are out tonight. Quite a few camping here .

6th May Sunday

Warm night, reasonable sleep,few clouds in the sky but should burn off. Flies are out early.Took main road to Paraburdoo as short cut track to Tom Price is very bad at the moment. The scenery is stunning with the hills, which when you get closer are just rock with trees and scrub clinging to them. Stopped at Paraburdoo for a cuppa and watched a triple road train

 come in and start to unload.

Arrived at Tom Price approx 11.30, drove out to Tourist Park at the base of Mt Nameless, lovely site $32 per night powered and it has a swimming pool. The town was named after Thomas Moore Price who worked for an American company (kaiser steel) and he was instrumental in convincing the mining companies that is was worth mining in the area (1960s). He died of a heart attack shortly after being told of the very rich ore deposites in the mountains. Mt Nameless

is the highest accessable mountain by vehicle (4x4) in W.A. at 1128mtrsabove sea level. During the afternoon we rocognised 2 other campers from Osprey campground. Found the swimming pool - it eas lovely followed by a hot shower. A worker on site said about the drive up to the top of the mountain and that the views were amazing (guess what we're doing tomorrow) Spent evening reading, checking Emails, going through photos then Rose Skyped Heather whilst Colin was talking to a young lad about the LRover.

7th May Monday

Cooler night, left the site at 9.15 to tackle the mountain,

track a bit rough in places where the rain has left gullies across it, 2nd gear low range all the way up,

very steep slopes and sharp bends,

 but the views are really stunning of the town,

the mine and the landscape in the distance.

Over at the mine you could see the dump trucks moving

and a train waiting to be filled with iron ore,

 these trains will reach a length of 6kms. It is much bigger than the Super Pit at Kalgoorlie. We can even see our camp site through the trees. It's been quite a while since we have done proper off roading.

It took 35mins to cover the 11k to the top. After descent

went to the library to upload photos but they had to send us to a computer shop as their computers will not upload from memory sticks.Did a bit of food shopping then back to camp. There is not a lot in the town of Tom Price. Went for a swim, water seemed colder than yesterday,but still good. Had lamb chops for dinner with chips cooked on camp BBQ. Chilled out evening. Gerrard phoned about a spare part for my LRover so we have orderd it and it will be sent through to a post office in Port Headland.

8th May Tuesday

Cool night again 7.30 only 16degs. Heard the iron ore train go through this morning, it seemed to go on for ever. Packed up and left site 9.15, filled up with fuel only $1.63ltr. Off to Karijini Nat Pk for several nights. Karijini Drive is a long straight road once you get past Mt Bruce,

which is the 2nd largest mountaim in W.A. Had to pay permit entry fee $11 then at campground we paid for 4 nights camping $58. The ground is very dusty and red, we were warned that pegs might be difficult to hammer into the ground as very hard. It is very quiet and the sites are spread quite a way apart.

Rose and the red dust will be at war by the end of the week. Used camp BBQ to cook dinner and got talking to some young fellow campers who have just finished working at the mine and they are flying to Canada in a weeks time, maybe to settle. Early to bed as very tired and it gets dark even earlier, 6.30pm.

9th May Wednesday

Another sunny day, decided to walk to the gorges today. Followed footpath past the Dales Day Area to the top of Dales Gorge, looking down onto Cicular Pool,

you can see people swimming there. Carried on a bit further along the Gorge till we came to the climb down, there are no steps it is just climbing over boulders

 and it's a long way down. The Gorge walls are amazing.

We turned west towards Fortescue Falls passing pools and small falls along the way.

Walking on steppng stones across water and climbing the sides of the Gorge to get past obstacles. Saw lovely coloured dragon flies

before the falls.

Just after that photo was being taken a couple asked us if we saw the snake that was just 2ft behind Rose, it was approx 3ft long and 4ins thick. Had to walk across more stepping stones to get to the other side of the falls. People are swimming in the water,

 lucky we had worn our cossies so we clambered up the rocks stripped off and went in, the water was just right, but the rocks were a bit slippy going in and out. Sat and dried in the sun whilst having a bite to eat and drink. Walked to Fern Pool,

very pretty with lots of fish by the bank. made our way back to Fortescue Falls and up the steps to the top of the Gorge, they are tiring on the legs as some of the steps are very high. Looking back down towards the falls they look so small and far away.

 Fantastic mornings walk,trek,climb,swim. We are surrounded by families now, parents telling kids off,but soon quietened down. Dark just after 6 and getting chilly. In bed when late comers arrived, shouting swearing and loud music, then they started howling and barking trying to imitate the dingos in the campground. We thought this only happened in towns. Rose went to sleep but Colin said it went on for a long time.

10th May Thursday

Chilly 15degs at 7am. Colin is wearing 2 T shirts. Left camp before 9am to drive to Weano Gorge/Hancock Gorge. 44kms of dirt corrugated rd., had to shut all windows and vents when vehicles went past due to the red dust.

We first walked to Junction Pool Lookout

and Oxer Lookout,

quite some drops into the Gorge bottom. We then backtracked along the trail and climbed down into Weano Gorge and scrambled over rocks along beside the water,

 Colin went to see if we could get through the water but it seemed a bit deep so we got no further. The steps(loose terminology)back to top of Gorge were leg killing and heart thumping. We then tackled Hancock Gorge, again loosely termed steps down and then a climb down a ladder

to Gorge floor, we againscrambled over rocks to navigate along the path and stepping stones over the water,

 then Colin went ahead again

to test the depth of the water as we had run out of path, he decided it was about chest height which made it unsafe carrying the camera, if only we'd had a Dry Sac. After a rest we made our way back out of the Gorge. The views from the top and the bottom are stunning,

 also we did'nt do to bad seeing as neither of us like heights, we don't like sheer drops either and neither of us are really walkers. Sat in the shade having lunch recovering before the drive back to camp. We stopped at visitor centre for showers, Colin's hot Rose's tepid, both of us are feeling sore in our legs, but well worth the effort. Colin will check LRover tomorrow after bumpy trip today, the fire extinguisher on back door has lost it's hose???

11th May Friday.

FRIDAY FACT;- AT 7.353 KMS, WEIGHING 99.732.1 tonnes, PAYLOAD OF 82.262.5 tonnes RECORDED THE LONGEST, HEAVIEST, BIGGEST PAYLOAD OF ANY TRAIN IN THE WORLD. THE TRAIN COMPRISED 8 LOCOMOTIVES AND 682 ORE CARS.

Sunny 16 degs 7am. Saw a stick insect

crawling along the ground, it's very well disguised. Whilst Colin was looking at the vehicle, Rose changed some books at camp exchange. Colinfound some bolts had come loose again on the gearbox, so he tightened everthing up again, he also soldered the wireto florrie light that Rose tripped over and broke. Turning into another hot sunny day. Had an early lunchas we were hungry, by the time we realised the time it was to late to go to the Falls for a swim as the water would have been in the shade therefore too cold. Took down sides of tent it makes it easier in the morning when we pack up. Red dust everywhere.