- September Blog -
Sunday 25th September 2016
A lovely Sunday in Broome today.. Enjoying a local brew at Matso’s Brewery before heading onto Cable Beach for a magnificent sunset. Then a cocktail at Zanders.. what a great way to end the week.
Saturday 24th September 2016
An iconic Broome experience tonight, with a movie at the famous Sun Pictures Garden Movie Theatre.. #awesome
Thursday 22nd September 2016
So today was spent enjoying the best on offer in Broome! This included discovering Broome’s interesting dinosaur history, riding camels along Cable Beach, and having dinner at the Town Beach night markets.. What a day!
Wednesday 21st September 2016
A visit to the Historic Museum here in Broome is a great way to learn more about this fascinating little town.. Make sure you catch the short video of the local telephone operators, what an interesting and inspiring group of women!
Monday 19th September 2016
We’ve finally finished the Gibb River Road!! What an adventure! Two tyre punctures, some stunningly beautiful scenery, some hair raising stretches of dirt road, and some fantastic memories.. Phew.. we’re glad to be back on bitumen again though!
Into Derby to get our camper trailer tyre repaired and stock up on food, then we made it to Broome just in time to see the Staircase to the Moon.. What a beautiful natural phenomenon!
Sunday 18th September 2016
Exploring Windjana Gorge National Park today, with a wonderful side visit to Tunnel Creek. This is a sensational natural cave with a creek running through, some bats, and of course the ever present freshwater crocodiles! Take your torch, and make sure you look up and see the stunning stalactite formations above!
Friday 16th September 2016
Now, there are many gorges in the Kimberley, and some of them are very well-known, including the one we are camping near today – Windjana Gorge. This is famous not only for the stunning beauty of the landscape, which is made up of 375 million year old Devonian reef systems, but more particularly for the interesting local inhabitants.. Including a large population of freshwater crocodiles, and an even larger population of fruit bats! It is truly a sight to behold watching the sun set through the gorge, then witnessing the millions of fruit bats begin their journey out into the night. The crocs sure look forward to this as well, lying in wait for unlucky (or lucky if you’re a crocodile!) bats to dip down for a drink and land within reach of a long sharp mouth! Another fascinating part of the experience here is seeing the hundreds of crocodile eyes reflecting back as red fairy lights across the water when you shine your torch light over the darkness. Very cool!
Thursday 15th September 2016
So another shock from yesterday was the discovery of a screw embedded into our Camper Trailer tyre!! Two punctures in one day.. this dirt track is merciless!! Looks like Matt will be back in the dirt to change yet another tyre.. the practice is doing him good.
After dealing with that, we did eventually make our way to Bell Gorge.. Beautiful.
Wednesday 14th September 2016
So today was memorable.. for a couple of reasons..
Firstly, it was Manning Gorge day today, which was really special.. This is where the little dinghy is located that you have to pull yourself across the river in to start the hike. The swimming hole at the end is fantastic, and being up super early meant we mostly had the area to ourselves! Well.. almost to ourselves.. After swimming to our heart’s content we climbed out of the water ready to hike back to camp, only to find we were being watched by a little baby freshwater crocodile from where we had just been swimming! LOL too funny.. He was a little disappointed we were still there I think, sorry buddy!!
After that bit of fun, we packed up and started making our way to Bell Gorge, stopping on our way at Adcock Gorge (are you confused by all these gorges yet?? It’s funny but despite there being so many, they are all just so unique and beautiful you can’t get sick of them!) which was lovely and very photogenic.. Then we were back on the road where Matt soon discovered we had A TYRE PUNCTURE!!!!!! Another victim of the infamous Gibb River Road!! You wouldn’t believe it but while parked on the side of the road (I keep writing ‘road’, but we’re literally talking about a dirt track!) with Matt rolling around on the dusty ground changing the tyre, who should pull over to lend a hand but a man from not only our home town of Lake Macquarie, but specifically the nearby suburb of Warners Bay! What a small world LOL.. Thanks Steve, your help was much appreciated.
Back on the road quite late meant we didn’t get all the way to Bell Gorge, stopping instead at Imintji Camp Site.. Phew.. what a day!
Tuesday 13th September 2016
Barnett River Gorge today, with more mountain-goat rock scrambling to hike to the swimming hole, I love this stuff!
Monday 12th September 2016
Continuing our journey along the Gibb River Road today. It is certainly living up to the reputation of being harsh, challenging and dangerous! We’re taking our time, enjoying the beautiful scenery and stopping off at all the must-see/must-do highlights along the way.. Like eating SCONES!!! Ellandale Station was reported as having the best scones, so of course in the interests of public debate we elected to fact check this important claim.. And yes, I can confirm, the Scones here are top-rate! YUM..
Sunday 11th September 2016
This weekend has been spent enjoying all that Home Valley Station has to offer, including some beautiful hikes and of course visiting some freshies in the local waterholes!
Friday 9th September 2016
So the Eastern end of the Gibb River Road is dominated accommodation-wise by El Questro Homestead and Home Valley Station, so in order to be objective, we decided to stay at both to check them out fully. Therefore, after an early morning dip in the magnificent Zebedee Springs (an ABSOLUTE MUST!), we moved up the (dusty, corrugated, hair-raising) Gibb River Road, over the infamous Pentecost River crossing, to Home Valley Station. Beautiful? Tick. Pool? Tick. Lovely Aussie bar with some awesome local talent on the guitar? Tick!
Thursday 8th September 2016
First stop in our El Questro adventure is Emma Gorge! And what a place to start.. The walk out to the gorge is beautiful and will have you feeling like a mountain goat, with a reward at the end of a swim in a lovely crystal clear waterhole, complete with thermal spring water natural bath and showers!
Today turned out to be our gorgeous gorges day.. this afternoon we hiked up to El Questro Gorge. Now, I know there are going to be LOTS of gorgeous gorges in the Kimberley, but I find it hard to believe that any could beat this one.. It truly is a tropical oasis hidden in the harsh outback, plus.. We had it all to ourselves! What a rare treat! Could have stayed all day..
Wednesday 7th September 2016
We’re on The Gibb River Road! Matt has been dreaming about this day since he was a pup.. We’re easing ourselves into the adventure with a few days at the El Questro Homestead. There is so much to see here, we cant wait to get started exploring first thing tomorrow!
Tuesday 6th September 2016
Cruise day! I love a good cruise, and this one had it all.. crocodiles, beautiful scenery, incredible history, and a yummy buffet lunch! Lake Argyle is a vast man-made freshwater lake that runs through a stunning billion year old landscape, and is a sight to behold! It was fascinating learning more about the area and the history of the Ord River Irrigation Project.
Monday 5th September 2016
Lake Argyle is certainly a stunningly beautiful place. We hiked up to ‘The Bluff’ this evening for Matt to capture some shots of the sunset over the magnificent cliffs.. #awestruck
Sunday 4th September 2016
Arrived in Western Australia! We’ve now officially been in every Australian state and territory! What a great feeling to finally be here, this is a part of the country we have been so excited to come too, and so far we’re completely impressed! Staying at the iconic Lake Argyle Resort. Infinity Pool, here I come!!!
Saturday 3rd September 2016
Passing back through Katherine today, with a quick stop off to stock up for our move west. We’re heading into Western Australia next, to undertake the famous Gibb River Road adventure! Can’t wait! Matt has been looking forward to this for a long time, we can only hope we’re up for the challenge!
Friday 2nd September 2016
We spent today exploring the Edith Falls area some more, hiking almost 9km’s through the National Park to the beautiful Sweetwater Pools for some sensational swimming!
Thursday 1st September 2016
We’ve finally moved on from Darwin today, it’s time to continue our journey further w
est, but first, a stop off in the beautiful Edith Falls Campground, in Nitmuluk National Park!
