Day 50 The Digger’s Rest

 This morning, Matt’s first words to me were ‘Happy Birthday!’ And it has been. Our friends gave me a t-shirt, hand cream, and a book on the Gibb River Road, which we will embark on in a day or so. We headed out of Kununurra and went to the Ivanhoe Crossing, over the Ord River. We were able to capture the 3 buses crossing the river together, and soon a few other spectators joined us in taking snapshots.  

 From there we headed out and every turn there were views to enjoy, mountains with rugged and rocky tops, gorges and canyons. This area is not short of a view. We headed off the main road and started a dirt track down to the cattle station ‘ The Digger’s Rest’. We crossed a salty dry lake bed, and the road was pretty rough and very corrugated, a taste of what we expect to find the Gibb River Road to be like. Along the way, we stopped at the ‘Prison Boab’, a very large boab tree with a hollow, that was used as a place to imprison Indigenous people that had been captured and on the way to being taken to Wyndham. Not a nice history. The tree is over a few hundred years old. Today was not the day for our mate David’s alternator belt tensioner, and we had a few stops. One stop involved David and Ian heading to nearby Wyndham to find a new bearing for the idler pulley. Luckily, a guy there had the part and it was back and running again.

A couple of k’s down the road we had to stop again to tighten his fanbelt and then a couple more to replace the fanbelt that then snapped… all good now though.

 At the end of the dirt road was the cattle station, which became famous after being a filming location for the movie ‘Australia’ with Baz Luhrmann and Hugh Jackman signing the pool room wall, and now most guests usually sign the wall at this property. I became one of the dogs best friends cause my hands were tasty. We were able to find a nice camp spot by the King River and set up for a chilled afternoon. David went fishing, and the rest of us went croc spotting, and found one that would appear then silently disappear beneath the water, then reappear elsewhere. We set up a camp fire and then relaxed. I enjoyed some phone calls and messages for my birthday. David caught a small catfish, endemic to the area, but it was too small, and got returned. We got the fire going while we enjoyed watching the sunset and the colours of the rocks across the water light up, the water stilled and we got reflections of the rocks in the water. The coals of the fire were perfect for the making of damper and the others all enjoyed some savoury damper for pre-dinners. Cows and bulls were baying across the water and their cries were echoing across the valley we were in.

 After dinner, we filmed the croc swimming about. The stars started to come out and the sky darkened. I was able to reposition our camp chairs into a recline position and could comfortably look up at the night sky and the millions of stars. If you shined a torch on the water, you could spy pairs of eyes sparkle in the water, there were more crocs than we had realised in the water. I was able to spot 3 shooting stars over the evening. I have been enjoying the glow of the campfire reflected back at Bridget’s front, crickets chirping, and here I am writing today’s blog, a rustle of a cow coming down to drink, or a splash of water and presumably noises from a croc on the hunt. Just had a dingo howling a couple of hundred metres away, What a way to end my birthday, staring at millions of stars.

Day 49 Mirima National Park

 This morning we explored the Mirima National Park, which is right in Kununurra town. It had some great walk options among rocks and cliffs, similar to what we had found yesterday in the Bungle Bungles. In fact locals referred to it as being the mini Bungle Bungles. The rocks had layers similar to what we had seen yesterday but also had a few other types of layered rocks, some reminded me of a petite millefeuille pastry or a baklava😜! Some rocks we marvelled at how the layers were stacked and staying upright, a bit like the game jenga, as we could see air between. Again the red rocks were so vivid in colour. The hike upwards was worth the effort with some amazing views out to the Carr Boyd range, and over towards other features of the area.  We headed back down and around the rest of the walk, and into town for some last minute veggies and we got lucky finding potatoes and eggs, so Matt won’t completely starve after all. We went and visited a local photography gallery and a jeweller that had some pink diamonds. We didn’t have a spare $300,000, and to be honest, they kind of looked like pink cubic zirconia, so it’s at this point I acknowledge sounding very, well bogan😂. there were 15 diamonds there that were worth way more than the bus. and i could've sneezed and lost every one of them. 

there was a 55 dollar one but i couldn't see it... thought it was dust.

We had a quiet afternoon as I was quite symptomatic and needed to rest, but tomorrow we head out to Digger’s Rest.

Day 48 Purnululu (Bungle Bungles)

 Our plans for touring the Bungle Bungles, changed and kept changing. Initially, we were going in the 3 Clippers and staying in the national park and doing the walks; but after speaking with the manager of the caravan park located near the National park, when doing my initial homework for the trip, they strongly advised against taking in our vehicles, as the road was unpredictable and our size would be against us. So we decided to play it safe and not do it, (well 2 out of the 3 Clipper group decided this). So then we booked a helicopter flight from outside the park to fly over it, and the following day we were to do a 4WD bus tour in and a couple of walks. So I lined that all up and they were  booked and paid for, for our group. But about a month ago, we got contacted by the 4WD drive tour company saying they had to cancel our booking, as they hadn’t got the necessary authority from the government to run it. 😩. So while we were already away and on the road, I managed to find an alternative plane flight and walk tour, and was able to get full refunds for the other bookings. Meanwhile the 3rd Clipper managed to drive in no worries last week, oh well. Better safe than sorry. I had been really looking forward to the helicopter flight; as I had never been on one before, so I was hoping the plane flight would be just as amazing.

So the day finally arrived, and we had an early start to the airport and on check-in, we got weighed, yes we had to stand on the scales with our day backpack (I opted not to ask my weight😜). We had to watch a safety video before boarding the plane, which was a 12 seater with a further 2 seats for the pilots and it was a full plane of 14 people. Although it was bigger than the 4 seated Cesna plane that I had flown in for 15 minutes with the Scouts many years ago, it was still my first time in a plane this size. We had a smooth take off and before long were flying over the Lake Kununurra and its irrigation channels and some huge irrigated crop paddocks. As we continued to go up, the spectacular ranges began to appear. We flew over the Carr Boyd Ranges and out over Lake Argyle and the Ord River, (I thought I spotted some crocs in the water, way below). We went over a few huge cattle properties saw no cows, Evelyn Ranges, Osmond Ranges, Bow River and more. There were views both sides of the plane, you didn’t know where to look, you were spoiled for choice. The ranges were all quite green still, as it’s only the beginning of the dry season, and they had unseasonal rain a few weeks ago. You could see the rugged escarpments revealing the red rocks, all sorts of shapes of hills and mounds, gorges and canyons. They seemed to go on as far as the eye could see. We had a fair bit of turbulence and I was beginning to feel unwell, and was glad when the Bungle Bungles came on view and we flew over them. You could see the striped layers of rock in the beehive like shapes. Again, the ranges were spread out and seemed to go on forever. Finally, the Bellburn airstrip came on view and we had to wait for another plane to land, before we lined up and landed on the gravel airstrip. I was relieved to be back on the ground, and hoping my motion sickness would subside quickly. The trip had taken an hour. it was a bit of a rough ride

Once off the tarmac, we met our guide and discovered our names weren’t on their list, and they hadn’t got enough food for the provided meals for us. Fortunately a phone call back to their boss and this was resolved, but phew! So Matt and our friends Ian and Meredith had morning tea and muffins after all. We headed out in a truck converted into a 4WD bus, and were taken to the Picaninny Gorge area. We had a guided tour out through the Domes, and then onto the Cathedral Gorge (the Australian children’s choir sang ‘I still call Australia Home’ for a Qantas ad in here). We saw a monitor lizard lazing in the sun on the way, crickets and birds were chirping around us. The walk was easy but there was a lot of sand on the rocks, so you had to be careful as it was slippery. I was the youngest there apart from the tour guide, so it was a slow walk too, due to the age and limited abilities of some of the other participants, but it gave you the chance to make sure you looked upwards and took in the amazing rock formations and colours of the striped sandstone. Iron oxide gives the red colours and the grey areas is due to a type of bacterial algae. There were termite mounds constructed on the rocks, Kestrels with their nests, and trees and spinifex grass growing in places between the rocks. Lunch was provided whilst we sat in the cathedral gorge, and Matt being the audio technician, was checking out the acoustics of the place. Soon we had to head back, but as we walked we spied another monitor lizard watching us as we watched him, and he eventually slipped into the pool of water and proved to be a very smooth and fast swimmer. Matt had noticed when the ground hopped after I took a step, and then another look and this little frog was there. Except it wasn’t a frog, it was a tiny juvenile cane toad. 😬. i poked it, but didnt kill it. i wasnt convinced. They have become a real pest in these areas and are responsible for decreasing the native animals numbers greatly. Fortunately it appears some species are adapting to them, and have learned to flip them over to eat them and thus avoid the toxins on its back. Unfortunately, the species that have learnt this are bin chickens and crows.🙁. 

 We made it back to the 4WD bus and they handed out icy cold, wet face washers to refresh us all, before we headed to the nearby Savannah Lodge and had a big afternoon tea was served of scones, jam and cream, slices, and fruit. Nice. Eventually we were returned to the airstrip and we boarded our plane, but this time it was half full and we took a slightly different route and flew over Deep Gorge, yet another uniquely australian named gorge, its deep so we will call it "deep gorge". and some other gorges, (unnamed because they were also deep and "deep gorge" was already taken, and naming them "slightly deeper gorge" or "not as deep gorge" doesnt really sound very official...) before flying over the Argyle Diamond mine. Although the mine has closed, it is currently still busy as they work to rehabilitate the area before returning it back to the traditional owners. they've been at it for over 4 years and it still looks like a working mine site to me. The return flight was a lot smoother and I wasn’t feeling motion sick fortunately. Again you were spoiled for views, and I apologise in advance for the many photos. We had another smooth landing and headed back to our Clipper for dinner and my much needed IV nutrition. We are both still adjusting to WA time and waking up too early, so we were very tired. We both feel so blessed to have been able to do the plane flight, which enabled us to really appreciate how large these landscapes are, and how spectacular and breathtaking they are. It gave a totally different perspective on them, that walking around them or a short helicopter flight would never have given us. Although I felt small and insignificant, it made me feel so much awe for our creator God, who designed and made this vast, diverse and unique landscapes and reminded me how much he loves me, and that I am also fearfully and wonderfully made by this awesome God too, and so are you. 

Upon returning to Bridget after dinner with our friends, I looked up at the starry night and smiled, knowing God is with me, even though I feel small under this blanket of beauty stretched out above me.

argyle diamond mine

Day 47 Kununurra

 We packed up and left Lake Argyle and ventured into Kununurra and sourced a bus battery, so we could start the bus without a need to jumpstart it. We were able to get fresh fruit and veggies but alas, yet another location with no eggs available, also zero potatoes. Not one.  Somebody send a potato to Kununurra there is a whole empty section in Coles that looks sad. so other ingredients will be going with the bacon for breakfast for Matt. We had lunch in a park by the swimming area of Lake Kununurra, and went for a quick drive to the viewing area of the Lake Kununurra dam wall. This forms the top part of the Lake Argyle dam system.

We headed back into town for more information from the Tourist Information Centre on the roads and camping options for a few places we want to visit, before heading out to the property of a friend of Brenda and David’s, and we will be camping here for the next couple of nights. Tonight was a clear night and the stars were on full display, making us feel small but in awe of our creator God. It’s a bit cool tonight at 19 degrees, after a perfect day at 29 degrees. Looking forward to our big adventure day tomorrow in the Bungle Bungles, one of the locations on our bucket list.  

Day 46 Lake Argyle Day 3

 We are now time wise, half way through this big adventure.🥲. Time certainly has flown while we have been having fun. Today was a quiet day, Matt and I ventured out to the Durack Homestead museum and read up about the Durack family and the history of the ideas behind the dam and the construction of the Lake Arygle Dam. We took 0 photos I just realised so you’ll have to deal with a publicity shot 

The homestead was relocated before the dam filled up with water, and stone by stone was reconstructed and made back into the house and became the museum in the late 1970’s. It was all very interesting. There was a video about the construction of the dam, which included footage of how they used explosives to get rock used to build the dam wall, and the fuse was lit by a cigarette- as you did back in the day in the early 1970’s!

After our history lesson, Matt worked on some maintenance and preparation of Bridget for our upcoming adventure on the Gibb River Road, no photos of that either. Just imagine a bloke in overalls rolling around in the dirt ,getting dirt in his eyes, whilst also simultaneously getting grease everywhere except where it’s supposed to go, cause all the greasing points are disguised in dirt… while I baked my famous triple chocolate brownies for the group. A chilled afternoon, we rested and chatted with a few of our kids before heading off to the sunset viewing area with most of the others staying at the caravan park. We enjoyed another spectacular and picturesque sunset over Lake Argyle, with all the colours of the rock changing as the sun lowered in the sky. The water was glass like, as was the infinity pool. Another enjoyable evening of chatting and laughing with our friends. We head to Kununurra tomorrow.