Week 12 of the DownUnder Tour

Week 12 of the DownUnder Tour
We left Fitzroy Crossing on Maree’s birthday and headed to Derby, home of the largest tidal variations in the Southern Hemisphere, with up to 12 metre tides!

Following a brief stop at the Visitor’s Centre we went to the wharf to catch a view of low tide and take a pic or two. If you have a look at the above two pictures taken from the same spot the difference is quite evident. The wharf is designed as a big loop that one can drive on and is accessible to the public, though it lacks a railing on one side and the one on the other side would certainly not meet safety standards. They permit fishing and crabbing from the wharf which I may prove more fruitful than other wharfs I have fished from simply because if a fish wraps one’s line around a support on the high tide, simply tie off the line and come back at low tide. You can then walk out and pick up the high & dry fish and untangle your line. How good is that? Bear in mind though that you want to keep one eye out for the salt water crocs in the area as you may find yourself being the one on the menu.

Following a wander along the wharf we checked in to our campsite nearby and got a choice spot under a huge boab tree.

It was time to do some more exploring of the area and to slow down enough to properly celebrate Maree’s birthday and have her open her gifts. It was very rewarding to hear her declare that she now had all she wanted in life, (at this point anyway).

We returned to the wharf at 4:45pm to see the high tide and view this superb sunset.
At the entrance to the wharf is a restaurant which overlooks the wharf and bay. This is where we continued the celebration of Maree’s birthday in style, dining on fresh barramundi and red emperor. They did a terrific job of cooking the fish to perfection while we enjoyed champagne and watched the incredible colours fade from the sky. Dessert was Maree’s favorite, pavlova, which certainly was a treat for all of us.
Morning came early for us as we embarked on a tour of Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek, led by a very capable tour guide named “Chook”.

He picked us up in an air conditioned 4 wheel drive high wheelbase bus. I couldn’t help but think that it would make a great motorhome until he mentioned that they cost about $350,000. Christian got the pick seat, riding shotgun alongside Chook.
We began the tour with a look at the “Prison Boab Tree”, a tree which was reportedly used as a rest point for police and escorted prisoners enroute to Derby. It is also believed to have been associated with Aboriginal traditional religious beliefs perhaps because Aborigines may have died in custody there.
We then travelled 145 kms along the unpaved Gibb River Road to Windjana Gorge, The ride of the bus was quite impressive and Chook kept the trip very “exciting”, flying along the dirt roads at 100 km’s per hour, sometimes with visibility near 0 as the dust from oncoming traffic was so thick, (ref. pictures), careening around blind corners on the wrong side of the road, and barreling along with the bus sliding in the soft sand, but always recovering. I use the word “exciting” intentionally as I had thought it unnerving and dangerous at the time but Maree pointed out that it is all in how we interpret such experiences and if we survive them then whether it was dangerous is subjective as no harm came to us. In fairness to Chook, doing tours day after day would probably get very boring but racing a 15 tonne bus as though in a dirt rally may put of bit of excitement in the job.

Windjana Gorge is a 350 million year old Devonian era reef forming the Napier Range which rises from the floodplain of the Lennard River, reaching about 100 metres in height. As you may note from the pictures, the river was not flowing briskly when we were there, but it varies significantly depending on the season. During the “wet” as they call it here, it has a good flow. When the “dry” arrives it slows, then stops flowing, forming pools of water and offering an oasis to the increasing concentrations of crocodiles.

This is was also the scene of a gun battle between an Aborigine named Jandamarra and the police. This took place during a particularly challenging time for the Aborigines as many Aborigines worked quite happily for the pastoralists as stockmen and appreciated the comforts that their employment provided. Others however saw the pastoralists as invaders and resented them being on the land. So when some aborigines started killing both stock and pastoralists there were other aborigines who resented it. This in turn pitted aborigines against each other and some were uncertain of where their loyalties resided. Jandamarra, known to the whites of the day as “Pigeon”, appears to be one of them.
“Pigeon” was employed by the police to track down the aborigines who were killing pastoralists and their stock but he used his position to shoot a trooper and release a group of Aborigine prisoners. It was at Windjana Gorge where Pigeon was shot, but he survived and retreated to his hideout in Tunnel Creek, West Australia’s oldest cave system. The law finally shot him dead at Tunnel Creek’s entrance in 1897.

There are no shortage of crocs at Windjana Gorge and we counted 22 on the embankment of one section of the river. They are certainly not intimidated by humans and I had to insist that Mariah not grab the tail of this one and move it along. They do appear a bit aggressive at times as can be seen by this one (ref pic).
The reef (wall of the gorge) contains some interesting fossils including the fossilized nautiloid pictured here.

From Windjana Gorge we drove the 36 kms to Tunnel Creek, which flows through a water worn tunnel beneath the limestone of the Napier Range. We walked through the tunnel which exits at the other side of Napier Range, wading through several permanent pools and watching the bats and the stalactites that descend from the roof in many places. The tunnel is spring fed, (ref pic) and up to 12 metres high and 15 metres wide in parts but pitch black in many areas such that you can’t see your hand in front of your face. I tried taking photos but the flash just could not get the distance to the ceiling in the areas of the stalactites. Near the centre of the cave the roof has collapsed but is supposedly stable now. The return trip in the bus was as brisk as the trip out but Chook managed to get us there in one piece and avoided the kangaroos along the way as darkness set in.
Upon our return to our campsite we had the pleasure of seeing some friends, Keith & Hillary, who we had met at Darwin. This has been an unanticipated bonus in this trip, meeting some really friendly and interesting people who are also out & about seeing this beautiful country.
The following morning Maree and the children went to the Derby library (ref pic) to catch up on some schoolwork while I caught up on paperwork. It was at the library that they met Jeda Trueman, a teacher at the “Derby School of the Air”, who invited them to visit her at the School of the Air base in Derby (pictured with Jeda). This was terrific, getting a firsthand view of how the school operates and how other children living in remote areas receive their education. The day ended with a nice bike ride back to the wharf, (pic).

Well, no rest for the weary as we once again had an early start the next day, one which was destined to rival a James Bond episode. This was the day we did the trip to Horizontal Falls. We had an early shuttle to the airport where we boarded a seaplane and took to the air over King Sound and the Western Kimberley Ranges. The views were nothing short of spectacular with broad diversity from the brown muddy waters of the rivers emptying into the sound, to the white salt flats with their interesting patterns left by the receding waters, to the clear green ocean waters that squeeze between the two rocks and form the waterfalls for which Horizontal Falls has become famous. The seaplane landed on the smooth water more softly than on a runway. A boat came flying up to greet us and give us a quick tour on our way to a very well appointed houseboat. We had morning tea before taking to a fishing boat (pictured) and zipping across a small bay and dropping a line to the welcome tug of a few fish. Though none of us caught any record breakers, we certainly made a good showing, putting enough fish in the boat for a very tasty lunch. Upon our return to the houseboat one of the two chefs cleaned the fish while we took the fast boat out to the horizontal falls.
These falls are simply as a result of the massive tides in the area and the volume of water trying to get through a couple of relatively small passageways. With 500 horsepower on the back of the boat, we easily pushed our way up the falls, stopping near the top to get a speedometer reading of over 30 knots while we were standing still. This is the flow speed of the water coming through the falls so you would want to plan you fishing trips by the tide, or have plenty of power to spare if fishing in this area. The real fun comes with zipping down the falls as one combines the boat speed with the 30 knot speed of the current and the gravitational benefit of the descent. Mind you this is not an area where one would want to go overboard! If the crocs did not get you the sharks would.
As you can see from the pics, the sharks are everywhere, including cruising around the houseboat and pontoon waiting for any tidbits (or people) to fall in. They are very well rewarded having the benefit of the fish frames and what slips from the BBQ on the top deck.
Lunch was terrific with the two chefs keeping the food coming. There is nothing like fresh fish, and these were out of the water only a very short time and with such expert preparation the food just melted in our mouth. The company was also interesting with the others aboard all relaxed and very friendly.
The time had come for the return trip as we saw the plane appear in the sky and once again land smoothly on the water. We said our farewells and boarded for the flight back. The return journey takes a different path and the pilot was very knowledgeable about the area and pointed out numerous landmarks with the history of each, including pearl leases and a barramundi farm, (pictured).
This is also one of the key areas for commercial pearl harvesting, with most of the oyster leases owned by the Paspaley family. This is a well recognised name in the northwest area of Australia as they are by far the prominent pearl company in the area with a fleet of over a dozen ships and many other smaller vessels. They also have vast commercial properties and obvious immense private wealth, beautiful oceanfront homes, seaplanes, etc. To their credit, they market what are arguably the most beautiful peals in the world. We flew over a number of their oyster leases and one of their ships on our way back to Derby.
We were only about halfway back when the pilot turned the controls over to Mariah, who capably flew us along while remaining both on course and at the correct altitude. Christian slept peacefully as we flew, completely oblivious to any concern that he was being flown home by his 9 year old sister. The (experienced) pilot did resume control prior to landing however, and for this I was grateful.
It was a beautiful day of memorable events that was worth it, even if we will be eating stale bread for the next fortnight while the budget recovers.
Next week we move to Cable Beach in Broome and see what is reportedly one of the best sunsets in the world!

Week 11 of the DownUnder Tour

Week 11 of the DownUnder Tour

We began this week with what has to be one of the highlights of the trip so far. We took a flight over the East Kimberly area, including the Ord River Dam, Lake Argyle, the Bungle Bungles, and the Argyle Diamond Mine.

It was a 4:30 am wake up so we would be sure to be prepared for the sunrise flight but we were all smiles nonetheless as we piled into the small 8 seater plane for the trip.

As you can see from the pics, the Ord River Dam was a very big project in its day, with the resulting creation of Lake Argyle in its present form. Note the curvature of the dam wall from the picture on the left. It is part of a huge irrigation scheme that is the lifeblood to the cropping industry in this region, and it is planned to be expanded to a much larger area when the state and federal governments stop arguing about the funding and get on with it.

Lake Argyle is the world’s largest manmade body of water and Australia’s only inland sea, holding on average 9 times the volume of water of Sydney Harbour. During the wet season Lake Argyle can double in size and has literally hundreds of waterfalls. As I have shown sooo many waterfalls in recent weeks, I'll spare you pics of these and focus on the more unique aspects of this area.

When the dam was constructed it required the relocation of a cattle station but now provides an incredible resource to supply the region with an ample supply of water.

There is a unique stone called Zebra Rock, which is only found in this area and is mined from a low peninsula in Lake Argyle. The area can only be accessed at the end of the dry season, which means it is only accessible for about 1-2 months of the year. The rock can have different variations but generally looks like the pic shown. It is made into everything from jewellry to vases to coasters, as shown, and its value is derived from its rarity.

The area surrounding Lake Argyle is also quite scenic, with a number of creeks extending from the lake, and mountains surrounding much of the area.

Though I did not take the time to wet a line, the fishing is reportedly good for poor quality fish such as catfish but the larger and more desirable fish such as the barramundi are said to be quite scarce in the lake itself. The Ord river, however, has a better reputation for an area to catch fish but is also home to more sharks and crocs which may take their share of a catch before you get it within arm's reach.

The Bungle Bungles are 360million years old, give or take an hour or two, and are similar to the "bee hive" structures we saw at King's Canyon, only a few hundred km's west of Alice Springs.

The photos do not do justice to the views as it is difficult to capture the depth of the mountains, especially in photo sizes this small.

Returning from the Bungle Bungles we flew over the Argyle diamond mine, which produces over 1/3 of the world’s diamonds. The pilot was telling us that the workers there are paid very well, being able to make over $400 per day as well as having their accommodation and meals provided. The mine is owned by Rio Tinto so perhaps that is one of the reasons the shares are now over $100.00 each! The Argyle Diamond mine is an open cut mine, though we did not spot any diamonds from the air. :)

The scale of an operation like this is immense, with dump trucks having tyres twice the height of most people.

Access to the mine is primarily from air, with the mine having one of the largest private runways in Australia. The diamonds are flown in and out which provides an element of security but if the cargo door ever flies open mid-flight I hope to be nearby!

I was a little concerned that the children might be uneasy in such a small plane with the associated occasional turbulence, but they relished it!

Our next stop was Fitzroy Crossing, home of Geike Gorge. This time we did not take to the air, but rather to the water, with an afternoon cruise of the gorge.

The gorge is fed by the Fitzroy River system and water levels can vary significantly depending on the time of year. There was an interesting array of wildlife in the area and the ever present crocs by the dozens.

There were also these brolgas in a field near the gorge. As you can see there are quite a few of them, though they did not dance for us.

I will leave it there for this week but next week will cover Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek and Horizontal Falls so don't miss it!