Purnululu (Bungle Bungle) 26th - 28th May

After leaving Larrawa Station we stopped in at another Aboriginal Community to see the art gallery. Not nearly as good as the Norval Gallery in Derby, however apparently they sell a lot of their pictures to unsuspecting tourists!

We stopped in at Halls Creek for lunch, and took in a couple of the sites...

• China Wall - a natural occurring rock formation stretching for miles
• Caroline Pool for a swim

Next day we drove into Bungle Bungle... this was awesome. We saw...

• Cathedral Gorge
• Piccaninny Creek
• Elephant Rock
• Echidna Chasm (it's hard to get a good picture when the walls around you are 200 metres high!)
• Kungkalanayi Lookout

Inside Cathedral Gorge 

Gus & Georgie looking for some shade in Piccannny Creek 

A huge day and another tour highlight.

Derby, Fitzroy Crossing & Larrawa Station (21st - 26th May)

Trip from Broome to Derby was only a short one, however very hot. It was 35 degrees and felt like 100% humidity.

We wanted to have a look at the Boab Prison Tree on the way into Derby, however took a wrong turn and visited the local gaol instead. Security saw us driving around the car park and came out to see what we were up to. After giving us directions to the old tree we were politely asked to leave!

Boab Prison Tree was used by the early settlers when transferring Aboriginal prisoners (or kidnapee's) to Broome. At night they kept the Aboriginals in the tree so the guards could get a good night sleep.

Boab Prison Tree, Derby 

Frosty Pool

After settling into the local caravan park, we went to Derby Jetty to see the high tide and the sunset (another one!).

High tide at the jetty (10.09 metres) 

Low tide the next morning (approx 6 metre drop)

We then headed into the local art gallery by Mark Norval. Mark was there when we visited and showed us some of the local shells he had collected, taught us how to play the didgeridoo and drew a caricature of the kids in a book we bought.

After the gallery we had a look at the old Derby gaol which was in operation from 1906 - 1975, and then spent the rest of the morning in the local pool before our drive to Fitzroy Crossing.

Old Derby Gaol 

We stayed at Fiztroy Crossing Lodge and had a trip out to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek... both were fantastic and well worth the hour drive on another crappy road to get there.

Gus spots the first Freshie

See the Freshie in the water behind us! 

Lots of crocs at Windjana Gorge

Entrance to Tunnel Creek

The trip back out of Tunnel Creek is not for everyone!

The following day we were up early for the 8.00am Geikie Gorge tour. This was a one hour trip up the gorge in an open boat with "Captain Scobes".

President Richard Nixon,s nose marks the average water level during the wet season

Geikie Gorge is soon to be renamed "Darngoo Gorge" - Darn Good without the "d" as Scobes tells us!

Our next stop was on the working cattle station, "Larrawa Station". This is 500,000 acres and they have about 5,000 head of cattle. We swam in "Christmas Creek", collected some rocks from the dry creek bed, and saw another sunset.

Saying goodbye to "Morse"

 Larrawa Station was a great spot to rest and recharge.

After a few weeks of teaching the boys how to play Eucha, we taught them how to play 500... look out, they are kitty hogs just like their father!

Broome & Cape Leveque (15th - 21st May)

After leaving Karijini NP we headed north and called into Port Hedland. It is a huge shipping port and we got to see a couple of huge ships loading iron ore for the trip over to China.

We stopped overnight at a camping ground in Cape Keraudren, however it was pitch black when we got there, so had no idea how nice it was until we woke up the next day. Lot's of sand flies, so we all had some itchy bites to deal with!

Sunset, Cape Keraudren

Cape Keraudren has a 6 metre tide which was coming in when we left the next morning, and apparently the rock island in front of the camp site goes underwater with a king tide.

We stopped in at Sandfire Roadhouse for some petrol and a snack. There were peacocks and peahens roaming around, and out the back they had a camel and a huge bull.

Arrived at Cable beach Caravan park and spent the afternoon in the pool.

Site at Cable Beach Caravan park was right next to the pool... perfect!

We tried to see "Stairway to the Moon" on 2 occasions, however we were rained out the first night and there was too much cloud cover for us to see anything on the second night. We were lucky enough to be in town when it was possible to see, however the weather was not kind to us!

A must see in Broome is the "Malcolm Douglas Wilderness Park". It's only open from 2pm - 5pm, and they do a crocodile feeding tour at 3pm. It was great!

A huge croc saying hi 

One of the staff told us this kangaroo goes nuts when the public come in at 2pm... he was thumping his chest and wanted to have a box! 

The next morning was a low tide so we were able to see the dinosaur footprints in the rocks of Gantheaume Point. These date back 120 million years.

Dinosaur foot prints dating back 120 million years

Kids foot prints dating back 2 minutes

Sue missed out on seeing Natures Window in Kalbarri, however she found another one in Broome!

Drove up to Cape Leveque and made the decision not to take the caravan. The road up was a shocker so whilst we didn't get to stay in the beach side shelter, we were able to stay in one of the cabins. it was hot and humid, not the best conditions for a big man who sweat a lot, so we had a swim before jumping back in the car to do some of the sights...

• One Arm Point
• Fish Hatchery
• Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm

Cabin at Cape Leveque 

East Beach, Cape Leveque

West Beach, Cape Leveque 

Cards under the mossi netting

On the way up to Cape Leveque we saw our first wild donkey, and we had a pet frog in out toilet!

Once back in Broome we went to Matso's for a cold Mango beer - very nice.