Crossing the border from the Northern Territory into Western Australia meant we were now in The Kimberley region, regarded as the last remaining wilderness in Australia, with vast swathes of red sandy desert, deep gorges and geological wonders we just had to visit. On our list were the world-renowned Horizontal Falls, and the oddly named Bungle Bungles. Don’t let the understated sign fool you – this is so much more than ‘a great place’!
Beautiful Boab Trees of WA
A couple of nights stop at Lake Kununurra recharged our weary batteries, and gave us a chance to watch the nightly migration of millions of bats to their northern feeding grounds, from our lake-front pitch camping site – an extraordinary sight even if you don’t like bats.
Best view from a caravan park ever! Lake Kununurra and the Sleeping Buddha.
Ben in the Bungles!
A couple of hours south are the Bungle Bungles, in the Purnululu National Park. The Bungles are an unusual geological feature of striped sandstone domes, and remarkably were not known to the Australian public until 1983 as it was located in the centre of a large, privately owned, cattle station – making it one of the less-visited ‘must-dos’. The track in was too much for our Ford Territory, so we booked a 4wd tour ‘bus’ instead and were pleased we did, it was a bumpy old ride. The Bungles were impressive though, and even in the 30+ heat, worth the effort, and the Cathedral and Echidna Gorges got a ‘whoa’ from the boys.
Cathedral Gorge
A drive west and we arrived at Derby, for our Horizontal Falls journey. Ben and I had first seen this on an Attenborough programme a couple of years ago, and was something we’ve been looking forward to, as they occur nowhere else in the world. They are called Horizontal Falls because they are two narrow channels in gorges that the huge tides (up to 11 metres!) are squeezed though creating their own sideways waterfall effect.
Horizontal Falls
We flew in by seaplane because they are located right the top of the Kimberley (where there is nothing for a long way but spectacular azure sea, islands and empty beaches) landing at a pontoon in Talbot Bay and transferring to a luxury houseboat. From here, we were taken through the falls on a 900 hp boat, giving us not only a great view but a thrilling ride too!
We met another lovely Aussie family, the Taylors, who instantly made friends with the boys and had amazing experience swimming in a shark cage, feeding chunks of fish to half a dozen large, hungry Tawny Nurse Sharks. Ollie was beside himself with excitement, as was Ben when they served grilled barramundi for lunch, and Cameron thought the whole day was just ‘amaaazing’ in his best Aussie accent.
For both Ollie and I it was a ‘first’ as we took a helicopter ride over the falls, although I
have to admit to being a bit scared as the helicopter had no doors and nothing to hold on to. The pilot assured me we couldn’t fall out then seemed to do his best to test this theory with some impressive, but terrifying turns. It was an incredible day though, and was worth the cost and effort. This part of the WA coastline is just spectacular.
Boab-Nut art.
Before leaving Derby we did a bit of ‘art’ by visiting the Norval Art Gallery, run by a lovely family who promote their own art and that of local aboriginal artists in their fascinating shop/museum. After being made very welcome by Mary, one of the owners who spent time discussing art appreciation with the kids, the boys decided to invest their birthday money from their Nan & Pop and bought a piece of Aboriginal Art each. It’s never too early to start your own art collection we think!
Derby Jetty.
Driving out of Derby we came across this impressive sight, kites and other birds of prey taking advantage of a small bushfire to prey on the animals fleeing the fire. Some of these birds have even learned how to carry smouldering sticks from fires, dropping them into dry bush to create new fires and new hunting grounds. Ingenious survival technique!
ated dirt 4wd tracks to the national parks campsites where we were treated to wild brumbies (horses) and dingo’s coming through the park in the small hours – just too exciting to sleep! And they provide toilets and hot showers for only $20 per night, too!
the water. Fantastic street entertainers made it a great night out for the boys too while Ben and I shopped for a piece of genuine aboriginal art – a lovely present for our wedding anniversary.
nd like Edith Falls it has the most fantastic swimming holes, and we managed to do three in one day, each more beautiful than the next. I fear it has spoiled us for swimming pools forever! We also thought we had seen plenty of impressive termite mounds on this trip, but the ones at Litchfield stand at an awesome 5 metres and take up to 50 years to build – not bad for a little ant.
In Winton we stayed next to the Outback’s version of a gastro-pub, the Tattershall Arms, and the tucker was awesome! Multi-talented Winton is also Opal Mining territory, and supplies over 95% of the world’s opals – but after our last back-breaking dig we decided we didn’t like opals that much.
e, and it’s quite extraordinary to see the mine dominating the landscape, giving you a good idea of the scale of this operation. In true traveller style we had booked an old mine tour (health and safety means you can’t go in the big one) with a humorous ex-miner who takes you down 20 metres in ‘the cage’, demonstrating the noisy equipment and rumbling big trucks underground. The boys even got to press the explosives switch to hear what it would sound like. It was a quirky & unusual tour and typically Aussie in flavour. We also went to see the Underground Hospital here, constructed in old mine tunnels during WWII in anticipation of a Japanese air force attack, run by a couple of charming and enthusiastic local volunteers.
We waved goodbye to the family and set off on our Outback odyssey, starting with a morning tea stop at our friends Cathy & Rob’s in Brisbane to borrow their camping fridge, only to get a phone call from my brother to say we’d left a vital piece of the trailer equipment behind – oh dear – not a good omen! Fortunately, the quick thinking Rob knew where we could get a replacement, and so coffees finished we set off again. First stop Bundaberg – home of the famous Bundaberg Rum, and the southern most point of the Great Barrier Reef. It was also our first time getting the camper-trailer set up, and we were very glad we’d had a trial run in my brother’s garden,once up it was very snug and homely and the met with the boys approval.
We had an early start that first morning, to catch a flight in a small 14 seat prop-plane from Bundaberg airport, flying about 80kms east to Lady Elliot Island, a coral cay island on the Reef. It was an amazing sigh
ver-like mammal with a duck-like bill is one of the only two monotremes in the world. This means they lay eggs. We went to see some that had been rescued at the Platypus House, at Beauty Point. They are rare and hard to see in the wild, but they are not endangered. The best place for seeing the is at dusk on the edges of the river bank. The males have two poisonous spurs on their ankles, used for fighting. Females lose these when they are young.
a very g
nd on the mainland. They are a source of
We had a brilliant underground mine tour, complete with underground trolley ride, the boys made their own candles and we watched them melt and pour a $160,000 gold bar (one lucky child even got to hold it – unfortunately not ours!).
were holding hostages, was stormed by government soldiers and after a lengthy shoot-out many of the gang were killed and Ned was finally taken into custody. We visited a small but thorough museum here and took our picture with the giant Ned Kelly statue.
