Time to leave the Gibb

Civilisation. Oh so close yet so very far away

After over a thousand kilometers crossing the Gibb this was the first & last road train that we encountered. Turns out that it was a very bad season for cattle so not many stations mustered this year. After export most would be paying $50 per head for the privilege of exporting the livestock. Its part of the condition of the lease from the government that the stations do an annual muster.  What will next year bring ?  

ahhh Finaly Bitumen!
The last 100km of the Gibb or the first depending on what direction your heading is all sealed. The bitumen project is a joint venture between the government & the Kimberly DIAMOND EXPLORATION company.... Very nice of them to put bitumen in for all the Tourists!
Site of the next Argyle diamond mine perhaps when the existing mine shuts down in Kununurra in 10 years time.

10am & we have made it to the end of our journey on the Gibb.  Its 45 degrees & the car knows it.

Our last 2 beers! It was worth keeping them for the occasion.
So as for the toll on equipment on the Gibb
 The list is as follows.

1 Waeco CF60 now a VERY expensive Esky.
1 radiator cap.

All of the spares lists I read recommended taking a spare radiator cap. I literally had EVERYTHING else to weld, screw, bind, glue, tape, rivet, solder, patch, plug so why not a radiator cap??

I'm happy to report NO FLATS! We met a young couple at the Devils marbles who had 6 different punctures when last on the Gibb on the section from Kununurra to ElQuestro. They had good equipment on there truck so some would have to say they were just plain unlucky.

Well worth a look at a few if your in the area

A few weeks before most of this would have been in the red. 

yea yea
 Been there done that !

The water front at Derby. A yacht in the Mangroves up at the high tide mark 

The tide in Derby is the highest in the southern hemisphere. 11 mtr tides are a regular occurrence.  

A good example of one of the 11 mtr tides in progress

The water comes up over the Mangroves to the left of the photo  

Stumps from the Old Pier

A barge riding the incoming rush of tide

A sandbar across the bay soon to be 3 Islands

The Boab prison tree at Derby. Nice & cozy when its 40 degrees outside.

We had intended on staying at Willare Bridge the night & fishing the Fitzroy river for Barra but on arrival at the Fitzroy we were not impressed. The river was not flowing & looked a bit to croc infested for our liking so we opted to continue on to Broome 

As usual Troy was up early & took a walk along cable beach. At the surf club was this letter box.. We also had our own stash but not with such a fancy cover. 

What do you know. We had been allocated a camp spot next door to Debora & Maurice the Swiss couple from Windjana gorge.
They had been touring with their parents for the last 2 weeks & only had a few more days before they had to fly their parents home. Debora & Maurice had been to Australia once before for 3 months. They loved it so much that they decided to come back for 12 months & continue the adventure.  They had been on the road 3 months so far this trip & already had quite a list of conquests that they had achieved. The Gun barrel, The Gibb, The Simpson desert, Cape york.

Marice was more bushman than most Aussies I know. At the dinner table he would have pet insects that he would feed moths to. Every new camp spot would bring a new group of pets to the dinner table. He is that in love with Australia that he got a southern cross tattooed on his shoulder. In addition to his "bucket list" of roads he has traveled he is the only person I have met that can boast that he has caught a croc on a lure! Debora has the sequence of photo's to prove it. Very impressive

Were we decided to bypass the Fitzroy and continue on to Broome, Debora & Maurice decided to take a walk on the banks & flick a lure. Marice found a fresh water Croc floating belly up just a few feet off the bank & had to go and investigate further. He managed to Souvenir a couple of teeth before he pushed it back in the water. Next time we meet I'm sure that the tooth will be sewn into the brim of his hat with twine made from buffalo hair that he got when he wrestled a bull to the ground with his bare hands.  By day he is a quality control officer with IBM wearing a suit, jacket & tie. I don't think it will fit to well when he gets back to his normal 9 to 5 if he ever goes back.. 

A trip to town for us but not before Troy takes care of a hitchhiker wanting a free ride into town as well.. Maurice it was  let go without harm.. Honest!

Troy had truly had enough of "Movember" only a few days in & decided it had to go. It wasn't even December yet.  First Barber we had seen in months so it had to be done.

I to felt a bit feral so I decided to get a cut & shave. We had been running into a guy we had been crossing since Darwin & followed on the Gibb. He to was camped just next to us in the caravan park in Broome. The morning before we left camp to head into town we had a chat & discussed heading out for a beer later. That afternoon we came back & I tried to continue our conversation. It took him a little while to recognise us without bum fluff & all that hair. Come on we didn't look that bad did we?

The main street in Broome aligns with the main North South runway. We sat down for a quiet pint when the first one went over head.  It was quite unnerving but after the 4th  and  5th........

We nearly had a Quantas jet just about take our heads off. Time to move from the pub to some place safe.

Bombs away

See what I mean! After we figured out what was happening we would look up the street when the next one would go past & see all the OTHER tourists come running out of the shops onto the street to see what the hell was happening.  

Broome is famous for Pearls so when in Rome.... 

Absolutely beautiful pearl shell

Divers Bell Boots & Pearl box. A diver would wear nearly twice there own weight in diving gear.

An old pearl lugger in at dry docks

One of the hazards of diving... surfing... fishing... anything in the ocean really

You have one guess at what they are used for?

Penis covers ! yep Aboriginals in the area used to cover their bits with highly decorated pearl shells... I want one

main income from the Pearling industry was buttons made from the shell. If you found a pearl it was considered a bonus

Clean shaven pretty boy with one hell of a big Pearl shell

Troy looking at new carrier possibilities

$100,000 Pearl

Ouch... this is what you get for your money ?

Remember my workmate who flew past us in the chopper while we were stuck at Kalumburu? Well here is the culprit. Guys meet Peter our Broome field technician.  

A bus load of tourists arrive & take the plunge at cable beach. Just the week before the beach was  closed care of a 14ft croc that also wanted to be a part of the action & go for a sun bake on its lovely white sand. Authorities took a few shots at it but they didn't kill it. It did move off though at least that is shat we said in our heads while we went for a swim. This was the first time in the ocean after being teased with the most pristine beautiful beaches you could come across but couldn't swim at.

All of our favourite activities and we are unable to participate in any of them

What no nudity! Damit i'll have to go back to camp & get my bathers......

We were going to take a token white ass shot on sun set ....walking off into the distance but I'm glad we didn't go there. The nuddie beach is full of wrinkly old men looking for other wrinkly old men... lounging on deck chairs..... wearing women's hats with T shirts pulled up & tied in a knot at the front.... much like what you see in the photo above.... hhmmm The sign writer captured it well...

Another must do was Matso's Brewery. A sample paddle was the way to go. Chilli beer was a speciality. It was a step up from my chilli home brew. A 50/50 mix of Chilli & Mango beer goes down well.

A mater for the cause. A real Matso's "movember" man..  

After 2 days in Broome we had seem much of what the town had to offer. Many of the locals told us to get out of town & head to Cape Leveque . As we had lost so much time on the Gibb we were not sure if we could make the trip worth while if we bolted up for a night or two & then bolt back.  Maurice & Debora had headed up the day before & were due to head out tomorrow. We decided to give it a go & see what everyone was raving about. Before we leave town we had a full nights entertainment in store

Talk about keen. This guy was having a ball with his mates so we figured we would ask if he minded a crowd joining in

Troy joining in the next wave of Jetstar ads

The real reason for participating in the activity was the young lass next to Troy... He was on a recruitment drive for tonight's session at the Rowey 

So this is what all the hype was about.  2 other guys from the caravan park joined us on a trip into town for a few beers & to check out the show. The lady at the Pearl farm actually recommended it to us saying it was a must attend local even if your in town on a Thursday. She assured us it was nothing seedy.The wet T shirt comp only lasted 5 minutes & in the end the boob show just a side show to the rest of the evening that was in the end the main event.

We had an absolute ball of a night. Troy fell in love with one of the bar staff who had done a cover shot for a mens magazine. He didn't even leave the bar when 2 girls showed up looking for him for. One being the lady from the pearl farm and the other being the girl doing star jumps on the beach ...

Missed it.... by that much!

Or did he... Chick magnet at work...

Livin the dream... ( just don't wake me up)

Windjana & Tunnel gorge

Our intention was to head into Bell gorge after we refueled at Iminji store. The store owner indicated Bell gorge was now closed for the season. It seemed we missed it by only a day or two after being stuck in Kalumburu.  Bugger!  He recommended a camp about 1km back up the track were we saw the junior handbag earlier. It was still early in the afternoon so we chose to make a dash for it & head down to Windjana gorge to set up camp for the next few night. 

Off in the distance was part of the range that made up Windjana gorge. Take a close look at the bump at the low point 

Queen Elizabeth's head. No I'm not making this up... Its a recognised land mark. Best viewed in the late afternoon . Lucky us...

Part of the ancient Devonian reef extends up to 100 meters high in sections 

This is camp. The Showers have only 1 water temperature range starting at warm, very warm & hot. The daytime temp is in the mid 40's .The ground gets that warm that in the evening you don't dare turn on the hot tap if you don't want to get scolded. The heat in the ground is enough to provide a hot shower let alone the solar hot water systems on the roof. If you want a "cool" shower you get up at 5:30 am and have one as the sun is coming up and hit the showers then. In winter its a different story I'm sure. Again this is the last week of the season for Windjaja & come the weekend it will close for the season.

The next morning we opt to hit the gorge early as its been so hot during the day. 7:30am we venture out on the walk

Caves on the wall of the range.

The walk along the path into the gorge leads to this narrow cave  

Exit stage left.... 

The rest of the path in the gorge follows the Lennard river

Two words....spectacular!

Apparently a fossilised squid  

Whale rock.. Tonight's hang out for the big show

The beach on the Lennard river. Only freshies reside here  

yet again two words..... spec tac u lar

Since Kalumuru I noticed that the car was using water. It turns out the radiator cap seal had perished & the water was gradually leaking into the overflow bottle. This is my second attempt at repair . The first one was back at Galvans gorge after lunch time Mangoes. The self amalgamating tape did improve the situation but there was still a leak so I thought I would have another go at it with a few more layers. My only option of a new radiator cap would be at Derby or Broome at the end of the week.

After lunch it was off to Tunnel gorge. Smart move... In the cover of the caves when its 40 degrees plus outside.

If you stuck this photo next to a mirror image of the Bali Tubes restraunt barrel  I reckon you couldn't tell the difference.

The initial enterace to the cave. It was like being in an air conditioned room at this point. The air rushing out of the exit was nice & cool. Hhmmm air conditioning

With memory's of ElQuestro gorge still fresh in my head I was hoping this would be as hard as it gets. One large boulder to negotiate

Once we negotiated the rock we came across this pool. The water was stagnant & had an awful stench. The though of negotiating waterways smelling this bad didn't appeal at all. We could see the beach just the other side of the rocks to the right of shot. I figured we could still stay dry & check out the cave just a little further before we decide if we should turn back or continue.

First section negotiated without incident. Lets continue

This is the beach we walked out onto after negotiating the cave for about 15 minutes. The opening in the cave was a collapse in the roof.  The cave continues another 500 mtrs

This tree root started life hundreds of feet above were we are now.

Croc tracks. They head up the beach to sit up on the bank & sun themselves in the midday sun. Its the only time the sun reaches the cave floor   

The water was crystal clear from here on. Lucky for us

Check the scale. This was awesome

All the black dots on the roof of the cave are Bats. They also have a unique odour but no were near as bad as the stagnant water we had earlier in the cave. 

The view back were we left the beach & heading back into the darkness. That sealing is 10 mtrs high!

One of the 4 residents in the cave.

We did see small fish but not enough to sustain a few croc's
Turns out they eat bats & there are plenty of them to go around. We had to do a waist deep crossing only 20 mtrs up from this guy. He was ok as we could see him but his mates didn't like the look of us & took off into the water.  One of the croc's that made a dash for the water was at least 10mtrs away from the crossing. We had our torches flicking all about the place trying to see any red eyes but they didn't want to come for a closer look.  While on the trail we did spot 3 of the 4 croc's but couldn't find the last one. Its the ones you can't see that are the problem.

Usless fact 657
Croc's Roo's & Barra all have eyes that glow red when you shine a torch in their direction .....

The end of the tunnel was this. 

A rest in the afternoon sun outside with a snack & a drink before we headed back into the cave & back out the entry point 

The pool at the end of the cave.

The butterfly's hung out on the cool cave walls . There were heaps of  them flying about the entrance 

Its hot as hell out here !

Ancient Oysters! 

Can anyone else see the lady in the bikini lounging back???
If this was in a gallery someone would pay a small fortune to have this on their wall

No I didn't eat the mushrooms that were growing on the track in Kalumburu 

The ruins of the Lillimulura police station outpost.

The constable was out on a patrol with a local aboriginal tracker Jandamarra. The constable was actually using Jandamarra to track down his own family. Jandamarra while the constable slept was convinced by his family to release them & the constable was killed.

Jandamarra used Tunnel gorge to hide from the police during subsequent man hunts after the murder of the constable.

Another long day on the trail.  We had been told by the ranger to head back to Windjana gorge on sunset & watch the croc's . They try & catch the Bats as they swoop the surface of the water trying to get a drink.

The galah's also head out of the canyon on sun set. Noisy little buggers

One of many croc's we spotted waiting for dinner

The twilight was majic. The bats soon appears in the hundreds. You would have silent waves of bats flying overhead constantly. After over 20 minutes of the bats flying out of the gorge we left & they showed no signs of letting up. 

A croc catching its own dinner or even a beer would have made this all just that little bit more special.... if that was at all possible. 

One of the couples from camp nearly stood on this python. We had all been hunting them down all day without success as this place is noted for its fresh water croc's & pythons. This one was "small" at about 1.5mtrs long

A jumping spider! awesome what else are we going to come across?

A small Bat clung to the walls of the narrow cave that you go through to get to the gorge.


Until next update