4TH JUNE 2013 – BROOME & DERBY, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Broome thankfully was fine & warm but with evidence of heavy rain overnight. The temperature was 16deg when we arrived, rising to 30 by the time we left at 3.30pm. It’s a nice town with a tropical feel centred around the pearling industry. There is a Chinatown so I guess that means there are lots of chinese there. There are tours of pearl farms, glitzy expensive pearl shops, cafes & not a lot that interested us. We did visit the famous Cable Beach which is supposed to be one of the eight most beautiful beaches in the world, & I guess if you just want to sit in the caravan park or on the beach for several days or more it would be OK.

Black Kite Cable Bay Broome

 

Lifeguard setup Cable Bay (not busy)

 

  Unfortunately that’s not for us – we like to get out & involved with the environment. So it’s off to another freebie for the night where we met a couple with a van the same as ours, only the second one we have seen. We had a good time chatting to them & had happy hour joined by two guys who were doing all the offroad routes. They had been stuck every day in the last 4 days due to the rain even though they had the right rig & were just about to attempt the famous Gibb River Road which goes from Derby to Kunanurra a distance of approximately 600+ kms of red dirt road. There are a few basic camp sites but that is all , but I believe there is some awesome scenery to be seen. When we awoke next morning the area was once again a mushy mess & in the middle of it all was a very large red Brahmen bull enticed by the large pools of water which he was slurping up oblivious of all the cameras clicking around him. Once satisfied he moved quietly on though we feared he may be run down as he stopped in the middle of the road for a few minutes finally reaching the other side.

Brahmen Bull at rest area

 

     We left too, reaching the funny little town of Derby on King Sound, with quite a large population of aboriginal people. It’s major claim to fame is the jetty where it is possible to witness a 11m tidal range, the highest in Australia & second highest in the southern hemisphere & also the Boab (bottle) trees seen in this area. We made it our base for several days so that we could visit the attractions in this part of the Kimberley.

Large Boab tree Derby

Derby jetty

 

Pheasant Coucal at Campground Derby

 

Winjana Gorge

The second day in Derby was so wet it wasn’t worth thinking about doing any sightseeing, so a very lazy day was had by both Stu & I, reading, crosswords, sudoku etc. The camp was awash. We made the decision that next morning rain or shine we would risk driving out to Winjana Gorge & the Tunnel Creek Cave, 175kms each way, hoping the weather was better inland. As it happened on waking next morning the weather was much improved, so we left at 6.45am and the day got better & better as we drove. Winjana Gorge proved to be nice with a small creek running through what would be a very large river in the wet season & lovely high red & black cliffs.

Freshie at Winjana Gorge

 

Fruit Bats Winjana Gorge

  The massive rocks at the base were like pink rippled marble although they were the same rocks as on the cliffs. Those on the cliffs were very weatherbeaten thus the difference in colours. There were a number of fresh water crocs to be seen lazing near the edge of the creek, so we were able to get good shots of those. The highlight proved to be Tunnel Creek cave, a huge cavern almost 2kms long with water running through it some of which it was necessary to wade through.

Stu Tunnel Creek

  Entirely self guided & free, torches were of course necessary, & as someone who has never really liked being underground, this one I thoroughly enjoyed. No ducking heads, no enclosed spaces, just a big open cavern, certainly dark, but a lovely feeling to it & felt very adventurous. The opening at both ends looked brilliant in the sunshine giving the pools lovely shades & reflections. This cavern would have been used by the Aboriginal hero Jundermurra who fought the white man single handed but was eventually killed. It was made into a movie which I saw on TV not too long ago.

It was a long day, but on the way back to Derby Stu saw a python on the road which he couldn’t avoid, then saw another one about 5 minutes later on the roadside. The second one was about two metres long but not very round. I believe they were Olive Pythons. We also visited the Prison Boab Tree, an extremely old tree with a hollow inside, which was used in the early days to keep aboriginal prisoners in once they were captured & forced to work in the pearling industry.