East? No, no, no! West for you my friend!

...Lot's of love, Rodeo.

Well what did we expect after doing 40,000km or so in the past year?


The hills surrounding Karratha

Back to the beginning...We got away from Karratha safe and sound, driving north on the Greath Northern Highway towards Port Headland and we realised we had not left Karratha since our arrival four weeks ago. I guess it's a testament to how much there is to do around Karratha. But passing through Port Headland we were glad we chose the community of Karratha even though it was smaller and rife with FIFO (Fly In, Fly Out) - Port Headland did not appear to be anything BUT industry. Still, it was good to stretch the legs and swap drivers.

Our objective for this trip was to head straight to Kununurra then make our way back through the Kimberley region. We got to the turn off to Derby and decided to break up the approximate 2000km drive by going into Derby, leaving the van for a night and heading along the Gibb River Road to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek. There are two roads that travel east/west through the Kimberley - the Highway and the Gibb. The highway is for the cautious with a nice sealed road - the Gibb is corrogated gravel. So, as much as we would dearly love to travel the Gibb, after our adventure in Gulf heading to Borroloola, we feel our van would not withstand another such dusting! So the plan is to do both ends.

Bell Gorge

Our adventure to Windjana, Tunnel Creek and Bell Gorge was worth it.To paint a picture for you, the Kimberley region is dry and dusty with grasses and trees just beginning to show tinges of yellow and brown. The landscape is dotted with Boab trees and striking rock ranges with gorges carved into the savannah with pieces of paradise at the bottom. Windjana Gorge - ok, we have seen a lot of gorges on this trip so it  wasn't a wow moment but Bell Gorge was well worth it. The greenest water, perfect waterfall over red rocks - it really was one of the more spectacular waterfalls/gorges we have seen.

Tunnel Creek was different again. Gather round boys and girls, it's time to hear a story about Jandamarra. Before I begin, I will say, travelling through the Kimberley and reading/hearing stories about how the indigenous were treated up here has really shocked me. The British were brutal up here.



Mid way through Tunnel Creek where it opens up briefly



Jandamarra was an indigenous fellow who worked as a tracker for the police force, especially his good friend Richardson. He was a young lad in his twenties and had been ostracised from his tribe for breaking traditional law. In those days local law enforcement were rounding up the tribes for various crimes against pasturalsits, chaining them together and taking them to prison, or simply rounding them up to take them to work on peal luggers. Members of Jandamarra's tribe were rounded up at one stage and to rescue them, Jandamarra shot his mate Richardson in his sleep. For three years after this, he and three of his mates evaded the law by hiding in Tunnel Creek where he met his death at the hands of another indigenous tracker. Now, this took place over 100 years ago so I'm not savvy on the details and the facts - but this is the story behind Tunnel Creek. (More details on Jandamarra here) It's a creek that flows through one of the rocky ranges forming a limestone cave you can walk through to the other side. Self guided wade and completely black in places. Very fun.


Derby itself is not much to look at so we choofed off quickly heading for the Bungle Bungles, 700 odd kilometers down the road. We were 70km into the journey when the car revealed it did not wish to comply with the plan to travel east. We heard a rattle and thought we had unwittingly driven over something invisible, pulled over to discover our power steering pump and cooling fan no longer operational. After much deliberation on the side of the road, trying to determine if the engine would overheat itself if we drove back to Derby, and about 14 grey nomads simply driving past without even slowing down we decided to struggle back to Derby. While driving, the temperature was fine so we decided to head on further to Broome in order to not waste any of our time.

Broome. Let me tell you it is beautiful. At first we were a little shocked to discover that our car parts would take at least five days to arrive, but we soon realised there was plenty to do here. Broome has some incredible pearling history. We visited a pearl farm and were surprised to discover perfectly round pearls are not found naturally, they need to be cultured. We also took a tour of some Pearl Luggers and were shocked at the apalling treatment of the Aboriginals who were considered no more than slaves to the pearl masters, and the hard hat diving technique that claimed 1 in 3 divers on their first dive. I for one would not like to jump from a boat with 120 kilos on me!

View of Cable Beach (west side of Broome)

Broome, while a very popular tourist destination, is still quaint and has bucket loads of character going for it. Japanese and Chinese infuences are very predominant in 'Chinatown.' Back in the day pearling masters were reportedly the richest men in Australia and many of the orignial structures and busineses were built by them. One of these is the little outdoor theatre on the main street. Built in 1916 by the pearling masters (probably in attempt at getting the money the spent on wages back), it is a wooden/corrogated iron structure with beautiful gardens bordering the ourdoor theatre. The screen, not huge but larger than the Kingaroy cinema, has geckos running around it and being interrupted by low flying planes is a regular occurance. Still it has the feel of that 'Old Hollywood Style' and even sells choc-tops! The fourth Pirates movie was well worth the wait to experience this little beauty!

The highlight of this detour however was managing to make it to Cape Leveque. This is another of Australia's secret places - not many people go there because it is 200km one way out of the way. But it is beautiful - red cliffs meeting white sand and crystal blue water and inland thousands of bright yellow wattles, and mangroves lining parts of the coast. Absolutely stunning. We camped the night here, having left our van in Broome and also managed to snorkle in crocodile territory - not something you do every day!

Currently, we are still awaiting the arrival of our car parts before we make the second attempt at heading east to the Bungle Bungles and Kununurra. Who knows, maybe our trusty Rodeo is trying to tell us to hang out in the west for a while longer.

Landing Feet First in Karratha

Just a quick posting to keep you all posted.

Yes, we have arrived in Karratha! Described by some as a distant suburb of Perth (although I'm not sure I agree with this, a little too much of nothingness in between) it is certainly an isolated place - I think even more so than Katherine.

Approximately 1500km from Perth as the eagle flies it is one of the only places you can get decent fresh groceries at half-way normal prices and fill your car up for slightly less than $2 a litre. The Western coastline differs greatly from the east. A tiny fraction of the people, places and probably the sights. Places like Kalbarri, Ningaloo and Karigini are sepparated by arid scrubland and desert.

Now, somehow we have managed to hit strange weather wherever we have gone recently. Here is no exception - I for one am freezing! Granted I understand it's not exactly a pinch on the current temperatures people are experiencing in the 'Roy (yes, I do stay in touch) but we weren't exactly expecting 14 degree mornings. Besides this, when you have spent the last year (or, 11 or so months at least) in sunshine and warmth and gastly humidity the old 14 degrees is a bit of a shock to the system! Still, it's just over a week before we travel north to the Kimberley (Woohoo!) so hopefully we can continue to chase the sunshine!

Caleb and I have both managed to be working almost the entire four and a half weeks we have spent in Karratha. We stepped into jobs the first day we arrived and have managed to find ourselves accomodation which is no easy task in Karratha. After our Kimberly holiday, we have decided to come back here and work for a further 3 months (although given our track record, if I were you, I would not hold my breath!)

It is safe to say that we have landed feet first in Karratha - managed to get out and see Adam Harvey and Becky Cole live, as well as the Melbourne International Comedy Travelling Show despite there being 'nothing to do in Karratha.' Actually, there is even less to do here than Kingaroy - unless you have a boat or want to drive 500km one way for a weekend at Karijini! But we have met some wonderful people and feel that we have been well taken care of here for the time being. But not long now until we hit the Kimberley!