Back in Broome

We are back in Broome. We came back to Broome and had 4 nights here being tourists. We went and had dinner on Cable Beach while watching the sunset before heading off to the outdoor movie cinema. This was a great experience; we sat in deck chairs under the stars and watched the final Harry Potter movie. It was funny because the cinema sits directly under the flight path for the airport so at one stage during the movie a jumbo jet came down overtop of us to land.

Aidan, Cody and Jaime sitting in the outdoor movie cinema

We had a brilliant day the next day when we flew to the Horizontal Falls. We took off from Broome in a sea plane and flew low up the coast line to the Buccaneer Archipelago which was a spectacular view all the way, to finish by landing on the water up at the Horizontal Falls. Cody was extremely excited as it was his first time on a plane and for the rest of us it was the first time in a sea plane. Aidan and Cody both said that landing and taking off on water was super cool!

Cody - very excited - first time in a plane

Cape Leveque from the air

On the pontoon, with our sea plane behind

As we climbed off the plane and onto the pontoons they put us straight onto the jet boat and took us up through the Horizontal Falls. For safety reasons, there is a very limited window of opportunity to take people through the Falls during each tide, but with the timing of our trip and the tides we were lucky enough to be taken on both tides, once when we first arrived for the incoming tide and then again just as we were about to leave for the run out tide.

Cody and Aidan going through the falls in the jet boat

Note the high water level on the rock closest, then see the drop and the high water level on the rocks on the other side

 It was fascinating, the Horizontal Falls occurs because they have such large tides up here, (high tide was 9m while we were up here) and the water has pass through two narrow cliff passages with each change of tide, and it simply struggles to run fast enough. You can clearly see that water level at one end of the gorge is a couple of metres higher / or lower than the water level on the other end of the cliff passage. So as the jet boat goes through water rushing through the gorge you either drop a couple of metre or have to go up a couple of metres. There is massive turbulence created in the water surrounding the gorge which throws the boat around a bit. The tour guide got the jet boat to hold position in the middle of the falls at one stage, but the boat had to be going at 33kms an hour to hold position. They say that as the tide runs faster the whirl pools we could see get bigger and stronger and can suck a boat in and flip it which is how some deaths have occurred at the fall’s previously.

Horizontal Falls from the air

When we first hopped off the plane we noticed there were sharks swimming all around the pontoons. They are set up a shark cage that you can swim in get a bit more up close and personal with them all. We all had a swim in the shark cage and Aidan and Cody both got to pat a shark – they said that was really freaky! We saw an enormous Groper that lives around the pontoon, had a beautiful lunch of Barramundi and then were taken for a tour around the area and introduced the local pet Bat Fish. These fish are an incredible looking fish and which have been hand feed for enough years that they are able to pick them up out of the water.  All in all it was a fantastic day!

Aidan and Cody swimming in the shark cage

Enjoying lunch

Bat Fish

We finished off our time in Broome, with a Camel ride along Cable Beach at sunset. Aidan and Cody rode on a camel named Bella and Jaime and Shell rode on Xena. The sunset was once again stunning.

Aidan and Cody saying g'day to one of the camels

Bella the camel getting up after the boys climbed on

All four of us on our camels

Sunset, we are on the second and third last camels

Here is a quick message to all the kids at St Mary's from Aidan and Cody.

Cape Leveque, Middle Lagoon, Quondong Point

We drove up north of Broome towards Cape Leveque. We went in and visited Cape Leveque itself which was beautiful although you had to pay $10 just to walk on the beach there! Aidan and Cody had fun as they bumped into some kids they met while we were camping on the Gibb River Road and they all had a play in the ocean together.

Cody, Shell and Jaime at Cape Leveque

We actually stayed a little north west of there between Cape Leveque and One Arm Point on a property called Goombading which is owned by a local aboriginal by the name of Unja (no idea how to spell is name) who has set up a camping area for tourist on his property.  We spent two nights at his place which was right on the water and he was certainly a character to talk to. He told us all about how he was taught to hunt for food up there by his grandfather. They don’t eat goanna or wallaby or any other land based animals, they only hunted seafood. He also told us about some of the issues they have in the communities up there. Unja wanted to take us out fishing on our boat and show us where and how to catch the fish in the area but he had to work all week so was unable to take us. Unfortunately we were not allowed to use any of the boat ramps up in the area unless we had an aboriginal with us. So that ruled out fishing there. While we were there we went out exploring at low tide and watched some local aboriginals hunting fish with spears, which was cool to watch, although they didn’t seem to be very good shots! Lucky they don’t rely on their hunting skills for food anymore.

At Goombading, Cody walking out to see the spear fishing

Local aboriginal fishing with spears

Sunrise over the water and islands off Goombading

We then moved down to Middle Lagoon, just south of Cape Leveque and found a beautiful campsite overlooking the beach, where we watched stunning sunset over the water night after night.  We had a great time snorkelling around the rocks checking out the coral and heaps of fish, we even found some clown fish.  Aidan and Cody caught lots of squid while fishing off the beach, providing us with a few beautiful meals of calamari.

View from our campsite at Middle Lagoon, Aidand and Cody are digging in the sand

One of the sunsets at Middle Lagoon, Aidan and Cody are standing in the water fishing for squid

We went out on the boat a couple of times and saw dolphins and lots of whales splashing about in the water, some of them were only a couple of hundred metres from us. We also saw so many sea turtles, but the cheeky things would always dive underwater as soon as Shell got the camera out!  The fishing wasn’t great, as much as you would think it would be up here, the only people getting fish were heading 30kms off shore which we didn’t want to do, and they weren’t catching that many anyway. But Cody did hook up a couple of fish, we are not very sure what they were, but one was very colourful and they both tasted great. Jaime also hooked a big shark, which we got into the boat but then cut free.

One of the many whales we saw

Cody with one of the fish he caught

After 4 nights at Middle Lagoon we headed down to Quondong Point which is a free camp area. We  found a beautiful spot on a cliff face overlooking the beach and rocks. We enjoyed a couple of nights relaxing here enjoying the view and watching the whales play only a short distance off shore.

Watching the sunset from our campsite at low tide at Quondong Point

Our campsite at Quondong Point, looking north

Looking south from our camspite at Quondong Point

Cody out exploring at low tide at Quondong Point

Derby - Broome

We left Liveringa and headed up to Derby, where we ended up just having lunch at the wharf before heading off down to Broome. We stopped at the Boab Prison Tree on the way which is located just near Derby. It is quite a sad story on what this was used for.

The aboriginals used to get kidnapped from the West Kimberly area by settlers connected to the pearling industry who wanted divers and workers for the pearling boats. They would round up the you aboriginal men, put them in chains and marched them to the coast. They would often stop and hold their captives in the Boab Prison Tree on their journey.

The Prison Boab Tree

We spent 3 nights in Broome, and really just used the time to relax and catch up on some computer work. It was a bit of a shock to the system coming into Broome. After spending so long out on the Gibb River Road and then on Liveringa it was strange to be in a tourist town, packed with tourists!

It is actually hard to get into any of the caravan parks in Broome because it is such a popular destination this time of the year. We camped for our 3 nights in the oval area owned by PCYC. Although we were camped in a dust bowl with no shade, Aidan and Cody enjoyed the use of the basketball courts there. We enjoyed swimming on Cable beach and we met up with a friend of a friend who lives in Broome and much to our disappoint he said that the fishing around Broome was terrible, especially at the moment so that ruled out our fishing plans. We did lots of long walks around Broome, checking out the town centre and the Port. We will be coming back to Broome in about a week’s time and plan to do a couple of touristy things when we come back.

Fitzroy Crossing to Liveringa Station

We headed into Fitzroy Crossing and drove out to Geikie Gorge. We were a bit over gorges and weren’t very excited about visiting another gorge but we had to fill in some time. It was another nice gorge, looked a lot like the rest! But we were able to finally fill up some supplies at Fitzroy Crossing in the supermarket. That night we headed out to Liveringa Station.

Jaime Cody and Aidan looking over one of the cattle yards as the Ringers work

Liveringa Station is a one million acre property. It is predominately a cattle station, running close to 40,000 head of cattle. It also has a small farming enterprise of mixed cropping and irrigation (about 3000 acres). They have a feedlot on the station which is currently not in use, but is capable of holding 10,000 head of cattle. There are 30 permanent staff and their families that live on the property and then they employ a number of other people during muster.

We went and stayed with the Cattle Manager and his family, who is a friend of a friend. We had 3 great nights at their house and they showed us around a large area of the property. They took us to see the aboriginal rock art and the hot springs. We went down along part of their river frontage on the banks of the Fitzroy River to see the weir which was built by the government for irrigation. They took us down to the stock camp and cattle yards where the ringers were busy branding, de-horning and drafting the cattle. We also watched another herd of cattle being mustered into the yards by helicopter. They also took us into their laboratory and looked at some of their current bull samples under the microscope checking for fertility.

The helicopter having just finished mustering the cattle in the yards

Jaime, Aidan and Cody with the Cattle Manager's family near the cattle yards after the muster

We visited Old Liveringa Homestead, where we saw all the original outbuildings and learnt a lot about the history of the property. While back at the house where we were staying at Aidan and Cody also enjoyed feeding a couple of poddy calves each day and playing with their kids.

Aidan with the calves

Jed the Cattle Manager watching Cody feed the calves

Day 11 Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek 15th July

We officially left the Gibb River Road today heading south to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek.  Windjana Gorge was Jaime’s favourite gorge. It was hard to get a photo to do it justice but this gorge looked different from the others, in that it had big black rocks faces that towered over either side of the river and in places it looked quite spooky.

Cody in Windjana Gorge

We moved onto Tunnel Creek which was awesome. This is a creek running through a big sandstone tunnel. We had to wear head torches to find our way through and walk through the creek. There were meant to be small fresh water crocs in there but we didn’t spot any of them. It was great fun exploring this tunnel. That night we had found a great campsite amongst a rocky outcrop surrounded by boab trees just south of Tunnel Creek.

Aidan and Cody running into Tunnel Creek

All of us at the far end of Tunnel Creek before we head back again

Cody and Aidan wading through part of Tunnel Creek

Interestingly the worst dirt road we drove on was not anywhere on the Gibb River Road but on this section of road heading from Tunnel Creek down towards Fitzroy Crossing. The good thing is that we crossed all these roads without even getting one flat tyre!

At our campsite that night

The boys while up exploring the rocky outcrop

Day 9 & 10 Bell Gorge and Lennard River 13th, 14TH July

We drove down into Silent Grove and went for the walk down into Bell Gorge. Once again we found another great waterfall and swimming hole here, where we all took a dip and explored around the base of the falls. Aidan and Cody of course were once again finding places they could jump off the cliff into the water and found a great flat mossy rock going into the water which they used as a slippery dip. To our surprise we found a goanna which was out sunning itself on the rocks amongst all the people and seemed to be unfazed by us being close by.

Cody and Aidan in Bell Gorge

We moved on from here to the Lennard River where we had planned to camp only one night but it was such a nice spot on the river bank that we stayed for two. Aidan and Cody both spent a lot of time fishing on this river, there were no big fish but they had a ball pulling in little ones all day long and they caught a number of cherubin in their pots.

Aidan getting his pot ready to catch some Cherubin on the Lennard River

Late afternoon on the Lennard River

Day 8. Calvan’s & Adcock Gorges 12th July

Today was a great day, visiting a couple of different gorges. Well they call them gorges but we would call them waterfalls and swimming holes. The first we visited was Galvans Gorge which was a really pretty spot and we found a rope swing into the water much to Aidan and Cody’s delight! Incredibly we bumped into people we know from Canowindra while we were at this gorge! We all enjoyed a  ball of a time climbing up the cliff face through the waterfall and jumping into the swimming hole.

Cody, Aidan and Jaime under the waterfall at Galvans Gorge

The second gorge we visited was Adcock Gorge where we enjoyed another refreshing swim and the boys all had fun climbing up the rock faces through the waterfall and finding places where you could jump into the water. We finished up the day by finding a campsite on the banks of the Bell River.

Adcock Gorge

Day 6 & 7. Barnett River Gorge – G.R.R 10th, 11th July

We had a big drive out of Mitchell Plateau, picking up our trailer from Drysdale Station on the way and then headed to Barnett River Gorge. We found a great little campsite on the bank of the Barnett River. We spent a couple of nights here resting up after the few big days we had just had, enjoying a dip in the water and the boys put the pots in to catch some more Cherubin and enjoyed some fun playing with some other kids who camped next to us. Incredibly the campers that pulled up next to us and camped the night was a family from Dubbo, who also knew the friends we have in Dubbo - it’s a small world! We went exploring while here and found Barnett Gorge and found some great places with deep water holes and rocks you could climb and jump off.

In Barnett Gorge

On the walk back from Barnett Gorge

Day 5. Mitchell Falls – WA 9th July

We had a very big day today. We drove into the Mitchell Falls National Park which was a long slow drive, stopping to see some very interesting rock art along the way. It is believed that this artwork (which was similar to a lot of other work we have already seen) is not painted by aboriginals but from people who were here before them – possibly African. We also found 3 human skulls in a cave.  We drove onto Mitchell Falls and did the 10km walk in past 3 waterfalls. The first was Little Mertens where we went for swim and climbed in behind the waterfall, followed by Big Merterns fell over a very deep canyon, and finally Mitchell Falls which was the most impressive! We had a lovely swim up the top of Mitchell Falls as well. 

Big Merten's Falls

Behind the falls at Little Mertens

Aidan Cody and Jaime in the cascades up above Mitchell Falls

Mitchell Falls

Day 4. King Edward River – Mitchell Plateau – WA 8th July

We had a big day drive the next day turning off the Gibb River Road and heading north towards Mitchell Plateau. We stopped in at Drysdale Station and left our boat trailer there (a lot of people leave their trailers here), to reduce the amount of dirt road it had to travel along, and we were going to have to back track back past this station.  After a lot of corrugated road we arrived at a campsite on the King Edward River. This was a nice little place where we went exploring and found a waterfall and Aidan and Cody enjoyed a late afternoon dip in the river and skimming rocks again. Along this road we did come across a guy with two camels who was travelling the whole WA on camel back. You would think this guy would be a really interesting person to talk to, but we soon understood why he was spending 12 months out in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a couple of camels – he was socially inept!

 The boys having a late afternoon dip at our campsite on the King Edward River