Derby to Broome

Day 137

Time to leave the ‘Adults only’ (still a disappointment) van park and head back East (good for the KM’s) a bit to visit Windjana National Park and Windjana gorge. Now we have heard some of the legends surrounding the Gibb river road. It Is perhaps Australias’ most famous or should I say infamous outback drive. Stretching from Derby to Kununurra, over 660Km of rough, corrugated, unsealed road,  serious 4WD territory.

So of course we wouldn’t make Polly do that………

Well not all of it, just the first 149KM!

The first couple of KM’s were two bitumen lanes and we thought No problem.

Then we had 50KM or so of single lane tarmac and apart from slowing down a bit and putting two wheels on the gravel whilst you pass another car, again no problem.

Then we had two long stretches of unsealed gravel road with small tarmac interludes and the going was pretty rough, we slowed right down but she was still slipping about on the loose gravel and vibrating over the corrugations. The whole van was ssshaking and you could hear the contents of the cupboards jumping around like they had won the lottery.

 Then finally we reached the Windjana turnoff and were faced with the final 20KM of rough as guts unsealed road, we stopped a few times and though about turning around more than once but we were sol close now that we may as well push on.

We finally made it with Polly in one piece and it was quite a nice campsite (National parks usually are) we did notice that we were the only 2WD in the campsite and everyone else seemed to have large off road vehicles.

We had some lunch and the rough drive had done us one favour at least, the hard boiled eggs appeared to have peeled themselves!

A short stroll up to the mouth of the gorge in the afternoon and a chance to spot a few more crocs, Windjana is famous for them! We did see a few as well, all freshies though so nothing to worry about (yeah right, keep well away).

Retired for an early night so that we can get up and do the longer walk in the morning.

Day 138

As promised we are up at the crack of dawn and are walking by 7.30. It’s  7KM to the end of the gorge and back and it follows the route of the river that flows here in the wet season which has carved a path through the ancient fossilised coral reef (much like Geckie gorge).

Along the way we are entertained by the flies again and spot lots of wildlife including lots more crocs, a huge colony of fruit bats nesting in the trees over the water and some sizeable fish in the pools (No fishing im afraid). We make it to the end in good time and stroll back the same route and it is getting hot by the time we get back to the van.

Right behind the van we see a sign warning not to park too close to the Bower birds nest so go to investigate. The nest is great, very Architectural and he tries to pretty it up to attract a mate by collecting lots of white stuff (stones, twigs etc) and putting it out the front as decoration.

Very pretty it is too and if I were a female Bower bird I would be straight in!

Bearded birding

Spend the afternoon keeping cool and getting some practice on the boomerang (Thanks Davey).

Shorter walk in the late afternoon around the scrub in front of the gorge, looking at all the Boab trees and notice another of the golden trees we saw at Chilagoe. It has a little plaque telling us that it is a helicopter tree (We already knew that thanks John and Tonia) but this still doesn’t solve the mystery of why it is golden..

Day 139

Sunday so its time for beard update.

This is possibly the last beard update as I have a date with the barber this week and will be returning to clean (ish) shaven from now on (Not before time Carmen says).

Pack up and neither of us are looking forward to the drive back along the Gibb river road but as we have no option pack towels and clothes into all of the drawers and cupboards in an effort to reduce some of the clanking and crashing noises as we go.

The first section of 20KM is even worse than we remember, heavily corrugated and by the time we reach the main track we have both already had enough and notice a crack in the dashboard (Polly has had enough as well).

We turn onto the Gibb river road and thank the heavens above the grader has been through and all but removed the corrugations. It is like a different road, smooth as and we drive straight through to the tarmac without another hitch (God bless the grader).

As the going has been so good we decide that rather than have another night in Derby we will push on to the further 220KM to Broome and the ocean.

Arrive in Broome and head straight for the famous cable beach and the Azure blue Indian Ocean. What a relief it is to see the ocean as well, like coming home after a long holiday or wrapping up in a  warm blanket on a cold night.

It’s called cable beach because this is where the first telegraph cable was laid from Australia to Indonesia , completing the link back to Europe and England.

Had a stroll up through the sand dunes and onto the beach where we sit and drink in the sounds and smell of the ocean.

Day 140

Up and straight down for our first swim in Indian Ocean, nice and warm it is too and it feels great to be back in the sea again.

The surf looks good as well and I can hardly wait to get that surfboard out (after carrying it through the desert for 3 months).

Head off to do a bit of shopping and back to the campsite where we spend the afternoon giving Polly a thorough spring clean to get rid of all red dust we seem to have been accumulating.

Head back down to the beach for our first proper sunset over the Indian Ocean with a picnic and a chilled bottle of wine and watch the camels being led away for the night after traipsing tourists up and down the beach all day.

Day 141

Roll out of bed and cycle straight down to the beach for a morning surf/swim. There are lots of dark brown jellyfish in the water this morning and so Carmen only has a quick swim and is out again. I grab the surfboard and after a few failed attempts (I am out of practice a bit) I catch a few waves and it all starts coming back to me(It’s like riding a bike).Before long I am wowing the locals with my skills (probably).

We head back and have a swim in the campsite pool (no jellyfish) to cool off and after some lunch continue with Polly’s spring clean by repacking the roof and the cupboards and giving her a shower.

Back down to the beach for a swim (less jellyfish thankfully) and to watch the sunset again and we are excited tonight because tomorrow heralds the arrival of Peter, Rob and Tracey from Sydney. Who are coming for a holiday and to spend the week with us.