Heading North Again

Heading North Again

Having swept down the Gibb River road with some fantastic experiences behind us, we arrived in Broome via Derby with high expectations. Perhaps this was the problem. Broome, to be polite, was not our cup of tea! The old town may have been quaint once but has now been largely re-developed and carries a prescribed sameness about the streetscape. Each shop is fashioned in the same style and while in keeping with the region (corrugated iron and timber) did not capture the spirit we expected. Broome has obviously gone through major expansion in recent times and the new part with its shopping centres and pristine houses and resorts could have been anywhere in the Gold Coast or Mandurah. As for Cable Beach, we are unable to understand why West Australians would travel that distance to be at a beach that is no better than any of the metropolitan beaches in Perth. Large signs announce the prohibition of almost any activity other than sun-bathing. At the southern end of the beach vehicles are allowed onto the sand to launch their boats. On the day we were there, there must have been over 100 cars – no exaggeration! So, we made a hasty retreat out of Broome early the next morning to head off to the Bungle Bungles (Purnululu NP).

Not a lot to report from Broome to the Bungles. We had a couple of great camps however and met an interesting man at Ellendale. He came from Port Augusta and had considerable knowledge about many things but in particular how to carve Boab nuts. The method was shown to him by local aboriginal people. He showed us and Tia took to the process. Boab nut collecting was now high on the priority. We walked for some distance and collected a small cache of small to medium size nuts. Hubert however collected a number of much larger nuts and in very good condition. He generously gave us the nuts he collected and these were duly added to the growing pile of artefacts and memorabilia resident on the back seat of the car.

Hubert also directed us to the next good free campground on the way to Halls Creek. The next spot of interest on the map was Geike Gorge but after Windjana we could not get excited. Perhaps sensory overload was taking its toll.

As we left Broome the weather was turning decidedly cooler and clouds were gathering in the western sky. By the time we arrived in Fitzroy Crossing it was overcast and getting colder. We camped at Mary Pool (as directed by Hubert) and set up the annexe because it now seemed highly probable that we would get rained on. It did rain, and rain, and rain. The tent held up brilliantly and while we spent a worrying night we were still dry in the morning.

Passing through Halls Creek on the way to the Bungles we checked on the road conditions in the Tanami. The news was all bad! The track was closed in several places and unlikely to re-open for some time. The distance from Halls Creek to Alice Springs on the Tanami road is roughly 1040kms. The only other way to go is to head north to Kununurra, across to Catherine and down to Alice Springs, approx 1700kms. I was not happy! The Tanami was one of the highlights for me and it looked like it was slipping away. We pushed on to the Bungles and decided to check the roads again before we left.

The road into Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) is something to behold. The recommendation is for 4WD vehicles only and honestly I don’t see how you could get a 2WD vehicle into the park (even if one of the PMV drivers from Goroka was driving). It was a picturesque drive with dramatic backdrops and interesting if not challenging creek crossings. The 53km drive took nearly 2hours. The Bungles are worth the effort however. We spent three delightful nights in the park although we had our hearts in our mouth when it started to rain lightly after setting up camp. The next day whilst cloudy remained dry and in fact the light cloud cover made walking easier.

We had previously decided to take a helicopter ride in the park and to ensure we did not miss out we booked it straight away for our last day. Weather remained a topic of discussion however and when we woke on the second morning to a bright sunny day we decided to see if we could bring the flight forward. “Sorry, we are all booked up today” was the answer so it looked like we would have to wait for the next day and take our chances on weather that had become unreliable. On the way out of the airport Tia wanted to check on the best time to take a flight – early morning or later. As luck would have it a tour group who were booked to fly had not turned up so we jumped into their spot and took off straight away. What an experience! Flying over the unique structures of the beehives and following the various gorges was a great way to see the Bungle Bungles. Tia took some amazing photos and the 30mins we had booked went by just too fast. Purnululu is more than just the beehive formations so often seen in brochures. Amazing places like Echidna Chasm and Mini Palm Gorge made this a highlight of our Kimberley experience.

As planned we checked the road conditions on the way out of the park and had confirmation that the Tanami road was closed. We therefore had to take the long way around on bitumen to get to Alice Springs.

We decided to make the most of this enforced diversion and called into Warmun Aboriginal community to view their artwork. They have a well known gallery and the vast majority of the sale proceeds goes to the artist. We bought a small piece and this was added to the previously mentioned collection of artefacts in the back seat of the car (we need a bigger car!).

Despite being forced to travel the Great Northern Highway we were pleasantly surprised to see how beautiful the country was. We didn’t expect the views we were presented with. In fact, we would have to say that in terms of shear spectacle, the drive was worth the diversion. On our previous pass through Kununurra we did not get to Wyndham so we made the short diversion and stayed there overnight. Wyndham is well past its prime and is looking tired. Clearly the development of Kununurra has shifted the tourists and industry away from Wyndham.

After leaving Wyndham, we accepted that it was going to be a few days of long haul travelling; not what we had planned or hoped for on this trip but you do what you have to do. The only points of interest in the drive from Wyndham to Alice Springs were a flat tyre (totally destroyed unfortunately), a broken side window (jury rigged with the help of PVC tape) and a couple of excellent campsites. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I got us bogged! The story goes like this. We wanted to get an off road campsite and the surrounding countryside looked promising except that they have had a bucket full of rain in the last month. I took off to what looked like stable ground and everything was okay for about 10metres. Then we had that sinking feeling as the wheels dug into quite soft mud. Tia was not happy! All through this trip I have been careful to test water crossings and any dubious ground by getting out and walking the suspect territory. Not this time however and we payed for it. Darkness was descending on us rapidly and we needed to get back on the road. We unhitched the trailer and dug out the wheels of the Jeep; placed dry branches under the wheels and the Jeep did the rest. No problem! I was always confident that we would get out – not! The trailer required some pushing and shoving to turn it around and we backed the Jeep up, hooked it up and took off much to both our relief.

Part of the reason we were travelling late in the afternoon was that when we arrived in Alice Springs we found the place to be packed and accommodation was either not available of over-priced. We had planned to spend a few days in Alice but decided to move on as we had already seen Alice on a previous trip.

Next adventure on this sojourn will be the Oodnadatta Track. Hopefully this will be open and okay.

Until then,

So-long for now.

Alan and Tia