Broome, Birthdays and a Breakdown!

(or the alternative title: “Yeah, I  think we’re going to need a tow truck”)...

After reaching the end of the Gibb River rd, we did a quick run through Derby for a much needed coffee and to show the kids the infamous Boab prison tree.

Derby Boab Prison Tree.

From Derby, it was onto Broome.  There was probably a bit more to see in Derby but to be honest, the thought of getting to Broome was too much to wait for... and I can tell you it was a very excited ‘Jackson 5’ as we sped down the Great Northern hwy. Leaving behind the dust of the Gibb River for the fun and luxury of beautiful Broome, even an ominous engine warning light coming on, on the dash of the Patrol couldn’t spoil the excitement of what lay ahead. (No that’s not the ‘breakdown’ part by the way.  This was only a short lived thing, as a bit of dirt in the fuel filter was soon fixed on the roadside by yours truly.)

We’ve been lucky to have been to Broome a couple of times before, and it never disappoints. This time we decided to stay a few days at the Cable Beach Caravan Park (highly recommended) whilst soaking up the sun and lazing around their magnificent pool complete with water fall.

 

Plenty to do at Broome (a lot of it we’ve seen before), but still, we managed to while away our time with a few things: the kids enjoyed a game of mini golf, a visit to the town market, a bit of shopping, talking to fellow travellers and of course a drive along Cable beach.  Unfortunately, no swimming in the beach this time round though, as the coast has been plagued with big fat ‘tomato jellyfish’... by the thousands.  We were told they’re not particularly poisonous but can give a bit of an itch, something that we were willing to take their word for.

Cable Beach... beats the Monash Fwy.

Oh and we probably spent far too many late afternoons at the Sunset bar, enjoying a cocktail or two and watching the sun go down. The kids would run off and play on the lawn in front leaving us to mind the table and drinks.  Tough job but someone has to do it.

Mini him and Mini her.

Very artistic.

We also decided to head up to Cape Leveque for 3 nights.  It’s a ‘short’ 280 km trip north of Broome, which starts off as a really badly corrugated, sandy, bull dust ridden road, but then turns into bitumen half way up (coincidentally where Aboriginal land starts).  We stayed at Kooljaman Resort and set up camp, again losing a few kilos from sweating in the humid heat. 

Cape Le-f-que.

Getting there early, we then headed down to their beautiful beach.  We all enjoyed swimming in the beach for hours.  It was hard not to when the water was so clear and the temperature was lovely and warm.  When the tide was out the kids loved finding all the sea creatures in amongst the rocks.

Whilst staying at Cape Leveque we got asked if we’re were interested in posing for a few photos for an advertising brochure.  It was for a local Aboriginal to advertise his tour called ‘Bundy’s Fish Poisoning Tour’. Basically it’s a tour about bush tucker and surviving off the land and sea.  We followed Bundy around while he showed us plants to find bush tucker from while the photographer snapped away.  Bit of fun and very interesting learning about how many plants you can actually eat from. We learnt that along the boardwalk from the camp to the beach, there were at least 6 different plants you could eat. Something you wouldn’t normally know about just walking along!

After our last night we made for an early start to beat the heat.  We’d packed most of our gear the night before and so we were off just after 7am with the promise to the kids of making it back to Broome for a Macca’s breakfast.  Now there must be something about Cape Leveque for us that just doesn’t mix well mechanically.  11 years ago when we’d visited Cape Leveque, our old Patrol decided on the way up that it needed to realign it’s timing belt!... and long story short, we spent about 3 hours in the blazing heat with the help of a couple of locals getting her going again.  (Just ask Karen’s dad about the fun we had... he was there with us too). 

This time however we’d started off well, and we were making head way along the first part of the road which was bitumen.  In fact we were reminiscing about how 11 years ago we’d broken down (in pretty much the same spot give or take a few km’s as it turns out) etc, when all of a sudden “hmmm what’s that strange noise?  Is that your DS’s making that noise kids? Nope? Hope it goes away. Oh no not again”. We must have jinxed ourselves! So long story short again, it was the front right wheel bearing/hub. If you’ve ever broken down before (in the heat... fully loaded... with 3 kids...) you’ll know that horrible feeling of the world ending and the holiday coming to an end. “What are we going to do? No mobile phone coverage.”  So the decision was made to ‘limp’ back to the Cape so we could make the call: 13 11 11. “Hello RACV”.

So word of advice at this point.  If you haven’t already (and judging by the amount of people we’ve met and told our story to, there’s a lot out there who haven’t) get the ‘full’ cover package from the RACV (or the equivalent in your state) not the basic cover... trust me, it pays for itself... many times over.  We got the Patrol and camper towed all the way back to Broome; paid for accommodation and hire car whilst the car was being fixed and it didn’t cost us anything (just a hefty mechanics bill mind you). In hind sight we should have said we were staying at the Cable Beach Club Resort rather than the caravan park, but hey, you live and learn.

So back to the breakdown (both mechanically and mentally). We waited 3 hours for the tow truck to arrive up to Cape Leveque and then had another 3 hour long slow drive all packed into the tow truck back to Broome.  The kids had a ball sitting in a little compartment area behind the seats though while we chewed the fat with the ‘towie’ as we made our way back down the dusty, sandy corrugated track.  I swear if there were 3,859,267 corrugations along that road... we hit every damn one of them.  Just like our trek across the Tanami, it was a relief to reach the bitumen... by a factor of a bazillion.

Finally back at Broome CP with the camper set up, and Patrol off to the mechanics we breathed a slight sigh of relief. What started at 7am that day ended at 6pm.  People ask us how we like Cape Leveque... well after two visits and two break downs we have our own name for it now... Cape Le-f*%@-que.  The place is cursed for us.  (May be we need to return the shrunken voodoo head we took from there last time!? I dunno) 

While waiting for the Patrol to get fixed (which apparently required gold plated parts to be sent from Perth) we again whittled away our time (courtesy of the RACV) back at the pool and soaking up the sun.  As we kept saying “There are worse places to be stuck at”.

More pool work.

We also had Ben and Ashley’s birthday as well.  They were wrapped to celebrate their birthdays in Broome and both had fantastic days.  (Ben’s on the 12^th and Ash’ on the 16^th).

After the present opening, we had a Macca’s breakfast to start off Benny’s day and more swimming in the pool.  After lunch we had his echidna shaped cake, which we had to light and sing happy b’day to in the tent because of the breeze.  By the time we’d done that we’d all worked up a sweat and the cake was looking pretty melted too!

Hold that pose while I take a photo.

The birthday boy.

To finish off his day Ben chose to go to the Sun pictures outdoor cinema to see Hotel Transylvania.  That’s a great experience; sitting on deck chairs with a choc top, with fruit bats flying over head (which was very appropriate given the movie), watching the geckos crawl over the screen... all under the flight path for the airport.  So every so often, the movie would get drowned out whilst the latest container of tourists makes their way to paradise. 

Gold Class Broome style.

For Ash’s b’day it was more ‘pool work’ in the morning.  Ash’s choice for her cake was Charlie the Caterpillar and fortunately we could light this one outside. 

The birthday girl... with new hairdo.

She also chose for us all to go on a camel ride in the afternoon along Cable Beach which is another awesome experience.  (She’s very generous like that with mum and dad’s money).

The camel train. Laurence of Arabia and daughter.

After that we headed up to the Sunset Bar (AGAIN!) overlooking Cable Beach for a drink and dinner.  The kids thought it was hilarious when the brazen seagulls kept swooping down trying to grab the chips. We also went to the outdoor cinemas again that night for more bat/gecko/plane spotting... oh and to see Madagascar 3.

More sunset cocktails.

So after many calls to the mechanic (day after day), the green light was given and the Patrol was ready to go again.  After dropping the hire car off it was good to get back into ‘silver’ (as the kids have now named the Patrol) so that we could once again get organised for the next part of our holiday... to the Pilbara.

The Gibb Scissor Rd

Great news, we found a pair of scissors... but more of that later...

After leaving Kununurra, we headed out to the start of the Gibb River rd, for our ‘Kimberley adventure’.

 

The key word being 'open'. The Pentecost River.
Last time we did ‘the Gibb’ we travelled ‘up’ it instead of ‘down’ it.  So first stop for us this time was Home Valley Station, only 120km’s from Kununurra.  But first we had to cross the Pentecost River.  Pick up any Kimberley book off the shelf and they’ll be a photo of a 4wd fording across the river.  So here’s ours... as you can see not much water this time of year.
So onto Home Valley.  We’re glad we chose it... it was there or push further onto Ellenbrae, and in hind sight, a good choice as Home Valley was like a 5 star resort compared to Ellenbrae, both at the same price, complete with a pool of course that was a hit.


Home Valley Station. The 'Fountain' Pool.
Also as it was only an overnighter for us, rather than slum it with camping rations we opted to eat at their farm like tavern, (accompanied by the local band). Why not treat ourselves, we could always sell one of Alex’s diamonds from his gem collection if need be... We spent a long day in the car getting to our next stop, King Edward River, but it was worth the long drive. On route we stopped at Drysdale Station for a refuel (only $2.04 a litre.. bargain), a drink and one of their infamous Kimberley burgers.


On our trip up here last time (11 years ago), we pulled into Drysdale and did the same thing.  Part of the novelty of this place is the ‘phone in the fridge’.  It’s still there... and still working, so to continue with tradition we got a photo like last time...

"Hello 000? Yeah my dad needs an ambulance. He's chocking on a hamburger".

So from Drysdale it’s another 100 odd kms to the turn off to Mitchell Plateau/Falls. This is where King Edward River is and we chose a nice quiet spot near the river to camp.

King Edward Campground (with ensuite!).

We decided to stay here for 3 nights and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Being right on the river it was a great spot as we were in continually in the water to cool off.

King Edward River (Croc free).

Whilst at King Edward we had some visitors on the second day.  One local guy and his 3 mates turned up for a swim on their way up to a place called the Kimberley Coastal Camp.  The local guy is an owner and it’s one of those luxury beach resorts north of Mitchell Falls.  Apparently they were on a ‘boys week’ and even when they showed up at ‘our river’ just before lunch, they were drunk.  They were in two 4wd’s, one of them towing a double axle trailer, which had 140 slabs of beer in it. They were great guys and kept us entertained for a couple of hours down in the river.  One of the guys gave us his business card to go visit him when we get down to Walpole.  His name’s Ivan... and he’s a hairdresser!  (Although we reckon that’s local talk for sheep shearer.  There was plenty of ribbing going on about that.)  It was a very funny afternoon...

"Pass the Doritos Ivan".

We were thinking of going all the way up to Mitchell falls to camp but as there’s no water/river near the camp ground, King Edward was a better alternative to keep everyone cool.  However Lee did a day trip into Mitchell Falls from King Edward River while Kaz and the kids took it easy back at the campsite and river.

The trip to Mitchell Falls from King Edward is 78km’s on some pretty rough track.

Once you get there though you forget all about the rough track, as it’s got some spectacular views. The walk to Mitchell Falls from the camp area takes a while, made worse by the heat.  Being ‘kid-less’ it still took Lee at least 45 minutes.

On the walk in, you first pass Little Merten falls. Being late in the dry season, there was no water falling from it though.

Little Merten Falls.

Near the end you pass big Merten Falls (and guess what, it’s bigger than Little Merten!).  It’s hard to do this one justice with a photo, as it’s a sheer cliff face to the bottom, and certainly a sweaty palm moment taking a few photos from the edge.

"Back a bit... bit more... bit more".

Finally just after Big Merten you get to the magnificent Mitchell Falls. Water still flows over it even in the dry season.

It’s hard to comprehend what this place must be like during the wet season as the amount of water flowing over it actually makes the falls just one big mass of white foamy water, and you apparently can’t make out the individual falls at each level.

Leaving King Edward our next stop was Manning Gorge for 2 nights.  The lower gorge was fantastic for swimming in, just a stone throw from the campsite.  The kids had a ball!  We did the big walk to Upper Manning Gorge.  It’s very rocky near the end and the kids did pretty well, (although there was quite a bit of piggy backing on the way back).  By that time it had gotten very hot!! 

Upper Manning Gorge.

Upper Manning had some great rocks for the kids to jump off into the water and a (paltry) waterfall to swim under. Both Alex and Ash amazed us by jumping off a fairly high rock, (which Lee then felt pressured into doing!). 


No Fear, and Fear.

Manning Gorge Falls (just).

On the second afternoon at Manning we actually got some rain!  A ‘Kimberley shower’.  Quite bizarre...  one minute we’re cooling off having a swim, the next we’re rushing back to the camper to zip up all the windows. It only lasted a few hours and took the edge off the temperature, but obviously made it very humid.  By the time it came to packing up the next morning, all had dried out. 

A bonus of the rain was that it had washed off a fair bit of dust off the camper trailer.  One of the things with camping for us has been the setting up (and packing up) of a very dusty camper.  Quite funny to see Lee and Kaz with deep red dust marks over our arms legs and faces.  We look like we’ve been trying to blend in with the traditional aboriginals with their face and body paint sometimes.  No point trying to wash it off (the trailer that is) as it only gets dusty again.

Our next camp was at Silent Grove camp ground on the lead in to the beautiful Bell gorge.  But before getting there we stopped at Galvans gorge for a quick swim (no camping at Galvan’s gorge).  Again another pretty gorge and again Alex was busy jumping off the rocks (the kid has no fear).


Galvans gorge - "Jump".

Ashley the photographer.

After Galvans, we got to Silent Grove camp ground early and after getting out of the car to start setting up, Kaz was bitten 6 times in about 1 minute by the bloody march flies.  So out came the ‘Bushmans spray’ and Kaz and the kids got coated in it.  Kaz must have missed a bit on Ben’s ankle, as boy did the whole campsite hear about his first march fly bite (poor thing)!  The kids were then educated in the art of march fly swatting... and the satisfaction of the ‘post whack heel grind’ of the fly into the ground. Apart from the ‘marchies’ it was a nice camp ground, with solar hot water showers! Very posh.  The tree swing got another run as well.

Silent Grove. Ben's Fuzzy Flower.  We did the (short) walk to Bell gorge the next morning (after a night of more rain!) and spent a couple of hours enjoying another swim in another beautiful gorge.  We reckon bell gorge is one of the highlights of the whole of the Kimberley.From the top of the falls:

After wading through the top river, you have to climb down over the rocks and boulders to get to swim in this:

Mountain goat time

Bell Gorge.

After packing up yet again and dripping litres of sweat we were on the move again.  Our next destination was Windjana Gorge and Tunnel creek. 

At Windjana camp ground we found a nice camp spot under a shady tree and before we knew it, Ben had found another, very impressive, bower bird nest.  This time there were bower birds so he was very excited.  They’re his favourite birds apparently. 

We headed out to Tunnel Creek the next day to do the infamous walk through the 800mtr tunnel (in darkness) with torches at the ready.  The ranger had told us that 3 freshwater crocs had made themselves comfortable in there so understandably the kids were a bit apprehensive about doing the walk.  Being the caring parents we are, we made them do it anyway.  It’s a great experience not to be missed.  Everyone had their own torches and Lee led the way. He was either leading to find the shallow spots in the water or the first to be bitten... still not sure?!

Tunnel Creek, who want's to go first?
After wading through the creek and making it half way to a break out spot, there are hundreds of ghost bats hanging overhead.  We all enjoyed watching them for a while and although it was very tempting to stir them up to watch the ensuing havoc, we continued on.


Ghost bats in the bat cave.

 

The light at the end of the tunnel.

After making it to the other end we had to wonder, where were those crocs, as they had eluded us on the way through.  A tour group arrived at the end not long after us, and their guide told us where they were hiding.  So sure enough on the way back, there they were.  You could only see their eyes reflecting the torch in the distance but as we got closer they slowly sunk down into the water. Eerie!! 

We stayed another night at Windjana and walked down through the gorge to see a few more crocs in the water.  Alex was the first to spot one as we walked along the gorge. 

Here's one John west rejected.

Apparently with the rain in the area, the river through the gorge had stirred up the silt and had been killing the barra... but gave the 'freshies' more than a decent feed. It’d be tempting to fish in the gorge as there’s some large ones swimming around still but this sign is pretty prominent before you enter the gorge: 

Windjana Gorge.

So the Gibb River adventure has come to an end.  We’ve all had a great time swimming in all the different gorges but now it’s time to head to one of the kids favourite destinations, Broome!

Oh the scissors!!  We forgot to tell you about our new pair of scissors...

Good news, bad news really.

Good news: We found a pair of scissors on the Gibb River road (just before Mt Barnett roadhouse/Manning Gorge).

Bad news: We found them in our tyre!

"What's that in the tyre? New set of handles and they'll be good as new."
(Bad-erer news: tyre’s unrepairable.)