Anthony's New Found Paradise - Broome

At Last... Beautiful Broome

Camel Ride along Cable Beach, Broome at Sunset.

Windjana Gorge & Tunnel Creek

We faced the grave & infamous Gibb River Road again... and this time conquered it!

Windjana Gorge

In the midst of the barren, dried, flat land, this oasis appears.
There were sooooo many freshwater crocs, all along the bank.

We couldn't get over how quiet they were.

We walked along the sandy river bed, just a few metres from all these crocs - out sunbaking. There were just so many!

Nat wanted to catch a baby one to take home for a pet.

They were so relaxed - just floating out under the sun.

Compared to the saltwater crocs, they were so much smaller & less troublesome looking.
Another gorge, and yet a totally different experience again.

Then, onto the "rough road" of Gibb River Road, another 40 km to ...

Tunnel Creek

We had been warned as to the water temperature, as to wearing shoes that could get wet, and as to taking a torch. Man, did we need to!

Ant helped each of us through the initial part, where the water came just over his knees (waist-height on Noah).

Even compared to the Croc-infested Windjana Gorge, Nat & Noah said that this was the best part of the day, here at Tunnel Creek.

The creek has carved a tunnel right through the mountain. Here, a cave-in has allowed light through to the tunnel about half way along.

The ceiling was low down in some places and yet, very high in other areas. On the return route, we noticed a small freshwater croc in the water. That is, in the water that we had walked through the first time.

Another wonderful day.

Horizontal Falls

The Highlight of the Trip so far ...

Horizontal Falls

(This photo probably would look better turned around, but I don't know how to on Blog, and this is the angle from the Plane).

We flew from Derby over the Horizontal Falls by the above "Kimberley Extreme" Seaplane.

Next we were taken over to the Horizontal Falls on the Kimberley Extreme Jet Boat.

It was so much fun! They came very close to the Falls, then past them, fast turns, then we couldn't believe when they actually took us through them! It was amazing!

Noah became less sure, and even a little worried, then started yelling, "Stop!" Nat yelled, "No, Keep Going!"

The amount of water passing through this gap was amazing.

The First Gap of the Horizontal Falls was approx. 22metres wide. This is the gap we rode through.

The second gap was only 7 metres wide, 40 metres deep, and had approx. 1 Million Gallons per Second passing through it. Needless to say, they didn't take us through it - we were a little worried at driving towards it, thinking they were going to take us through it.

This was heading back towards the first gap again - Backwards! Half way back through it, the driver throttled just enough so that we sat stationery and watched the force of the water pass by us. Fantastic!
We couldn't believe when we arrived back from the Jet Boat Trip, that these "Friendly Grey Nurse" Sharks were just hanging around the boat! Frank & Ralph they had been named by the crew.

After morning tea on a Luxury Yacht, we had another boat trip up one the beautiful surrounding creeks. It was beautiful. And of course, we saw another Saltwater Croc or 2.

Then back to the Luxury Yacht for a BBQ Lunch. Not bad outlook! The boys were mostly blown away by the Free Fanta!

Time to hang out & relax after lunch.

The boys just kept watching the sharks hanging around us.

Finally, the flight home. This time over Achapalago Buchaneer Bay & "Thousand Islands".

Nat was quite sad when it came time to leave. He said it was the best day of our trip so far - we all had to agree with him.

Geikie Gorge

Beautiful Geikie Gorge, Fitzroy Crossing
We enjoyed a wonderful boat trip up Geikie Gorge. We saw probably a dozen freshwater crocs.

The next afternoon, Lance, Cathy & Lis enjoyed a walk along the bank and were blessed to watch the colours change on the walls of the Gorge as the sun set.

We also all enjoyed having a powered site for a night, washing machines, recharging batteries, nintendos, computers, DVD players, phones, etc. As well as the wonderful long hot showers (that you don't have to bucket water from the creek & sit in the sun all day!)

Western Australia !!!

We've Crossed the Border! (A few times for the boys - they had fun running back & forwards from NT to WA).

This is what the trip was to be all about - W.A. (mind you, a month in NT was fantastic & a major bonus!)

Bungle Bungles

Lance & Lis at the Bungle Bungle Domes (beehives). (yes, I know, fantastic "arm" photography!)

Unfortunately, we had to give El Questro a miss. We started driving up the Gibb River Road, but the road was so shocking, it felt like the vans would fall apart. So, we finally stopped to have a cuppa before turning around. Cathy accidentally put their electric kettle on the gas stove which started a small fire in their van. Mum's immediate reaction was to throw the teatowel that she'd used to put out the fire, (ie. the teatowel that was now on fire also) out of the van. Thankfully, Dad stopped her in time, otherwise another Northern Australia Bush Fire would have begun! (Dry grass for miles!) So, after all of this, needless to say, we had yucky, bad vibes towards El Questro & have given it a miss.

Instead, we enjoyed 8 restful nights at the one rest stop outside of the Bungle Bungles.

The boys made their own fishing rods & enjoyed fishing in the creek where we stayed.

The road to the Bungle Bungles was pretty full on ( although not nearly as bad as the Gibb River Road). It took us approx. 2 hours to do 50 kms into the Visitor Centre, then the same again to actually drive around to the Domes & Gorges in the Bungle Bungles. Needless to say, only did the trip once (unfortunately) - but it was well worth the effort!

Lance in the Echidna Chasm (Bungles still) at midday, when the sun starts to change the colours within the gorge. Just beautiful! Very high, very narrow & beautiful reddy orange coloured walls.

The boys both enjoyed climbing & exploring.

Like Grandfather... Like Grandson!!!

Cathedral Gorge (still Bungles) was magnificent. Just huge. We tested out the old lungs and gave Amazing Grace a whirl. (yes, we were alone).

Also, Dad made use of the opportunity to have his daily bath here ! Oh, Lance!!! (again, thankfully, yes, we were alone).

Our time here outside of the Bungles was extended from 2 nights planned originally to 8 nights. Due to: Lis hurt her back for a couple of days. Then, a guy's car had broken down on the way into the Bungles , so Lance & Ant helped them out by taking "Nick" into the closest town - 50 kms away, Turkey Creek, so that he could use a phone (yes, that's right, as usual, no phone reception). The second trip of helping Nick into the closest trip, on their return trip, Lance's new Landcruiser's engine cracked up (due to some faulty mechanical work done just before the trip). Thankfully, his mechanic's insurance was able to pay for & ship up a new engine for the car from Perth in just a few days. Thus the extension of time to 8 nights here. Mind you, none of us minded stopping at one place for such a time.

Anyway, we have stopped for 2 nights now at Fitzroy Crossing, to visit Geikie Gorge, then across to Derby. Unfortunately, our "3" Network phone has still not provided any network coverage, even in the townships we are passing through. So, that's why you haven't heard from us.

But, please know, that we are thinking of you all. Thanks for the lovely comments, we have all just enjoyed reading them. We'll send another blog or phone message as soon as we can.

Love to you all, Ant, Lis, Nat, Noah, Lance & Cathy. xxxxxx

Gorgeous Katherine Gorge

We spent the afternoon canoeing up Katherine Gorge. It was wonderful.

The colours in all those advertisements are not enhanced. The water is a lovely clear green.

We were allowed to pull up on the sandy beach areas for a picnic and swim.

However, we were not allowed on the sandy beaches marked: "Crocodile Nesting Area", as the crocs eggs were up there. Only Freshwater crocs inhabited these waters.

We were also told to avoid the Crocodile Traps, as they can be a bit dangerous - they were just there for safety!

Well, that's all for now. We have finally been able to access the net again.

We are about to head West now - (the main reason for this trip) and we should cross the border into Western Australia in a few days time. Then, we hope to explore heaps of the gorges across the top of Western Australia.

All the best to everyone, our family and friends. We wish all of Nat and Noah's friends and cousins heaps of fun back at school next week - the boys miss you all.

Lance and Cathy send their love to all the family and friends too. (I'm sure Dad would like to say that he misses everyone, but I can assure you, Retirement is suiting him well and he is not missing working!)

Lis & Ant send their love to all also. Thanks heaps for your comments and Text messages (when we do actually have reception). They mean a lot to us. We know where home is.

God bless you all richly. (It may be a while before the next blog again). Love to you all.

Kakadu

We have entered Kakadu - how special.
We have camped by a Billabong, with a Jabiru walking past us.


We visited the Bowali Visitor Centre, with heaps of great displays of life up here - & Lis in particular enjoyed the Tourist Souvenir Shop! Thankfully, not everything was "Made in China", but designed by Locals.

On Tuesday, we visited Nourlangie Rock and enjoyed the aboriginal paintings on the rock a great climb and wonderful views.

Finally, we went for a BoardWalk on a metal grate over the Yellow Water Billabong. It was only a short walk, but it was absolutely wonderful. We walked over the wetlands, and saw another 3 crocs. Man, the crocs are everywhere!

As Poppy had already taken us out for a couple of extensive boat rides at Corroboree Billabong, we decided to save the $240 for a boat ride along this billabong.