18 – 20 June King Edward River/ Mitchell Falls

We headed off to King Edward River, our planned camp on the way to Mitchell Falls. The drive was the usual mix of graded and corrugated road that we have grown to expect on the Gibb. There was an added bonus however of a river crossing that we had heard along the way has been a bit tricky for some. A tour van had overturned on the crossing only a few weeks early, with several of the elderly passengers (are there any other kind up here?) badly injured. So yes we approached it with a mix of interest and nerves. Ended up being no trouble at all, as long as you kept left to avoid the larger rocks. Tim actually did it twice for the photos! Must admit we have so often heard on our trip of tough roads and river crossings in the Kimberley but nothing has been too bad yet (famous last words??).
Past the river crossing we decided to stay at the second bush camp by the river. What a fantastic spot! Our best free camp of the whole trip. Not too crowded and right next to the river and best of all, it is free!! So nice we decided to stay and enjoy it for a few days.
Mitchell Falls itself was well worth the teeth shaking journey to get there (I’ll tell you about that later). We caught a helicopter to the top (these kids are so lucky!) and then spent the day swimming, looking at Aboriginal rock art and walking back down to the start of the trail. A lovely and exhausting day.
Now… about that road to Mitchell Falls… it was probably the worst rode we’ve been on so far. The corrugations for 78kms shook the bejezus out of us and the cars. Not one from our group of friends came away unscathed. The Webbs blew a tyre and cracked their fuel tank, the Serisiers battery holder snapped, headphone jack broke (and they haven’t finished checking their car), Simon and Lynn watched their aerial vibrate right off the car never to be seen again and Kate’s brothers’ car now makes a rather unpleasant and concerning screeching metal sound. Wally has held up well so far (touch wood… fingers crossed…)Saturday we had a rest day by the river. Wendy got the kids making pikelets on a tin which involved cooking pikelets on the top of empty tin cans heated underneath by a candle. Kids had a great time – it was like a school class experiment. In the evening Wendy helped the kids make oranges filled with chocolate cake mix that were then wrapped in foil and cooked on the fire. Tasted like a yummy jaffa chocolate cake.

17 June Drysdale River Station

Packed up and drove onto Drysdale Station where Kate had arranged to meet her brothers who had flown into Broome and hired a car to travel the Gibb River Road.
Drysdale is a station located 60 kms off the Gibb River Road and is the stopover point for those wanting to travel to Mitchell Falls and Kalumbaru (an aboriginal community on the Norther Kimberley coast). We arrived in time to have a Kimberley burger in the Drysdale beer garden. Apparently these burgers are renowned in the Kimberleys and are even featured on a website. The size of a can of beer with absolutely everything on it and made from Drysdale beef. All this talk about a burger! You can tell we are starting to live off the remains of rations from Derby and dreaming about food! I now have to monitor the number of slices of bread the kids can eat so that we can stretch our supplies.
Kate’s brothers arrived safely in the early afternoon. Our travelling group is now 22. 12 of who are kids all around the same age as ours. The kids love having so many friends to play with. Every day is an adventure filled with trees to climb, rivers and gorges to swim in, mud, sticks and “stuff” to play with, and fires to start and sit by. The older girls have learned to play 500 and are spending a lot of time huddled together playing cards.Mind you, with so many kids, we have seen very little wildlife as the constant volume of children’s voices scares them away!

June 13 -16 Manning River

Behind the Mt Barnett Roadhouse which is the last refuelling and grocery stop before Kununurra is the Manning River and Gorge.
It is a nice change to be camping next to a river where we can swim. Everywhere else so far has been a 20-30km drive from camp. The river is cold which did not deter anyone from swimming as the days are so hot.
On the first day we met up with two families that the Serisiers and Webbs had met in their travels. There were more kids to play with than you could poke a stick at. They spent the afternoon playing by the river. Chris/ Simon and the kids found a dead croc and whipped away with its teeth for souvenirs. Despite Emily and Fred’s best attempts to ward off other campers with their duck impersonations, we were eventually surrounded by elderly campers. One couple pulled up in their van mid afternoon, drank beers all afternoon, adjourned to their caravan for a video at night and left the next morning. Makes you wonder why they even bothered leaving home. We have been somewhat surprised about how crowded all the campsites have been throughout the "remote" Kimberleys.
Spent the next day having a cruisy day at the campsite catching up on the blog, reading, laundry and Tim even went to the big effort of having a shave. Kids worked on their pyro skills. The men spent time tinkering with the cars. Chris has been advising Tim and Sam on the cars as he is a bit of guru with all things mechanical. We also did a long walk in the afternoon along the river amongst the pandanus palms and paper gums.
On Sunday we did the 2.5km walk into Manning Gorge. This involved a river crossing that we had to swim across with the aid of some foam boxes to transport our clothes and backpacks. There were also inner tubes for the kids to use. 45 minutes later we arrived at Manning Gorge. Yet another beautiful waterfall and even higher jump rocks. We spent the day picnicking, swimming, rock scrambling and lazing in the sun. This life isn’t too bad.

We’ve enjoyed the river camp so much we have decided to stay another day. Did a day trip to some nearby gorges Adcock (Tim has rated in bottom 5, although we have been to less than 10) and Galvan Gorge. Galvan gorge had a rope swing from an overhanging tree at the bottom of the waterfall that kept the kids well entertained.

June 10-12 Charnley River Station

A few hours of driving and we arrived at Charnley River Station which is a working homestead that provides bush camping and access to swimming holes and gorges.
There were lots of peacocks wandering around and the kids enjoyed collecting peacock feathers which have now added to their rock and shell collections from earlier campsites on our trip. We’ve told Lara that we draw the line at collecting mud.
On our first afternoon we drove to Donkey Pools which was 8km away from camp. Had a lovely swim to cool off and admired the waterlilies
Kids are getting quite proficient at getting the campfires going. Because the kids seem to get up so early, they generally have the fire going before the adults get up which is quite nice. Junior pyromaniacs in the making.
We are running low on food. I have started cooking a bit more damper to supplement the bread supplies. Getting quite proficient with the damper recipe! Great hot out of the camp oven with butter and golden syrup or honey.
Thanks to the efforts of Tom, Chris, Tim and a hunk of ham used as bait, we had fish for dinner. The boys caught several fish at Dillie Gorge with seven deemed of sufficient size for eating. Dillie Gorge was about 30kms from camp on rough road through savannah grass areas and herds of cattle. In addition to successful fishing, there was swimming and rapids to play in.
Grevillia Gorge, another 30km drive from camp, was a short walk with a climb down a ladder to the top of a small waterfall leading down to a swimming hole. Explored, swam, girls worked on their musical and we had a picnic lunch.

June 7-9 Mornington Wilderness Camp

We headed to Mornington Wilderness camp with the Serisiers and Webbs. Mornington is a privately owned not for profit wildlife conservation property. The road in was nicely graded with a few easy creek crossings. We made camp in a nice shady bush area.
The first afternoon we all went for a swim at Sir John Gorge. The water was a bit slimy, with no good jump rocks for the kids. We had been pre-warned about a heavy going creek crossing that had to be done in 4WD (we were ready to send Chris in first!), but were slightly relieved to find the degree of difficulty had been hugely overstated. We then stopped at a track that winded its way round termite mounds with information on termites posted along the path. The guide said it would take 45 minutes but the kids raced through in 5 minutes.
The next day we hired canoes and paddled down Dimond Gorge for 2 km. We all had great fun swimming in the water, racing down some rapids and exploring the waterfalls. Even found a good jump rock. The final day was spent lazing around the campsite (including coffee and cake at the homestead) and swimming at a nice waterhole (Blue Brush). The evening was spent listening to an interesting talk about the area surrounding Mornington and the work carried out by the conservationists. Although the talk was interesting I think I enjoyed the saltwater crocodile near death experience stories of a couple that we met from Kununurra even more!Although there have been freshwater crocodiles in the rivers and gorges we have swum at so far, they are relatively timid and more likely to be scared off rather than approach you. The “salties” on the other hand are more likely to drag you away in your sleeping bag and eat you. We have been told we won’t need to worry about salties until Mitchell Falls and the Pentecost River.

June 4 – 6 Bell Creek National Park

We packed up in preparation for the drive to Bell Creek National Park. The kids had found a tree next to the tents, which Nick and Tom particularly were having great fun climbing. Unfortunately a large crash stopped the packing and we rushed over to see what had happened. Nicholas had fallen about 3 metres out of the tree to the hard ground below, and had scratched his arms and torso quite badly on the way down. We were concerned about the possibility of a broken arm, but thankfully all was OK.

Arrived at Silent Grove camp site late afternoon and set up in a nice shady spot. Again we were pleased to find the camp site had hot showers, flushing toilets and running water, a nice change from the camping up the WA coast. Spent the evening playing 500 with the Serisiers and Webbs.
The next two days were spent at the nearby Bell Gorge which is about 20kms from the campsite followed by a 30 min walk. After the heat of the walk we were delighted to arrive at a fantastic swimming hole, with a cascading water fall at one end. We all jumped into the water, which was surprisingly warm. We then explored further down the gorge, and found a fantastic rock slide and a 6 metre high rock platform which we had hours of fun jumping off into the water below. The first of many “jump rocks” that the kids will seek out and find through the Kimberley.
Further exploring down the gorge and we found another waterfall which I think was even bigger than the first but not accessible due to the steep cliff above it. A few nerve racking moments with kids rushing to the cliff edge to have a look.

June 2 – 3 Windjana Gorge National Park

We left Derby mid morning after stocking up on supplies to head into the long awaited Kimberleys, and onto the somewhat dreaded Gibb River Road. We had heard a number of tales before we left about the Gibb River Road including shredded tyres and breakdowns, but the first 60 kilometres were bitumen. Eventually we hit the gravel, but the road is constantly graded and the road was in excellent condition.

We made camp at Windjana Gorge National Park, and relaxed playing cards and carving boabs. We were surprised to find that camping next to us was a guy that Sam and I had gone to University with, so it was nice to spend an evening chatting.

Early the next morning we ventured into the gorge with the Serisiers for a 7 kilometre return trip. We enjoyed the cool of the morning and spying crocodiles (freshies) skulking around the sandy river banks. Although freshies are not meant to be aggressive, we had been advised by the ranger not to swim because of the large number of crocs and the small size of our children. Tender little morsels. We probably progressed about 2 kilometres before the heat became too much and we returned to the campsite.

The Webbs arrived at camp late morning so our group of 10 children was now complete!
In the afternoon we all headed to Tunnel Creek. This was a fantastic 800 metre walk through a dark cave and underground river aided by torchlight. We spotted some small fish in the river which ran through the cave, and reportedly some small freshies, about a foot long. At the end of the cave the kids enjoyed splashing around in the river.

May 30- June 1 Derby where we got more than we paid for….

First stop was Derby, the town with the second highest tidal change in the Australia. On a full moon it can range up to 10 metres. Funny how no matter how small a town is, there is always something they can claim makes them different and special. Here it is tide change. The tidal range creates one of the major attractions of the area which is the very remote Horizontal Waterfalls.
The Horizontal Waterfalls are located in the Buccaneer Archipelago, a half hour flight north of Derby. The falls are created through two gaps in a parallel range of cliffs. The first and most seaward gap is about 20 metres wide and the second, most spectacular; gap is about 10 metres wide. The tides in this area have a 10 metre variation. The effect of the waterfalls is created by the tide building up in front of the gaps faster than it can flow through them thus creating a four metre high waterfall between the bays. We deliberated as to whether we would go on the tour to the falls as it cost and arm and a leg. But hey unlikely we will back this way again and we had been told it was well worth it so off we went early Sunday morning.
We caught a 14 seater seaplane to the falls which was an adventure in itself. The views from the sky on the half hour flight of the Derby tidal flats and turquoise bays were memorable. We transferred onto a jet boat and zoomed up and over the falls which were dropping about 2 meters. Must admit a bit nervous to start with but the boat handled it without a problem. We then transferred onto a larger boat and headed off to Turtle Reef about 2 kilometres away. The captain nudged the boat onto the reef and we all disembarked for a bit of reef walking and fishing. Everything was a bit rush as the tides change quickly and significantly once they turn. At high tide the reef is 4 metres under water. We stopped at the Blue Hole which was a 8 metre hole in the reef and threw in a couple of fishing lines. Pulled out a fish every minute or 2 (Punto you would have been very impressed!) As one person put it, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. We didn’t keep any. It all went back in the water as the tour operator was not licensed for charter fishing. Fun anyway.
While we were fishing we noted that, our boat, probably 500 metres away seemed to be moving away from shore. And if our eyesight was correct, the captain appeared to be on the shore. In the distance we could hear him yelling for our guide who then bolted off to speak to him. Sure enough, for some reason the captain had gone ashore and left the engine idling. The oncoming tide had lifted the anchor while he wasn’t looking and off the boat went without a sole onboard. Swimming after it was not a real option as not only was the engine going but the waterway was infested with all sorts of sharks.

I think we call this an oh s#!T moment.

Our guide came running back and said we had to move quickly to try to get to the nearby island and higher ground as the tide was coming in over the reef at a rapid rate. Once on the island we would have to wait until our plane which was due to return at 1:30 and discovered we were missing. It was now about 11:30.

Nick chilling out waiting to be rescued....

We all felt much relieved once we reached the island where there was plenty of shade.
Our plane arrived in due course but had no idea where we were. We could see it in the distance as it searched and found the boat which had drifted some kilometres away from us. As the pilot had a plane load of tourist and probably no idea as to how to drive the boat, he apparently called in for assistance from a nearby pearling farm and the only other tour operator in the area. The other tour operator was able to put a skipper onto the boat and send a plane up looking for us. The plane flew by us a few times without seeing us, but with everyone jumping up and down waving we finally caught the attention of the pilot. Very relieved as it was getting late in the day. It was well past when we had been scheduled to be back in Derby.
They radioed our location to the pearl farmers who then sent a boat to pick us up from the island and drive us back to the tour boat. Gosh I wouldn’t want to be in our captain’s shoes…lucky he is one of the owners of the business. Because time was getting on we were quickly transferred back on to the plane and flown back to Derby safe and sound.

*Lucky we were rescued before dark

*Lucky there was shade

*Lucky the others in the group were all good natured

*Lucky the reef was connected to an island

May 25 - 30 Broome

We have had a lovely stay in Broome. We had a pretty quiet time mostly spent relaxing by the pool. The kids probably spent the better part of each day swimming. The resort was just what we needed giving us a luxury opportunity to have a break from our holiday (Life’s pretty tough when you look forward to a break from your holiday!) Judy also flew up from Sydney for the week so it was great for us and the kids to spend time together with Granny.
We are now all clean, rested and stocked up ready to start our trip along the Gibb River Rd, a 4wd adventure through the Kimberleys to Kununnara.