Marty n Susan: The Kimberleys – spending the kids inheritance

Kununurra was our first stop in the East Kimberleys. It has a vast, stunning landscape and is an awe inspiring back drop for an outback adventure. We spent one morning cruising the vast inland sea of Lake Argyle. Whilst we can’t remember all the stats thrown at us one we do remember is that Lake Argyle sends out to sea the equivalent of 15 Sydney Harbours full of water each day. It made us think of water restrictions down south.

Cruising on Lake Argyle

Lake Argyle spillway

Lake Argyle

We then explored Mirima (Hidden Valley) National Park, known as the ‘mini-Bungles’ and its walking trails. We also viewed the spectacular Ord Valley from Kelly’s Knob lookout and visited some of the other places of interest such as the Sandalwood Factory, which exports sandalwood products all over the world and the Hoochery Distillery where we bought their Aguardiente Verde aniseed liqueur, great mixed with lemonade and lime liqueur on ice. We also visited the factory that manufactures jewellery out of Zebra Rock that is only found in this area.

Mirima National Park - 'mini-Bungles'.

Lookout at Kelly's Knob, witha panoramic view of Kununurra and the Ord Valley

We then went on the Gibb River Road towards El Questro. The first stop was Emma Gorge, which is one of the best known and spectacular gorges of the Kimberleys. It was a very invigorating 2 hour return walk in 35+ degrees. Hidden within the Cockburn Ranges, Emma Gorge is at the base of a 65m chasm, and is fed by a waterfall.

El Questro Wilderness Park is about 1 million acres of rugged sandstone ranges, situated in the East Kimberleys, 100 km west of Kununurra, 58km on sealed on the Great Northern Highway, with the remainder on gravel. The camping ground on the banks of the Pentecost River and includes a crocodile free swimming hole

We did a guided tour of Explosion Gorge & Branco’s Lookout at sunset via a rough and rugged 4WD track along the Chamberlain River which dropped down steeply to the river bed. We cruised along the gorge, before heading back up to Branco’s Lookout for a glass of bubbly and nibbles while watching the sun setting.

Emma Gorge

El Questro Station Homestead a room here is $2,000.00 per night

Explosion Gorge Chamberlain River

Chamberlin River

Branco’s Lookout at sunset El Questro Station

The Gibb River Road is a 4WD route from Kununurra to Derby. The road conditions vary from bitumen to natural rocky earth, but it has access to some of the most amazing gorges, waterfalls and rivers. We did not enjoy the short drive into Emma Gorge and El Questro and the thought of a further 600ks, as it was very corrugated. While it is one of the last true Aussie outback adventures, the road conditions were just too rough and hard going for us, so we opted to take the Great Northern Highway through the Kimberleys.

So back on the Great Northern Highway our next stop was Turkey Creek where we took a scenic flight of the Bungle Bungles in the Purnululu National Park. The Bungle Bungles are one of the most spectacular landmarks in Australia and a World Heritage Listed site. The amazing landscape and unique striped rock, which are features of the Bungle Bungles, were visible out of the windows of the small plane and it highlighted just how huge the Bungle Bungles are.

The little plane that took us over the Bungle Bungles

A fantastic landscape of huge black-and-orange sandstone domes

Purnululu National Park

The next couple of nights were spent at Fitzroy Crossing, in the heart of the Kimberley region. The main attraction here is the 30 metre-deep Geikie Gorge, with its sheer yellow, orange, and grey walls, and plentiful freshwater crocodiles. It was Marty’s favourite gorge so far. Leaving here we then travelled on to Derby, stopping to see the Boab Prison tree, and the historic Myall’s Bore and cattle trough. Then it was on to Broome and the Kimberley coast.

Geikie Gorge - Fitzroy River

Geikie Gorge-the sheer walls are bleached by annual flooding

1000-year old boab tree near Derby once used as a prison

Broome Day 1 we ventured out to do the Willy Creek Pearl Farm tour gaining a modern insight into how the cultured pearling industry operates today and discovered how the rare Australian South Sea Pearls is produced and saw pearl farming.

Discovering how the rare and beautiful South Sea Pearl is produced at Willie Creek Pearl Farm

Relaxing and enjoying a cruise on the beautiful waters of Willie Creek.

Day 2 in Broome saw us take a full day ultimate Kimberley adventure. We were picked up at the front gate of the caravan park and driven to the airport were we boarded a seaplane that flew over the pristine coastline and the spectacular Buccaneer Archipelago, landing in Talbot Bay. Firstly we dived with some grey nurse sharks and Marty actually patted one, but I don’t think it was the highlight of the shark’s day. After a large brekkie we then boarded the boat and experienced the Horizontal Waterfalls, where the massive tides of the Kimberley try and squeeze through two small openings in the rocks. It can only be reached by sea plane. It was awesome as the massive tides tried to squeeze between the 2 narrow openings. The boat was travelling at 34kms an hour just to stay still in the water. There was a 3.5m drop in the water as we went through one of the openings. Naturally Marty sat in the “death seat” at the very front but nothing happened to him other than getting drenched. We returned to Broome by 4WD tour bus that took us to the One Arm Point Aquaculture Hatchery, home to turtles, tropical reef fish, and hand fed huge barramundi. We then went to Cape Leveque for lunch and to see the red cliffs meeting the pristine white sandy beach and the crystal clear waters of the Indian Ocean. Our next stop was Beagle Bay Aboriginal community for a tour of the famous Beagle Bay church and its amazing shell altar. Then it was back on the bus for a very bumpy 2 hour drive back to Broome.

A safe landing on Talbot Bay

horizontal two-way waterfall of Talbot Bay - Buccaneer Archipelago

Talbot Bay

Bat fish

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Feeding a Burra at One Arm Point Aquaculture Centre

Cape Leveque Dampier Peninsula

Sacred Heart Church at Beagle Bay, with the beautiful pearl-shel altar.

Our last big experience in Broome was a sunset camel ride on Cable Beach, where unknown to us we were allocated the stroppiest of the camels in the string, but it was great fun and just a little romantic.

The iconic camel ride at sunset Cable Beach

having loads of fun

Before we left Broome we went to Gantheaume Point to look at the ancient Megalosauropus and Theropod dinosaur prints that are embedded in sandstone at the base of cliffs and are visible at low tides. They were a little hard to find but it was an invigorating and interesting experience climbing around the rocks looking for them.