In almost 10 months of travel the one thing we have really noticed is the impact the weather has on everything. How we feel about a place, each other and life in general can change with a shift in the wind, a rise or fall in temperature or the coming of rain. As a Canadian who used to survive months of winter, I have always been aware that weather affects your mood. When you are exposed to the elements 100% of the time, what is surprising is how even a small change can completely alter your perspective.
Over the last 3-4 weeks we have been through a period of near perfection in the weather. The dry season arrived suddenly and has brought with it perfect clear days with temperatures of just over 30°C, but evenings cool enough to sleep comfortably. No wind, no flies, no humidity. This has been an extraordinarily happy time for us – everywhere we go just seems magic and we are in one of those phases in our relationship where we love each other a little bit more every day.
This will give you some perspective when I say that the Kimberley region of Western Australia has been, without question, my favourite part of Australia. The land is ancient with magnificent ranges, rivers and gorges formed almost 2 billion years ago. It was one of the first parts of Australia settled by the aboriginal people but one of the last areas settled by Europeans. So it has this strange dichotomy of being at once ancient and new. But mostly, despite an upsurge in tourism, it remains blessedly isolated, majestic and filled with surprising corners of beauty and serenity.
Since we last blogged we have travelled the full length of the Gibb River Road, from Kununurra to Broome. We found the “best campsite on tour” at El Questro where we managed to snare a beautiful private site on the edge of the Pentacost River. Dennis fished out the front of the tent, I read my book, we both went for amazing walks to the most glorious gorges and swam in clear crystal pools (that is, when I could persuade Dennis that there really weren’t any crocodiles in the pools waiting to eat him). We moved on to a couple of station stays at Mt Elizabeth and Charnley River Stations – both interesting and with opportunities to explore the properties to discover more gorges and swimming holes and even some pretty spectacular aboriginal rock art. We also spent a few days at the Mornington Wilderness Sanctuary – again magnificent landscape but fascinating because this area, which has now been destocked for almost a decade, was so dramatically different in its vegetation and birdlife to the station landscape. It is quite surprising to realize the impact that cattle have on the landscape – even when as widely dispersed as they are in the Kimberley.
Dennis will tell you that he has been a contestant in “Survivor” over the whole of this trip, but particularly through the Kimberley. I must admit that many of the walks we have done have been pretty difficult and involved scrambling over boulders, swimming across pools and lengthy walks on uneven surface in the hot sun. Dennis has been a legend – and has survived each challenge put in front of him. That is, of course, except the canoe challenge! We went canoeing on a couple of occasions. The first time we canoed through Dimond Gorge in the Mornington Sanctuary and Dennis was able to ‘board’ the canoe from the beach. It wasn’t pretty, but he managed to stay afloat and we were able to paddle forth. However, when we tried again to canoe at Charnley River he was not so successful. This time we had to board from the rocks with the canoe sitting in deep water. I got in first (BIG mistake) and Dennis followed. The minute he stepped into the boat we started to tip and I knew we were done for. There was a couple of seconds of rocking back and forth as Dennis tried to regain his balance, but pretty soon we were both in the drink. Dennis gets top marks for keeping his sense of humour. He did initially come out of the water with “that look” on his face – you know, the look that says “this is all your fault, why do I ever listen to you”. But pretty quickly we were both in fits of laughter. And, best news, we had learned our lesson from previous adventures and left the camera behind – so no costly damage done!
As anticipated the late rains did prevent us from heading north to Mitchell Falls and the coastal community of Kalumbaru – but that’s OK as it only means we will have to come back! The Bungle Bungles were also closed, but we will be able to go there in August after we finish the Canning – so all is not lost there either.
We are now at Cape Leveque in the top northwest corner of Australia. This is a magic place! We’ve been here before and return 8 years later to find the place somewhat busier – but just as picture perfect. The peninsula juts out into the Indian Ocean so you can see the sun rise over the ocean on one side and set over the ocean on the other. Accomodation and camping is still very basic, leaving the red sandstone cliffs and miles of beach to play the starring role. Since we were last here there has been the addition of a new restaurant complete with espresso coffee machine – so it’s possible that this really is as good as it gets!
While we are basking in the warmth and beauty of the Kimberley, the really BIG NEWS is happening on the opposite side of the continent. Our house on Gipps Street goes to auction next Saturday (26th June) at 11am. To be honest, it’s not looking all that great for the auction at the moment, so we expect that it probably won’t sell on the day. But nonetheless we are bracing ourselves for pending homelessness. Just in case you are surprised by the idea of us selling our house, I should probably add that our latest plan is to relocate to somewhere on the northern coast of NSW. We’ve had enough of the cold and the traffic and this year has opened our eyes to the idea that life is short and you need to suck everything you can from it. No doubt a news flash will follow on this topic.
That’s my full report (can you believe it’s so short). Now over to Dennis, who will no doubt regale you with exaggerated tales of his bravery and heroism in surviving the last few weeks.
What can I say only that I am surviving the daily tasks set by the personal trainer (Steph) what she has not mentioned is the water ways have been alive with fresh water crocodiles, the locals say they will avoid you and its ok to swim, not for me though. Our private camp site on the river at El Questro was superb right down to the fishing out the front of the camp where numerous fish were caught and then released including a 54 centimeter Barra, cat fish and black brim and oh yes the fresh water croc basking in the sun for an hour out the front also.
We have had a few funny moments including the Barra Classic winners Dinner at Mt Hart a 1 million acre property where we spent the night. Stephanie nominated here for her ‘winners’ dinner stipulating that mention needed to be made for the reason for our celebration. In the normal way I asked the maitre de to do the honours, there were some 30 people at dinner and prior to the selection of 8 different deserts to be pondered, Taffy enquired if there was a Stephanie Hunt in the room, sheepishly up went the hand she was then invited to stand up, Taffy with his quick Irish wit said “you can do the dishes” which got a great laugh, boy I wish I had a photo! Taffy then proceeded to mention the Barra Classic achievement and Steph was escorted up to be the first for deserts, I must admit that I have not laughed so much for some time, all good fun and we both had a good time.
Golf has been a rarity however I did play at Broome last Saturday and featured in the prize pool coming in equal second with 40 points, an interesting course and they do love their golf up here.
We are now in the process of preparing to leave the camper in storage and fitting out the car to go with a tent as we head towards the Canning Stock route on the 1st August, so expect the survivor challenge to go up a notch.
That’s it for now and fingers crossed that the house sells on Saturday.
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