After having some fun up at Cape Leveque we’ve made our way back to Broome. Lucky for us, we timed our return right, as the Broome movie premiere of an Australian film made around the Kimberley called “Mad Bastards” at the outdoor movie theatre, Sun Pictures was scheduled during our stay. (It actually reminded us both of “another day working in automotive”!!) Our favourite Broome band, the Pigram Brothers starred in the movie, as well as produced the soundtrack along with musician Alex Lloyd…and better still, we managed to score some hard to come by tickets to the sell out show!
Poor Grant, I made him have us there 1.5 hours before the start to ensure we had good seats, and as soon as those doors opened, I bolted for the front row 🙂 So with popcorn and some white wine (not sure if they’re supposed to match, but that didn’t matter), we watched the movie on a balmy Broome night, followed by some live music by the guys. It was a fabulous night!
The following day we left Broome for a short stay in Derby. This place has the most impressive tides, especially the two days we were there. Renowned for the largest tides in Australia (12 metres), it wasn’t far short of that whilst we visited (11.92 metres). Amazing to watch!
A visit to Derby’s prison boab tree was also on the agenda, as was seeing Myall’s bore next door to the tree…a 100m water trough which, many years ago, was used by 500 cattle at a time before their final trek into Derby about 9kms away. For those of you that don’t know about boab trees….originally thought to have come from Madagascar, they only grow in the Kimberley and around the north west of the Northern Territory. Often having a girth between 7-11 metres, they are hollow in the middle and lose their leaves and large nuts in the dry season to assist conserving water. They were often used by the Aborigines for shelter, and later, the Europeans used them as temporary jails for prisoners. These days, the nuts that the tree produces are decorated – either by painting or carving. They’re a remarkable tree and there’s something special about them which is hard to explain…
Next stop Halls Creek via Fitzroy Crossing. We drove out to Old Halls Creek and saw “China Wall”, a natural limestone formation, the remains of the old Post Office from years gone by (goldrush days), and drove out to a natural waterhole, Caroline Pool. Not feeling the need to stay any longer, we decided to push on.
The drive from Halls Creek saw the road severely washed away in spots, making dodging the pot holes difficult to say the least. The entire Kimberley has had heaps of water this wet season and many of the gorges we wanted to visit can’t be accessed due to road closures (yes, those rain gods have been at it again!) Anyway, no drama, as we know we will be back….:-)
It was a great drive to finally arrive at one of my favourite destinations in the Kimberley, Kununurra….aaahhhh….
So, as I write…still no word on when the Gibb River Road will open, nor the Bungles, nor Tunnel Creek or Windjana Gorge.
So join us next time as we now begin to work on Plan E or F (I’ve forgotten what letter we’re up to!!)
Keep safe,
Grant & Linda.
| Kms Travelled Total 13,234 |