Halls Creek to Kununurra

I was up and away early this morning, departing at 8.00 am, as I had a 5-hour drive to Kununurra. On this road the going is slowed by a lot of one-lane bridges, as well as road-widening operations on and off the whole way.

I’ve been to Kununurra several times; originally on a bus trip with Coates Tours. Kevin Coates had organised a big camp-out on his daughter’s property at Kingston Rest, so-called because herds of cattle were rested there on their way to the port of Wyndham. It was on this trip that I first met JL.  Val and I were asked to share a tent, which we were very happy to do. 

Kevin’s daughter had been in the army and had become private secretary to Cosgrove, a high ranking officer who eventually became Governor. She and her husband bought Kingston Rest and tried to make a success of fish farming Redclaw, but I heard it was a hopeless venture because the babies were eaten by birds! Eventually they sold the place to Quintis, a company developing sandalwood plantations. This was also difficult because the trees take more than 12 years to mature, so there are no profits to investors in all that time. When JL and I visited the place some years ago, we watched Asian girls, chosen for their tiny fingers, pricking out seedlings for planting.

Anyway, I was glad to reach Kununurra in the early afternoon and check in to my cabin overlooking the lake. It’s part of the Discovery Parks group, mainly caravans, but with all mod cons and a beautiful view over the water. Wi-fi is non existent in the cabin and Telstra is weak; I shall have to go and sit outside the office, I expect.

View from my cabin

Fitzroy Crossing to Halls Creek

There are a few trials to endure in Outback Australia and Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek are pretty remote! Last night, having just watched on TV the abnormally high temperatures in the UK, I went to bed with the aircon on full blast. I woke up at 2.00 am absolutely freezing. I searched for an extra blanket and put on some tights and a T-shirt over my nightie. I remembered that I had put the aircon on in the first place to cover up the noise of a water pump that went on and off all night.

Another issue was that their wi-fi was non-existent, so I had to drive to the Fitzroy River Hotel to use theirs. This hotel proved to be better all round than the Crossings Hotel, but it had been fully booked when I was planning my trip.

The Crossings Hotel dates back to 1873, when it was established as a trading post. It claims to be the oldest licensed venue in the Kimberley. Its big plus is that the rooms are right on the banks of the “Mighty” Fitzroy River. I sat out on my veranda for more than an hour in the evening, watching the bird life come and go and some aboriginal kids playing football on the opposite bank. As I was leaving this morning, I was lucky enough to see a pair of graceful brolgas stepping around the caravan park, not at all afraid of me.

When I arrived at Halls Creek, I had no accommodation booked: huge mistake!! I had thought to drive around town checking out places first. I was just parked under a tree in the Kimberley Hotel pondering what to do as I ate a sandwich. A kind and pleasant woman who was just walking past turned out to be the manager. When I told her my plight, she took pity on me and found me some “emergency accommodation” and arranged for it to be cleaned while I had a swim in the pool. Phew! A man at the other hotel in town just said “Welcome to the Kimberley in July”. Very funny. The problem everywhere is lack of staff: the rooms exist but there is no-one to clean them.

View from my veranda.

Looking in the opposite direction last night.

Brolgas.

Derby roundup

I took quite a lot of photos in and around Derby, as I was specially drawn to the wharf and the tides:

Colours of King Sound.

High tide again.

Ironstone rocks at the water’s edge.

With fuel at $2.60 per litre, I decided to cook my own dinner. Woolworths were completely out of eggs, so I bought a bit of salmon, which I cooked with a jacket potato, mushrooms and tomatoes:

Norval Art Studio

There are lots of indigenous artists in and around Derby. They have been given help and encouragement by Mark Norval and his wife. They run the gallery and set up a studio in the garden on mornings in the week. I believe that Mark came here as a teacher and stayed. Visitors come from all over Australia and can have their purchases shipped home to them.

There were about five or six artists working. I noticed that the women were quite obese, but not the two men. I watched this woman putting dots on her painting. She said it was Day 3 of her work. I asked if I could have a go at placing a few dots:

I preferred the colours on this painting:

This man was carving a Boab nut (more info about this below). I was surprised that he was using an ordinary kitchen knife. Mark told me he had probably lost his best knife, but they were able to carve with anything.

Around the garden:

All about the Boabs:











Some of these are on sale for over $100. It’s very intricate workmanship and must represent hours of work.

More info about the studio here

Derby tides

Derby is famous for having the highest tides in Australia (over 11 metres). There are two high tides and two low tides each day). I found out at the Visitors Centre that the time to drive to the wharf was 11.40 am for low tide and 5.00 pm for high tide, so this is what I did. There is a long causeway out to the wharf and the setting sun is blindingly right in your eyes at 5.00 pm.

Low tide.

High tide.

It was lovely to walk out on the jetty, with a cooling breeze off the sea. This is King Sound and the tide moves really fast as it goes up and down into the Fitzroy River:

The jetty was once used for exporting wool and cattle, but now it’s only mineral sands:

This is where those yellow monsters were heading.

Broome to Derby

I dropped Val off at the airport at 9.30 am, hoping that her flight would actually take off on time to Perth. We had heard so many stories of cancellations and delays and scenes of airport chaos on the TV news. (I got a text from her later, to say that all was well).

Before we checked out of the Kimberley Sands, Val compiled a list of six or seven maintenance issues that needed attention, including a broken standard lamp and a missing door on the icebox in the fridge (so no ice cubes for our G and T). The wood on our patio gate was also rotted away and the swimming pool was full of leaves! One of Val’s caravanning friends told us that the hotel had been in receivership and the new owners seemed to be struggling. My own particular complaint was that the wi-fi constantly dropped out, so it made blogging very difficult. I have stayed at this hotel before and it has definitely gone downhill.

KS logo.

After a quick visit to Woolworths to stock up with supplies, I was soon on the road to Derby. I was slowed down by road works, and after that by having to follow behind two oversized wide loads (huge bucket-like things: some kind of mining equipment). I had to pass them 3 times, because every time I stopped for a break they kept going and got in front of me again. Their support vehicles were very good, though, as they signalled to me when it was safe to overtake. Later in the day I saw them again at the Derby Wharf:

They are the yellow monsters.

I checked in at the Derby Lodge Apartments and saw 3 police cars parked there, so I felt pretty safe. The whole area is fenced and gated, which tells you something!

View from my balcony at sunset.

Farewell to Cable Beach

On our last evening we strolled through the extensive grounds of the Cable Beach Club. The gardens get better each time I visit. We had a chat with two of the employees who come every year from East Timor to work there for 9 months. They had lovely smiling faces and really seem to enjoy their work.

Garden near the spa.

Black bamboo.



Then it was time to cross the road to watch the sunset:

The camels come up from the beach at this time. I was a bit too late to take a photo, but someone else gave me this one:

We had dinner in our hotel for the first time. We chatted to a couple who had just arrived on a Qantas flight from Perth. It had been cancelled and then delayed all day, so they had missed one day of their holiday sitting at Perth Airport. Val was keeping her fingers crossed that her Virgin flight would take off on time in the morning!