Cape Leveque rest day

 “What is this life if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare”

I’ve spent a lot of time sitting outside my cabin staring at the view. This holiday has felt rather rushed; there is always pressure to see one more thing and to capture it on my IPhone. So it was good to stop for a bit and do nothing.

My cabin is surrounded by these Screwpine trees. The branches grow around the trunk like a screw. They have big orange nuts, which often drop on my tin roof in the night. There is also a bird bath which attracts lots of different birds every morning, including the tiniest birds I’ve ever seen. They all come in for a drink.

There are small lizards that visit, like the one in “Death in Paradise”.



The other cabin near to me has a nice couple from Melbourne. I was relieved when they arrived as this is quite a lonely spot. They even gave me some muesli for breakfast. Lunch was calamari:

In the evening I scraped together cheese and biscuits and an avocado, and drank the last drop of red wine (from a 2 litre cask brought from Perth - you can’t buy cask wine up here).

Sunrise is always spectacular:

Broome to Cape Leveque

I was quite sad to leave Bali Hai, as we’ve had many happy holidays there, but the wagon trail moves on. I’m travelling by Bilingurr Transit bus up to Cape Leveque ($140 return). This is a relatively new service which replaces the old Post Bus, on which the public could pay for a ride. The road north was finally covered with bitumen all the way last November. However, they are currently re-doing the first 18 kms as it got broken up during the wet season, so it’s back to gravel at the start. Lucky I didn’t attempt to drive to Cape Leveque in the Prius. The final track into Kooljaman is particularly hazardous:

Kooljaman is a pretty remote spot! I have a log cabin near the eastern beach. Very quiet, lovely views, but milesfrom the reception area and restaurant. I wish I’d brought more food with me! The peace and tranquillity of this place is spoiled by one thing: mozzies! There are two log cabins and we both share the toilet/shower facility, just up the hill. It’s a gathering place for vast numbers of mosquitoes 🦟 which congregate there, waiting for their next victim. On a previous camping trip with the Nats, someone christened such a place “the little house of horrors”!

After I’d settled in, I trudged back up the hill to check out the facilities and had an iced coffee. The bad news is that the restaurant is closed tonight and tomorrow night. For tonight, I can collect some barramundi and cook it myself on the BBQ. Tomorrow a better plan might be to eat lunch in the restaurant and save something for dinner. Like everywhere else, it’s a staffing issue and they are waiting for another chef to arrive.

Early morning (6.00 am) is prime time for watching the sun rise over the water. This is the location for fashion photography as the sun lights up the red rocks. I didn’t have my flowing white dress and pearls with me!

Windjana Gorge back to Broome

Last day of the holiday! Last day of dirty feet; it’s impossible to get them clean and keep them clean with so much dust about. The camping site still had a generous amount of burrs and prickly grass seeds: a real torment when they got inside your clothes.

However it’s also the last day of gourmet meals provided by G and T. It’s amazing what they can dish up in these remote places: lots of salads for lunch and dinner menus from India, China, Thailand, Spain, Italy and even an Aussie BBQ. I will also miss the fun of being in such a lively group: laughter is the best medicine and we had plenty.

The day started with an early breakfast and a massive packing up exercise. All the tents had to be taken down, and all the bags placed in the right order for the hotel drop-off in Broome. 

Then it was off to Tunnel Creek, where we had been warned that the water level was chest high and after that it got deeper and some swimming was necessary. Most of this was in darkness, so head torches were needed. I don’t like caves at the best of times and I couldn’t help thinking about those Thai boys who were trapped for a week. When we approached the cave entrance, the creek was really fast flowing and it was quite rocky. I was content to video the group going in and two of us stayed behind.

Our group going down into the cave.

Looking into the entrance of the cave

The cave entrance was completely dark and full of water. Everyone who went in came back full of excitement after their adventure.

After that it was time to return to camp, pick up the trailer and get back on the road. We were all looking forward to getting some Telstra service after being incommunicado for 3 days.

On the highway, the first thing we saw was lots of bikes and their support vehicles, one after the other coming towards us. This was the Gibb River Challenge by bike, taking place over 5 days: absolute madness in this heat! But some people are mad.

We had lunch under the trees in the park in Derby.

Goodbyes were said and thank-you speeches made.

A quick stop was made at the Prison Tree, an ancient hollow Boab, made infamous by the legend that indigenous prisoners were crammed inside to stop them escaping.

On the road back to Broome, we noticed a wetland with lots of birds: including brolgas, a jabiru and a pelican.

Jandamarra

Aboriginal prisoners chained together.

This area is famous for the epic story of Jandamarra. He was an armed resistance leader, fleeing from the police in the 1890’s. He was known as “Pigeon” to the white settlers. He hid from the law in caves high up above the cliffs in Windjana Gorge, but was eventually captured and executed in Tunnel Creek. There was even a children’s book about him by Mark Greenwood and Terry Denton.

Cave high up in the rock face,
one of Jandamarra's hide-outs.

These information boards tell his story:

They are hard to read because of shadows in the late afternoon sun.

Jandamarra’s story continues in nearby Tunnel Creek, which we visited next day.

Mount Barnett to Windjana Gorge

We left Manning at 7.10 am. It had been an extremely cold night (10 degrees, somebody said). A cold draft penetrated my swag. My fleece was a no-no, being covered in double-gees.

Corky bark wattle was prolific on both sides of the road. We passed Mornington Station down to the left about 80 kms.

Just past Mornington station we saw some brolgas in the stockyard .

Imintji Roadhouse is now a small store in a shipping container. Previously it was a bigger building. There were three safari tents, quite large but out of action. There was an ensuite but the toilet was not plumbed in. There were two nice single beds though.

The road went up and over the King Leopold ranges.  It was very difficult terrain.  The road was winding. The mountain scenery and geological layering was quite dramatic.

We saw little pockets of  Livistona palms in wet areas near the creeks. We also observed big black Dolerite rocks and tried to photograph them through the bus windows.

Windjana Gorge is only opening today after the wet season. We are the first tour group in, but there are lots of individual campers here already. They must have been queuing up at the entrance. We arrived in time for a late lunch. For the first time in this trip, the tents had to be put up, as no permanent tents are allowed in the National Park.

At 3.30 pm it was time for a walk into the gorge. Just before the entrance Tommo showed us a mass of Cluster Spear Grass. Back in the day, this put a damper on sheep farming because it clung to their wool, pierced their skin and made them bleed. They were then susceptible to diseases.

Inside the gorge, we found a fossil in the side of the cliff face. It was apparently the cross section of a nautilus. The  magnificent cliffs once formed a coral reef and the existence of the fossil confirms this.

Near a big pool in the river there is a big rock named Bandigan by the local indigenous people. There is now a move to change the name of Windjana to Bandigan, because Windjana is a corruption of Wandjina.

Great excitement over dinner when a wallaby appeared and tried to beg food. Half the group thought he was cute, whilst the other half shooed him away in case he did some damage or overturned the table.

My one-man tent for the night was quite small. It was warm and cosy inside, though hard on my knees creeping in and out.

Manning Gorge Campsite

This is a beautiful site, with lots of space. It seems to go on for miles beside the river, so caravans can easily find a private shady spot. It has one major drawback as I learned to my cost: the ground is covered in double-gees, or a relative of theirs. At dinner time I jumped up too quickly and toppled off my stool. My fleece jacket and leggings are now covered in them. I’m tempted to throw my clothes away as it’s such a major job to get them off! Life is too short to pick off grass seeds, am I right? Especially as they prick your fingers whilst removing them.

Rosella in flower near the river.
These are sold to add to champagne when 
they open up.

My fleece covered in burrs and grass seeds.
(After 30 minutes of trying to pick them off!)

Gools cooking damper on the fire.

There are also flocks of noisy white cockatoos which seem to have followed me here from Burswood.

The plan for today (for those energetic enough) was to:

• swim across the river, transporting belongings in a floating plastic drum, cut in half.
• get dressed in hiking gear on the other side: hats, sunscreen and water bottles at the ready.
• walk a 1.5 hour round trip up to Manning Falls, stopping for another swim at the Falls.

This all sounded a bit too strenuous, so I settled for a swim across the river, a lounge on the hot rocks and a swim back again. It was quite an interesting exercise, watching everyone get across with all their gear. The good swimmers had to bring the blue drums back for the next lot and ended up doing several laps.

Pulling belongings across the river.

Midstream it was possible to walk.

In the afternoon, we made a quick trip to the road house, so that the bus could be refuelled and the water tanks filled. It was also an opportunity to get an ice-cream. I chatted to a woman there about an incident in her caravan shower when her hip replacement popped out. She was in agony, she said, and had to be stretchered  to Broome Hospital. Wow! I don’t want that to happen to me - not before the end of my holiday, anyway.

El Questro to Mount Barnett

El Questro to Mt Barnett 

Today we were up and about early and left camp at 6.30 am. We faced a 6 hour drive along the Gibb River Road. This is completely closed in the wet season; local residents can get an exemption depending on the river levels. The major barriers are the Pentecost River in the east and the Lennard River in the west. At around 7.30 am we came to the end of the bitumen and it was dusty gravel for the rest of the day.

At the El Questro turn-off.

The dirt road was completed in 1967. It was never intended for tourists in the beginning, so it was often poorly maintained. It was built for for pastoralists to get their cattle to the Wyndham meat works.

Home Valley Station, where Adventure Wild normally stay, has not opened after COVID. Like everywhere else in the Kimberley, they simply can’t get staff. There are signs up everywhere asking for people to apply for all sorts of positions. There so few international travellers and backpackers.

Brief stop at a view point.

Gools and Tommo  said the road was as smooth as it gets, because of recent grading. It’s the start of the season, whereas there get to be huge corrugations come July.

Tommo knew about a secret rock art site beside the highway. It was just a matter of remembering its exact location. He really needed to know about What3words.  (I had previously tried to convince the whole group about this app. Everyone thought it was a joke and started coming up with rude combinations of words. It really assists in pinpointing exact locations anywhere on the planet and is ideal for travelling in the bush).

The rock shelter had long lines of round indentations, known as cupules. These followed the stratification colours in the sandstone. There were also a couple of faint Wandjina figures. It is thought that climate change and lowering of water levels in the area indicates that the paintings are 10,000 years old and have remained untouched since then. The site is just before the sign reading 240 kms from Mt Barnett. We had to traipse through long cane grass and itchy spinifex on the way up.

On both sides of the highway, we saw lots of orange flowered gum trees. We stopped near the Drysdale River for morning tea. There was a nice view of the river so I tried a panorama shot on my iPhone. Then we saw a big croc reclining on the bank at the crossing. The river was very high here and quite wide. We had to take it very slowly over the big round stones.

 

Morning tea overlooking the Drysdale River.

Panorama shot of this spot.

Orange flowered gum.

River crossing.

Lunch spot at Kalumburu turn-off.

We stopped for lunch at the rest area by the Kalumburu turnoff, where there were long drop toilets and shady trees. Lunch was tuna and sweet corn wraps with Ranch Dressing. Then we drove up the Kalumburu Road for 2 kms for a quick look at the Gibb River after which the road was named.

My Barnett Roadhouse closes at 3.00pm. By this time it was 4.00 pm. and we were longing for a cold beer. Manning Gorge Campsite is 7 kms on from the roadhouse. We saw a Black headed python crossing the road. Everyone resolved to make sure their tents were properly zipped up overnight!