Mary River Pool

Sat 5^th July 

 
 

We arrived yesterday afternoon and found an area near some trees. The entrance is off the highway and across a low single vehicle concrete causeway through the river. There was water on either side in large pools, but most of the river was dry. Many people were already set up in the large camping area that has many trees along the river bank and dotted throughout the camping area. Officially you are only allowed to stay for 24 hours. In the morning, after a number of campers had gone we selected a better and flatter site where we could get full sun on our solar panels all day. We had a lovely quiet day enjoying the sunshine. We figured that because we shifted position, that would count as a separate day.

Geike Gorge

Fri 4^th July  



This tunnel leads to a cave that the rangers are exploring.



Figs like these are completely covered in the wet season and seem to hang on until the dry again.

 We went through Fitzroy Crossing and onto Geike Gorge where we took a cruise. The ranger who took us was extremely knowledgeable and obviously enjoyed the trip as much as we did. He was in no hurry to complete the cruise on time and spent extra time at places where there were crocodiles and other interesting things to see. The scenery was phenomenal, with the gorge walls towering above us. The area was once under the sea and there is a huge barrier reef with a complex of caves behind and under it. The rangers take advantage of the dry season to get in and explore them. One time two rangers went in without torches and sat down on a log to let their eyes adjust to the dark. Suddenly the log began to move and they realised they were sitting on a huge python that is still in there somewhere. Now they never go in without torches. We saw lots of Johnson Freshwater crocodiles ranging from quite small (about 4 years old) to fairly big.  A crocodile and a turtle were sharing a log, which is unusual, given that crocodiles eat turtles. As we approached they both leapt in opposite directions into the water. 



These stalactites are on the outside of the rocks. This is extremely rare.

The Richard Nixon rock, so named because of its appearance. You know about Watergate, well this is water level - the water comes to the bottom of his chin in the wet season

 

 

Some martins’ nests were still there at the high water mark from last year, but puzzlingly, they haven’t started to build this year. The rangers believe that they know something that we don’t about future weather patterns. We spent some time looking for Merton Freshwater Monitor before we found a young one in some grass at the side of the river. The ranger said they are becoming quite rare and will probably become extinct from the area within a year. They live on a diet of frogs, and the cane toad, which poisons them when they eat them, has arrived in the west. There are posters around explaining the differences in the appearance of frogs and cane toads because many people, in their enthusiasm to kill cane toads, are killing our native frogs and also depriving our animals of a food source. Unfortunately the monitors can’t tell the difference either. In the tiniest crevices were wild freshwater fig trees. Because of their root system they are able to hang on during the wet season when they become completely submerged. In fact all of the plants that are below the white line in the photos get submerged in the floods of up to 16 metres.  The sand bars get completely washed away, but more sand is washed down to the same place by the end of the wet season. You would think that with all the cracks and crevices rock falls would be common, but we were told that there has never been a rock fall in the last 176 years.



The threatened Merton Freshwater monitor.

The river abounded in crocodiles that were out catching some warmth from the sun.

Derby

Thurs 3^rd March

 

It was only a short drive into Derby, a medium sized town which has the largest tidal range in the World. We went down to the pier and the tide was out, leaving a huge area of beach and mud flat exposed. The pier had only a little water under the end of it. Actually it was an unusual pier because both ends of it were on land and it went around in a semi-circle with the buildings in the middle on the sea side.  Derby is quite an attractive town with an avenue of boab trees down the main street.

 

We liked this sign at the entrance to the wharf.

At high tide all of this is covered. The water comes up 11 metres.

On the outskirts of town is the Prison Boab, a huge and very old boab with an enormous base with an opening on one side. In the old days the police would put people in it overnight before bringing them into town the next day. The boab trees in this area are quite prolific, but this particular strain is only found in the Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing area. Jan says we should call them Boyd trees – big base and lots happening on top.  They are interesting because some had lost all of their leaves and others were still in full leaf. The older ones had huge trunks while the younger ones were quite slender. Many of them had multiple trunks that twined around each other. We drove on towards Fitzroy Crossing and found a good free camp about 80km out. We find it is better to arrive at a town early so we can have a good look around and consider the options. Most caravan parks in this area cost between $42 and $52 per night so we only use them when necessary.  Most free camps have toilets and shaded areas as well as picnic tables, and usually there are upward of 20 vans in each one. In these camps people are more inclined to talk and share experiences and tips.

Cable Beach

Tues 2^nd July

Today George managed to wipe out half of the park’s power supply and had to track down the electrical fault in his van. It turned out to be some doover that disperses the power that had had it. It’s all been sorted now. We went down to the beach just after the turn of the tide and watched it go out about half a km in a couple of hours.

 

 

 We watched two blokes trying to launch a boat off the beach. They took the trailer off and then pushed and heaved it into the water. Then it got stuck and it still wasn’t in far enough to get the boat off. So they attached the snatch strap to it and the car and dragged it up on the back again. After a huge effort they managed to get the trailer back into the water and to get the boat off.  One bloke then stayed with the boat and was trying to stop it being washed ashore by the waves while the other tried to drag the trailer out of the water. They were both working to the max. After a huge expenditure of effort the trailer was on the sand and all he had to do was back the car down and hook it on. Well his problems had barely started, he couldn’t line it up. He backed back, got out and looked, got back in the car and went forward at least 20 time.  Every time he went back, he wasn’t close enough and he didn’t have the strength to lift it onto the tow ball. In the meantime, the boat ran into the shore. We weren’t there when they got back and had to repeat the whole operation.  I bet their wives think they were having a fantastic time out in the boat while they were stuck at home slaving over a hot stove and minding the kids.

 

While all of this was happening we watched a couple of kayak tours , we saw the boats on wheels transporting people out to bigger boats, there were fishing charter boats going out, lots of other people launching and loading boats, people walking dogs, families playing on the beach, people on the sand and in deck chairs reading, people on horses in the water and people just driving along the sand and sight-seeing. With the cloudless blue sky and the sun sparkling on the water it was a memorable day.

Broome

Mon July 1^st  

Another lovely day, although we had to fight the wind a bit on our way into Broome. This caused us to use more fuel than usual so we were glad to see the roadhouse on the turnoff to Broome. George estimated that he only had a litre and a half left. We put in 98 litres at 183.9 per litre – work that out! Contrary to all of the rumours, we didn’t have any trouble getting into a park, although they certainly know how to charge - $48. Our site is quite large and has good shady trees around it.

 

We went down to Cable Beach and were awestruck by the size of it. There was such a long, wide stretch of sand and the water was a clear aqua colour.  We drove down onto the sand and walked down to the water’s edge to have a paddle. The water was icy.  There were quite a few vehicles on the beach and lots of people under umbrellas on the sand, although it was nowhere near crowded and we could see km of sand with no people on it.  Not many were in the water.

 

While we were there a boat on wheels trundled down the sand into the water, took its passengers out for a few hundred metres, returned to shore and up the sand again. Broome has a huge tidal range of about 10 metres and there are lots of warnings on the beach about rips, stingers and crocodiles. There is a blackboard at one of the access points to the beach and the most recent crocodile sighting was yesterday.

Port Smith

Mon 30^th June

 

The tide is coming in at a slow walking pace.

A number of people we have met along the way have recommended Port Smith as a must visit, so we decided to do so. The turn off was only a short distance from last night’s camp and the 22km road in,. Although it was a dirt road, it wasn’t too bad apart from a few places where there was loose sand. Thankfully neither of us took on any dust this time. We arrived at quite an attractive caravan park with palm trees, bougainvillea and  every site was surrounded by trees and shrubs. The ground was just red dirt – same as everywhere else. The toilet block is a big transportable block like the miners have. It  contains at least twenty individual spacious bathrooms that contain toilet, basin and shower. We had imagined the park might be on the beach, but it was in fact 750 metres away down another dirt track that is only accessible to park guests. There are warnings that any cars on the beach must be shifted to higher ground at least 2 hours before the tide comes in because there is a huge tidal range.

This is the map of the area showing some of the good fishing spots.

 When we got there we were confronted by the deepest blue sea I have ever seen. There was a sandy bay surrounded by mangroves. The sand went out through a gap and then to a big lagoon and then the sea. This is a haven for fishermen with lots of varieties of fish as well as mud crabs in the area. In the park most people have a boat and there were very few people around all day, even though there must have been nearly a hundred vans in. We could see that the tide was coming in fairly quickly so we had a paddle in the icy water. Later in the afternoon we had another look and the tide was nearly out and the entire area that was covered with water was uncovered. In fact we watched a car drive out on it and through the gap towards the sea.  Once again we have no internet no phone service and no TV reception. It’s amazing how many areas are in this position.

 

 



The same place with the tide out. The sand is damp with some pools, but solid as you can see by the tyre marks.

Goldwire Rest Area

 Sun 29^th June 

It was a fairly uneventful day with a lot of km covered (about 500 and something) and most of it with the wind in our faces. At one stage we followed the widest load we have ever seen. There were three pilot cars, one about half a km ahead driving on the wrong side of the road, keeping oncoming traffic off the road and telling them on the radio how wide it was – 7.9metres if I remember correctly. Then there was one directly in front of the load and the third one was at the back, mostly on the wrong side keeping traffic back until it was safe to pass; and then it was done under the directions of front and back pilots. We couldn’t tell exactly what the load was, but it was some sort of digger on a low loader and it was accompanied by a second extended low loader with more of the gear. At one stage we crossed the De Grey River and the load barely missed the bridge railings. It went at an absolute crawl and all traffic was stopped at the bridge entrance until it was safely across- not that there was much traffic, just our two rigs and another caravan and one from the other direction.

We have been travelling parallel to the Eighty Mile Beach and at some stage want to go in and perhaps spend a couple of days. Everybody raves about its beauty. The wind was a bit of a deterrent today and we didn’t fancy being sand blasted. Most of the tracks in are 4WDtracks - a bit rough for the caravans. The spot we are in is a free camp just off the highway with a few trees for shade and shelter. It is a free camp with toilets and picnic tables and in all there would be about 30 vans in it. When we arrived it was about 3ish and there were a couple of men sitting by their vans playing ukuleles. One was a learner, but the other had made his own ukulele especially so it would sound better for jazz. He plays in a four piece band – a singer and 3 different pitched ukuleles. He played a few songs as we chatted – such a relaxing sound on a sunny day. We are parked by a small clump of bushes and low trees and there was a constant stream of small birds of many different breeds flitting about in them.