tunnel creek

Tunnel Creek was a hideout for the Aboriginal warrior, Jandamarra. His guerrilla attacks on the European farmers were legendary. The "tunnel" starts as a crack in the mountain range and goes right through to the other side.

We could see the reflecting eyes of freshwater crocodiles as we waded through the water.

A collapsed section of the tunnel

china wall

China wall is a strange geological formation near Halls Creek, marking a fault line. This vein of white quartz has occurred naturally, even though it appears to be carefully constructed from large cubes of rock. The line of quartz can be seen at various points around the landscape.

purnululu national park

Exploring Purnululu, commonly known as the Bungle Bungles, was one of the best days of our 6 months of travel so far. As we drove to the south end of the park, the red-orange cliffs gradually developed into the striped beehive shape. These huge structures towered above us, linked by steep curves or divided by deeply etched river beds. The landscape felt solemn and ancient, although at times the rows of domes appeared cartoonish. There was a fuzzy smell to the air. It was thick with heat radiating from the rock. I felt dwarfed by the gigantic landscape and it was easy to imagine Aboriginal culture thriving here for centuries. The area was known only to locals until 1983, when it was finally seen from above by a camera crew.

Gaj

The horizontal grey bands are formed by cyanobacteria.

Ready for our ride on the R44 helicopter

Some of the gorges are 200m deep.

lake argyle

Lake Argyle is big, it holds 23 times the capacity of Sydney Harbour - pretty impressive for a completely man-made structure. The volume and rate of flowing water during the wet season is difficult to comprehend. The same flow rate would fill Sydney Harbour in four hours.

At the end of our cruise on the lake, I climbed onto the roof of the boat to jump in. An eight year old girl followed me up and she dared me to dive in headfirst. I agreed, as long as we jumped at the same time. It was a deep dive and I resurfaced with a mild headache. She was still standing on the roof, laughing. She then climbed down and got in via the ladder.

Gaj

Claire's masterful macro photography

el questro

El Questro is a privately owned station with loads of activities on offer. The five star accommodation was not up to our standard, although Kylie Minogue apparently liked it. Sleeping without a roof was more appealing.

The warm cliffs heat the water of Zebedee Springs to around 30 degrees.

It was a tough hike to the end of El Questro gorge - lots of scrambling over boulders and wet cliff walls.

manning river & gorge

We woke up at dawn to start our walk into Manning Gorge. We had to swim across the river first, which was surprisingly warm. The pictures provide a better description than any words I could write...

I knew our $10 inflatable pool toy would eventually be useful!

The gorge was so much fun that I was inspired to do the inaugural Manning Gorge Jig.

bell gorge

Great swimming at the bottom...

Nice view from the top

windjana gorge

boabs

There are boab trees dotted all over The Kimberleys, and they all seem to have a personality. The bulbous trunk and thick branches give them a human quality. They are tall, short, fat, thin and sometimes bent over in various postions. The older trees have scarred, rock-hard trunks and the younger ones have a bit more spring. A local artist has also seen the human qualities of the boab. The trunk swells during the wet season to store water so it doesn't go thirsty when the rain stops. They are also found in Madagascar and mainland Africa.

One theory about how boabs arrived in Australia is that the large seedpods simply floated across the ocean. Each one can stay viable for up to 20 years. Another more interesting theory is that the seeds were carried across during a very early people migration. This is supported by the discovery of ancient "Bradshaw" style rock art in The Kimberleys. This art is also found in Madagascar and Africa.

The famous boab prison tree - estimated to be 1400 years old.

Camping in the shade

The long, human figures in the background are Bradshaw paintings.

The boab nut contains an edible, white substance. It has the texture of a Violet Crumble and a citrus flavour. Yes, we ate some.

Mudcrabbing on the Dampier Penninsula

If you want to catch mudcrabs, ring this number...

...this was written on a notice at our campsite as Cape Leveque. We rang the number, and the next day we were following a Landcruiser out to the mangroves. Our Aboriginal guide had also bought his grandson, Josh, a nimble and energetic 10 year old. As we waded through charcoal-black mud, winching ourselves over mangrove roots, Josh jumped from tree to tree and his bare feet never seemed to slip. He located most of the mudcrabs for us, then we used our long wire hooks to pull them out of hollow trees or muddy pools. When we asked our guide how Josh managed without shoes, he said "I buy 'im 'eaps of shoes, but 'e never wears 'em".

Massive!

Cooking up our catch - we each had one mudcrab

Cape Leveque and pindan dust

We started our Western Australia adventure by flying into Broome to meet Ben and Jo, who had just returned from some intrepid Kimberley travel. After reshuffling the luggage in their four-wheel drive, we hit the dirt road to Cape Leveque. The most striking feature of this beautiful landscape is the red-orange dust, known locally as "pindan". It coats the limestone cliffs along the beach and creates a warm fluorescent glow during sunset. The contrast of the cliffs with the deep blue ocean is spectacular. Waking up for sunrise has never been so easy.

The deeper crab holes had pindan dust trails.

I'm striking a pose for a bit of painting.

Lada Niva Adventuring

The Lada Niva is an unstoppable Russian four-wheel drive. We experienced this vehicle while staying with Cameron in Hepburn Springs, he is a Lada connoisseur. This three-door mechanical nugget goes anywhere. It is tough, functional and not exactly built for looks, a bit like a wombat or Phil Waugh. Cameron successfully drove us through some rough, off-road terrain. My attempt at driving was brief - within 10 seconds we were sliding sideways and possibly about to topple. If Bear Grylls had a Lada Niva, he would surely conquer the world.

Gaj

Lada Niva with optional caravanette accessory

The Grim Reaper watched closely as Cam did some running repairs.

The state forest we drove through had been burnt in the Victorian bushfire disaster last year. It is a unique characteristic of eucalyptus trees for the the regenerating branches to grow over the entire tree.

the authentic melbourne art experience

The art curator was getting annoyed, because she had been knocking on the gallery door for a few minutes. She had confirmed and reconfirmed the 3pm visit. We were waiting outside the large red brick house in Fitzroy which was apparently bought for the owner by his parents. Eventually, a 30-ish man in a suit, dripping with Melbourne trendiness, ran down the stairs and opened the door. He was slightly out of breath, but had a calm, welcoming voice. As we looked around his gallery and learnt that he hosted international artists for months at a time, the laughter became apparent. Two laughing female voices could be heard from upstairs. We also noticed that only two buttons of his shirt were fastened, his fly was undone and he was not wearing socks with his shoes. It became apparent that he was reaping all the benefits of being an art patron.

Street art by Space Invader

After watching the Banksy movie, we stumbled across a night time sun.