Gorgeous Gorges

Kate Here: We went on four diffrent walks in gorges. The first one was called the Hamersley Gorge in the Karijini. It looked just like a normal pool which was surrounded by high cliffs and a water fall, But if you climbed up the water fall you would find another nice warm pool and up again you would find another pool. Jack, Dad and I went swimming in all the pools. When we got to the top pool you couldn't go any higher. At the end there was a a lovely warm pool, it was quite small but the water that came from the water fall was nearly hot. You could climb up the wall and jump off into the water. Mum felt like swimming so she just took off her clothes and went for a swim. When went back down a group of tourists came up and mum had to change very quickly. Second one was called The Spiders Walk. It was actually a gorge and you had to walk and sometimes swim through the water. On the last bit you had to wedge your legs up against the wall and if you want your hands and move along the wall. At the end of that was a pool called Kermits Pool. It was cold and fun. You could jump in and dive. It lead to another pool but it was too steep and slimy to go down. We swam in Kermits pool and slid down the mini water fall. The third was called Hand rail pool. You had to hold on to a hand rail and walk down a steep water fall then you would crall down a rope. If you wanted to you could swim to a gorge and then swim along another gorge. We camped in the national park for a little while. On the first night Jack and I were Watching a bug crawl out of its old skin out side with a torch. (Mum and dad were inside) Then we heard a crack like someone or something stepping on a stick. Jack was holding the torch and he turned it towards the noise and there standing in the trees was a DINGO!!!! We were both standing on chairs and Jack Jumped to the chair next to him and I very woseyly Screamed and ran inside. The Fourth walk was called Circular Pool . You had to walk through another very wide gorge to get to it. When we got there were already some people there. The water was cold and deep. And on the other side was lots of little water falls. The water falls were almost bath tempeter. It was lovely . But since the pool water was cold and you were hot you didn't feel like swimming back you felt like walking back but you couln't. It was very nice to walk in gorges. In the sun and a nice warm pool waiting for you at the end. Bye for now!

Film Night

Jack here: In Broome there is a outdoor cinema and we saw three films there: Ten Canoes; Sisters, Pearls and Mission Girls and Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Mans Chest. The Sun Cinema is the oldest outdoor cinema still in use. The first film played there was in 1930. Half of it is inside and half of the seating is outside and you sit in deckchairs. In Broome it gets dark at 6:30 and the first film is at 6:45 and half way a jet flew over at about 100 feet to land at the airport - crazy! You can buy Mexican food and eat while watching the film along with sweets and drinks. It was really exciting sitting outside and watching a film and watching lizards walk up the screen! The first film we saw was Ten Conoes and it was about Aborigines in their natural habitat and about beliefs of the ancestors. The other film we saw was Sisters, Pearls and Mission Girls and was about Nuns from St. John of God setting up a mission in Beagle Bay and educating Aborigines and looking after them.
Tomorrow we're heading further up the cape to camp on trhe beach and go kayaking and snorkling.
The janitor's review. The pics that are here are from open mine at Tom Price in The Karijini and clearly show the scale of mining in WA. These dumpers take 317 tons, use 20ltrs of fuel every km, have tyres that are 4m in dia. that cost £10,000 a go and you can pick one up for around £1.5m. Girls, plenty opportunity here for driving these Tonkas, pay starts at 30k(£) and you will lose probably a stone a week in sweat alone. The other pic is us at a duel stop(roadhouse) on The Great Northern Highway linking Perth to Darwin 4200kms. The road train is massive at 52m, 3 artics by UK standards.Jack is mildly dwarfed here. We haven't had to overtake one yet but I'm sure we will have to at some point. I think we will require a scale on the side of it to get an indication if you are getting close to the front before you pile into one coming the opposite direction.

No Worries!?/!* or Up the Creek!!!

Well we've tried out all the extreme survival kit now and we're only a week or so into the trip! After leaving Kalbarri we set off for Monkey Mia and the Francois Peron peninsula. We camped wild (and free) beside Big Lagoon in the national park,having stopped en-route to see Hamelin Bay where there were amazing stromatolites (ancient coral-like growths on the sea beds which have survived because of the extremely high salinity of the bay). WHen we were driving into the big lagoon the car and trailer were coping remarkably well with the sand tracks - right until we tried to turn to set up camp! That's when we got our first dose of 'no worries' advice from the seasoned locals as we became totally bogged down in the soft dry sand and managed to get ourselves out by sending the kids to get buckets of water to wet the sand and trust that the car would do the rest - if given the time and the correct revs! Good learning curve! We then relaxed by paddling up the lagoon and watching for wildlife including dugongs - beautiful sunset and warm water. The following morning we were up early to go to Monkey Mia (on the other side of the peninsula) to see the wild dolphins that come into the bay in the early mornings as part of a conservation feeding programme. We stood at the water's edge and about 10 dolphins, including young ones came in and played just feet in front of us. Only 2 of them were to be fed as the rest were still young and had to learn to be self sufficient - lovely to see them so close! After a good breakfast break and a long kayak out to a pearl farm, we set off back to Big Lagoon - via Herald Bight which has mangrove swamps where the reef sharks come in with the tide - we unfortunately missed the tide as we underestimated the time it takes to drive 47kms on soft sand! A lovely spot for a stroll along the beach 'tho!
After our nights in the wilds we needed a night in civilisation to recharge batteries, stock up on water & supplies. Carnarvon doesn't really count as 'civilisation' but it sufficed for a cheap charge up night - it's known for fruit and banana plantations - so yummy bananas!!
Then Off to Coral Bay on the next peninsula up the coast and the start of the Ningaloo Reef. We camped on the beach about 10 miles north of Coral Bay at a point within the dugong sanctuary. At low tide you could walk out to bits of old reef - still full of wildlife - fierce crabs, sea cucumbers, giant clams. We were walking along the shore here when this amazing turquoise coloured fish, about 50cms long, just run itself up on the beach in front of us - it had obviously been trawling for fish and just kept going with its mouth open right up on the sand! We were too slow to tip it right over onto the dry sand and then onto our bbq, but we weren't too sure of whether it was safe to touch , given all the other nice looking but deadly things round here!!
A couple of nights taking it easy and catching up with school work (and major ant wars) then we set off for Yardie creek which we had been told was a great kayaking spot.
We took the 50kms 4 wheel drive route which saved about 240 kms round trip by tarmac and it was very scenic - almost african with the termite hills looking like mud huts across the plains. The reef was all the way up the coast and a few people were camped up on their own 'private' bays along the way - beeautiful if you had a couple of months to spare - so many of these guys pitch up for 3 or 4 months in the same spot and content themselves with fishing and...??
We camped up just short of the Cape Range national park and got the kayaks out. It was fairly breezy so we also put the sails on and set off to find the reef. That's when I got over adventurous ( and displayed my lack of sailing ability) by setting off with Jack while the others swam and we found ourselves so far down the coast and paddling hard back in to the wind and tide to get back. It didn't look too far but it obviously was and by the time Gary and Kate picked us up in a fisherman's rib, it took us another 20 minutes or so to be towed back. 2nd "no worries" local worthy bail out situation!
The 3rd was the best tho' - and only the next morning!! "How long to Yardie Creek?" asked the kids excitedly. "Only 5 - 10 minutes" the innocent reply! Ha-ha!! 10 mins to the Yardie creek , then 1.5 hours to dig yourself out of the creek crossing!!! This is when the winch, the compressor, the every bit of equipment we had, was put to full use getting the car and trailer out the water!! (Now we can write the book!) We were given loads of practical help and friendly advice by passing worthies (while others took photos!) and eventually we got both car and trailer out - had to ditch the caravan and get the car winched out, then we dug out the shifting wet sand and inched the trailer forward, digging out by hand each time the jockey wheel got stuck - excellent midday exercise!! By the time we did all that we discovered that the campsite was full ('tho' there was room in the site just the other side of the creek - well maybe not for us thanks!!!!) We were also advised to go 90kms north to get all the salt and sand washed off before it caused damage - great news indeed - and we hadn't even paddled tour canoes up the creek yet! So we did just that - and it was lovely and restful and private ( quick skinny dip) and great scenery and colours and egrets and jumping fish. Then off to Exmouth, to the campsite we haven't had the energy to move from in the last 5 days, where it took the four of us 1.5 hours to hose down the car and trailer and get rid of the baked on red silt.
It has turned out really well as we have managed to recharge our own batteries as well as constantly moving on is very physically tiring - and it made it easier to handle producing a birthday cake for Jack (12th) from a shop rather than from a camp stove! (Shame on me!!)
Jack's section should now take over, bye for now from Exmouth and the amazing reef

Jack's 12th Birthday

Jack here: On the 13th of September it was my 12th Birthday and I got 120 dollars for my Mum Dad and 2 dollars 50 and gift vouchers from Kate. In the morning we went to an internet cafe and we decided what to do for my birthday, we were going to go snorkling and scuba diving on Ningaloo Reef. In the afternoon we went to Turquoise Bay and we saw a big ray just off the beach and Mum and Dad were swimming with a turtle for about a minute. For tea that night we had kangaroo and mudcake with a singing candle and they were both lovely! The next morning it was up at seven to catch the tour and we made it. When we arrived and were on the boat we met Dave and Wes who would be taking us out to the reef who were the intructors. The first place we stopped we went drift snorkling where we drifted with the current and there was fish sea cucumbers and lots of coral and we forgot to bring the camera down with us. The next stop was the longest and that was Kate and I tried scuba diving and it was great fun and I would want to do it again. Then Wes started jumpping off the roof and then Kate and I started jumping off and it was great fun. We moved on and and went to a bay that turtles lay their eggs and we saw lots of turtles, stingray and a Gar fish that scimmed along the water for 50 metres! Everybody had lunch(that was very nice) and had our last snorkle and I saw a Catfish and a hugh malty coloured fish that was about half a metre long. That night we had tea at a very nice fish and chips cafe. Dad joked that it was a compete rip when the lady was right beside him and she froze in her tracks!

Kate Here: We camped out in the wild for the first time. We had a big fire. It was great fun. When I woke up in the morning there were Kangaroos hopping around the caravan. There were millions of wild pumpkins all over the place. Just before we left Jack and I put a pumpkin under each wheel of the car and caravan and they got squished.
We are driving up the west coast and have seen some amazing beaches and cliffs and enormous sand dunes that you can surf down on boards just like snowboards. We saw a lake that was all pink because of algae that is farmed for medicines.
We have spent 2 nights in Kalbarri to get stocked up and batteries recharged in the camper. The first night we went to Finleys B.BQ. But this was no ordinary B.B.Q This was a massive kitchen and there were 3 chefs and you would chose what you want and you would get a card with a number on it and ours was 75 and when your thing is ready 1 of the chefs would shout your number and you would go and get it. This wasn't a restrant it was axually an old barn with lots of chairs and tables.

Gary taken over, Kate burnt out. We drove 26kms up a dirt/sand road yesterday to visit a gorge which we hoped would be worthwhile as it was a fairly course drive. On the way we stopped to see a blotchedblue tongue lizard which has a bright blue tongue to warn you off. So the more it poked out its tongue the more we followed.When we hit the gorge on the above pic you followed a fairly interesting path for 3hrs around the top and down into the river bed. Unfortunately we couldn't use our kayaks to got into the gorge, the Australians too like a few rules. Marvon, the gorge here is very like Todra in Morrocco. As we arrived late we had a push on to get back before dark which is 6.30pm. J&K virtually ran round on the promise of milk shakes if we ever found our way home. We purchased a wonderful GPS which shows all the Aus 4wd and bush tracks over the sand so unfortunately you may say we should see Craggish again. More importantly it shows all the public toilets for the older traveller.

Our Kimberley Kamper is so new that most places we go we have to be polite to all enquiries as Aus. folk are most impressed but haven't seen one before. Then we pull out the folding bikes and they attract attenton and just when your clear of the admirers we take the pedal kayaks off the roof. Say no more, diplomacy has gone by now. Push off Bruce is usually adequate, Gary.

the real adventure begins....

Kate here: We've had a few nights in the camper and it's very cool! My bed is the long seat that you sit on to have dinner. Jack has a bunkbed that goes over the work surface. We have a cooker in side and a wok burner out side. Dad has been cooking outside and has burnt a plate and a box and nearly gave Jack, Mum and I food poison because he didn't cook the chicken proplerly. We have bought an outside light so that he can see what he is cooking.
Our first night away on our way North of Perth we camped next to a Koala colony. We saw lots of Koalas and Kangaroos. We went over our first dirt track and got the camper really mucky. Next we went to see the Nambung national park. In the park are all these tall rocks which rise up out of the desert sand and stand like millions of people all over the place. It was a great place for hide and seek. When we were there we saw an Emu. An Emu is like an Ostrich except it is smaller ane is all black. Jack and I followed its footprints in the sand and it led us in to a bit of bush but there was no sand there so we lost it. That night we camped up next to a Horse Ranch and today we are heading up North again.