Kununurra

Tuesday 18th
We packed up to head into a caravan park in Kununurra to fill up with supplies.

Before we left I wanted a picture of the caravan and us to show how we ended up at the end of the Gibb. Not a bad looking bunch with a bit of dirt.  I wish you could of seen the inside of the caravan when we pulled up the previous night! No I didn't reach for the disinfectant cleaning clothes, not even the regular dish cloth and a bucket of water! That would of just made mud. I opened the draw and reached for the dust pan and broom. I started on the benches and chucked 1 dust pan of red dust out the door. Then the floor! It was all through our bedding too.
The night before we got chatting to a great young couple that gave us a few ideas of what and where to go as we still hadn't been to ElQuestro, but it sounded like a great place to check out.
We headed into Kununurra and got into a caravan park that was full of plants! Before setting up the caravan we washed it in the caravan park washing area. It looked like new.  We shopped and went out for lunch and enjoyed some showers. Getting clean. Our neighbours in the caravan park were very interesting and kind people. They invited us to come overseas and do a holiday stint teaching other teachers. They also gave us their maps for Darwin & Katherine region and told us what they liked there.
We had little brown frogs in the power box which made Manning pretend he was a frog for the rest of the day!

The Gibb

Monday 17th
So with supplies very low we said goodbye to Manning Gorge, and with the encouragement of quite a few people we headed east on the Gibb along with a lot of other vehicles. We grabbed a couple of loaves of bread from the roadhouse at $6.50 each and some fuel at $2.30L. The road was again fine but very dusty with so many vehicles travelling close so we took it slow. There were cattle and more cattle then road works and quite pretty scenery through the hills. We made good time so we kept going passed our last free camp spot on the road and decided to see if we could make it to the main road.

The view of the Pentecost River and the mountains was very spectacular.The road had got worse as the corrugation had got deeper and wider and you had to slow down around the corners otherwise you jumped right off the road. Car and caravan all together!

This was the Pentecost River crossing. Tim was again ready for this adventure. It wasn't too deep but rocky.
Once over the other side we come across a lady in a commodore ute with something in the tyre. She said it was making a high pitch noise  so she wanted to take it off. We put family stickers on the car before we left and I could only find a mechanic one for Tim and Tim said that is him on this trip. Constant mechanical work, and he was a hero in this situation, finding a rock in between the brake and wheel rim. They were very happy when they got going again.
So about 5pm we got to our camping spot on the highway and WE DID THE GIBB! Nothing broken, a bit of drinking water and 2 packets of biscuits left. It was an adventure and some great scenery.

Manning Waterfall Gorge

Sunday 16th
We headed out early to Manning waterfall for the last time. This time the kids jumped a little higher but had to be careful of the slippery rocks.

This is Kimberly mid flight.

Josiah doing a pinny.

Tim doing a suwi. The other kids I have on video as the sound of the waterfall is great. Tim said it is a good thing that you can't camp close to the waterfall as you would have twice as many people there. It was a lot of fun.

On the walk back we saw a blood tree we called it as the sap coming from the tree was bright red.

In the afternoon we again spent it at the beach/river. The kids swam to some rocks and watched the fish feed on some spiders. At the waterfall we dropped some biscuits in the water and the fish went on a feeding frenzy even jumping out of the water to get the biscuit first! And we swam with these fish! 

 An amazing oasis in the middle of the Gibb.

Manning Gorge

Saturday 15th
As the days were around 30C we decided to do the gorge walk in the morning as it was a 3 hour return trip. This time we knew to wear bathers.

We got a photo of Manning with his name on the sign. It was funny that we were in the Kimberleys at Manning gorge.

So this is the sandy beach with paper bark trees and the boat. You can choose to go across in the boat or swim. You have to go across as the gorge walk starts on the other side.
The walk wasn't too hard just again you are walking on a narrow track with dry grass that is sometimes way over my head!

This is the view of Manning waterfalls from pool number 2. There were about 3 pools you could swim in but you really had to find out where all the rocks were as it is hard  to tell the depth of the water in spots. You can swim along and all of a sudden your arms touch a rock. They are hard to see. So we all went to the waterfalls and there were some rocks sticking out that you can jump off of, so that's what the kids did for the next 2 hours. Time went very quickly and we knew we had to come back again the next day. It was great. You could also swim behind the waterfall and look out through it.
So with hungry but very happy kids we headed back. As we got to our caravan though we realised we had made the mistake of leaving the rubbish outside for the crows to get into.And they made a huge mess!!!
After lunch we hung at the sandy beach and the kids played in the boat at the river all afternoon and made new friends again. They are getting good at this and we may see the familys another couple of times before we loose track of them. Quite a few families on the road.

The kids had a great time with the boat and new friends. Pretending they were pirates and dragging each other along in the water. They have all passed their degree in hiking across level 4 hiking terrain now they were all becoming captains of the silver ship! This river was very pretty and I really enjoyed swimming up it looking at the palms above! Every kid needs this in their back yard.
When Tim was sitting on the beach he talked to  a guy that was also heading on the Gibb to Kununurra and he encouraged Tim that he would be find to keep going. Yeah says Heidi.
So due to the extreme fun that our family was having we added 2 nights to our stay at Manning and took some time out to relax in the tranquillity of the place.
It was a common thing for everyone one in the camp ground to  get  a fire going as soon as the sun went down, so our kids thought that was a good idea but they left their wood collecting a bit late and had to do it by torch light. As Zane was carrying his log to the fire he stopped and yelled out "Mum come and look at this" As I looked there walked through a large Brahman steer through our camp and out into the scrub. He looked quite startled and I don't think he was expecting these caravans to be in his paddock. 

Bell Gorge

Friday 14th
All my clothes dried that I had hanging out over night and there was no monster of a spider to be seen the next day, so we said goodbye to Marsh Fly Creek.
Bell Gorge was not far up the road but was a far drive in off the Gibb. About 30km one way.

We saw our first Brolga bird. The long legged bird crossed the road in front of us but by the time we got close it had made sure it was well out in the tall grass. The kids were excited as they have all read the book from the library "Olga the Brolga".

Tim got another water crossing. Even though the water is not very deep we had to go slow as in the wet season the water must flow through these water ways pretty fast and dig out holes that we can't see. I ran across this water to get the photo and had a quick look for crocodiles. There are signs that crocodiles are living in the waters so we didn't get in our bathers thinking we wouldn't be able to swim at Bell Gorge.We should off guessed we could swim when in the car park we saw a couple walking off with a pink rubber ring and towels.

So there was a lot of people all swimming so we went in all our clothes. Across the other side you can see some rocks in the water under the ledges and as the kids swam over there they found some lizards warming themselves on the rocks. The lizards didn't really want the kids getting too close so they swam in the water to the next rock. They were between 50 to 70cm long. Swimming up to the water fall is good fitness as the water pushes you away but just great swimming in fresh water. The kids made a slide into the water on the rocks and now I have to buy more shorts!!!!! Lunch time came quick. We then got back in the car and headed further on the Gibb River road. We stopped at Imintji road house which had the cheapest fuel on the Gibb at $2.20 so we filled up. A nice little roadhouse. The road was still fine with the surprising patch of bitumen but was a little hard for the kids to do school work.
It is becoming a regular thing that when we slow down and pull into a spot one of the kids asks "Are we staying here tonight?" On the Gibb there are large rubbish collecting places or dumps that you have to carry your rubbish to. On this day we pulled in to dump our rubbish and someone says "Are we staying here?" It was a full on rubbish dump! Our kids are really learning to ruff it! We kept heading towards our real camping spot which Manning was very excited about as it was Manning Gorge Camp Grounds! We pulled into Mt Barnett roadhouse to get directions and pay and the lady told me that when you walk to the gorge you go to a sandy beach - hold on, out here, a sandy beach? She must of seen my face and repeated "Yes a sandy beach with a boat that will get you to the other side" As I booked 1 night there I thought I would probably have to extend our stay as it sounded like what the kids would love.

This is our car at Mt Barnett road house. Still looking good. We set up camp at Manning camp grounds and survived day 3 on the Gibb!

Lennard Gorge

Thursday 13th
We drove back along the road we came on and Tim had managed to rewire the light plug so that it doesn't blow anymore lights so we were going well. We turned north east at the junction heading to Mt Barnett and the road surprisingly had patches of bitumen. Again not too bad condition. We stopped at Lennard Gorge and headed to the waterfall. What is taking a bit of getting use to is the really tall grass, above my head at times, and the heat, knowing that snakes are around but not being able to see very far around. We weren't able to go down to the water fall with this one and that was hard on the kids as they love swimming and to just go and look at something and not do anything was very hard. Tim was happy though as he got to do a little river crossing in the car on the way to this gorge.

Queen Victoria on the Gibb before Lennard Gorge

Everyone tried to find some shade at the lookout.
We then drove to our camp and Tim spent some time looking at our caravan tyre as it sounded like it had a rock in it. It ended up to be fine and corrected itself which was great.

The kids found a termite mound to play on. It was a very pretty place. Later that night a family came in and I noticed they came in off the road from the Kununurra direction so it wasn't long and he came over to chat and we got to ask him what the road was like. He said it was fine and he thought we would get through easy. Just go slow through the river/creek crossings! That made me excited. I really wanted to do the Gibb but I knew that God would guide us as to if it was good or not. Tim really didn't want to have any car/caravan problems so we had to be sure it was going to be okay.
Before bed Kimberly and I ventured over to the shed of a longdrop toilet and Kimberly went first.Then I went but as I sat down this big, hairy, 20 legged, brown, as big as a cat.... spider, climbed past my shoulder , up the wall and stopped at my head height. Kimberly kept the torch on it but I said that might make him go crazy, take it off! By this time Kimberly was laughing and I finished as quick as I could but Kimberly wouldn't get out quick enough as I was sure that hairy monster was going to try and jump on my shoulder as I left. I finally pushed her out and power walked to the caravan. Kimberly ran ahead laughing as she told the story to everyone. They all wanted to know how big it was and I made sure they got the true story!
Other than collecting a lot of dust day 2 on the Gibb went fine!

Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge

Wednesday 12th
The Gibb River Road from Derby was bitumen until it split either heading south to Fitzroy Crossing or heading to Mt Barnett. The road is only 1 car width wide so you had to be looking ahead and if someone was coming you both got a wheel off into the dirt, passed , and then back on the road again. A lot of locals didn't even slow down, and they safely completed the  manoeuvre without waisting any time, in a cloud of dust!
We had planned to go as far as we could on the Gibb then if need come back passed Tunnel Creek down to Fitzroy Crossing. BUT in case we could get all the way through we had to do Tunnel Creek first.
The road was corrugated but Tim was prepared and let the tyres down and it made a lot of difference.

This is the start of Tunnel Creek. We had our lights and we were ready to go.

There were fish in the water and little waterfalls that you could hear as you walked through.

There was a lot of water you had to walk through and in the middle of the tunnel you can't really see in the water that you are walking through so we all had cheep closed in shoes for this. A real adventure for the kids. It had bats and stalagmites and stalactites. Really cool compared to outside.
We then headed back on the road heading north to Windjana camp grounds. As we were driving into Windjana a big goanna walked across the track and we stopped and wound down our windows and looked at him and he stopped and had a look at us.
Once we had set up camp we headed to the gorge to have a look and were told to expect to see crocodiles!

First we saw the sign.

Then we saw the crocodiles! About 40 all floating in the water. They are fresh water ones so they are not very big. They were very lazy and didn't move. We were up on about a 2m bank and were sitting on a fallen tree watching them. The kids would creep a little closer to the edge to try and see them better but being such diligent and caring parents that  we are we would quickly scold them and get them to move back an extra 2 steps than needed just to be safe. We were all happily watching them in the serenity that a gorge has to offer when there was a huge crack which startled us all followed by the sound of a body rolling helplessly towards the water. I turned around and yelled  "TIM!" and just watch him roll down the 2m bank with 15L of water strapped to his back, arms and legs flying, as he plummets towards the crocodile infested waters...........................................................
He stops 30cm from the water and we all hold our breath. The crocodiles didn't even move but we inspect Tim's body for any broken limbs, crocodile bites that might of happened even though we didn't see any movement there, before we laugh about having to tell the parents to stand back next time and don't lean on broken branches above crocodile infested waters!

So after all that excitement we went back to camp with the view of the gorge walls behind us.
Day 1 on the Gibb and it all held together well!

Derby

Tuesday 11th
One thing I had forgotten to say was that our neighbours in the caravan park gave us some fish someone had caught, Giant Trevally, and it was amazing to eat. Huge and tasted like butter fish. We had that with the chips Josiah and I got from the shop.
We packed up and left Broome, heading for Derby. A lot of cattle regularly on the sides of the roads but they just aren't bothered by the traffic which is great.

This is our lunch stop just on the side of the road approx 130 km from Broome. We had quite a few cattle nearby as we could here them but none came into view.

It didn't take long to get to Derby and we stopped at the playground which had 3 groups of Aboriginals sitting there. We soon had a young guy come over who was drunk showing us his art work on a big boab seed pod. It really was amazing. Even in his state he could sit there and do this fine carving into this pod which was about the size of 2 tennis balls. They wanted us to buy it and we talked with them for a while as a girl came over too and she was physically not good, young, so we bought it and every time we see it we are going to pray for these people that have no hope. I can't imagine their life of nothing to live for except alcohol. It has such a hold on them that they are dead! Such talent but for nothing. And what has happened to that girl that she has such injuries, arr makes me so angry, so we are praying for someone,  in Derby that has a heart for the people that can reach them and start the change from inside.

Just out of Derby is the Boab prison tree which has a sad story again. They kept the Aborigines in this tree until they needed them for work or for sentencing for a crime the white people thought they commited. They were treated like animals. Awful. We then headed out onto the Gibb River Road. The road that I really wanted to do, all the way through, but we were going to have to take 1 day at a time.

Our camp on the side of the road with clothes out drying and Kimberly relaxing inside.

Beautiful day again!

Monday 10th    9pm
I am trying to write this blog but having a little trouble as Manning has had a sleep today and can't sleep so he has his music on and would you believe it , HE NEEDS TO GO TO THE TOILET! I will be back...........thank God for it being only 18 and a half steps from our caravan door. And he is talking flat out. One thing we have noticed about having 6 kids is that they need some one on one time with their parent/s and what they normally do is talk flat out! Josiah came with me tonight to get some hot chips for tea and it was his turn to talk. They are very funny with very creative minds. Now Manning is dancing to the song I'm A Believer from the movie Shrek. Hard not to laugh when he pretends to be a squid dancing!
After doing some school work this morning we headed to the museum. We bumped into the German couple there! Didn't even know they were in town.  Again the kids got a sheet to do and got a certificate at the end. It was very interesting and also very sad about what happened in Broome's history. A lot on the war and pearling.  
In the afternoon we hit the shops again getting last minute items, including the essential ice cream snack. We have been able to see around Broome and it really is a mixture of flash, new, touristy areas and then right in the middle there are broken down buildings without windows and over grown blocks. Quite a contrast.
I have loved the forest of plants around the buildings and in the caravan park. Will miss it as we again venture out into the harsh countryside of Australia.

Tim has requested that I put his photos on that he took with his phone of yesterday's adventure to the dinosaur footprints.

Number 2 foot print

The sunset as we saw the last footprint. I think someone is hiding behind me!

Victory Life Church

Sunday 9th
Just 1 more load of washing! It's great drying weather. It was 30C. We went to Victory Life Church and the music was great. A lot of fun and the lady backup singer had an incredible voice. It was like she could just take of any time but was very controlled. I really enjoyed worshipping and the drummer was very good also. He got us doing the off beat clapping in the song "You Have Won Me". Tim's thoughts on this was "What the heck are they doing!" The drummer was very confident at leading this and most of the church was able to get it. Got to talk to some young ladies, nurses, after church and it was great hearing about the area from a locals perspective. One of them actually rides horses and for extra work helps yard the cattle for export sale. She knows the guy who owns most of the station property between Broome and Alice Springs. Just a glimpse into another persons life across the other side of the country. After lunch we went for a drive to Cable Beach and this is where the real expensive accommodation is. The beach looks nice and there is a sign up that says that the last stinger incident was in May! 9 days ago. Our neighbours say that they pull a net through the water in between the red flags but that doesn't get rid of them all. Also in years gone by there has been a crocodile swimming between the red flags! He obviously read the sign! So we had a quick look and drove back to the caravan park to take the kids to the safe water playground!

You can't see it very well but it says ABC Kimberley. Kimberly is a popular girl here. She is collecting pamphlets with her name that are a little funny. Like "Kimberley Scenic Flights" which just needs a few letter alterations. Manning is another one that keeps popping up. Manning gorge in the Kimberley.
In the evening we went to Anastasia Pool where there are dinosaur foot prints that you can see when the tide is low.

There were a lot of rocks to climb down to get to these foot prints so I was so glad I brought my strong family along to move a few of them out of the way for me!

There were some foot prints in cement for you to look at before you go down to find the real ones, so we thought we had better have a photo with these just in case we didn't find the real ones as they are not sign posted.

But we are blessed and we found this one all on our own! It's hard to see but it is right at their feet.

Then a man found the next one and called the kids over. Would you look at that. We saw both!

Then there was the sunset. There were quite a few couples that had come for the sunset and perched up on the edge of the rocks.
As we were driving home Baylee saw a sign and said "Hoses drive slowly" . The sign said "Horses drive slowly" That started the giggles. Then we drove past another caravan park and I said "They have a few vacant spaces" and Ethan said " where's the bacon burgers??" I think he was hungry!

Blessed

Saturday 8th
We have a lot of laughs with our kids miss reading signs and miss hearing us correctly. On Friday at Shamrock Baylee said "Awwww 2 belly floppers in 1 day! Too much!" He wasn't swimming , he was falling out of a tree.
I was hugely blessed with the sight we got here at Broome, even though they said we were the last sight, it is next to the toilets and laundry and there is a long clothes line right behind the caravan. God had angels standing in this site keeping it for us I'm sure.It cost us $72 a night which is a lot less than people told us.  So early Saturday morning I made it my job to fill up these clothes lines and prevent any other campers from using a certain washing machine for 4 hours! Thankfully most of the red mud came out of the bedding and clothes. Also had to air out mattresses.
Tim took half the kids shopping to buy parts to fix the lights and plug. While he was away I got talking to our neighbours here which are from Adelaide! How amazing is that? When Tim got back he also talked to them and found out that the lady went to primary school with his Mum. Another amazing. Practically family.
One thing I wont miss when we get home is taking the kids to the toilet. It's okay when we bush camp it with our own toilet but anywhere else you are taking them to the toilet, 1000 times a day I'm sure!
After washing, packing shopping away and lunch we went for a walk down to the beach. Rocky and mangroves but beautiful water that you can't swim in! The sand is alive with hermit crabs! They were fun to watch. And coconuts. The kids carried about 7 coconuts back and tried to open them. It took ages and most of them were rotten.

But there was great excitement when one turned out good.

We all had a taste but no one was extra keen on the coconut, but they loved trying to get into it.
It was a lovely 28C so it was time to check out the water playground.

They were very happy campers after this and ate a lot of tea!

Broome

Friday 7th
The tec ice is working well. 3 sheets moved every day from the freezer to the ice box esky that has our fruit and veg.  We haven't used the shower yet as we have been swimming if we are not in a caravan park. We will use things that are in the caravan before we get anything off the top of the car, just because it is easier. The solar panels, generator and battery charger are working well keeping all our electronic devices and freezer/fridge system going. The kids being able to watch a movie in the car has been great when we have had to push on a bit and there is just more spinafix to look at. The fishing rods need to be used though, especially when we keep seeing pictures of these huge fishing that can be caught.
Tim worked on the lights wiring and also talked to a couple that had just been to Broome. They must have got similar weather to us in Pt Hedland , just more rain. They said a lot of dirt roads are closed , including quite a few to caravan parks. I rang and was able to get into Roebuck caravan park and Tim needed to be near shops to finish his repairs, so we made the decision to keep going.

As we are not allowed to pull leaves off plants and they die anyway, we are taking photos of those that the kids like. Zane felt this plant and said it was really soft. It is a big contrast to most of the others that are prickly.
So on the road again. As we drove across the Roebuck plains it was water as far as you could see. There was cattle still walking through it and it just looked boggy.
Coming into Broome the trees got a little bigger and the grasses taller. Mangroves. Then through the town the tropical plants, palms and a lot of coconut trees. The caravan park is in a jungle with the view of blue/green water. I love walking through just looking at these plants.
The shops were open late so I decided to go shopping with Baylee and Kimberly while the others went to bed. We nearly had Woolworths to ourselves! 

Shamrock

Thursday 6th
The kids said goodbye to their cubby house and hoped that some other kids might come along and use and add to their creation. As we headed out on the road we saw our bulls and their heard. Amazing how the cattle just graze right near the road and don't care about the traffic. As we drove it started to rain again! We were headed for Eighty Mile Beach but as we got there there was a road closed sign on the road. There is a 10km dirt road to the caravan park so we decided we had better not take our chances with the wet conditions and keep going to Sandfire Roadhouse. We had lunch there with some very friendly peacocks. The kids were happy to give them some of their sandwiches.
So we had to decide that we were going to have to miss out on Eighty Mile beach due to the unforeseen circumstances, and not knowing when the road would be back to normal.
We camped at a free spot near Shamrock.

De Grey River

Wednesday 5th
We awoke to no rain so we confidently started to pack up. Our 8 man/women team are now working like a well oiled machine when it comes to packing and unpacking. They don't have specific jobs, except for dishes duty, but they know what needs to be done.
As we headed out of the caravan park Tim noticed the indicator lights weren't working so we pulled over next to the high school oval. The kids started squawking about a heap of birds all lined up on the soccer goals. It was hawks/ kites, quite big , maybe 10 all lined up on these goals. It was not something I've seen very much. Normally they are on their own.

This is my attempt at capturing this. I knew as I stealthily crept closer they would see me as through binoculars, zoomed up close with their amazing eyes. So they flew off but you can see a couple in flight near the bar.
Tim was at the car trying to work this light thing out when he felt God say to him to put in a bigger fuse. Even though this could blow the light this was an quick solution and he trusted that it would be fine. After purchasing a few things from the shopping centre there we headed back out along the edge of the Great Sandy Desert. There was water lying everywhere. It wasn't on the road but in places it had been over the road. A lot of water out in various flood plains. This is the reason why they built South Hedland 20km from Port Hedland, it was the closest place that wouldn't flood, and we saw this as we left.
We reached our camping ground, De Grey River and there was about 50 caravans there at lunch time. There were very nice big trees, water flowing in the river and a lot of choice of camping spots. The kids quickly went to exploring and climbing trees.

As we were setting up this Black Kite ( I'm not a bird expert, I looked it up in my book!) kept swooping near our caravan either at the bird in our window or for something to eat on the ground. He came really close. I had Tim yelling at me from one side of the caravan and the kids from the other.

He landed in a tree that I was able to get fairly close and he just frowned at me and watched as I came closer.

Then Tim and I realised that his friend was on the ground 10m away from us. Amazing to have them so quiet and so close as the best you normally get is high in the sky.
After this excitement I looked up on the ridge and wacked Tim as about 20m away was a thin Brahman bull! He also wasn't worried about all the caravans. Everyone came flying out of the caravan to take a look at this big guy, but we kept our distance. A little while later we heard a noise, no really bellowing , more like groaning and Tim ventured up to see what it was. He came across a much better looking Brahman bull who was looking in the older ones direction. The older one eventually came over and they locked heads and had a very small tussle then the thin, older one quickly pulled out.  I didn't get a photo of these but we watched them for a long time.

We went for a walk along the river.

The kids built a cubby house and used the paper bark as a floor. They spent most of their time there doing this. There was evidence that I guess in the wet season the water there is nearly to the top of these trees.

This dark log just sitting up there along with debre from a quick flowing river.
Another bird we heard a lot, was very loud, but didn't see much was either a Blue - Winged Kookaburra or Red Backed Kingfisher. Loud like a Kookaburra. It was a very interesting place to stay but we didn't really want to come face to face with either bull in the night, or their heard.

More rain

Tuesday 4th
More rain again today! From Sunday to last night we have had 97mm. Today had clear skies in the morning and people ventured out of their caravans but it didn't last long. The afternoon has been wet. The kids had showers, they got to the showers wet and returned to the caravan wet. The only difference was they were a bit warmer on return from the showers! Being caged up a bit they started a wrestling match in the caravan so we set up a wrestling area in the annex.

It is still raining but is meant to be easing up tomorrow so we are going to have a go at moving in the morning. Tim is heading to a men's study at the church here tonight so that should be good.