The Wandering Vines
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Today we went for a leisurely drive south of Mandurah, Western Austrailia to explore the thrombolites of Lake Clifton. The thrombolities are part of Yalgorup National Park, the name Yalgorup derived from two Nyoongar aboriginal words; yalgor, meaning ‘a swamp lake’ and up meaning ‘a place of’. While in Shark Bay we had seen the famous stromatolites of Hamelin Pool. The stromatolites are billions of years old but as it was a cold, wet day they were a little underwhelming. The thrombolites like the stomatolites, are built be micro-organisms too small for the human eye to see. These rock like formations grow less than 1mm a year; when the microbes photosynthesize they precipitate calcium carbonate (limestone) which creates the dome like structure. As we drove to Lake Clifton, my enthusiasm to see the thrombolites was not shared by the rest of the family. It was a short stroll from the car park to the thrombolites and the lake and the scenery was magnificent. It was a beautiful crisp winter’s day and I loved the reflections on the lake and the texture of the thrombolites. Mum was equally excited and it was wonderful to see her enthusiasm and be able to enjoy the moment with her. The boys enjoyed watching the swallows as they zipped in and out from their nests under the platform. I am constantly amazed and in awe of the beauty that surrounds us and am grateful to be able to see some of our amazing country and share these moments with my family.
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Swimming with the whale sharks was one of the main things I wanted to do on this trip. I was unsure as to whether it would happen due to the season only running from May to July and with no set agenda or timetable on our trip I was unsure about whether we would be in the Exmouth – Coral Bay area in time. One of the best parts of our trip is not having a timetable. I was quite content to see what would happen and if we were in the area for the season then it would be fantastic. As the trip progressed it appeared that our journey would indeed line up for the whale shark season. It was all looking good until we realised we would be in the Exmouth – Coral Bay area during Western Australian school holiday season. The more we read on forums and spoke to people we soon learnt that everything was booked out during the holiday period. Normally this would not be a problem for us as we could explore others regions and wait for the holiday period to pass, however for the first time in the trip we had a deadline; we had to be in Mandurah (south of Perth) in two weeks. This meant we needed to somehow find accommodation in a booked out area. It didn’t look like it was going to happen and I was resigned to the fact that it would have to happen on another trip. I was content for this to happen however thanks to my wonderful wife, we made the decision to make it work. By exploring a free camp between Coral Bay and Exmouth we were able to make it happen. I’m not a bucket list person, I don’t have a definitive list of experiences I must do before I die, however swimming with the whale sharks was something that would be a an amazing experience that I was very keen to do. At $395 it was very expensive and due to this cost it was an experience just for me as it was just too expensive for the whole family to do. As the boys had never been snorkelling before we were also unsure how well they would be able to handle the experience. When the big day arrived I was excited but also disappointed to be doing this experience by myself, but that was just the way it was to be this time around. The day promised a snorkel in the morning, swims with the whale sharks, and then an afternoon snorkel. Normally the morning snorkel is in the inner reef area, however due to favourable weather conditions the skipper decided we would snorkel on the outer reef where bigger marine life were available to be seen. This was certainly the case with schools of giant trevally, a groper, and even a tiger shark (which unfortunately I didn’t see) were all enjoyed. From there we headed north to find a whale shark. Normally this involved a fare trek north however we soon spotted a whale shark soon after we finished morning tea. Within minutes of spotting the whale shark we were ready to swim with it. There were three boats working in the area and each boat would line up and take turns to swim with the whale shark. The boats would maneuverer to be in the path of the swimming whale shark so that the swimmers would swim along side as it passes by. When it was time to swim, we quickly entered the water and lined up ready for the whale shark. It was an amazing experience as all of a sudden the whale shark appears before you and then you find yourself swimming alongside a huge marine creature. There is a fair bit hussling for the best position for viewing and once settled in position it is an easy swim along side it. While swimming along side I was in awe of just how majestic this creature really is. The markings of dots and stripes of the whale shark is just beautiful to see in real life. The whale shark I swam with was about 5 metres long, which is on the smaller size of the whale sharks of the region. I was fortunate to swim with it three times, each time taking in a different experience. The first swim I took photos, the second swim I videoed, and the third swim I just savoured every moment. I have captured the experience for your viewing. Click on the link and enjoy. On the trip I was also lucky to see many humpback whales on their migration north along the coast. In the early part of the trip seeing the spray from the blowhole at a distance was exciting however as the day progressed we saw humpback whales up close as they passed our boat, many of them with calves along side. These just added to the wonderful experience of the day.
Our day concluded with a final snorkel on the inner Ningaloo reef. This snorkel was in fairly shallow water ranging from one to three metres. With an abundance of fish it too was a great experience. Overall the day was an amazing experience and worth every cent of $395 asking price. The staff on-board the Ecotour character were outstanding and given all the marine life I was fortunate to see is was excellent value for money. One thing that surprised me was how little is known about the whale sharks. While we know where they live, we know very little in terms of their behaviour and migratory patterns. This surprised me, due to our knowledge of the humpback whales however scientific research is expensive, but hopefully we will find out more soon so we can see the numbers increase like what has happened with the humpback whales. It is interesting how things work out. Last week we were at Port Hedland and were planning to go to Karajini National Park. Due to flood concerns to the area, Karijini National Park was closed for a couple of days which caused us to postpone our visit there and give us more time to explore Port Hedland than we had planned. The following day we found ourselves at Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery. The gallery is beautifully presented. I found myself instantly drawn to Philippa Nikulinsky’s work and was drawn to it each time we entered or exited the gallery. I love the detail of her work. I love the personal notes depicting her personal story of where she found this botanical item, as well as smells or insects connected with the item. Upon perusal of the gallery I noticed a flyer about a watercolour workshop for children the following day. Katie advised me that the workshop was full but to pop back at 10 am the following day in case some participants didn’t turn up. I went ‘home’ intrigued by the gallery, so of course I goggled it to find out a little more about the gallery. I’m so pleased I did as I came across a photography workshop / camp that was to be held the coming weekend at Karijini National Park. Due to the delays caused by the rain and therefore the park closures we would now be at Karijini on the weekend of the workshop but I would be unable to attend the workshop at the gallery on Friday night as we would already be at Karijini. The following day we arrived at the Gallery a little before 10am. All participants had arrived for the watercolour workshop so the boys were unable to attend. This was however an opportunity to enquire further about the photography workshop. Katie could not have been more helpful, flexible or accommodating. It was not a problem that I could not attend the workshop on Friday night and Katie kindly offered to email Meleah Farrell’s notes to me. I took the last spot for the photography workshop. Yeah! It was going to happen. Saturday morning arrived and I was a little nervous. I like to be prepared and know what is expected of me. There was no service at Karijini so I had not received the notes from the previous night. Insecurities started to fill my thoughts; “I won’t know what I’m doing as I didn’t attend the previous night’s workshop. What if I’m not creative enough to take part in an abstract photography workshop? What if I don’t have the skills expected by the two presenters? I have no idea what Solar Printing is.” I got myself organised and headed over to the designated workshop camp site. My concerns were alleviated as people attending the workshop started arriving, everyone was warm and welcoming. Meleah kindly went through her notes with me from the previous night. After initial setup of the camp site we headed to Fortescue Falls and Fern Pool, stopping at regular intervals along the way so Meleah had the opportunity to show examples and reinforce the principles covered the previous evening. After arriving at Fortesque Falls we were given a challenge card from Meleah, mine being ‘Take 5 shots on an angle.” We were only a group of about 10 so there was plenty of opportunity to chat to Meleah, Bewley and other photographers attending the workshop. This is a magnificent part of our country. We moved on to Fern Pool where Meleah introduced us to some techniques involving camera movement as a means of creating on abstract image. It was a fantastic afternoon of exploring. Prior to dinner that evening, Bewley Shaylor led us through some Lightroom editing tips. From what I read, Bewley has many talents. Bewley is part of a photography tour across the Kimberley. I would love to be a part of this so I’ll need to start saving my pennies. On Sunday, Meleah led us through the techniques involved in Solar Printing. It was lots of fun and I can see lots of opportunities to use this technique. It was a great couple of days. A big shout out to Katie from Port Hedland Courthouse Gallery and to the amazing, talented and creative photographers / presenters who gave up their weekends to share their knowledge with us. The images included in this blog are all shot in camera with only small exposure tweaks made in Lightrooom. This was a great opportunity for me to refocus on the little things. I like wandering alone. My own time to discover and shoot pictures. ~ Cherel Ito After such an amazing time in Northern Territory, we had high expectations of Western Australia. From what we have seen so far, it is far exceeding our expectations.
The Kimberly is rugged country covered in lakes, gorges, escarpments and rock formations. Matt’s love of geology shines here and he has found the three boys to be a captive audience each time he discovers yet another rock formation. The texture of the rock formations is further enhanced by the texture of the flora; in particular the boab trees and the spinifex. The colours of the Kimberly are similar to central Australia; displaying vibrant reds, greens and blues, which are so rich in colour they often look unrealistic. “If one were to paint this country in its true colours, I doubt it would ever be believed. It would be said at least that the artist exaggerated greatly, for never have I seen such richness and variety of hue in these ranges.” ~ Dame Mary Durack While we were in Darwin we started researching the next leg of our trip, Darwin to Broome. We soon realised that our on road van, while great, was unsuitable for many of the areas we had heard about and wanted to explore. So not to miss out on all the adventures, we headed out and bought a tent. We knew we wouldn’t have the time to see everything, so we compromised on our travel plans and used the tent to access a few areas. Our first stop in Western Australia was Kunanurra. This is a small, picturesque town with a large number of caravan parks for its size. As we are travelling during the popular dry season there are many tourists. From our understanding, this is the case in most of the north, as many places are inaccessible during the wet season. We stayed at Kimberleyland in Kunanurra, which is a very busy caravan park. It is situated on stunning Lake Kunanurra and the park looks out across the lake to the rock formation named Sleeping Buddha. While in Kunanurra we visited The Hoochery, where we went on a tour and learnt about the rum distillery process. The fumes from the high alcohol rum in the distillery, was already having an effect on me even before the tasting paddle was consumed. In the afternoon we climbed Kelly’s Knob to enjoy the sunset. We left the van in storage at Kunanurra for a few days, packed the tent and the family into the car and ventured across the Pentecost River to El Questro. This was our first river crossing in the Prado. I found El Questro an interesting place. It is iconic and it is expensive. We opted not to stay at El Questro Homestead where some rooms are $3000 per night. Instead, we choose to stay at El Questro Station. It cost us $120 for 2 nights unpowered camping. They also offer safari tents and cabins. The more we travel, the more we recognise that there are many ways to travel and that different styles of travel suit different people. For many travellers El Questro is the start of their journey on the Gibb River Road. This is 4WD only and is certainly not suitable for our on road van. Many campers at El Questro had roof top tents, off road camper trailers and serious off road caravans and motorhomes. Some travellers who want to travel GRR opt for an organised tour to experience the Gibb to spare the wear on their vehicle. Future trips may be different but for this trip we chose to leave our van a few spots and explore with the car and tent. Nanango is a small town but we’re often surprised at the number of people we meet while travelling that know someone from Nanango or have a story about Nanango. I got talking to the resident artist at El Questro and as it happens, she grew up in Booie which is about 10 min drive from us; during the wet season she lives in Highfields, close to where I lived through my teenage years. There are water holes at El Questro Station where you can swim as well as Zebedee thermal pools a short drive away. Although the thermal pools were beautiful I found it very crowded. This is probably due to the pools closing at 12pm for tour groups and visitors staying at the Homestead. We hiked through El Questro Gorge, which is a tropical paradise with many palms nestled between the vast escarpments of the gorge walls. We found this a challenging hike as there was a lot of rock hopping. As water flows through the gorge, many of the rocks were wet and slippery. We made it to the half way pool but heard the end pool is much better. The following day we drove to Emma Gorge. This was also a challenging hike and involved clambering over big boulders. There is also water at Emma Gorge but it is not on the track so we all managed this gorge a lot better. We were rewarded at the end of Emma Gorge by a magnificent water hole and waterfall where we had a refreshing swim before the hike back. We all love gorge hikes as no two are the same. Emma Gorge is far more open than El Questro Gorge and has different rock formations and flora. In a search for an interesting sunset view, we headed to Saddleback Ridge. This was a daunting drive for us unexperienced 4WDers. It was very steep and rough but Matt along with the Prado managed it very well. It was a great vantage point to enjoy the sunset but poor Matt found it difficult to relax as he anticipated the drive back down this steep ridge. Nights at El Questro are buzzing. There is happy hour at the bar to warm you up for the night entertainment. We all enjoyed listening to Chris as he sang and played guitar. I’m really enjoying music being part of our adventure. After our El Questro adventure, we took a detour to Wyndham to view the 5 rivers look out before heading back to Kunanurra. The drive from Wyndham to Kunanurra was glorious. We could view the Cockburn ranges on the right with an abundance of boab trees scattered over the hills and plains. At one point 2 brolgas were walking along the plain, only a couple of metres from the highway. We left the rugged ranges and headed to Lake Argyle where we enjoyed the rolling hills and ‘refreshing’ infinity pool. Lake Argyle is the biggest man made lake in Australia. It is home to an estimated 30 000 freshwater crocodiles. We enjoyed a sunset cruise while we were there where we spotted crocs, eagles and rock wallabies. Matt, Ben and Harrison jumped off the roof of the boat into Lake Argyle. Josh and I enjoyed a more leisurely swim. After the cruise we enjoyed listening to Steve Case sing and play guitar. We were introduced to musician Steve Case’s music when we were staying in Kunanurra. We are really enjoying these talented musicians particularly when we have the opportunity to hear them sing and play their own original songs. After a relaxing few days we headed to Spring Creek free camp where we had an ‘encounter’ with a bull, proving I can still move quickly when required. We also had the opportunity to catch up with Paul and Maureen, a lovely couple we met earlier in our trip. We really enjoy their company and enjoy sharing our travel stories. Paul and Maureen kindly looked after our van while we headed to Purnululu National Park (Bungle Bungle). The drive from Spring Creek to Purnululu is arduous as it is over 50km of heavily corregated road, which of course is why we didn’t bring our van. I’m hopeful this has the same effect as those exercise machines you see in shopping centres with the vibrating belt that goes around your hips. Apart from the road, we loved Purnululu and it certainly rates as one of our favourite places on this trip. While there we visited Cathedral Gorge, Echidna Chasm and a number of other walks and lookouts but our favourite spots by far were Piccaninny Creek and The Domes. We went to this area 3 times in the few days we were there; sunset, sunrise, we enjoyed hours exploring its beauty and uniqueness. The next morning after arriving back at Spring Creek, our battery was dead. We have generally found others campers very helpful and within a short amount of time half a dozen men had arrived at the car with jumper leads and multi meters. It was determined that the battery was cactus and we were fortunate that we had phone service to contact RACWA who sent someone from the closest town, that being Halls Creek, which is over 100 km away with a new battery. With a new battery and a lighter wallet, we headed South West to Fitzroy Crossing. The highlight of our time at Fitzroy Crossing was a cruise on Geikie Gorge. We arrived a few hours early at Geikie Gorge National Park and enjoyed a bush walk along the river where we saw a number of freshwater crocodiles and a pair of brolgas. The cruise was amazing. We choose the late afternoon cruise for the soft light and were given seats at the front of the boat so that we could sit together. Harrison did a great job spotting lots of crocs. This gorge was different again from the others we’ve seen; the beauty of the amazing rock formations enhanced by their own stunning reflection in the water. Our next stop was Broome. Our first night in Broome was a bit of a juggle as I wanted to view stairway to the moon which can only be seen a couple of nights a month and Matt wanted to watch State of Origon. We found a hotel where Matt could watch the game (sadly only with subtitles) and I photographed the stairway to the moon. I had eagerly anticipated seeing a Broome sunset and I wasn’t disappointed. I have always loved sunsets but it is pretty special to watch the sun set over the ocean. The colours were amazing. There seems a bit of a culture in Broome to drive down onto Cable Beach to watch the sunset; so we jumped on the bandwagon, took down the barbie, some sausages and a few drinks, watched the camel tours convoy along the beach and soak up the sunset until the last ray of light faded. We ended our Kimberley adventure with a trip to the Dampier Peninsula. We had discussed the option of heading up the Dampier Peninsula to Cape Leveque for a number of weeks but were a little tentative of the road reports after our trip into Bungle Bungle. We were also confused by the different options available for campers so we headed to the visitor centre on our arrival to Broome hoping for some clarification only to leave more confused than before. We also checked on our trusted Wiki Camps and asked a number of friends who had been to the area. Finally we decided we would miss the Dampier Peninsula and start our decent south. The day before we were to leave Broome, a fellow traveller shared photos of Middle Lagoon on the Dampier Peninsula and I was sure that if we didn’t go I would regret it. So we organised storage for the van, packed the car, enquired about site availability and headed to the Dampier Peninsula the following morning. After consulting Wiki camps once again, we decided on staying at Pender Bay Escape as it is a small camping ground with only 6 sites. After sending an enquiry, Andrew quickly responded with a welcoming email letting us know that families are very welcome and that his 10 year old would be at the camp while we were there as he was on holidays from Melbourne. It was a long, slow dive to Pender Bay. Soon after the turn off onto Cape Leveque road, the bitumen ended and we ventured into 100 km of red dirt corregations and undulations. We found the road less gruelling than the road into Bungle Bungle. After the 100km of red dirt, the following 100km to Cape Leveque is bitumen. Pender Bay, however, is about 30 km west of the Cape Leveque Road, so after a short period of respite we turned onto the road to Pender Bay to endure another 30 km of red dirt road. This road is narrower and rockier and we had to stop numerous times for Matt to adjust the wheel protector that had come loose during the drive. Upon arrival, we were warmly met by a young boy, who we assumed was Andrew’s son, who informed us to wait as his Dad was down fixing the boat ramp. I didn’t take a photo of the boat ramp but this rocky track would certainly be challenging to navigate your vehicle and boat trailer down…and up. We loved our time at Pender Bay with its isolated beaches and excellent fishing. We were fortunate to be able to fish with Andrew and his son Pancho a couple of times and learn from Andrew’s wisdom and local knowledge. The fishing at Pender Bay is outstanding with many species available. During our time fishing with Andrew and Pancho we caught golden trevally, sea bream, queenfish, long tom, dart, and blue bone. On our final day the weather was spectacular with blue skies and calm glassy seas. The water was alive with fish and a short distance out from where we were fishing from the beach the mackerel were chopping up the baitfish. This was too good for Andrew to ignore so he and Pancho decided to go out in the boat. Andrew was kind enough to offer if Matt wanted to come along to which Matt quickly accepted. Out in the boat they caught mackerel, tuna and a cobia. A great day fishing. During our stay at Pender Bay we went on a day trip to explore Middle Lagoon, Whale Song Cafe, Cynet Bay and Kooljamin at Cape Leveque. We just loved Pender Bay and could have stayed there much longer however we only planned to stay two nights and ended up staying four. While disappointed to leave we knew new adventures awaited us. Prior to departing Pender Bay Andrew and Lou spoke to us about the humpback whales that visit this area annually. They are usually starting to arrive at this time of the year but unfortunately we didn’t see any. Both Andrew and Lou are very passionate about the welfare of the whales and have been researching their behaviour in the area for over 12 years under the name Two Moons Whale and Marine Research Base. Such a great learning opportunity for us all to hear this information first hand from whale researchers. The profits from visitors staying at Pender Bay supports this research. On the way back to Broome we stopped at Beagle Bay to admire Sacred Heart Catholic Church. This is a unique church with the altar and many other parts of the interior of the church encrusted in shells. This church also has an interesting past. We have loved our time at the Kimberley. I love the vastness. Every day I am very grateful I have the opportunity to share this amazing adventure with my family. I look forward to the next time we return to the Kimberley. |
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September 2016
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