Australia 5
29 May 2011
Despite hiccups, which are just too tedious to go into in detail, ask if you want to know, we are seeing vast swathes of the Kimberley and falling in love with all of it.
We took a tour in to Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles) and the first creek crossing confirmed why we did… pretty sure we could have bogged the Troopy within a few metres of entering. The tour group was small and they were all lovely people, Purnululu deserves its World Heritage status. The rocks are stunning. The orange is pinky orange, the black-grey is crisscrossed, greying (where blue-green algae live and protect the rock from rust), curving mounds waving in and out, up and down. Shadows depict the curves and cast fresh curves on the neighbouring mound. Sensuous, moving, wriggling across the flat red plains. Old creek beds, layered rock, worn smooth. Pebbles, white sand. Piccaninny creek with its sand ripples carved into rock, potholes like whirlpools ground out and down; a hundred shades of white. Long ripples echoed by the long shadows of the sinking winter sun. The rock begins to glow like fire. From the lookout you see the flat green plain with rippling muscles of rock bubbling up under the surface, molten metal settling into grey hardened steel as the sun sinks.
In Kununarra we got lucky again. We had to stay in town, but thanks to a tip-off found Hidden Valley caravan park, and thanks to good luck and talking nicely to the staff found a corner of the campground where no-one else dared come, my swag 3 feet away from Mirima National Park, more beautiful rocks, boab trees and our friends the wallabies. All the other campers seemed far, far away and we ate dinner under the stars every night.
Finally the Gibb River road is sort-of open… We made it as far as El Questro and Home Valley Station (where they filmed the rather schmaltzy ‘Australia’) with smaller creek crossings to prepare us for the mighty Pentecost River. The official measurement was 450mm of water – well up Troopy’s tyres and pretty scary, but we got good advice and managed to tag onto a Tagalong (guided 4 wheel drive) so got through safe and sound. Only afterwards we discovered they measure at the shallowest point….
Hot springs, palm groves in arid bush, frogs the size of my fingernail, crocodile infested rivers, then Parry Creek farm which is set around a lagoon and nature reserve. One of the only places where Gouldian finches are still found – there are only 2000 left in the wild (I didn’t see one). A walk in the morning took in pied heron, egret, kookaburra and 3 types of kingfisher, double barred finches and gerygones and a whole valley full of boab trees which kept Jen happy.
We are now back in Fitzroy, contemplating a trip into Windjana Gorge and slowly back to Broome to meet up with some of Jen’s interviewees who seem fast to be turning into friends. I force her into every indigenous art centre we pass – schools, halls, purpose built studios and galleries full of dots, stripes, whirls of all colours of country.
Now it’s cloudy and last night it even rained a few spots (stop laughing David and Peggy) which relieves the 30+ heat, and to be quite honest the nights have been cold enough for 3season sleeping bags and pyjamas. I don’t think I will ever understand this country..
much love, and bananas at $20 a kilo (they now count as treats).