On the way to Wyndham we visited The
Grotto. It was a little like The
Blowhole near Pt Campbell but with a path down the edge to a deep pool at the
bottom. It must look spectacular in the
wet – like a lot of things we have seen.
The caravan park at Wyndham had lots of shady ghost gums and an old boab
tree reported to be 2000 years old. The
old town (port) has a lot of old buildings.
Many seemed to be owned by Pixie who operated the bricabrac shop &
knew the Laxtons from Warrnambool. The
museum was full of information about the meat works, pioneering & the
bombings during the war. The tide peaked
at 7m that day. The fisherman were
complaining because of the muddy water.
The port exports some nickel & live cattle. Iron ore is carted in road trains with 2
super dogs & a B double (to make 4 trailers). They cart 24 hours a day from 60 kms north of
Turkey Creek to a stockpile next to a conveyor that delivers to barges. The ore carriers must not be able to come in
to Cambridge Bay. The small freighter
was above the wharf when we arrived & well below at sunset as the tide went
out. Nice barramundi at the pub for lunch. Saw the sunset from the look out where you
could see the 5 rivers (Orde, King, Forrest, Pentacost & Durack) and lots
of tidal flats.
The drive south was more scenic than we
expected. The highway was flanked by
quite high ranges. We were surprised to
meet Lyn T (fellow nursing trainee) from Warrnambool, while having lunch at
Turkey Creek (Warnum). The 56 km drive
into the Bungle Bungles (now Purnululu world heritage are) was quite
challenging with about 5 water crossings, sharp ridges & a lot of
corrugations.
The first part is through
Mabel Downs station. Then we had another
12 kms to the camp site which share a water tap & toilet with 4 other
sites. It is then another 26 kms to
where you are able to be in the actual Bungle Bungles – but well worth it. We stayed 3 nights and walked to the
Cathedral Gorge and around the Domes on the second day.
In the afternoon we braved a 30 minute flight. The small Robinson helicoptor had no doors
& we were told to divest ourselves of anything that could be sucked off or
out of our pockets. The pilot must have
noticed that NG2's knuckles were white & her eyes were closed tight for
the first 5 minutes. He said you just
ride it like a motor bike. That was a
bit unfortunate because the first flight we had tried to organise from Wyndham was aborted because that pilot fell off his
motorbike!
The next day we walked the
Echidna Chasm where the conglomerate nature of the Bungle Bungles was more
obvious. It was well worth the effort to
see such a unique geological wonder close up.
After the slow trip back to the highway we
made our way down to Halls Creek where the annual rodeo was in progress. We had a quick look in but it was the kid’s
gymkana this afternoon. We missed the
camp drafting & would have had to wait to see the rodeo events.
We drove until we saw a kangaroo at sunset so
pulled into Larrawa Station camp ground.
They run 900 head of cattle at 1 to 100 acres but needed the extra
income from a nice camp ground for travellers.
They had hot showers, flushing toilets & fire places. When all the young African Mahoganys grow it
will be very good. Wendy had been a
neighbour of Joy M.
Fitzroy Crossing is a much greener town
than Halls Creek. The Information centre
was closed (being Sunday) but we did a little shopping at a nice new IGA that
had good produce at reasonable prices.
We had lunch at Geikie Gorge & did a little exploring. The cliffs are not imposing but have
interesting colours. We decide not to
wait for the cruise but pushed on up the road to Tunnel Creek as there is a
good camp spot in an old quarry along the way.
The first few kilometres had a side track that had turned to bull dust
& needed 4wd. Apart from a few more
soft patches the road was good. A few
others are reading from the same map so we are not alone. It is a little like camping in the Stoney
Rise, as we are sited between lots of grey outcrops. It is part of the Leopold Ranges. There is a small chasm where we are able to
dip a bucket to get what appears to be good water. All the kids that went for a swim seem to
have made the return journey past our camp so there can’t be any crocodiles there
– hungry ones at any rate. The day time
temperatures are back to 23 – 25 degrees.
Mornings require a jumper for a short time.
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