Life in a Humpback

Day 58: Broome (Day 2)

Today we got picked up from the caravan park at 7:00am to head out on a 4 hour snubfin dolphin tour on Roebuck Bay. As the tide was still low we took a tender (small boat) out to the tour boat. The tender was a pretty cool in that it had wheels, allowing it to drive up onto the beach to pick us up. Once on the boat we headed out into the bay. As we headed south we saw a few snubfin dolphins (including a mum and calf), several brown footed boobies, and some green sea turtles. When we turned around to the north again they droped a boom net out the back of the boat so that we could all go for a swim.

Once out of the water we made for some sea grass meadows to see if we could find any dugongs. We saw a few from a distance but they were hard to tell apart from the dolphins. However, we did get a closer look at a baby green turtle, some bottle-nosed dolphins, and a lot more brown boobies.

Just before returning to port we came upon a large pod (6-8) of snubfin dolphins. They stayed near the surface for a while, swimming near the boat. One even turned on its side to give us a good look in the eye. It was an amazing way to finish our tour. We then speed back to shore as we were already 20 minutes late. The kids really loved the fast ride back!

We then had another quiet afternoon at camp before we walked to the Broome Rodeo just down the road from the caravan park. It was family night and we arrived in time to see the bronco and bull riders. None of us had ever been to a rodeo before. Theo noted on the walk over that he was going to see a rodeo when he was only 9, whereas I had to wait until I was 50 to see one. Thanks Theo!

Day 57: Broome (Day 1)

Another early start this time for the kids and I, as John opted to sleep in. We headed out to Gantheaume Point to look for dinosaur footprints in the rocks during the low tide. The footprints at this site can only been seen when the tides are very low, which today was around 7:00am. There were no clues where to find the footprints so we (and around 50 other people there) wandered the rocky shore trying to find them. All I had to go on was a photo from the website, lining up the rock outcrops in the photo we got to roughly the right spot. About an hour after we started looking we finally found one, then a few more.

Once back at camp we again had a quiet day around the caravan park, going for swims and reading books, etc.

Day 56: Roebuck to Broome

I got up early this morning to meet a fellow Antarctic seabird team member who happened to be in Broome the same time as us. Ben and I caught up while walking along the mangroves near Chinatown. Then I had to race back to camp to help pack up so that we could move to the Broome Caravan Park for the next three nights.

As we have been on the move for almost two months now we were all getting a bit tired, so our plan for our time in Broome was to do not much. This first full day was spent doing hundreds of loads of washing (again!), going for a swim in the pool, and then heading to Cable Beach to watch the sunset.

Once the kids were in bed I again headed out to see if I could catch the last night of the Staircase to the Moon. The moon did not rise until 8:30pm and there was no market on, so it was pretty quiet at Town Pier. This time I headed out to the end of the pier and waited, and waited. It was a slightly better night as there were fewer clouds, but it was a bit hazy due to the humidity. Again really cool to see, even for the second time.

Day 55: Ellendale Rest Area to Roebuck

Today we drove the rest of the way to Broome. As we arrived a day earlier then planned we had to call around to find a place to stay. In the end we could only find a campsite at the Broome's Gateway Caravan park in Roebuck (about ~20km from town).

Once at camp we all had our first showers in a few days, then headed into Broome to catch the Staircase to the Moon and market. Three days after the full moon in Broome (in the dry season) when the moon rises it reflects across the mudflats to create "steps" of light. We arrived early to wander through the market and grab dinner from the food trucks. As it got dark we set up on the grassy area with a few hundred other tourists to wait for the moon to rise. Sadly when it did there was a lot of cloud on the horizon so there was not much "staircase" but it was still beautiful to watch the moon rise.

Day 54: Purnululu National Park to Ellendale Rest Area

Today we started our drive to Broome passing through Halls Creek & Fitzroy Crossing before pulling into Ellendale Rest Stop for the night. We also stopped at Mary's Pools Rest Stop for lunch.

Along the way we saw:

• a large burn off
• a large flock of cockatoos that from a distance looked like a wispy cloud
• lots of kites and wedge tail eagles
• brumbies (wild horses)
• lots and lots of cows
• and a gorgeous sunset to finish off the day

Day 53: Purnululu National Park

I was pretty excited about today. I've wanted to visit the Bungle Bungle Range since I was an undergrad geology student and read about the beehive formations. It has only taken me 35+ years to get here!

The road into the park is known for being a pretty rough track with lots of corrugations, river crossings, and steep road dips. It is 53km from the highway to the visitors centre which can take between 1.5-3 hours. As we knew this was going to be a big day, we were up early and into the park as soon as we could. It was rough, and yes there were a few river crossings, but it was not as bad as we thought it was going to be...that said it did take us 2 hours to get to the visitors centre. On the way into the park we ticked over 10,000km since we left Hobart - a big milestone!

From there we headed south to the Piccaninny trail head at the Bungle Bungle Range (45 min & 27km later). We started on The Domes loop and then continued into Cathedral Gorge. It was amazing to walk between some of the beehive domes along the sandy creek beds. Theo stopped at every sandy section of the trail to make little sand hill men.

The walk into Cathedral Gorge was also along a dry creek bed but here it was bedrock rock rather than sand. When we got to the end of Cathedral Gorge we got to listen to one of the local indigenous woman singing and playing clapsticks for her tour group. The acoustics were so beautiful and the song amazing. After hearing that we all walked around the small lake at the end of the gorge speaking in whispers as anything louder seemed out of place.

While exploring the end of the gorge we found a really cool little puddle, that turned from green to clear depending on the angle that you looked at it from. I assume it was to do with how algae in the water reflected the light(?). We could also hear a frog hanging out near the canyon walls but could not work out where it was hiding.

Back at the car we had a quick lunch then drove to Echidna Chasm carpark at the northern end of the park (1 hour, 15 min & 45km later). It was getting late in the day so we quickly headed into the Chasm. The rocks in the northern park of the park are very different - being conglomerates rather than sandstone. There were a few Livistona Palms near the beginning of the track before the Chasm got too narrow for any vegetation. Eventually we could touch each side of the wall while walking through the middle. We missed being here in the middle of the day when the sun lights up the walls but there was still a few glowing red rocks for us to see. On the way back to the car we ran up to Osmand Lookout for one last look of the northern range before heading back to Spring Creek Camp.

It was a very full day and with the sun setting at 5:15pm we ended up getting back to camp after dark. But we did get a great view of the full moon rising while driving back to the highway.

Day 52: El Questro to Purnululu National Park

Today we packed up, crossed a few more rivers with the caravan, and headed south towards Purnululu National Park. We were not allowed to bring our dual axle caravan into the park because of the 53km of dirt road and steep river beds. Instead we opted to camp at Spring Creek Rest Area just across the road from the junction into the park.

We got into camp early and had a quiet afternoon - planning our walks in the park, sorting out some bookings for later in the trip, and watching two cockatoos coming and going from their nest hallow in the tree next to our campsite.

Day 51: El Questro (Day 2)

Today we headed out for another gorge walk and swim, this time to Emma Gorge. This walk started in a wide meadow, so was very open and therefore rather warm. Once into the gorge itself it cooled down a bit. Similar to El Questro Gorge this track had us crossing back and forth across the river, but the Emma Gorge track was better maintained so we did not get our feet as wet and muddy.

We stopped for a quick look at the lower pool before heading up to the Emma Gorge pool for a swim. This swimming hole was larger with a 35m waterfall (in the wet season). There wasn't much of a waterfall when we were there but there was lots of water dripping off the walls into the pool making it look like it was raining in sections. The water was also much cooler, almost take your breath away cold when you first get in. But there were some smaller pools to one side that were warmer. After lunch at the top pool we headed back to the lower pool.

The lower pool was much smaller but has a nicer temperature to just hang out in. It also had some good jumping rocks. We stayed at this pool much longer than the upper one.

Once back at the trail head we treated ourselves to hot chips and cold drinks at the Emma Gorge Resort before the drive back to camp at El Questro Station.

Day 50: El Questro (Day 1)

Today we got up early and drove out to El Questro Gorge trail head. The water level in the river on the way in was less than 80cm so was open to non-snorkel fitted 4WDs like ours. So we thought we'd take the chance to get out there. In the end there were four river sections to cross. One rather long deep one and the others much shorter and shallower.

Once at the trail head we started the walk into the gorge. The first part of the walk was more open as we followed the stream that runs through the gorge, often by walking back and forth across it. This lower part of the gorge was filled with Livistona Palms. As it started to narrow the sandstone walls where filled with ferns. We made it to the Halfway Pool and changed into our swimmers to wade out into the pool and climb the rocks to continue further into the gorge.

After the Halfway Pool the gorge walls continued to narrow and we had to traverse lots of large boulders and even scramble up a bit of a rock wall and some steep steps to eventually make it to Mac Miking Gorge Pool at the end of the walk. There weren't very many people at the pool and we even got a few minutes of being in the water with just the four of us. After a refreshing swim we headed back down the gorge to the car. Stopping at the lower pool for a longer swim this time.

Then it was back to camp. Late in the afternoon we headed over to the bar and grassy area near reception for the kids to set up a cricket game and the adults could have a cold drink. By the time the sun set the kids had 10 players on the pitch.

Day 49: NT/WA Border to El Questro

This morning we got up early and headed for the NT/WA border. We passed our quarantine check - only having to leave a piece of fire wood that still had bark on it. Then we rolled into Kununara around 8.30am (as we gained another 1.5 hours crossing the border). We stopped long enough for a quick restock of fresh fruit and veggies, and to head to Ivanhoe Cafe for breakfast before continuing west to El Questro.

The road was paved until the turn off to El Questro Station. It was then 16km of dirt road. Most of it was pretty good driving, just a few small corrugations, as a section of it was being graded as we drove in. But there were three river crossings to negotiate as well. I had heard there were at least two possible river crossing but apparently John did not remember being told that, and he was the one driving. The first one was not very deep but the other two were ~60cm deep. The last one was the longest as well. John did a great job negotiating these on the fly for his first ever river crossing, never mind that he was also towing the caravan! The car and caravan both survived the drive in, although we did get some water on the inside step of the caravan that came through the vents at the bottom of the door.

Once we checked in and found our campsite we hung out for the afternoon. Olivia and Theo played cricket in the heat of the afternoon. Then we all headed over to the creek for the kids to have a swim. Olivia then scouted out a few places for her bracelet stall.