Wandjina dreaming - Kimberley trails

[bPeteb]

Once upon a time, in a world that hadn't heard of COVID, an AFF member and his partner, with his sister and a friend, booked a trip to southern Africa so that they could go and see some wild animals. They booked a rewards business seat for the partner (when that was an easy thing), a train ride, some connecting flights with BA, hotels etc etc etc.

Then COVID envoloped the world and their trip went to s***. Luckily they got all their points and money back except for their deposit with Intrepid. That was held as a credit. So they decided to use it to book a trip with Intrepid from Broome to Darwin. But COVID had other ideas and that too was cancelled.

Sometime in 2022 they decided to try again for a trip in NW WA in 2023. It's now September 2023. That credit was used to book Intrepid's Kimberley Trail trip, a tour operated by Kimberley Wild Expeditions, a Broome based family owned business. I literally can't get the experiences we have just had out of my head. We came back exhausted and I want to be right back there now. Well, maybe a month or two earlier, because it's bloody hot up there now and places are closing for the wet.

Off we go.

 

[kookaburra75]

Looking forward to your trip report. I lived in Kununurra in the 80's for several years, covering the whole area down as far as Broome as a surveyor. I haven't been back since the early 90s, so it will be interesting to see what it looks like now. It's certainly on my list, to take MrsK to.

 

[bPeteb]

The trip - Kimberley Trail | Intrepid Travel or 14 Day Kimberley Trail, including Mitchell Plateau 2024 - Kimberley Wild Expeditions

This would be my first holiday travelling with my sister. She has been bugging us for years to holiday with us and a group tour was the only option for me. Nine years older than me, and ex-teacher, and likes to organise. bAlt likes to 'be organised' but my sister likes to organise others. Yikes!

We knew it was very late in the season. It turned out to be Kimberley Wild's last before the NW started to shut down due to heat and eventually rain. Sleeping bags could either be brought or bought. Our -10s would be a tad warm so we called and bought. In the same conversation we were told to bring bottles/bladders to carry 3+ litres of water. We already had that covered.

Qantas BNE-PER-BME and return with sister's return BME-PER-SYD-OOL. bAlt rewards flights. When we originally booked I was none too well and put in upgrade requests. Even though our bookings were linked, my upgrade to PER came through months before but nada for bAlt. That was ok as he was sistting with sis.

We pre-booked the sunset cruise on Willie pearl lugger and morning snubfin dolphin cruise with Broome Whale Watching. Also booked a car with Avis for the first couple of days.

BME accom is bloody expensive! We had three nights in Broome at the start of our trip and two at the end. First three nights at Bayside Holiday Apartments Broome Accommodation | Moonlight Bay Suites Broome Western Australia and two at Seashells Seashells Broome - Accommodation by Cable Beach - Apartment & Bungalow Style at Cable Beach.

 

[bPeteb]

Our flight to PER left BNE ontime at 6. Didn't bother with premium checkin, just used bag drop then went up to lounge. The lounge was quiet. None of bothered with breakfast as something was going to be served on the flight in both J and Y.

Waving to the fam down the back, ok, row 4. The flight was only 50% load. Bizarre.



political statement. Vote yes



brekkie was nice



the flight continues.



some nice bikkies later in the flight



Perth J lounge a basket case like ususal. So hard to get two seats together let alone three.

We were in 1A/B up to BME on a Qantaslink A320.

Snack with beer

these things needed a sauce of some kind


loved the scenery flying up to Broome. Vast and spectacular.


Finally we descended into Broome

 

[bPeteb]

Upgraded to a hybrid Rav4. Went into town for a bit of a shop to cover supplies for brekkie, snacks etc

The open air theatre that we didn't visit. No-one would go with me to see Barbie!


Bayside is the basic cousin of Moonlight Suites just around the corner where we had to check in. Both owned by Matso's Brewery. It suited purpose. It was quiet and cool. Pool was cooling. Free laundry. Secure off street parking. Lots of signs telling you to keep doors and windows locked.

 

[bPeteb]

Dinner at Matso's and our first coughtails of the trip



this croc dish was delicious


Our weekend in Broome coincided with Staircase to the Moon and pretty much the lowest tides of the year. Staircase was cool but quite difficult to photograph



actually I don't

 

[bPeteb]

Up at 5am on day two to walk out to the flying boat wrecks Broome Flying Boats, 1942 | Western Australian Museum. An amazing sunrise and a really great walk. To think that these wrecks remained undisturbed until the 1980s. We were told when we were out on our snubfin cruise that they think they'll be gone in the next five years.



we saw a few of these little sea snakes in the shallows, caught by the outgoing tide


this green turtle was also on it's way back to deeper water. Hopefully it was left to make it's own way and not 'helped' by well meaning onlookers

the wrecks. Dorniers, Catalinas and Short Empire flying boats are both on the sands and out in deeper water



spanish dancer

 

[bPeteb]

A sculpture to commemorate the souls lost when the flying boats were attacked in 1942, Town Beach

with the tide so low we then had to go to Gantheaume Point to look for dinosaur footprints. Our recommendation, don't bother. Luckily someone was already down there and pointed a couple out to us. If he hadn't been, we wouldn't have seen anything. To top it off I fell, luckily not too hard, when I slipped on the super slippery rocks




then to the Chinese and Japanese cemeteries. What the pearling industry did to both aboriginal and Japanese people is appalling

we visited the local museum that was actually quite interesting then took a trip to the hospital as I'd discovered I'd left some supplies at home that Colin really needed. Luckily the hospital came through.

yummy bao for lunch at the court markets

 

[bPeteb]

Afternoon was sunset cruise on Willie Broome Sunset Cruises - Willie Pearl Lugger Cruises We were picked up around at Moonlight Bay Suites for the drive to Gantheaume Point where we drove down on to Cable Beach. We'd also arrived in the middle of matsuri and it was lantern release night. The beach was packed with people and vehicles.

 

[bPeteb]

and another excellent sunset. Lucky, because that's what we paid for!

 

[bPeteb]

Up early again on day three, this time to go out in search snubfin (that we kept calloing snubnose) dolphin. We could have been picked up but decided to drive out to the meeting point ourselves. Apart from going to the wrong meeting place, we were close but no cigars (read the instructions!), it was a lovely clear and calm start to another spectacular Broome day.

Entrance Point
This would later be completely covered by the gigantic 9m+ tide

when this 'boat' was bought it was the first in Broome, and possible Australia (?). Now there's dozens. It has a small engine that is switched on as it approaches the beach, the front wheel folds down, and the boat is driven up onto the shore. Once loaded, or unloaded, the skipper reverses back out into the water and when it gets deep enough, the outboard is fired up and the front wheel folded forward.

Orcaella
APT has sold Caledonian Sky (name?) and it will be repositioning to Fiji


the dolphin sightings began withing minutes of us leaving the tender at the mooring. They were in small groups and the skipper was very careful to stay with a group for only a short time

 

[bPeteb]

more from the cruise. Roebuck Bay was like a mill pond. So amazingly calm. As well as the snubnose we saw one or two bottlenose, a large sea snake, some weird fish that hide on their sides under weed that is floating on the surface and gazillions of migratory birds. Such a spectacular place

something for the brains trust. I'm having little luck uploading pictures taken on bAlt's Pixel7Pro. Some upload but more than 50% don't and that's a shame as his photos are excellent. I've resized everything and they are saved as jpg. I thought maybe it was the name but some upload, some don't. One successful example here is PXL_20230904_03533953.jpg



the boatramp in the picture below was way away from the water

we love a gin or 20 so of course Moontide Distillery was going to get a visit. Lovely staff and gin decent enough to buy and decant into some small bottles a few of you might recognise. Reason for the decant? KWE has no problem with you byoing but prefers it's not in glass due to the possibility of breakage in your bags

 

[bPeteb]

We went for a wander around town in search of a meal and ended up at The Bay Club at Mangrove Hotel. Not sure why we walked to where we did to see Stairway to the Moon. We should have just gone here. Nice food, good drinks menu


Early tomorrow we head out into the Kimberley

 

[kookaburra75]

something for the brains trust. I'm having little luck uploading pictures taken on bAlt's Pixel7Pro. Some upload but more than 50% don't and that's a shame as his photos are excellent. I've resized everything and they are saved as jpg. I thought maybe it was the name but some upload, some don't. One successful example here is PXL_20230904_03533953.jpg

I've had the same issue with photos taken with my Pixel 7a phone. I can upload the images, but then it doesn't give me the option to insert the photo, either as a thumbnail or fill image (looks like below). Even if I email the file to another computer it doesn't seem to fix the "problem".

The work around has been to use the Adobe Photoshop Express app on my phone, open the image and apply an "Adjustment", which might just be Sharpen, Contrast, Shadows etc (it's a good app, and sometimes does improve the look of the photo) and then click on the Next button, and then select the "Save to Gallery" option, which saves it as a new image that starts with "PSX_". It's a bit of a fioddle, but it works until I find out what the issue is with the native Pixel images.

And the photos and your trip look fantastic. As I said up thread, it's an area of the world I want to get back to. Looking at where you will go on the tour company's map, I'm guessing you will be doing it in a bit more comfort than I did when I first went there.

 

[bPeteb]

I've had the same issue with photos taken with my Pixel 7a phone. I can upload the images, but then it doesn't give me the option to insert the photo, either as a thumbnail or fill image (looks like below). Even if I email the file to another computer it doesn't seem to fix the "problem".
View attachment 346189
The work around has been to use the Adobe Photoshop Express app on my phone, open the image and apply an "Adjustment", which might just be Sharpen, Contrast, Shadows etc (it's a good app, and sometimes does improve the look of the photo) and then click on the Next button, and then select the "Save to Gallery" option, which saves it as a new image that starts with "PSX_". It's a bit of a fioddle, but it works until I find out what the issue is with the native Pixel images.

And the photos and your trip look fantastic. As I said up thread, it's an area of the world I want to get back to. Looking at where you will go on the tour company's map, I'm guessing you will be doing it in a bit more comfort than I did when I first went there.

Good to be not alone . I’m uploading from pc now. I’ll give what you’ve suggested a go from there. Thank you

 

[bPeteb]

I’ve forgotten to mention the adventures of Colin so far. This whole trip is going to be an adventure but it started in Broome. I was going to give the boom nets a miss then thought to myself don’t be a chicken. In I went off the side of Willie where oysters and drinks were handed down to us. Then off the back of Orcaella we went as well. A huge amount of fun was had by all!!

 

[bPeteb]

The real trip begins.



Starting point for the trip is a hostel/accomodation owned by KWE but you could let them know where you were staying and they'd come there. Except for Bayside Holiday Apartments. As for the Willie pick-up, we had to meet around the corner at Moonlight Bay Suites. We'd hoped we might be first on as our pick-up was 35 minutes before the home base pick-up but that wasn't to be.

There was eight of us at Moonlight Bay and when the truck (as it was called) turned up.



The other 12 were already onboard. Loaded up our 'bigger than everyone elses' bags climbed on board. To the back seat I went. bAlt and my sister sat beside others.



As it turned out there were just four couples, the rest singles. One group of three, one group of six that included one of the couples and two solos. The Isuzu based truck looked brand new and it pretty much was. It had just over 10k on the clock and that very possibly included the drive up from Perth. Super comfy, even the back seat

We drove to Derby where Pat the 'second' guide would finish provisioning while we visited Norval Gallery. Our 'main' guide was Zane. Both of them were fantastic.

On our way we crossed the Fitzroy River.


and then our first experience of an outback roadhouse at Willare, complete with very few loos for the ladies, and lots for the men



We'd see the chaos the flooding earlier this year had caused right at the end of our trip. The flooding also meant our itineray was changed. Instead of starting with Tunnel Creek we would end there. Geike and Winjana Gorges were also closed. My sister was a bit 'well what will they replace them with?' and we were whatever we see will be amazing.

Before going in to Derby we stopped at the infamous prison boab. I'd read about this in Kimberley Warrior: The story of Jandamarra. My sister had brought it along and eventually more than half the bus had read it.



and finally the boab



what a sad chapter of our history, especially important at this very time

 

[bPeteb]

In Derby we went to Norval Gallery. Mark Norval has used art as a way of engaging with disenfranchised aboriginal youth, with quite some success. We were supposed to meet him but he had to rush to Broome. Instead we wandered the gallery


Jandamarra


and studio and of course bought some art


As I'd stepped off the bus my shoes, my only shoes, dropped one of their soles. Before Pat went to the shops I asked if he could buy some contact in the hope of resuing them. Otherwise it would be Croc sandals and rubber Birkies for the next two weeks

We stopped for our first lunch. Apart from setting you own tent up, this was a voluntary participation trip. If you wanted to sit on your cough and do nothing at meal times, and feel the evil eye of everyone when you did, you could. Otherwise you helped unload everything - chairs, tables, crockery, cutlery - got water ready for wash up, helped cut up whatever Pat wanted cut up, then when you finished, wash up and put it all away. There was one guy, and ex-psychologist, who I'm sure was just testing everyone, including his wife/partner, to see how little he could do. He was nearly always already seated when meal time arrived.


in a layby just before we passed through a range that I have no idea what it was called! All I remember is the rock formation that supposedly looked like Queen Victoria. You be the judge



Firewood collection. We did this on the way to each campsite. We gathered. Zane and/or Pat chopped to size, then it was loaded up onto a tray above the cab of the truck. Amazingly no snakes seen during any collection. Just one small monitor inside a hollow piece of wood

sandals it is


truly spectacular scenery. Get used to that word. I'll be using it a lot

 

[drron]

The Caledonian Sky has been off Broome for a while.
Back in 2012 APT invested in Noble caledonia which owned the Caledonian Sky, Island Sky and Hebridean Sky.
Last year there seems to have been a bust up with APT announcing they now owned the Caledonian Sky and mention of the Caledonian Sky and APT vanished from the Noble Caledonia website.
In July this year APT announced they would sell the Caledonian Sky to Captain Cook cruises.
But on August 25 the Caledonian Sky was arrested off Broome with allegations the crew had been underpaid.

Luxury cruise ship detained off WA now at centre of wage theft allegations

MS Caledonian Sky was arrested off Roebuck Bay late last month over a separate dispute. Now an international union alleges its crew was underpaid.

www.abc.net.au

It possibly isn't going anywhere fast.

 

[bPeteb]

I have not got myself organised with this report at all. The lunch stop was on the Derby Gibb River Road literally at Queen Victoria's Head



I'll also detail the camping component of the itinerary before I go further -
Silent Grove campground - one night (set up own tent, showers/toilets)
Mount Barnett Station campground - two nights (safari tents, showers/toilets)
Mitchell Plateau campground - two nights (set up own tents, toilets/no showers)
Drysdale River station campgound - one night (set up own tent, showers/toilets)
El Questro Station campground - two nights (safari tents, showers/toilets)
Lake Argyle Tourist Village - two nights (safari tents, showers/toilets)
Purnululu National Park KWE camp - two nights (fixed tented camp, showers/toilets)
Fitzroy Crossing Campground - one night (safari tents, showers/toilets)

Zane mentioned on the first morning that we'd be travelling approximately 4500km but my track below shows a fair bit less.




there was also a request from Zane for everyone to move around the bus so that everyone had a turn in the back seat. One couple pretty much refused but in the end it didn't matter as the back seat proved quite popular amongst the rest of us.

back to regular programming

the second of many sightings of our favourite birds, black coughatoos



we hadn't expected to see pandanus out here but we saw them so often



at some point we pulled over after an alarm had been pinging for a while. It turned out a sensor under the bus had partially lost it's steel cover. The boys reattached it with ratchet straps and we continued. This would recur a few times but didn't impact the tour. Zane said to me the quality of steel fabrications had dropped off steadily over the years and for this reason all of the guides preferred to drive the older buses.



we'd seen kapok in fnq and kakadu. They were flowering very late, possibly due to the unseasonal rains



we stopped at the Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges lookout where Zane did his besy to show the enormity of both the Kimberley, and the huge distances we'd be travelling