Wandjina dreaming - Kimberley trails

[Flyfrequently]

and so to what was supposed to be the last day of our trip.

Love this croc outside of Willie Creek Pearls (same complex as Zookeepers and the Moontide pop-up)
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We thought we'd have breakfast around at Cable Beach Club. Apart from the staff being what I'd politely describe as abrupt, this is what we got for 'breakfast'
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at Cichetti. I was completely speechless. Chia seed 'pudding' and the granola. Wtaf?
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I had worn dad's gardening hat for the majority of the trip. It was such a great hat but had started to come apart by the end of the trip. It would have been his 100th in July. Just 18 months short. I'd intended to put it on the fire on the last night in the Bungles but that just didn't happen.

Instead, I stripped it back to straw and set it out to sea. No different to the other stcks and branches floating around out there. He loved being on the water (just not in it!).
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Had a final swim and then my sister headed off with some of the Valley gang as her flight wasn't until nearly 7pm. Ours was at 2. We hung in the aircon in the lobby of Seashells then got a cab to the airport in prep for our 2pm flight to Perth.

I've detailed what happened in this thread Qantaslink A320 goes tech after arrival in BME from PER. Flight was a turnaround to PER. Qantas' response to the situation.

Before it all went to cough we each had an incredibly expensive pie, I think $9.50, for lunch
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After it went to cough using our vouvhers we both had a slice of quiche and it was quite nice
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eventually we wanderd into town and had dinner at the Roey and played some drag bingo
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Finally on our way to Perth at about 11pm. Served this samosa thing. We had it on the flight here. Needs sauce!View attachment 347817

Love what you did with your Dad's hat

 

[bPeteb]

Into our very nice Regency Club room at the Hyatt Regency Perth at about 2am. Such a nice room, so little time to use it



Our flight to BNE left right on time at 6:15. The cover photo of the September Qantas mag was a place that was a tad familiar


Another nice brekkie in J. Very thankful Qantas got us onto this full flight. My J upgrade even stuck but I wouldn’t have cared if it hadn’t


Into Brisbane on time and our bags were in the first four or five out! Remarkable

This is what we picked up on the way home, our new electric Volvo C40.


A very exciting way to end the holiday.

Hope you enjoyed coming along on this fantastic trip.

Lots of little jaunts planned over the next months. Back over to CHC Friday week for the weekend.

Next big trip is Southern Africa next September.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks very much for the TR. Again you have shown a real determination to enjoy life. The trip did look really good.

 

[RooFlyer]

A wonderful trip, and a great TR, thanks. Seeing what we have in Australia makes me feel a bit guilty about shooting off overseas, but I always look out the window over outback Oz with great feelings.

 

[drron]

Once again a very enjoyable TR. Great pictures to back it up.

 

[VPS]

Yet another great TR from you. I just don't think I could do a group tour again and all those early mornings would wipe me out. Fantastic photos.
Thanks

 

[RB]

Another great report and excellent photos. Your comments on the team dynamics are so similar to what we encountered on similar trips (Adelaide/Darwin, Birdsville Cup/Inland Qld)) and it certainly makes us hesitant about doing a similar trip.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Welcome home @bPeteb , enjoy your new wheels and thanks for your TR, enjoyed travelling along with you.

 

[bronwyn75]

Thank you for a wonderful trip report and marvellous photos; just devoured the whole lot in one sitting. Brought back memories of our visit to Purnululu 4 years ago, prior to a Kimberley cruise. Purnululu was absolutely a highlight of our entire trip - what a spectacular place. We did it the easy way though, flying in from Kununurra, then 2 nights at the Savannah Lodge with walks both days and relaxing by the pool in the evening.

 

[JohnM]

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.

It was parked off Darwin on 26 September as we hauled out on Coral Geographer on our way to Broome.

I was told during our voyage that it had crashed onto a reef in the Spice Islands, causing a lot of damage, before scarpering in a hurry and consequently not likely to ever get back into Indonesian waters.

 

[JohnM]

a full day of driving. The road up to the Mitchell Plateau is terrible. It was corrugations like no other. View attachment 346554

Interesting. I was told a few weeks ago that the road to Mitchell Plateau was the best it's been for years. It was notoriously bad.

Maybe it got chopped up badly at the tail end of the season.

 

[JohnM]

bAlt even spotted a little wallaby. We saw so few mammals on this trip. Mainly birds and reptiles
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That little guy looks like a monjon: Monjon - Wikipedia. Good spotting.

 

[JohnM]

maybe an hour out of Ellenbrae we stopped to offer help to this car
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Maria and her husband were here from the US. They'd already shredded one tyre and had continued past Ellenbrae, where they could have had their tyre fixed, and now had shredded their second. They'd already been offered help but for whatever reason said no. Zane pretty much forced Maria to come with us to the next station where they also fixed tyres. Her husband wanted to stay with the car.

Zane rang ahead when the sat phone got some signal and found out that the next station no longer offered help with tyres. After much teary discussion with Maria, Zane called Ellenbrae who agreed to go and pick up Maria's husband and the two damaged tyres. He'd stay at Ellenbrae and we'd take Maria on to El Questro where they had a booking at Emma Gorge Resort.

Crossing the Durack (?) River.
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What idiotic people pressing on after shredding a tyre on the Gibb River Road!

Pentecost, not Drysdale, River crossing in front of the coughburn Range.

 

[JohnM]

Before I continue a bit about the group and travel in general.

As I said, 20 on the tour on a truck/bus that can seat 23. Ages ranged from one 40 something to 79, with only four under 60. Four of us working, the rest retired.

One retired couple, early 70s, from London on a long NZ AUS holiday that this trip was bringing to an end. He, an autocrat if ever there was one, had been in a senior position in the civil service. Agnes his wife was such a gentle soul with a scientific background. He carried a camera around his neck with a huge tele lens on it. On a couple of occasions rudely told people to move out of his way so he could get a photo. Did not really do much to help until late in the trip. I was sat with them one evening and one said to the other "I was going to offer to help do x but it was already done". I said you'll just need to offer sooner.

A retired couple from the NSW central coast, early 60s. Lovely people who worked liked troopers at every campsite.

Two friends, early 60s, who first met in the NZ Navy and had reconnected through social media. Ally had until recently owned a place in Katherine that KWE had used as an overnight stop. Her friend Anne was over from NZ and was sadly suffering from early and worrying signs of dementia. You could not get Ally away from the washing up!

Three related ‘Finnish’ ladies, two sisters and a second cousin. Second cousin from Brisbane, a nurse, was the youngest, sisters 60s, one also in Brisbane and one on holiday from Finland. The two sisters were like Ally, nearly impossible to wrench away from washing up.

Our oldest had driven up to Broome from the Adelaide Hills on his own. Runs three walking groups. You could blow him over but he could walk for days. Graeme became responsible for the unloading and loading of the kitchen tables, crockery and cooking gear.

One single of an indeterminate age, maybe late 50s. Lives in Canberra, originally from Poland, our early moring hater. Bea did as little as possible.

Our group of six - five from the Kangaroo Valley and a friend from Berry who was a ring in so they could get a group discount! One still working (owns a local supply business), one the pyschologist. All very intelligent, conversational, and passionate about the referendum. Hugh, larger than life, hilarious, a wanderer who was usually last on the bus after a stop, had driven up from the Valley. A terrific guy. Our Berry traveller is an ex-lawyer running the yes campaign in her area. They provided differing levels of help, but apart from Hugh, looking back, not a huge amount apart from getting lunch ready. The pysch and his partner very, very little. The lawyer a similar level of not much apart from getting the urns ready so she could have a cup of tea.

Finally us. My sister is 69 and a retired teacher who really does still like to organise things. I had the job of loading and unloading the 20 camp chairs and food prep most nights. My sister also helped in the kitchen and with loading and unloading. bAlt was Mr Everything and Everywhere. Up in the roof of the truck amongst the tents and swags. Last pair of arms in the chain of bag loaders. Lifting the big eskies out. Helping everyone with any and every problem. We joke that we travel with a pharmac_ and he was handing out cold and flu tablets, cough lozenges and panadol, mainly to the Valley gang who brought a cold onboard. He even provided an ankle support (we had two, plus two knee supports) for one of the group who tripped and hurt her ankle. He was called out at the end of the trip as the kindest and most helpful person on the trip. I have no idea how he's put up with me for as long as he has.

The bus seating actually worked out well. Apart from the London couple who flatly refused to sit in the back seat, or even sit apart, everyone rotated around the bus, sitting with each other and chatting. The seats were roomy, well padded and reclined enough to make them even a bit more comfortable but not enough to encroach on the space behind. Apart from the back seats, each pair had four USB-A points. The one thing that was needed was a small net pocket on the back of the seat in front. When you had your phone charging you had to hold it, or sit in your lap or under your leg. Not ideal. There was also no overhead storage, I guess due to the risk of stuff falling out if it was there.

Along with a day pack, we were limited to a bag of no heavier than 15kg and no larger than 30x80cm. Our bags were exactly those dimensions and weight. Ours were also the equal biggest and heaviest. Oops.

All meals were included apart from one lunch and two dinners. Breakfast was cereals, yoghurt, toast, spreads, coffee and tea. Lunch wraps with cold meats, salads, hummus, falafels, any leftovers. Dinners were varied - curry, pasta, bbq, sausages, roast, salads or cooked veg. Always lots, always delicious. It was amazing how much a couple of the men ate. As mentioned previously, even this want unusual. Snacks of fruit and muesli bars. We apparently didn't eat as much as expected. The second food shop in Kunanurra was much smaller than originally planned. We had plentiful water onboard both in the truck tank and a large 80 litre cooler. The food was stored in a large fridge and two huge eskies. We brought gin on board at Broome plus some g&t and beers in cans. We stocked up again in Kununurra. There was no shortage of space in the eskies to keep the drinks off the group, plus Pat, cold.

That's about it. Back to the trip.

As they say: if nobody is a problem on a tour, then it's YOU...

 

[JohnM]

a few more from the homestead

this is the owner of the bower in the garden. Loves his shredded carrot
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His name is Patsy.

 

[bPeteb]

Interesting. I was told a few weeks ago that the road to Mitchell Plateau was the best it's been for years. It was notoriously bad.

Maybe it got chopped up badly at the tail end of the season.

aAlt reckons I was imagining it. I remember feeling at times like I was driving on a giant washboard. I can't imagine what it would be like if it was really bad.

 

[bPeteb]

What idiotic people pressing on after shredding a tyre on the Gibb River Road!

Pentecost, not Drysdale, River crossing in front of the coughburn Range.

I realised after (I even had correct details in my notes) and updated it before I published on Travelark