Trip 1995 Part1

This trip took us over to Western Australia to Broome then back to Halls Creek and down thrugh the Tanami Desert to Alice Springs. From the Alice we then drove to Adelaide, Melbourne, Echuca, then back home through Broken Hill to Alice Springs then Darwin.

We left Darwin on the first day to go to Katherine which is now becoming an important tourist centre with the highway to Western Australia leaving the main North- South or Stuart Highway here. Some of the area to the north of Katherine is having a gold mining boom with several large open cut mines at Pine Creek. This small sleepy town is having its third mining boom, the first during the 1880s to 1900 when there were many small gold mines but no long term survivors. Then the uranium boom of the 1950s when uranium was a scarce mineral and there were some important mines in the area, El Sherana and Sliesbeck plus many small one man shows, then the large scale mining of the 1990s. Due to the climate and the temporary nature of most of the ventures in the NT this is the only town with buildings from the last century still standing. All the other mining towns have reverted back to the bush. Katherine is noted for its gorges on the Katherine River and it is the southern gateway to Kakadu National Park.

From Katherine the road headed west with the countryside becoming drier and changing from the rolling limestone hills of the savannah to the grasslands. This is also the region of the large cattle stations, Tipperary and the Victoria River Downs which was, in its heyday, larger than the UK and run by an absentee English landlord- Vestey's, a name that is not held in high esteem anywhere in the North because of his treatment of his staff, the aborigines and the countryside. There is only one river of note here, the Victoria River, which drains a large part of the country and flows to the sea through country which is still rarely visited today. In places, the river was dry with some large water holes which would last all the dry. Further downstream it becomes tidal and quite wide. Last year at the crossing when there was exceptional rain in some of the catchment area, the flow was recorded as 12000 cubic metres/sec. which is a massive volume of water.
Camp by the Victoria River, young boab trees in background.
Camp was that night was near the Victoria River and by a grove of young Boab trees. With the change in the rainfall these trees appear. They are a different species from those found in Africa and do not grow as large, but they are still massive. One boab in Wyndham has a girth of 25 metres and several trees were estimated to be up to 1500 years old. The next stop was the Keep River which is being developed as a National Park though the facilities were basic. Here it was very hot although it was the 'cool' season, reaching 36C during the day and at night it didn't drop below 27C with high humidity. At work I have a lot of contact with the Water Resources staff and they are doing a project in here. According to their supervisor they are recording shade temperatures of 52C during the buildup to the Wet. During the Wet season temperatures of up to 50C are continually recorded. A trip was made to view some rock paintings which were not very good when compared to those in Arnhem land. In the gorges the crocodiles were common in the pools, splashing down the banks as soon as they sensed any movement near them. This area is still picturesque and untouched and may become a popular site once it is developed and better known.

Rock paintings.
After crossing the Western Australia border, Kununurra was the next stop. It is the first town after leaving Katherine some 600 kms to the east and it owes its existence to the Ord River irrigation scheme where the Ord River was dammed to form a large lake and originally a not so successful irrigation scheme. A lot of effort was required by the earlier farmers to develop a cotton industry which failed because of insect damage but now a wide range of crops are successfully grown. The lake also flooded the only site where Zebra sandstone was found. It is a sandstone with contrasting layers of white and a deep brown which form irregular patterns. Once it is polished it makes some very attractive ornaments. Other stones from this area are now used and with their varied patterns and colours, they are a unique item. Camp was by the lake in a caravan park which was crowded with a steady stream of tourists and in the mornings one was serenaded by hordes of water birds.

Camp site at Wyndham
Wyndham was and still is the main port for the Kimberleys and late last century it was the main arrival point for the Halls Creek goldfields. Later it developed as the main port for the export of live cattle then a meat works was established by the wharf and it pioneered the use of freezing carcasses for the overseas markets. Now there is nothing left of the meatworks. The town is in three sections, the newest and main part is on the mainland then there is a drive for a couple of kms around the mud flats to the old town (Anthony's Landing) with its mainly galvanised iron buildings dating from around the turn of the century. It is on a narrow piece of land with mud flats one side and the barren, rocky Bastion Range on the other side. It is only wide enough for one street. Some old cemeteries are here including an Afghan one as they used to take camel trains into the remote areas of the Kimberleys to the stations and mines bringing in provisions and taking out their produce. A few more kms across mud flats bring you to the wharf and the ruins of the meatworks. As the meatworks dumped the blood and other remains directly into the

Old train at Wyndham Wharf.

sea it was a favourite spot for the big saltwater crocodiles and even today they are still around. The port is on the Cambridge Gulf, some 60 kms from the Timor Sea. A drive from the town area along the ridges bring you to a lookout above the wharf, it is a sheer drop down and from here one can see west to The Gut where the gulf narrows to a 150 metres before widening to its full width of about 7 kms, and the five rivers that flow into it. In the other direction there are miles and miles of mud flats then the scrubby vegetation of this area. There are also some interesting bird sanctuaries in the area around the billabongs and a small grotto close to the highway.

Hang glider and view over Wyndham Wharf area.

Wyndham from lookout looking down Cambridge Gulf.
Prisoner's Boab out of Wyndham on old road.

A few pleasant days were spent here and there was on the Saturday afternoon a small market down at the race course where for Christine the highlight was a lolly drop from a light plane and a ride on one of the stockmen's horses. The old King River road was taken and after some 60 kms we reached the Prison Tree. This ancient boab is hollow inside and when police were bringing back prisoners it made a handy lockup. It could take easily 10 people. The road soon showed up the common failing of the Land Rover, its poor dust sealing ability even though I had replaced the rubbers and sealed up all gaps! Before reaching Halls Creek we passed the entrance to the Argyll diamond mines which is now supposed to be the world's largest producer of diamonds. Recent exploration has extended the potential diamond bearing area further. On the right hand side of the highway were the high, rocky outcrops of the Durack Ranges that became drier the further south we went and on the left hand side, the rocky, rolling hills flattened out then mesas and buttes appeared. Occasionally a dirt track appeared, some leading to a prospecting camp or mine in the hills, others to cattle stations.

Statues at Wyndham.

Turkey Creek is only a store on the highway, miles from anywhere but it is the main starting point for tours into the Bungle Bungles either by car or plane. In the Bungle Bungles, the sandstone rocks over the years has been eroded into spectacular shapes. As the area's ecology is very fragile, there is very little development of the park and vehicle access is only by four wheel drives. The more spectacular views are available from the air. However we did not go in due to time restraints.

Halls Creek started as a gold field in 1885 and there was a brief goldrush. Soon 2,000 men were living in tents around the field but within four years most of the men left for other, more hospitable fields but the town survived as a small service town for the surroundings areas. During the early '50's it was relocated to the new highway, some 15 kms to the west. There is a monument in the town to Russian Jack, a miner who last century pushed his sick mate and enough supplies to last the journey, in a wheelbarrow from the goldfields to the nearest hospital at Wyndham, some 300 kms away through uninhabited country. The town was fairly noisy with several different aboriginal tribes living in a close but uneasy relationship which often spill over into tribal brawls.

Until recently the Fitzroy River was crossed on a long causeway which was closed for about 3 months once the rains reached here around December. With the recent upgrading of the northern highways and the increase in traffic, the river is now crossed by a large, impressive bridge. The centre of the town was the hotel by the old crossing where travellers could be stranded for months, but the new road is some 2 kms upstream and it is here that some new buildings have been erected. A country club has been completed for those who like to get away from the cities but still have all the comforts. The Fitzroy when in flood is 15kms wide in places.

Flying Doctors Base Derby.

Two hundred and sixty kms on brought us to Derby which is one of the original towns in the Kimberleys. It is situated at the end of King Sound, which from the air appears as a magnificent harbour, but it is surrounded by extensive mudflats and the tides here are the second highest in the world. While there were excellent pearling fields here they were not worked often as the strong tides caused many a diver to be swept away and their air hose to be cut by the coral. Until the decline of the natural pearling industry in the 1920's, Derby was a centre for the pearling luggers though it never obtained the importance of Broome or Roebourne. For some years during the 1960's and '70's live cattle were shipped out but the last ship visited here in 1983. Before that the WA Shipping Line boats were a regular sight at these ports. They were designed with a flat bottom so that when the tide went out they could sit on the sea floor.

Derby: Mud flats

Horizontal Waterfall from the air.
A flight by a light plane was made over the Western Kimberley's area. After flying down the Sound with its extensive mud flats which are only covered with water twice a year, Cockatoo Island was crossed. It was originally mined for iron ore but it is now being developed as a tourist resort. While there are many islands in the Bonaparte Archipelago, they are uninhabited and the only sign of man are the long rows of buoys marking the location of the racks of pearl shells which are growing cultivated pearls. This area is suited to this task as the waters are unpolluted, the large tidal movement ensures a good flow of nutrients for the shells and it is very remote. The shells here are left out for three years and in that time they produce a larger pearl with more lustre than the ones grown in Japan.

Flying over Talbot Bay the Horizontal Waterfall was sighted This phenomena occurs as there is a narrow opening between the main bay and a smaller one along side it. As there is such a high rise and fall in the tide, the water cannot flow through the gap fast enough so it builds up on one side, forming a waterfall until the water is level on both sides. When the tide goes out the same occurs except the water fall now flows from the smaller bay to the larger one through the gap. There is a similar occurrence on some of the off shore shoals. At high tide they are just covered by the tide but as low tide is 10 to 11 metres lower, the water flows off the coral reefs surrounding the islands, forming waterfalls.

Doubtful Bay.

Next the flight took us over the St Georges Basin and the Prince Regent River where a gorge has been cut through the sandstone plateau. This was followed for some 200 kms upstream then the rapids and waterfalls showed that the foothills of the Kimberleys had been reached. It is a spectacular trip to do in a boat as there are several waterfalls tumbling down the gorge walls. However they would be at their best during the Wet season when boats would be reluctant to visit such a remote area.

Mt. Waterloo and St. Georges Basin.

From here the flight went back to Derby, stopping at a cattle station on the way. Even now it is still isolated by road for 3 to 4 months during the Wet when the rivers rise and close the roads. The homestead was built by a permanent waterhole and with the large trees which have been planted there, formed a cool oasis in a very hot and dry region.