FLIGHT OVER THE BUNGLE BUNGLES

We went on an Alligator Airlines flight over the Bungle Bungles.

 

We headed south from Kununurra over Lake Argyle then over the Bungle Bungles and return – all in three hours.

 

 

 

 

 

The Ord River Irrigation Area covers 14,000 hectares with small crops and sandalwood plantations.

 

 

Lake Argyle is so big it is considered an inland sea. This fresh water is used for irrigation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are pictures of the Bungle Bungles heading south.

 

 

 

This is Piccaninny Gorge and Creek that we had walked up. Spectacular from the air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing pictures. The land that is not National Parks are enormous pastoral leases (some bigger than countries in Europe)

 

 

Kununurra Airport must be one of the busiest. There were small planes lined up to take off an land.

 

 

Argyle Diamond Mine is the largest producer of diamonds in the World. It is famous for its Pink Diamond.

 

 

And back to Kununurra. The day was very hazy but the trip more than worthwhile.

WYNDHAM

This is Wyndham taken from the Bastion – a 350 metre high hill.

Wyndham is the most northern town in Western Australia.

 

 

  From Five Rivers Lookout at the top of the Bastion you can see the Forrest, Pentecost, Durack, King and Ord Rivers   entering the Cambridge Gulf.

 

This is looking out over Port Wyndham which was the original site of the town. This is still a busy live cattle exporting port.

 

 

Back in town the Big Croc is the local attraction.

Salty, a croc in the Perth Zoo was the model.

 

We stayed at Parry Creek Farm an ideal place to stay to visit Parry’s Lagoon.

 

 

 

He looked like a statue but this Brolga looked for a friendly pat.

 

 

 

 

 

The Parry Floodplains is  an important feeding and breeding grounds for many rare and unique bird species. Unfortunately a fire had been through the area recently.

 

These Jabiru's were sunning themselves at the wetlands.

 

This is the bird hide overlooking the lagoon. We could have sat here for hours watching the different birds and salt water crocodiles.

 

 

While we were watching a croc crept up on some ducks and caught his breakfast.

BUNGLE BUNGLE RANGES

 

 

 

 

 

Today we travelled from Fitzroy Crossing to Turkey Creek Roadhouse (Warmun) to leave our vans and return to drive through the Bungle Bungle Ranges -  53 Kilometres of gravel road which takes up to three hours to cover.

The first of many water crossings which make the National Park inaccessible in the Wet.

 

 

 

This is on the way to Piccaninny  Gorge. The black band around the soft sandstone rock is a parasite and when it dies the rock erodes from wind and water.

The flooding water cntaining rocks has eroded Piccaninny Creek which you have to walk up to get to the Gorge.

 

 

 

Cathedral Gorge is another beautiful Gorge in the same area. You can see people down by the water where fish are swimming around.

 

 

Bunge Bungle Range with the black and orange bands

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It might have been 37 degrees during the day, but we nearly froze at night in our little tents.

 

 

 

We got up early to walk to Mini Palm Gorge.  At the end of the Gorge is an amphitheatre which you access via a series of steps.There are small palms in the bottom.

 

 

 

 

Echidna chasm was also very pretty with its steep walls up to 200 metres high that you had to squeeze through in places. It was cool in the shade but scorching in the sun and its still winter.

Fitzroy Crossing

On our way out of Derby towards Fitzroy Crossing, we saw these Brolgas standing in the paddock.

 

 

 

 

This is the old Fitzroy River crossing which would be up to 22 metres under water in the wet season stranding tourists and locals for several months.

 

The new bridge was opened in 1974 and the town grew away from its original site.

 

 

 

The old post office is the only building remaining of the old town.

 

 

 

Crossing Inn has welcomed travellers to the Kimberley since  1897. It is the oldest pub in the Kimberley area.

 

 

The local shopping centre, including the supermarket and Post Office, mysteriously burnt down in July this year.

 

 

The main natural attraction in this area is Geikie Gorge National Park, 18 k. out of town on the Fitzroy River. In the wet season in 2007 all that was visible was the very top of the information centre roof.

The Department of Conservation and Land Management conduct guided tours up the river and through Geikie Gorge National Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are some of the beautiful scenes in the Geikie Gorge which is part of the same limestone reef as Windjara Gorge and Tunnel Creek. The fresh water crocodile lives and breeds in this area. Barramundi, catfish and bream are regularly caught in the river at the gorge.

Derby

We are staying at the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park which is by far the busiest park we have stayed at. There are at least 6 vans waiting for sites any time you look out towards the entrance.

 

Derby is noted for its extreme tides - varying as much as 11  metres.  This is the wharf at low tide.  The new jetty was built in 1964 to export live cattle and is now a popular fishing spot.

 

And this is high tide of 10.6 meters from the same spot.

 

 

 

 

And sunset over the wharf at King Sound.

 

 

 

 

 

We tried our hand at crabbing – even bought a crab pot but they were just too small  to keep

 

 

 

The Boab Tree is a feature of this area and vary from the very young to 2000 year old trees. They are a protected species and some roads have been diverted around them.

These are the friendliest trees in the west. The Boab and Snappy Gum have grown together to form an interlocking canopy.

 

 

 

 

Myall’s Bore and Cattle Trough is just outside of town. The first bore was sunk in 1910 and the 120 metre long trough built in 1917 providing water for up to 500 cattle at a time.

 

 

This boab has a long, sad history. It is the Boab Prison Tree where prisoners were held inside (see the small entrance hole) on their way to court in Derby.

 

We took a tour out the Gibb River Road to Windjana Gorge National Park on the Lennard River. The Gorge is 3.5km long and runs through an ancient limestone reef.

 

 

This is a little further up the Gorge where the fresh water crocodiles bathe in the sun.

 

 

 

You can get quite close (with the aid of a lens). They are harmless (we’re told) and didn’t appear very interested in us as food

 

 

Tunnel Creek is 750 metres long through the Napier Range. Armed with our torches, we walked through knee high water to the other end. Without this light, the tunnel is total darkness.

 

The roof has collapsed in the middle of the tunnel from the top of the range allowing light inside.

 

 

 

This gives you an idea of the height of the tunnel.