Emma's swim with the manta rays...plus our experience with lots of reef sharks!

sep 29- reef shark nursery! this picture shows me standing in shallow water with reef sharks all around me...if you click on this picture to enlarge it you will see that all those black things you can see in the water are the sharks. This area is about a 20 min walk around the beach from Coral Bay- it's a shark nursery. There were probably 50-60 where we were standing- it was amazing to see.


Sep 28- Emma's manta ray experience:

Today was fantastic, I set off on my own on a boat trip (you know Adam and boats don’t mix too well) to swim (hopefully) with giant (around 5 metre wide) manta rays which can be found in this section of reef, see turtles, tropical fish and reef sharks, here at Ningaloo Reef, off Coral Bay.

The day started well, with the least wind of any day this week and clear sunshine. Pretty soon a spotter plane had spied two big manta rays not far off shore….so our skipper took off in that direction. Once we reached the mantas it was all systems go- we were divided into small groups to jump into the water and snorkel with the ray. It was an awesome experience. The ray’s are like giant angels gliding through the water, their huge wings propelling them effortlessly forward, around, upside down. The one we swam with most of the time was feeding and kept turning somersaults- it was amazing! We could see right inside its giant mouth, see its eyes and huge white underside and all the sucker fish attached to its belly. It was so close we could sometimes have just about touched it and it was much bigger than any of us! We got to jump in 3 separate times to swim with the ray.

After that experience we had two other snorkels on different parts of the reef and also visited a turtle sanctuary where we saw many green turtles feeding on the seagrass.

Our last snorkel of the day was fun and adventurous. We actually swam through a small gap in the outer reef (meaning we swam through a gap in the waves hitting the outer reef to the reach the outer ocean and a deep drop off, which can be a bit freaky…the surge through the gap was also pretty strong). Our destination was a reef shark “cleaning station”… a place where the sharks go for small cleaner fish to swim on them and inside their mouths and literally clean them! We saw about 4 quite large reef sharks patrolling beneath us as well as lots of large fish- it was another top experience at the end of a fulfilling and very worthwhile boat tour.

Adam also had a good day- he had some guitar and relaxation time on his own…and also went for a snorkel right off shore (it’s great just off the beach) – he even took some bread and was therefore surrounded by fish much of the time.

Also, last night we treated ourselves to dinner out and shared oysters followed by a lovely seafood pasta and garlic bread at a local cafe- yummo! Better than tinned soup any night.

Adam's first windsurf of the season!

Sailing at Warroora station (about 40ks south of Coral Bay).......not just sheep and wild goats here my friends, there are also huge red kangaroos, pairs of Bustards roaming, stacks of reef sharks and green turtles, ohhhhh! also there are pristine beaches, with strong offshore winds for surfing in the morning and strong onshore seabreezes in the arvo for sailboarding.......here are a few pictures of my first sail for this season. The water was so clear it reminded me of Fiji, and there were Loggerhead Turtles, about the size of large 4WD tyres, popping up over the reef to take a breath between munching on seagrass. I counted 6 in about the 40 minutes I was sailing. This is a special place.

Beautiful Coral Bay

Well, we are here relaxing at beautiful Coral Bay- a lovely spot, with a nice protected bay and top snorkelling right off the beach. It’s sunny but has been quite windy so we have to get in the water snorkelling early. Luckily the beach is a little protected from the prevailing wind, so its nice to warm up on the sand with a book.
Adam is a bit frustrated as he hasn’t been able to go windsurfing yet- there just isn’t a good spot for him to launch, because of all the reef, so all this good wind is going to waste! But he’ll be sailing soon, when we get to Exmouth.

I’m having a lovely time just relaxing here and being in a nice coastal hamlet. We have a top site in the caravan park right at the front, opposite the beach.

Tomorrow we are driving south on an unsealed road to another coastal cattle station- Waroora- there is meant to be good snorkelling there also, as it’s at the southern end of the Ningaloo Reef system.

Love to all,
E&A xx

Barn Hill, 80 mile beach and Karigini National Park piccies

80 mile beach, seashells everywhere, pretty water and a good place for fishing......not much else, as the water is far too shallow for good swimming......lot of sharks caught here (the harmless ones).

This is a salt 'farm' owned by Rio Tinto, just outside of port Headland. The machinery on the mound of salt on the right hand side is a massive bulldozer, not the type you see on roadworks, but the huge type you see in mines.

Emma in the spider walk part of Hancock gorge in Karigini.......this place (Karigini) allowed us to do so many things that would not be allowed in NSW National Parks.......several of the walks were low grade canyoning tracks that we just completed in swimmers (cos it was so hot). This waterfall track lead to a deep green pool......beyond that pool abseiling gear was required!


This is the beach at Barn Hill Station, about 150ks south of Broome. To diversify their business (beef cattle), the Barn Hill Station owners opened up their 53k's of beachfront coastline to caravaners and campers. Despite the beauty and ease of access, it was not busy at all, allowing us to get stretches of beach to ourselves.......just lovely

This is Hamersley Gorge in Karigini.....note the Mulla Mulla (purple wild flowers) in the foreground which lined all of the roads in the park, and also note the contorted slate in the background, which was caused by the collission of two plates millions of years ago, also weakening the rock with fractures, making the gorge through erosion. Geography lesson over!

Pictures from Broome

Tony (Emma's dad) and Emma at Guanthyame Pt. There are dinosaur footprints preserved in rocks at the base of the cliff that you can scale down and see, but only at a very low tide.

Here is Cable Beach, it looks just like this in real life.....postcard beautiful and warm water.

Yep, that is us, second from the back riding the camels on Cable Beach like REAL TOURITS! Tony is the very last passenger on this train. These animals are so strong and gentle. And they have massive eye lashes! There are over 500,000 pure blood camels in Oz at the moment, so pure blood that we actually export them back to Arabia etc. We have seen wild camels at the Meterorite impact area north of Alice Springs

Here is the Horizontal Falls....not a waterfall, but a tidal movement. The tide variation this day was 8 metres, so, come the outgoing tide, the water was falling at a massive rate. We got to ride a zodiac through the bottom falls (not the top as it was far to heavy). Just another amazing natural attraction that the Kimberley has to offer.

80 Mile Beach and fantastic Karijini National Park!!

Hello friends and family- back online after about 5 days without any phone/internet service...so here's our latest news!:

Sep 18

We are now about 350 kms south of Broome, at 80 mile beach caravan park- it’s a wild stretch of coastline (there are no towns between broome and port headland) and the beach has so many wonderful shells! Plus the tides are huge. Not a great swimming beach though,as it is very shallow for a long way out, especially at low tide.

Last night we watched a great sunset at the beach at Barn Hill- it was made great because we had the whole strip of beach to ourselves- it was an amazing feeling to be sitting on a truly empty beach, in the middle of WA coastal wilderness, as the blood red sun sank from view behind the ocean. A really great memory. We jumped in for a swim as the sun disappeared.

22 sep

We have just spent a terrific few days at Karijini National Park- inland, near Tom Price. After leaving 80 mile beach we traveled south, with a stop for lunch at Port Headland- we then diverted inland and traveled another 300kms or so to Karijini.

We’d heard really good reports about this park being one of WA’s most impressive and it hasn’t disappointed. The park is fantastic- one of the best we have seen on our trip so far, if not the best. Amazing red gorges, swimming holes and narrow chasms you can climb through, or swim through in places, so that the walks are quite adventurous and involve a far bit of climbing. The landscape is really impressive. Arid and yet not as harsh as some sections of bush we have traveled through. There is green spinnifex, beautiful snappy gums, and acacias on rolling hills above the gorges themselves. Plus the WA wildflowers are out- we’ve seen quite a few different kinds, perhaps the most beautiful the red and black Sturts Desert Pea and larges splashes of purple mulla mulla.

We’ve done lots of walks since we arrived here- Dales Gorge, which had a beautiful swimming hole called Circular Pool- it was covered in maiden hair fern…(thought of you mum!) and another lovely swimming spot- Fortescue Falls, where we had lunch.

Yesterday we walked through Joffre Gorge to another impressive waterfall and also through Knox Gorge, which had plenty of swimming spots – I floated in a narrow section looking up at the sheer gorge walls. We didn’t see any other walkers in that gorge either so it was great to have it all to ourselves.

Today we walked through Hancock and Weano Gorges…more climbing through narrow sections, or swimming in some parts, to get to deep and very cold pools within the gorges. Lots of fun!

We are staying at a campground in the park, which has no water and no power. We towed Molly in as the road to the campground was sealed. It’s been good staying in here, and we have used our solar shower which we were given before we left- today when we got back from our walks the water in that shower was almost too hot! Noone was around so we were able to strip off and shower in the nude in the broad daylight, in the middle of the bush- a liberating feeling.

Today we also got our first flat tyre of the trip. The park roads are unsealed and it was bound to happen sooner or later given all the rough roads we’ve been on so far. I watched while Adam tended to the Boy Job.
We plan getting a replacement tyre tomorrow at Tom Price.
Then it’s back to the coast for us- to Coral Bay. Looking forward to the snorkelling and diving there.

Oh and one other thing- we have played a lot of scrabble recently. I am sorry to say that I have been on a rather bad losing streak! This evening however, I redeemed myself with a solid win. Adam is still well ahead in the running tally though.


Sep 23

In the mining town of Tom Price now…got that spare tyre and today visited our final gorge in Karijini- Hammersley…another spectacular spot- with a fern lined grotto, hidden in the side of the gorge.
We also drove to the top of Mt Nameless- the highest peak in WA- top views.

We are now set to return to the beach tomorrow.

Love and hugs to all…sending you our best.
Emma & Adam

Barn Hill- rugged coastal beauty

Hi all- after a sad goodbye to dad yesterday afternoon (and a visit to the Broome weekend markets and a nice lunch) we hit the road once more. Only travelled just over 100kms and we are now at Barn Hill Station- a cattle station right on the coast- a very remote, wild and rugged stretch of coastline- red earth, white sand, aqua blue water...empty beaches...no development. Not really any trees either, except scrub and coastal heath. So a great place to see and thanks to those of you who gave us the tip to stop here before we set off on our trip! We went for a long walk this morning on the beach, had a swim and now we are relaxing and trying to avoid the heat of the day...it's well over 30 again.

Being back in the caravan culture does take some adjusting after our week in the apartment with dad- but we are getting back into the flow of this way of life, which is sometimes wonderful and sometimes painful!

We'll set off again tomorrow and continue south.

Sending love and our best wishes to friends and family, we do miss you!

Em & Ad xx

Cable Beach, good food, camel rides and birds...

Well, we are now sitting having drinks and nibbles on sadly the last night of Dad's stay with us here in Broome. It's been a great week and has gone much to quickly - it will be sad to say goodbye tomorrow.

Each day has continued to be around 30 degrees and hot and sunny. We've spent most mornings having a swim at Cable Beach (and renting an umbrella and wonderfully comfy sun lounge), before relaxing back at our bungalow which has been very good. Adam and I have also caught up on a few things we've been needing to get done, and had the car serviced, plus fixed the back window on the caravan etc.

Yesterday we ate a nice brunch at the beach, after our morning swim. Last night we went to the open air cinema which was fun- ate mexican at the movies and watched an offbeat film called "Wah Wah" which was really good.

The day before we went for a sunset camel ride on Cable beach which was really good fun and very touristy! We got some good piccies that arvo, but the internet is still too slow to upload them.

This afternoon we drove out to the Broome bird observatory (for me, the birdwatcher) and saw lots of migratory waterbirds. And now, we are relaxing, with Dad and Adam preparing to play guitars. We'll have another nice bbq dinner and finish the yukky job of packing up things, signalling the end of this little holiday with dad.

Tomorrow morning we plan heading into the Broome markets and having an early lunch out, before dropping Dad back to the airport. Then we'll hook Molly back up and head off south, down the west coast.

We are thinking of our friends and family back home and send you our love.
Emma & Adam xoxoxo

Good times in Broome

Hi all- having a lovely time here in Broome with Dad. The weather is hot and sunny, but luckily cools off at night.
The night before last we watched the "staircase to the moon" again- it was even better than the night before, and coincided with the closing celebrations for the town's Pearl Festival. As a result just before the moon rose there was a fantastic fireworks display. Then when it was just about time for the moon to appear there was indigenous singing...deep and moody, to the sound of a didgeridoo- quite haunting, mystical music- it was almost as if it was an ancient chant, calling the moon up. When the moon did sneak above the horizon, a deep red colour, it was quite a sight.
Yesterday we rose very early to walk a long way out onto the mud flats at a very low tide to see wrecks of WW2 flying boats, which were bombed by the Japanese while they were anchored in the bay.
It was then off to the beach, before we went into town for a lovely lunch and a look around. There are so many pearl galleries!
We had a relaxing night in, as we all felt tired at the end of the day (having been pretty busy since Dad got here).

Today we were up early again- once again to catch the low tide. There is a place just off the coast south of here where you can see dinosaur footprints, believed to be 300-million years old! You can only see them on very low tides though- so we all climbed out over rocks and mud and did see the footprints, embedded deep in the rock. Amazing when you think about when they were left!
We then went to the beach, before having lunch in a little cafe at Cable Beach. It's now afternoon siesta time for Dad and Adam, and a bit of relax time for me too.
Tomorrow will also be a relaxing day- Adam and Dad are really enjoying playing guitar together again too.

All the best to everyone...
Love Emma and Adam xoxo

Cape Leveque...and now Broome with Dad!

September 7th-8th…at Cape Leveque…..a stunning remote location:

……To the west the sky glows with the aftermath of a blood red sunset, the wild and rocky shoreline forming a jagged silhouette. To the east, the ocean shimmers under the glow of a full moon, which rises like a larger than life version of one of the pearls for which this region has become famous. All this, we watch from the balcony of our safari tent at remote and beautiful Cape Leveque, at the northern tip of Australia’s west coast….

Cape Leveque is located in the Kimberley region on the end of the Dampier Peninsula, about 200 kilometres north of Broome, via an unsealed 4WD road. The area is a pristine coastal wilderness and the only accommodation at the cape is Kooljaman Resort, which is owned by local aboriginal communities (Kooljaman is actually the Bardi aboriginal name for Cape Leveque). The resort was developed in the late 1980s after the Cape Leveque Lighthouse was automated, resulting in the sale of the land from the Federal Department of Transport to the Aboriginal Development Commission.

Our safari tent really is one of the most beautiful and remote places we have ever stayed. The tents are the size of a small cabin erected over a wooden floor, with a double and two single beds, an attached ensuite bathroom and kitchenette as well as a large timber balcony, complete with outdoor furniture and a barbeque. They are high above the peninsula with panoramic views of the surrounding beaches. This is a place characteristic of the Australian west coast, where red earth, meets pure white sand, meets aqua blue water. From the balcony where I am currently sitting, the ocean stretches so far I can actually see the curve in the horizon.

It’s Friday the 8th today, and we arrived here at about lunchtime yesterday (it takes a bit over 3 hours to drive the 200 kms on the sandy/dirt road). We had a swim at the eastern beach, which is the “swimming beach” and relaxed before watching the sunset from the western beach- you can’t swim there due to extremely strong currents. The tidal movements here are huge too. The sun was blood red and very beautiful – it lit up the richly coloured sandstone cliffs which meet the sand. When we got back to our tent, we were lucky enough to watch the fool moon rising- we could not have timed our visit better. The moon was so bright it bathed the landscape in a soft glow- we left the windows and doors open last night so we could let the outside beauty in.

Today we had breaky on or balcony before going for a walk and a swim in the lovely high tide (it gets a bit rocky at low tide). We just finished having lunch (a burger for me and fish and chips for adam) and now it’s rest time! We’ll take a walk on the western beach this arvo and watch the sunset again. Also looking forward to the moon rise!

Tonight we have arranged to have the “bush butler” service--- dinner will be brought to our room, for us to cook- we are getting steaks and mushroom sauce, plus a ready made salad and bread. We even get desserts packaged up- a piece of cheesecake and a piece of chocolate mud cake! Yum. This is a lovely little indulgent holiday within our caravanning trip.


Tomorrow we set of back to Broome where we will meet Dad who is spending a week with us, which will be great!

September 10th

Howdy- in Broome- welcomed Dad in at the airport yesterday afternoon after completing a wonderful stay at Cape Leveque (and our dinner there was tops!). It was great to see Dad! (and he was obviously really pleased to see us too). We are now at our bungalow near famous Cable Beach and it’s nice and spacious with plenty of room for the three of us. Molly is safely stored in the carpark out the back.

Last night we went out to watch the “staircase to the moon”- the full moon rising over the mudflats here creates a reflection which resembles a staircase of light reaching the moon. It was pretty but you did need to use your imagination to see the staircase!
We went to the markets which happen on “staircase nights” and I actually bought a nice pendant featuring a local freshwater pearl, with some earrings to match- bought it with some birthday money I had been waiting to spend, so that was fun.

Today we were off on a tour at 5.45am! But it was worth the early wake up as it was a flight and boat trip to the Horizontal Falls- something which occurs to the north of here at Talbot Bay, as a result of huge tides moving through a narrow gap in the land. The rush of water in and out of the small space actually creates a waterfall effect. We saw it on a good tide, running out, and it was very impressive, both from the air and also the boat which we travelled through the lower section in- it was actually too rough to go through the upper falls- and as a result looked great. We then had some breakie on the boat before taking off in our seaplane again for a scenic flight back down around cape leveque and the coastline to Broome- so many little islands along the way! It was a windy day and the flight back in our seaplane was quite rough. Poor Adam was sick on the way home and both he and dad are now laying down having a siesta! As usual I am still up doing things as I find it hard to sleep in the day.

After lunch we are all going to head to Cable Beach for a swim which will be great, as it’s about 34 today.

Love and hugs to all xoxox

Some photos of El Questro

Me at El Questro Gorge on the way to the second waterhole..........picture this......before entering the gorge the landscape is dry, harsh, flat and covered in Spinifex and the occassional eucalypt......enter the gorge and be sourrounded by 150metre tall red walls with a constant waterfall supplying fresh clear water to the towering trees (including palms) and ferns.......it is an oasis...........the gorge has two waterholes, the first is easily accessible, with the second and more beautiful waterhole hard to access due to the fitness required to climb over massive boulders and around slippery water falls.....as a result the second water hole is usually enjoyed in solitude.



Emma drying off at Emma Gorge at El Questro Wilderness Park.....Va.Va.Voom....the crystal clear water was freezing and the sun scortching......it didnt take long to take the plunge



The Kluger on one of it's many creek crossings.....we have been very impressed with what this vehicle has done (creek crossings, mud crossings, soft sand driving, beach driving, etc), going all places except the extremely hardcore 4WD places (climbing over large rocks etc)......funny thing is, that when we walk along all of the hardcore 4WD tracks to waterholes, nobody is taking in their $80,000+ landcruisers / Range Rovers for fear of scratches.....with the big 4WDs in the same carpark as the Kluger......you have gotta have a giggle sometimes

Broome and our long awaited swim at a beach!

At Broome- hooray, today we got to have a wonderful swim in the salt water! It felt so good to go to the beach! The water was a warm 24 degrees and it was about 30 degrees in Broome today, with a sea breeze keeping things cooler.
We arrived here at lunch, had a quick look around before heading to the beach- it’s a nice place. The sand is white and the water is aqua blue, just like in the pictures you see of the west coast.
We’ve now just come back from going to the outdoor picture theatre- the oldest in Australia I believe. It was good fun, and we watched a film about Broome and the Kimberley and the Aboriginal stolen generation and the missions here etc and the nuns. Very interesting. Also made us again feel ashamed of some of the things in our past and they way we treated Aborigines in the early days. It really was terrible. There are many social problems today which meanwhile need to be addressed. We’ve talked about it a lot, the causes, possible solutions, the frustrations, and don’t know what the answer is.

Happy to be near the sea again….love Emma and Adam xoxo

p.s. our poor old caravan Molly is not holding up too well- handles have fallen off, she has a distinct lean to the right, so that you always seem to be leaning downhill, and today Adam was trying to open a jammed window at the back and the entire pane of glass cracked- its right next to our bed. Our van needs some TLC and repairing. It resulted in a fair bit of stress between us this afternoon, but our swim helped soothe that!

Derby and Gibb River Road adventures...

Hi family and friends…. Here’s our latest:

Springtime! Sep 2- More Kimberley magic:

We are back in our tent, this time we are at Bell Gorge, a beautiful spot about 230 kms in on the dirt Gibb River Road – accessed from the western end, at Derby. (we went into El Questro from the eastern end of the Gibb River Rd)

After leaving the Bungle Bungles and collecting Molly (our van) we continued on to Halls Creek where we spent a night. The next day we drove to Fitzroy Crossing where we went in to see Geike Gorge- it’s a limestone gorge and the rock formations were formed 300-million years ago when the area was actually a see, and there was a barrier reef (which is now limestone rock formations)! Hard to imagine.

We continued west from there and made it to Derby in the day- Derby has the biggest tides in Australia- up to 12 metres. I must admit when we got there we were dog tired. Early this morning we organized a few things and I completed an article I am hoping will be published (have had one accepted so far, with another two looking promising)- then we stored Molly again at the caravan park in Derby and we were back on the Gibb River Road.

I am now sitting under the stars at a picnic table outside our tent- it’s a mild night and the moon, though not full, is quite bright. Despite a rather disorganized start (due to our tiredness we forgot to bring along a few things on this camping tripetc etc) today turned into an excellent day. Bell Gorge is really lovely, with a tiered waterfall and good swimming spot. It was a surprise to us how nice it was- when we walked in late this afternoon we weren’t even prepared with cossies- when we arrived at the waterfall and pool and saw how great it looked, we went in in our clothes anyway- it was so hot it didn’t matter. There were only four other people there and they soon left and we had the spot to ourselves, which was so peaceful. On the walk back out we saw some rock wallabies and I was lucky enough to see a spotted quoll, which was all a bit exciting as we haven’t seen one before. Adam just managed to see its tail before it scurried away between some rocks- a cute little thing. There were also lots of birds, so I was of course happy.

Driving back to our campsite the sun was just setting, bathing the land in a soft glow. The brown grass beneath the glowing white trunks of the gum trees looked beautiful- like a watercolour painting.

It’s now 7.30 pm and Adam just crawled into the tent, exhausted. We haven’t stopped lately and sleeping has been difficult (last night a child screamed for nearly an hour in the caravan park- the poor little thing was frantic, saying “mummy where are you?” over and over and then crying and yelling, until someone else obviously got up from their caravan –the whole park must have been awake by then- and went to the child’s tent/caravan and got them. The child was still saying “I want mummy”, but who knows where mummy was?? Not good).

Anyway, I think it’s time I went to bed too, to read for as long as my eyes stay open.

Sep 3

Another great day in the bush. We woke with the sun, as you do when you’re camping. It was very hot from early, which was a sign of things to come.

We started heading back on the Gibb River road (towards derby) – first stop Lennard Gorge – with sheer walls it was an impressive start to the day.

We then continued on to Tunnel Creek, where a watercourse actually runs beneath the limestone rock (the Devonian reef, formed 350-million years ago)- it’s carved a big tunnel, and during the Dry you can walk through - it’s about 750metres long. It was pretty cool walking through the cave, with a torch, and we had to walk through the water a few times. It was so dark we weren’t sure what was there (freshwater crocs do live in the creek).
When we came out of the creek tunnel, the day was scorching hot. Our car temp reading was 40 degrees!
We drove to Windjana Gorge, where we set up our tent, ready for tonight (it’s where I am sitting now). Then set off on the gorge walk- it was 3pm or so and still so so hot.
Luckily much of the walk was shaded, and the gorge is actually home to a huge population of freshwater crocs- in one fairly small stretch we counted 50! Also sitting on the sandy bank behind the crocs was a huge flock of corellas- must have been hundreds of them. The late afternoon sun looked pretty in the gorge too, so it was a good afternoon.
At 5pm the temp was still hovering at 32.
Managed to eat dinner before it became totally dark-it’s now 6.22pm and we are about to lay down with our books already! I’d say it will be an early night for Ma and Pa Kettle tonight.

Sep 4- back at derby, A big repack again as we put all the camping stuff back in the caravan and repacked the car and attempted to clean out the dust and dirt. We actually spent all afternoon washing clothes, cleaning up, packing etc. It feels good to be a bit more organized and tidy again now!
Bit cooler here in Derby with a sea breeze thankfully- we watched the sunset over the water while eating some crackers and dip- nice.
Tomorrow we head to Broome- yay! We have a full day there, and then go north to Cape Leveque (along a 200km dirt road)- looks tops in the piccies so we are looking forward to it- then of course back to Broome to meet up with Dad! Not long now Dad.

Love and hugs…. Emma and Adam xoxoxoxo