Day 13 - Mt Barnett Roadhouse - Manning Gorge

Day 12 - Silent Grove - Bells Gorge - Galvin Gorge

After a good nights sleep in a real bed and a nice continental breakfast we headed back to Derby to collect the cars and headed down the Gibb River Road to Silent Grove to camp which would enable us to get to Bells Gorge the next day. Silent Grove is a National Park camping ground and had flushing toilets and showers !! (very exciting when you're camping in a National Park and realise is not a long drop )

Bells Gorge - a challenging walk to get to the second part of the gorge but so worth it , Mark & Tony ventured down several pools to get to the top of the waterfall , I played it a bit safer a had a swim in the main pool.

Galvins Gorge photos below) is an easy walk in off the Gibb River Road,

Once again it was a warm day so a swim at the end of our walk was most welcome,

Tony was first in and the look on his face told us that there was something wrong ......he had his car keys in his shorts pocket and after his dive in to the water came up with his pockets empty  !!

Fortunately Tony had suggested that we swap our spare keys before we headed out ......................................disaster averted  !

Water Lillies on the way into Galvins Gorge

Day 11 - Horizontal Falls

This was an incredible one in a lifetime experience.

The Horizontal Falls is a natural phenomenon on the coast of the Kimberley region on the Buccaneer Achipelago.  We were picked up at our caravan park to be transported to the airport where we caught a seaplane to take us out to the falls, where we were to spend the night on a houseboat and be taken by jet boat through the falls.

There was a bit of nervous energy as we were waiting at the airport and escalated when Mark was chosen to be co pilot !!!!  It was a great sight seeing flight and the pilot made it most enjoyable . Mark was also put into the co pilot position on the way back , so he now feels that he is qualified for a pilots license !

The Horizontal Falls are a fast moving tidal flow through two narrow, closely aligned gorges of the McLarty Range , located in the Talbot Bay. The direction of the flow reverses with each change of the tide. As tides in the Kimberley can reach 10m (33ft), a peak tide gives rise to a significant difference in the sea level on either of each gorge.

Shark feeding on the pontoon of the house boat.

!!

Heading off in the Jet Boat to go through the Falls.

View from the Sea plane.

Day 10 - Derby

Derby is the beginning of the Gibb River Road , last time we did this trip we didn't get a very good impression of Derby , so we didn't expect much from the caravan park , but we were pleasantly surprised. We needed to leave our car at a secure location as we were to do the Horizontal Falls trip the next day , this caravan park provided this service at a reasonable cost and the facilities here we very good .

This crab was caught at the Derby Jetty ( not by us ) looks like he has had a hard life , he had lost one of his claws.

The Boab trees in this area are huge and the aboriginals carve the boab nuts and sell them for a nice profit.
Unless you are like Megan and attract the Boab nut sellers on the street and get a much better price ( although I think the guy hat she bought one from in Broome wanted to marry her , he wouldn't let go of her arm and showed her his knife he had up his sleeve )

The Derby Jetty , not very attractive , the tide was out and what you see in the foreground are the mud flats.

Day 9 Middle Lagoon to Cape Leveque then onto Derby

Travelling to Cape Leveque

Cygnett Bay Pearl Farm

The Cygnett Bay Pearl Farm is the oldest Pearl Farm in Australia. This is a very beautiful Bay and the Pearl Farm has a Bistro, accommodation and an impressive pool, and of course, the Pearl Gallery where it wouldn't be difficult to spend a few thousand.  

We followed a sign that read Aboriginal artifacts, but unfortunately at the end of a very rough narrow 4WD track we found several trashed cars , a very ordinary looking residence and a sign saying that we needed a permit to be on this land and call a particular ph no to get one ................but there is no mobile phone service !!!!  We hotfooted it out there ..........taught us a lesson don't follow shonky looking roadside signs when you are in such an isolated area. 

Road to Cape Leveque

Cape Leveque  (also below)

Day 8 - Broome to Beagle Bay and Middle Lagoon

Time to get back dust and 4 wheel driving. Our first stop was to catch up with Daryl on the aboriginal community of Beagle Bay . This was quite a contrast to the communities on the Tanami Road , this community is clean and has green grass with the beautiful Beagle Bay Church a feature.
Daryl took us to a great fishing spot , an interesting and challenging drive, then on to Middle Lagoon to camp. This was probably the most beautiful camping spot of our trip . The beaches were spectacular and we shared them with very few people.

First fish of the day

Beagle Bay Church

Beagle Bay Church

Day 7 - Broome

Our highlight in Broome was to see the Staircase to the Moon.

Staircase to the Moon is a natural phenomenon which occurs when a full moon rises over the exposed tidal flats of Roebuck Bay. The Staircase to the Moon happens 2 - 3 days a month between March and October. The first two days of Staircase to the Moon generally also play host to the Staircase to the Moon markets at Town Beach, we were there on the third night so missed the markets, but had dinner at The Mangrove Hotel Resort to watch the Staircase.

Broome Wharf

The beautiful Mangrove Resort for drinks and dinner before the Staircase to the Moon

Gantheaume Point Broome looking for dinosaur prints.

Day 6 Fitzroy Crossing and Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater

Fitzroy Crossing was just a service stop for us , the caravan park was a reprieve from the dust with nice grassy sites , it gave us a chance a do a bit of washing
We also drove over the Fitzroy Crossing which was made redundant by the new crossing in 1976,

We made sure that our cars were well locked , Mick Taylor 's assistance wasn't needed !!