Now for some more holiday talk. That will get me back into holiday mode for sure!
Week 2 we left the red beauty of Broome and continued our journey through the Kimberlys. First stop was a small town called Derby. For those who are interested, it is pronounced the American way...not the British way. We found that out quite quickly as the locals love to remind people! The pier was a highlight, and also the wonderful seafood restaurant we ate dinner. The apartment we stayed in was isolated in town behind a gallery and was opposite the local pub. It was incredibly noisy until all hours due to a few locals having a few disagreements out front until 2 am. Luckily for us we were only there one night...but despite that, the scenery was again spectacular..
Here is a shot of the sunset from the restaurant on the pier..
Just outside of Derby is the Prison Boab Tree...it's a large boab that is hollow and was used by unscrupulous pearlers who would kidnap the local aborigines and keep them chained inside until they promised to dive for them for pearls. It was also where the police locked up locals who were drunk and disorderly. The aborigines believe spirits inhabit the boabs, so it is now a sacred site. Thank goodness times have changed..
From Derby we headed to Fitzroy Crossing. On the way we stopped at Geiki gorge. Notice the whiteness on the bottom half of the rocks? That is where the water level is during the wet season! Amazing to think that where I was walking is flooded at least another 12 metres of water for half the year. From there we journeyed to Hall's Creek. Home of the butcher that boasts "We sell tough, tasteless, fatty meat and iffy seafood at city prices plus freight etc etc". I kid you not..this is their sign!
Just outside of Kununurra is the Hidden Valley...full of magnificent rock formations and nick named the Mini Bungle Bungles (the real Bungle Bungles are about 10 times the size and you have to be flown in or use a 4 WD which we didn't have)
And of course any visit to Kununurra is not complete without a visit to Argyle Lake. the largest inland body of water in Australia. It was dammed to aid in the power sources for the area, for irrigation and for use in the Argyle Diamond mine.
Alrighty next post will be the Katherine Gorge which deserves a whole blog post to itself....
Have a great week everyone!
Maggie X
7 comments:
Beautiful pics, Maggie!
Ash
Thanks Ash...there are more spectacular ones to come!
Maggie, your photos are just gorgeous! One day I want to see these places in person!!!
Thanks for dropping by Kate!
Oh wait until you see Katherine Gorge and the Lichfield National Park!
and also the crocodiles!!
They're all gorgeous, of course!
When I first saw your pic of that tree I thought, "Baobab!" Okay, so I was mostly right. Seems you Aussies trimmed a couple of letters off the original word for the "Australian strain." Always have to be difficult, don't you? lol
For the record, "baobab" was the unanimous best cool new word ever gleaned from my HS French class's reading of the "The Little Prince." It's such a funny word, how could it not be cool?
Can't wait to see more!
Trust you to pick that up H!
For the record, the Boab is the Australian species of the Baobab, which is from parts of Africa and also Mozambique. The Australian species is smaller so I am told. there are millions of them across the top end. Driving past them, they aways look like people to me, reaching out their arms to someone, or something. The Aborigines believe they are spirits. They are beautiful anyway.
Trust you to pick that up H!
As if you'd expect anything less? LOL *BCG*
I did wonder if they were a bit smaller--it was difficult to tell when comparing side-by-side photos.
Post a Comment