Okay...this place stars in numerous travel shorts, ads and photography coffee table books. In short, it's spectacular. We took a cruise to get the best views and even Matt, my 15 yo wasn't bored.
Anyway, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
One day a young girl ran out of books to read. Not wanting to be bored she thought to herself - "I can write one myself!" So she did!
Monday, 30 July 2007
The Magic of Katherine Gorge
Okay...this place stars in numerous travel shorts, ads and photography coffee table books. In short, it's spectacular. We took a cruise to get the best views and even Matt, my 15 yo wasn't bored.
Anyway, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Wednesday, 25 July 2007
Week 2 - the adventure continues....
Okay, first of all I must apologize for the delay in posting more about my holiday. Don't you just hate it when you get back from a vacation and it's like jumping back into the whirlpool exactly where you jumped off! Funny isn't it! Life does not stop when we take a break...it just keeps on keeping on and changing from lay back and relaxed to busy and stressed unfortunately can happen in a heartbeat. Oh well, I am coping better now than I did when I went away, so that is a plus!
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
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
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Week One of the BIG HOLIDAY!
Broome, Western Australia
We flew in after getting up at the ungodly hour of 4.30am and then immediately gained 2 hours, which meant we would be ready for bed at 6pm!
The first thing we noticed was how small this place is. Can you believe there are no traffic lights? And pedestrians have to give way to vehicles?
What did we see? Beautiful sunsets, some amazing pearls and the most colorful dirt I have ever seen...I kid you not...the dirt is orange and bright!
Broome is famous for a few things, but the most spectacular event is the special phenomenom that occurs each full moon. It's called the "Staircase to the Moon". The moon rises over the water and at full moon, the effect of the sun setting at the same time causes a strange light to show that resembles a staircase. My piccies don't do it justice, but you will get the idea.
Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of how beautiful this place is:
The mud flats over Town Beach, Broome. Even the sand at the beach is red!
Another beautiful sunset on Cable Beach...*sigh*
The port of Broome...where the fisheries and wildlife department monitor the fishing industry to preserve the fish stock for the future.
The Staircase to the Moon...difficult to see, but there is a light stream under the moon that looks like stairs...you had to be there!
Next post...Derby and Geiki Gorge...
We flew in after getting up at the ungodly hour of 4.30am and then immediately gained 2 hours, which meant we would be ready for bed at 6pm!
The first thing we noticed was how small this place is. Can you believe there are no traffic lights? And pedestrians have to give way to vehicles?
What did we see? Beautiful sunsets, some amazing pearls and the most colorful dirt I have ever seen...I kid you not...the dirt is orange and bright!
Broome is famous for a few things, but the most spectacular event is the special phenomenom that occurs each full moon. It's called the "Staircase to the Moon". The moon rises over the water and at full moon, the effect of the sun setting at the same time causes a strange light to show that resembles a staircase. My piccies don't do it justice, but you will get the idea.
Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of how beautiful this place is:
The mud flats over Town Beach, Broome. Even the sand at the beach is red!
Another beautiful sunset on Cable Beach...*sigh*
The port of Broome...where the fisheries and wildlife department monitor the fishing industry to preserve the fish stock for the future.
The Staircase to the Moon...difficult to see, but there is a light stream under the moon that looks like stairs...you had to be there!
Next post...Derby and Geiki Gorge...
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