Bungle Bungles and Broome

After 4 months in Kununurra we finally packed ourselves up and hit the road to begin exploring the rest of WA. Our new van is ready to go and is on the ship making it's way to Perth so this part of the trip is mainly focused on doing the things that don't require us to take the old van off road, we'll save all that until later when we make our way back up next year.

Our first stop was the Bungle Bungles Caravan Park in preparation for our visit into Purnululu National Park the following day. We enjoyed a nice drink with the managers at the Baravan and got some recommendations on the best walks to do. As we had been experiencing such hot days of late we made the decision to get up super early and head into the park to get our walks in before it got too hot.

Next morning we were up at 5 and on the road by 5.30 as it took us 1.5hrs just to drive into the park. We started at the southern end where you see the famous domes, which are spectacular. We had a walk through the domes and then out to Cathedral Gorge.

From there we headed to the northern end to walk into Echidna Chasm, which kind of freaked Elly and I out but Charli thought was awesome. By 11.30 we were done and it was heating up so we headed back out to chill for the afternoon. While our visit here is very late in the season, it did come with some benefits as we had the walking tracks to ourselves. We passed a handful of cars in the park, however nobody was on the same track at any time which made places like Cathedral Gorge even more special - we didn't have to share!

The next day was a long drive but we were headed through to Broome. We laughed as we passed through all the roadworks which thank you at the end. We were all very excited to be heading towards the coast and have been hanging for some beach time and sea breezes. We were very lucky with our accomodation as we were offered a place to park for free by the district leader for the Kimberly district (f which Kununurra is currently the only scout group). This was great as we had originally planned to stay for maybe 3 days and we ended up here for almost a week. After getting set up we made a beeline for Cable Beach in time to watch the sun set - beautiful!

Wednesday morning we headed out to get the lay of the land, enjoying the simple things such as a Woolworths supermarket and Bunnings. From there we stopped into the visitor centre so we could decide what to do while in town. We booked a tour of a pearl farm and one of the famous camel rides and found some other free things to do. After another play at the beach, that night we went out to Sun Pictures, the worlds oldest outdoor cinema to see The Secret Garden. It was an interesting experience with planes flying overhead (quite low actually), bats flying around and a gecko climbing up the screen, loads of fun.

On Thursday it was time for our tour of Willie Creek Pearl Farm. We arrived really early but it meant we were able to enjoy the amazing view of pristine blue water, white sand and red rocks, just stunning! Our tour talked us through the process of pearling, how they are grown, seeded, cared for and harvested. Because we were visiting during the big spring tides, the boat portion of the tour allowed us to explore areas of the Willie Creek system otherwise not accessible. The bonus for the kids was being the only children on the tour so they had to carry the oyster that was harvested at the end and have a close up view of the pearl being harvested, holding a fresh $850 pearl in their hands. While it would have been lovely to buy one of these pearls the budget did not stretch that far but I did get a bracelet with freshwater pearls which I love.

After leaving the farm we accidentally took a wrong turn which led us further up the coast. We were not disappointed at all as we were able to take in some amazing views and have discovered some free campsites to return to with the new van. We also ventured back into town to see a couple of the old pearl luggers that were on display.

On Friday morning we headed back to Cable Beach to walk the northern end as we had seen signs that it was closed to vehicles due to turtle nesting season. While we didn't spot any turtles the girls did find some sea urchins so they were happy. From there we drove up to Gantheaume Point to look out over the rocks. After some chill time we returned to Cable Beach for our much anticipated camel ride. Thankfully we chose the shorter pre-sunset ride, 30 mins was plenty of time to sit on a camel but we really enjoyed the experience. From there we went over to Town beach as there was an event going on but it wasn't all that exciting.

Saturday we visited the courthouse markets then went for another play at Cable beach. Today we hired a boogie board for an hour and Elly particularly had a blast while Charli built an elaborate sandcastle. The girls then decided it was pool time and then we went out for a bike ride now that Charli's tyre is finally fixed. We didin't go a long way but did stop in on our way back at Moontide Distillery to taste their gin, aniseed spirit and bitters, great way to spend the afternoon.

On Sunday moring Dave decided to try his hand at fishing which is funny when we have no idea what we are doing. We also took the kayaks out for a paddle on Roebuck Bay but we really picked the wrong time and it got a bit rough, especially returning to the boat ramp where the wave knocked Elly over. Unfortunately no fish for dinner. More pool time that afternoon (and a nanna nap for me) before we joined our host back at Gantheaume Point to watch the sunset (and have a drink and some nibbles)

The main reason we stayed in Broome until today was so we could walk out to see the wreckages of the sunken aeroplanes that had been bombed during WW2. These wrecks only come out of the water a couple of times a year during the big spring tides and we happened to be there around this time. It was an early start so we could start the walk out over the mudflats as close to 5am as possible. Dave particularly found these interesting while I struggled with my old (apparently stuffed) reef shoes. This highlight this morning however was as we began walking back when Elly spotted a sea turtle making her way across the flats and back to sea. After spending a lot of time researching sea turtles last year at school Charli has been really keen so see a sea turtle in the wild so you can imagine her excitement this morning. We were all a bit smitten actually.

After our walk we packed up and hit the road. Tonight we are in Port Hedland but our hearts are still in Broome...