Day 11; 17-07-2012

Today, we caught a bus to the airport where we boarded our sea plane.  A 30 minute flight found us at the site of the horizontal waterfalls.  The falls are a phenomenon where, what is referred to as a tidal pinch, creates a series of whirlpools and a differential height between each side of the opening.  This is caused by the ingoing and outgoing tides where a large body of water has only a very small opening through which it passes thus causing the surge that is the horizontal falls.  There are a group of young people that actually live in a house boat which is the pontoon base where we landed and all activities occur.
There are two sets of falls - one wider than the other.  At first, we took a ride through the wide falls in the fast boat but not the narrow one because the skipper deemed it unsafe.  We were then treated to a swim in the shark cage and lunch was grilled Barra and salad - beautiful.  After lunch, we took a ride up the creek in and out of the gorges and cliffs surrounding this spectacle.  The water was so calm and deep turquoise in colour.  With the red ochre tones of the rock faces, the scenery was very striking.  Cruising through here makes you feel insignificant as a human in this landscape - it is so inspiring.
Later we took another ride through the falls on an outgoing tide and this time we went through the narrow one. 
For the flight home, we took the scenic route in and out around Talbot Bay and the archipelago areas of the north west Kimberley.  We arrived back at our campsite at around 1500.  It was a big day out - one never to forget.  Simply stunning!!!!
Oh I forgot to mention...
Les flew us home (see the photos).  He accepted a round of applause after we safely landed.  You'll see in the photo that he did it with his eyes shut.  Les' resume is expanding - experienced pilot, helicopter stuntman, skydiver, caravan repairer, good samaritan and the list goes on.



Links:
Google Maps reference is -17 18.48, 123 39.00
See more images at... https://picasaweb.google.com/106361511620108780730/Day1117072012

Day 10; 16-07-2012

Before we left Fitzroy Crossing, we had a quick look around.  This is pretty small community - basically 4 shops and 2 roadhouses.  The local IGA is pretty much a one stop shop for everything.  I tell you, there's not much call for glaziers in Fitzroy Crossing - none of the buildings have windows - just barred up doors.

We left there  at around 0930 and arrived in Derby around 1230.  Derby was a specific destination of ours from the outset.  We've travel over 4000 km to get here.  This is the target of our only booked commitment of our entire trip.  We have a booking tomorrow on a tour that takes us to the Horizontal Falls by Sea plane.
After we arrived and set up we gathered some supplies from the local Woolies and then took a drive through town for a look around.  We went to the Derby Jetty to see the sunset over King Sound and enjoyed some local fish and chips.  The crowds gather all over the jetty to watch the sunset.  Derby is renowned for its large tidal range which can be up to 11 metres.  The sunset this afternoon coincided with the low tide and made for a spectacular show.
We're here for two nights.  We are parked up at the West Kimberley Lodge which is a pretty low key and tidy place on the outskirts of Derby.


Links:
Google Maps reference is -17 18.48, 123 39.00
See more images at... https://picasaweb.google.com/106361511620108780730/Day1016072012

Day 09; 15-07-2012

Today was fixit day.  After cutting an inspection portal in the back panel of the van, we got to see the extent of damage to the winding mechanism.  On the positive side, I have learned a load more about how this mechanism works.

It turns out the guide that the push rod runs in was bent which kinked the box section enough to crimp itself on to the push rod thus restricting it's movement to zero.

We managed to straighten the guide enough to release the push rod so that it has free movement.  Luckily, nothing was actually broken.

So we now have it free standing without any extra support.  Tomorrow will be the litmus test when we wind it down for our trip to Derby and then up again at the other end.

Links:
Google Maps reference is -18 12.50, 125 35.05
See more images at... https://picasaweb.google.com/106361511620108780730/Day091507201202

Day 08; 14-07-2012

We got away from the Bungle Bungles Caravan Park at around 0700 as I had a date with a bloke in Hall's Creek to get a new tyre at 0900.  Total damage was $395.

Then we headed off to Fitzroy Crossing where we plan to stay 2 nights now.  It's only a small drive (about 3 hrs) to Derby which is where we need to be by Monday night for our booked tour to the Horizontal Waterfalls on Tuesday.  We're all looking forward to that after speaking to many people along the way that have done it.  It gets the thumbs up as a must see by everyone.
We had some dramas when we arrived at Fitzroy Crossing.  When Judy and I were establishing our site, we started winding up the van top when we heard this loud bang.  We had inadvertently left one of the hold down clamps still secured.  I have had thoughts of what would be the consequence of this or anything where the winding mechanism was to play up.  Well we now know because we broke something - I knew that noise wasn't gonna be good news.
We had to use Les' high lifter jack to raise one corner while the other three corners raised normally via the winder.
We have a bush mechanic solution setup at the moment to get us under way.

Each corner has their own separate winding tackle all controlled by a single main pulley and winch system.  The biggest problem is that the faulty corner is the worst to get at - in the corner sealed by the shower/toilet area.  It appears we may have to remove the entire back end of the van but that's a second choice for obvious reasons.
1st option is to cut an inspection hole in the corner which will give us external access to the relevant pulley system where the action has all gone down.  From there, we will be able to see the damage and what course of action to take.
Tomorrow morning (Sunday), we are going to launch into some repair work in order to either repair it fully or get a reusable work around that will get us home or at least to someone that repair it.  There are a couple of places in Broome that may be able to help.  Being a weekend is the big issue.
Tonight we went over to have dinner with Barb and Les (BYO).  When we got there, they were inside their tent and there were strange conversations emanating from the tent.  Dialogue like...  "Just lay there and shut up", "now roll over", "what's this" and "there's another one".  Other comments which have been censored I will not mention.  We thought they were doing kinky things with a torch.  It's lucky the tent is too thick to show the silhouettes.  It turned out they were searching each other for ticks which they picked up somewhere.  After talking to a lady in the laundry, Barb learned that they are grass ticks which are fairly common around here.  Anyway, drama averted.  Barb, Les, the neighbours and us have all undergone counseling and all is good.  Very funny from a spectator's perspective though..

Links:
Google Maps reference is -18 12.50, 125 35.05
See more images at... https://picasaweb.google.com/106361511620108780730/Day0814072012

Day 07; 13-07-2012

*** WARNING - This blog contains references to bodily functions that may offend some readers ***
Well, this is the last day of our first week of travel - it's gone quickly.  We spent the day touring the Bungle Bungles.   This place has serious Wow factor!!!  We set off at 0600 down the worst road I've ever driven on.  It's pretty much the consensus of opinion around the place that the road is crap.  We took 2 hours to do 50km.  That just gets to visitor centre where you pay your money and get a permit for your car for the privilege of traversing the next 30 km of this 'beautiful' road.  But getting to the other end certainly paid off.  We chose to do the 3 km walk to the Cathedral Gorge.  The Bungle Bungles is a sandstone formation located in the Purnululu National Park.  The shapes carved by time in these rocks are unique and amazing.  They are a dome like formation where the stratum (I think that's the plural of strata) of the sandstone are identical from one dome to another.  I'm sure this tells of their history to those people with thick glasses that know all about this stuff.
Cathedral Gorge leads to a dead end of a huge natural amphitheatre.  It is so massive, you just need to pause and take it all in.  As it approached midday, the sun began to creep down the inside of the gorge walls which lights up the rich ochre tones of the sandstone.  We spent an hour or so in there before heading back out because we had to be back at caravan park 80 km away by 1500 for our helicopter flight.  Luckily, we allowed a little extra time - about 30km out from our destination, we destroyed a tyre.  So careful not to end up with a second one, I took it a bit slower and the corrugations!!!  Oh did I tell you the road was rough.  Holy crap, I swear our new car is not that anymore.  We made it back in one piece in time for our flight.
Well what an experience!!!  The chopper took us over the entire formation which gives you the full picture of the vastness of the phenomenon.  The chopper is a small one with no doors.  I sat in the front and Judy and Les in the back.  I wished the pilot had warned us when he was going to bank.  After we landed, Les' description of how he held on at that point just cracked us up -  I haven't laughed so hard for a long time.  He reckoned that his arse puckered so much that the seat would have to be pulled back out.  He had his legs tucked under the pilot's seat in front and hanging on to anything he could find.  He reckoned if he was going to fall out, Jude and I would be stuffed because he had such a hold of the bar behind the pilot's seat, that he'd take the pilot with him - he wasn't goin alone.
What a day!!!

Links:
Google Maps reference is -17 26.49, 127 59.8833
See more images at... https://picasaweb.google.com/106361511620108780730/Day0713072012