Tales of the travels, trials and triumphs as we explore Australia in a converted bus

Motorhome Travels - July 2007

04/07/2007

The Horizontal Falls, WA

On Wednesday we took a tour to the Horizontal Falls. Yea, I had not heard of them either. The Horizontal Falls is a phenomena caused by the extremely large tides that occur in this part of the country. Tides exceeding 11 meters are common, so lots of water movement in very short periods of time. About 300km north of Broome a strange land formation traps water from the rising or falling tide causing a spectacular double waterfall of sea water.

The only way to get to the falls is by sea plane. For us this was an early morning flight from Broome airport across some very interesting terrain. The plane landed in the inlet quite close to the falls where boarded a large inflatable boat for our ride to, and through the falls.

The Sea Plane at the Horizontal
Falls, WA

It was quite an amazing ride that provided lots of photo opportunities.

After breakfast onboard a yacht, we were again picked up by the sea plane, this time heading for Cape Leveque. We were given a couple of hours to explore the cape before again boarding the plane for the return trip to Broome. The flight was over some of the most amazingly blue water we have ever seen.

Heather missed the aerial view of the Willie Creek Pearl Farm due to a touch of air sickness - she did however discover that the sickness bags provided onboard are not as moisture-proof as one would expect!

We arrived back in Broome in time for lunch. We all agreed it was a well organised trip and while quite expensive (about $490 each) - it was an awesome experience.

Lee and Howard onboard
the Breakfast Yacht,
WA.

We are pulling out of Roebuck Plains today - heading for Derby. From there we plan to take the first part of the Gibb River Road north. This road is not sealed and is known to be a bit on the rough side - lets hope it is not too rough.

06/07/2007

Hobohome on the banks of the Fitzroy
River, WA.

We bode farewell to Lee and Howard (Sister and Bro-in-law) and headed north east. Our first camp was on the Fitzroy river - a camping area for real fishermen! We were told that this would be our opportunity to catch a giant barramundi - they are reputed to regularly be landed over a meter long. We were of course aware that both freshwater and salt water crocodiles lived in these waters but for the first few days we never saw any. The first part of landing the barramundi is to catch some live bait - the river has lots of small mullet. Tracey has perfected her cast net technique and soon she had quite a few little fish to tempt even the fussiest barra. Well those of you who know us will agree that Tracey has many times the patience than me when it comes to fishing - after 3 days she gave up.

Saltwater friend - on the banks of
the Fitzroy, WA.

Coincidentally - this was about the same time we spotted a huge (over 4 metre) salt water crocodile basking on the bank. That night we went croc spotting and saw more than 10 sets of red eyes watching us from the water! We were a little more careful near the water from then on.

It was about mid morning when we were surprised to see a 4WD (sounding a little like a Mac truck) drive into our camp - we were even more surprised to see Rod and Vicki (good friends we met last year at Cliff Head) jump out of the vehicle. We are still not sure how they found us. We spent the next few days with these guys and really enjoyed their company.

Our next camp was a really awesome place - with the fairly un-appealing title of RAAF quarry. This is a huge hole in the ground dug to provide material for the air force airfield just outside of Derby. The gash is so large that it has filled with fresh water and now resembles a river gorge winding its way through some hills. The water is clean and clear and we enjoyed a snorkel and a few swims.

RAAF Quarry at sunrise, NT.

We rated this camp spot 9 out f 10 (have reserved the 10 out of 10 for that imaginary camp that has free beer and a nightly show of semi-clad dancing girls).

The boab trees up here are quite amazing - these things look like they belong in a haunted forest of a movie set - they make great photo subjects and the morning and evening light here is just amazing.

From here we head north-east towards the Northern Territory. We just commented that this will be the first time we have been out of WA (except for visiting NZ) since Feb 2005 - geez, its time to move on!

<< Previous month

Next month >>

Home Travels Crew The Motorhome Gallery Contact