Broome, The Kimberly & Bungle Bungle Range - Sept 2019
If you can, please go to the Kimberly. The vastness of the place, its rugged beauty, the wildlife and flora, and the gorges and rivers are all something to see, experience and feel.
A 4WD is essential if you venture off the tarmac and actually quite a bit of fun on the “rough stuff”. For beginners try the Gibb River road in the dry, which effectively runs from Derby to Kununurra and Wyndham. Oh, and avoid the wet season unless you’re prepared to stay in the region for much longer than anticipated.
There is a fantastic culture on the outback roads and tracks of stopping whenever another vehicle is encountered at the roadside, just in case help is needed.
Take care to adjust tyre pressure according to the road surface. Advice I didn’t always follow and should have, particularly when going from bitumen to dirt. Or, be prepared to spend a lot of time at the dentist when you get home.
Gorgeous gorges (wasn’t he an English pop star in the 90s). They really must be seen. And if you like fishing for Barramundi (never say the name or you won’t catch any - old jungle saying), the rivers are “lousy'“ with them as my uncle Col would say (meaning there are shitloads).
Windjana Gorge on the Lennard River in the dry season.
Freshwater crocodiles abound in these inland waterways and there were plenty of them at Windjana. I’m told they are quite harmless and timid. It’s not a theory I’d like to test when you see them up close and in the numbers that inhabit the rivers and lagoons in the lead up to the wet season.
There are great places to stay along the route we followed such as Fitzroy Crossing and Hall’s Creek. My favourite was Fitzroy Crossing. Get to the pub on Friday night for schnitties and footy or cricket on the TV with the locals.
Jalangurru Mayi cafe in Fitzroy Crossing was completely unexpected and a great place for breakfast and lunch. Great juices, coffee and food. Here’s the link:
https://www.facebook.com/JalangurruMayi/
Fitzroy River, another of the majestic large inland rivers that run to the Australian coastline is found at Fitzroy Crossing, strangely enough. Geike Gorge is on the Fitzroy and a short 30 minute drive from the Fitzroy Crossing township.
Onward we travelled to Purnululu (or Bungle Bungle Range), which is simply stunning. It’s difficult to describe in words this beautiful, ancient place and how it came about. There are several excellent walks in and around the range from an hour to a few hours or even overnight. Before heading into the Purnululu National Park its best to ensure you have plenty of fuel on board as the distances between between the various walks and the return to the highway and the nearest fuel station is several hundred kilometres.
Back in Broome, the long table dinner at Cable Beach is a must do. Beautiful warm spring evening with a magnificent sunset. Food and wine were good, however organisation and service left a little to be desired.
A flight out to the horizontal waterfall is just another magnificent place in the list of attractions in the region. Flying over the Dampier Peninsula and Buccaneer Archipelago on the way to the waterfall is a sight to behold.
Fishing out of Broome on my birthday all I could catch were sharks, while others in the boat landed various reef fish. The bronze wailer I caught consumed a large coral trout on the surface as I reeled it toward the boat and then tried to pull me overboard. A test for any recreational fisher.
These places in the Kimberly region are generally BOA & TOA (beer/tea only areas), however really good coffee and respectable wine can be had with an appropriate level of persistence.
Finally, the horizontal staircase is beautiful sight on a warm spring night in Broome.
