No tags yet.
We are at Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm, on the north eastern tip of the Dampier Peninsula, a 3 hour drive north of Broome on a road that is graded regularly and generally inaccessible during the wet season. All the dirt in this region has iron ore in it which gives it it’s distinctive red colour, because as the iron mixes with water (through humidity, rain or sea water) it rusts and becomes red; its called ‘pindan’ and it soaks into everything. Our thongs are red, our feet are red, our bathers have smears of red, the bitumen road following a dirt section is stained red, the caravan park lady said bullbars are stained red too. The landscape has been phenomenal. The green of the new shoots of plants following the wet season, the red dirt, blue sky and white tree trunks is striking, especially around dry creek beds. Around the coast you can see the formations made of sandstone (stained with pindan), and we saw turtles when kayaking off Cable Beach.
When in Broome we did an ‘Astro Tour’ with Greg Quicke one night and although there is so much scenery to see during the day, we are now avid star gazers too. We spent 2.5 hours out the back of Broome, learning about the stars and our solar system, and it felt like we were there for 45 minutes. We looked through everything from binoculars to massive telescopes, and can now confidently identify Venus, Jupiter, the 2 largest stars in the sky, astronomical south, and constellations like Libra, Leo, Canis Major, the Bear, as well as knowing where the Southern Cross will be later in the evening. Elizabeth in particular enjoyed it so much we even bought a 2018 Star Gazing Yearbook.
We think we have cured Elizabeth of her travel sickness; its only taken 5000km… She had a mango smoothie at the Broome markets Saturday morning, and then we jumped in the car to drive on dirt roads for 2 hours; she passed the time by reading her book and then a digital book on her iPad, then watching something on her iPad. All without motion sickness wrist bands (which had been a godsend until now) or medications. We also think we have cured Jonathon’s dislike of boats (which was unwittingly started when the Spirit of Tasmania passage was abit rough), as we zipped around in a 500 HP boat today riding the Giant Tides.
We are on the western edge of the Kimberley’s here and already we have learnt a lot about the environment: the largest and fastest tides in the world, a region with the least flora / fauna being listed as endangered, the most types of waterlilies in the world, one of the least populated regions in the world… so far it’s a pretty special place, and until recently was virtually unrecognised. It also has a high population of mozzies – its not everywhere you go that I carry a super strength mozzie repellent in my handbag.
Its been hot during the day, 36 degrees today but it cools to about 20 degrees at night so sleeping hasn’t been a problem. We expect the Gibb River Road to be similar, hopefully with many safe places to swim and cool off. We are travelling along the Gibb River Road in convoy with 8 or so other vehicles and a guide. But in the meantime we are enjoying the pool and scenery at Cygnet Bay. Our next post will probably be from Kununurra in a fortnight or so, but today’s photos will follow when we have better internet connection.