Once we left Katherine Gorge, we headed west towards Timber Creek, but we took a slight diversion south to Cutta Cutta Caves first. We did a tour of the limestone caves, which was really enjoyable especially after the disappointing cruise at Katherine Gorge. The tour guide was very charismatic and his passion for the caves was infectious. It was impressive to see the crystals sparkling in the limestone. The name 'Cutta' means star and 'Cutta Cutta' means lots of stars. The crystals in the cave twinkle like the stars.
Limestone formations above the cave.
A dragon in the cave.
Elvis also lives here.
Timber Creek
Not much to do here except sleep. The next day it was Kununurra.
Kununurra
On the way, we visited the Gregory Tree - named after Augustus Charles Gregory, an explorer who had a base camp beside this boab tree in the 19th Century. Members of the party carved their initials and the date on the bark of the tree.
The Gregory Tree.
We also visited Keep River National Park before we reached the Western Australia border. The park had some aboriginal art at the Nganalam Art Site.
Painting of 2 spirit people - Aboriginal people of this region believe that spirit beings were the first to inhabit the earth.
We crossed the border into Western Australia, after having our onion confiscated by the border patrol as onions are illegal in WA. No not really! But seriously, you can't take fruit, veg or honey into WA to prevent the spread of diseases. WA time is 1.5 hours behind Northern Territory, which makes us 7 hours ahead of the UK until the clocks change.
Just before we said farewell to our onions.
As we were only a few kms into WA, the sun rose an hour or so earlier so it was getting hotter even earlier. We had gotten into the habit of doing things early before it got too hot, but now that would mean getting up at 5am!
After spending the night in Kununurra, we went to the nearby Hidden Valley (AKA Mirima National Park). We did a couple of short walks, including a nature trail with a fabulously fat boab tree amongst other things. We missed out the walk with the 'moderate' climb because it was so bloody hot! Originally we intended to reach this point in Australia a few weeks earlier so the heat wouldn't be so unbearable. We probably shouldn't have spent so much time in Cooroy, but we loved it in the 'Wee Hoose'. We then drove further west to Halls Creek.
It's hot work all this walking.
Halls Creek
On the way we had a brief stop at Turkey Creek Roadhouse for lunch where the thermometer was at 37 degrees in the shade! We also drove past a bush fire on the way.
Fire.
Once at Halls Creek, we visited the nearby 'China' wall, which is a natural formation of quartzite. We think it is supposed to resemble the Great Wall of China.
At the China Wall.
Cute roo.
Fitzroy Crossing
The following day it was further west to Fitzroy Crossing. This campsite had TV in the kitchen - luxury, we had not set eyes on a TV for weeks! There was also a shaded pool, which was just the cure for the hot and sweaty weather.
We paid a visit to Geikie Gorge National Park in the afternoon. We did an hour long walk and saw a fair few roos as the sun started to go down. I don't think I could ever get bored of seeing the wild roos.
Geikie Gorge.
Broome
The next day we drove to the coastal town of Broome. It's by the Indian Ocean. En route, we took a detour to Derby to see the Boab Prison Tree and stop for lunch. The tree has a girth of 14.7m and is about 1500 years old. It was used as an overnight prison for aboriginals who had been captured by Europeans to be used in the pearling industry. It now has a fence around it because it has religious significance to the local aboriginals and it serves as a reminder of a sad history.
The Prison Boab Tree.
We have decided to stay in Broome to have a break from driving hundreds of kms a day, plus it's great to be back by the sea. We sat on Cable Beach last night to watch the sunset. It wasn't the best we have seen, but the cool breeze was lovely.
Sunset at Cable Beach - random couple in the way of pic.
