Katherine Gorge may have the movie star status on the “must -visit” list of the Northern territory, but the pure beauty of Bitter Springs was our favourite.
Birds of the Gibb River Road
A metre tall with an iridescent head, or the size of a cotton ball, all scarlet and spots, there are so many extraordinary, beautiful birds along the Gibb River Road of all shapes and sizes, we felt we had to give them a blog post of their own.
Travelling the Gibb River Road
The Gibb River Road is one of the classic Australian outback routes. Along its 700km length are crocodile-infested waters, stunning swim holes and spectacular scenery. Come, travel the road with us.
Swimming with Whale Sharks
If you could realise a birthday wish, what would it look like? Would it be 8 metres long, weigh 10 tonnes, be covered in spots and utterly beautiful? Mine was.
Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the world, growing up to 14 metres long and weighing over 30 tonnes. Each one has unique markings – their own thumbprint – and every year they take up temporary residence in the warm waters of Ningaloo Reef in Western Australian. I have always wanted to swim with one. This year I got my wish.
The beautiful whaleshark with us on the far right
It was my surprise birthday present from Geoff, but first we had to drive 1300km from Broome to Exmouth, a two-day race down to the beautiful Western Australia coast, passing slow cattle musters, scuttling monitor lizards and arriving to glorious sunsets.
Bringing the cattle to muster stations en-route to Exmouth
Very orderly cows
A two-metre long monitor lizard scurries out of our path
The sun setting over Ningaloo Reef
Glorious sunsets are a daily expectation
But never mind that – what about the whale sharks. We were at the very end of the season and though they said there were still big fish around, we would be lucky to see them – but we are very lucky people, so we got to see three!
The shark was totally unfazed by our presence
Their spots are their fingerprint; each whale shark’s marking are unique
We were as up close and personal as you can get, as you will see from our video below and on our YouTube channel.
Whale sharks mouths can be up to 1.5 metres wide, so it is fortunate that they have a taste for plankton and not people. They can be found in tropical waters around the world, but Ningaloo reef is famous for these gentle giants.
In addition to the whale sharks, we also saw dozens of humpback whales, hammer head sharks, and turtles. It was a glorious day!
One of the many humpback whales we saw
Humpback mother and calf swimming on Ningaloo Reef
Obligatory cheesy snorkelling couple photo
Happily snorkelling with Geoff in the background
A humpback calf showing off to the crowd
A fine fluke
All of the ocean-based photos in this blog and the video are courtesy of Blue Media in Exmouth. The snorkelling tour was with Ningaloo Blue and they were fabulous.
All the memories and joy are courtesy of Geoff – thank you for this and oh so many other things.
We leave you with the wonderful whale sharks.
Beaches, Birds and Barking Owls
We spent a week in Broome, drinking in the colours of the Indian ocean, admiring the view and marvelling at rather lovely birds. Oh and there were the barking owls. They were nesting right next to our tent…. gotta love them owls!
Broome is the perfect place to relax between outback trips. Clear, clean seas, bright sunshine, white sandy beaches and lots of lovely chirpy birds – as well as the barking ones!
Before we got to Broome we stopped by in Derby, which has the third highest tidal rise in the world – at over 11metres and a very large Boab tree that used to be a prison!
We also managed to be in Broome at full moon, to witness the so-called Staircase to the Moon phenomenon. Not to appear cynical, but it’s just the moon reflected on the water with very good marketing. Sadly on our day, the marketing was more powerful than the reflection and we got more of a pantry step than a staircase!
It’s hard not to take nice pictures around here as everything is so photogenic, and the birdlife was very obliging so we hope Broome brings a little sunshine into your lives as it has for us.
PS. Barking Owls really sound like they are barking. Of course ours wouldn’t bark when I tried to record him, so here’s a youtube video to give you an idea.
Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge(ous)
Stunning scenery, billions of bats, cruising crocodiles, fantastic hikes and the chance to splash about in puddles in a dark tunnel! Every turn brings us more magic in outback Australia.
The Fairfield Leopold Downs Road is an outback track which connects Halls Creek – the end point of our Tanami Track trek – with Derby – the start point of the Gibb River Road. Along its relatively short length are two spectacular stop-offs.
Tunnel Creek is the oldest tunnel system in Australia and it is exactly what it says on the tin – a creek running through a tunnel. Half way along there is a roof cave-in and a colony of sleepy bats. In between are small lakes and pools, so it was time to go splashing and clambering – just because we could.
The entrance to Tunnel Creek
One of the subterranean pools you have to wade through in Tunnel Creek
Clambering over rocks and paddling through pools – we are 9 yrs old again
A small crack of light is all that guides the way
Emerging from the darkness
Windjana Gorge, further up the Fairfield Leopold Downs road, is what remains of a coral reef from the inland sea which flooded the area more than 350million years ago. What looks like a rock face is in fact an ancient reef.
Windjana Gorge
The ancient, fossilised coral reef
An ancient coral reef reflected in a river
Much of the river bed was dry, but not all of it and there was just enough water for our first encounter with “freshies” – the rather cheery name given to freshwater crocodiles.
A freshie fresh from the water
They were more interested in sleeping than eating, which was good for us, but they still kept an unblinking eye on an easy dinner.
The early morning glow on crocodile beach
There’s alot of lying around when your a croc
Wet and dry
Living dinosaurs
Spot the croc
Floating along
The trees along the Gorge are creaking, squeaking and reeking of fruit bats.
On the wing
There were tens of thousands of them and barely visible below the trees, who’s branches literally quivered and bent with the weight, was a wait of a different kind.
Weighed down with sleeping bats
The dark patches are not dead leaves – they are fruit bats
Barely visible on the ground – two crocs wait for bat bounty to fall
It wasn’t just crocs and bats though. We spotted some delightful birdlife too.
A Rainbow Bee-Eater
A pair of Little Corellas
A whistling kite looking for easy pickings
An Eastern Reef Egret – we think
A Black-Fronted Dotterel goes for a paddle in the creek
Both were fabulous walks through more lovely and ancient nature in West Australia and we have included additional images in the slideshow.
