Cyclone Creek and the Bucchaneer Archipeligo

Cyclone Creek

Another view of Cyclone Creek - a very sheltered waterway within Talbot Bay

Rock formation

Mangroves in Cyclone Creek - you can see how high the tide is

Adrian and Will's house in Cyclone Creek

Adrian with one of his "pet" batfish

A view from the air of the Bucchaneer Archipeligo

Another view of the Bucchaneer Archipeligo

And another view - majestic rocks, beaches and mangroves

Well these are the last few photos of our amazing experience at the Horizontal Falls in the Kimberley.  As I said in a previous blog, Pegasus Metals Ltd. are trying to get mining leases to mine on the Bucchaneer Archipeligo and if it goes ahead this area will be lost.  After having seen it, we can't let it happen.

After our thrilling rides through the Horizontal Falls we went on an eco tour along Cyclone Creek which was a beautiful sheltered creek.  Adrian and Will live there on this open air houseboat with all the mod cons of home.  It was quirky and definitely a batchelor pad.  Apparently its their address for the Census form!!  They also have pet batfish which they feed and we were shown one close up.  Adrian was not gung-ho though and only had "Max" out of the water for a very short time.

On  our way back to Derby we took a slightly longer route and flew over the Bucchaneer Archipeligo in all its glory. 

I shall remember this "trip of a lifetime" for a very long time.

Adieu from The Wandering 2s.

The Horizontal Falls - More Photos

Yeah lining up for the thrill ride

Over we go - it was a bit hard taking photos and hanging on!!

Breathtaking but the photos doesn't do it justice at all

The smaller gap

The larger gap

Another view

Tawny nurse sharks around the pontoon

Charlie trying to "pat" one - OH DUH!!!

He was a big one

Just wanted to put up some more photos because as you can imagine I took plenty.  However, the photos don't do it justice at all - its so hard to capture on film what it was really like unless you are my amazingly talented daughter in law Sandy who is a brilliant photographer and can capture the moment perfectly.  Next time Sand you can come with us!!

As you can see Charlie was risking life and limb - well limb anyway - trying to pat one.  One of the lads on the pontoon actually got their foot bitten by one of them so safety is of the utmost importance.  Needless to say I was yelling at hime to get back behind the barrier - I thought he was going to climb in with them at one time.

I will put one more lot up of Cyclone Creek and the Bucchaneer Archipelego but for now Adieu from The Wandering 2s.

The Journey to the Horizontal Falls

How does he do it? Co-Pilot Vice Captain Charlie Checkit again!!

Spectacular view over Talbot Bay from the seaplane

Great designs in the mud flats around Derby

Aeriel view on our way

Curtin Air Base - I'll probably get shot for taking it - oh well live dangerously!!

One of the Falls from the air

Talbot Bay and another view of one of the Falls

The two Falls

Talbot Bay

Talbot Bay

The pontoon in Talbot Bay

Getting ready for our ride through the Falls!!!

OMG in the words of a teenager - I can't begin to describe what the Horizontal Falls were like.   It was breathtaking, amazing, exhilirating, exciting, adrenaline rush, beautiful and lots of other things.  It really blew me away and was worth every dollar of a very expensive ticket.  I've got lots of photos so will post some more on another blog - just wish I could do videos as well as I have taken some amazing videos of us riding the Falls - will have to try and work that one out with my Dilly.

Anyway we boarded our seaplane and how does he do it?  Charlie got chosen again to be the co-pilot.  We had a slightly older pilot this time (although not by much) so it was Captain Youngster and Co-Pilot, Vice-Captain Charlie Checkit at the controls.  He's now going to do a condensed TAFE course and become a pilot with all this experience he now has with flying light aircraft!!!

The views over the mudflats leaving Derby were great with all the different patterns and then we flew over Talbot Bay.  The colour of the water was amazing, a beautiful tourquoise blue and so calm and clear.  Everyone in the plane was clicking away with cameras as I don't think any of us could believe how beautiful it was with the blue sea and the towering rugged cliffs - I've never seen anything like it.

We landed on the pontoon to be greeted by a great young crew who explained all the safety things asking us to be careful as there were tawny nurse sharks swimming around the pontoon and they didn't want anyone to be dinner for them!!  Some of them were huge but I will put pictures up of them in a separate blog because I haven't got enough room here.  We had tea, coffee, bikkies and a short talk and then we were off to do one of the Falls.

Derby has the highest tides in Australia and yesterday's tide was a massive 13 metres with a 5 metre drop off.  The water from the bay has to run through 2 narrow gaps in the rock face  of the McClarty Rangeswhich causes it to crash and swirl like rapids through the gap and then drop 5 metres into the next bay where it goes through another narrower gap and does the same.  The only way to get back up to the pontoon is the same way so we had a ball!!  We just did the one Fall to start with and it was sooooo exciting - loved it.  Our guide was a great young bloke called Adrian who was only 23 and in charge of this boat with 2, 300 hp motors on the back - these people with our lives in their hands seem to be getting younger or am I getting older?  Anyway he's been working there for 7 years and is very passionate about what he does.

It was then back to the pontoon for our swim in the shark free cage which was a big adrenaline rush.  We had snorkels and masks and could see these big sharks swimming on the outside of the cage with their noses pressed against ours!!  The boys then fed them with fishheads so that caused a bit of a feeding frenzy!!  Charlie was up on the railing watching and was trying to touch them - HE's SUCH A BOY!!!

After a great lunch of barramundi and salad, bread rolls and fruit we were back on the boat to do the second Falls which was through a narrower gap so more rushing water and bigger drop.  As we were going through this Fall, Adrian played the song 'I Went Through the Danger Zone" over and over again which really made it!! 

I want to do it all over again!!

David Attenborough described the Horizontal Waterfalls as "One of the greatest natural wonders of the world" and I have to agree with him.  He accidentally named them because on a visit he said it was like water falling horizontally and hence the name as they were called "The Gaps" before but can you believe they are under threat from copper mining.  We signed a petition to try and make the area a National Park so hopefully the mining can be stopped.  Apparently 2 of the biggest islands in Talbot Bay have already disappeared and it would be criminal if this area was destroyed and not available for our children and grandchildren and future generations to see.  I think I'll email David Attenborough and make him aware.

Our pilot then arrived to take us back to reality with our memories of a fantastic day.

Anyway I can't begin to describe what it was like - its something everyone should do but hopefully the pictures will give you some idea.  I will post more in a separate blog.

Adieu from The Wandering 2s.

 

The Bungle Bungles - by land

Our free bush camp just outside Purnunulu National Park

A lone runaway from the muster

On the road into the National Park at 6.30 am

Those magnificent beehives at ground level

Tip-tioe amongst the beehives

The majestic Cathedral Gorge

Cathedral Gorge

The ampitheatre at the end of Cathedral Gorge

I wish I had a frock then it could be "a cock in a frock on a rock!!" (Priscilla fans)

Piccaninny Creek

More beehives - is that where the bees go?

Ann and I cooking over the fire at the end of the day

Well I've said just about all I can say about the Bungle Bungles in my previous blog.  It was amazing to see them at land level and I'm really glad we did because for me it was more magical.  I'm glad we weren't put off by people who said the road was bad and not to do it.  We decided we would go and if it was too bad we would turn around and go back - I promised Charlie I would do what he wanted and wouldn't have a hissy fit if he said to turn around - that would be a first wouldn't it?  Again we were careful - it took us 2 and three quarter hours to do 56 ks but it was well worth it.

The Cathedral Gorge walk was spectacular and at the end of it we came into an ampitheatre where there was a man playing a didgeridoo which reverberated right around the rocks and it was very eerie.  Piccaninny Creek was awesome with the white uneven sandstone bed leading to the beehive domes - loved that bit.

After a tiring day as we were up and on the road by 6.15 am we got back to camp and David and Ann had a good fire going ready to cook our meal before we flopped into bed!!

PS We had a couple of station guys come round and tell us there was going to be a muster of cattle running through the free camp the next day - no problem just warning us.  We tossed up and decided it might be fun to stay and snapped a lone runaway meandering through the camp!!  However in the afternoon, there was a big muster with helicopters and horseback riders but they luckily didn't come through the camp but stayed on the other side of the road.

Anyway all for now - I'm up to date with all my blogs until we do the Horizontal Waterfalls tomorrow and as I've written 4 need a VERY LARGE glass of red wine so its Adieu from The Wandering 2s.

Bungle Bungles - By Air

Getting ready for boarding

Charlie gets chosen as co-pilot - GULP!!

The majestic Beehives

Beehives

Cathedral Gorge

Argyle Diamond Mine

Picanniny Creek

One of the escarpments

Another view of the Diamond Mine

Lake Argyle from the air

Well he got us back safe and sound

The Bungle Bungle Range in the World Heritage-listed Purnululu National Park is truly an inspiring tribute to nature.  From the air the black and orange beehive domes are an impressive sight and I read somewhere that they rise 200 metres above the plain with many gorges and pools contained.  Apparently the striped formations have thin outer skins of black lichen and orange silica which if broken will expose the soft sandstone beneath.  They are amazing, breathtaking, sensational and anything else I can think of but that's enough of the boring stuff - I'll tell you about our plane flight.

We went on a 13 seater and got there along with 11 other people ready for our flight.  The Captain looked sooooooo young - didn't even look as though he shaved but then I was reminded of my cousin's son who at 23 flies F111's so gulped and decided to get on the plane - well almost!!!  because then our Baby Captain decided he wanted a co-pilot and chose Charlie of all people.  No-one seemed worried about it except me because I know he can't find his way out of a paper bag.  Well I kept quiet and he rose to the challenge and after crossing myself I was glad I had updated our wills but a little bit miffed that we hadn't actually SPENT all of the kid's inheritance by then.  Anyway I was brave.

The flight was spectacular as you can see from the photos - 2 hours of pure magic, running commentary from Baby Captain and the co-pilot.  We flew over Lake Argyle which was great to see it from a different perspective and we realised exactly how huge it is.  We also flew over the Argyle Diamond mine which  is huge and is the world's largest producer of diamonds.  Baby Captain told us that when the diamond mine was first set up a "dummy town" was created some distance away - all the old utes etc and buildings were bought from Kununurra to set this town up.  This was to divert attention away from where the diamonds were!!

Anyway after our 2 hour flight Baby Captain and his co-pilot landed safely on the runway at Kununurra allowing me to make more plans for spending!!  Sorry to my children but someone just has to do it.

Anyway Adieu from The Wandering 2s.