After catching up on jobs in Halls Creek, and dragnetting the pool for our kids, we headed up the road towards the west Kimberleys. We decided to camp off the road at an interesting looking spot on the road up to Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge. The road was badly corrugated in parts. The caravan survived with a few loose screws, microwave plate fallen out, ladder on floor etc. Must remember to let down tyres a bit next time. The camp was in an old limestone quarry, with weird looking rocks weathered by the rain. Scott and Richard climbed one.
From here, we did a day trip just in the 4WD up to the National Parks. We saw lots of fresh water crocodiles at Windjana Gorge. It was a hot day, and would have been nice for a swim during the walk along the creek.
We got our swim at Tunnel Creek: a creek running through a limestone range. It was much cooler in the cave. We had to navigate with torches, and wade through waist deep water to get to the other side. Half way along, we saw bats flying in and out of an opening. Quite a pleasant change from hiking in the heat.
Our next stop was Broome. Natasha and the kids joined the zillions of tourists to watch "Stairway to the moon" - a reflection of the moon on mudflats. Richard couldn't see what all the fuss was about, and was content to view "rope to the boat" on the other side.
The beach at Cable Beach is lovely and white, but very packed. The huge tide seemed to be out whenever we went for a swim. One evening we drove down to the beach for a picnic, but the next night the track was blocked off for "Opera under the stars". To rub it in, we could hear it from back at the caravan park.
The car's gas system has stopped working properly. There doesn't seem to be any places north of Karatha that fix gas, so will have to run on petrol for a while. I've set up an extension cord to run our 50 litre car fridge from our caravan. The main fridge seems to be always full, and we need some overflow space. Its good having easy access to cool drinks in the car.
We seem to be running short of time, so we skipped a visit to Cape Leveque (more dirt roads and camping). Instead we are spending a few nights at Barn Hill station south of Broome. It has good swimming and interesting beaches to walk along. One of the amenities blocks has no roof. Last night the park put on dinner and entertainment. We went for the entertainment which consisted of an acrobatic duo doing juggling, balancing and fire swallowing, which the kids enjoyed.
We're hoping the weather stays warm as we travel South, but it probably won't.