We crossed the border into Western Australia, admiring the beautiful, changing landscapes as we headed towards Kununurra. We gained an hour and a half as we hit the WA time zone and reached the Agricultural Showgrounds at only 9.30 in the morning.

We stayed a week in Kununurra, exploring the area and seeing places we missed the last time we were here. We climbed Kelly's k*** which was quite a scramble and looked out towards the mini Bungle Bungles which we later walked into. We did a day trip from Kununurra where we traveled 35 kms on the Gibb River road. I was disappointed that this part was on bitumen so we couldn't really claim to have driven along part of the infamous dirt road. We went into Emma Gorge (another scramble over rocks) and swam in the cold water at the end. I found a small cave to the right of the pool where a spring of warm water came out. That made a nice contrast to the much colder main pool.

From Emma Gorge we went into El Questro. Not the big cattle station that it used to be but still running a few hundred head now instead of the thousands before the tourism side took over. We soaked in Zebedee Springs for a while, chatting with fellow travellers before heading to the El Questro resort for lunch. The resort was very busy with campers and tour buses. Our lunch was good with a choice of steak or barramundi.

The campground was very crowded and the laundries were busy with a queue of people waiting their turn at the machines. We both agreed this campground was interesting to see but not our kind of place.

Next we head down to the Chamberlain River where we board the boat and travel slowly down into the gorge. There's more spectacular scenery with the cliffs, bird life and many catfish and barramundi that we saw in the murky brown water. Our tour guide noted that the water was coming over the rocks faster than the day before and this was because of the rain that that had fallen two weeks previously above 150 kms up river. A good reminder never to camp in a dry river bed.

On another day we drove to Wyndham where five rivers meet. This is where the Ord, the King, the Pentecost, the Forrest and the Durack rivers all meet. We couldn't actually see them all coming together but the views across the area were impressive. We also drove down to the Ivanhoe Crossing, a causeway over the Ord river and we watched as adventurous travellers drive over. Apparently this crossing used to be part of the main Kununurra to Wyndham road.

We left Kununurra feeling that we have got to know the place better then the couple of days we spent there last time.

We stayed at Leycester and Mary Pool free camps as we headed towards Derby, driving over the causeway at Fitzroy Crossing where we saw the new bridge being built. Then a night at Ellendale free camp. These were all good free camps but Leycesters was our favourite and we stayed an extra night to enjoy a soak and a massage in the river that was not too cold.

We stayed at the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park in Derby for a few days and enjoyed seeing the extreme high and low tides that the area is known for. Last time we were here the tides were pretty average due to the stages and pull of the moon. We timed it right this time and we saw the difference of 11 metres between high and low tides. We chatted with locals and travellers alike and watched as mud crabs were being caught off the pier.

We saw lots of boab trees and many with the big nuts ready to fall. I collected a few which we're now carrying around with the thought that I may try the boab carvings that the locals are so good at.

From Derby we headed to Broome and checked into the Broome Gateway. We were told Broome was so busy and as we hadn't booked well in advance then we had no hope of getting into a caravan park. We thought we would only stay one night just to top up with fuel, food etc. as we spent three weeks here last time. The Broome Gateway is an unpowered park on a property about 28 kms out of town. As luck would have it, it was a good job we did stay here as we found we were having a problem with our caravan batteries. Only one year old and replaced under warranty in Cairns last August, they are again a problem. With Broome being so busy we thought we might have a problem getting in to see a battery specialist but we went to Allvolts in Broome who checked our van the next day. He found a couple of issues that he thought may have been causing the problem. One being the batteries hadn't actually been fitted correctly! After reinstalling the batteries and checking our caravan system for us he was hopeful he may have solved our problem but no, the batteries were still loosing charge quickly. So back we go and this time we need to buy two new batteries. Roger from Allvolts was so disappointed and apologetic as he had hoped to save us the cost of new batteries. We decided to stay a few days longer to be sure the new batteries were working ok.

We had a great day out at the Ladies Day of the Broome races. We shared our table with two other couples. One of the guys, Tom was a detective from Perth on a two year contract in Broome. Hearing his english accent we asked where in the UK he was from. It turned out he was from Ipswich the same as us and came out the year before us. We enjoyed each other's company and came away with promises of keeping in touch. We are not big gamblers but with a couple of small wins our day only cost us about $50. Not bad!

I also had two trips to the dentist here as I had a broken tooth which needed to be extracted. Again I was lucky to get an appointment due to a cancellation. After a few days my gum hadn't settled down and I was in some discomfort so decided to go back to see Claire, my lovely dentist who numbed me and scraped out the area again to promote a quicker healing.

We decided to stay at the Gateway an extra day for my birthday where we had a lazy day and Chris spoiled me with breakfast in bed and later a baked dinner with all the trimmings, Yorkshire puddings and the lot. That's a great effort when we're on unpowered. We also drove 10 kms back towards town to visit the Mango Place. We sampled jams and relishes, admired some artwork and enjoyed a mango slushy. I had a lovely day and received lots of phone calls and messages from family and friends.

After ten days we leave Broome and head towards Barn Hill Station. We have heard great things about this place and want to see it for ourselves. We set up camp in among the low trees and shrubs so plenty of sun for the solar and space from the neighbours. The beach is only a short walk down a track and the beautiful ocean is right there to swim in. We saw dolphins chasing the baitfish but no sharks or whales that are passing down the coast at this time of year.

A lot of people come up from Perth every year to spend a few months here. There's quite a social side to this park with bowls, craft afternoons, live music and a café serving fresh baked bread, coffee, cakes and pies and evening meals of pizzas and curries or lasagne.

Next stop is Sandfire Roadhouse where we book into the caravan park behind. On power and water for one night I catch up on washing and try to clean some of the red dust out from inside the van. We were entertained by the many peacocks, geese and chickens that roam around the park. We also watched helicopters that landed and took off next to the roadhouse. One was a police helicopter and the other was dropping off and picking up workers, we think. There looked to be a lot of mine workers staying in the motel section.

We have now had two nights at 80 Mile Beach and we noticed that the place has changed since we were here last. Now part of the G'Day Parks group, it's about three times bigger, not as rustic and although still lots of shells on the beach, they are much smaller. With so many more people collecting them, that's no surprise. We did go for a drive along the beach in the hope of finding a really big shell but with no luck. Apparently we needed to go further along the beach as we were told by a young couple who we spoke to later. They had found lots.

Now we are on the road heading to the turf club in Port Hedland. They have a large free camping area and we are hoping to get a spot for a couple of nights before heading into Karijini.