Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Happy Hippos on Holiday
Hi everyone!
Greetings from the Outback! This is the Happy Hippos calling and here are the results of our tour through the Kimberley!
Day 1:
We were collected early from our hostel and taken to meet the other 19 people making up the tour group with whom we were to spend the next 11 days. There were 4 Swiss blokes, 2 French girls, 2 Japanese girls, a Dutch couple, an Irish/English couple, a Dutch girl, a German bloke, a Swedish bloke, a Australian girl, 3 other English girls...and partridge in a pear tree!
In our preparations for the tour we had (most uncharacteristically) forgotten to buy any alcohol. After much pleading by us and others in the same predicament, our tour guide, Mark, agreed to stop off at a bottle shop at the first town en-route, Derby (finally, I admit Derby has a purpose...K). We thought we were being extravagant in purchasing 8 litres of wine between us for 10 nights...it turns out we weren't!!!
After a quick lesson in tent erection, we set up camp and then went for a walk through Tunnel Creek, which involved wading through knee high water in total darkness. Chris, the German bloke, began to show characteristics worthy of his subsequently earned title of ATG (assistant tour guide), as he carried the 2 Japanese girls across the deeper bits (accompanied by our singing of Bonnie Tyler's "Hero").
Back at the camp the wine began to flow and after dinner we all tottered off in search of crocodiles at the waters edge! Before you get too alarmed the only crocodiles to be found here were "freshies", (not to be confused with the more dangerous, man-eating saltwater crocs!). Being pitch black, they weren't easy to spot, but by shining torches at the water, we were able to pick out their eyes glinting back at us.
Day 2:
The following day we returned to Windjana Gorge (the site of the previous evening's croc hunt) for a walk. This allowed us to appreciate the beauty and tranquillity of the surrounding scenery, as well as getting a good look at the freshwater crocodiles in the daylight.
We continued along to Bell Gorge, for more walking, ending in a welcome dip in the freshwater pool at the bottom.
Day 3:
The next day started in much the same way, with an early morning hike to Manning gorge where our natural bath and shower awaited us. We were given plenty of time to play around in a huge plunge pool, swimming under the waterfall and if we so wished jump off the high ledges into the deep waters below.
Back in our 4WD truck, we hit the dusty, bumpy road taking us to our bush camp at King Edward River. For this section of the journey, the five single girls on the tour were sitting on the back row entertaining (?!) the others with our karaoke-style singing and unintentional head banging.
Day 4:
The girl band regrouped on the back seat for our early morning drive north to the Mitchell Plateau. Today the road was its bumpiest yet and we were very grateful for our seatbelts for preventing any injuries more serious than small lumps on our heads!
The conversation became deeper as we neared the end of the road, involving comparisons of our journey through life to that of frogs on a lily pond jumping from one pad to another, without any final destination in mind!!! On finding a lily pond later in the day, we were compelled to get a photograph of us all crouching down at the water's edge like frogs (in case you were wondering what that one was all about!!!)
Glad to be out of the truck, we set off on a beautiful walk to the spectacular multi-tiered Mitchell Falls, where we stopped for a picnic lunch. This has to be one of the most scenic dining experiences we have ever had! Mark had advised us to take as much water as we could carry on the walk...excellent advice, as it was baking hot. Myomi, one of the Japanese girls (unused to non-luxury toilet facilities...aka squatting behind a bush!) chose not to drink much of hers...and consequently collapsed from heat exhaustion on the walk back to the truck...cue ATG, the hero, who had to carry her most of the way back!
Myomi excepted, the rest of the group had a big party night around the camp fire that evening, which lasted well into the early hours, starting with Kirstie giving shoulder massages to everyone in the group and ending with the Swiss boys trying to prove their manhood by walking barefoot on hot coals - we weren't tempted to join in!
Day 5:
After a series of early mornings, we had a lie in (it's all relative!) followed by a bacon and eggs breakfast, and then enjoyed another natural bath/shower in the river alongside which our campsite was located.
We managed to swap our places on the back seat with the two in the front of the truck and enjoyed talking to Mark and messing around with his toy wombat, (Wallaby) who provided much entertainment with his erratic dancing when the truck hit the bumps in the road.
We stopped en route to our campsite to visit the site of some Aboriginal Rock art and got into some interesting discussions about the non-integration of Aboriginal people into modern Australian life - an issue that is (not surprisingly) likely to go unresolved for many years to come.
Day 6:
We continued our drive along the Gibb River Road, passing through some outstanding scenery, which we were really able to appreciate from our great position at the front of the truck. The highlight was a drive straight through the crocodile infested Pentecost River which flowed freely across the road!
We arrived at our campsite within the El Questro Homestead in the early afternoon. This allowed us plenty of time to have a swim in the river and a sunbathe, as well as make full use of the luxury facilities - hot water showers, flushing toilets and laundry.
Day 7:
The day began with a visit to some natural hot springs for our early morning bath, which was great for relaxing our muscles in advance of another long day of driving.
We arrived at our campsite in Purnululu National Park just as the sun set behind the amazing beehive like domes of the "Bungle Bungles".
Day 8:
After the previous day's driving, we were pleased to be able to spend the whole day exploring this fascinating national park both on foot and by helicopter.
Our first hike of the day took us past the famous striped rock towers of the Bungle Bungle range (only discovered by non-aboriginals in the 1980s) and onto Cathedral Gorge, a cave with great accoustic qualities. It seemed to be tradition to join in song with other tour groups in the national anthem of the countries we represented, so when it was our turn, we gave God Save the Queen a good belt - Lizzie would have been proud of us!
It was then time for what was probably the highlight of our tour - a 30 minute helicopter ride over the restricted gorges in the northern part of the park, which can only be seen by air. The formations of the Bungle Bungle Range below us were fascinating to see from this angle (see photos) and it really was an exhilirating experience.
Our final activity of the day was another hike, this time through Echidna chasm along a beautiful dried up river bed dotted with exotic trees.
That night, exhausted but elated by the day's activities, we chose to venture out of our tents and set up our beds under nature's blanket of millions of twinkling stars. Counting shooting stars as opposed to sheep is a very special way of trying to get to sleep - we got into double figures, but sleep deprived us of sighting any more throughout the night. A spectacular end to a spectacular day!
Day 9:
Another day of driving followed, this time taking us to the town of Kununurra, where we were staying at a campsite with not only flushing toilets, but a swimming pool as well!!!
That evening, the group went out for drinks at a bar in the town...but our fun was curtailed due to a power cut just as we were all starting to strut our stuff on the dance floor!
Day 10:
Leaving the 'civilisation' of Kununurra behind, we set off into the outback again, pausing for a brief stop at Lake Argyle, an enormous reservoir which holds 12 times as much water as Sydney Harbour (it is huge!). The high steep red ridges plunging into the lakes blue waters was a beautiful sight.
Crossing into the Northern Territory, we lost an hour and a half of time (NT, like South Australia, operates on stupid o'clock, being half an hour behind Sydney time!). We arrived at our final campsite of the tour by early evening, but with a 5am start on the cards (3.30am in WA time), it was not a late one!
Day 11:
The day began with a drive up to Katherine Gorge, where we freshened up with a soak in the thermal pools. A short drive further up the gorge took us to one end of a hiking track down to Edith Falls, a beautiful spot where the river cascades through three pools. We walked down to the pools and stopped for a swim and sunbathe, before hiking back up to the head of the trail for a barbecue/picnic/finishing up leftovers meal!
All that remained was the drive onto Darwin, ending with a farewell meal/night out with the group...and there ends the tour!
So how did we rate it? .... it was definitely worth douze points!!
More on our stay in Darwin and the final couple of weeks of our holiday...oops...our once-in-a-life-time-personal-development-experience (!) in the next and final postcard.
Hope you are all well
love,
Zena & Kirstie
- comments