Tomahawk, El Questro & Bungle Bungles

Thursday 14th June. We ventured to West Leederville for the first time as one of Rupan’s colleagues had his leaving do at the Kailis Brothers fish restaurant. West Leederville was lovely and had a Harbornesque feel to it – we really must go into Perth more often!

Steve with the 'Tomahawk'

Saturday the 16th June. Steve completed the second part of his bike maintenance course. No bike mishaps to report – he managed to cycle home this time. Later that evening, the Fremantle crew and respective other halves met at the Old Swan Brewery for the much talked about "Tomahawk". Shane had pre-ordered two 1.5 kg Tomahawks that were carved at the table. The meat was amazing, we even took it in turns to gnaw on the bones! Anton and Mischa took the bones home for the dog.

On Sunday 17th June Rupan and Shane flew up to Kununurra for the week. This is the furthest North that Shane had ever gone in Australia.

Monday’s Clinic was hard work.

We managed to finish the operating list a bit early on the Tuesday and got to the Jump Up Lookout and Miramar National Park – turns out That Shane is not nature boy!

View of Lake Kununurra from the hotel

On Wednesday Shane, Rupan and Alison flew up to Hall’s Creek and Wyndham for a very busy clinic.

We again finished theatre early on the Thursday and headed up to the Hoochery - a rum distillery and the Sandalwood factory whilst waiting for Steve to arrive. Later that night we all had dinner at the Pump House. Steve was hoping to see some crocs but was disappointed, but there were a lot of cat fish.

Shane, Rupan and Alison at the Hoochery

Whilst Rupan had clinic on Friday Steve had breakfast at the Wild Mango Café and walked this off at the Jump Up Lookout and Miramar National Park. Steve met Rupan at lunch time and before heading off for the weekend we bought some Aboriginal Art at Artlandish. We hired a beast of a 4wd - a Mitsubushi Pajero and then headed up the Gibb River Road to the Emma Gorge Resort in El Questro. After checking in we took a walk to Emma Gorge. You can swim in the gorge but it was very cold so we paddled instead.

Emma Gorge Walk

Emma Gorge

We were up early on Saturday as we had planned a busy day - there was really no need to set an alarm clock as the noisy birds outside our tent woke us up at about six! First was the Amalia Gorge walk. This was hard work - we had to scramble and climb over huge boulders, at one point we had to navigate a narrow ledge which was a bit scary, there was at least a 5m drop to the rocks below! Again you could swim at the various pools en route but it was again very cold.

Next we headed for Zebedee Springs, this was a much easier walk and very busy. The pools here were thermal so we decided to take a dip. It was a toasty 30 degrees. We were both feeling a bit hungry so we headed off to the El Questro Station for lunch and tucked into a couple of meat pies and a sausage roll - yummy!

We had booked a boat trip in the afternoon - Steve was excited as there maybe a chance to see some crocs! But we still had a couple of hours to kill. Time to go off road! Steve studied the car manual and read the off roading tips - there were a lot of gears! We took the "Beast" over a river and up a steep incline before we reached Pigeon Lookout - lovely views over the Pentecost River. We then continued on, negotiating a steep decline and a loose sand track before reaching Pigeon Hole.

The boat trip up Chamberlain Gorge was a bit more relaxed. We kept an eye out for crocs but did not see any - boo! While the boat stopped for afternoon nibbles and champagne we fed the Archer fish, they tried to knock the food from our hands by spitting water - which was kinda cool!

Once back on dry land we headed back up to the Pigeon Lookout for sunset. It was then back to the Station for a tasty BBQ and a few beers round the camp fire. It was dark when we made our return to Emma Gorge Resort. Cattle wandered aimlessly along the track so we had to drive slowly.

On Sunday we took a private plane to Purnululu National Park. We flew over the Argyle Dam, Lake Argyle and the Bungle Bungle Range. The Bungle Bungles is known for its striking sandstone domes, stripped with orange and grey bands - they look like giant beehives. They are over 360 million years old but were only discovered in the mid 1980's.

After we landed we boarded a 4wd to Cathedral Gorge. We walked through the domes along the dry creek bed and potholes until we reached the gorge - which was huge! We sat and had lunch before making our way back.

We then walked up Picaninny Creek to Picaninny lookout. After Afternoon tea we went back to the airstrip for the flight back to Emma Gorge. The flight back took us over the Argyle Diamond Mine. This was all too much for Rupan - she fell asleep!

Cocktails rounded off an amazing day!

The Bungle Bungles

The Bungle Bungles

The Bungle Bungles

Picaninny Creek

A giant termite mound

Monday was our last day - and Steve was still disappointed as he had not seen any crocs! We were told that there was a good chance of seeing some on the King River. After checkout we headed back up to the Gibb River road and up towards Wyndham. Before turning up the King River track we stopped at the Grotto. Once we were on the track we kept an eye on the river for crocs. We made a number of stops - Moochalabra Dam where we looked at some Aboriginal Rock art and the Boab Prison tree.

The Grotto

Aboriginal rock art

The prison boab tree

Sadly no crocs! But we had a back up plan - we went to Wyndham Croc Farm! It was feeding time! The crocs did not seem that hungry though! They just sat there! Very disappointing!

The Wyndham Croc

Wyndham Croc Farm

It was time to head back to Kununurra for our flight back to Perth. We had time for one last stop - Marlgu Billabong in the Parry Lagoon Nature Reserve. This was amazing - there was a shaded bird hide and the bird life was amazing - spoonbills, herons, ducks, geese, swamphens, comorants and rainbow bee eaters. Steve could have sat there for ages. Rupan was even quiet! But sadly we had to leave.

Marlgu Billabong

Marlgu Billabong

A great trip - we certainly felt we crammed a lot in. The Kimberley is a fantastic place and hopefully we will return one day.

The Banga Folks Visit

Mum and Dad arrived very late on Thursday and were shattered after the long journey. After a little catch up they went straight to bed. On Friday we stayed local and had a lazy morning with a stroll along the river at Waterman Point. We dropped them off at Fremantle Prison and promised to pick them up after their tour if they were good!

The hangman's noose at Fremantle Prison

Later that evening we caught the sunset at Cottesloe Beach and stopped in at Salt for a drink. Little did we know that Mum had ordered a pear cider that was $16 a bottle!! Welcome to WA!

Cottesloe Beach

On Saturday Steve had arranged to attend his first bike maintenance course. Whilst he tinkered with his bike, the rest of us pottered around Fremantle Markets and had a walk along the boardwalk at the harbour. At lunch time we got a call from Steve - he had broken his bike and would be a little late as he had to wheel it rather than ride it.... oops! We finally met at the Shanghai Markets for a huge yummy noodle lunch.

Banga Folks on the harbour broad walk

Sunday was a glorious day and we decided to venture into Perth and spent the day in King's Park. We did the Tree Tops walk with views over the CBD and had a guided tour of the Botanical Gardens. a picnic lunch, we dropped Mum and Dad off at Barrack Street Jetty and they caught the 'Golden Sun Gossip Cruise' back to Freo. That evening we had a bbq on the balcony.

Banga Folks at Kings Park

Weird bird like flowers at the Botanical Gardens

Yummy prawns on the bbq

On Monday we headed South to the Margaret River region stopping in Bunbury for a coffee on the way. Dad chatted with some Sikhs that were visiting Bunbury from Perth! Our next stop was the most South-Westerly point of Australia - Cape Leeuwin. We had a walk around the lighthouse in the gale force wind. We then headed to Jewel Cave where after a picnic lunch we had a guided tour of the Cave, where we saw impressive limestone formations and the fossilised remains of a Thylacine (an ancient stripey dog thing that is now extinct). The last stop of the day was our accommodation at Margaret River - Rosewood Guest House - a lovely B&B run by Keith and Jane.

Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse

Cape Leeuwin - Where two oceans meet

On Tuesday we had arranged a surprise for the folks and had hired 'Rose Royce' - a 1956 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud for the day. Keith drove us round the wineries including Cape Mentelle, Redgate Estate and Voyager. We were then dropped off for a leisurely lunch at Leeuwin Estate and were picked up much later when we were fed and watered!

The Gang ready for wine tasting in style

Let the tasting commence

A break from all the wine tasting at Red Beach

Nose bag at Leeuwins - Yummy

The Cheeky Monkey

A wind swept Shelly Cove

After a visit to the shops in Margaret River we made our way home on Wednesday - with a few stops along the way of course... We popped into Vasse Felix but were feeling a bit too 'wined out' for a tasting, so sampled some beers at the Cheeky Monkey Brewery instead. We then made our way to Cape Naturaliste and the Shelly Cove lookout, but the wind and rain made this a rather brief pit stop and we headed all the way back to Freo. Steve managed to drop the wine that we bought, the good news was that only one bottle broke, the bad news was that it was the most expensive one - typical!! I wonder where he gets his clumsiness from?! 

Our original plan for Thursday was a trip to Rottnest Island, this was foiled by the rain so instead we ventured into Perth again and dodged the worst of the rain at the Royal Mint. We learnt about the gold rush and even saw a 1kg block of gold being poured! Following this we explored Northbridge and had a late lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant - not really sure what we ordered but it was quite tasty!

Nice hat! The Perth Royal Mint

Friday cleared up and we headed north, stopping at Hillary's Boat Harbour where Rupan managed to purchase a top - we were only there for a few minutes! Our final destination was Yanchep National Park where we had a picnic lunch followed by a walk around the lake. Steve tried to do a spot of twitching but the Bangas were chatting noisily and scared most of the birds away... Nonetheless, the parents were very excited to see Koalas and Kangaroos and it was amusing to watch Mum chase them away whilst Dad was trying to video them! We caught a gorgeous sunset at City Beach on the way home and popped into Clancy's for a beer and a snack. Mum was a little bit freaked out by the prawns that are to be eaten whole - without taking off the heads or tails...

Bangas & Roos

Too much excitement for one day!

Rainbow at City Beach

On Saturday Rupan had to go to work (well a course that the boss had arranged) so Steve took the folks to Rottnest Island. After arriving at Thomson Bay they headed for a coffee at Quokka Joe's and were joined by a friendly quokka on the scrounge for some scraps. After a short bus ride to Parker Point they walked the coast road taking in the picturesque Little Salmon Bay and Salmon Bay before jumping back on the bus. They took the bus to Wadjemup and walked up to the Lighthouse, on the way down they again spotted more quokkas. After a picnic lunch it was back on the bus to Geordie Bay. From here they walked back into Thomson Bay via the Bathurst Lighthouse and Basin Bay. The return ferry was not until half four, just enough time for a pint. The ferry blasted its way back to Freo where they met Rupan. No trip to Fremantle would be complete without a Flipside/ Mrs Brown's evening, so we settled down with a bottle of SBS and ordered our burgers on Saturday night.

On their last day Fremantle was lashed by wind and rain - the worst it had seen in over a decade. The water level in the harbour was so high that the boardwalk was about 10cm underwater! We still managed to get a few beers in at Little Creatures and then tucked into traditional fish and chips.

At Little Creatures

Despite the flying visit, we managed to pack in a lot..... Hope they have as much fun in Singapore.