Hey! We have been here before… kind of feeling

Finally. A new satellite telephone, which is a more modern one compared to the offer from Landwide. Battery is full: Yeah, now we dare doing business with the Kimberleys.

·         Driving back the same 50 k’s, allready done twice on the last Monday in November much hotter than a Danish ”indian summer” day

·          Never consuming a dozen half litre bottles of water so fast

·          With the aircondition in the Landcruiser on ”very high”

·         AND  turning left, keeping the wheels on the unsealed and gravel road, NOW for more than the two minutes we did this morning

 - we felt SO lucky – eventually heading west on seeing the red dust rising from the corrigated road filling the air. Gibb River Road (637 km),

Impressions:
Floodway with no water, only a few places, a cow or ten once in a while on the road, dead or alive , a single kangaroo jumping across the road in a rush, the left overs of bush fireres, ”crowded traffic”  on the ”highway” (meaning "disturbance" from 2 other cars in a distance of 230 km)… swimming in Miners Pools  at Drysdale River Station,  having 4.000 square metres all on our own (well, sharing it with the farmer and her husband, off course + all the cattle (10.000 pcs.).

Drysdale River Station is a working cattlestation on a million acres 60 km far out in the middle of nowhere, it is friendly place where you can get fuel, and daily needs in a little farm shop. In the high season it takes 15 persons to run the business as this western kind of a ressort is very populaire in the dry season. We are here in the beginning of ”The WET”, and are the only tourists around.

Cooking risotto, spinach with garlich and papricorns on the gas stove, sitting outside under the moon in deep darkness in absolute silence, besides the beautiful sounds from the nature.

Another 300 km down the Gibb River Road we spent the evening at Windjana Gorge. The Gorge itself is spectaculare and so was the extreme lightning from the thunderstorm nearby. Actually, this place is closed for the season, but again we are winners as a telephone contact to the Kimbeley West District Office gives us permission to park our car and enjoy the outback life.

Derby, at the end of Gibb River Road, resting one night at Kimberley Cottages, which is owned by Wendy and Phil, two persons Charlotte met on her massage course last year.

Derby’s claim to fame, having the highest tides of any Australian port, 11 metres of tidal difference means there is an enormous amount of water rushing in and out every 6 hours. It’s amazing to watch, one afternoon the water nearly reaches the bridge, the next morning all water is gone, and the mangrove trees, first almost hidden by the water, the next day bent on bare sandground.

Now Broome – another 211 km straight highway is calling, and signs as ”stray animals ahead the next many K’s”, big road trains and more of the red coloured dust is guiding us.

The weather? – Still hot and very sunny. And christmas couldn’t be more far away in our minds, but merry christmas anyway.

Cheers

Peter and Charlotte