We arrived back home yesterday (23/9). It is clear that we have to do a lot of gardening to get the  place tip-top again.

All in all we have had a great 10 weeks.

They even have a Dragon Boat club

Coast Guard

Fraser island

  Even here you have to watch out for the crocodiles. This is not too far south for crocks.

Crock signs even here

Tinnanbar is green and gardens are tended by the locals. This place is so remote that it is serviced by the Queensland rural remote library service. The scenery is stunning sub tropical.  Just a bit further on there is a camping area at Hedley Point.

Lush gardens

Good to see the family is having fun. Dawn is recovering slowly.

Lexi frolicking in the shallow water

Looks like our girl is bouncing back

suhjhdd

Nature’s art galery, a palm trunk

Live is a beach

  Around the corner at Hedley Point the camping and fishing is great.

Great camping spot

Billie the Schnauzer

Our ‘Smiley Face’  Caravan Park

Tin Can Bay Marina

The restaurant at the marina serves a great hot coffee and the locals are very friendly. The food is good as well.

After spending a good many days here at this remote Queensland location, (Tin Can Bay), we decided to a look around and explore some of the smaller places on the mainland just opposite Fraser Island. I am amazed at the number of little dwellings scattered along the inlets, creeks and sand peninsulas. Little villages have sprung up amongst the bays. The beaches are speckled with mangrove coves which change into sub-tropical vegetation. Paper bark trees give  way to Blue Gums and large Palms. Houses range from older shacks to some large and modern constructs. Tinnies are to be seen at many places. It is clear that many people come here to do some serious fishing.

Local vegetation

Clumps of palms growing around paper bark trees and gums.

Local vegetation.

Hervey Bay

This town has grown extensively in the last 10 or so years, but once you get past the new development the beach-side is fantastic. The Foreshore is stunning with beautiful views across the bay to Fraser island. The beach has numerous jetties to walk on and there is a big Marina development at the southern end of the bay.

Jetty at Hervey Bay

Tree Bottom growing out of the ground; Gum tree or Bum tree?

The best by far is the foreshore and esplanade itself. It looks like a botanical garden. The natural vegetation has been preserved and the debris has been cleaned up. The pathways are paved and very wide. There are many picnic areas with benches and playgrounds for the children as well as public amenities.

The sitting tree

Esplanade

Esplanade

Strolling down th stairs onto the beach at Hervey bay

Easy life amongst the mangroves up a creek somewhere around Tin Can

Livin on the boat in the mangrove swamps

I could do with that one

Huckleberry Finn existence. On the mud-flat at low tide

Idyllic life in the creeks

We have been looking at some of the older houses that have sprung up over time close to the mangroves. Some are full of charm and character. One of these ‘Swamp Shacks’ is shown below.

Swamp shack at the edge of the mangroves

More swamp shack

    Whilst cycling around the area one meets the inevitable flock of Pelicans waiting for a feed when the fishermen return.

Waiting for the fishing boats and a feed

The next thing I have to line up (hope you get the pun), is some fishing. At low tide the mud/sand flats are exposed. So I will get my yabby pump and a bucket to find some bait for a fishing trip.

Mangrove closeup

Tin Can Bay is a tranquil village with plenty to do. Located at the southern end of the southern tip of the World Heritage listed Fraser Island. The town adjoins the great Sandy Strait and offers a sheltered paradise for birdwatching, sailing, cruising on a houseboat or fishing.

20/7 We have slowly set up camp bit by bit. We are planning to stay here for a good few weeks and need to be organised. Part of that organisation is exercise. On This trip I have taken along one of my bikes and have taken my first ride in a long time. I did only 20km, but that is better than nothing. I explored the inlets and the point of Tin Can Bay where all the boats are moored. There is even a Marina here with Chandlers and boat repair facilities.

There are some great restaurants serving good fresh seafood….

Looks and feels tropical

Our home for a while/

Camp with caravan, on-suit, and annex (yet to be deployed)

Finally some cycling

Mangroves everywhere

boats stranded on the mudbanks

During the low tide boats are resting on the mudflats. During high tide everything floats.

Irish Boat

They even have a Dragon Boat club

Coast Guard

The caravan park for boats

El Questro is a very large property on which there are many spectacular spots that tourists visit. I did not have time to take in all of them. I will cover those that I had a look at.

The next morning I continued north along the Gibb River road. There were a number of Jump Ups to be negotiated. These are climbs to the top of mountain ranges many of which seem to run east to west. The final one offered a splendid view across the next valley. One could see right across the next valley to the upper reaches of Cambridge Gulf and the town of Wyndham. This town is a Nickle ore export harbor. I could also see a number of major rivers emptying into the Gulf.

View across Cambridge Gulf to Wyndham

A while later I reached the turnoff to El Questro.  Another good many kilometers I reached the grounds of this tourist resort and was impressed by how well developed it was. Great caravan and camping facilities. The general visitor area is impressive as well. The general visitor cannot get to the upmarket facilities.

After a while I carried on touring and went on to El Questro Gorge and to Zebedee Springs.Both destinations are spectacular. As I entered these gorges I could feel the air becoming warmer and more humid. It was like stepping into the sub-tropics. Palms replaced the normal vegetation and the water in the streams became clearer and warmer. Both these gorges were similar in the type of rock and vegetation. It was close to two km up the gorge to get to the spring. Many people were doing the same thing. The water at the spring came bubbling out of the rocks and measured 32 degrees Centigrade. The natural rock formations have created a number of pools where tourists enjoy a natural spa bath.

El Questro tour bus crossing the Pentecost River

Clear water

Start of Zebedee Springs gorge

Tropical climate, palms and stream with deep pools

The water comes out the ground at 32C.

Nothing like a swim!

On the return trip I had to negotiate the Pentecost River once more. That got the adrenaline going as the water was touching the top of the bonnet and I did not have a snorkel on my Patrol. I was aware that if the vehicle stopped I would have to wade through chest high water that was the home to many crocks.

Pentecost River, wider than 50 meters

Somewhere in there Crocks are lurking

Just across the Gibb river road is the turn off for Emma Gorge. This place is sensational. After walking half an hour up a hot canyon I reached this great pool that has a river trickling down an escarpment. The icy water is very refreshing and most people have a swim before heading back.

Canyon walls closing in

Petrified river bed; see the ripples on what was sand once

Yours truly having a swim

I returned to the Gibb River road and completed the last section to the Kununurra – Wyndham road. I decided to spend the night at the Wyndham caravan park which offers shady sites and clean facilities. Wyndham is located on the Cambridge Gulf. It has a large Nickle ore loading facility.

Wyndham ore loading facility.

Cambridge Gulf

 Fitzroy River

It was time to leave  Broome and say goodbye to my friends. The next morning, after a coffee I hit the road north into the Kimberley. Rugged country, tough country that is what I was expecting. Beautiful and stunning country that is what I got.

Some 140 km north of Broome there is a turn off that leads to the lower reaches of the Fitzroy River. There are no signs at the turnoff except for the Boab trees (baobab in Africa). The road quickly turns into a track that goes on forever.  Eventually one reaches the banks of the river. It is wide, especially at high tide. You can see the course of the river for a few kilometers. There are a good few tents and caravans camped in the bush on the banks of the river as the insiders know that this is a killer Barramundi spot. The place is littered with massive Boab trees and it is dead quiet here; very relaxing. There are heaps of big crocks in the river as well. Luckily the bank along the river is very high.

The land is privately owned/leased and there are many mobs of Brahman cattle running around so you have to be careful on the tracks as the Brahmans loom over your vehicle and do not always get out of the way.

Fitzroy river

The tracks follow the river bank for miles. I did carry on towards the mouth of the river and eventually found a great camping spot under some trees where I could set up my camp and roll out my swag. Conditions were perfect for open air camping. Had a look around the general area and as the pics will show, the river banks alternated with grassy areas and treed sections where one could find shade and shelter…and ants and other surprises. Read on.

Home sweet home (:-))

I walked around and found a few fishing spots. Finding firewood was a bit harder as it was late in the season and much wood had been harvested already. I made a fire, cooked some food and turned in. I was getting comfortable in the dark but it was very humid so I stuck my one leg out from under the sheet. I was just falling asleep when I heard and felt that ‘plop’ as something wet and cold attached itself to my leg that was resting in the fresh air. It felt like something slimy had sucked it self onto my leg. Not one to panic I Reached out for the torch (I never sleep in the bush without a bright torch and heavy stick next to  my bed). As the light switched on I saw the two eyes of a green Australian frog look at me from my leg; see pic. He left me and continued hopping around the camp for the rest of the night. Talk about strange sleeping partners.

My sleeping mate!

Several hours later I was woken up by the snorting and hoof thumping of a mob of Brahman cattle. Turns out I had set up camp on the trail for their nightly migration along the river bank. They were about to walk over me when the camp smell and the car spooked them. Once again my torch saved me. I switched on the bright light in the middle of the night and that shocked them and spooked them. They turned and fled as one.

I got up early and did some exploring and fishing for the mighty Barra. After losing most of my lures I eventually caught a decent size Barry on a crappy old lure I had purchased at Kmart for less than $4 some years ago. I apologise for the bad pic, but just to make sure I did catch & land one Barra.

I need to explain that I ate very well as I have a 40ltr car fridge that allows me to carry milk and meat etc for days without spoiling. The fish was tied to a tree branch with some rope and within an hour the ants had found it and had navigated to the fish via tree n\and rope, I had to wash them all off and store the fish in the fridge.

After another brilliant evening in the bush I departed early the next morning. I planned to get back to the main road to Derby and head for the Gibb River road. This iconic outback road heads north a few kilometers outside Derby.

I had seen enough small places (Coconut Wells and Quondong Point) on the Dampier to be hungry for a longer and more detailed stay. I set off early one morning for Cape Leveque and One Arm Point which are situated at the top of the Dampier Peninsula. Once you turn off the Broome to  Derby road the Cape is another 225km away. After the first ten kilometers of bitumen the road becomes a graded gravel road that slowly deteriorates from bad to woeful. The idea was to head for Leveque and One Arm Point and then to work my way back to Broome along the southern side of the Dampier.

Not everybody knows that the stretch from Broome to Leveque, King Sound, Derby and beyond has some of the highest tidal differences in Australia. At Derby the differences are over 12 meters at certain times of the year. This results in the coastal waters running into and out of Kings Sound at one heck of a speed. I have been up the Fitzroy River when the tidal surge came in from the sea like a tsunami heralding the next high tide. It sounds as if one is standing on the banks of a river rather than an ocean shore.  Consider what effect the tides have on the harbors in the area. The piers are built on pylons 12 meters high. How do you load a boat at the spring low tide??

See some links below re Dampier peninsula

The Dampier Peninsula is a peninsula located north of Broome and Roebuck Bay in Western Australia. It is surrounded by the Indian Ocean to the west and north, and King Sound to the east. The northernmost part of the peninsula is Cape Leveque

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dampier_Peninsula

http://www.kimberleyaustralia.com/broome-cape-leveque.html

http://www.cygnetbaypearls.com.au/

The trip was long and dusty, but I arrived at One Arm Point later in the afternoon. This is an Aboriginal community at the top of the Dampier peninsula. It has a supermarket, a servo and a few public buildings. The coastline has several rocky outcrops just offshore . There are some pearl farm or oyster farm businesses that have their premises just out of town. There also is a crude short runway to land a small plane. Here at One Arm Point the tidal waters rush into and out of King Sound, depending on tide.

Island off One Arm Point

View from Camp ground

For more images see: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=one+arm+point&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCYQsARqFQoTCJuSwL6A28gCFYWklAod8uoCIQ

I headed back down the road from One Arm Point and spent the night a t a local camp ground close by. The views towards the evening glow after sunset were great, but the running tide made it sound as if I had been camping in a river. The facilities were basic.

The next day I went down the road and turned off towards Middle Lagoon. After a sandy track for many kilometers one arrives at a great camping ground with trees and its own beach. The grounds are expansive and have a small rock ledge over the sea. There you look into 15 – 25 foot of crystal clear water and see corals, turtles and fish swimming by. I tried some fishing but did not catch anything.

I camped for the night and had a lovely evening under a big tree.

See  link below for better images from that Dampier area than my crappy pics.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=one+arm+point&biw=1366&bih=639&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CCYQsARqFQoTCJuSwL6A28gCFYWklAod8uoCIQ#tbm=isch&q=middle+lagoon&imgrc=_

James Price Point (JPP)

The next day I continued south and decided to visit this destination as I had read about this point of controversy in the months leading up to my trip. Woodside Petroleum intended clearing a few sq, kilometers of coast and building a gas refinery. It was going to have a major harbor construction as well. In short this caused an international outrage and likeminded people congregated in the area to protest and stop this from happening. History shows that a few years later the project was canned. This area will remain pristine.

At the turn off to JPP the protesters had set up a camp so you could not miss the place. I drove along the 30+ kms to get to JPP. It is stunningly beautiful. Red sand cliffs line the beach into the blue Indian Ocean waters. Great spots for fishing emerge at low tide with the tidal difference of up to 10 meters.

I camped on the cliff for a night and spent the next day exploring the area. At low tide I dived on a reef that was about 50 meters from the low water mark. I saw tracks of turtles that had beached the night before to lay their eggs. Evidence of nests were everywhere. Makes you wonder how people can destroy such natural beauty just for profit. I had a local aboriginal elder explain to me why they were protesting. Another regular at this spot showed me dinosaur tracks that were visible at low tide.

I asked some of the Aboriginal people where they would go fishing in this area. They described a place 10km up the coast. I went there on day 2 and caught these two trevally.

I went back to Broome the next day, much wiser and enriched. I have since been back to this location twice more and loved it.

It was really good to catch up with the boys, but this time to have my own transport at hand. This gave me the liberty to explore at will. We had been plotting for a while now to do some fishing on Cable Beach in the afternoon and then withdraw to the dunes at a certain spot on Cable Beach and camp for the night.

We had prepared by getting into the bush earlier that day and cutting up some dead timber for the fire.  The fishing was pretty uneventful and we had a long swim in between. Just before we stopped fishing I hooked a large stingray and landed it on the beach. It was really beautiful with electric blue dots on light beige wings. I pulled out the hook and returned the fish to the water, all the time carefully avoiding the tail that was whipping from side to side.

We drove along the beach for another kilometer and unloaded the wood. By then the others started arriving and we set up tables and chairs and got a decent fire going. The evening was spent catching up on the last year and a bit of gossip (J) It got to be pretty late by the time we got to bed. I rolled out my sleeping bag on a tarp and slept in the open air on the beach; very invigorating. The next morning we had a swim and packed up.

Fire Devil

Boat Cruise

One of the days in Broome we were booked on a day trip on the big Catamaran Karma IV. The boat is a 70ft x 33 ft Catamaran. See  http://www.karma4.com.au/index.html  .The agenda was to cruise across Roebuck bay to the Eco Beach Wilderness Resort, have lunch and then spend the rest of the day whale watching some 50 km out at sea.

We launched reasonably early at the boat launch place at Gantheaume beach. It is very pretty there with so many boats moored off the beach, just beyond the low water mark. Our boat the Karma IV looked resplendent as she waited for us. A shuttle boat got us boarded and we were off heading south towards the Eco village. That time of the year the seas in that area are calm and we had an enjoyable cruise. Refreshments were available all the time as we rocked gently across the waves in this big catamaran.

Gantheaume boat launch

Yours Truely

We arrived at the Eco village after two hours sailing. The eco village is across Roebuck bay some 40 kilometers away. When we arrived a tour of the village and their accommodation had been organized. I was very impressed with the level of luxury and the degree of self-sufficiency that had been designed into the place. A really great lunch had been organized at the village dining room that was situated on a hill behind the horizon pool that overlooked Roebuck bay. The buffet lunch had a huge variety of produce including heaps of King Prawns.

Once we had eaten all boarded the Karma once more and set off to the whale area. Tricky things these whales. Every whale we sighted, as we got closer, we could not see the whole whale at any one time. There was no breaching, no exposure of the whole whale on the water. It was almost as if they were playing silly buggers with us. Yet, I have a few pics below of half whales and ‘bits’ of whales. We got back to the launch place just after sunset.

Crabbing Trip

Jacko had purchased a boat and was keen to show off the new toy. Three of us took off in the morning from Broome beach and headed south towards Dampier creek. We reached the creek at low tide and set up 3 traps.  We then trolled our lures in the estuary. My mate Jack caught a decent size shark and Neil and I caught a few smaller fish. The result was ok, but nothing to get excited about. At high tide we collected our crab nets but had only two small crabs for all our effort. Even though the result was not great we had a great outing in the sunshine.