Reptile Rule Breakers

I can remember saying when we first contemplated this adventure 'but what about the pets'.  Travelling around Australia ourselves was one thing but having two cats, two bearded dragons and a snake in tow was another issue.  Although we have had some complications over the last couple of years when it's come to our furries and scalies, for the most part it has been achievable with a little bit of forward thinking and some thinking outside the box.  We have lost and gained pets along the way but they have been a valuable addition to our travels and, in hindsight, it would have been quite boring without them.  Our pets are quite a conversation starter.
Kununurra's regional business and phone directory was published this year with the theme of pets as the backdrop.  We were asked by a local photographer last year, who also happened to work for the vet surgery in town, if she could photograph our more interesting pets for the phone book.  We were told that the inclusion of some more unusual pets would be an interesting addition to the cats and dogs in town.  We happily agreed, however, little did we know of the chain of events that would come about as a result of this seemingly harmless act.
The phone book was released and both Becca and Erin were recognised by many of our friends in town as they posed with Derek and Matilda.  Unfortunately, someone else in town recognised something as well and it wasn't the girls.  A local reptile breeder noticed the photo of Becca with Derek and identified him as a Murray Darling Carpet Python, which is what he is.  Unbeknowns to us however, Derek is an illegal reptile in the state of Western Australia as is Matilda our bearded dragon.  I had what I thought were all the relevant permits for these animals and had showed them at the vet surgery where I was purchasing rats and cockroaches for our pets.  The reptile breeder in town reported us to the Department of Parks and Wildlife which set off a series of actions that were both emotional and stressful for us all. 
I was informed by the vet surgery that DPaW were looking for us with a view to serving a warrant and confiscating our pets as illegal wildlife.  I was also told that fines worth $10000 per animal were being considered as well as charges against me for possession of illegal wildlife in the state of WA.  I was horrified and spent much of that day in tears to Steve on the phone or stressing about leaving the van in case they moved in while I was away and took the pets.  The local vet surgery mediated between myself and the parks service officer trying to track us down.  Thankfully the vets didn't give our location away to give us time to consider our options.  After several phone calls over the day, it was decided that fines or a warrant wasn't going to be issued at that stage and that we were being given a couple of days to decide what to do.  We asked for a meeting with the wildlife officer in charge to try and negotiate something that would be beneficial for everyone and so on a Monday morning we met with DPaW's man in charge.
After considering avenues such as display permits, we hit a bureaucratic brick wall and had to hand over the snake and lizard to the wildlife officer to be kept at DPaW headquarters in town until we arranged to have them evicted from the state.  I feel that WA's wildlife protection laws are quite archaic when we discovered that any reptile (even a WA species) becomes illegal if it leaves the state and then it's owner tries to regain entry.  The biggest issue from their perspective was a disease which the snake could carry and spread to endemic species within the state.  We did some research and this disease is mainly carried by boa constrictors overseas and I offered to pay for any testing to prove that Derek didn't carry this disease but it fell on deaf ears.  I also tried to argue that it was highly unlikely that an inland bearded dragon would not exist naturally in the western desert regions of the state making them a native species of WA but the whole argument seemed to be about the reptiles coming from another state.  How can it be that a native Australian animal is illegal in an Australian state.
For the next three weeks I went to DPaW three times a week to feed Matilda and keep an eye on Derek.  I was told by others that we were lucky to have time to find a new home for the reptiles.  The previous wildlife officer would have confiscated our reptiles and sent them straight to Perth to be euthanized while slugging us with the fines to boot.   It didn't make us feel any better about having to remove our pets from the state.  The reasons for giving us some time to get organised was that we were not underhanded in bringing the animals into the state or hiding them.  We would never have put them in the phone book if we'd been hiding them.  It was also border protection's lack of knowledge of the law and DPaW's inability to teach the persons necessary to act on these laws. 
The add insult to injury, once the DPaW staff had seen our reptiles, they were in awe at how healthy and well looked after they were.  They even had the cheek to ask if they could use Matilda as a photographic subject for some interpretive signs they were going to install at Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater.  They said that it was too difficult to find a wild specimen in such good condition and so docile to photograph.  I again made the point that if their interpretive signs had a inland bearded dragon on them, then Matilda must be a WA native reptile.  I said yes as long as they could stay (which they couldn't) and the subject was never mentioned again.
Our best option was transporting them into the Northern Territory because both our pets are legal there.  The assistant at the vet surgery offered that her son in Darwin could take our pets as the family had lots of experience looking after wildlife especially reptiles.  My brother, who also lives in Darwin, had friends with reptiles who could possibly look after them.  We also had the idea of contacting a reptile breeder in Katherine who might take them until we left the state.  Either way those options weren't ideal because we still wanted to see them regularly.  With Darwin being an 8 hour drive away and Katherine 5 hours away, they weren't the best options.  Steve's employers came up with another option which was to ask the owners of Zebra Rock Mine (which is just over the border in the NT) to look after our reptiles.  When they were contacted they happily agreed which was such a relief to us all.  We would still be able to visit them and I could feed Derek because their place was less than an hour from Kununurra but over the border.
We organised permits for them in the Northern Territory and transported them out to the lovely people at Zebra Rock Mine to look after.  We have been out there a couple of times since leaving them there to make sure they are settling in ok (that's reptiles and adopted pet owners).  There is a grassy campground with showers and toilets and a gallery of zebra rock ornaments, jewellery and furniture for sale.  The family conduct wetland tours because their property borders Lake Argyle on the eastern side which is very different to the western side.  Open wetlands and fantastic fishing are what's available for tourists during the dry season.
One of Erin's friends visited the Zebra Rock Mine during the school holidays and said we were famous.  Evidently one of the owners had put sign boards up about the reptiles and photographs of us with the story about how they came to be there.  I look forward to seeing that on our next visit.  What we are going to do, if, and when we decide to move on from Kununurra is anybody's guess at this stage.  We aren't allowed to bring the reptiles back into WA under any circumstances so our plans of following the west coast down towards Perth are in turmoil.  Whether we leave the reptiles somewhere and travel down the west coast and then pick them up later or just go in another direction, who knows.  One thing remains the same and that's the genuine help we receive from total strangers when we need it.  It has been something we have experienced time and again since leaving Adelaide - the generosity of strangers.  Living out of ones comfort zone is something that happens when travelling and things occur which require others help.  Thank goodness for good hearted people.

Springs and Things

Now that the rain has subsided and sunshine has sufficiently dried out most of the dirt roads around Kununurra, there are opportunities to go and visit many of the newly filled waterholes and springs around the area.  The best time to see these would be straight after rain but, as I've already mentioned, most roads become boggy and impassable so these swim spots are hard to reach.  That's not to say that some locals won't try to access their favourite haunts but the consequences are two fold.  Firstly, the fines for driving on a closed road up here are pretty steep.  Some rumours suggested $500 a tyre for driving where you aren't supposed to and that includes the spare.  In any event, there are definitely hip pocket expenses if caught in a 'no go' area.  The reason for these fines is justifiable as people who drive on rain affected roads cut up the track which means expensive repairs and regrading once it dries out.  This was evident when we travelled along some tracks as there were wheel ruts a couple of feet deep.  To compound the damage, if it rains again after someone has dug up the track, water flows along these ruts further eroding them out which turns wheel tracks into gullies sufficient to drive a small 4wd into.
Anyway the great bog is something to be bragged about unfortunately which encourages people to try their luck after rain.  Nothing is more impressive to some than returning to town driving a clod of mud that once resembled a vehicle.  The local paper 'Kimberley Echo' has a competition running at the moment called 'best bog of the wet' where people send in their photos of the best vehicle bogging in the area.  Prizes include 4wd recovery gear and cash but probably the most notable prize is the fame.  Of course not all these boggings are illegal as some construction vehicles have famously become bogged up to the axles while trying to repair areas of farmland after rain.  In fact last years winner was an excavator tipped on its side and up to the windscreen in mud.  A suitably impressive effort given that an excavator is designed to traverse boggy ground when few other pieces of machinery will.  Another bogging in this years entries sees a Landcruiser ute bogged up to the axles in someone's back yard after the flooding.
We did drive down one open section of the Parrys Creek Road soon after rain to see Valentine Springs.  It was an amazing sight as the last time we had seen it, the waterhole was a stagnant pool on its own.  On this day however, the water was cascading over rocks and flowing away across the track and down the creek.  The once stagnant pool was full and refreshed while the rapids were a fun ride for anyone on a rubber tyre tube.

Valentine Springs creek

Valentine Springs crossing the
Parrys Ck road

Valentine Springs after rain

A few weekends ago we drove further down the Parrys Creek road to some of the springs which had been off limits until recently.  Middle Springs is a relatively large open waterhole which is great for kids because of its shallow approach into the water.  The water only becomes deep directly in front of and around the waterfall which cascades off the range in the wet.  A small trickle still flowed down the rocks but it was only a fraction of what had fallen as the black algae stain showed.  The access track was reasonably good for most vehicles until just before the springs when two deepish water crossings were necessary.  Steve actually walked the first water crossing just to be sure as we were in the Landrover and he wasn't yet confident with its ability to ford water.  No probs there....so after a hundred metres or so we drove into an open area where we parked.  The water temperature was 'bath like' because the water was shallow and unfortunately murky so putting a foot down was slightly hairy until we were confident there was nothing under foot.  We swam out to the waterfall and the water coming off the rocks was much cooler, almost chilled.

Middle Springs

Erin, Becca and Mum in
Middle Springs

We wanted to explore another unnamed waterfall, which we had been told about by our neighbours but it was getting late in the day.  We went to Ivanhoe Crossing instead approaching from the north side of the Ord River and the water was still flowing fast and the levels still high from the wet season.  As we drove down the dirt track to get to the crossing, we passed through a small but very intense rain squall which had rain bucketing down on us and making the track muddy.  These squalls were patchy and mostly skirted around Kununurra but because we were out of town, we found ourselves in a refreshing shower of rain.
The next day we returned to the track which followed a fenceline and would hopefully take us to the unnamed springs.  It was quite rough going and there were plenty of track detours around deep cut outs in the main track.  It certainly wasn't a wide track and for the most part we followed two wheel tracks.  After travelling for a while, our Landy popped out of the bushes and into a clearing with a turn around a tree at the base of the ranges.  At first glance it didn't look very exciting, in fact we couldn't see anything worth raving about.  There was another car parked off the turnaround so we stopped and asked about the springs.  The couple and their dog were very friendly and told us the way to the springs which were around the ranges a bit.  They then packed up their belongings and left.  We have noticed there is an unwritten courtesy which seems to exist in the Kimberley region.  Whenever we have turned up to a waterhole or springs for a swim, people who have been there for a while have departed to give the newcomers some privacy, space or just to enjoy the experience on their own.  We have noticed the same behaviour everywhere we have gone so far and as a courtesy, we do the same to others.

Erin, Becca and Andrea at
bottom pool Secret Springs

Everyone enjoying top pool
Secret Springs

Girls standing under waterfall
at Secret Springs

Top Pool Secret Springs

We unpacked all our swim gear and walked the rocky track along the base of the ranges for only a short distance.  At the end we came across a clean but deep pool with no waterfall but a series of rock ledges at the other end.  The dog hopped in first thankfully so we all went in as well and swam around.  Steve had a noodle and Becca had her swim vest on.  Erin and I just winged it with no floatation devices.  Steve floundered to the other end of the pool and climbed over the rock ledges and into a second beautiful pool with a waterfall cascading off the ranges.  We had to leave all our equipment at the first pool but I did swim back and grab one of our phones to take photos because I couldn't carry my SLR camera across the water and there was no way around the edge of the pool.  This second pool felt like a tropical island oasis.  We were surrounded on all sides by steep rock walls except for the access via the first pool.  It was beautifully shaded but the sunlight streamed through the trees overhead creating a dabbled light over the pool.  We spent almost an hour there with no-one else around and it was just magic.  The temperature of the water was cool without being too cold and not bath-like as it was at Middle Springs.  The girls now call it the 'Secret Springs'.

Girls swimming in Molly Springs

Molly Springs in dry season

Molly Springs after rain

There are several other springs around Kununurra which we have visited.  Another called Molly Springs is about 30 kilometres out of town on the way to Wyndham.  It is not signposted and the locals usually give the name of the nearest floodway or creek crossing as a guide so we knew where to turn off.  Molly Springs is bordering an indigenous community of the same name and the community's water source comes from the spring which flows all year round.  The road in is fairly smooth with a few sandy patches to navigate but not that hard for a 4WD.  At the end is a gravel well made carpark with permapine barriers and a basic picnic area with bbqs and tables.  The walk to the springs, again at the base of a set of ranges, is easy and crosses several little creeks which flow from the spring itself.  Molly Springs is the girls favourite swim spot.  The waterhole is quite deep and dark especially in the afternoon when the sun goes behind the ranges.  The water is refreshingly cool and has a pebbly entry point where adults can stand before it gets deep.  On one occasion we shared the springs with another couple of people who turned up just after we did but we had a great chat and then left them to the serenity for a while.  We visited Molly Springs early in the new year after some rain and the waterfall off the ranges was gushing into the waterhole which itself was overflowing and flooding the entire area.  It was quite a sight and an interesting comparison between wet and dry seasons.
In all honesty, there are quite a lot of springs and waterholes around the region, some easy to access and some not so.  We have limited our exploring to waterholes close to town or those that don't require long treks into the scrub to get to them.  We still would like to explore Harry's Hole, Packsaddle Springs and Black Rock Pool although someone said that was getting stagnant already.  These require some extreme 4WDing or walking to get to.  That is not even counting those hidden places here and there which people know about which require descriptions and GPS to get to.  There is definitely no excuse for not enjoying a swim around Kununurra and in non croc infested areas too.  All the springs we have been to tend to be self sufficient with no access to main rivers and usually at the base of ranges with fairly rough terrain.  This would make it hard for crocs to access these pools and so makes them a safer place for swimming apart from the town pool of course.  But in the case of these natural springs from the famous words of 'The Castle'......how's the serenity darl!

Thunder......Lightning.....and Storms so Frightening.

One of the most impressive aspects of the wet season in northern Australia is the incredible array of shapes and forms that clouds produce during storms.  Steve learnt a great deal about meteorology during his flight training and what particular cloud formations will do to a helicopter without proper understanding.  There is one cloud formation in particular which Steve refers to as 'death' because it has uprafts and downdrafts which can cause a small flying machine to hit the ground like a dart.  In saying that, those updrafts and downdrafts make magnificent columns of cloud.  As well as clouds, the accompanying thunder and lightning made for a super impressive show which had us on the edge of our seats sometimes.  Especially at night where the lightning was more visible, it was a fantastic sight with constant flashes all around us.  There was always the delay between thunder and lightning but then, on occasion, it cracked as soon as the flashes subsided which was deafening.  Woohoo!  Awesome.  I love a good storm and my exposure to a proper wet season in northern Australia hasn't dampened my enthusiasm and excitement when I hear the distant rumble.  There really isn't that much more I can say about the topic except to show you some of my favourite and most dramatic marvels of meteorology.

Rolling cloud at Ord Fuels
(Steve's work)

Storm clouds over Mirima
National Park

 


Afternoon storm over
Kununurra

Late afternoon storm over
Elephant Rock and Ceres farm

Clouds forming at Lake Argyle

Late afternoon while driving home
from Lake Argyle

Cloud layers and rain sheets
on Victoria Highway

Driving into a storm on Victoria
Highway

 

Night time lightning shots

 



Lightning over our caravan

Incredible light show amongst
the boabs



Looking north from caravan park

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Kununurra Floods

I would have to say that the wet season officially started a couple of days before Christmas.  Before that there was the heat which was generally accompanied by a storm front in the late afternoon.  The storm built up over the afternoon and was preceded by some very strong wind gusts which had us all scrambling to grab items that might fly away.  We had two major worries associated with our site.  One was our tarp which we had put over the caravan.  The other was the trees which towered over our site and gave us beautiful 'all day' shade but which had precarious dangling branches.  The tarp ballooned and flapped during these windy events and had us crossing our fingers that Steve's construction skills were strong enough to hold up against it.  Of course there was never much doubt and our shelter held up well.  Our neighbours, however, were less fortunate with tree limbs falling from the trees over their sites and piercing tarps or the wind causing their structures to collapse.  On several occasions there was a mad rush to help reassemble tarp covers before it rained......which it rarely did.  These were just dry gusty storms with all the thunder, lightning and drama associated with a storm but no or very little rain.
Then one night a couple of days before Christmas, the pitter patter of raindrops started falling on our tarp over the van.  I remember this because I was out in the annex doing some last minute wrapping after the girls' had gone to bed.  Those patters turned into a downpour which lasted nearly all night.  Although our tarps were tremendously effective, we found the rain driving in through our opening which looked out over the Mirima National Park.  We had left one side of our shelter open to let breezes through and allow us to sit outside and enjoy the view.  Unfortunately when it finally did rain with any great force, all of our barbeque area got wet.  As a fix for this problem, we used some clear plastic to stretch across our viewing window which we rolled up and down according to the weather at the time.  This worked well because on days when it rained for most of the day, it kept the water out but allowed light into the living area.  Our gazebo shelter wasn't completely dry but it did prove to be another area we could still use in the wet without being restricted to the caravan and the annex alone.
For almost the entire Christmas period until just before New Year, it rained every day for some of the day and most often at night.  It might sound depressing but when you've put up with 40+ degree heat for a couple of months, the overcast conditions and rain was such a welcome relief.  For the first time in ages, we started migrating outside.  We went for walks in the national park and were quite happy to do things outside, even if it was raining.  The temperature dropped to the low to mid 30's which was so much more pleasant.  After new year, the overcast conditions continued but the rain became more sporadic.  There were days when Kununurra had good falls of rain and there were days when we got hardly any.  This carried on for almost the entire month of January.  
We travelled to Darwin in January and had to be very careful driving the Victoria Highway to Katherine because of the water filled floodways.  Just because it was dry along a particular section of the 500 kilometre stretch, didn't mean that there weren't creeks flowing from more rainy areas and crossing the highway.  At one well known creek along the highway, we had to traverse fast flowing water at a depth of 40 centimetres which doesn't sound like much but only 4wds and trucks were crossing.  Several conventional vehicles like Commodores and Falcons were waiting on the roadside for the water level to drop before they could continue their journey.   A newly raised section of the Victoria highway was an island with both sides of the road underwater.  We were grateful that the job had been finished and understood the reasoning behind the roadworks as the highway would have become impassable. 

Entrance to caravan park

Lower road in caravan park

Road half way through caravan
park

On a Thursday night at the end of January, the pitter patter of rain started falling at night again like it had done on so many nights before.  By the next morning, it had been raining all night which was nothing unusual.  We actually had to use our umbrellas to get from the van to the car for the school run.  As the girls and I drove through the caravan park on our way to school the roads had turned into rivers and water was flowing down every roadway towards the main road.  The streets in town, although still driveable, had shallow water flowing along them.  When we arrived at school,  we followed the lead of others and took the girls shoes off and walked into school barefoot because the street and grounds were flooding.  I had to do three school pickups that day because Becca was doing half days at kindy.  When I went back out at lunchtime, the rain had still not stopped.  The streets in town were flooding and the going was slow as any oncoming vehicles created bow waves as they drove through the water.  The heaviness of the falls varied from torrential downpours to steady heavy rain and encroached on our site lifting the fake turf under our gazebo.  We had created trenches around this area and along the fenceline of our site so that water would drain where we wanted it to and run away quickly.

Coolibah Drive Kununurra

Messmate Way passing Target

Messmate Way past Kununurra pub

Incredibly our site remained relatively dry and became almost like an island as people and sites around us had rivers of water running through their annexes.  The gravel roadways bordering our site on two sides were rivers but split and ran around us.  While Becca had a sleep, I kept tabs on where the water was going.  It was running under the van intermittently but thankfully we had built a floor in the annex so any water ran under that.  When I went out to pick up Erin later that afternoon, it was challenging driving and quite scary.  The water in the town streets was up at bumper bar level on my car and the street at the school was so flooded in parts that there was nowhere to park.  Becca and I had to wade through almost knee high water and at one stage I had to pick Becca up as we walked through a driveway as it would have been up to her waist.  I met some friends briefly while rushing the kids back to the car and they said that sewage was a problem and to not allow the kids to play in the water. 

Dunham River looking north during
flooding

Dunham River looking south during
flooding

Dunham River level day after rain

Dunham River during Dry Season

Again, the trip home was scary and I hoped that the car wouldn't conk out in the high water.  Once back in the caravan park, I rang Steve and suggested he come home soon because the park roads were starting to overflow onto our site.  Steve had already been to his co-workers house earlier in the day to rescue the bottom level of their house which was flooding.  They had also been for a drive around Kununurra (while they still could) to look at the diversion dam and the rivers out of town.  It was decided that the chances of seeing customers or getting work done during this weather was unlikely so they shut up the depot early and came home.  It took Steve what would normally be a five minute drive to get home nearly half an hour.  He had to detour and divert down less flooded streets and avoid areas where the roads had washed away.  By this stage of the day, we knew we were witnessing something unusual for Kununurra.  Locals who had lived here for 20 years had never seen anything like it.  Much of the centre of town was under water and the shop workers were sandbagging.  A friends' husband had a river running through his office.

Lake Kununurra after level dropped

Diversion Dam picnic area under
water

Ord River flooding through
Diversion Dam

The rain continued until the early hours of Saturday morning but had slowed to lighter rainfall.  When we woke up Saturday morning, the rain had stopped apart from a few isolated showers.  The rivers of water were still flowing down the caravan park roads and the town was still flooded in areas.  The council had to drop the water level of Lake Kununurra so that all the water in town had somewhere to drain. The diversion dam had most of its gates open to full extension to release all the water into the lower Ord River.  We had wanted to drive around town the night before but knew it was a bad idea as it was quite dangerous.  We went exploring on Saturday (along with most of the town) to see the damage and look at the rivers.  An entire hillside of soil had washed across Weaber Plain road and swamped several houses like a mudslide.  Heavy machinery and construction crews were busy trying to clear the road and save the houses.  Many bitumen roads had been totally undermined and were unstable.  The Dunham River out of town was a raging torrent as was the Ord River.  Many of the water irrigation channels in the agricultural areas had burst their banks and blocked the roads.  Ivanhoe Crossing was completely gone under the raging Ord River.  Helicopters were flying everywhere, either showing sightseers the waterfalls or ferrying government workers who were trying to determine damage and where it was in order to plan for repair work. 

Ivanhoe Crossing in dry season

Ivanhoe Crossing flooded by Ord
River

At the back of the caravan park, a trench had opened up that was so deep that Steve could stand in it and just be visible.  The Mirima National Park, being rocky hills, had funnelled huge volumes of water down the ranges and straight through the caravan park via its roads and out onto the main road.  For weeks afterwards, residents could only use certain roads in the park and all the rubbish bins had to be transported to the front of the park because the garbage truck couldn't get in.  Some roads in town were blocked with detours because the bitumen had been undermined and some were covered with gravel to fill in the huge potholes until proper road repairs could be carried out. 
Kununurra had, over those couple of days, received 500mm of rain with equates to about 20 inches.  That is a remarkable amount of water in a very short time.  It wasn't so much that it rained for two days straight as I'm sure that's probably happened before.  It was the volume of water that fell in those two days which made it incredible.  During our experiences in northern Australia, we have realised that one raindrop up here equals about 100 drops in Adelaide.   The volume of water that falls out of the sky up here defies belief as has been demonstrated regularly by my 'drowned rat' look when caught in a brief downpour without an umbrella.
Slowly the town has recovered from this incredible event and life has gone back to normal for everyone. The repairs will be an ongoing task for all involved, however, as many jobs cannot be started until the ground completely dries out after the wet season finishes.  Lets hope that there isn't a repeat of the flooding next year (whether here or somewhere else if we move) or else Steve and I may feel jinxed as this is our second destination which has flooded on our travels.....remember Ingham!

If You Can't Stand the Heat - Go Camping October 2013

It is now 40+ degrees every day here in Kununurra and it's only October so the real heat hasn't even hit yet.  The radio's daily weather report has Kununurra listed as the hottest region in the state or very close to it.  So what else does one do in 40 degree heat but go camping.  Yes that's right.......we must be stark raving mad but we went camping.  It was an accumulation of reasons that had us leaving this intrepid adventure so late in the season but 'when in Rome' as they say.  Many Kununurrians go camping at this time of the year although even the most seasoned local finds it trying.  Everyone continues to carry on despite the heat because, at least, they can still be out and about.  Once the rain comes (if it comes this year) many outdoor activities are suspended except for perhaps a pool party where everyone sits in the pool all day.   Rain wouldn't really be a problem then....would it.  Many of the regions tourist spots shut down over the wet season because, in many cases, these places are unreachable after rain.  If the Gibb River Road didn't close over the wet season, then search and rescue would be very busy I would imagine retrieving people from their own stupidity. 
During the cooler and less humid part of the year, Kununurra becomes a tourist mecca as I've probably already ascertained in earlier blogs.  Although camping is undoubtedly more comfortable at these times, the overrunning of the Kimberley's tourist attractions and the need to book everything in advance just doesn't suit many people except tourists.  Once the tourists start to vacate the region it becomes easier and less hassle to enjoy wild places.  Our other main reason for leaving it so late is that Steve had been unable to get time off work because the dry season is naturally the busiest season for agriculture, pastoral and tourist businesses alike which all require regular fuel.  That's where Steve was busy as a truck driver delivering fuel.   The October school holidays was the only opportunity for us to get away which wouldn't disrupt Steve's work or Erin's schooling. 
Our next and ongoing issue was the pets.  We were planning to visit El Questro resort which allowed pets so the dog was ok but somehow the cats needed to be looked after.  There are kennels out of town but there are no facilities for cat boarding.  I asked at the local vet surgery for any ideas.  They offered to have the cats but they would be in an outside aviary and therefore exposed to the heat which wasn't ideal.  Their next suggestion was to get someone in the caravan park to feed them while we were away.  Our site is relatively secure (escape wise) so the cats could happily exist there while we were gone but who to trust.  Cats are such a polarising pet to own.  People either love them or hate them and it was important to make sure the right person did the job.  A fellow caravan park resident lost their beloved cat about a month ago and put a notice up in the laundry about information regarding its safe return.  Some particularly nasty comments were written on the notice about cats in general which upset the owners so I'm aware that there are some 'cat haters' around.  Thankfully our nearest neighbour Liz volunteered and even though she has a dog, she loves to talk to Pirie and Karki and give them a scratch and a pat when she walks past our site.  We also decided to leave the airconditioner on in the annex for the time we would be away so the cats had somewhere to escape the heat.
In the days leading up to our short holiday, we wondered how we were going to cope in the constant heat especially since we were able to sleep, eat and generally escape into a cool caravan and annex whenever we wanted.  Many people suggested we purchase a 12 volt fan to at least give us air flow in the tent.  I would spend more time outside while Becca was sleeping to acclimatise myself to the permanent sweat fest which awaited us.  By the time we were packing ourselves up to leave, we really weren't overly keen anymore and kept asking ourselves if we needed to prove our metal or whether we were just insane for camping in this retched heat.

Wren campsite at El Questro
Wilderness Park

Erin, Becca and Brindle watching a
cow that wandered through camp

We arrived at El Questro Wilderness Resort around lunchtime and I organised a private campsite on the Pentecost River where there was some water nearby for the girls to cool off in.  Thankfully the girl at the information desk was familiar enough with the sites to suggest a camping area where the water was shallow for swimming.  We looked at several sites and some waterholes, however, looked a bit deep so we ended camping at a site called 'Wren'.  All the private river campsites were named after birds in the region.  Then the fun started.  We hadn't set up the tent since Fraser Island almost 18 months previously and everyone knows that site choice and preparation are all important and genuine divorce creators.  By the time we got out the sundial and determined the solar tracking for the next two days and worked out the shadow percentage for the site, not to mention the approximate trajectory of Mars and Venus, it was time for a break before setting up the tent.  Luckily the girls were off with the dog somewhere poking a snake with a stick or whatever kids do while the parents are erecting a Tah Mahal.  Actually they were working on their tans in the river......another nice shade of pink or red unfortunately.

Ranges surrounding Zebedee Springs

Steve and girls in one of the
Zebedee Spring pools

Everything came together quite nicely and we ended up with a great little abode.  Steve rigged up all the solar powered and battery gear to keep our fridge running and give us lighting at night.  That night however, the stillness and the oppressive heat was very uncomfortable.  After a big chilli cook-off (Oelsner for bbq), we organised a pommy shower for the girls and us as the powdery dirt/bulldust had infiltrated our every pore despite a dip in the river.  Another good reason for camping close to water is the unlimited supply for dishes, hands and body washing.  We had drinking water in plastic 20 litre containers but it was limited so another water source was a bonus.  The girls were on the floor of the tent on top of the swags and Steve and I were on the camp beds.  We placed the 12V fan on a plastic tub at the end of the tent so it would blow over the girls first and hopefully drift our way.  What a horrible night.  None of us got any real sleep.  All of us were up and down at several stages during the night for pee breaks and the dog (who was supposedly asleep outside the tent) was constantly wandering around in the grass and keeping us awake.  I had also forgotten to bring nappies for Becca for night-time so I was half awake keeping tabs on whether she needed a toilet stop or not.  To top it all off, the sun started to rise at 4.30am which had us all up by 5.30am.  The morning was slightly cooler for making breakfast and the long shadows meant the sun wasn't bearing down on us quite yet. 

Zebedee Springs bottom pool

View from Saddleback Lookout
while girls slept

By 7.30 we were heading off in the car to Zebedee Thermal Springs.  This early morning organisation is unheard of in our family.  Now I know you are probably thinking why on earth would we want to visit thermal springs in this heat but believe me it was worth it.  Taking a dip in crystal clear water underneath a forest of palms and pandanus while lavish little waterfalls cascade over your body is a great way to spend a hot morning in the Kimberley, even if the water is warm.  It was actually cooler than the air temperature at the time so was quite tolerable.  We arrived at the springs carpark just after it had opened.  Zebedee Springs is only open to the public from 8am until 12 noon after which private guests staying at the $1600 a night homestead get exclusive access.  It also allows the area to have some 'down-time' so that the place doesn't get overused.  We spent two hours there enjoying the peace and quiet with only a couple of other people joining us.  At one stage Steve took Erin up to one of the top pools higher up the rockface while Becca and I stayed down the bottom.  The girls pottered around, Becca in her floaties and Erin with her goggles sussing out all the fish and critters in the water.  By 10am and with all of us looking completely pruned, we left Zebedee Springs.  Becca and Erin fell asleep in the car on the way back to the campsite so Steve and I took a drive up to a lookout behind the resort so the girls could benefit from some airconditioning while sleeping.  It was quite a steep climb for the 4-wd but the view at the top was great apart from the blow torch winds which greeted us up there.  We even managed to see our campsite from the viewing platform (well only just).

Explosion Gorge

Chamberlain Gorge and River from
Blanco's Lookout

When the girls woke up, we returned to camp for an early lunch before the heat got too intense.  Then we drove around after lunch to Explosion Gorge and Chamberlain Gorge past the beautifully positioned homestead on the river.  The car scrambled over large boulders to get to Explosion Gorge and we were greeted on the way out by a miffed tour guide who informed us that we shouldn't have been down there.  We had seen a 'no entry' sign further up the track but it was placed off to the side of the track and wasn't blocking access.  Oh well...too bad, we did it anyway.  As it was getting later in the afternoon, we decided to go up to Blanco's lookout which overlooked Chamberlain Gorge for a sunset view.  Even though the gorge walls were shadowed, the river shimmered and the surrounding landscape was beautiful and we were the only ones up there.  Perfect!
Once we got home, the girls had another quick dip while I organised dinner but it was still a hot night again.  We did the usual birdbath routine after cleaning up and would have sat around in the evening but the mozzies were ravenous and making it quite uncomfortable.  Only a force field of Rid would have kept them at bay.  We had a good day despite the fact that we hadn't had much sleep the night before.  The girls were even pleasant and did not test our already thin patience.  During the night, I found myself scrounging around half asleep in our clothes bags looking for a sheet to cover us.  The temperature had actually dropped to a point where sleeping was beautiful and we needed covers.  What a difference a day makes.  Apart from the fact that we were all exhausted, the cooler night meant that sleeping was much more pleasant and achievable.

Moonshine Gorge

We had decided to pack up camp the next morning as we had seen most of the attractions in the area but we'd also been told about Home Valley Station further up the road and so thought we should check that out.  On the way out of El Questro we detoured out to Moonshine Gorge.  This place wasn't open to the public when Steve and I had been up here years before so we wanted to have a look.  It was quite a long drive along a two wheeled track but the scenery was great as we followed some ranges.  Our neighbours in the caravan park had given us a brief description of the area including the swimming hole but when we arrived we were very sceptical about the possibility of crocs being in the water.  Yes, the waterhole and backdrop of red hills was magnificent and the managers of the wilderness park obviously thought it was ok to swim in however it didn't feel right to us.  The sandy beach disappeared into the dark water fairly quickly and much of the waterhole was covered with lilies which gave us an eery feeling so we decided not to swim there.  Better to be cautious than have a limb or child go missing.

Inside a Grass Castle at Home Valley
Station

Erin, Becca and Brindle on verandah
of Grass Castle accomodation

Onward we went to Home Valley Station about 60 kilometres up the Gibb River Road.  We only had one night left as Steve had to go back to work and when we arrived, although the campground was beautiful, we couldn't bare setting up again for one night.  We cheated and camped in a cabin for the night as locals get cheaper accommodation rates.  What a cabin it was.  They were called 'grass castles' after the book about the Durack family called 'Kings in Grass Castles'.  There were about 10 cabins all built on the banks of a local creek (way up the bank and away from crocs).  Each cabin had a verandah overlooking the water with double sliding doors leading indoors.  Inside there was a king size bed looking straight out of those double doors with a single bed and daybed lounge.  There was a false dividing wall behind the bed leading into the ensuite which was the full width of the cabin.  There were huge shower heads and elegant vanity sinks with a bar fridge and tea and coffee making facilties.  All other windows in the cabin were timber loovers which could be opened in the cooler months and let breezes flow through the cabin.  It was a surprising bit of luxury on a working cattle station. 

Cockburn Ranges from lookout on
Gibb River Road

A tidal Pentecost River with Cockburn
Ranges in the background.

We had dinner that night in a massive restored shed with polished cobblestone floors and memorabilia from a by-gone era hanging everywhere.  There was even a huge windmill blade suspended from one of the ceilings.  Along with our fantastic meal was country music entertainment which created a great background atmosphere while eating.  We had a buffet breakfast the next morning as well which was included in the price of our cabin.  There were two swimming pools to choose from and so we used them frequently in the afternoon.  We also took a drive up to a lookout at sunset which gave us a magnificent view of the Cockburn Ranges which follow the Gibb River Road for some distance.  After dinner that night, we drove down to the Pentecost River which, unlike at El Questro, is tidal and full of salt water crocodiles.  It's amazing up here how the same river can take on so many different forms in it's journey to the sea.  A river can be crystal clear and fresh water but further downstream it will become tidal with mud, mangroves and big bities.  We shone the car headlights out into the river to see if we could spot any reflective eyes but no such luck.  People were camping down at the river under manmade shelters but there were strict signs insisting people didn't camp beyond a certain point because of the crocs.

Bindaloo Gorge on Home Valley
Station

After the best nights sleep for the whole trip, we explored some of the local waterholes and gorges.  Bindaloo Gorge, in particular, had caught our interest but when we arrived, there was a steep climb down a cliff to reach the water which was too difficult especially for Becca so we decided not to attempt it.  Besides, the heat was again testing us and we were cooking on the exposed rocks anyway.  We stopped at another waterhole on the way home and spotted some 'freshies' but by this stage, the girls didn't want to get out the car because of the heat.  Sometimes you have to really push yourself to get out and explore an area because it is far too easy to stay in the car with the aircon running.  That is not to say that we didn't do that on some occasions but you've got to pick your times and places to do this.
In the end we survived two nights camping during the Kimberley build up season and cheated on the third night but then we have to experience all aspects of accommodation up here.   The choice though is, does one squeeze in around all the tourists when it's cooler or does the idea of being able to pick and choose your time sound more inviting.  I don't really know the answer but it was an interesting experience which didn't kill us but perhaps just made us stronger......who knows.