Somewhere along the way I said I’d drive Mum on a campervan trip across the NW of Australia. Suddenly it was thirty-odd degrees hotter than is normal at home this time of year and we were checking out Broome – an interesting little town with a history of pearl harvesting by many ethnicities and being bombed in the Second World War; now its biggest asset seems to be a busy fly-in, fly-out airport for WA’s mining industry.

We had some time before picking up the van, so wandered in the heat.

Plenty of the old corrugated buildings survive.

One of the many boab trees (related to the African baobab) we’d see on the trip.

Originally a telegraph station when the subsea cables were the quickest form of comms with the outside world – Timor is really close.

A few of the scores of crabs that were fascinating to watch.
Parking the camper (a very similar van to the ambulances I’m used to driving, just a fair bit longer) first-up in a crowded Cable Beach carpark conquered, we were on time for the camel ride that Mum wanted to do. No racing, all rather sedate – a pleasant hour not having to walk in the heat. Unsure what the camel thought, but I expect it’s better acclimatised than southern New Zealanders.

First night and campground successfully negotiated, the first of many interesting rocks on the trip were visited – with some fun scrambling too.

Finally hitting the highway, it was a few hours north to Derby – even hotter, most notable to me for having up to thirteen metre tides.

Tidal plain, would have liked to see the sea rapidly advance across it.

One of the wider-trunked boabs we saw.

Apparently the largest cattle trough in the world, guess there’s got to be one. From the days of driving stock ultra long distances without trucks.
Continuing east, there were a few small towns every so often (hundred-odd kilometres apart) – maybe because it was a Sunday, but they were grim. Service stations so barricaded I didn’t think they were open, usually they were – just as well.
I much preferred the next campground, Mimbi, to the overly large and full ones on the coast – no power, remote and quiet.

Not at all packed in like sardines.

Also, there were rocks and hills to explore.

Triodia grass – annoyingly pointy.
We’d slowed our journey east a bit so as to catch a tour through the Mimbi Caves, led by the local people. It was wonderfully low-key and gave plenty of opportunity to hang at the back of the large group to try and get some peace to gaze at the intriguing formations.

More rocks – walking to the caves.

Back at the campground, there was enough time to go for a more challenging scramble through the triodia and up the rocks to see what sunset would serve up.

Slightly different rocks. And redder rocks.

Token van photo as Mum was off looking for giant ant hills.
We were really hoping to see the bizarre rock formations of the Bungle Bungles (large, striped beehive shapes), but found at the campground that the permit for this season’s 4WD tours still hadn’t been granted – and we certainly couldn’t take the van on fifty kilometres of rough 4WD track. Disappointing – but the campground, with buffet barbecue, was excellent; I also enjoyed a couple of evening walks lit by the full moon.

Slight detour out to Wyndham and another huge tidal plain.

Boab trees and road trains – pleased to get a photo, while stopped, of some of the constant driving-sights.

I think this was the only Big Thing we saw on the trip, which seems an unusually low tally for an Australian road trip.

But the boabs were far more impressive than Big Things. This one at the campground, carbon dated to about 2000 years old, is apparently still young!
Mirima National Park, small and right on the edge of Kununurra, was billed as a mini-Bungle Bungles – so we had to have a look. Plenty more fascinating rocks, but I’m not sure that billing is at all accurate. Good fun on short walks all the same.

Mum was keen to see some unique local zebra rocks – so we visited a local stoneworker. More cool rocks! Plus some impressively heavy workshop equipment for drilling and cutting all sorts of rock.

Not seeing the Bungle Bungles was playing on my mind, especially with a better than even chance we wouldn’t be back to see them another time. While I’d have much preferred to be able to walk around and inspect them, we were fortunate that there were two seats left on a scenic flight the following day. Apologies for the slightly foggy photos through a small plane window – they’ll have to do their own talking though.

I’m still a bit surprised by just how much vegetation, and how green it was, that we saw on the whole trip – dry season it may have been, but I guess it was close to the start.

We certainly saw plenty during our ten days in WA; onto Northern Territory, all new to me.