Friday, July 6, 2018

14. Changing state from a Territorian to a Westralian.

Everything in NT and WA is large, starting with the distances between anywhere, to the animals and birds, termite mounds and finally the trees.
A sense of scale was evident when studying the size of the Boab tree to the site shed along side.
We estimate from the site shed sitting at its base, that 15 site sheds would need to be stacked on top of each other in order to reach the top.  (And that is a metric, not imperial site shed.)
Sense of scale.
We estimate the Boab tree is about 15 site sheds high. 

As we were about to leave NT, we were recommended Zebra Rock Mine Campsite, 10kms off the hard top, in secluded bush near the border and the edge of Lake Argyle.
Zebra Rock is a geological marvel showing lines, bubbles and a superb range of colours, being cut into slabs for tables; or sculptured into all manner of forms.
Sculptured samples of Zebra Rock as mined on site.
A 75kg snail would suit most mantelpieces.

Hence 2 days off the grid again and a chance to cruise on the flood plains fronting the lake.  Lake Argyle was flooded in 1963, however trees still stand as a major navigational hazard to the unwary.
Our transport; hopefully designed to withstand semi-submerged tree trunks at speed.
Collisions are recorded in the log book.

Bird of Prey
Head bowed as if in silent prayer.

The Magnificent Seven
(2018 remake)

Freshies have finer snouts than salties.
We were advised they are generally harmless, however if provoked can take an arm off quicker and cleaner than a
Great White Shark.
Harmless and armless seem to contradict each other.
Happy Croc with Brolgas in background.

The expression "running around like a headless chook" has been superseded.
"Flying like a headless Magpie Goose" is all the go now!
As the sun sets, the mood of the recently flooded flood plains took upon a new atmosphere altogether.
The trees added to the mystique of the area.

In the wet season, water covers this area. 
Idling back up the various streams to the camp brought some wonderful colours.
The play of the light on the water was mesmerising.

The reflections were alive.

The trees became ballerinas gracefully changing form.
Most were just as thin. 

The border crossing required a stop and check to ensure fruit and vegetables along with honey are not carried across.
Just prior to the border, we delighted six men at the Zebra camp travelling West to East when we supplemented their diet with honey and avocado.  Being blokes, they had mainly survived on baked beans for the last few weeks.
7900km to the WA border since leaving home.
87days
91km/day ave

Kununurra and Wyndham are the eastern most and northern most towns in WA, and are just 100km apart.  We saw them both in the one day.
Western Australia would not be as vast if the most western and southern towns were so close.
Wyndham Community Fishing Jetty
Designed to cope with 8m tides.
Built due to pier pressure.

Brahminy Kite
This one was cruising around the jetty trying to collect anything left by the fishermen.

I think I can!!
Looked like being straight from the pages of a Little Golden Book.

End of the line at Wyndham.
A study in perspective.
The sense of scale as mentioned previously.

Who is a pretty boy??

With an impressive hair-do!
A drive up to the Five Rivers Lookout at 330m above the surrounding plains allows great viewing of the expanse of water and the five rivers; the Durack, Pentecost, King, Forrest and Ord.

Water water everywhere.
Five Rivers
8m tidal range
Crop circles can just be seen on a near salt pan.

Now that is a tidal flat!

Crop circles on salt pan.
These phenomena have appeared in various parts of the world leading to endless conspiracy theories, books and intrigue as to how they are formed. 

Marlgu Billabong was sought in order to find the elusive Gouldian Finch that we have been seeking. Hence more dirt and an exhilarating drive towards the end of the day zig zagging through 200mm deep bull dust on a narrow windy track for about 200m ensuring that momentum and direction was not lost.
We were quite relieved once we found hard surface again, especially with night fall approaching.

Like a shag on a rock.
No wonder he wants to show off his outfit

Panic!!
The cacophony as hundreds of birds suddenly took off filling the air with the roar of flapping and feathers.

Ahh the beauty!
And to think birds land and walk on these lillies without sinking.

Blending in with the environment. 

Testing the water.
Perfection


Any comments on bird types, or even Lilly and flower types would again be greatly appreciated.
So many birds seem to have such a range of colours and plumage, we find it jolly difficult in confirming the types.  We just know for certain that some look absolutely stunning!!

Back to Kununurra and preparation for the Bungle Bungles super adventure by plane, 4WD bus, foot, chopper and plane all in one day.
This will be the next blog all as a full "exclusive" solely on this Geological marvel unlike any other landscape we have seen to date.

Wishing all fair winds and a following sea!!
Don and Carrol

9 comments:

  1. Loved the sunset shots, Don, especially the blue/yellow ones -- lovely! -Nancy :)

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    1. Thanks Nancy,

      It was really special especially with the intrigue of the area that some of the locals were settling down for the night and others were just starting their hunt.

      Also just noticed that the temperatures today in Broome WA and Kitchener, Canada (if you are home) are both identical, despite one being winter and the other summer.

      Enjoy summer!!

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  2. Don and Carrol your pictures are perfection!! You have captured some magnificent images.
    The boys are looking over my shoulder saying they are postcard perfect. They will probably look more closely later and look in the field guide.
    I didn't comment last week but James has had the field guide checking out the rosellas...Northern rosellas perhaps?? And is that a Red tailed Black cockatoo? Cant see the colour under the tail.
    My mum brought back some Zebra rock samples...but no snails:) Any pink diamond samples coming home with you??

    We missed you guys at Don and Shona's life group dinner on Tuesday!

    Margaret

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    1. Yo Margaret,

      Much appreciated about the photos. They are taken on very easy to use Canon SX40HS (supplied by Justin at Camera House) which is fully automatic and so much more compact than a full blown SLR. There are limitations with it, however the easy and size make it a winner for us. We love the 35x optical zoom.

      The field guide we are using as well as an app on the phone so often lead to difficulty for us in determining bird types through colour variations from local variances and ring ins. Any help is appreciated.

      We walked into the a pink diamond shop, however the price tags were so much bigger than the pin heads for diamonds, hence out we went rather quickly.

      Thanks for thinking of us!!

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  4. Hi Don and Carrol, I think I may have found the solution to your coffee drought. Unfortunately, you might have to ditch the Aldi machine and replace it with a Nespresso unit. Check out https://ciracrocket.com/products/magic-coffee-capsules/

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    Replies
    1. The link looks great thanks Roger, however we have been saved.

      Felicia and Michael sent some paperwork to us and included some Aldi coffee pods. So provided we only use one coffee pod every 145km and don't take any side tracks, we will be able to survive.

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  5. Many more amazing images!!! Particularly liked your mesmerising play of the light on the water.

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    1. Ta.

      Yes they were quite spectacular. One of those times that the photo did it justice.

      So often, especially with landscapes on a grand scale, the vista is amazing, however the image just shows perhaps a low range in the distance and not much more.

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