​Mimbi Caves: stories in stone from an ancient past - 15 Septmber 2017

The rocks are jagged and stained black by millenia of cyanobacteria activity.

Underneat the blackened surface the rock is various colours. The patterns in the cliffs made by cave ins and erosion like this conjured up all manner of creatures from other worlds. 

before we entered the caves which had been carved out lover thousands of  years by water, we had to rub a peddle under our arms and throw it into the water to let the rainbow serpent we were OK.

A 160 or so km from Tunnel Creek, 90 km east of Fitzroy Crossing, we visited another spectacular and significant geological site - Mimbi caves. This cave system is also part of the ancient Devonian reef system and shows ancient fossilised reefs.

There were quite a lot of rock painting which we could access but there were many more deeper in the cave system which was off limits to us,

We walked in with the aid of torches

Unlike many caves the stalactite and stalagmites were not lit with coloured lights. They came alive when we shone our torches on them,

We saw it through the eyes of the people who have lived in this area for thousands of years. The Gooniyandi people are the traditional owners on the region. Now cattle graziers, they were once enslaved. A dark history. Harrison Skinner, traditional owner and our guide, took us exploring through a small part of this magical system of caves carved out by flowing water over the millennia.
These caves are on his land and we were treated to the traditional stories of the origins of the caves and surrounding land.

this is the remnants of a group of European archaeologists who left a scar on the site and took priceless artifacts - fortunately they were recovered! This is a chess board and set they made out of limestone cement.

They modified this cave and lived in it for I think 6 months

The tour ended with damper and billy tea around a camp fire and were entertained by Harrison 'Indie' Skinner.

This is Indie our guide.  Delightful sense of fun and humour.  

On the way back to visit Geikie Gorge, the wheels fells off our plans!! Sadly we never got to Geikie Gorge.

​Wounded in action - 16 September 2017

Another sunset! This time we're parked on the side of the road between Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek waiting for a tow truck. Broken bl ..... caravan axel! Wouldn't you know it. That's the way of 'the way' eh!? The old girl - the van - has travelled over 20,000km this trip; not bad.

we were close to going over the edge - scary thought!

My faith in the basic goodness of people was reinforced - again. We had so many offers of help as we were crouched on the side of the highway 100km back to Fitzroy Crossing one way and 200km to Halls Creek the other. Three carloads of people helped get the van to the side of the road and cut the wheel free - it looked like a big sad broken leg sticky out the side of the van. A couple took Lindsay back into Fitzroy Crossing and another couple drove him back to our rig some 4 hours later where I was 'standing' guard over our precious rig (a little on edge 'our there' alone!).

Lindsay was operating the lifty thingo.

The tow truck arrived a couple of hours later. Angelo the driver, was a sweetie and very patient. I forget that to the world we look like oldies! People are so kind and caring. It's lovely. Thanks to RAC (and the extra cover we took out), towing was taken care of and we have a motel room. We're perfectly together albeit with unexpected time to kill until!
A few days later we were back on the road to Kununarra, Hall's Creek didn't have the expertise.

Looks a bit down in the heel one side!

You know the saying - what goes round etc?  well as fate would have it once we were on the road and heading back east. That very same day we stopped to help a young German couple who had a flat but no way of getting the wheel nit unlocked - neither did we  They spent over half hour on our sat phone to RAC - all standing around in the stinking heat. Unfortunately in the end we ran out of battery so they opted to wait for a passing car going back to Kununurra - we were 150 Km out. They wont forget their trip to the top end!

​Back in the Kimberley 12-15 September 2017

We were back in boab country.

After a visit to the vehicle doctor in Broome for a check up and TLC, our car and van were declared fit and we headed back out on the road to Fitzroy Crossing albeit via Derby to buy some new tyres for the van (one side was scrubbing out ... hmmm).

Geikie Gorge was a place that captivated Lindsay's mum almost 50 years ago and so it was a place we wanted to visit. It plus Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek and the Mimbi Caves are all part an ancient barrier reef dating back 400 million years to the Devonian era. The geographic history is fascinating.

There were a few water crossings going in to the Tunnel Creek National Park but all pretty shallow. 

Some ancient scraps from the old reef. Blackened by Cyanobacteria and time.

We turned off the Great Northern onto the road into Tunnel Creek National Park and hopped out to explore. Man oh man! This so called Creek once flowed at the top of the Napier Range, but over time as the rock fractures enlarged, the creek became subterranean. The tunnel carved by the constant flow of water is about 1km long and can be 'walked'. We didn't have the right 'equipment' (you're walking through sometimes waist high water in the dark) nor did we have a guide. So we ventured only into the mouth of the tunnel which was pretty awesome in itself. I found jasper would you believe? Of course you would.

Descending to the mouth of the tunnel

All you have to do is clamber over and around these massive rocks guarding the entrance to the tunnel and you drop into the water of Tunnel creek. Quite intimidating - for me at least.

People coming out of the tunnel had a bit of a climb.

Recognise this? All the way up here.  I would dearly ike to properly study the geology and geography of this area.  OK well all over Australia!

The tunnel was once the hideout of aboriginal 'bushranger' and freedom fighter, Jandamarra/Pigeon. Aboriginals in the area were blackbirded or actually enslaved to work in the area. The area has a dark past even if it it somewhat romanticised today.

This is all part of that ancient reef. Up close it is quite overwhelming.

​Driving through the Great Sandy Desert 11 September

This is the Muccan Road. We traced a rail line and wound our way through hills, fortunately around rather than over.

Heading to highway - again! (I hear the strains of some not forgotten heavy rock in the back of my mind. But .....)

Must be a reasonably well used road cos here's a safety road sign

The colours! The pincushions of spinifex look so lovely but they are deadly. Get anywhere near them and they leap out and prick leg, ankle, whatever is closest.

A guard of honour, a gateway? We bowed as we passed through here.

As us our want, we took the road less travelled back to the Great Northern Highway on our journey from Marble Bar further north - for a car service in Broome .... and the rest is history, almost. We drove through pale green spinifex-dotted slopes and plains, rust-crowned tors and wended our way through a couple of ranges and across dry river beds half a kilometre wide.

Rust crowned hills. So typical of this part of WA

We were travelling for most of the day through the Great Sandy Desert and pulled up for the night on a dirt track off the hwy that took us nowhere. Interesting drive but challenging when we had to turn around at the end of the track. That night our power went out so we dined by candle light - thank goodness we have a gas stove is all I can say! It's all part of the adventure- and we've had a few!

Another assignment. I believe this is one of the Terminalia family. I am guessing at hadleyaba (Wild peach) it's in this area. Anyone?

The flower spike if that helps.

​Marble Bar and Jasper 8-10 September 2017

Isn't that a splendid view? The colours were gorgeous in the dying light. The pale green of the spinifex acts to intensify the rich red of the earth and rocks.

The famous bar of jasper mistaken for Marble - hence the name Marble Bar. The size of the outcrop is quite overwhelming but the vein extends much further than here and jasper can be found in a number of places.

Marble Bar lived up to expectations for me - pretty hot (their cool season!) but fascinating. I really wanted to see the deep band of exposed jasper that gave the place its name. That was at Marble Bar pool where we breakfasted and where I went for a swim - it was heavenly, so cool and peaceful. Obviously a favourite place with the locals because as we were leaving people were arriving with picnics etc.

Chinamans Pool a tranquil oasis which attracts lots of wildlife. It was named so because of the Chinese market gardens that were established there by Chinese migrants to the goldfields.

Marble Bar pool. So tranquil and that's in spite of a group of little kids playing around in the water.

One of the many shots I took of the jasper outcrop. If you've not encountered jasper before it's an opaque form of chalcedony (quartz) and comes in many colours. It is most usually multicoloured with unique patterns usually stripes. I first encountered jasper on Eyre Peninsula in SA back in the 1980s (I bought a piece of rock - it's not the same). I was captivated by the colour as well as the texture which has a waxy, greasy, silky almost warm feel. A very sensual rock!

I was after jasper so after climbing over a huge exposed vein of multi coloured stone, we headed for the jasper deposits in the hills outside of town not far from the old gold mine which is a whole other story. Suffice it to say there is still lots of gold there but it's too dangerous to mine - the hills are riddled with tunnels.
But the jasper...... I set off with a bag and high hopes. I love fossicking but bearing in mind the temperature was in the high 30s you'll appreciate that I didn't tackle the higher slopes where the best rocks were to be found apparently. Actually only one or two people braved those slopes. I spoke with one of the guys who'd been up there, an artist from the Margaret River. He showed me his booty.... absolutely stunning! The lovely man gave me one of his pieces and wanted to give me more but I simply could take it. He comes up to MB every year to collect ideas to take back to his studio; he was there with a geologist who was looking for gold way up on the ridge. Both of us pored over the colours and patterning of his find.

On our way to the jasper deposits. Quite excited!

The best bits were up that steep slope. Needless to say my meagre collection is not brilliant but they make me happy and keep me keen to find more.

My little collection. You can see the variation in colour and pattern. I find the stone infinitely fascinating - but then I'm a rock tragic!

In the meanwhile Lindsay was sensibly sheltering under a tree. I just about cooked out there in the sun, but I loved every minute of it and would happily return with a pick and stone hammer (I've lost mine).
We then visited the Comet gold mine just down the road. It no longer operates but it was a 'gold mine' in its day! Haha It sports the highest chimney in the Southern Hemisphere - they say, which was erected to suck out dangerous gasses from the tunnels. Interesting bit of trivia - it was the first place in WA to have AC power. The plant was built to support the mine and comfort of the miners and it also supplied the township of Marble Bar.
​

The chimney st Comet gold mine. We spent close to an hour there chatting with the guide - and inspecting the extensive collection of precious stones and metals from the area..

One of the places we didn't get to was the WW2 Secret Airbase which was known as No 73 Operational Base unit, 235 K, from MB on Corunna Downs. Interestingly we have just been listening to an audio book 'Marble Bar' by Robert Scofield set in MB and the airbase and Corunna Downs got a mention. Being such a secret location its long range Bombers carried out many bombing victories and being so far inland it was out of range for many enemy aircraft. History continues to unfold as we travel!

In the absence of a proper pic to show you, here's a photo of pat of the brochure.

I heard the place described as a FIFO town - Fit In or F... Off! I reckon its a hard town, but for me it was a thoroughly enjoyable visit, a place I would love to revisit.

The Murchison and Pilbara 5-7 September 2017

The Murchison and Pilbara both rather untamed landscapes, bear witness to sometimes foolhardy but always romantic human endeavours indicated by the grand old buildings and countless pubs. Lots of wealth has been, and is still being, torn out of the ground. One is very aware of the mines all round, but rarely sees them except for one monstrous plant along the road from Nullagine (an old gold rush town) to Marble Bar. Earth 'modification' as far as the eye could see. Staggering!

This is a\Acacia inaequilatera to the world but to me it's a blackberry wattle - you can see why. Cute isn't it? The flower ball is so unusual and the young leaves a delicate shade of soft maroon. We're in a place of diverse beauties - but of course, we are back in the Pilbara!!

On through Munjina Gorge

These monster truck movers will soon be on the Marble Bar road I think. We encountered these near Munjina on the skirts of the Karijini NP.

Ore trucks were regular passers by kicking up huge clouds of dust and stones - c'est la vie!

However ....... before Marble Bar we  passed through some pretty amazing countryside. 'Blackberry' wattle, banded behemoths, and butterflies! Here it's so dry birds and butterflies clustered around every small muddy patch on the ground. We park overnight at a wee roadside spot calked Auski Tourist village, AKA Munjina, right on the perimeter of the Karijini National Park in the Hamersley Ranges. Mining trucks zooming around everywhere but not so much that we haven't been able to appreciate the breathtaking beauty of huge red banded hills dotted with eau de nil green spinifex, gorgeous deep gorges!!
Karijini NP ... what can I say? Amazing gorges and waterfalls 100m deep - awesome and not a bit scary seen from above. Needless to say we didn't venture down into any of the gorges as the climb was a bit too treacherous for us. After exploring each of the gorges albeit from above, we drove back to camp after sundown surrounded by a sound and light show - heat lightening all around us. It was spectacular!!

There's a huge drop beyond this lovely tree

Senna Ferraria - iron cassia. Found only in this small region.

Karijini is full of gorges - or is that empty!? Their walls are so vivid and the spinifex and stunned trees that cling to the rocks, stand in stark contrast both in colour and form.

That's as far as we climbed. Too scary!

Then we hit the dirt en route to Marble Bar. Surprisingly, there are no sealed roads to Marble Bar from the south although I think that will change in the next little while. While we were in Marble Bar we were told that roads were being built to service a new mining interest in the area. Oh well! We enjoyed the dirt!

Wonderful country! There were many dips and flood ways in the road. Evidence of heavy rains somewhere sometime. That all made for a rocky ride so we took it slowly.

Out on the dry plains, spots of colour and texture leap out - if you're looking! Like this member of the pea family, Psoralea lachnostachys meaning with a woolly flower spike.

And its cousin, Psoralea pustulata. You'd want a pretty flower with a name like that.  Latin -where are you when I need you?

Grevillea pyramidalis- Caustic tree. So called because the fruit has a sticky caustic coating

The flower of the caustic tree is quite pretty seen close up.

Along the first part of route to Marble Bar - Munjina to Roy Hill, the road was lined with flowers, mainly mulla mulla. And another of my favourites - butterfly bush. A delicate airy bush a couple of metres tall scattered with gorgeous yellow flowers which look just like butterflies. Large water holes, pools were fringed by paperbarks and cattle - and birds of course. It was very pretty. And as we continued along the route, the countryside became quite awe inspiring - treacle-topped iron stone ranges and soft green spinifex plains  - soft in colour only - they leap out and stab you if you venture too close! Spinifex clumps like squatting porcupines on a slow creep up the the sides of the ranges gave the ranges a soft pale green hue, a perfect foil for the rust red earth and rock.

A wee stretch of tar along the dirt! Mulla mulla along the road side. Lovely.

Petalostylis cassioides - butterfly bush. You see how it got its name. One of my favourites.

This little baby - Calytrix desolata- is a relative of the turkey bush we saw in NT months ago. There is so much to see in this flower. Zoom in for a look. The fine tendrils you see are the calyx which wrap around the flower bud as it is developing.

As a matter of interest, the Shire of East Pilbara, through which we were driving, is the largest shire in the world, bigger than Victoria, but the population is small and punctuates this huge space with a small number of communities and properties - and mines!

We hit bitumen and turned left for a short run into Marble Bar.

We got to Marble Bar at sundown after a fascinating day in the heart of Pilbara country.