A TASTE OF THE GIBB RIVER ROAD PART 4

Home Valley Station 2

Home Valley Station is owned by an Aboriginal corporation and a stated aim of theirs is to use it as a training venue for indigenous people. The main camping ground, swimming pool, bars and restaurant are all of high standard. There is also a range of accommodation available for bus tours and individuals. 

As I previously mentioned, we elected to camp on the banks of the Pentecost, about 7 Km from the main campground.

Birdlife along the river area is prolific and I was pleased to get a number of nice shots, including one of a local bird I hadn’t seen before. After studying my bird books I found that it was part of a minor race of Lemon Bellied Flycatchers this one called the Kimberley Flycatcher. This bird is restricted to a fairly small area in the Kimberley, so a nice find.

Lemon Bellied Flycatcher / race Kimberley Flycatcher

Here’s another quite nice pic, this time a Black Faced Wood Swallow.

Black Faced Wood Swallow

We went back down the Gibb to the Pentecost River crossing and decided to explore part of another track that wends its way along the river and then heads north around the range and in a loop to end up in Wyndham after passing Digger’s Rest Station. 

The going was very rough and the temperature was well into the 30s that day so we gave up after a while. It was only later that we discovered that the track was actually closed. But we didn’t waste the river crossing photo opportunity, naturally.  

I had to have another pic of the Patrol crossing the Pentecost with the Cockburn Range in the background! 

I really fell under the spell of the Cockburn Range (incidentally it’s pronounced “Coburn”) it’s ever –present in the area and changes colour throughout the day.

The river is also such a huge part of the scene round here, constantly changing with the light and, of course, with the large tides. This next pic taken from the camp ground shows the nearby bend in the river with the range in the background.

Here’s another example of the local wildlife, this “log” wasn’t there when I looked over the river from the camp ground in the morning, but was there when I wandered over at lunch time. As you can see from the enlargement, the croc’s colour is interesting.

 I understand that the light colour shows that the croc has spent most of its life in the salt water. Other photos later in these blogs will show the darker colour of estuarine (saltwater) crocs that live largely in the fresh water. This croc looks to be about 3 ½ metres.

The crocs have to lie in the sun throughout the morning and often through into the afternoon to warm up and recharge their systems after a busy night hunting / fishing, ready for another busy night. 

The track shown in this next pic follows the river for some distance past the camping area. It overlooks the mud flats that exist right along the river. Crocs are also on this same side of the river as our camp, but are a little more difficult to spot. There have been none at nearby boat launching ramp since we have been here, but one was spotted on the mud flats a little up river.

This Whistling Kite seemed to be interested in my attempts to mimic his particular whistle, staring intently each time I whistled at him. I couldn’t tell whether it was in admiration of my whistling, disbelief or amusement!!

Overnight we were once again serenaded by dingoes in the early hours. This time it sounded like a small pack, with howls of varying levels as they moved through the scrub near the camp. Thankfully was no sign of them around the campground during the day, indicating that at least there appeared to be no feeding by campers – wise!

After seven days we reluctantly packed up and headed out for a few days at Parry Lagoon near Wyndham. Our original intention was to travel further down the Gibb past Ellenbrae to Drysdale River. That was a round trip of more than 500 Km of fairly indifferent road so I decided not to flog the Patrol any further.

Robyne's bush clothes !

 As you can see in the departure shot, taken as we left, Robyne had dressed for the occasion, harem pants with a flower and a string of crystals! “Purple Power” one over enthusiastic woman yelled out as she drove past.

All in all the camper trailer experiment has been a huge success, we visited, saw and stayed in places that we would never otherwise have seen and we did it in comfort.

Upsides – the locations we visited, the ease of setup, the ease of towing, the space, the swing-out kitchen, the ease of meal preparation, the comfortable bed high in the trailer.

Downsides – none really, we enjoyed and overcame the challenge and the change.

So back to Kununurra we went to collect the caravan and head south once again to new adventures, heading to Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing and then Derby.

More soon !

Regards

TJ