Leopold Downs – 30 to 31 July 2010

John met with Joe Ross, a local leader for the Bunuba people in Fitzroy Crossing and he arranged for us to visit Leopold Downs Station and meet the manager Ned McCord.

When we arrived a film crew, making a docudrama about local aboriginal hero, Jandamarra, a Bunuba equivalent of Robin Hood, were at the Station discussing their plans. Jandamarra was a respected member of the Bunuba in the 1880’s, a crack shot and skilled horseman. He was employed as a police tracker, but after members of the Bunuba were rounded up and kept without food and water for a number of days, he rebelled, shot Constable Richardson, and for the next three years led an organized armed rebellion against the European settlers.

The film crew invited us out to see the filming at the old Leopold Station. They have renovated the outside of the Station House so it looked as it would have done when it was lived in. The inside is totally tumble down.

The filming was interesting but slow. They are shooting in a really remote area so all the crew are staying in small tents in the middle of a paddock. The only thing that makes it a bit easier is that meals are catered. I think making this film is a real labor of love for everyone involved. The local Bunuba people were clearly very proud to be part of retelling the story for a wider audience.

We saw the new Wesley Studio School built on Leopold Downs. Both Leopold Downs and Fairfield Station are owned by the Bunaba Tribe and the manager is helping them achieve their goals, one of which is a good school.

The school is amazing as the buildings are standard shipping containers which come fully built with walls, windows, bathrooms and kitchens. The sides open out to make the floor and roof and everything else comes stored within the container. It is a very good solution for remote housing as it is attractive and functional. The School will have a mix of local and Melbourne students and students will spend time in both Melbourne and Leopold Downs. It will provide an easier pathway to higher level secondary education for local students than has been the case as students were sent away to the city for senior school. The city was so different and lonely that the transition was very difficult for them.

There was so much to do we were invited to camp on Leopold Downs and had dinner at the Homestead, which was lovely.

Fitzroy Crossing and Geike Gorge – 27 to 30 July 2010

From Derby we took the Great Northern Highway to Fitzroy Crossing located on the western bank of the Fitzroy River, at what used to be a major crossing point before bridges were built. The town has been relocated, although the Crossing Inn, the original hotel is still in its location on the bank of the Fitzroy River. We stayed at the Fitzroy River Lodge.

Geike Gorge, which is carved by the Fitzroy River through the ancient Devonian Limestone is 20 kilometers from Fitzroy Crossing. We took a boat trip up the gorge and walked through the Gorge on the Jarrambayah Walk, followed by a picnic in the Gazebo at the information area.

The Gorge has the usual fresh water crocodiles, rock wallabies, and a rufous night heron, for some reason still out in the middle of the day.

The Fitzroy River and Derby – 24 to 27 July 2010

From Broome we drove to Derby a sleepy coastal town on the mouth of the Fitzroy River. We stopped at the Boab Prison Tree outside town and then drove in. It being Sunday when we arrived the town looked very small and abandoned.

This is because they put the cyclone shutters down when the shops close. Come Monday, the shutters open and presto there is a lovely little country town.

Derby has the largest tidal range in Australia at approximately 11.8 meters. It is also where the salt water crocodiles range begins.

The jetty is a nice place to sit and watch the fishermen and the tide and John got quite interested in mud crabbing.

There are two very nice cafes we found, an Italian Cafe the Jila Cafe and The Point Cafe on the jetty. The Point Cafe is laid back and a bit disorganized but is a nice place to have a coffee and watch the tide change.

From the Jila Cafe ( excellent) we learnt that Sandalwood is great for repelling mosquitoes and we have now enjoyed several mosquito less dinners. It is nicer and works better than citronella and is easier to carry. It is made by New Mountain Sandalwood www.newmountain.com.au and we bought it at the local Woolworths in Derby.

Broome – 18 to 24 July 2010

After our flight from Hong Kong to Perth with an overnight stay in Perth, we returned to Broome and collected our little pod from storage and returned to the Cable Beach Caravan Park for another week in Broome.   We were lucky to get a site at that time as Broome is fully booked, but because we had been there in June when it was quieter they saved a site for us. 

It was amazing the change in atmosphere, as gone were the groups preparing to venture into the Kimberly’s, replaced by those who know their plans two years in advance to book for a three month stay in Broome.  We used the week to recover from the long flight and do some sightseeing in Broome.   

We followed the heritage trail on our bicycles. Broome began as a pastoral town, but  became renowned as the biggest pearling centre in the world with mother of pearl [Pinctada Maxima] being harvested for pearl buttons.

Broome was exempt from the White Australia policy to allow Japanese pearl divers who were the best to operate with the diving fleet.  It became a culturally mixed town, with settlers including Chinese, Filipinos,Malays, Japanese and Koepangers (Timorese).  There is a large Japanese Cemetery, as many divers died from accidents and the effects of the bends which was poorly understood.

Broome experienced a gradual decline during the 1920's as plastics became available. The declaration of WW2 was the final blow. The Japanese who worked on the luggers were interned and sent south. The Industry depended on their skills and so it was no more. The bombing of Broome in March 1942 resulted in the deaths of servicemen and refugees from Java. Eight flying boats were sunk and Dutch women and children evacuees were killed. The town was evacuated and the luggers were sailed south or burnt as part of the scorched earth policy against possible invasion.

Pearling interests in the town were renewed in the 1950's but were no longer viable.  In 1949 the Government lifted a ban on pearl culturing and a pearl culturing farm was established which included American, Australian and Japanese interests. Today cultured pearls, tourism and the live cattle trade are Broome's mainstay.

The old buildings were built of corrugated iron. These cool down quickly at night. They are also light but strong in the event of a cyclone. Modern houses are usually built of corrugated iron for the same reasons. No Broome house has a letterbox or gutters as these can act as shafts, flying through windows.  We enjoyed the heritage trail and finished up at the Union Bank Chambers, now Matso's Cafe, a microbrewery.

We took a trip up to Cape Leveque. The road in is awful but about half way in the dirt road becomes bitumen, which enables access to the all weather airstrip for the aboriginal communities along the road.  We stopped at Beagle Bay and visited the Beagle Bay Church with its  mother of pearl altar and decorations. On the day of our visit a team of artists was busy restoring the altars.

Most of the communities were established by missions, which provided some protection to local aboriginals who were often treated badly by the pearlers, who  “black birded” them to provide labour for the pearling fleet in its early days.

Further up the Cape we visited  Ardyloon Fish Hatchery where we each fed a Barramundi.  We then visited Cape Leveque where we had a great swim and stopped at its West Beach and on the way home visited the Lombadina Community, originally established as a Palatine Mission, with a Church built of local timbers with a more traditional local architectural theme.

Back in Broome we took Sentosa Charters [who did an excellent job] to watch  the Humpback whales on their winter migration route. To get to their main vessel the 'Observer' they use a three wheeler boat that drives into the a water. It reminded us  of "The Owl and the Pussy Cat".

The 'Observer' is painted so it resembles an upside down whale.  There were a large number of whales and some played with the boat swimming round and round it and diving underneath.  They stuck their heads up and looked at us, causing us to wonder who bought tickets to see who.

We saw dolphins surfing with the whales but they couldn't compete.

We spent the rest of our time enjoying Broome and getting ready for the Gibb River Road.  On our way to Derby we stopped at the 12 Mile Cafe, a lovely organic cafe for Brunch, a great way to start the next stage of our  journey.

USA – 16 June to 18 July 2010

We flew from Broome to Sydney then to San Francisco to spend time with Alex, Sophie and Gillian. 

From there we flew to Virginia to visit Katharine, Amelia and Tafadzwa and then on to Buffalo to see Chris, Monica and Jeremy.

We flew back to Broome from Toronto via Hong Kong.  In Hong Kong we visited our friends Vivien and Anna Mae.