You Call That a Knife?!

*My apologies in advance for the quality of this blog, it seems the unremitting heat has turned my brain to mush…don’t judge!

November 1^st, here we are; halfway around the country, and not quite halfway through the trip! Today we head towards Darwin, and hope that we don’t melt into puddles before we get there. Many miles to go folks, so stay tuned for more of our zany adventures. Allow me to fill you in on the past few days…

We left Exmouth in good spirits, and did a little backtracking to visit Coral Bay. Rolling down the highway, we were impressed by the copious amounts of termite mounds dotting the landscape. The drive under the Australian sun was difficult to say the least. Being under the windshield is like being under a microscope. 

When we made it to our destination, we immediately strapped on our snorkel gear and swam about 50m offshore. The visibility wasn’t as remarkable as Turquoise Bay, and as we got out we looked over our shoulders to the white sand, blue skies and decided that we are spoiled. Seeing so many beautiful beaches and wondrous coral formations in the last week has somewhat desensitized us to the sights right in front of our eyes. Luckily, we usually are able to remind each other and reign ourselves in.

Something else that was remarkable, only in a bad way, was the smell coming from the fridge. I was all too quick to blame the boys and their berley/bait adventures (sometimes keeping it in the mini-freezer). I cleaned it out, only to realize once we were settled in Coral Bay,that the rancid smell was still there. We decided that the fridge, which intermittently cools and stops, must have leaked something which had seeped into some crevices – we drew up a plan of attack. However, all problems were sorted that night as we pulled out the steaks for dinner; the meat was green. Tim and Steve blew backwards as they opened the cling wrap and immediately threw them in the bin. We got fish from the local fish n’ chip shop that night, and the smell in the fridge was never more!

After one night in CB it was pretty clear that there wasn’t too much to do besides snorkel and relax. We had heard great things about Karijini National Park so we moved on. As we pushed even farther North, the sweat started to pour. By the time we set up camp in an overnight free camping spot, we were all soaked to the knickers and frazzled. The only consolation was the wild horses that were also camping at our site. The 5 of them, and their 2 foals steered pretty clear of us, but it was a beautiful sight to see amidst the dried up river and the gum trees. That night, another bug infestation hit hard – it left us taping up the windows and devising ‘catchers’ with duct tape. We narrowly survived this encounter, and sped off early in the morning for Karijini.

The park was beautiful. We decided to explore the Dale Gorge area, strapped on our hiking gear, and peanut-butter-n-jelly sandwiches in tow, descended the gorge switchback walls to the ‘Circular Pool.’ At the bottom, in a small clearing there was a clear green pool, to which you could see all the way to the bed.  No fish, no crocs, no sharks, no salt. Yippee! You can believe that there were a few cannonball competitions on the boys’ part, and a lot of floating around on mine.

Having our fill there, we gleefully sought out the Fortescue Falls, and dove right on in there as well. This one, quite obviously from the name, had a waterfall that we climbed up and sat under and let the cool fresh water invigorate us again. Time always ticks on so we hopped back into our toaster-oven on wheels and made tracks for Broome.

That afternoon was one of the hottest of my lifetime. I was caged in the back, with both windows open and sat in the roaring wind which only slightly helped my situation. It seemed that I had drunken litres of water, yet never had to pee. Licking my lips, there was salt. My hair was wet. My clothes were damp. The boys were the same. Pushing right through the mining country and Port Hedland, we eventually ran out of steam and pulled over at the De Grey River overnight camp. After a short sing-along with the ukulele, we ate our chicken curry (bad choice in the heat!) and attempted sleep. Sleep, which now holds new meaning = to lay down and sweat with your eyes closed. The nights here aren’t much better!

At the first ray of sun we were jumping out of our beds to escape the impending heat and get to Broome. No coffees or teas in the mornings these days, the milk in our cereals is barely cold!  5 ½ hours later, we squeaked into Broome’s i-site and reveled in the air conditioning. Sizing up our options, we thought a wee while longer in the Macca’s across the street, absorbing their air conditioning and 30 cent cones (that’s right, 30 cents!) Finally, our brains came back to us and decisions were made. We rocked up to the Cable Beach Caravan Park and wasted no time hopping into the pool. We stayed in until we were pruny, but eventually had to get out because Steve and I had a date.

A date with a camel on Cable Beach! We had booked our sunset walk with one of the local companies and promptly arrived at 4:20 as asked. Immediatley, a guide took us to meet a camel; sitting down, they didn’t look that big, and we patted one named Kadesh. When it came time to mount the coarse golden haired chariots, it became clear just how big they really are! With their legs running the length of my body, they are quite intimidating and wonderful standing at full height.

Mounting them is another story completely! Camels stand up with their rear legs first, and heave themselves into the air, to pin themselves on their gangly legs against the sand. We were besotted to a beast named Jarndah, which nobly means “owner of the earth.”  One of the guides filled us in that Jarndah was like a cheeky school boy and was a camel that always liked to untie his ropes. He pretty much ignored us the whole time until the end, when he allowed me finally to take his picture – I suspect only because he knew he was going to get a carrot at the end of it all.

The walk down the beach was lovely, and we watched one of our last sea-set sunsets atop a camel, lopping along the coast. I dare say it was romantic, but it was definitely a neat thing to experience. Of course, you may be thinking that something doesn’t add up here – camels, in Australia? Ah, yes my friends. Australia is home to the biggest wild camel population in the world! All that desert in the Outback, is ridden with those humpies! The owner of the company we went with actually rescues camels that have been caught on large stations in the country before they become dog food and trains them up.

Segueing into talking about the real wild animals though – yesterday was Halloween. A much loved North American tradition that we couldn’t help but partake in. We hummed and haw-ed about a good trio costume, and eventually found the best one of all; a trio costume that unites the tradition of Canada with the stereotypes of Australia. Can you guess what we were???

Crocodile Dundee and his crocodile friends, of course! The costumes were a hit, although Tim and I were cursing the choice since our onesies were fleecy – a material that is NOT sympathetic to Broome’s humid weather.  The funniest part of the night was, after drinking all afternoon at the campervan, we headed to the bar Oasis as it got dark. The tavern was eerily quiet for being such a recommended hotspot. We asked the bartender what time it was – 7:15pm! We were shocked! Looking around, people were still eating dinner while the three of us, in costume, were standing drunk and dumbfounded in the middle of it all. We spent the next 4 hours trying to maintain a buzz without going overboard until the place ramped up. And oh, it did. We had way too much fun dancing with crocodile tails and Steve with his “knife,” so much so that today, it hurts so good.