The Kimberleys: Broome to Darwin
With rucksacks larger than ourselves packed with hiking
boots, thick socks and bug spray we hopped on a flight to Broome.
Five Hours Later....
Broome is a coastal town in Western Australia, famous for
pearls and is the perfect place to start an adventure into the ruggedly
beautiful Kimberley region. Staying with a friend of a friend of a friend, we
dumped our bags and headed straight to Cable Beach. The plan was to go camel
riding (yes typical tourist, but one of the highly recommended things to do)
but the weather was switching between sunshine and tropical storms which
unsettles the camels and our ride was cancelled.
Cable Beach is 22.5km long with
white sand and turquoise waters. My cousin worked as a Lifeguard on cable beach
for about 6 years so I knew all about the dangers (hello massive swells,
crocodiles, box jellyfish). Once he sent me a picture of an Irukandji jellyfish
he found there. They are tiny, only about 1cm3 but their sting is as potent as that of a cobra and
1000 times stronger than a tarantula. Hoping that the lifeguards had done a
good sweep of the waters, we went in for a swim.
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| Cable Beach |
Cable Beach also has Australia’s most famous nudist beach. North of Willie Creek clothing is optional. We stayed South of Willie Creek.
Post swim we headed to the beachside bar to have a few drinks and watch the sunset before making our way back to the friend of a friend of a friend’s house to make the most of the last of home comforts; bed, showers and flushing toilets.
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| Sunset Drinks |
The Kimberley region is said to be one of the world’s last
great wilderness areas. Covering approximately 425,000 square kilometres in the
north of Western Australia, the Kimberley has fewer people per square km than almost
any other place on earth with many iconic outback landscapes, and still undiscovered
secrets. Located just north of the Tropic of Capricorn, the Kimberley has two
climates: hot and wet, and hot and dry. We embarked on our trip during “winter”
aka the dry season, characterised by clear blue skies, warm days but cold
nights.
The Kimberleys are known for rugged gorges and waterfalls,
huge cattle stations, Boab trees and striking coastline. There are only three
towns in the Kimberley that have a population of more than 2000 and there is
only one sealed road through the whole region. Despite the remoteness of the
region, there are some real threats to the area. Uncontrolled fires, invasive
species, poor land management and increasing development are all putting
pressure on the untouched beauty of the Kimberleys.
We spent 9 days making our way through this amazing region
travelling from Broome to Darwin so watch this space for a detailed account
(and plenty of photos) of a group of twenty-somethings making their way through
the Australian Wilderness.
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| Broome to Darwin |
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