Engorged

Monday 8th September - Hello World! Back to civilisation and an internet connection after 7 days without even a mobile phone signal (except for a brief 20 minutes while standing at a viewpoint on the Gibb River Road along with several other people holding up their phones and saying "if you stand the other side of the truck I get 3 bars on Telestra"). We've now "done the Gibb", arrived in Broome and covered about 2,850km since leaving Darwin, much of it on unsealed roads which varied from fairly smooth but noisy through to make sure your seat belt is secure and hold on tightly to the seat in front as the truck lurches about wildly. The Gibb River Road was constructed so that cattle could be taken to the shipping ports by truck instead of being driven overland. Paul, our farmer fellow passenger, told us his father used to be a drover and could be away for up to 8 months at a time. The trouble with driving cattle is that they lose condition (and thus value) as they walk, which is why they now travel by double-decker road train.

The Gibb provides access to some incredible country - you want gorges? We can do you gorges by the dozen, and chasms, falls, creeks and tunnels. However we started more gently on our second day in Kunnanurra by going on a coach trip up to see Lake Argyle, a man-made lake 50km wide created by damming the Ord River to create a vast irrigation project - which is currently being used to grow mostly Sandalwood. The dam itself is only 300m wide yet holds back enough water at its maximum to fill 80 Sydney Harbours - they don't seem to acknowledge the more generally understood standard units of London Buses, Royal Albert Halls or Wales - it works out at 230,000 Albert Halls, or it would cover an area the size of Wales to a depth of just over six inches. The dam complements an earlier one downstream where the irrigation water is fed off creating a permanent comparatively slowly flowing river for the 50km back to Kunnunarra. Previously the river varied from almost disappearing in the dry, to becoming a raging torrent when a cyclone deposits up to 400mm of water in 24 hours.

The journey back down the river was on a swish catamaran powered by two 350HP V8 outboards driven enthusiastically by a young man called Dan(?) who grew up on the river. We shot downstream at up to 70kph pausing at various points to look at wildlife (freshies, bats, lots of birds), learn about the history, and on one occasion get off for al fresco tea and cakes. Our earlier encounters with flying foxes were put into the shade by viewing large colonies along the river and news of a roost a short way away holding about 2 million bats, which we later saw dispersing at dusk - they filled the sky. Another highlight was using torches to pick up the eyeshine of crocodiles that night - we found several within a few metres of the bank at the edge of the campsite. We were assured that they were freshies which pose no danger as long as you don't disturb them - so no midnight dips were taken.

More, plus piccies, to come soon.