Easter 2018 at Parry Creek Farm

Desperate to get away for the first camping for 2018, we decided to go to Parry's Creek Farm. We have visited there before but not camped. We knew that Easter would be hot so the idea of a pool and a pub was very appealing. We left on Saturday afternoon as Linda had to work. Being so close we were there by 2:30 and set up by 3:00. We hit the pool at 3:05PM. Later Linda went for a walk and I sat near our camp, enjoying the sounds of birds and distant rumbling thunder. I was apprehensive that we might get a Kimberley drenching but also peacefully calm listening to the sounds of nature and winding down for a long weekend by reading Kings in Grass Castles - the epic story of how members of the Irish Durack Family drove cattle from Queensland to The Kimberley's in the 1800's to establish a giant cattle empire. It took them a massive 2 years, fighting weather, disease and getting lost to get here and interestingly they established a settlement on the site of Parry Creek Farm but that is for another blog.

 

We were the only campers all weekend!



DAY ONE

Each day we got up very early so that Linda could photograph birds. I enjoy just being in the environment where she is working;

 I usually take a chair and a book and just BE.

We decided to go just down the road to try to photograph the Gouldian Finch - a very rare and endangered bird that congregates near water and grasslands. We packed all the things we needed to make breakfast and ate it on the side of the road. There were 100's of dragonflies which signals that the dry season is imminent and the sound of all the birds were deafening. 

 

Later in the day when it became really hot, we went for a drive in the air-conditioned comfort of our workhorse Prado called Lizzie. We love exploring hidden tracks; hoping to find that perfect spot to photograph something special. We decided to go down Old Halls Creek road; parts of which was built by convicts and of which can still be found after over one hundred years of wet season flooding and extremely high temperatures that is The Kimberley region.

We didn't find any evidence of the old road pavers but we did stumble across this boab that had been relocated to make way for some road works that are scheduled soon.

I call him Malcom or Donald

 DAY TWO

We got up super early (4:30am) to capture a sunrise over some water, with boabs and birds thrown into the mix and we were not disappointed.

Looking west at completely different colors

Looking east as the sun rises over a billabong



Full moon setting in the east over Lizzie


 
Woodsy in her element

 DAY THREE

 Another very hot day

As a way to escape the heat, we decided to go for a drive to Wyndham, only about 30 minutes away.

Wyndham was established primarily buy the Durack's (and Co) as a way to gain access to the Kimberley's from the sea instead of across wild terrain.

We drove up The Bastion to the Five Rivers Lookout. We were lucky enough to have a clear 360 degree view of the Durack, Pentecost, King, Forrest and Ord rivers and the Cambridge Gulf.

These rivers all eventually empty into the Timor Sea.

 

An ancient sea bed and cliff face

 

The mouth of the Ord River; emptying into the Cambridge Gulf and then into the Timor Sea.

 

 

It was great to explore more of the East Kimberley region of Western Australia and enjoy the hospitality of Parry Creek Farm.

Well worth visiting if you are in The Kimberley's