Feathered friends

One unexpected pleasure has been the amazing bird life on the trip but particularly in the Kimberleys. In retrospect I should have brought binoculars. Instead I've managed to take a few zoom pics and enlarged them for identification.

As mentioned in a previous post, we've been lucky enough to see Gouldian Finches and other endangered species. Further south in the Pilbara we constantly drove past wedge tailed eagles on the side of the road atop recent road kill. Such magnificent birds.

The sound of the west Kimberley was definitely the kites, and for a month we met these Great Bowerbirds at every stop. Unlike our southern bowerbirds these gather white and green objects and build bowers from sticks, often right in the middle of campsites. At Silent Grove we had a pair 2m away in a tree. He (below) kept flashing his brilliant blue nape feathers and throwing leaves at her but she was much more interested in us.

Great Bowerbird - image by Robyn Jay

But it's the Willy Wagtail who has followed us right around the nation. No matter where we are he's there to make sure we stay in line!

Fire

There's nothing quite like sitting around a warm campfire with a glass of port under the stars. However, we've had surprisingly few campfires on the trip with most national parks and conservation areas banning or restricting fire use.

Certainly people here have strong opinions about fire use and perhaps overuse in the Kimberley. Its about finding the right balance.

If you've ever lived in the top end and stood neck deep in spear grass towards the end of the dry season you'll know it feels like a tinderbox. Dry season burn offs have been part of aboriginal life for tens of thousands of years but today these include matches from cars and incendiary drops from helicopters.

Down at Mornington Wildlife Camp the AWC with some traditional owners has designed a fire program that also involves some stations and a fair extent of Central Kimberley. We were told of a huge fire a few years ago that swept from the NE down through the country blackening all country and burning for weeks. The new program burns the land in carefully selected patches early in the season so that when big late dry season fires do occur they don't cause as much devastation.

Of course it's not only the vegetation that suffers in a big fire. We were told the story of a collared feral cat at Mornington that normally has a restricted territory but which after a big fire traveled quite a large distance to patrol the edge of the fire front catching all the small fauna as they escaped, then returned back to its normal hunting ground.

Our journey into the Mitchell Plateau was a hazy one with burning ground and fallen trees along the track to the falls. In fact many places we've visited have been recently burnt and our feet are often black from sooty ground. Rising smoke and hazy skies are most definitely something to be expected traveling in the Kimberley in the Dry.

Fires coming into Kununurra

17,000 years in pictures

I've had an interest in Aboriginal rock art since studying it in high school so it has been amazing to stand in front of works throughout the Kimberley some thought to be up to 17000 years old (dated by carbon dating fossilised wasp nests on top of paint).

At school I remember all sorts of weird and whacky theories about the arts origins and meanings (Wandjinas relating to aliens etc) so it has also been good to read and hear some more informed details.

We've seen a range of styles, the mot common being the ancient animal and Guion Guion (Guyon or Bradshaw) figures and the much more recent Wandjinas with related spirit figures. Up on the Mitchell Plateau at the Munurru sites the art was accompanied by burial recesses.

Amazingly enough most sites are relatively unprotected and generally well appreciated and respected by travelers. The worst issue we have encountered has been bus loads of 4wd tours with ill informed and ignorant tour guides. Only certain ochre colours have survived; the yellow and white typically fading away.

This is our favourite panel from Munurru; elegant dancing Guyon tasseled figures. I am reliably informed that it's fine to capture and share these publicly available works. Please let us know if this is not the case.

Guyon figures at Munurru site, Mitchell Plateau

Stretching our limits

Now, I love driving and having spent time in the top end and regional areas I'm not new to being off-road. We've also got a 50mm lift and full under car protection.

So, as we neared Mt Elizabeth station we looked into visiting Bachsten camp via the Munja Track. We were advised not to take the camper trailer and instead booked in to stay in one of the camps cabins. 'It's 7-8 hrs' we were told.
So we set off, allowing 8 - 9 hrs of daylight. After stopping to view some rock art, and to find and recover the Go-pro after it's mount snapped and it fell off, we soon realised that we were way behind schedule.
And then we met the first of three jump ups.

Returning up the Magpie jump up on the Munja Track

For the uninitiated, essentially a jump up is a steep, rocky incline/ascent into or out of a gully area. The three on the Munja track were about 3-5 kms from entry to exit. Now I can honestly say that had I known just how rough they were I probably would not have ventured forth. Certainly as we're approached the Magpie jump up the words 'Steph, I'm not sure this was such a good idea!' passed my lips. And of course it was foremost in our minds that we also had to return!

So with sweat on our brows and fear in our hearts we lurched forward metre by metre, often with one person directing via radio from in front of the car. Amazingly we got there and back relatively unscathed. 

The trip over ended up taking us 10 hrs  to cover the 140km and Steph bravely 'soldiered' on in the dark with me hanging a torch out the side window to be able to see around sharp corners. Coming back we managed 8.5 hrs! (The owner takes 6 hrs btw).

Was it worth it you ask? Absolutely!

Marvellous Mornington

A real highlight of our trip so far has been Mornington Camp about 90km south of the Gibb River Rd in Central Kimberleys. It's actually near the head waters of the Fitzroy River that we met near its mouth and again at Fitzroy crossing and Geiki Gorge.

Mornington is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (http://www.australianwildlife.org ) established more than 10 years ago because Australia has the worst mammal extinction rate in the world and a very high proportion of our surviving animals and plants (over 1,700 species) are listed as threatened with extinction.
AWC seeks to establish sanctuaries by acquiring land and through partnerships with landholders and implement practical land management – feral animal control and fire management – informed by good science.
Large stations in this area have been purchased by individuals and then pastoral leases taken out that enable AWC to do their work.

We were lucky enough to see the endangered Gouldian Finches and Purple Crested Wrens and spent a day as guaranteed sole inhabitants canoeing on Sir John Gorge. Magic.

Canoe trip on Sir John Gorge, Mornington