Frangipanis, Camels, and Sunsets

Australia just gets better and better...

Let me take you on a special trip. 

Across thousands and thousands of miles of dry and barren land all the way to the very northwest corner of Australia. The loved Kimberley region is one of nine regions that make up the vast state of Western Australia.  The Kimberley Region is a 163,000 mile expanse of land that is known for its beautiful colors during sunrise and sunset that fill the sky and amaze even the locals who get to enjoy it everyday.  The region is three times the size of England and was named after the Kimberley diamond fields in South Africa due to the similar landscape and the similar discovery of diamond fields.

We flew four hours west of Melbourne to Perth, WA.  From there we hopped on a small Qantas jet that took us two hours north to our weekend getaway. Broome is a sparkling seaside town full of natural beauty that you can only find in the Kimberley Region of the outback. It is a tiny little dot in the southwest corner of the region with a a population of 15,000.  Broome used to be known for its pearling and mining industry and has since become a popular holiday destination due to its colors, climate, and the famous Cable Beach. With the tropical climate comes a wet season, which is very wet and a dry season, which is quite dry and hot during winter. We visited Broome in the middle of March, which turned out to be the most perfect time. The wet season was on its way out and we had been told it had ended a little early, so we had no rain, and since dry season, which was peak tourist season, had not officially started, the town was quiet. No rain, no tourists and just a long empty beautiful beach for us to enjoy.

We arrived at the tiny Broome airport just prior to sunset and on our way to our hotel, in a minute the darkening blue sky burst into the most beautiful colors that inspired Jaime and I to both say “Wow!” at the exact same time. 

We settled into the Bali Hai, an Indonesian-inspired hotel lined with Frangipani trees, that upgraded us to our own little villa with the traditional open-aired outdoor 'Mandi' shower. Which Jaime enjoyed several times each day and night as it was really hot in Broome. 

Entrance to our villa

Artsy frangipanis!

As a small tourist town, there are only a few restaurants. We went to the one local restaurant/pub the night we arrived but after that we mainly ate the Old Zoo Cafe, which was delightful for every meal. It's crazy, but each time we were excited to go back to see what they were serving! 

We drove a few kilometers down the main highway to check out the red sandstone cliffs at Gantheaume Point. Broome, like the rest of the region and most of WA, appears red and dry. However the contrast of the red earth with the blue sky and the stunning red rocks with the sparkling blue sea is magnificent. (The colors don't show up as well when uploaded to the blog).  This is the southernmost point of Cable Beach, where you can walk aboriginal heritage trails, see 130-million-year-old dinosaur footprints at low-tide, and visit Anastasia's pool, a rock pool carved out of the stone by the lighthouse keeper for his arthritic wife. This pool fills up during high-tide and allowed her to bathe in the clear waters of the Indian Ocean at low-tide to ease her ailments. 

Red Earth

Anastasia's Pool

We spent the rest of the day enjoying Cable Beach. 14 miles of soft white sand and we were practically the only ones there! The water was invitingly warm and just cool enough to refresh you from the 10 minutes you could bear to sit in the hot outback sun. Low-tide during the day allowed for much exploring of marine life around the rocks. And the day was ours. 

View of Cable Beach just past the rocks

Towards dusk we hurried back to our hotel to change and for Jaime to take another outdoor shower, grabbed dinner at the Old Zoo, and headed for our highlight of the weekend. Broome, known for its beautiful sunsets, is also really well-known for the viewing of its sunsets on an hour long camel ride along Cable Beach. It was awesome! Our camel was named Ghan, after the Great Southern Rail that travels across the heart of Australia. Ghan was a sturdy and sure-footed gentle giant who has been walking up and down Cable Beach for 15 years. It was a wonderful experience all around, from the people, to the camels, to the beautiful scenery, it couldn't have been better.  

Ghan and I getting acquainted

Our waiting caravan

Huge feet!

As the sun began to set the sand and sea sparkled bright. 

As it got lower and darker, the sun became the only shimmering light and commanded full attention.

The sun disappeared from the horizon and all of a sudden the sky literally burst into fiery colors...

First fiery orange and yellow...

That began to fade into a soft purple/pink...

That mixed together into perfect layers of colors that magically illuminated the entire sky before dramatically fading into the night.  

Jaime and our boy with an exquisite grand finale!

The next day we had plenty of time for more outdoor showers, breakfast at the Old Zoo and a 20 minute drive down a dry, red road to a little town called 12 mile that housed a tiny establishment called The Mango Place. This little hut sat amongst the shade of tons of mango trees. After the mangoes are picked they are put in a machine that peels and removes the pit so all you are left with is the pulp. They then take the pulp and put it in the blender to make the most delicious mango smoothie, perfect for a hot day! And it didn't stop there, mango everything was carefully crafted, Mango jam, chilli, chutney, vinegar, dressing, tea, ice cream, fudge, candy, and wine. It was a mango-lovers dream. 

Red creek running along the Broome Highway

The Mango Place

Wallabies among the mango plantations

We then took our time and reluctantly headed to the little Broome airport for our flight back to Perth. Broome was one of our most favorite spots and there were still things we hadn't seen. Three nights each month, from March to October, when conditions are just right the full moon rises over exposed mud flats at extremely low-tide creating the optical illusion of a staircase to the moon. 

The sun began to set as we boarded the plane. We were sad to leave such a special, peaceful and wonderful remote place but as we flew southward, level with the horizon, the sky burst into colors for a special send-off. I gazed out my window until the very last spec of color faded and then a brilliant star-studded sky, bright as ever, took over the night. 

We love Broome!

And more Ashstralia!

The day after our Great Barrier Reef tour was warm and sunny and we had the whole day to explore the coast. We started with brunch on the esplanade in Palm Cove where they somehow made my scrambled eggs look like oatmeal. Not quite sure how they got them so brown or so small! But they tasted like eggs. We set off North along a scenic coastal drive.

We arrived in Port Douglas, which is known as the ‘posh’ area of the coast with beautiful resorts and expensive beach homes. The main strip was busy with quaint cafes and shops and a weekend open-air market at the end. After seeing all the coconut trees on the drive, I was really hoping there would be fresh coconuts for delicious drinking! Jaime assured me he would find some. And soon enough, I had a cold and furry little coconut with a straw poking out. 

The coconut water was so good and we stayed and talked with the farmer who told us all about coconuts. I had no idea there was so much to know. By the time I was fully educated and Jaime promised me we could someday plant our own coconut tree, I finished my water and the farmer then cracked the coconut in half and shredded the flesh with a hand blender and topped it off with a sliced local organic banana and some honey. YUM!

We continued on the road and headed toward Mossman Gorge. Mossman Gorge is a scenic section of the Daintree Wet Tropics Heritage Park.  February is still considered wet season for Queensland but we had perfect weather with not a drop of rain. The coast has ocean on one side and complete rainforest on the other and Mossman Gorge is one of those rainforest areas that you are guaranteed rain. We drove out of blue sky into the rainforest canopy and once we reached the road to Mossman Gorge it began to pour! At one point a small stream was rushing over the road and rising fast. We figured we could get by the small flood now but if the rain kept up we might have gotten stuck on the other side so we took some pics and opted out of the road to Mossman Gorge.

Further north, the roads were lined with sugar cane on one side and coconut trees on the other with vast rainforest covered mountains towering behind. We passed through a quiet Aboriginal town and Steph and I took a ride on the zip line swings at the local playground.

As we went further north the road became more covered by rainforest and we knew that most of the swampy areas we passed by were likely inhabited by saltwater crocs! Saltwater crocodiles are huge and ruthless and will stalk and eat pretty much anything. This is one animal you never want to run into. I explained that Australian signage is very accurate and the warnings will say saltwater crocs MAY inhabit this area in most of the areas in this part of Australia to keep you alert vs. signs that state: Crocodiles INHABIT this area, to ensure no messing around.

We stopped into a roadside cabin for a boat ride down the mucky river to see if we could spot some crocs, but we were told since it was so warm the crocs stay in the water and they couldn’t promise we would see any. So we continued on towards Cape Tribulation. The roads became more shaded by forest and the only water we could see was the occasional swampy river banks, no croc sightings, although the boys were looking! We took the car ferry over the Daintree river and into the Daintree Rainforest. The road was narrow and windy and flourishing with vegetation and all sorts of butterflies and wildlife that all enjoy the cool, moist air.

Our first stop was the Daintree Ice Cream Company, which is a tiny ice cream shack surrounded by crops of the natural ingredients that they use to make their ice cream. You don’t get to order, you just get a cup of 4 different flavors of ice cream.  Black Sapote- tastes like chocolate, Wattleseed- mocha/coffee flavor, Soursop- light strawberry taste, and Mango/Jackfruit which is like a mango/pineapple gelato. It was interesting and delicious!

 We then made our way to one of the rainforest walking tracks to check out the scenery.

The next day we left Cairns and headed to Sydney. Our friend Sharon took us on a fabulous walking day tour of Sydney that included the Botanic Gardens, bustling Sydney Fish Market with all the seafood you could possibly imagine, Darling Harbor, bubble tea in Chinatown, and of course Circular Quay with evening views of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge.  It was a big day in the Sydney news due to the docking of the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary, the two largest cruise ships, arriving in Sydney on the same day.

Sydney Fish Market Fish!

Sydney Chinatown

Old-Time Photography by Tony

Queen Elizabeth compared to a tug boat (that little white spot)

The highlight of our Sydney adventure was the beautiful morning we had on our last day in town. We met up with Sharon at Bondi Beach and started the fabulous coastal walk. The perfect place to start your day. The walk begins at Bondi Beach and takes you to Tamarama and Bronte Beach while taking in amazing coastal views and the sparkling blue water. It was a beautiful day for walking and swimming and for Tony to further his sand collection that he decided to begin on his Ashstralia adventure.

Bondi Beach, the beginning of our walk

Bondi Iceberg saltwater pool

Sandstone, carved by years of nature

Perfect spot!

Surfers at Bronte Beach

That afternoon we were headed back to our hotel to grab our bags and catch our flight back to Melbourne. On the way out of Bondi we got on the wrong bus, which we only realized almost an hour later as the view of the Harbor Bridge and Opera House where getting smaller and smaller and when we arrived at Watson’s Bay and it was the last stop on the bus. We got ourselves organized and waited for the bus to take us back. Inadvertently we did arrive at The Gap, which gave us spectacular panoramic views of Sydney! Our detour took so long that we were in quite a rush to get to the airport for our flight back to Melbourne. Luckily our flight was delayed and we made it with plenty of time, but the rushing around was definitely worth the entertainment of Tony running through the airport at top speed with all his gear.

Sadly the Waltos adventure was coming to an end but not before Steph and Tony took a few trips to the market for some gifts and ingredients for Tony, the Italian Stallion, to make us a delicious pasta dinner with his family recipe for the best Bolognaise sauce ever!

Their last night in town, we took a stroll down to St. Kilda to try to get a peek at our resident fairy penguins, which we were able to spot in the rocks and even walking down the walkways of the pier.

We had an unforgettable trip full of laughs and all sorts of first-time experiences and adventures. Our many thanks goes to the Waltos for being such fabulous company with the nonstop entertainment and endless laughter that we love so much. Love you guys!