Landscapes – Kevins Adventures in Life and IT

Mitchell Falls

Mitchell Falls is one of the iconic images of the Kimberley, and really inspired the entire trip. The amazing pictures of the rest of the area and comments from people who had been firmed up the desire. Official information can be found at https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/mitchell-river

After a fuel stop at Drysdale River Station and a quick call home before no contact with the outside world for a few days it was onto an ungraded section of road for a few hours, before driving through lush rainforest into Mitchell Falls National Park and onto the campground. The drive in was the worst so far, lots of wash outs, sun setting directly ahead blinding us on the drive in and hills that made seeing oncoming vehicles impossible.

As had become the norm we arrived just before sunset, set up the camp for a few days and kicked back with a couple of ice cold beverages, and started a fire and bbq. On the drive in we had stopped outside the National Park to get some firewood.

We woke early the next day and headed straight to the helicopter booking office to organise a one way trip from the top back to camp. At $150 each this took a bit of thought however I can say that it was honestly the best money spent on the trip. Flights organised we grabbed our day packs and started walking through the bush. Continue reading “Mitchell Falls”

80 Mile Beach

First off, I don’t know how long the beach actually is, wikipedia claims it is 140 miles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighty_Mile_Beach.

I do know it is stunning and that it is the only time in my life that I think I’ll have access to as much beach as this with no one else present.

The reason why – the drive to get here. It was horrendous. We left Karijini, refueled at Port Hedland, and then turned off at the sign for the caravan park, before taking what I can only describe as the “wrongest” turn on the trip so far. We’ve spent hours backtracking across a station to get here, all of the roads appear to be unused for a significant period of time, and the fields of kangaroos and cattle don’t appear to know what to make of us in our trucks. Given the chance though I’d do it all again. This place is stunning, and we really are spoilt in WA with our choice of beaches, this appears to be one of the best. Continue reading “80 Mile Beach”

Karijini

We’ve spent the last few days in Karijini National Park enjoying walks, climbs, and the gorges there.

On the day of arrival we ended up sleeping in the overflow day parking lot as this was the first weekend of school holidays. Whilst there was barely enough room to swing a cat between campsites, this has worked out in my favour as a sparky was in the camp opposite and came over when he saw me fiddling with my dual battery setup. More on this in a separate post, needless to say it worked out extremely well for me, with about an hour of free work. Continue reading “Karijini”

Captains Log

Cardate 001

After a later than planned start due to packing taking a couple of hours longer than I planned, I got on the road. By this stage Neal and Amber were two hours ahead of me in their truck Brienne, an ugly blond hilux that may be familiar from the #RescueRanger entry.

I made a quick loop North to Joondalup and grabbed some last minute supplies (beer and food) and then started the drive proper, overtaking mining equipment that was going around 30kmh whenever I could. The next stop was Dalwallinu for fuel, where a local kindly pointed out the turn off for Great Northern Highway in the next town along. This was to be my last turn for the day. Continue reading “Captains Log”

Lost and Found

I was lucky enough to spend the latest weekend at Cervantes, a small fishing community about two hours North of Perth. Cervantes isn’t as well known as Lancelin or Margaret River, but has a charm all of its own. The biggest reason visitors head there is to see the Pinnacles, a petrified forest at the nearby Nambung National Park. Anyone familiar with Billy Connolly, the Scottish comedian, and his tour of Australia will no doubt be familiar with these standing stones and his naked dance around them.

I went to the Pinnacles for a slightly different reason, although I did pitch the idea of the dance I was knocked back by my better half. The West Australian Opera performed in the desert, which was an amazing experience. The venue was suitably spooky. Continue reading “Lost and Found”