I've done all the dumb things (Sydney, Launceston, Penguin, Rocky Cape and Stanley)

It's that time of year again, you know, when just lying in bed thinking about the day ahead makes you break into a sweat, dear reader. Ah, Sydney humidity, you are not my friend. What to do? Head for Tasmania and another trek with Trek Tours Australia. We, Dave and I, loved the Larapinta experience so much last year, we decided to join them on an exploration of the the Tarkine in north-west Tassie. A much cooler option.

A security guard at the airport asked me a question I'd never been asked previously, as I dropped my bag to go through the x-ray machine ... "Do you have metal hips or knees?" "Sorry?" I replied. Question repeated. Ah, no. He directed me to the body scanner. Ageist!

Just to mess with my brain, Qantas surprised us by having the plane leave on schedule and arrive on time in Launceston, just after the Virgin flight touched down, which made for a very crowded luggage collection area. Interestingly the airport people thought having all the luggage from both flights being unloaded on to the same carousel would provide some Friday afternoon amusement. They tired of that quickly enough and moved all the Qantas people to a different (the other) carousel. 30 minutes later we were in a taxi and heading for the city.

The 'fixed' price fee proved not so fixed and there was a surcharge that wasn't listed on the information at the airport. So, $39 magically became $49. We will be using Uber for the return journey.

The Grand Chancellor Hotel is, well, grand. It is just a place to sleep before our 7:30am pick up tomorrow. A quick search of places to eat for dinner, and cafés that would allow us to purchase food prior to 7am and we were off to reconnoitre the neighbourhood. Dinner at the Schnitty Bar was more than passable and then it was back to the hotel.

Banjos Bakery was one of the few places open, where we could get breakfast. A mere five minute walk from the hotel. A brekky pie and "traditional sausage roll" for breakfast. Worth the walk and popular with the locals even at 6:30am.

Back at the hotel, we waited for the Trek guides and met a couple of fellow travellers. On the bus we did the rounds of a couple of other hotels to pick up the remainder of our group. We are 9 in total plus 2 guides. As we wended our way up the hill out of Launceston, I realised I had left my phone (with all my cards) in the foyer of the hotel. Hence today's title, Paul Kelly from 1987. Dave made a quick phone call and my phone was soon secured and living in the hotel safe.

Dr Who visits Penguin.

First stop was Penguin for supplies and coffee. A beautiful little town on the coast, the locals are obviously proud of its name - there were penguins everywhere. Not the live variety, paintings and statues. They even had a tardis. The coffee at the Post Office or Letterbox, whatever it was named, was excellent.

A penguin with a cause.

From Penguin we drove to Rocky Cape National Park for lunch. Sort of. Lunch was the reward for walking down to a remote beach. As National Parks go, it is not particularly popular with locals or tourists and Nick, our lead guide, was surprised that we came across more than one person on the track in (we saw no one on the way out). It is quite a delightful walk through the varying vegetation.

We're heading down there somewhere.

The track to the beach was well worn but narrow due to the lack of foot traffic. The heath gave way to some magnificent views of the coast. Then tide was low and the rocks were visible, the crystal clear water was spectacular shades of blue. It all looked very inviting, except for the temperature.

Wandering to the lunch spot.

On reaching the beach we turned to the west and scrambled across the seaweed, shells, sand and hundreds of cuttlebones that littered the shore. They were everywhere and of all sizes. Some of us went for a wander across the rocks to the water’s edge. The tide here is around 2 metres and where we had lunch would be covered by water later in the afternoon. I managed to snap a yellow-tailed black cockatoo sitting in a banksia.

My totem.

A dust covered frog.

The alternative to following the track back to the bus was to take the Loop walk which added a further 3kms to the walk and ensured different views back to the coast but also out over the hinterland. The down side was that we had to climb the mountain rather than cutting across the side. It was steep and it was hot and we were out in the open and at times the air was still. Was it worth it? A straw poll of our group suggested the jury was still out. I loved it.

As usual, the difficulties would be forgotten as soon as we were back on board the bus and heading for Stanley. The weather had been reasonably benign so far. We’d had cloud, sunshine and a few very quick, very light showers of rain. Mostly we had sunshine.

Pretty, but very cold.

Our accommodation at Stanley was in cottages owned by the local (read only) hotel in town. There were three cottages, two next to each other and one a 10 minute walk away. We were dropped at our accommodation and agreed to meet at the pub around 6:30pm for dinner. Nick kindly offered to pick us up.

Our cottage had three bedrooms, the single bathroom with clawfoot bath and a large eat-in kitchen. It also had three separate lounge/sunroom areas. It was furnished with a number of different period pieces and was adorned with museum pieces. Antique books graced the bookshelves, golf clubs with original wooden shafts, a collection of tennis racquets, and much more.

Our cottage, a living museum.

The pub was pumping when we arrived. It appears if you wish to eat out in Stanley, it is the only option. That said, the menu was a good mix of dishes, all locally sourced. As expected in the country, the serves were quite large and negated my interest in dessert.

Following dinner, we went to the viewing platform to check out the Little Penguins returning from a day’s fishing. We saw many and heard even more. One penguin ended up at the gated entrance to the walk and some clown who was not paying attention to where his feet were stepped on the penguin as he walked through the gate. The penguin squealed and shot down the walkway; he shouted and fell over.

Upon entering, we discovered the penguin trapped on the walkway with its head under the kick plate along the edge of the path. Nick swiftly removed him and dropped him onto the sand below. It scarpered away quickly, hopefully unharmed.

Back at the cottage, we repacked ready for tomorrow’s departure and happily stretched out in bed.

The reason we are exploring the Tarkine is on the recommendation of one of our guides from the Larapinta Trek last year. The posts covering our Tarkine experience are dedicated to that guide, Jonny Cunningham, a passionate advocate for the environment and an inspiration to those who had the privilege to walk with him. He is gone too soon. We will remember him every time we strap on our boots and head into the bush.

Jonny

Until tomorrow.

From Little Things Big Grow (Purnululu National Park to Kununurra, the Ord River and Lake Argyle)

Today we were facing another 6 hours in the bus plus the regular stops. Another long day, dear reader, that would land us at Kununurra Country Club by 5pm. This is to be our base for the next two nights.

After a morning tea stop that was eminently forgettable, we ended up back at Doon Doon Roadhouse for lunch. This time, however, we made use of the campground kitchen area, next door to the roadhouse, where the toilets were actually clean.

Frangipani flowers.

At some stage on the trip, one of our group noticed that our published itinerary was different to what we were doing. It was put down to computer error. In reality, it was computer operator error - they were obviously doing a cut and paste from the circular Broome to Broome trip into our tour and omitted to delete some of the activities from the other trip. It was with some disappointment that we discovered we would not be visiting the Kununurra distillery.

The Hoochery

Our guides had other ideas and, as we had been very prompt and punctual during the day, without notice, we found our tour vehicle pulling into a car park to allow us to visit the Hoochery as the distillery is named. They make various spirits such as a corn based whiskey, gin and rum. The painting behind the bar was reminiscent of a 1950s or 60s public bar from any early opening hotel in Australia. All class.

I'm not sure how this relates to the alcohol on sale.

Zebra Stone

After a few of the group sampled the wares and purchases were made, we decamped to the Kimberley Ornamental Stone Craft shop. Zebra stone is unique to the Kimberley and is used in jewellery, sculpture and some household wares such as cheese knives. It is quite an unusual stone and a high level of skill is required to work with it successfully. The most unusual carving was a massive crocodile about 1 metre in length. It had already been sold. The most twee item was a zebra carved in zebra stone. I see what they did there.

Ivanhoe Crossing

The final stop before the Country Club was the Ivanhoe Crossing on the Ord River. For reasons beyond my understanding this is a tourist spot. Perhaps because crocodiles frequent the area. Having been warned not to go near the water's edge, we managed the obligatory photos and returned to the bus safely to discover the carcass of a lengthy black snake behind the bus. It was probably a whip snake as the black snakes we get on the east coast are not endemic to WA.

The croc lives in this pool.

The Ivanhoe Crossing.

The Country Club

The Country Club is located next door to the Kununurra outdoor cinema. This proved to be a surprise as we left for dinner. I could hear the soundtrack to the movie but had no idea where the noise was coming from, until I stepped outside and could see the screen beyond the fence, between the trees.

No idea, but pretty.

We had pre-ordered dinner and the efficiency of the staff was such that the meals were arriving at the table prior to the guests and the appointed time for serving. Some members of our party came to the table to find their entrées already going cold. This was a curious piece of efficiency which they could have applied to the organisation of the bar. One person operated the till where all drinks had to be ordered, to then be served by another person, standing next to them behind the bar. Meals also had to be ordered with the same person. Consequently there was a queue out the door.

The main meals were enormous. I ordered a squid ink linguine and there was enough pasta and seafood on the plate to easily feed two or three people. Oversized serves really are a waste, but then again, this is WA, everything is oversized.

The Country Club appeared to be striving to be something that it is not and as a result just falls short of the mark. The extra large meals, the poor bar organisation, the rooms over crowded with furniture. In our case there was table and two chairs in our room. If we both sat at it, it was not possible to open the door or access the bed. Clearly there were issues with the level of the flor or the table legs and our table had been thoughtfully chocked for us.

Stylish and classy.

Coffee and Cockatoos

The following morning, during some rare free time, we went in search of coffee. Proper coffee. I eschewed the café recommended by our guides, as I had been burnt more than once by their perspective of 'good coffee'. We settled on the Wild Mango Café and I enjoyed a more than reasonable coffee. Finally.

Shortly after, I received a call from Kylie telling me of a flock of Red-tailed black cockatoos, not far from where we were. A quick trip back to the Country Club to grab my camera and I was off in search of these beautiful birds. Again, success. An excellent start to the day.

Flashing his red tail.

Not sure he wanted me around.

The Durack Museum, Lake Argyle and The Ord River Scheme

Later that morning, we were collected at the country club to go on a day trip. We had actually experienced this activity in 2019 as a part of the Ponant cruise. The only difference this time was that commenced in Kununurra rather than at the dam wall, so we travelled the river in reverse.

Never smile at a crocodile.

The Durack Museum, the re-built homestead salvaged from the rising waters as the lake formed behind the dam wall, was as uninspiring as I remembered it. It is a memorial to all things Durack. I noted in a previous post that "Australia's white history has a black past" well, that doesn't apply to the Kimberley. It's history is white as the driven snow. It commences with a Durack and concludes with a Durack and there are only white fellas in between. Aside from the occasional black stockman or stories of Vincent Lingiari. Who'd have thought this land had been continuously inhabited by the oldest living continual culture for over 60,000 years?

Today's title comes from the work of Vincent Lingiari and a collaboration between Kev Carmody and Paul Kelly, From Little Things Big Things Grow. You'll know when you hear it, but listen to the lyrics if you haven't before.

I'm batman.

The Lake Argyle is impressive and, as I have said before, the scheme appears to be one of the few positive things that white man has done for this country. It has worked better than the introduction of rabbits, foxes, cane toads, blackbirds, sparrows, lantana, black thorn, Patterson's Curse ... I could go on, but I think you get the point.

Australasian Darter.

The Ord itself is now an established waterway and wetlands, year round. Without the boom/bust cycles of the wet and dry seasons, local flora and fauna thrive. Birds, fish, freshwater crocodiles, wallabies, all are secure in their numbers.

Nankeen Night Heron.

The only criticism of the JJJ Tour was the same one guests made back in 2019. There was next to no recognition of indigenous association with the area. Last time there were complaints made and I was expecting, no, hoping, this would be rectified. Sadly not. The guide was very knowledgeable, although not from the area, and acknowledgement of the original inhabitants was restricted to two mentions. This is Durack country.

Azure Kingfisher.

The previous tour commenced on the water in the morning, today we finished at Kununurra with another overrated Kimberley sunset. There was much more bird life on the morning tour and if I had the choice, that would be my option. That said, I still enjoyed the cruise down the Ord.

Rock Wallaby.

An estuarine (salty) crocodile trap.

An Intermediate Egret on the wing.

Tonight is our last night in WA; tomorrow we cross into the Northern Territory.

Sunset on the river.

Until next time.