Road Trip Outback: The Kimberly and Broome

Summary: long drive – hit Indian Ocean, Super Bowl Monday!

The jungle tour is officially over. We have raced across the wet top of Australia in 6 days (counting a lazy day in Darwin) and outrun most of the rain that could delay our trip. We’re in Western Australia. It is still sultry, steamy hot, but we are on the shores of the Indian Ocean. Morning came at about 6:10 as the birds went nuts and this got light quite quickly. After a quick call with Aneta, we were on our way. Every Australian we met (plus a New Yorker serving us dinner) was delightful, friendly, engaging and outgoing. Our drive was through more of the same canyons and so forth. We can within 30 km of the Bungle Bungle Range, but did not catch sight of them. It did not rain until late afternoon (like most days), but we still had to pass a couple creeks that flowed onto the road. Most are engineered that way (as Floodways), the odd part is that we would pass dry creek after dry creek, followed by one putting 4 inches (10cm) on the road, then yet more dry ones. None were treacherous, just noteworthy. This is an absolutely beautiful drive from the Victoria River through the Kimberly, yet almost nobody lives here. Kununurra was the one town we went through that deserves the title “town” (population maybe 2,000?). Fitzgerald Crossing looked quite nice. The thing is, none of them have any people. I don’t get it, maybe the other seasons are different, but they have scenery, mining, water, and the closest location to Australia’s export market… and the entire population between Timber Creek and Broome could fit in a college basketball arena. The Victoria River certainly could entertain as many tourists as Katherine and Kakadu do. Odd.

Anyhow, most who know me know that I can spot a Starbucks in a town that I’ve never been to, just on vibe. Well, since we won’t see one until Adelaide, I’ve turned that off, but I can normally figure out the Town Center. Well, I must have ambled around Broome for half an hour until I found an open BP station (Sunday PM) which directed me to a sweet hotel. We have a great view, we’re next to the pool. Life is good.

Enjoy the photos, especially the “fist” cloud formation (lower cloud formation, not all of the clouds...it looked like a cross between a fist and a bomb cloud, indicating my imminent arrival in Broome). Odd part – it rained from so high that when I got out of the cloud shadow, it stared raining in the sunlight for about 5-7 minutes. Odd.

Well, few things say Super Bowl like a Monday morning eating vegemite on toast as the sun rises on the Indian Ocean, but that is my scene for the Super Bowl. Aussie radio has given decent coverage, but I am glad I’ve missed the 2 weeks of “is this the best team ever? Would this be the largest upset ever? Is Tom Brady the greatest QB ever to breathe air?” I will miss the commercials, because these guys don't charge $2.5 mil per 30 seconds, so we'll probably get local Ford dealer ads.

Right now I am trying to get my images uploaded before my card runs out. I am sitting outside being mauled by crickets (Crikey!)

Lastly, thanks to my wife, we can show one video from the Devils marbles: http://www.youtube.com/v/XqH_-clxYY4