Kununurra, WA

We have made it to Kununurra. We're nearly at the end of our WA experience as the NT border is only 40kms from here. But it's still a while off yet as we plan to be here for 2 months or so. Chris will be involved in putting up a kithome.
We have only been here a week, but we feel so comfortable we feel like we've been here for months. Everyone has been so welcomming and friendly and we've been invited along to all sorts of events. The girls have made some lovely new friends and I've joined the womens bible study and I take Lucy to a music program each week. We even joined the local library! I've also been invited to speak at a children's ministry day. It's a great town and we look forward to our time here. We're still having a Summer type of Winter with 38 degrees predicted this week!! We just can't believe that this is the middle of Winter!

Gary and Nikki take us for a cruise down the Ord River. Gary used to do Ag camps with Chris and is the minister here at St James Anglican, Kununurra.

The gorgeous Ord River. We had such a lovely afternoon out here. The scenery all around us was just stunning.

The Ord River as the sun is going down. Gary would watch the tour boats and know the best places to sit on the river and watch the sunset. It was so peaceful.

The girls have a craft lesson with Michelle. Michelle and her husband are from Wollongong and travelling like us, helping out at different churches along the way. Her husband Bob did some work with Chris. She is teaching the girls to make gorgeous little paper flowers.

Here's some of the fruit of their labour. Pretty impressive I say!! We were left with plenty of cut outs to make more of these pretty flowers later on. The girls had a great afternoon.

Watch this space!!! This is what we came to do in Kununurra. A kithome arrives this week. Chris will work with a team of guys to build a home for the assistant minister. At the moment there's just bare dirt!

While he waits for the kithome to arrive, Chris turns a storeroom into an office.

Bungle Bungles-Purnululu National Park

The Bungle Bungles is a place I'd always seen on the travels shows and thought I'd love to see. It was very special to be there. They really did blow us away, it's hard to come up with words to describe it. The road in was rough and took a while but it was worth it! We camped for 3 nights and did all the walks. The nights were really something too. The sky was so dark and black and the stars were brilliant. Chris and I would sit out and watch the shooting stars. The Kimberley is just getting better and better. Such a stunning part of Australia.

Walking into Cathedral Gorge. Depending on where the sun was you got such a different perspective. We did this walk in the afternoon and again the next morning

As the sunset the colours were amazing. This rock was highlighted!

Because of the late and unseasonal rain there were lots of flowers still around. We heard a few tour guides say they hadn't seen it this beautiful at this time of year before. Lucky us!

Yay!!! We're in the Bungle Bungles! More walks for the girls. They've had a very active but exciting school holidays.

Here's a bit of a closer photo to show the lines on the domes. It's not like anything we've ever seen. We stood in awe of God's creation.

A nice family shot with the amazing Bungle Bungles behind us. We came to this lookout and all just said WOW!!!

I could have just wandered through here all day with my mouth wide open. They were awesome!

Having a picnic at the Kungkalanyi Lookout in Purnululu National Park. As the sun went down it highlighted the rocks behind the girls. They changed colour before our eyes to a brilliant orange, just stunning!

Bridget walking into Echidna Chasm. The sun is just starting to shine in.

In Echidna Chasm. You do the walk about midday and wait for the sun to come right overhead so the light streams down the chasm.

Walking into Echidna Chasm

I was struck by the contrast of the red rocks, blue sky and green palms. Just beautiful.

Aaaah! I love this country. It's normally brown and dry at this time in the dry season, but there had been late and unseasonal rain so it was still beautiful and green.

Lucy and I enjoying another Kimberley sunset.

Geike Gorge at Fitzroy Crossing. We went for a walk and came back via the water as the sun was going down. Very nice.

After all the rain that fell in Derby we thought we wouldn't be able to get to Fitzroy crossing. But the roads were open so we went. We stayed the night in Fitzroy crossing and spent the afternoon at Geike Gorge.

Our first flat tyre in nearly 6 months on the road. And it wasn't on rough dirt road like we would have thought, it was a straight bit of tar. In the photo Chris is trying to pull a big chunk of metal that popped the tyre.

Any chance our girls get they'll organise a concert! Here they are dancing with Joy.

Here are some new friends we've made. We were fortunate enough to stay out on their station for a couple of days. We had a fantastic time and were well looked after. We hope to stay in contact with them.

6 days along the GIBB RIVER RD

We thought we wouldn't be able to experience the Gibb River Rd as we weren't keen to shake the van to bits! Thankfully we found somewhere to leave the van and off we went with our tents. The road was so much better than we expected and the gorges blew us away!!!! We had an exhausting but fantastic 6 days exploring 'The Kimberley'. We went as far as Barnett River and plan to do the other half from Kununurra. Sorry, but there are quite a lot of photos. There were lots of highlights! Thanks God for your awesome creation!

Our first walk into a gorge. This one was Lennard River gorge. We thought it was nice but we had no idea what was still to come. The Gibb River Rd is full of amazing gorges!!

Loads of fun in Bell Gorge!!

Chris enjoying the waterfall. We were able to swim a fair way down the gorge and came across little waterfalls.

Wow!! There are so many gorgeous gorges along the Gibb River Rd, but Bell Gorge was our favourite! Can you see why?

Sisterly love! Oh and the lovely waterfall behind.

How much fun...a rock slippery dip. Claire and Chris thought so!

Our little dare devil. Bridget started on lower jumps and kept moving higher until she reached this one that the big kids were doing. Dad led the way and did it first.

This was the top of Bell Gorge. We could just stand there all day....such a great view.

These beautiful Boab trees lined the Gibb River Rd. They were all so unique.

There were quite a few creek crossings. If there's this much water in the dry season, the Gibb River Rd would be a site to see in the wet season.

We packed up camp and drove further along the Gibb River Rd. Today it started to rain. We walked into Galvin's gorge and sat and enjoyed the scenery while we had morning tea. Nice.

A typical shot of 'The Kimberley'. Such beautiful country. It was a wet day and we were getting cold, but we were so glad we kept going and found this gorge. Just as beautiful up the top as down the bottom!

Lucy wasn't going to jump off cliffs like her sisters but she wasn't missing out on this fun. Barnett River gorge.

In Barnett River gorge we found this rope swing. The girls had a ball and played on it for what seemed like hours!

This is the start of the walk into Manning gorge. They have these esky's for you to put your gear in while you wade across the river. We didn't tell the girls 'til after, but there are crocs in this river. Chris and I went down with a torch at night and could see their red eyes shining. The ranger told us that they're well fed and not interested in us! Well that's nice to know!!

Yet another beautiful gorge-Manning gorge. This one had a big hike in, but our girls are pro bushwalkers now!! No wonder they slept well though.

Sunrise at Manning gorge. It wasn't hard to get this shot. Everyone in these campgrounds is up at 5:30-6am!! Crazy!

This was our humble abode for 6 days. The campgrounds that we stayed in were amazing. 4WD's would start rolling in by mid afternoon until it was packed, but by 7 or 8 next morning it was empty again. At this campground our neighbours were from Parkes!!

This is Tunnel creek. You walk through the 'tunnel' with your torch and even wade through water at times. It was really cool.

Is he smiling at us? I think he is. But we would never smile at a crocodile! These crocs were all along Windjana gorge. It was so great to be able to get so close to them. We'll have to warn the girls that saltwater crocs aren't quite so friendly!!

Are we meant to be this close to a croc???? Aaaah!!!! Don't worry, it's only a 'freshie'. They just sunbake all day!

Windjana Gorge. Just stunning!!

After 6 days of camping and hiking through gorge after gorge, Claire (and the other girls) were exhausted!!! We couldn't get her out of here to pack up!

Family Photos-Redell Beach, Broome

As a thankyou for the work we did at the church in Broome, Cathy took us down the beach for a photo shoot. What a great idea and a lovely way for us to remember our time in Broome (not that I think we'd forget!)