The Weekend West Saturday 29/08/2020 Page: 1 Section: Travel Region: , AU Circulation: 205782 Type: Capital City Daily Size: 8,568.00 sq.cms. press clip

Saturday, August 29, 2020

20-PAGE EDITION PULL OUT & KEEP

A WORLD OF EXPERIENCE Scratch the itch HOLIDAY IN WA 15-page Guide

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In a travel world temporarily Take a tour, or dine at a restaurant shrunk, WA’s broad horizons are you’ve never been to. proving a natural antidote. There are plenty of restaurants We have borderless road trips. and bars to chose from, including We have roads less travelled. those in hotels — particularly in We have places known and loved to the State Buildings next to St revisit and reconnect to. And we George’s Cathedral, from fine have plenty of surprises. dining at Wildflower to more We have holidays for families, casual Petition Kitchen (one of my couples going quickly, couples going favourites), to Pooles Temple jazz slowly, and solo travellers who bar in the basement. There’s want to be free and independent. Hearth at The Ritz-Carlton Perth, We also have this moment. When and plenty to chose from at Crown. WA is all ours. Before the world And there’s entertainment at the returns … State Theatre, Perth Concert Hall STEPHEN SCOURFIELD (WA Youth Orchestra, Beethoven Travel Editor 250), His Majesty’s Theatre (from Dracula to the Nightingale and Cosi fan tutte) and comedy clubs Perth (& surrounds) around Perth. Or just wander At the heart of WA, our city of in to the Art Gallery of WA, Perth glimmers on the banks of and enjoy the city’s cultural the Swan River, overlooked by precinct and Yagan Square. Kings Park and Botanic Garden. Get educated by taking a Ask just about any international tour, just as we might in visitor about the place (and I’ve other cities. For cultural seen plenty of surveys) and they tours, try Two Feet and A will tell you they love our big blue Heartbeat, GoCultural or sky, our parks and green spaces, Fremantle Tours. For the river. “And it’s so clean.” “And something more active, it’s so safe.” (And those last two GoGo Active Tours or look even more important now). Perth Waterbike This is just the sort of place Adventures. Walk and many people crave to visit, and live picnic in Kings Park, in. But familiarity breeds strolling through the contempt. When we travel, we Botanic Garden, past crave new and different the big Kimberley experiences. When we are at home, boab and across the we often undervalue what we have. Federation That’s just human nature. Walkway. Take Let’s review with fresh eyes, the kids (or refresh cultural ties, and reinvigorate our curiosity. Think of the city a bit separately grandchildren) to Naturescape or — Perth City, Northbridge, East May Drive Parklands, with its megafauna sculptures and play area, while you enjoy coffee at Zamia Cafe (another favourite). Perth, West Perth, Burswood. Then do an odd thing. Pretend you’ve never been here before.

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MANDURAH FREMANTLE For people in Perth and its With a European feel that comes suburbs, Mandurah offers a classic from Fremantle’s migrant “just-away-from-it-all” day trip, heritage, there is coffee alfresco, weekender, or holiday. great pubs and restaurants and You don’t have to go many plenty to see when you mooch kilometres to change the pace and about Fishing Boat and Challenger point of view. Environmentally, it’s CONTINUED PAGE 8 interesting, with ocean beaches one side, the Peel Inlet, and canals in between. FROM PAGE 3 And there’s a good chance to get harbours and Bathers Beach. Such a feel for that with boat cruises — as the Kidogo Arthouse, Bathers but even, better, I think, by joining Beach Art Precinct, and the WA experts on the ground, on guided Shipwrecks Museum, with its walks that teach about the relics from ships trashed along wetlands and wildlife of the WA’s treacherous coast, including Peel-Harvey estuary. timbers from the Batavia, wrecked After all, this estuarine system is in 1629. Then walk on over to the biggest in south-western Victoria Quay in Fremantle Australia, covering more than Harbour. 130sqkm, and is home to tens of thousands of birds. FREMANTLE ON THE LIST It’s 30 years since the Fremantle Arts Centre (with its Peel-Harvey Estuary was listed good Found shop and Canvas cafe), under the Ramsar Convention as Fremantle Prison tours, Fremantle an ecosystem and wetland of Markets, Little Creatures Brewery, international significance. the Round House, the other WA There’s a good variety of Maritime Museum, in Victoria accommodation to chose from, too, Quay, home to Australia II and the from family-style self-catering to submarine HMAS Ovens. luxury apartments.

ROTTNEST ISLAND SWAN VALLEY The ferry takes us somewhere Green is good. Winter is a treat in completely different. the Swan Valley. Food, wine, honey, Our little bit of overseas mead, chocolate and plenty of (without a passport). Yes, and green scenery at this time of year Rottnest Island has that feel of makes Swan Valley for day trips being away from it all. and short stays. I’d start with Swan Ride your bike to a quiet bay, Valley Visitor Centre — they’re full tuck in to a sunny nook and read a of ideas. For a full day out, head to book. Stay in comfort and really Whiteman Park. feel you’re on holiday. PERTH HILLS Perth (& surrounds) National and regional parks take us into the jarrah and marri forest, From saltwater to fresh; from with wandoo up on the gravel rises. beach to estuary to river. From Kalamunda (with its Zig From kwongan sandplain to Zag Cultural Centre) to jarrah forest. Mundaring, there are places to stay We have a strong mix of and plenty to see and do. environments on our doorstep. Follow the Bickley Valley Wine

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A kangaroo on the beach in Esperance. Picture: Stephen Scourfield

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A Vespa parked in Fremantle.

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The streets of multicultural Fremantle.

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St George’s Cathedral and adjacent State Treasury Buildings, Perth. PIctures: Stephen Scourfield

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FROM PAGE 5 Trail, walk a bit of the Bibbulmun Track, or go mountain biking. earth and rock, and the flickering For national parks, start with green and silver of the eucalypts of John Forrest, but add Beelu, the Great Western Woodlands, Gooseberry Hill National Park and Australia’s biggest temperate . Perth woodland (between Hyden and Hills Discovery Centre is a great Norseman). place to begin. But, down on the south coast, For other parks, try Mundy come pure colours. Regional Park, Armadale Settlers Esperance is one of our most Common, or Bungendore Park. unusual holiday spots — isolated, independent, self-reliant; a South-West, Golden connected community. It has a true “country town by the sea” Outback, Esperance feel. The coastline is incredible, with turquoise water and white Now we’re on the road, heading sand that squeaks under your feet. further afield — heading inland; There are remote spots within heading to the south coast — and striking distance of the town itself. this is where WA really starts to And, nearby, Fitzgerald River come into its own. National Park is full of floral For, when we start to make treasures. choices, we start to see its contrasts. And we start to see the ESPERANCE ON THE LIST contrast of WA’s colours. Esperance Museum (love it), West The South West is Beach, the lagoon at Eleven Mile predominantly green (with Beach, walk up Frenchman Peak, colourful dabs of wildflowers at visit Lucky Bay Brewing, eat local this time of year), with a fringe of seafood (maybe at Craig Adams gold sandy bays and frame of blue and Nardiah Behsman’s Fish ocean. Face). The Goldfields have the red of FIVE DRIVES ON THE LIST ᔡ Fitzgerald River National Park CONTINUED PAGE 6 near Hopetoun on the south coast.

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Rottnest Island from the air.

It’s a nice run through Kalgoorlie, Norseman, Esperance, and then back through Bremer Bay, Albany, roads. Winter has its charm, but with its National Anzac Centre, spring is brilliant in the karri and home. Mix and match stays in forest in . these places to suit your taste. There are walk trails and camping ᔡ Taking Augusta as the end point, at the campsites in the park, or drive from Yallingup down Caves good accommodation choices in Road along the way. Caves Road is and around Pemberton. ᔡ bitumen (and Boranup Drive, as Stirling Range National Park and part of the experience, is Bluff Knoll. The 42km Stirling unsealed). It weaves through wine Range Drive winds through the and agricultural lands, past park, from the Western Lookout beaches like Wilyabrup and near Red Gum Spring to the Gracetown, Prevelly and Eastern Lookout below Bluff Boodjidup, Redgate and Hamelin Knoll. It is on mostly unsealed Bay. roads, but suitable for ᔡ The 48km Great Forest Trees two-wheel-drive cars. Stop at Drive near Pemberton is good for Central Lookout and picnic in any vehicle, even with its gravel woodlands at White Gum Flat.

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Royal hakea in Fitzgerald River National Park on the south coast.

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Caves Road, just south of Canal Rocks.

Beach on Twilight Beach Road, Esperance.

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Goldfields woodlands. Pictures: Stephen Scourfield

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FROM PAGE 7 ᔡ Scotsdale Tourist Drive and Mount Shadforth Scenic Drive Indian Ocean Drive, loop out of Denmark. Mostly Jurien and Geraldton We’ve got the Indian Ocean on our bitumen, though a bit of Scotsdale left shoulder; we’re heading north. Road is unsealed, they suit any We’re getting out of the city. vehicle and are gourmet trails too, And immediately we have stepped into salty, beachside-town, with wineries, restaurants and remote-bay WA. This is the coastal local produce. Through winter the essence of — rolling hills are green, spring is the narrow, beachy, sun-bleached full of life and summer is mostly strip north of the city, up Indian cooler than Perth. Ocean Drive to Jurien Bay. On to Dongara and Geraldton. GOLDFIELDS DRIVES ON THE LIST This is what holidays ᔡ Golden Pipeline from are made of, and at this Mundaring to Coolgardie (then time of year, the country Kalgoorlie). ᔡ looks particularly good, Golden Quest Discovery Trail with many places having covers 965km, in roughly a had recent rain, and the figure-of-eight shape north from wildflower season looking Coolgardie to Ora Banda, Menzies, late and long. Kookynie, Laverton, Leonora, A highlight on the Gwalia, Snake Hill (Inside Indian Ocean Drive is, of Australia, the Antony Gormley art course, the Pinnacles at site), Rowles Lagoon, Broad Arrow . and Kalgoorlie-Boulder. Thousands of limestone ᔡ Granite and Woodland pillars rise out of the Discovery Trail between Hyden yellow sand, some up to and Norseman cuts through one of 3.5m tall. Composed of WA’s (and the world’s, come to seashells in an earlier era rich in marine life, they may have taken thousands of years to form, but that) best woodlands. Highlights were exposed only a few hundred are the big granite McDermid years ago. They’re on the doorstep Rock, with its interpretive of Jurien Bay, which is a signs and camping area, and destination in itself, on our Lake Johnson, a beautiful doorstep. It’s a good place to stay, natural salt lake. Autumn and just two-and-a-half hours north of winter are good, but spring Perth, with great beaches, coastal (mid August to mid October) walks, fishing, dunes and is great. wildflowers. Jurien Bay Marine Park is home to Australian

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sea lions. Then on to the pretty stop-offs of The “wave” at McDermid Dongara and Port Denison (and Rock on the Granite and Woodland Discovery don’t just bypass them). Trail. These twin towns off the Brand Highway are a couple of charmers.

DONGARA ON THE LIST Fishermen’s Lookout, South Beach, Granny’s Beach and Nuns Pool, Illegal Tender Rum Co, Thungara Trails (six walk trails) and hang out at the Irwin River mouth.

GERALDTON The town has a renewed energy. The foreshore has been reworked, there are nice coffee shops and cafes, and an artsy feel mixed in to the town’s history. It has always been proud of its past, but now there’s a real sense of the present and future.

GERALDTON ON THE LIST WA Maritime Museum, Batavia Marina, eat at Skeetas, Latitude Gallery, HMAS Sydney II Kalgoorlie Memorial, Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, Yamaji Art Centre, Cafe Fleur, Culinary HQ, Piper Lane Cafe, Salt Dish, Quiet Life Norseman Speciality Coffee. The Coral Coast F G ld h d h Esperance

Albany

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From Geraldton, we head north, produce in Carnarvon’s maybe with a side trip to Kalbarri horticulthura til dis lttrict lgo di t i t or Shark Bay. to waste, and since 2017 has been rescuing fruit KALBARRI ON THE LIST and vegetables deemed Kalbarri cliffs, Murchison River too visually unappealing estuary and rivermouth, Kalbarri for supermarket sale for National Park, with Nature’s her Bumbak’s Preserves Window, Murchison Gorge, and Ice Creams. Skywalk and pelican feeding on While the town hangs the foreshore in the morning. off the Fascine (the name given to the bay formed SHARK BAY ON THE LIST by the south arm of the World Heritage Discovery and Gascoyne River), its coast Visitor Centre in Denham, Shell has good beaches. Beach, stromatolites at Hamelin Head out to One Mile Pool, dolphins at Monkey Mia. The Jetty and its historical country has benefited from recent rain. precinct. The jetty put Carnarvon on the map in the 1890s, opening it FROM PAGE 8 up for trade. Carnarvon is also the pivotal Carnarvon point of some dramatic WA landscapes. To the east, there is Fruity Carnarvon is one of the the Kennedy Range. To the north, food-bowls of WA and a great place Lake MacLeod and coastal station to enjoy local produce. country — an intriguing bit of At this time of year, the growers “salt and surf meets pastoralism” are producing vegetables including cusp that drives to the core of WA’s beans, capsicums, eggplant, kale, story. zucchini and sweetcorn. Fruits now include honeydew, CARNARVON ON THE LIST rockmelon, watermelon, One Mile Jetty Centre, Carnarvon grapefruit and oranges. Space and Technology Museum And tomatoes, of course (fruits (including its Apollo Experience considered vegetables by and planetarium), Gwoonwardu nutritionists). Mia Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage Nectarines, peaches and plums and Cultural Centre. come through in September. There’s local produce at farm COAST NORTH OF CARNARVON gates and, from now until October, From Carnarvon, I’m not going to at October at the Gascoyne head straight on up the highway to Growers’ Markets in the town Minilya Roadhouse and then on up centre every Saturday. It is run by the North West Cape to Coral Bay the growers themselves — they and Exmouth. often pick the produce the night I’m going to follow the coast for before, sometimes even on 75km up a sealed road to Point Saturday morning. Look out for Quobba and Blowholes. This is local jams, too. where ocean swells force their way Local plantation owner Jo into sea caves and then explode Bumbak didn’t like seeing up to 60 through holes — the spray from per cent of all fresh grown these blowholes can reach 20m on

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certain tides. And the best time is when a high tide is coming in — before the tide is at its peak. A kilometre south of the Blowholes is what locals call the “aquarium” — a lagoon filled with coral, fish and shells, set on a white, sandy beach. A $1 million spruce up for the

Blowholes, in this Quobba Coast tourism precinct north of Carnarvon, has just been announced. It will include reconstructing unsealed parking areas with disabled access, new walkways and viewing platforms, additional toilet facilities, an entry statement and interpretive signs. To get a real feel for life on this Regional Art Gallery in Geraldton. bit of coast, at the southern end of the Ningaloo Reef, there’s nothing better than a station stay.

NORTH WEST CAPE Exmouth and Coral Bay have been Geraldton busy this year — a real hub for Dongara West Australians holidaying at home. And why wouldn’t we? They both front the Ningaloo Jurien Bay Reef — the world’s biggest fringing reef, which comes close to shore. In fact, in Turquoise Bay, on the Perth North West Cape, it comes right to the beach — you can easily snorkel out over it. The west coast and Yardie Creek has the glamour, of course, but

Wall art in Geraldton.

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don’t forget to venture into the gorges of Cape Range National Ashburton River. Ask at Onslow Park and walk along the shores of Visitor Centre. From now to the Exmouth Gulf, on the east side October is the best time to be on of the cape. the Pilbara coast, with daytime temperatures from 20-30C and cool From islands to inland evenings. To drive from Perth to Onslow is When we travel from reef to range, about 1380km. Virgin Australia we take a transect through WA — flies the two hours between Perth and not only its geography, but its and Onslow. human story. And we can extend that journey ISLANDS ON THE LIST even more, connecting offshore There are 10 islands in the islands with the deep inland. Mackerel Islands group, but I draw a line from the heart of Thevenard is the biggest. the Pilbara across its iron-ore-rich Fish for Spanish mackerel, country and into the pastoral wahoo, marlin, sailfish, yellowfin lands. I continue it to the coast at tuna, red emperor, coral trout, Onslow, then into the ocean, giant trevally, queenfish, Rankin finishing up on the Mackerel cod, crimson sea perch and Islands. (Carry on west and I’ll run into Madagascar). This line doesn’t just connect northwest snapper. The Mackerel contrasting environments, but very Islands are a gazetted nature different stages and stories in the reserve, with flatback, hawksbill, history and development of WA — loggerhead and green turtles. from the Pilbara, pegged into some Thevenard has self-contained of the earliest crustal geological beachfront cabins. events of the planet, through its Indigenous past, to the stations Pilbara that brought agriculture to the productive coast and ocean. Over its 2.6 million sqkm, WA has They all share a modern story in nearly 190,000km of road — more travel and tourism. than 20 per cent of all the roads in Australia, even though we West INLAND ON THE LIST Australians represent only about , with Oxer 10 per cent of the population. Lookout, Weano Gorge, Handrail We have it all — smooth sealed Pool, Joffre Falls, Knox Lookout, highways, easily navigable Dales Gorge, Fern Pool, Circular all-weather gravel roads, red dirt Pool, Fortescue Falls and Karijini Eco Retreat. CONTINUED PAGE 10

COAST ON THE LIST Onslow’s Goods Shed Museum, Hidden Treasures Onslow Tour,

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Road trip planning

PILBARA DRIVE THE BIG QUESTIONS back down the inside . . . North West Coastal We have to start by answering some simple Highway from Geraldton, perhaps a side stop at questions. Kalbarri, Carnarvon, perhaps Coral Bay and For a start — what are we driving? A light car, Exmouth, Karratha and Port Hedland. Then on Great family saloon, SUV, or more heavy-duty Northern Highway to Broome and into the four-wheel-drive? Are we towing a caravan or a Kimberley. camper trailer? There’s a chance to explore right on our doorstep. It sounds obvious, but it’s good to be clear about The Indian Ocean Drive is classic coastal WA, taking what travellers are expecting from the trip. If you us from Yanchep to Lancelin, Cervantes, Jurien Bay, want good, fully powered sites for your big rig Green Head, Leeman, and out on to the Brand caravan, it will require a different plan to those free Highway, south of Dongara. It’s an excellent sealed camping with light kit from the back of a small SUV. road with facilities and overnight stopping spots Are you travelling as a couple, as a couple with along the way. There’s the curve of beach and the another couple, as a family with strapping jetty in Lancelin, then the Pinnacles at Nambung teenagers, little kids, solo but with a bunch of National Park near Cervantes, where limestone hardcore mates, or in a convoy? pillars rise from the sand, some up to 3.5m tall. Do you want to spend your time on the bitumen , north of Jurien Bay is an and staying comfortably in caravan parks; or largely important conservation area. There’s good on bitumen but then with lots of good gravel roads accommodation along the way, so just take off in taking you to interesting places; or on good but the family car, or enjoy some slow caravanning. remote tracks; or right out there, self-contained and Wildflowers are generally at their peak in August having to sort any problems that arise yourself? and September. Somewhere in the matrix of answers that you On the way south, come back down Great create by sitting down (yes, even with a good Northern Highway through Newman, Meekatharra, old-fashioned piece of paper and a pencil) and Cue, Wubin and Dalwallinu. pondering these questions, you will be steered more Up the coast — sensibly, for me, it’s three days to specifically towards the sort of adventure you are Broome if I “just want to get there”, stopping looking for. overnight at Carnarvon and Port Hedland. In modern-speak I’m “managing your expectations with a view to an appropriate outcome”. PILBARA DRIVE THE INDIGENOUS STORY In plain English, I’m suggesting you really work For the local Indigenous Banyjima, Kurrama and out what you want so that you don’t end up Innawonga people, this place is part of the Warlu frustrated, overspending, in the wrong place at the story. The Warlu is a snake creator being that left wrong time and wondering why you’d ever the North West Cape and carved its way north, bothered. Yes, it sounds obvious — but it’s a good through these gorges. Today, the Warlu Way is a conversation to have when you get out your maps signposted self-drive from Ningaloo to Broome, or apps. swinging in through the Pilbara, which connects some of WA’s epic sites — Ningaloo Reef, Karjini PILBARA DRIVE HOW TO GET THERE National Park, Millstream-Chichester National Park, Do you want to be mostly along the coast, or inland, the Burrup Peninsula, Eighty Mile Beach and or some sort of mix of both? Broome. Essentially, for those heading north up the When I’m heading up to the top of the Pilbara or coast from the Perth metropolitan area, it the Kimberley, I really like driving up the coast, and encourages stops at Ningaloo, a but swing inland through the Pilbara and then back to the coast for the final leg to Broome.

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Buying local produce in Carnarvon. Picture: Stephen Scourfield

Blowholes Point Quobba

Carnarvon Well prepared for driving in the Pilbara. Picture: Stephen Scourfield

Termite mound on North West Cape. Paddling near the river mouth, Kalbarri. Pictures: Stephen Scourfield

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Joffre Gorge, Karijini National Park. Picture: Stephen Scourfield Inset, Stephen Scourfield writing on his phone in the bush. Picture: Lesley Hammersley

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FROM PAGE 11 tracks, marked trails and “two wheel” limestone and sand trails. itself, a watery oasis where the Drive trips come into their own original Millstream Homestead is at this time of year, when it’s cool now the Millstream Visitor Centre down south, dry and clear in the and museum, Crossing Pool and interior and dry season up north. Deep Reach camp spots on the And for many, the Pilbara’s a Fortescue River, and Python Pool. perfect target. You can get there ᔡ Millstream is 130km from easily in two days’ drive, and it has Karratha. many sealed roads, good unsealed roads, and tracks to explore. KARLAMILYI Something for everyone. This is WA’s biggest and most remote national park — the desert KARRATHA ON THE LIST dunes, spinifex plains, salt lakes Look for petroglyphs on the and weathered plateau between Burrup, dig in to the history of the Great Sandy Desert and the nearby Cossack and Roebourne, Little Sandy Desert. hang out in Dampier, see a Though it is now , plenty will remember this 1.3 million hectare movie at Red Earth Arts Precinct. piece of rugged Pilbara as Rudall River. The main access is along the Pilbara national parks Telfer-Talwana Track, or the Kintyre track, which crosses the KARIJINI park from north to south. Karijini National Park covers Travellers need to be well more than 627,000ha just north of prepared. the Tropic of Capricorn in the Hamersley Range and has great gorges carved by 2500 million The Rudall River’s banks are years of erosion. There’s camping lined with tall coolibah and river and tented accommodation in the gum trees . . . and yulbah, the bats wing coral tree. park. Expect warm and clear days, ᔡ but nights can be cold and Karlamilyi is 260km from sometimes frosty. Newman. ᔡ Karijini is 230km from Newman, 70km from Tom Price. BURRUP Some of the Burrup Peninsula’s MILLSTREAM-CHICHESTER petroglyphs, or rock engravings, For some, this place on the have been dated as old as 37,000 years — said to be the oldest in the world. It is a massive outdoor Fortescue River is the resting place gallery. A chapter in human of Warlu. Indigenous legend says history. that the serpent was seeking two Deep Gorge is a good spot to boys who had eaten the mulga wander looking for petroglyphs. parrot, gurdarnkurdarn — his The Burrup’s Murujuga sacred bird. National Park became WA’s 100th This is why he’d forced his way national park. across the land. He swallowed them and Millstream is the spot CONTINUED PAGE 14 where they finally cried out. For Yindjibarndi people, it is a parable about the consequences of flouting law and custom. The park has some great spots . My favourites are Millstream

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The river in Millstream-Chichester National Park. Pictures: Stephen Scourfield

Karratha Millstream- Chichester

Karijini

Red Earth Arts Precinct in Karratha, which opened in May 2018.

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FROM PAGE 12 Round the World, Dampier told Between 1889 and 1891, the price how he set off on an exploration of of mother-of-pearl shell went The Burrup Peninsula is 20km through the roof, and Broome from Karratha. “New Holland” on the ship became known as the Queen City Roebuck. And, in their book A of the North. At one point, there Pirate of Exquisite Mind, Dianna were 300 pearl luggers harboured Broome and Michael Preston bring to vivid in Broome. life the story and character of But the pearling industry all but Broome is an assault of colour. Dampier (1651-1715), who led the collapsed in the 1950s as plastic first recorded party of Englishmen buttons replaced shell. Turquoise ocean, red pindan to set foot on Australia. South Sea Pearls is recognised as earth, white frangipanis, purple Dampier’s scientific among the best in the world and bougainvillea, green tin and red observations would influence pearling remains a key element of lattice. meteorology, biology and Broome’s modern life. And most of all, it is the dry cartography for the next 200 years. ᔡ Another remarkable season’s big, blue sky. His charts were still in use in Englishman is also pivotal to Broome is laconic, tropical, thick World War II. shakes and fruit juices, cold beer But, important in Broome’s Broome’s story. Lord Alistair and cappuccinos. It is wound into history, his journals focused McAlpine first visited the town in the culture of WA, and interest on the area’s beds of pearl the late 1970s. At that time, Broome multicultural. shell. The Pinctada Maxima, found was pretty ramshackle, but he fell The town’s history stretches out along the Kimberley coast is the in love with the place, saw its into the ocean. Indigenous people biggest in the world, filtering 160 potential, returned in 1981 and have lived around Roebuck Bay for litres of water an hour. A grain of spent several months each year, tens of thousands of years, living sand gets inside the shell and the and about $500 million of his own off the fruits of the sea. bivalve mollusc, which then money, transforming the place ᔡ Explorer, adventurer, navigator alleviates the irritation by over a decade. It’s the stuff of and sometime buccaneer (or secreting nacre to cover it. A pearl. legend that he signed a deal on a pirate) William Dampier first Koepanger, Malay, Chinese, beer coaster to buy land for the visited what he called “New Japanese, Europeans and Cable Beach Club (now also Holland” in 1688. Dampier was Aboriginals searched the sea floor “Resort & Spa”), which opened in also a chronicler, and the journal for the shells. By the late 1870s, 1988. he kept during his sailing inspired there was a growing pearling the first “official” voyage of industry and John Forrest selected BROOME ON THE LIST discovery, when he returned in the town site in 1883. It was named Walk Cable Beach, visit 1699. after the colony’s governor, Gantheaume Point, Pearl Luggers, In his book A New Voyage Frederick N. Broome. Broome Museum, pearl shops,

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camel ride on Cable Beach, Matso’s, plan to see Staircase to the Moon (as the full moon rises, its light reflects on the ruckled, exposed mudflats at extremely low tides), and learn more about the night sky. The Milky Way arches across the sky and stars and planets seem brighter than ever here. Broome gets more than 300 clear nights a year.

MARINE PARK ON THE LIST On Broome’s doorstep, the massive sweep of Roebuck Bay is a great depository of bird, animal and human stories. Yawuru Nagulagun/Roebuck Bay Marine Park is on the end of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, giving one of the greatest diversity of shorebird species of any site on the planet. Around 150,000 birds visit Gantheaume Point, Broome, with Cable Beach beyond. Pictures: Stephen Scourfield annually. There are preserved dinosaur tracks, which can be seen, set in rock, at low tide. And, of course, there are the stories of the Yawuru people, who for thousands of years have lived around and off this bay. There are

Roebuck Bay

Broome Boab tree and Town Beach, Broome.

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The big drop of King George Falls in the Kimberley.

the wrecks of six flying boats from World War II, when aircraft were sunk by Japanese Zero fighters. Kimberley coast (& Horizontal Falls) While the Kimberley is known for its bulldust, red rock and cattle station country, its coast is often described as one of the last wildernesses. It is reported as one of the most intact tropical marine ecosystems on Earth. There are seagrass meadows, mangrove forests, oceanic mammal populations and seabird breeding colonies. It’s a recognised biodiversity hotspot. From sandstone coast with rocky headlands to prominent peaks, sandy beaches and dramatic drowned river valleys to offshore reefs and numerous islands, there is diverse landscape and marine life. Along its 13,000km coast are some of the biggest tides in the world. Spring tide ranges of up to 12m in King Sound at Derby, are not far behind the world’s highest tides of 15m in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia. Big tides contribute to the Place Report. A research group drama. working for Murdoch University’s department of environmental SCIENCE AND THE COAST science said in a report in the The coast from the Buccaneer Journal of the Royal Society of Archipelago to King George River Western Australia: “It is unlikely was named for its outstanding that there are many other regions heritage value in the Federal Government’s West Kimberley CONTINUED PAGE 16

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FROM PAGE 7 elsewhere with the number and range and scope of sites of dugong was speared, one part geoheritage significance found freed to trail behind the animal, on the Kimberley Coast.” tiring it. The hunter was left on the other CRUISE THE COAST half, following. The big sandstone As remote expedition cruising bluff is a massive landmark on the along the Kimberley coast has Kimberley coast. developed and become more popular, so have travellers’ HUNTER RIVER options. There are short trips, The Hunter River twists past rock comfortable mid-range ships walls, then mangroves, and to the and high-end, luxury cruises. Hunter Falls and Donkin Falls. A dA thnd these are some f th of the They are both nearly 100m tall. classic spots on the Kimberley The Hunter River is a snaking coast … waterway emptying into the north-east corner of beautiful KING’S CASCADE Prince Frederick Harbour. In Cascade Creek, a tributary to I open a notebook and read the Prince Regent River, this fall of again the words I wrote on one more than 25m is a classic “champagne cascade” waterfall visit there . . . “smooth, serpentine down a stepped rock face. river . . . mangroves and muddy tributaries . . . tide pushing in . . . RAFT POINT crocodiles and azure kingfishers, a The red ramparts of Raft Point sea eagle calling overhead . . .” dominate the southern entrance to Doubtful Bay. Walk up past boab KING GEORGE FALLS trees to caves full of Indigenous The twin King George Falls are art and a view over Foam Passage spectacular. On the 112km long to Steep Island. The art depicts the King George River, they have a local Wandjina story of the fish drop of more than 50m and more chase across the Kimberley. Raft than 50m of water depth beneath. Point was named after John Lort The twin falls featured in Baz Stokes found tribal rafts at a camp Luhrmann’s movie, Australia. here in 1838. These traditional mangrove MONTGOMERY REEF timber rafts were often made of The 400sqkm of Montgomery Reef, two parts. They separated when a 20km off the Kimberley Coast, appears to rise out of the sea as the

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Raft Point is a tide falls. Fully exposed on a 10m distinctive landmark tide, it is up to 80km long. on the Kimberley coast. The reef, opposite Doubtful Bay, appears bizarrely mid-ocean, surrounded by deep, inky-turquoise salt water. And, as the ocean pours from it, it makes a tinkling sound.

BERKELEY RIVER The Berkeley River flows out to the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf and the Timor Sea, and has waterfalls and gorges. I’ve spent days up here on boats, seeing waterfalls, then driving underneath to shower in a natural, vertical spa.

Day trips Walk up HORIZONTAL FALLS When the tide rises in Talbot Bay, past boab sea water is pushed through two gaps, filling the big “bowls” behind. trees to King This creates the Horizontal Falls. caves George First it streams through the Buccaneer River “Wide Gap”, just 20m across, with full of Archipelago water about 40m deep, and then the “Narrow Gap”, further in and only Indigenous 7.5m across, also with 40m of water Hunter below. Locals chorus that the bit art and a River between is called the “Middle Sea”. view over Horizontal Just as these gaps are the only Falls way for this huge amount of water Foam to get in . . . so, there’s only the same way out, and water rushes Passage back through after high tide. From the air, they do indeed look to Steep like horizontal waterfalls. Small Island. boats from expedition cruise ships take visitors through the

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Horizontal Falls, but now it’s even more popular to fly out on a day On the land trip in a float plane and take the trip through in a fast boat. Kimberley highlights WINDJANA & TUNNEL CREEK, WEST DAMPIER PENINSULA KIMBERLEY The Dampier Peninsula points ᔡ The still waters of Windjana, backed by north in a triangle, with Broome towering rock, are dotted with freshwater crocodiles. I sit in shade nearby and an and Derby at its two base points. Aboriginal woman sits near me, delicately At the top is One Arm Point and fingering a fishing handline. Eroded by the Cape Leveque. Lennard River, Windjana Gorge is over 3km There are places to stay at long with 300m-high walls. This was once Kooljaman and Cygnet Bay Pearl under the sea — Windjana Gorge National Farm, where pearling is alive and Park is part of the 375 million-year-old visitors can also get out on Devonian reef system. It is also of great fast-boat tours into the Buccaneer cultural importance to the Bunuba people and was the hideout for Jandamarra, an Indigenous outlaw who led a rebellion Archipelago. It is just 80km from against European settlers in the 1890s. Horizontal Falls and 130km from ᔡ Nearby, Tunnel Creek National Park has Camden Sound, edged by an old cave system, part of the same Montgomery Reef. Cygnet Bay is ancient Devonian reef, through which we named for William Dampier’s ship can walk 750m, sometimes wading. There Cygnet, in which he explored, in are stalactites and stalagmites. 1688, the coast of what would Windjana is 150km from Fitzroy Crossing, become WA. 145km from Derby. PURNULULU, EAST KIMBERLEY ᔡ The striped “beehive ” formations of the Bungle Bungle Range in were laid as sediment 360 million years ago. They have weathered over the last 20 million years to the domes and gorges we see today. Iron in the sandstone oxidised to orange and cyanobacteria in layers with higher clay content discoloured to give the black banding. Purnululu is 290km from Kununurra, 150km from Halls Creek.

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Water begins to pour through Horizontal Falls.

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