Destination Darwin.

3000kms after leaving Broome (and I suspect about 6000 since leaving Perth)we were back in a city; cars and buildings, traffic lights and people. Tired, clothes stained and dusty the open spaces of the suddenly Kimberley felt a long while ago.

I'd been travelling since May 29th which made 38 days on the move, approx 16 different accommodations and 5 different tour groups. I'd seen the stars night after night, most spectacularly in Karijini NP and for the first time in my life I'd watched the waxing and waning of moon, night by night with no cloud for it to hide behind and no walls between me and nature. I'd discovered there was nothing that couldn't be cooked in a bush kitchen on the barbie, seen incredible sunsets and swum at every opportunity. Watched Wedge- tailed eagles, kestrels and kites soar overhead, kangaroos and euros hop, other things slither or stride or shuffle and a whole variety of things swim including those sensational Whale sharks.

I'd watched the scenery change and more often, not change! Endless dusty roads, wide skies and empty horizons- until suddenly an Eagle would take off from a spindly acacia or roosting smugglers (yes, the collective noun) of budgies would flutter into view. West coast Australia is an incredible and beautiful place. The Kimberley is somehow even more isolated and mysterious - intensely lush gorges and creek crossings totally at odds with the landscape surrounding them - there could be anything out here but really it's how little there is and how vast the space is that still I struggle to comprehend. This part of the blog has been very much behind because there was no way to write it for much of the route- I didn't even have mobile phone reception for most of it (nor want it)- and I'm now conscious of the repetition of the adjectives, even the pictures don't quite capture some of the breathtaking scenery or subtle details that created tirelessly beautiful vistas.