Pilbara gold prospectors
Johnny doesn’t want a roof over his head - he’s happy in Western Australia’s out of the way places, sleeping under the stars.
The Road to Paraburdoo
Cutting through Karijini National Park, the scenery on the road from Newman to Paraburdoo is pretty special, with dramatic scenery at every turn.
Bush Camping near Newman WA
We discovered this awesome bush camp north of Newman. We’d been trying to get to another one we’d heard about but found this one on the way! Running water in the Pilbara is a rare find so it was blissful to have fresh water next to our camp. The only sounds were frogs, cicadas, the ‘babbling brook’, and the breeze through the trees…that was until the helicopter appeared, passing overhead several times one morning, locating cattle during the annual muster.
Pilbara backroads
As far as possible on our meander around Western Australia, we’ve chosen to take the unsealed backroads and have discovered so many amazing spots along the way. When I mentioned on social media where we were and where we were heading next, I got a couple of messages from friends telling us how to find the most beautiful little swimming spot.
The Iron Clad Hotel in Marble Bar
…While Steve was having a rest one day, I took myself and my camera down to the lunchtime session Marble Bar’s iconic Iron Clad Hotel. I found a few locals getting in a bit of practice before the Friday night pool competition.
Around Marble Bar
Marble Bar is officially Australia’s hottest town, holding the record with 161 consecutive days over 37.8C (100F). Fortunately it was a very manageable 32 degrees when we were there recently. This outback town is named for its jasper which the early explorers believed to be marble. There’s more photos of the jasper patterns and colours in an earlier blog post.
With a rich history of gold mining, Marble Bar still draws gold prospectors from far and wide, hoping to find their fortune.
Marble Bar Pool
Early explorers in the Pilbara mistook the jasper outcrops for marble, and called the new town Marble Bar. The colours in the rocks around Marble Bar Pool are unbelievable, especially if you pour a little water over them to bring out their vibrancy.
NASA in Marble Bar
Five men walked into a bar - an Aussie, an American, a Canadian a Norwegian, and Spaniard…they told us they were a team of five NASA scientists who are working on the Mars landing next year. We thought we might meet some interesting people in Marble Bar’s famous Iron Clad Hotel, but this was most unexpected!
Tim in Marble Bar
Pretty much everyone we got to know in Marble Bar, we met in the Iron Clad Hotel, including Tim. Like so many people in this outback town, gold is in Tim’s blood. While Tim uses a metal detector his mother Katie used a yandi. Shallow multi-purpose dishes, yandis were traditionally used by Aboriginal women to carry water and bush tucker, but they could also use them to sort chaff from seeds, and in these parts, to separate gold from dirt.
Pilbara bush camp
When we were up in Wyndham I photographed some beautiful gouldian finches. That sparked a passion for bird photography so finding this little bush camp beside a billabong near Marble Bar was a real treat…the birdlife was phenomenal. I spent the late afternoon and early morning, standing as still as possible, observing and occasionally photographing the rainbow bee-eaters, white-plumed honeyeaters and the tiny black-fronted dotterels. It’s a steep learning curve photographing birds - and a big lesson in patience - but I’m loving it!
Broome Time
Driving into town, after a few months on the road, we’d already adjusted to Broome’s relaxed pace of life and were ready to enjoy its laid-back lifestyle and perfect dry season climate - 17-31C, cloudless skies and sunshine.
I found myself barely picking up my camera - too busy living life to photograph it. So, this blog post is more a collection of Broome snap shots. …
Sobrane and friends
…Sobrane was racing around getting ready for her upcoming one-night-only Out of Africa exhibition - moving house and hosting a concert in one week wasn’t enough for this powerhouse of a human being. Between sips of herbal tea we grabbed a few photos before she dashed off to paint a huge mural of zebras. The glorious natural light didn’t go to waste as the Nomadic Cyclists (18 years cycling the world and no sign of slowing down yet), Katya from Slovenia and her partner, Slovakian Mirko were there, along with Francesca from Italy…
Greg Quicke - Space Gandalf
Astronomer Greg Quicke’s Astro Tours is on many people’s bucket list when they visit Broome, especially since he’s been a presenter on ABC and BBC TV’s Stargazing show alongside Dr Brian Cox...
Dampier Peninsula bush camp
During our two and a half months with Broome as our base, we spent a week tucked away at a quiet out of the way spot on the Dampier Peninsula. We’d heard about this beautiful bush camp right on the beach, with no real facilities other than a cold water shower to wash the salt off occasionally. It sounded perfect…
Beagle Bay
Finding a gleaming white Bavarian-style church in a remote Aboriginal community north of Broome is unexpected…but not as unexpected as the mother-of-pearl altar inside.
Broome Rodeo
…As a portrait photographer it was always going to be about the people. What the rodeo was also about was vibrant shirts and fancy belt buckles and, more importantly, family and community. Families had travelled into Broome especially from remote stations and communities for miles around - they set up their chairs and rugs, and settled in for the evening…
East Kimberley
Exploring the far north-east of Western Australia was always in our minds when we left our home in Denmark on the south coast of WA back in March…