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…
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.
…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…
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…
…Parts of the Kimberley may have their resorts and wealth, diamonds and pearls, but Wyndham is the hidden gem.
A friend to both Pixie and Honest John, Bushy is another Wyndham local adding colour to this small town. Honest John took me to meet Bushy at his home which still shows many signs of its past life as the Post Office.
…Welcoming me inside, I was introduced to Elizabeth - the beautiful and fashionable mannequin standing in his kitchen. “I was hoping she’d clean and cook” said Honest John, “But she doesn’t lift a finger.” Elizabeth was a souvenir from his days as “fashion advisor to the ladies of the Kimberley” when he had “a boutique” in downtown Wyndham. One of many businesses he’s owned and operated around the town, from all accounts…
If you’re into your wildlife photography, add Wyndham to your list of Places to Go…from the cute rock wallabies at the Five Rivers Lookout, to the abundant waterbird life at Malgu Billabong; from colourful gouldian finches found right near the caravan park to the good old saltwater crocodiles found anywhere near water, Wyndham’s got it all.
…Physically petite with a big personality, Pixie has that quick witted, dry humoured, fast-tongued way about her that film-goers around the world hoped all outback Aussies would be like back after watching Crocodile Dundee back in the early eighties…
I’ve been enjoying catching up with my old friend Kamali while we’ve been in Broome, and so have the children from the #thenomadicsmob - the offspring of musicians Dave Mann and Bec Schofield who are currently up at Kooljaman Resort at Cape Leveque playing beautiful music to holiday makers each night. Here they are on the back of Kamali’s house truck creating with clay - a pretty special art class for these home-schooled kids.
A little article about our road trip in the current issue of the RRR Network Magazine
On the last Sunday of June each year, Derby hosts the annual Bush Poets Breakfast.
If you ever find yourself in Derby in the Kimberley region of WA, it’s surely only a matter of time before you discover the Norval Gallery. It is crammed full of artist Mark Norval’s work, past and present, along with artwork by other local artists and it’s a feast for the eyes.
Steve’s been away working over on Koolan Island recently, so Jazzy and I have been on our own in Broome for part of the last month, spending a lot of time around Town Beach. This was the day we got a lesson from some local kids in finding hermit crabs in the roots of the mangrove trees.
We spent a few days camping at Port Smith on our way up to Broome. A time of mud maps in red dust, and footprints on pristine white beaches; lagoons and mangroves and the feeling that we'd arrived in crocodile country; low, low tides and sand patterns; and so many brolgas.
Living in Denmark and spending the last few months quietly meandering through the Wheatbelt and station country, approaching Port Hedland was an assault on the senses! The outback gave way to multi-lane highways, zigzagging railway tracks, a sky full of wires, and very large machinery operating everywhere you looked. In other words, plenty of new things to point my camera at!
