The Western Deserts never cease to impress

Another beautiful trip across the desert from Perth through the gold mining town of Kalgoolie to Yulura, the township that sits next to the stunning Uluru and the Olgas. A great trip in every regard; great company, warm days, cool nights, great roads for riding and for driving too and lots of wildlife. We saw almost as many live Kangaroo’s as flattened ones around the one pub ghost town of the northern gold fields.
Amazingly rain has been through only a week ago, a whole inch. Meaning the last trip of the season in six weeks time will me a flowering green mass! (In desert standards that is)
Perhaps it was the rain, but I have not see so many camels in one trip before. Herds of 30 and 40, with a handful of baby camels in tow, with legs longer than body. These funny looking creatures always put a smile on your face, especially when they attempt to run. Described by one of the passengers as a horse put together by a committee. Now I have one day here in Yulara with views of the famous rock formations on top of every sand dune then it continues along the Western Mac’s Ranges to Alice Springs.

The hidden gems of the West - Broome to Perth

Wow! What a great ride it is going to be! Next year we will have a seven day cycling trip from Broome to Exmouth, then another 7 day trip from Exmouth to Perth. I have been exploring this section extensively since last year and well before that.
Having now arrived in Perth after having driven through this amazing country again I am excited about what is to come. The Pilbra is an area so far from any large towns that it is largely unexplored. When you get off the highway on well maintained dirt roads the scenery is spectacular. Long ragged ranges with pronounced crisp white gums standing tall amongst the dark red rock. The landscape looks like a dot painting, speckled with spinifix clumps, dispersed amongst them are shrubs and bushes, some flowering in bright colours like the cookwood.
The country isn’t flat and monotonous like it often is along the highway, it is undulating providing great views and a carpet of red rocks and sand as if the sun is always setting.
The ranges of Karajini National Park are bigger still, the abandoned mining town of Wittenoom has an eerie feel, the waters within the magnificent steep gorges is blue as if they have flown from a glacier and cold enough to believe it too.
Further west is the warm coral filled waters of Ningaloo Reef, a coastal landscape of dunes and domed termite mounds. Then further south before Perth is the quaint seaside town of Kalbarri, where great riding and long gorge walks are plentiful. Now its time for a brief repose, a fresh clean and set up before another trip across the Great Victorian Desert to Uluru.

The Mighty Michell Falls

Another great Gibb River Road trip again. This one going up to the Mitchell falls, El Questro Station and a few other gorgeous gorges that we don’t look at on our Bungle Bungle Gibb River Rd trip. Spectacular riding, especially up on the plateau where the rain fall is twice as high as down on the Gibb River Rd and the tracks are lined with lush Livistonia Eastonnia Palms. The Plateau definitely shows a different side to the Kimberly, as I believe the Bungle Bungles do too. Both are definite highlights of each trip.
This last trip went without a hitch, not even a flat! Which is a rarity when you see what the roads are like out there. Great to ride as you can hug the smooth hard edges, but shocking to drive. One can not complain too much, as this is one of two reasons why this place is still only lightly visited by tourists, the other is that it is Australia’s most remote wildness thousands of kilometers from the nearest city.
On a trip south through the Pilbra and along the coast back to Perth now, which will be a ride next year.