The Gibb River Road and beyond - a journey through the Outback of Western Australia

[Soukous]

Days 14 & 15

Jubilee Downs and Quanbun Downs

Even on the drive in to Jubilee Downs it was quickly apparent that this was a superior cattle station. The appearance of the cattle was way way better than anything we had seen to date.

We didn't go to the main farm homestead but turned down the track that led us to Quanbun Downs. Quanbun Downs is a sister station to Jubilee Downs that has bee converted into accommodation from visitors.

Things began to look promising when we saw a small flock of Red Tailed Black Cockatoos just near the entrance gate. Mal and I leapt out to try and get some photos but they flew off. No problem; now we at least knew they were in the area.

The accommodation at Quanbun Downs consists of half a dozen purpose built chalets and a farmhouse.

The chalets were nothing fancy, just twin beds and a wash basin with a communal shower and toilet facility.

The farmhouse was a lot more grand, with polished wooden floorboards and large airy rooms.

Since we'd be self-catering, we were shown to the outside kitchen area and proceeded to unload all our food into the fridge.

The kitchen was an eclectic collection of old pieces of equipment.

The guest kitchen at Quanbun Downs

By the time we'd got settled in and showered it was time for dinner.

After a massive breakfast I spent some time trying to get shots of the Red Tailed Black Cockatoos. They were the same ones we'd seen yesterday evening and they had returned to a water trough about 80 metres from the farmhouse. The great thing about these cockatoos is that they make a lot of noise, so it is easy to know when they are coming.

They weren't particularly cooperative.

I've only included these shots here as they do show the cockatoo's plumage and illustrate the difference between male and female.

The male has red underparts on the tail

The underparts on the female are yellow.

The juveniles have a similar colouring to the females.

but you can tell the difference between male and female by th ecrest. The males have a crest, as far as I coudl see the females do not.

Around 10am we drove the short distance to the main Jubilee Downs homestead to meet Keith and Karen Anderson.

Jubilee Downs is a working cattle station and Keith was going to tell us a bit about how it all worked.

The cattle raised at Jubilee Downs are mostly for live export to Indonesia. The favoured breed is known as a Brahman.

Keith talked about his life on the station and answered all our questions while we tucked into tea and home made cakes.

It was fascinating to learn more about the way of life on a cattle station.

Because Jubilee Downs has a lot of river frontage, water is plentiful and irrigation is not a problem. Consequently the grazing is comparatively good and the livestock density if much better than on some of the other stations we'd passed with one animal to 15 acres in good areas and one animal to 50 acres in poorer areas. Stations on more marginal land can have as little as on animal to 100 acres.

We learned that the idea weight for an export animal is between 280kg – 350kg. At this weight they are not yet ready for slaughter, but the Indonesians like bring them on in their own feed lots rather than take them at full weight.

We also learned that all the mustering at Jubilee Downs is done using horses. It would be fabulous to be able to witness that.

Before leaving we walked down to the river just behind the farmhouse to see the fresh water crocodiles.

While we were there a White Bellied Sea-Eagle swooped past. It came from behind the trees and took us by surprise so the only shot I got of it was not great.

After that I got a bit distracted by a family of Brolgas that were strutting around in a paddock nearby.

They were content to keep walking and I managed to get closer to them than I had been able with the previous lot and I got a bit carried away, shooting about 40 images.

Back at Quanbun Downs, some of the guys wanted to spend the afternoon fishing. That didn't interest me at all because I just wanted to wander around in search of more birds. (Sad, I know.)

Immediately after lunch we played the final of our 500 tournament. Pat & I against Peter and Mal.

Peter & Mal had a bit of a reputation for being formidable 500 players so Pat & I didn't hold out too much hope. But, it is a game of cards and a lot depends on the cards you get dealt, so anything could happen.

We were playing the best of 3 games. Pat & I won the first game quite easily. Then we won the second pretty quickly too and it took a moment for it to sink in that we had won. Celebration time for us.

The bird life here was the best we had encountered anywhere on our trip so I wanted to make the most of it and wandered down to a billabong/creek about 100 metres away from the Quanbun farmhouse.

Needless to say, although there were quite a few birds there, and a few wallabies, they all bolted as soon as they heard me coming.

I did manage to get a few though.

A Black Winged Stilt

A Great Egret

a White Faced Heron

a Brown Falcon

A Whistling Kite

A Crested Pigeon

and some Galahs

With the last hour of daylight approaching Mal and I had agreed that we would go to where we had seen the Red Tailed Black Cockatoos yesterday evening and this morning and wait for their arrival. They are known to fly to water in the morning and the evening and we now knew that one particular trough was a favourite of theirs.

We positioned ourselves under a tree where we would be hidden to them as they flew in but would be ideally placed to photograph them as they congregated around the trough.

It was a good plan. Just as we were about to give up, one lone cockatoo flew in and sat on the fence above the trough. It just sat there and made a hell of a racket for about 2-3 minutes before flying off into trees about 100 metres away.

Then we heard the others arriving, screeching as they flew. All of a sudden they were there, in the tree above the trough. We waited for them to settle down and move to where we could get photographs.

Instead of obliging us they took off again almost as one, and flew off in the direction the first one had taken.

It seems that our plan was not as good as we thought. The cockatoos had been unsettled by our presence under the tree and gone elsewhere for their evening drink. This morning they had let us get quite close, but that must have been because they could see us clearly and knew what we were. Because we were hidden under the tree they were unable to clearly identify us and it obviously bothered them. Bugger.

Disappointed, we strolled back to the homestead and photographed some Red Winged Parrots instead.

The guys who went fishing returned empty handed. They'd spent the afternoon by the river and caught absolutely nothing. As they were leaving, Keith had grinned and told them he was not surprised as it was the wrong time of year. “Come back in November.” he said.

Day 16

Jubilee Downs, Willie Creek and Broome

As we got ready to leave Quanbun Downs and head towards Broome I kept listening for the sound of the cockatoos returning. Unfortunately there was no sound or sight of them this morning.

But we did get an unexpected treat on our way out.

We were driving along the track when we saw a cloud of dust by the side of the road up ahead. Then we saw a horseman. We'd come upon the muster.

It was an exciting moment as we'd all wanted to see this. Of course the last thing the station hands wanted was a crowd of people and vehicles spooking their herd.

We retreated to an acceptable distance and watched as they drove the cattle through the gate and across the road.

I'm sure I was not the only one who would like to have stayed longer, but our presence was making it difficult for the cowboys so we got back into our vehicles and left.

This would be our last drive on the rich red pindan dirt of Western Australia but, as I discovered, it would be quite a while before we got all the red dust out of our clothes and belongings.

Pindan - the red soil of Western Australia

We rejoined the tarmac road outside the Jubilee Downs gate and began the easy drive to Broome.

Shortly before Broome we left the road to visit the wonderfully named Willie Creek Pearl Farm.

After a brief lecture on pearl cultivation we had a short boat ride to look at some of the pearl beds.

the sandbar at Willie Creek

To be honest I found the whole thing pretty uninteresting.

We knew as we checked into the Seashells resort in Broome that our road trip was over.

Day 17

Broome

A leisurely day. While everyone else went for a tour of the port and the town, I found an internet service and tried to catch up on emails and confirm my flight home.

In the afternoon we went for a swim and then drove down to Matso's Brewery, a Broome institution, to sample their beers.

We re-assembled at the Cable Beach Club for sunset cocktails and dinner.

Sunset at Cable Beach

Next day people would start leaving for home by whichever route they had chosen and I would begin my flight home.

It had been an absolutely brilliant trip with great company and more highlights than I can count.

I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes camping and wide open spaces. My only slight concern is that, based on the increase in the number of cars and caravans we saw this time compared with last time, the Gibb River Road and its magnificent National Parks are going to become much more popular in the next few years and inevitably this means they will lose some of the magic.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Soukous

[Jochen]

Awesome trip! I hope to get there too one day.

 

One thing though; no pic nor mention of a kangaroo?

[Soukous]

Awesome trip! I hope to get there too one day.

 

One thing though; no pic nor mention of a kangaroo?

 

Yes, we only saw a very few kangaroos or wallabies on our trip, but there is a bit more to come and I promise you at least 1 kangaroo

[TonyQ]

@@Soukous

Fascinating report - the environment looks amazing - and lots of great bird photos!

[Soukous]

Well, my safari was over and it was time to drive to Broome airport for my flight to Perth.

I arrived at the airport to find no-one in the queue at the Virgin Australia check in desk.

I'd already checked in and just needed to drop off my bag.

 

I hefted by bag to drop it on the belt and the person behind the counter asked me not to. He asked me my name and then told me that the flight had been cancelled and they had kindly booked me on a Qantas flight at 10:20 the next morning.

That was no use to me at all; I had an international flight out of Perth at 6:00am and I didn't want to miss it.

 

After half an hour of phone calls I had to accept the fact that I was not going to get out of Broome that night.

My next move was to phone my travel agent to rebook myself on a flight the next day.

Easier said than done. There was no seat on any Qantas flights out of Perth for over a week. I coudn't believe it.

 

I spent another half an hour on the phone exploring various options - even going all the way east to Melbourne so that I could catch a London bound flight from there. There was nothing.

 

Eventually the best I could find was a flight on Singapore Airlines that was departing on 1st July.

 

That meant I had 4 days to kill.

 

Amusement and bemusement were in equal measure when I re-joined my friends at Matso's in Broome.

 

I flew to Perth the next morning and picked up a hire car. No way I was going to sit around Perth and mope.

I'd decided that I'd drive down to the bottom of Western Australia to Margaret River. I knew it was famous for wine and surfing but, with rivers and forests in abundance, I thought it might be good for bird life too.

 

The countryside was pretty enough but it was overcast and cold. When i asked where was a good place to photograph birds I was told that they all hid away in the cold weather and that I wouldn't find many. I didn't.

 

I managed to find

 

1 Laughing Kookaburra

 

 

2 Pied Oystercatchers

 

a pair of Australian Shelducks

 

and a White Faced Heron

 

I spotted some kangaroos in a field by the road side and stopped to take a photo.

As soon as I got out of the car they became muchmore alert and hopped off when I tried to approach.

 

 

 

 

Disappointed by the lack of subject matter and the miserable weather I decided to make my way back to Perth. At least there I had a place to stay (Pat's daughter was living in Perth) and I could look up some old work colleagues.

 

I made a few detours on my way back; exploring just about every town on both sides of the highway. The only place that I thought I might like to go back to was Preston Beach. The beach was spectacular and the quirky village golf course was teeming with kangaroos.

 

 

 

 

2 days in Perth was more than enough and I was so happy when the day finally came for me to go to the airport and fly home.

After so many wonderful days in the Outback, my 2 days in Perth really just reminded me how little I like cities.

 

Now I'm engaged in a war of attrition with my travel insurance company who have suggested that I have no grounds for a claim for the expenses incurred during my enforced stay in Perth and my replacement air ticket. Oh joy!

 

 

[zimreef]

Thanks for posting your account albeit a while ago. Very interesting reading.

 

We drove around Australia for 6 months around 10 years ago - fantastic people and b-i-i-i-g country. We're revisiting in a year or so's time and spoilt for choice of things to do - emulating your trip looks a good contender though!

 

John

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@zimreef

 

Welcome to Safaritalk and Happy New Year 2016!

Very glad to have you join us.

Your upcoming return visit to Australia sounds fun!

Tom K.