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Hermit Crabs, fish and a snake at Cape Domett

Posted on October 10, 2012 | 2 Comments

This is post number three of a four part blog series documenting a fantastic morning spent with friends travelling by helicopter to remote Cape Domett which is located in the extremely isolated Kimberley region of Northern Australia. Click here for part one and part two.

While I was cooking breakfast the others had a quick swim to cool down before grabbing a fishing line and trying their luck.

Arli was first to pull something in. I have no idea what it was and it was quickly thrown back in the ocean. The saying ‘plenty more fish in the sea’ was mentioned a few times which in hindsight was pretty funny.

The only other fish caught for the morning was from Bruce when shortly afterwards he landed a Barramundi. The only problem though was that at around 50cm it was under size. The Barramundi is Northern Australia most popular fish for anglers for not only it’s good fighting ability but its fabulous taste (especially ones that live in saltwater). As it is a hermaphroditic many areas have strict size limits so this one had to go back as well. In Thailand it is called ปลากะพง (Pla Kapong)

As most of you already know, fishing does not excite me very much. In fact most animals don’t do much for me but on this particular morning one thing did grab my attention. Hermit Crabs. I found these little creatures totally amazing.

They live in discarded shells and constantly need to renovate (change shells) as they grow bigger. The assortment of shapes, sizes and colours was amazing. If I could talk the language of the hermit crab I am sure I would discover a lot of gossip and jealousy over the type of shell their neighbour just moved into!

Speaking of shells their were plenty still spare along the beach which Kristiina quickly found.

Anyway, back to the hermit crabs, the other thing that amazed me was their sense of smell. Sitting on the beach where I could not see a single crab my brother dropped his rockmelon peel. Within minutes this is what it looked like.

Watching them scurry along the beach brought a smile to my face, much more fun then fishing!

This one here that looks like a unicorn got nice and friendly with Arli.

Also interesting was the massive amount of little rolled up balls of sand on the beach. They were everywhere and quite beautiful. I had no idea what caused them and why but looked it up when I got home.

They are apparently called Sand Bubble Crabs and I got the following information from this website.

At low tide, the sand bubbler crabs emerge from their holes beneath the sand to gather microscopic food that the tide has brought along. They do this by collecting and sifting the sand, actually checking each grain, and rolling those parts devoid of anything useful for them into little balls (sand bubbles) that they toss behind. So, the little sand balls are actually cleaned parts of sand, rolled into a ball so that the crab doesn’t check them again by mistake. Pretty clever, isn’t it?

Oh, I almost forgot the snake story! We were all on the second beach (through the archway) and decided to walk a little further to get to the next beach but this meant a short walk through the bush and over some rocks. Thankfully I was walking behind everyone else but was told by the others that Paul who was leading the expedition said “this would be a great place for a snake’ as he pushed his way through some grass which was followed within a second of two with a sound (that I clearly heard) but is really hard to explain using just the English alphabet. I will have a crack though. Yaaahhhowwwwweeeeeurghhhhh – or in Thai it would be something like this – ย่ะโอ๊ยอีอีอีอีอีอีอีอีอีอีอีอีอีอีอีอีเอ้อ. Those sounds coupled with a sudden direction reversal which was quite impressive given how high he was in the air made us quickly realise that his snake comment was indeed correct. It turned out to be a King Brown which is not the sort of thing you want to be stepping on when you are a 40 minute flight away from the nearest hospital and…… you are then pilot!

The walk was quickly abandoned and soon we found our selves back at the chopper packing up ready for the flight home.

Part four (final) will be ready in a few days and will include some fantastic scenery of the trip back home.

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Breakfast on the beach and exploring Cape Domett

Posted on October 6, 2012 | 4 Comments

This is part two of a four part blog documenting a fantastic morning spent with friends travelling to remote Cape Domett which is located in the extremely isolated Kimberley region of Northern Australia. Part one can be found here.

Sorry it took so long for me to upload this entry but I have only just got back yesterday after another adventure that I cannot wait to write about. It involved loads of bush walking, waterfalls, snakes, dingos, camping, helicopters and fishing. More of that later though, I need to finish this series on Cape Domett first!

I left the last blog with us just landed on the beach but unsure if the tide had peaked or not. If not, we were in a spot bother.

As the R66 has a turbine engine it cannot be quickly restarted after shut down so we unloaded all the gear and watched the water very carefully before deciding that it had peaked and we could relax and start to enjoy the brilliant setting and weather.

To build up an appetite the four blokes went for a jog while Kristiina stayed back at the helicopter. The beach according to google earth was 1.9kms long so we went up and back twice splashing thorough the fast receding tide to clock up 7.4 kms and quite a hunger!

As I was camp cook I set to work whipping up some bacon and egg sandwiches with a choice of delicious spreads from Humble house.

Have a look in the following photo how much the tide had receded in just over one hour. You will also see that I was a responsible camp cook and brought fruit and salad along as well!

While I was cooking the boys decided to cool down by taking a quick dip. It was quick due to the amount of Saltwater Crocodiles and sharks that inhabit the area.

After breakfast was finished it was time to explore. This is my brother Paul admiring the view from up on the rocks.

Through this gap in the rocks was a nice surprise.

The surprise was another beautiful beach.

This second beach was where the first fish was caught and a King Brown was almost stepped on.

Look how far the tide has receded now!

While the others decided to go fishing I finished my walk and settled down in a deck chair to simply stop, relax and enjoy the view.

The view from my chair

Part three is not too far away and will be all about the fish and wildlife that we came across.

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Kununurra to Cape Domett by helicopter

Posted on October 1, 2012 | 7 Comments

This is part one of a four part blog documenting a fantastic morning spent with friends travelling to remote Cape Domett which is located in the extremely isolated Kimberley region of Northern Australia.


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Pilot Paul had us assemble at 5am on the front lawn outside his house where he had parked the R66 helicopter the previous night. As dawn broke we loaded up fishing gear, water, bacon and eggs, a small BBQ, soccer ball and frisbee, deck chairs and of course our cameras. My house is just behind this photo on the other side of the lake.

A quick check to make sure that the sticky tape and glue holding the blades together were still strong and we were set to go.

It was a brisk and misty morning as we headed almost due north to the coast and our destination of Cape Domett. I have never been there before as although it is only about 120kms as the crow flys from Kununurra it can easily take five or more hours to drive there due to the state of the road track. 30 minutes in comfort via air is much more my style!

The mist quickly burnt off affording us a magnificent view of the Ord River as it snaked its way towards the Cambridge Gulf splitting Carlton Hill and Ivanhoe Cattle stations. It was right in this area where the homestead was built and the majority of the movie ‘Australia’ starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman was filmed.

Before we knew it the fresh waters had been left behind and replaced by tidal flats. It was here that my brother Paul quickly noticed that the tide must be quite high as he had never seen the water so far inland before. This part of the world sees massive tidal movements and it is common to have tides greater then 10 metres. Over flat terrain that is an amazing amount of water rushing in and out at any time.

You can see the ocean in the background of the above three photos so we knew we were close. As we got closer and saw the beach it did not look all that impressive but that was because most of it was under water.

Pilot Paul decided to land at the very end of of the beach where there were some beautiful rocks that would provide some welcome shade later on in the day.

As the chopper wound down and we unloaded supplies we all stood around and watched this massive tide lap at the skids of the helicopter. Was the tide still coming in? If it was then we were in a spot of bother…. to be continued.

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A flying visit to Darwin with my little girl

Posted on September 28, 2012 | 4 Comments

Earlier this year I took my kids to get their eyes checked at the local health clinic. While Marisah had perfect eye sight the nurse was a little worried about Ariya and recommended I take her to see a specialist. I booked her in to see an optometrist from Darwin who visits Kununurra regularly and he concurred that there was something slightly amiss. He suggested that I visit him in Darwin so he could take a proper look with all his equipment instead of just the small amount that he brought with him.

A few months later Ariya and I found ourselves sitting at Kununurra airport, waiting and waiting. We had decided that it would be easiest just for Seerung to drop us off and drive on instead of getting the other two kids out of the car. Silly me didn’t think to check first if the plane was on time (it wasn’t) and sillier me tried calling Seerung to come back. Why sillier me? Well the only time Seerung ever remembers to actually bring her phone with her it is usually flat. This time it was at home… and flat. So instead of her coming back, picking us up and we all head out to a nice cafe somewhere or to the park to kill some time Ariya and I resigned ourselves to the little cafe inside the airport for a fruit box and a terrible cup of coffee. They had known six hours previously that this plane was going to be late but there had been no text message, thanks Air North.

Our original plan was to land at Darwin on sunset, check into the hotel before hitting the town for a nice meal together somewhere. This failed to eventuate as the plane ended up being three hours late and by the time we checked into the Vibe Hotel Darwin, it was almost 10 o’clock and everything was closed. With 10 minutes to spare we managed to sneak in an order for room service before it closed.

The vibe hotel was booked as a mystery hotel with wotif.com and it was the first time I had stayed here. At $150 (4,500 baht) it was the cheapest 4 star place in the CBD as all other places were well over $200 (6,000 baht). We get so spoilt for price and comfort throughout Thailand that staying in hotels in Australia nearly always become a disappointment. The room was small, the beds were average, the fan in the bathroom was noisier then the airport we had just left behind and my room service chicken was burnt. Apart from that it was fine and we still managed to have a great time! I have to admit, it was way better then this place!

Our room at the Vibe hotel in Darwin

The pizza and chips were great but my Chicken in Pyjamas was well and truly cooked.

A bubble bath for Ariya with the jet engine fan as company.

We even had our own fireworks display. We first noticed them as we were coming into land and they continued on all around the city well into the night including the park right outside our bedroom window. The Northern Territory is the only state in Australia were it is legal to buy and set off fireworks, but only on one day of the year, July 1, when they celebrate Territory Day and as most people know, people from the top end sure do like to celebrate!

After not enough sleep we woke to a beautiful day and a lovely view from our room.

The new Darwin waterfront area.

This was the first time I had seen this area after reading a lot about it. It is the new Darwin waterfront and includes a lot of new apartments, restaurants and a wave pool. It looks really nice and on our next family trip to Thailand I think we will try and book a two bedroom unit for a few nights to break the trip up a little.

We quickly checked out and walked across the foot bridge and into the CBD. Coffee and a newspaper for me and a babyccino for Ariya and we were all set for the highlight of the trip, Ice Age 4 – Continental Drift on the big screen. The early morning screening meant we almost had the place to ourselves which was nice and Ariya and I laughed ourselves silly for the next 90 minutes.

From there we took a quick walk to the esplanade and took in the view out across the Timor Sea.

At the esplanade we sat and ate lunch on a picnic bench directly outside the hotel that Julia Gillard happened to be staying in. Ariya really wanted to meet her but apart from a heavy media contingent we failed to catch a glimpse of the red haired leader. With still a little time to spare we took the stairs down to the ‘beach’ and collected some shells to take home for Marisah.

We then walked about three blocks in search of a taxi (I forgot I wasn’t in Bangkok) and headed off to the optometrist across town close to the airport.

We spent nearly two hours there doing all sorts of tests and finally came to the conclusion that it was not as bad as he first thought and that we should wait six months before testing again so that was good news. Ariya was not to happy about that as the drops they had to put in her eyes (twice) were certainly not enjoyable.

As the appointment took longer then we thought it was a relief to have a taxi turn up quickly to take us back to the airport and the return flight to Kununurra, this time, on time with Skywest.

I will leave you with two photos of Jupiter just in case there are any optometrists reading and would like to offer a 2nd opinion!

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Climbing Crocodile Rock

Posted on September 10, 2012 | 3 Comments

About 100 kms east of Kununurra the Great Victorian Highway takes a few sweeping bends passed a most interesting rock formation. Ever since my first trip up north aged seven I have always remembered this part of the road and it would seem I am not the only one. I believe it may be a part of Gregory National Park but it is always hard to tell where these things begin and finish.

My parents have recently returned to New Zealand after their annual trip to Kununurra and it was during their time here that my Dad suggested climbing this formation as it had always fascinated him as well. He had looked it up on google earth and named it Crocodile rock as that is what it looks like from above.


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So early one morning my brother Paul and my Dad headed East and ended up having a wonderful time exploring this place so I thought I would share a few photos of the morning with you all.

From the ground it doesn’t look like much as a fire had recently been through and burnt everything. It did make the start of the walk very easy though!

Here I am a little closer and you can see that the fire did not burn past the base of the hill. Have a look closely to the far left of the formation and you can see two horizontal slabs of rock with a gap between them.

Here it is using a zoom lens. This is where we wanted to get to.

There was the occasional splash of colour and the sky was a brilliant blue. I believe this might be a Kapok flower.

As we started to climb a little the view began to improve.

Here is my Dad. Considering he is awfully close to 70 years of age he was as agile as any billy goat going around that day. I hope we get the chance to do a few more of these types of walks together in the near future.

Stopping for a rest with my brother here I managed to get attacked by a bee. Although he only stung me on my finger I must of somehow rubbed some of the poison onto my lip which over the next hour proceeded to swell up quite impressively! Notice the size of the boulders? They were huge and had been scattered all over the area.

After that little bit of excitement we pressed on and soon found ourselves getting closer to our destination.

The final few minutes proved the most challenging but thankfully this tree was in the perfect position to allow us to reach our goal.

We sat up in the gap for quite a while admiring the view. The wind was rushing through at quite a speed and as it was in the shade it actually became cold. Soon we began the trek back down to the car and home to the farm. A great morning spend with family, I hope you enjoyed it also.

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Kununurra Agricultural Show part 2

Posted on September 7, 2012 | 4 Comments

This entry follows on from part one a few days ago.

I dropped the photos in to the show on the Thursday and come Saturday we were all excited to go and check out the results. Once we had looked at the photos we wandered around to look at our other entries as well as what other people had entered.

Here are the girls looking at their Mums capsicum. All previous attempts to grow Capsicum have been a failure but for some reason this year they have done really well.

Here are her prize winning beans.

There was a section for funny shaped vegetables.

Here are some other vegetables. They all looked fantastic.

If you don’t collect your entries by the 4pm deadline then they get auctioned off to raise money. The following day we had a visit from some Estonian friends of ours. They had seen the auction and decided to bid on some of the vegetables and picked up a big box. They decided to share it around and dropped a few items off to us which, yes, you guessed it, contained our own beans!

No show is complete without the sewing and cooking sections.

There are quite a number of families who homeschool in the Kununurra area and we get together all the time for various events. Every year they enter a display into the school section and for the 2nd year running we won the $250 first prize! This years them was ‘the year of the farmer’.

This was my girls contributions. They chose to do it on Leucaena. Leucaena in Thailand is known as กระถิน (gratin) and is an important ingrediant in the famous dish ส้มตำ (Som Tum) as well as being a side dish for many meals or just a snack on its own. In Australia it is only recognised as been cattle feed! My girls love the stuff and are always out walking around the farm looking for the fresh green pods and leaves so decided to educate the locals on what they are missing out on.

Of course the local show is not just about the pavilion but has all the fun of the fair. Side show alley, dog judging, horse jumping and races, cattle, business exhibitions, lawn mower races, hay bale stacking competition (won by my brothers farm), cowboy comp, plenty of food and drinks – enough to keep you busy for a full day. Perhaps I will see you there next year?

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