Around Oz with the Munchkins: Into the Kimberly - conservation, birds and our first flat tyre

In the relative cool of the morning we all packed into the hire vehicle and headed for Bell Gorge. A short walk led to a peaceful waterhole in which we had a chilly but very refreshing dip. It was our first of many swims in the many chilly waterholes of the Kimberly - such a great antidote to the dust and heat of travelling the Gibb. We don't really know how we'll ever cope without waterhole swimming when we are back in Melbourne - but I suppose we will... After a relaxing day, we were back at the campsite by late afternoon. Nina taught Zara some chords on the ukulele and the two of them strummed and sang.

The following day, we headed into Barnett River Roadhouse to fill our car up with much needed petrol. On the way to the roadhouse we had our first flat tyre for the year! The puncture was pretty enormous but despite some challenges re trying to remember how to use the massive 4WD jack, it was fixed up quickly and we were on our way again. It was a relief to refuel despite the high prices. The roadhouse had a small selection of fresh food and plenty of groceries at insane prices. The place was packed with locals from a nearby community who are forced to pay such prices for their basic goods - except when someone is able to get to Derby or Broome for a big shop-up. Must be a very expensive way to live and when we asked one lady about it she rolled her eyes resignedly and told us they didn't have much choice. I guess it is the way for most outback communities who have to ship or fly or truck goods in.

After knocking back a few ginger beers, we headed back the same way and took the turn off to Mornington Wilderness Sanctuary. This massive area of land (320,668 ha!) is owned and managed by the Australian Wilderness Conservancy who have de-stocked much of the property in an effort to regenerate the land. They are also doing lots of research and have projects on the go to support biodiversity and controlled burning projects to protect the land from devastating late-season fires. We thought that what they were doing was pretty cool (although chatting to staff on the cattle stations we visited later in our Kimberly trip, we soon realised that the folk at Mornington were not all that popular amongst the other landowners in the area...) and it was a lovely place to camp. The birdlife was incredible - Nina was out at the crack of dawn each morning with her binoculars and birdwatching iPhone ap, hiding in nooks and crannies in an effort to spot the elusive Gouldian Finch.

We ended up staying at Mornington for 4 nights, spending our days driving through the property and exploring a couple of lovely gorges and waterholes - walking and swimming at Sir John Gorge, swimming and canoeing at Dimond Gorge and swinging off a rope into the cool waters of Bluebush Waterhole. One evening one of the researchers gave a slideshow and interesting talk about the work being undertaken at Mornington and the aims of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Zara was so inspired by the talk that she immediately started collecting donation forms with the intention of donating great chunks of her pocket money to the cause. She was pretty disappointed when we told her she wasn't allowed to sign herself to a monthly direct debit... Still we admired her intentions.

For anyone interested in Kimberly birdlife, the birds spotted by Nina at Mornington included:

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Red-backed Kingfisher

White-gaped Honeyeater

Mistletoebird

Yellow-tinted Honeyeater

Torresian Crow

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Pheasant Coucal

Rufous Whistler

Northern Fantail

Double-barred Finch

Purple-crowned Fairy-wren

Bar-shouldered Dove