ALL ROADS LEAD TO KUNUNURRA: PART I

I love to travel.

People often say that they hate flying in planes. I love it. The anticipation of heading somewhere new to experience new foods and see sights that you never imagined, or returning to the comfort of your own home and your friends and family after a time way. I love the inflight movies and I laugh at the flight attendants with their pulled back hair struggling to pull the heavily laden food trolleys up the narrow aisles. Guess I am lucky to be of small stature as the minimal leg room is never an issue.

Travelling by road also has its moments. 10 hour drives between Melbourne and Sydney as a youngster have conditioned me well. Waking up before sunlight. Breakfasts at McDonalds. Sleeping sitting up with the strains of Phantom of the Opera or Dire Straits in the background. Of course, now the engine drone heard from the inside of a vehicle and tyres on bitumen put me straight to sleep. Too many a time I have jerked awake from wacking my head against a bus window. I am sure that I am slowly killing off all of my braincells.

Our 9-day 4WD tour from Darwin to Broome was going to be a new test. Sitting sideways on benchseats in the back of a Toyota Landcruiser is not condusive to sleep... or so I incorrectly thought!

On Sunday 17th June, Gideon and I set off on our Kimberley adventure. We were picked up at 6.30am. I was getting excited. We had chosen this tour (Kimberley Adventure Tour (KAT)) because the size of the group and the vehicle meant that, unlike other tours available, we were able to head down unsealed roads to see the Bungle Bungles and the gorgeous gorges along the Gibb River Road.

In total there were eight of us. Joel the tour guide. Anu and Miia, two Finnish girls about our age. Murray, a slightly older guy from Queensland. Esthi a 27yo Swiss pastry chef from Switzerland living in Fremantle currently. Sam, a 20yo from Switzerland also. Gideon and myself. There was going to be lots of driving, seeing some amazing Australian scenery, swimming in gorges and waterfalls, and sleeping in swags under the stars every night. : )