Hi Everybody!

Yep, it is us!

The Kimberley WhiteWater Women are back on familiar ground, stuffing their faces with green and crunchy vegetables, all the fruit they can get their hands on and the odd beer or two or three.

The experience is hard to define, so be patient with us as we sift through 100GB of data to find the images and footage that really tell the story of 8 women, 30 days, 2 rivers and a trek.

Here is something small to tease your pupils.

Keep in touch with us to find out more about movies, photo nights, public speaking and of course the progress of SAVE THE KIMBERLEY.

Thanks again for all your support during our month in the wilderness, it couldn’t have happened without you.

Australia Day on the Isdell River.

The Kimberley white water women’s adventure is starting to draw to an end. After an epic walk and a well deserved resupply from Greg the chopper pilot they hit the Charnley River.

The Charnley, to start with was reminiscent of the Isdale with the crew having to drag boats and bash through vegetation to make their way down river. The girls were passing through bull country again, the large bulls have been lining the banks to watch these strange colourful river creatures float past.

They have become expert fish cooks, wrapping up brim in melaleuca bark and smoking them over open fires. These fish are so abundant in Kimberley that they are nibbling on the girls feet as soon as they enter the water.

So after 150kms of walking, days of dragging boats and pushing through thick vegetation all in 40c plus heat and monsoonal rain you’d think they would be rewarded with white water!! Well you’d be right, on the 10^th of Feb the girls had a full day of white water including waterfalls up to 20ft, amazing gorges, big portages and 1 big flip. The Charnley has given up the goods and there is still more to come!

The girls have a few more days of rafting left before they make their way into salty country. They’ll get out before then and call in the chopper to pick up them and the gear. Due to arrive back in Melbourne on Friday the 17^th, after a couple of days rest (drinking beer) in Broome.    

They have loads of film footage and photos that they are so excited to show everyone and I’m sure they’ll be more stories on here once they land back into Broome.

The walking so far……..

Monsoonal rain continued into the first five days of the walk with the girls being constantly drenched from head to toe. Time not walking was spent under tarps trying to stay warm and marvelling at the relentlessness of the rain. The walking was tough, over rocky ground and through areas that have been turned to swap with the start of the wet season.

Wet, blistered and sore feet have been a big problem as they have had a hard time keeping anything dry. Ticks have also appeared and the girls are having to routinely search out and destroy the little buggers.

After five days of wet conditions the rain has stopped and the sun has once again come out. Only days earlier they were huddled under tarps to stay dry, now they lie under the same tarps to escape the 40c heat. Along with hunting out croc free swimming holes, midday siestas have become the best defence against the heat and the team is trying to make up distance during the cooler periods of the day.

Apart from the ticks the newest wildlife encounter has been with a not so friendly bull. The bull wasn’t too happy with the girls being in his territory but through some quick thinking the team banded together trying to look like one big animal and yelled “moo” at the angry bull until it left.

If they keep up the pace they should be at the Charnley River within the next 3 days. The walk sounds like it has been an amazing adventure but they are amped for the potential white water that this next river section could provide.

In other news, tomorrow (3^rd of Feb) “mornings with Vanessa Mills” on ABC Kimberley radio will include an interview with the Kimberley White Water Women themselves.  

 Here’s a direct message from the Kimberley White Water Women

Day 10 Thursday 26/1/12 (end of the rest day)

Went to bed last Saturday night a little disheartened because the river was so low and after 3 days of hauling rafts and praying for rain we all have sore backs and shredded hands. Monday morning we woke to a slightly raising river and found ourselves rafting for the first time.

This morning we woke up at 3am to a 3m rise in the river that was coming very close to our camp, we got up and had to move everything to higher ground.

We rewarded ourselves with a much need rest day, some washing and charging the solar panels that are running close to empty.

This is the most beautiful camp site so far, in the gorge opposite a spectacular set of water falls.

The rapids have been huge yet all runable, and the girls are happy to finally get stuck into some white water.

Thanks to everyone who prayed for rain because since then every night there has been heavy rain with amazing thunder and lightning shows, like none of us have witnessed before.

Since that rest day the girls rafted one more day out of the gorge then after much discussion decided to climb out of the river. They made a heli pad for all their rafting equipment that will be picked up by the helicopter in 10days time. They have now started the 150kms walk from the Isdell to the top of the Charnley River where they will meet their rafts and start the second white water section. Due to heavy cloud cover (the monsoon has arrived) the solar panels that charge the communication equipment aren’t getting a lot of sun light so although they will try to stay in contact as much as they can updates might start to slow down a little. They still want the rain though so that the upper reaches of the Charnley are flowing strong for when they get there.

Tanya and the girls would also like to wish her dad Gary a happy birthday

Latitude -16.99011 , Longitude 125.39958

Wednesday last week when the girls made it to the river the gauge on the Isdell River was only at 0.74m. Yesterday the gauge got up to 3.2m and there is more rain on the way. Check out the spot tracker page to see how much more distance they’re making now.

So far the wet season has been pretty dry in the Kimberley. After making it to the Isdell River, the girls have been bashing their way down a mostly dry river bed, making only 14.5kms in the past five days.

However , there has been enough water to attract a plethora of fish – with Tanya catching up to five fish a day for the girls to add to their supplies. While they have been making slow progress this has allowed them time to see some amazing rock art that dates back tens of thousands of years. Showing them just how old the land they’re walking through is.

They spent last night sheltering from the one and only storm in one of the many caves in the area. The wildlife spotting has continued and so much so that they have now lost count. No Salties though, those crocs are still at a safe distance a long way down the river towards the coast.

Current weather forecasts don’t predict any increase in rainfall in the next few days, however longer outlooks are predicting heavy rain to arrive around next Friday.

The white water women have been able to paddle one small rapid which was filmed and completed with woops of joy. They hope to get at least four hours of heavy rainfall to bring the river up and provide them with less walking and more white water action. 

Latitude:-16.80406 Longitude:125.72211

Check out the link to the KWWW spot page to see where they’ve been so far

It’s been a lot of hard work but after 2 days of dragging, hauling and shuttling gear the KWWW have made it to the Isdell River! Ready for the first river section of their trip. They have had temperatures around 40 and super high humidity. The wild life count so far is 1 fresh water croc, 1 snake and currently there is a wild boar hanging out at their camp. Everyone is healthy and in high spirits, ready to put on the river tomorrow morning.