Argyle Diamond Mine, Western Australia

The signature stone of Rio Tinto's Diamond Mine in the East Kimberley is the beautiful, rare pink diamond. They cost 20 times the price of an equivalent white diamond.

They are the world's largest supplier of diamonds and produce 20 million carats every year and account for one-fifth of the world's natural diamond production. The majority of diamonds are sold as rough or uncut stones by Rio Tinto Diamonds' central sales and marketing office in Antwerp, Belgium and also at their office in Mumbai, India. The rare pink diamonds are sold to jewellery manufacturers, designers and up market retailers.

Edit 28 December 2012:  Rio Tinto intends to sell its Argyle diamond mine or float it on the stock exchange.  Rio put a collection of 'hero' diamonds up for private tender - 56 pink diamonds, including two extremely rare red diamonds and 19 separate lots of blue diamonds, only found in the East Kimberley mine.  The world's rarest diamonds were snapped up by anonymous Japanese, Chinese and Indian buyers.

Halls Creek, Western Australia

Caroline's Pool was used by the early pioneers as it has water, even in the dry season

The China Wall is an unusual vertical quartz vein rising up to 6 metres from the earth and winds its way up over the hill and through the rugged landscape for fifteen kilometres.

Aboriginal people living in remote communities like Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek don't speak English.

Wendy Baarda, resident of Yuendumu, NT for 35 years and teacher for 30 years, says that forcing children to learn classroom English will be the death of Aboriginal languages. She says that trying to teach Aboriginal children lessons in a language they don't understand (English) is so frustrating for them, they don't want to come to school at all, and often don't. What's the point when they don't understand what the teacher is talking about. Likewise, the teacher hasn't a clue what her students are saying or thinking - she doesn't know why that fight broke out, or what they are laughing about. The children tell their parents they get headaches when they have to learn English.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin and Arts Minister Peter Garrett have announced they will pledge $9.3 million over the coming year to help take 113 indigenous languages off the critically endangered list. Communities will be encouraged to use their own languages as much as possible and all efforts will be made to pass them on.

Although I see that self-respect and dignity comes from having your language recognised and valued, I wonder if it won't set Aboriginal people even further apart from mainstream Australian life. How can an Aboriginal child succeed in life with no English and limited education? It's yet another complex dilemma to be worked out.

Mary's Pool, Western Australia

We had to go up on a hill to get the satellite dish to bring in the TV signal

With such long distances between towns, these socalled 'free camps' are a welcome sight. They allow the weary traveller to rest free of charge overnight. Male and female toilets are provided but there is no water or electricity.

At sunset, we counted 52 rigs

This doesn't pose a problem to most tourists - like us, they either have a generator or solar panels and water tanks are built into the caravans.

Expecting a picturesque pool with cool, clear water on a 35C day, Mary's Pool turned out to be a dry river bed with a crocodile warning. I won't tell you what I thought, but it rhymes with bucket.

Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia

Pink cliffs

The Kimberley covers 421,451 square kilometres (approx 261,000 miles), and is three times the size of England. But only 40,000 people live here, which means there are fewer people per kilometre here in the Kimberley than almost any other place in the world. It's one of the last great wilderness areas left to explore.

Fitzroy River in flood 2002

The small Kimberley town of Fitzroy Crossing is made up of mostly Aboriginal communities on the banks of the Fitzroy River. In the wet season, the flow rate down the 15 kilometre wide flood plain is estimated to be 30,000 cubic metres per second. What a sight that must be.

Eighteen kilometres from Fitzroy Crossing is the Geikie Gorge National Park. Cruising the placid waters of the Fitzroy River, we saw lots of harmess little fresh water crocodiles, rock wallabies, unusual birds and the magestic grey, pink, black and red coloured cliffs.

Built in 1897, many a stranded traveller spent some happy hours here at the Crossing Inn.

I was surprised to learn that fresh water crocodiles are very different from their cousins, the salt water crocs. Freshies, as they are called, have a narrow snout, a single row of scales on their head, grow to 3 metres and are not considered dangerous if left alone. However, salties grow to 7 metres, have a broad snout and two rows of scales on their heads and will sometimes come into fresh water to breed. They feed on crustaceans, fish, reptiles, birds and mammals, and the occasional careless human being.

We are staying at a very nice caravan park called Fitzroy Crossing Lodge and noticed four vehicles coming into the park on the back of tilt-tray trucks, with their caravans in tow. It seems all four got dirty fuel at Halls Creek, 280 kms up the road, and the 4WD's seized up completely.

Old post office, now Backpacker accommodation

They think a new tanker driver put some unleaded fuel into the diesel tank by mistake, so they got a very nasty mix. Having to be towed out here is an expensive exercise, the driver told Dennis he charges $3.30 per kilometer on bitumen and $5 on the dirt. We've just upgraded our NRMA insurance to the top cover.

This part of the country sure is remote, it's like being on the moon.

The old single lane concrete bridge built in 1935
In the wet, the little town was completely cut off for long periods.

The Wangkatjungka Community, Western Australia

April, 2008

The Wangkatjungka people, who live in a remote area not far from Fitzroy Crossing, were the first to ask the West Australian government to make their community an alcohol free zone. So from April 2008, the only way to get a drink in Fitzroy Crossing is to go to the pub, the transportation and possession of all take-away alcohol is completely banned. Some tourists get caught unawares, the Fitzroy Crossing Lodge where we are staying wont sell take-away alcohol but you can have a drink at the bar and in the restaurant. The ban has been so successful, Racing and Gaming Minister Terry Waldron said "These restrictions, which are fully supported by the Police and health authorities, have had a positive impact on the lives of the people living in the community, and as a result I have decided to extend them for a further 12 months." The restrictions apply to an area of more than 270 hectares and will be in place until April 2010.

Jandamarra of the Kimberley, Western Australia

Old Derby Gaol

In the 1890's, Jandamarra, aka Pigeon, was an intelligent, talented young Aboriginal man, who was an excellent stockman, outstanding bushman and was devoted to his young boss, Police Trooper Richardson. Settlers were complaining that the Aboriginals were killing their stock so a patrol was organised and a number were captured and brought to Derby gaol.

Ellemara was a charismatic, notorious Aboriginal who had escaped from gaol three times and was reported to have murdered many of his own people and killed many cattle, sheep and horses. Word came through that he was camped nearby so Trooper Richardson sent his best tracker Pigeon and another excellent tracker Captain to bring him in. They quickly found and caught Ellemara while he was sleeping. But during the return trip back to the police post, Ellemara somehow convinced Pigeon and Captain to free the prisoners and kill trooper Richardson.

Pigeon handed Ellemara over to Trooper Richardson who was exhausted after being awake for two nights guarding the prisoners. He slipped into a deep sleep, secure in the knowledge that his two best trackers would guard the prisoners. But instead, they shot him, released the prisoners and disappeared.

Pigeon then became the leader of a gang that terrorised the police and white settlers for nearly three years and if he had been allowed more time, could have possibly run the settlers off.

When Richardson's body was found, an angry, avenging party set out to find him. Pigeon raided supply wagons and supplied his men with guns and ammunition. There was a desperate shoot out in a gorge and several Aboriginals were killed and Ellemara and Pigeon were both seriously wounded. The police presumed Pigeon was dead but he was hiding in a deep cave being cared for by his favourite wife and mother. Ellemara also recovered slowly.

Pigeon went on to kill two more white men, raid lonely outstations and killed numerous cattle, sheep and horses. But one by one his faithful followers were either captured or killed and he was constantly on the run. Captain surrended to police and died in prison and Ellemara was hanged in Derby gaol.

After many months Pigeon was captured, he was half starved and physically exhausted. He only had 3 cartridges left and he yelled out "Give me more cartridges and I will fight you". And so ended the story of the brave and courageous Jandamarra of the Kimberley.

Derby, Western Australia

Boab Prison Tree

Derby is the home of the boab tree, sometimes called the bottle tree. Fifteen hundred years old, and even older, they are only found in the Kimberley. No one knows how they got here, it's possible the seeds floated across from Madagasca somehow, where they originated from. I'm totally fascinated and in love with the boab and can't stop photographing these beautiful, unique works of art.

Derby was the first town to be settled in the Kimberley and it also has the highest tides in Australia - 11 and 12 metres. It's also the first time I've seen the notice 'no swimming - crocodiles'.








In the late 1800's, young Aboriginal men and women were kidnapped from the West Kimberly and sold as divers and crew to the pearling lugger owners. The kidnappers, known as Blackbirders, were settlers who were connected to the pearling industry. They rounded them up, put chains around their necks and marched them long distances to the coast. Some were held captive at the Boab Prison Tree en route to the Derby lockup where a boat took them to the pearling sites. They had to dive to a depth of 12 metres without any equipment which resulted in many deaths. Such cruel injustice beggars belief.

Cooking the crabs

Derby is also the departure point for keen fisherman who fly in from all over the country to go on fishing safaris in the pristine wilderness of the Buccaneer Archipelago. Prices start at $3500 for five nights, $4800 for a week and the 10 day trip leaving on the 7th August is already booked out. Dennis went out on a crabbing trip with two other men today and came back with 3 good sized mudcrabs for dinner. Delicious.