Willis's Walkabouts Newsletter 34, March 2008
The February trips to the Kimberley were among the best I've ever done. That's good, but where are the May dry season bookings?
Two new photo galleries, some special discounts, info about flights and more. Read on for details.
| The Green, Green Kimberley
The Kimberley has been having it's best wet season in at least five years. Both the Green Kimberley and Bungles in the Wet trips enjoyed better than average wet season conditions. It was the first time I'd been to the Bungles in the Wet. I hope it won't be the last. Those who have been to the Bungles before would have scarcely recognised it. I'll have more later, but for now, here's a link to the first draft of a new photo gallery. 2008 Bungles in the Wet Photo Gallery With all the rain, the April trip to the Bungles and Osmond Range: 13-26 April should have exceptional water supplies, making this one of the best Bungles trips in recent years. |
| Last Chance for May
For years, I've been saying, If you are only going to come north once, come in May." May is the best compromise between the water of the Wet and cool temperatures of the Dry. We've got bookings on four May trips, but only one is a definite departure. The others will be canclled if we don't get more bookings soon. No other May trip remains available.
Special offer. Book any of the last three trips above or any section of one of those trips and take 20% off. If we don't have the bookings we need to run the Mitchell Explorer or Kakadu Highlights No. 4 by 21 March, they will be cancelled. The Kimberley Highlights deadline is 28 March. No other discounts apply with this offer. |
| Aboriginal Land Rights in the Kilberley
In the January newsletter, I mentioned some of the problems on the Mitchell Plateau. The Kimberley Land Council is supposed to represent the Aboriginal traditional owners in the Kimberley. I'm sure that it does accurately represent some of them, but I also know that others are very unhappy. It seems that the Kandiwal people on the Mitchell Plateau are not alone in their struggle. Some of the Aboriginal people associated with Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) are equally frustrated. Here's what some of them have said. Djaru letter to Kandiwal
Kandiwal press release It seems to me that the Kandiwal people may have a valid claim under native title. If they take it to court, as it seems they should, the whole area could be tied up for years. If the proposed developments go ahead, Mitchell Falls and its surrounds will be a small island in a sea of mineral development. See it while you can. I knew of the long struggle between the two competing claims in the Bungles. I had thought that some compromise had been made between the two groups. I hadn't realised that one had simply been shut out. I can't comment on the validity of the different claims, but it may be that government bureaucracies find it easier to work with large organisations like the the Kimberley Land Council than with the small groups. It may be a case of large bureaucracies getting bigger while smaller groups get shafted. In the long term, it can't be good for bushwalking in either area. |
| Western Australians Beware!
In the January newsletter, I mentioned the Adventure Activity Standards which could destroy Bushwalking Clubs if they were applied to those clubs. Now Western Australia has joined the bandwagon. While I was in the Kimberley, the first meeting was held in Perth. If you are a member of a Western Australian Bushwalking Club, I urge you to have your club contact the organisers and do its best to see that commercial standards are not imposed on clubs. Contact Ralph Gur Of Outdoors WA by emailing executiveofficer@outdoorswa.org or phoning (08) 9248 6677. A group called Adventure Victoria has been in the forefront of the opposition to the imposition of these standards on non-commercial groups. If you want to find out more, I highly recommend you visit their website. This has a lot more information than I can include in a newsletter like this.
Good luck. |
| Overseas Trips
Time ran for the High Arctic Summer trip scheduled for July-August this year. It's now listed for 2009.
We received so many bookings and enquiries for South Africa that we are now offering a second, similar but not identical, trip. We've already got two people confirmed and need another three to make it run.
We plan to offer a South America trip in late November or December. Watch for details on the website. |
| Flying to Kununurra, Darwin or Alice Springs
Most of the flights to Darwin arrive around midnight, terrible if you are connecting to Kununurra. There have, however, been a number of changes which might make things easier in some respects. Tiger Airways now has direct flights from Melbourne to Darwin and Alice Springs. They also fly between Darwin and Singapore. Virgin Blue has direct flights to Darwin from Brisbane and Melbourne. They have a direct flight from Adelaide to Broome. Skywest flies from Perth to Kununurra and Darwin via Broome. Air North flies to Kununurra from Darwin and Broome. They recently got a new jet, so the baggage allowance on some of their flights has improved. Jetstar has direct flights from Dawin to Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne and Singapore. Qantas has the only flights between Darwin and Alice Springs. They also have direct flights to Alice Springs from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns. They fly to Kununurra from Broome and to Broome from Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. What does this all mean? It means that if you want to get a good airfare you need to check out a lot of airlines. It means that if you want to get to Kununurra from Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney, you might find a cheaper flight or better connection flying via Broome than via Darwin. It's worth checking. |
| 2008 Trip Availability: June and Beyond.
From June onwards, every other trip listed on our website and in the draft trip list we posted out in early December is still available. Some already have bookings, some do not. Those that do are listed on the Tour Availability and Specials page on our website. This list will be updated regularly. We will cancel any trip which has no bookings approximately two months prior to departure. You can see what's still available at any time by going to our Trip List page and clicking on the area which interests you. The following are already guaranteed departures or need only one more booking to become so.
Every trip in the list below has at least one booking. All need at least two more to become definite departures.
Peak Season Availability. In addition to the above, we have two confirmed and one possible charter. Many trips overlap. Many of our guides have other jobs and are unlikely to be available at short notice. If we don't have the bookings to guarantee departure at least three months in advance, we may not be able to get a guide. If you are interested in any of the above or in any of the other listed trips which overlap them, please contact us as soon as possible. |
