KEY POINTS:
It's difficult to think of a more appropriate name. This is a section of the West Australian coastline filigreed with unsurveyed creeks and bays so remote that they've yet to be officially named. There's no road access. What else would you call it but Faraway Bay?
The red
sandstone ranges which surround it are some of the oldest in the
world. Worn away over time by the torrential rains of the wet season, they've formed beautiful gorges and permanent water holes.
In the middle of this wilderness, perched on a rocky sandstone outcrop
overlooking the Timor Sea, operators Bruce and Robyn Ellison have created a luxurious bush camp for those prepared to pay for the exclusivity of remoteness, while leaving as small an ecological
footprint as possible.
The Ellisons secured a lease over this private patch of paradise, but the lease conditions precluded anyone visiting the property by road.
Undeterred, Bruce hired a barge from the diminutive township of Derby, which lies 287 nautical miles to the west, and floated 95 tonnes
of gear across the warm waters of his new home.
The barge continues to be a lifeline, bringing an annual load of crucial
supplies such as fuel, gas bottles, chlorine and consumables.
Accommodation is in a series of small cabins dotted along a cliff-top, each cleverly designed to take in the 180-degree ocean views whilst maintaining privacy.
The cabins are upper-end practical rather than luxurious. Some have private bathrooms while others make use of the communal facilities nearby, tastefully adorned with hessian curtains.
A pale, shell-strewn pathway leads from the cabins past native scrub to
Eagle Lodge, a large central dining area which overlooks the springwater pool.
Food is a major focus of the Faraway Bay experience. Much is made
of local produce grown in the vast Ord River Irrigation System, a
70-minute flight to the south.
Often there's fish on the menu, caught just hours earlier on board the
Ellison's cruiser.
Camp manager Steve McIntosh has been at Faraway Bay for seven years and shows no sign of losing his enthusiasm for the place, confessing that at the end of the dry season when the tourists all go home, he hangs around for a few more months, just exploring and camping out.
It was McIntosh who discovered the existence of Faraway Bay's ancient rock art, much of it made up of thin and elegantly drawn figures in mulberry red ochre.
McIntosh clearly relishes sharing his precious find. He says visitors are amazed by what they see here: over 400 panels of art, some more
than 30,000 years old.
Sitting by the pool at sunset, gin and tonic in hand, guests watch the
dying sun light up the red and brown clifftops.
It takes a moment to put this level of comfort into context. A generator
provides electricity. Pure spring water is gravity-fed from a rock pool above the property and makes for beautiful drinking. Heated by solar power, it's also used for the showers.
A gentle sea breeze tugs at my hair and the aroma of frying fish drifts over from the kitchen.
Guests emerge from their cabins and drift over for pre-dinner nibbles, talking of dingoes heard in the hills the night before, an eagle spotted over the bay. So far away from everything, yet we have it all.
GETTING THERE:
Qantas and Air New Zealand offer daily flights to Perth. Qantas also
offers daily services to Darwin. Kununurra can be accessed from either destination via regular flights by North West Regional Airlines, Airnorth, Qantas, Skywest and Virgin Blue.
Faraway Bay camp provides chartered flights from Kununurra and special charters from Broome or Darwin can be arranged.
The Faraway Bay bush camp is closed between November and March. April to September is the ideal time to visit with temperatures around 30C. As
transfers are restricted to charter aircrafts, baggage is limited to 10kg. Storage for any extra luggage is provided in Kununurra.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
See www.farawaybay.com.au. Also www.australiasnorthwest.com, www.westernaustralia.com and www.australia.com
