Doing Epic Shit Down Under

Resting up for a few days in Darwin after a spectacular 10 day "swagging" trip across the Kimberley region - the northernmost region of Western Australia.  I am going to concede defeat right up front here - it is impossible to reduce the Kimberley to a short highlight reel.  Without a doubt it is among the most beautiful areas we have ever visited! Thankfully, this leg of our camping trip only involved about half the distance as the first leg from Perth to Broome - "only" 2200 km (1,375 miles). Our group of 18 included 4 holdovers from the first half of the trip, and 14 newbies (mostly Aussies this time).  The days were bright and sunny and in the 80s (I don't think we saw a single cloud the entire trip), and the nights were cool and clear in the 50s, so we could sleep in our swags under the stars:   The Kimberley is quite remote, with a population of about 40,000 people, about half of whom are aboriginal, in a land area just slightly smaller than California....

Resting up for a few days in Broome (my new favorite city in Australia) between the first half of our Western Australia (WA) adventure (Perth to Broome) and the second half which starts in a couple of days (Broome to Darwin). To catch you all up, we arrived in Perth, the capital of WA, back on August 1st.  Perth is in fact the furthest city away from Boston on the planet, so nobody can accuse us of not venturing too far from home! WA comprises roughly the western 3rd of Australia. If WA was a country it would be the 10th largest in the world.  We spent a few days in Perth, mostly preparing for our trip, but also visiting beautiful Kings Park and Botanic Gardens, having a tour (and tasting) at the Little Creatures Brewery in Fremantle (Freo to the locals), taking in a comedy show (we understood about every third joke), and stumbling upon a Boston Sports bar (you might recognize the faces on the wall): On the 5th, we met up with our group of 18, and 2 guides, on a cold winter mo...