Voices From The North

Has Taffy Left Us for Good?

We haven’t seen Taffy the pelican in a few weeks, but we’ve had reports he may have found a new family at Home Valley Station.

Apparently they’ve been visited by a pelican matching Taffy’s description ie bossy, nosey and happy to drink from the glass of anyone foolish enough to leave it unattended!

Taffy is known for a small split in his beak which is the result of an injury he sustained when the lid of an esky shut down on him unexpectedly – which begs the question, what was Taffy doing with his beak in an esky in the first place?

The staff at Homey Valley haven’t gotten close enough to see if there’s a split in this pelican’s beak, but my bet is Taffy’s moved camp.

Robyn

Everyone loved the Art Camp!

Kimberley Art Camp with Ju Ju

Kimberley Art camp

Ju Ju Wilson

The Kimberley Art Camp led by well known artist Jan Parish was a great success.

Guests enjoyed guided field trips and bush walks into the area surrounding Faraway Bay, as well as informal lessons in the open-air Eagle Lodge.

Mirriwong Elder and Aboriginal spokesperson for Faraway Bay, Ju Ju Wilson also joined the program, demonstrating Indigenous techniques and collecting traditional materials including ochre.

Jan enjoyed the chance to showcase the Kimberley which has been a major inspiration for her art work.

The Kimberley Art Camp will return again in 2011.

Robyn

New Chef Joins Faraway Bay Team

24 year old Will Sawtell has arrived as our new resident chef.

Before joining us, Will was a chef in Bondi, Sydney and has also worked in Canada.

Life on the land is in Will’s blood. He grew up in Bowral, a small country town in the southern highlands of New South Wales. It was here that his love for fishing (and cooking seafood!) began.

Will’s Dad taught him all about fishing – lures, bait, fly fishing and more – and they’re both still avid enthusiasts.

Will’s parents travelled with him all over Australia, including the top end. It was here that his love for the outback was born, and with it a desire to explore the Kimberley.

Our new chef surfs and also loves new experiences, cooking and playing guitar – which means he fits right in at Faraway Bay!

Kimberley Moon Shines

We recently enjoyed the 10th annual Kimberley Moon Experience which this year featured John Farnham.

He’s still an amazing performer with such a magical voice. This year we watched from the grass with many of our friends from Kununurra which was such a great way to enjoy the show.

We always time the Kimberley Cooking School around the Kimberley Moon Experience, and this year we did a cooking event either side of the concert, which will happen again next year.

It’s a wonderful time to be in the East Kimberley!

Robyn

Kimberley Cooking School

We’ve just enjoyed our two Kimberley Cooking Schools back to back with our celebrity chef Chris Taylor.

Our guests love learning from such a master in the kitchen!

Chris created some amazing flavours from around the world – soft shell crab with cumin salt, braised duck in tamarind sauce, fresh calamari, prawns, and fresh boab salad.

Each night we had the most incredible degustation meal.

The days were filled with exploring the Kimberley and nights were filled with exploring the world of international flavour with a modern Kimberley twist.

Always such a treat for us and our guests.

Robyn

Serious Fishing!

We recently enjoyed four special days with our WAMS (West Australian Mechanical Services), a group of serious fishermen, as you can see by the photo!

We enjoyed having them back again with laughter long and loud from dawn till dusk.

The hunt was back on for the elusive “finger-print” fish with the largest being approx 5 kg, caught by Fragile Boy (Rod) – bad luck Roger.

The biggest barra went to “Smooth Boy” with a fish of 76cm.

All of the Faraway Bay team enjoyed the entertainment, ribbing and laughter provided by this great bunch of guys.

Robyn

Serious fishers!

Dugong, Osprey and a New Discovery

The wildlife is always amazing at this time of year.  We’ve recently seen dugong in the King George River.  There’s often a big old dugong in the bay, but to see them in the river is quite unusual and a rare find.

The Osprey are nesting on the island nearby.  We see so many majestic birds here and bird watching is a big part of our day.

Incredibly, we’ve found a new swimming hole that we can reach by boat.  It seems there is always something new to discover at Faraway Bay!

Robyn

Promotion in the UK

We’re always keen to promote Faraway Bay, although we’re very careful to target the right people.

So we recently signed up with the UK-based www.OneOffPlaces.co.uk who  offer a wide range of unusual and characterful accommodation worldwide.

They don’t flood their site with cookie cutter places – and they actively promote the unusual, the far-reaching and the distinctive. Just like us, basically.

Here’s to a mutually successful arrangement!

We hope all our friends in the UK find out more about us through One Off Places.

Sue, the PR manager

Kimberley Croc Conference?

For the first few weeks of the season we didn’t see any crocs which was very unusual.

We rang around and found there were none at the camp on the Drysdale River, or at Bluey’s One Tree Beach.

Everyone had an opinion on where they could be or what happened to them.

Then out of the blue, they turned up larger than life within a few days of each other.

There must have been a croc conference happening somewhere!

Robyn

Taffy the Pelican Survived the Wet Season!

Our old friend from last season, Taffy the pelican survived the wet season in good shape.

I was in the next bay west a few weeks ago and saw a lone pelican who circled our boat. Then yesterday, Tim went to that bay and there he was again. Tim landed, got out on to the beach and the pelican watched him closely. When Tim threw the net, Taffy couldn’t help himself and came up close so Tim could hand feed him a fish.

Next time we expect to be able to stroke his neck again, and he might agree to be our pet once again.

It’s miraculous he survived the wet season here – most pelicans leave the area during the rains and don’t often return. He obviously likes us!

Bruce