Our journey to Western Australia ~ shot by Jamie Green featuring Lisa Smith
A huge thank you to Lisa, Bruce, Scott and Terri from Kimberley Spirit, these people were our guides and outback angels whilst we were there – they took us to the best spots and made our time shooting there so smooth!
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains
Of ragged mountain ranges
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
~ Dorothea Mackellar
We had the most brilliant time shooting our campaign in Western Australia. A land of contrasts, the deepest ochres, vibrant turquoise, hot and cold, soft and rugged. Our collection, which you will hear more about in the coming months, was made and inspired by the Australian outback and Crocodile Dundee, so there was just simply no other option for us than to fly across our beautiful country and head to the outback. We chose the amazing Kununurra and El Questro in Northern WA because it not only had desert landscape but stunning, tropical gorges and hot springs.
We only had a short time to explore this beautiful area and can’t wait to return (Spelly has already been planning her return!), but here are some of the spots we absolutely loved visiting whilst there and would highly recommend! We all have that dream of hiring a van and going around Australia, and our advice after being to this place is do not hesitate, leave now!
HOW TO GET THERE:
TO EAT
- Cornerside Cafe – these guys fed us on shoot days with the most DELICIOUS catering and let us get coffees on the early mornings we couldn’t get a coffee, life savers! It was healthy, delicious and they had alternative milks which for someone from Byron is music to our ears!
- El Questro Station Emma Gorge Restaurant – delicious, fresh pub style food and right near a lot of the gorgeous destinations we went to
- The Kimberley Grande restaurant – this is where we stayed and we were so delighted by the food there, it was so great!
- Ivanhoe Farm Cafe – beautiful little cafe with some delicious cafe options and home made ice-cream
- Lake Argyle resort restaurant – once again, delicious pub style food
TO STAY
- We stayed at The Kimberley Grande but would love to try and stay at El Questro next time too!
TO VISIT/DO
- El Questro Gorge (we didn’t get here, as it is a huge hike and swim across to get to it, but we would have liked to!)
- Emma Gorge which also has the turquoise pool pictured. This is a 45 minute walk across rocks to get in, so pack water, sunscreen and awesome hiking shoes!
- Zebedee Thermal Springs – this was probably our favourite place to visit and shoot. It is so gorgeous and relaxing, amongst small waterfalls and really tall palm trees.
- Lake Argyle Resort Infinity Pool – the most amazing sunset swim you may ever get, the views are incredible
- Mirima National Park – in Kununurra, this is a beautiful scenic walk and we also shot there!
- If you get time and have the budget, a scenic helicopter ride with Heli Spirit going from Emma Gorge is well worth it. One of our team’s favourite experiences and an amazing way to take in the outback from above.
- Visit the gorgeous joeys and kangaroos at Kangaroo Haven Wildlife Rescue, we met Mandy who runs this and she is so amazing having fostered and released hundreds of animals back into the wild. What a hero! You can donate to her on her website HERE.
In collaboration with Tourism WA. Spell also donated to Kangaroo Haven to shoot with their beautiful little foster Joeys.