On The Verandah

18/08/2026

East Kimberley sunsets are special...

Our late afternoon drawing session on the marsh was nicely capped off with the long, unhurried flight of a black-necked stork, gliding low across the expanse of marsh towards the setting sun.

24/07/2026

21/07/2026

The kooky flying style of the Brolgas just before they landed and did their beautiful dance 😄

20/07/2026

Debbie Mackinnon has taken her group of painters down to the cattleyards pandanus spring today. They are working in the concertina books they created yesterday: lots of shadows, reflections, contrast and interesting shapes to experiment with. They're achieving great results!

19/07/2026

Debbie Mackinnon "Painting the Kimberley" workshop is under way! Participants are loosening up with mark making, simple colour palettes, mono printing and sketching out amongst the boabs. On site here at Diggers Rest Station near Wyndham in the far north east of WA.
This afternoon, we've packed the eskies with ice cold bubbles and will head out to the sunset spot for some panoramic views of the Cockburn Ranges.

14/07/2026

The 2026 Judith White Kimberley Masterclass comes to a close. What a wonderful exhibition of works in progress and some even finished! Thank you to Judith and a fabulous group of very talented artists.

11/07/2026

09/07/2026

Judith White's masterclass is underway. DAY 3!

25/06/2026

It's almost 2 weeks since we farewelled our Kimberley Bird Week guests and we were just reflecting on what a fabulous time we had with them.

Over the seven days, we took our small group of 5 guests to many sites, none of them too far from our base at Digger's Rest Station.
Each night we did our E-bird counts and averaged 40 species a day, with a total for the week of 110!

Some of our favourite sightings were, of course, the stunning Gouldian Finches, and also, Purple Crowned Fairywrens, White Quilled Rock Pigeons, Australian Bustards, Australian Pratincoles, Sandstone Shrikethrush, Spotted Harriers, Brahminy Kite (in the abandoned pub), Pictorella Mannikin (munia), Long Tailed Finches, Masked Finches, Star Finches, Red capped plovers, Red winged Parrots, Red Backed Fairywrens, Plumed Egrets, Azure Kingfishers, Blue winged Kookaburras, Australian Hobby, Brown Goshawk, Great Bowerbirds, Rufous Songlark, Buff Sided Robin, Leaden and Paperbark Flycatchers and one of our most regular sightings - White Bellied Sea Eagles.

We are so looking forward to the 2027 Kimberley Bird trip and are in talks to include a location with the Yellow Chat!