28 Aug 10 – Windjana Gorge National Park

By Craig: An open camp ground with limited shade, things were hot and with a long walk looming I was glad that on our arrival it was decided the first afternoon would consist of rest, beer and more rest. Oh did I mention beer?








I did manage to snap a couple of photos of the sheer rock face that presented itself as a beautiful backdrop to the camping ground.






















The next morning we set off for our walk into the gorge and from the start we were not disappointed.









































The gorge presented with its clear water and sandy bottom our first opportunity to see freshwater crocs up close. Sizes ranged from 0.5m up to 2m+ and they all seemed quite content to just lounge around or float semi submerged in the clear water. Food appeared plentiful as we often caught a glimpse of small fish in the shallows and around the rock edges.





Fossils were also to be found as millions of years ago the structure now forming a mountainous gorge was in fact a reef.







Crocs weren’t the only things capturing our interest, birds and insects were plentiful as were the rather smelly flying foxes hanging out whilst taking a daytime break. Very noisy little critters and wow can they squabble.



















By Lou: We set the record for an early start and were on the track by 7:00am to avoid the heat. The ranger had advised that swimming in the gorge was not recommended due to the concentrated population of freshwater crocodiles so I braced myself for a croc fest but we only saw a scattering of small crocs.

















As we were on the track early the swish marks of croc tails across the sandy path had not yet been erased by human footsteps and we were quite curious as to how far out of the water and into the bush these critters actually get.











We walked along the gorge for about 1.5 hours before discovering from passing walkers that there was no grand finale to the walk, but rather a thickening of vegetation and then a sign saying ‘the end’.









So, with no grand vista awaiting us we turned around and headed back to camp.