30 Aug 10 – Manning Gorge

By Craig: A gorge with a difference. We had heard from our camp neighbours that there were several spots where you could jump from rock cliffs. “Can I jump?” asks Sam. “We’ll see when we get there”, I say as I look at Louise with a hope-he’ll-forget glint in my eye.







The walk started with a river crossing in a tinny tethered to each side and able to be pulled across each way with a rope. Good fun, says Sam.











It was a good 3km hike across all sorts of terrain and in some places I was glad to see a white arrow or two painted on rocks (graffiti the modern day bread crumbs).



































So we arrive and the first thing Sam says is ‘Can I jump, dad?’ Well a good father wouldn’t let his son do something he hadn’t tested first, so we both jumped. Well I jumped twice and Sam just kept jumping. It was only 2.5 to 3 meters high but when you were up there it looked a long way down, but it was lots of fun.

29 Aug 10 - Bell & Galvan’s Gorges

By Craig: Our walk into Bell Gorge started on the rockiest path of our trip and after a good hike of 2km or so Bell Gorge was a refreshing stop.














The area above the falls was scattered with clear water rock holes and as I found my way to a good location for a couple of photos Sam couldn’t resist a swim above the falls.























A short walk down into the gorge and we were swimming in the cool water.













We were also sharing the area with a resident goanna who by chance had just caught his lunch.










After Bell Gorge we stopped off at the smaller, less popular, Galvan Gorge. It was a quiet, tranquil place with just a trickle flowing over what would be a gushing waterfall during the wet season.









On our short walk in I came across some curious looking fruit from the Pandanus trees. It appeared the parrots liked picking them off and throwing them to the ground.

28 Aug 10 - Tunnel Creek

By Craig: Does your torch have good batteries? Ahh, no not really. What about your headlamp Louise, it’s LED and should be bright enough? It’s all we’ve got it will have to do after all it can’t be that dark!










Pitch ‘bloody’ black so we find out after entering the tunnel with a fading headlamp, Tunnel should have been a clue!
















Well it was light at both ends and for the middle section we just joined in with another couple with a brighter torch and made our way through the sometimes waist deep water, of course keeping in mind we were sharing this trip with fresh water crocs.













Half way through the tunnel opens up and a colony of flying foxes use this as an entry point.














On the section of Gibb River Road leading up to the gorge a photo opportunity presented itself: Queen Mary in profile, so the roadside sign suggested. The nose wasn’t hard to miss. The rest, well with a good imagination or a half a bottle of grog I could have seen Bo Derek.

















By Lou: Tunnel Creek is a 750 metre tunnel that runs under the Napier Range in Tunnel Creek National Park. Like so many other places it has been used by indigenous Australians for yonks but was only discovered by white man in the late 1800s. Aboriginal leader and outlaw Jandamarra had used the cave for years as a hideout but he ended up being killed in front of it, by police. It was quite eerie wading through cold thigh-deep water in the pitch black.









I’d read that freshwater crocodiles and olive pythons frequented the cave so was praying to high heaven there was a freshwater crocodile and olive python convention being held that very day over in some other national park. About halfway along, the roof had collapsed so daylight poured in and shone light on the resident bat population, and gave a reprieve to a potential claustrophobiac.




We shared the journey with a lovely couple from Kangaroo Island who in exchange for sharing their stronger torchlight, made us go first into the water to find the shallowest path across!

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.

27 Aug 10 - Gibb River Road (The beginning)

By Craig: The journey across the Gibb River Road and through the Kimberly area started just out of Derby.
The road was sealed at the start but quickly turned to dirt as we were heading for Windjana Gorge, our planned first stop. We expect to see many more gorges before our time on the Gibb is finished. Other places of interest in this region are Mitchell Falls and McGowan Island far up into the north of the Kimberly. Not sure what to expect, we just know getting there will be a bumpy ride.