The Gibb River Road....part 1

We left Broome not only with a sense of anticipation about getting back into the tent but with all our available space filled with extra supplies.  Extra fuel, water, vacuum packed meat, as much fresh food as we could fit in and over 100 wraps!!!  We’ll never want to eat another wrap again I’m sure – but they pack well and last a lot long than a loaf of bread.

We made the relatively short journey to Derby, stopping only to look at the Boab Prison Tree – the girls were totally amazed by it but the stories we read about it uses described a sad past.

Then on to Derby, unfortunately the tide was high and we didn’t get to see low tide of the second largest (in the world) tide of 12 metres.  Nothing left to do other than head for the Gibb River Road.  Yippee...

Our first stop was Windjana Gorge.  The turn off was a short way along the Gibb River Road, the road up to the turn off was surprisingly smooth and we both silently (for fear of saying it out loud might jinx us!!) hoped the conditions would last.

As we pulled into Windjana Gorge camp we could see the sheer cliffs, once an underwater reef, towing high in the sky - 100 metres high in some parts. It was an impressive sight.  We all went to bed looking forward to walking into the gorge in the morning to see the crocodiles…and we weren’t disappointed.

Morning sunlight left and afternoon sunlight to the right 

The moon rising over the cliffs

In the heat of the day we took our torches and walked through Tunnel Creek.  A creek bed that runs from one side of the Napier Range under and out the other side.  We had fun looking for bats, wading through the river and finding our way….. quite an adventure and the perfect way to keep cool.

Back at the camp Olivia, Alice and I walked back into Windjana gorge an hour before sunset when the sun was hitting the cliffs and the crocodiles were out in bigger numbers.

Windjana gorge was fantastic but with no swimming or relief from the heat (around 35 – 36 c) we were excited about moving further along the Gibb to Bell Gorge.  We moved in the morning and at 1pm (the heat of the day, which I did think might not have been the best decision) we made what seemed the long trek down into Bell Gorge.  In hindsight it was the best decision.  We spent the afternoon swimming in the cool water or lying on the rocks in the sun, waiting for it to cool down before walking out again.  A wonderful afternoon.

Our next camp was only a short distance along the Gibb River Road and then a long 88 kms/2 hours south.  We had to radio in from the turn off to check availability, affirmative, at which time we were cautioned about the river crossings on the way in.  Not having done many yet we spent a good deal of the time wondering what she meant by ‘take caution on the river crossings’??

All was well and we had two excellent nights at Mornington Wilderness Camp.  Two spectacular gorges to see – one we saw in the morning and one at sunset.  In between we cooled off in the river – the most fun had on the rope swing.  No crocs in sight so all was good!!

Dimond Gorge

Alice and Ivy on the rope swing

Olivia and me on the rope swing at Bluebush waterhole

Sir John Gorge at sunset

From Mornington we moved on to Manning Gorge for a night – the main attraction of Manning being you could swim from the campground, and we did.  There was even a boat (which was 

meant to be for the walkers safe passage across the water) for the kids to play on.  Heaven….

We wondered why we only had one night, but on we must go.

A.