Tunnel Creek

Gibb River Road

Gibb River Road

Gibb River Road

Gibb River Road

Gibb River Road

After a day to recuperate from our adventure, we left the van in storage and went out to continue the Gibb River Road from the western end. The road was much better than we expected and we went along the Wndjana Gorge road out to Tunnel Creek. You walk through a cave which had been worn by a great force of water over milions of years. You definately need a torch and old shoes that you dont mind getting wet, thankfully we wore our aqua shoes. The water is quite cold and knee deep in places. After 750 metres you come out into the open, the creek still has water in it but not flowing much as it is the dry season, would be good to see in the wet. In fact so much of what we have seen in the Kimberleys would be so different in the wet but unfortunately much of it is inaccessible by road. We went back to Windjana camp ground, cheap at $11 a night even though the advertised price is $20, we werent about to complain.
After lunch we set off for the 7klm round trip into the Gorge, we walked solid for 50 minutes which meant we should have come to the end of the trail, but no, as it was getting on in the afternoon we decided to turn back, didnt want to have the ranger out looking for us. The Gorge itself is beautiful, enormous cliff faces of black and gold plunging down into the water. There are freshwater crocodiles everywhere, in fact 74 have been counted, they laze about on the river bank sunning themselves. It was a beautiful place.
Next morning we packed up camp and backtracked to the Gibb Road and drove to Silent Grove and Bells Gorge, the road in was 30klms and the last 10 klms were atrocious, very rough and rocky, hell on tyres. The Gorge itself was worth the walk, again down a very rocky path, over the creek to a beautiful waterfall, a number of people having a swim. When we got back to the car we found we had a flat tyre so had to change it. As it was a Friday we thought we had better get back to Derby as we needed to get it fixed before Monday, just got to the tyre place as he was closing, so has put a plug in it.
We have spent the last couple of days taking it easy, will leave here on Monday morning and head towards Broome but will do a couple of free camps along the way, have booked Broome for 10 days and have a long list of things we want to do, certainly a camel ride along Cable Beach.
I guess I will have a lot of pics and stories to tell when we get there

Derby

Its early Wednesday morning and we have just returned from the most amazing 20 hours you could imagine. Tony and I left on a light plane , along with Richard, Mary, Tony,Barbara, Trevor, Helen, Wayne and Helen, a motley crew if ever there was one, a great bunch of people. We flew over the bay to Cape Leveque and spent 2 hours lazing on the beach, swimming having lunch and generally relaxing. Our pilot picked us up in the seaplane and we flew over the amazing Bucaneer Archipelago to Talbot Bay, we flew over the Horizontal Falls, did a deep dive right through the chasm. After landing we were picked up by Ian in his boat, ( you may remember we met Ian at St.George on his way up here with the boat, we promised to catch up when we got here) he was surprised to see us, he took us to the yacht where we were treated to cheese and bikkies and wine. A sail through the calm waters into the sunset was just what we ordered, though the guys had to put the sail up first. On our return to anchor a BBQ was cooked and served then more wining and relaxing. After an interesting night on the yacht, (some slept in single beds---us---some slept in doubles and some chose to sleep on deck.) This morning Justin and Leone cooked brekky , after some repairs to a broken loo, and Ian picked us up in his boat for our adrenalin rush. Did I say adrenalin rush, my goodness the kids will never believe that I did this.The water because of the extremely high and low tides is like a washing maching as it forces its way through a tiny gap, we went through 3 times , Ian held the boat at 11knots and it stood still against the force of water. We screamed our way through and then screamed for more, what a bunch of daredevils. You really have to be there to experience the swirling of water and how careful you have to be in this area, we didnt go over the second waterfall as it would have been too dangerous. It was a truly amazing experience and thanks go to Ian for giving us the thrill of a lifetime, I will never forget it. In fact to all the crews, on the planes and the boats thanks a million , we will certainly recommend it. The company is called Kimberley Extreme and we did our trip from Derby but you can also do it from Broome, value for money is unequalled. Many thanks to all again, also our other daredevil friends for making it so special

Derby

Derby

Derby

Derby

Derby

Derby

Derby

Derby

Halls Creek to Derby

Friday the 13th saw us have an easy drive to Halls Creek, the van park was nearly empty but was full the previous night., it was a very noisy night as there was a disco of some sort in the block next door. Late at night there were drunks walking around the van site, not good enough from a management point of view, as they are the only park in town though they have the monopoly as its a long drive to the nearest town if you dont like it. Amenities were very average and took over an hour to clean next morning and no other facilities if you needed them. It has amazed us at the poor standard of so many van parks, when you are paying around $25 to $30 a night you expect that least amenities are going to be clean. We try to free camp as much as possible and have an outdoor shower.
In the afternoon we went for a drive out to Old Halls Creek, very few remnants of an old gold mining town, then we came back and had a look at the China wall which we were told goes for about 12oklms. We were hoping to catch up with my Uncle Mac and Aunty Vicki but they have been help up in Port Headland so will try to catch up with them there.
Next morning we decided to have another easy day and only travelled as far as free camp #586, a nice spot overlooking Ngumban Cliffs, went walking and found a lot of different flowers that you dont see when driving. Spinifex is everywhere and scrambling through the cliffs is difficult. On the way we have seen some huge termite mound of varying colours and shapes, some of them look like grotesque women with large pendulous breasts. If you really look you can see all kinds of shapes.
Sunday morning we were up at 6am and went for a long walk then got going, arrived in Fitzroy Crossing and once again nowhere we could get information on road conditions. We wanted to on the Windjana, Tunnel Creek road but were unsure whether we could tow the van, everyone gives a different answer. However we werent prepared to take the risk so continued on to Derby, lucky to get a van spot as it is school holidays here, went out on to the jetty and watched a gorgeous sunset, have put pics up for you too see. Hopefully we are going on the Horizontal Falls flight and catch up with Ian whom we met in St.George with the boat. Will let you know how we go

Derby

Halls Creek to Derby

Halls Creek to Derby

Halls Creek to Derby

Halls Creek to Derby