Tunnel Creek

So after Derby we had to face reality and get back on the Northern highway and go back to Kununurra to pick up our van which had been having a little holiday without us at the caravan park. On the way we thought we'd visit Tunnel Creek which we'd run out of time on the way through the Gibb so we accessed it from the  Fitzroy Crossing end of King Leopold's Downs Way.

Tunnel Creek is very important in a aboriginal culture as it's where Jandamarra, an aboriginal freedom fighter hid out form the police in the 1800's. He was killed at the entrance by an aboriginal tracker in 1897. We saw a play about Jandamaara last year when we were in Broome so it was nice to be able to put the pieces together about his history and where his life was led.

Tunnel Creek is amazing, it is a 750 metre long tunnel through rock which you can walk through. You need a torch as there are areas of pitch black and you need a decent torch to show you where to go, our torches I'd picked up at the Imintji Road house just about cut it- of course the super duper Dolphin was back in the van- nothing like being prepared!

The entrance consists of a big open space surrounded by boulders, there was some aboriginal art there. You the head off into knee depth water which you cant see through and the tunnel gets progressively darker until you are in pitch black. There are sand bars and rocks along the way also rocks in the water which make it a little treacherous. We had run into a girl at Galvans Gorge who had fallen over in Tunnel Creek and broken her nose.

There were stalactites on the roof and bats nesting in the roof. Half way along there was a section of the roof which had collapsed so we got some light. We didn't come across many other people in the tunnel which was quite good making it very atmospheric but we could have probably done with the extra light!

As we neared the end we had one pool to walk through, we had been warned by a guy we'd met that he'd seen the red tell-tale eyes of a croc in this pool, the only way through to the end though was through this pool, which also happened to be the deepest pool.I was hoping that we wouldn't see anything and could just pretend nothing was in there.As we approached a shone my torch in the pool and sure enough there he was a fresh water crocodile just floating in the water right in our path. the kids weren't very impressed, Maddy was heard to say "I am not going in that water". But we wanted to make it to the end so I made a unanimous decision and marched into the water , turning around to see that no-one was following me.....So I "encouraged" the rest of the family to follow. I must admit it was a little unnerving up to your belly wading through water you cant see through knowing you are sharing it with at least one croc! Anyway, we made it through with all of our limbs in tact and it was quite beautiful at that end.

The worst thing was we couldn't really relax as we had to go back through that same body of water.Anyway, we all survived our brush with a croc and made it to the other end again with only harry falling over( a common occurrence as he's always running ahead while the rest of us are walking cautiously behind).

After we'd removed our soaked shoes and socks we headed off to Fitzroy Crossing for the night. Visited a very cool glass blowing studio , bit of a surprise find for Fitzroy crossing.

The Gibb (Part two)

Galvans Gorge

On the way to Charnley River Station we stopped off at Galvans Gorge. It was a really pretty pool with a substantial waterfall and good jumping rocks for Maddy, especially after she'd seen a young tourist group come through and seen the young men jumping off the top off the waterfall, Emma is also developing a worrying tendency to follow! The gorge also had some aboriginal paintings which is always an added bonus.

Then we continued onto our accommodation for the night, a" Ronderval"- basically a hexagonal room with fly screen walls in the middle of the bush, so you feel you are sleeping in the bush, Pete certainly did when he heard the wallabies all night- I of course slept soundly.

The Ronderval

The charm of Charnley was the hospitality of the manager, mike and his wife Karen. We arrived late, about 5,30pm he came out and greeted us personally and told us dinner would be ready at 6pm. We got settled and went to the main homestead for dinner and mike had cooked up a great Roast beef and we all sat at the long table and chatted, not that we were much fun after the long day. There was another family staying with kids and the little boy took Harry to the creek to see the croc and the girls played spotlight.

The next day we awke to peacocks, lots of them wandering around . after a Mike's  special breakky we headed off to explore the gorges which were pretty disappointing , because its the dry season a lot of the waterfalls have stopped flowing and the swimming holes are drying up, they havent had rain since March. We liked Dilli gorge, which was a huge river flowing into the gorge so we could swim (the average temperature is 35 degrees). We ran into a family we keep bumping into, the kifs had a ball plying, making a stick house high up i the rocks in a cliff and swimming all day. We relaxed i the shade and swam when it got to hot.

The next morning we headed off early as we had decided to back track to a gorge we'd missed on the way in as we had gotten there too late.We were going a little faster than usual on the dodgey rocky roads and just as we pulled into Mt barnett road house to get our permit the dreaded happened, a flat tyre! So in 35 gegree heat , we had to unpack all our gear, the spare tyre is under the car and to get to the winch to lower it you have to lift up the boot floor. So with all our stuff on the side of the Road and me readibg the manual Pete changed the tyre. The sense of camraderie on the gibb is very strong and we were offered help, but it was really just a matter of plodding on. After an hour we were back in business- the only trouble we now no longer had a spare, whilst we were driving down the Gibb graveyard for tyres, it was not uncommon to see 4-5 people a day pulled over changing tyres or with mechanical problems. We also now know why they recommend that you carry two spares, a plug-kit and a pump none of which we had.

After the tyre change we continued on, very apprehensively as we coudn't affors to be stranded with another flat in the middle of nowhere, no phone receptiion. Manning gorge was amazing, a series of huge pools and a huge water fall feeding into them. The walk in was also lots of fun as it begins with a swim to an island, you put your stuff in foam boxes and float them across you then continue to the other side of the pool and you can then start the 1.5 km walk in to the gorge.
the walk was hot and rocky with lots of steep hills so we were dying for a swim at the end of it.

Maddy considering her jump.......

To put it into perspective, she is standing on the rock ledge just above the closest waterfall to the left.

After Manning gorge we continued on to the Bell Gorge Wilderness lodge, a little bit of luxury on or last night on the Gibb, not that that was planned that's the only accomoddaton there was. We stayed in eco tents which were really nice harry really enjoyed playing in the luggage trolley.

In the morning we were up bright and early to set off to Bell Gorge, after we visited the trye man . the only mechanic on the Gibb River road and he sold tyres, ours was wrecked it was like it had been slashed by a sharp rock.the drive into the start of the walk was 29km of nasty road, very rocky with lots of sharp ones- at least we now had a spare. The walk in to Bell Gorge was about 2 km, you had th walk through the river, not too deep, at the top of the falls and then you descended down the side of the cliff face to the pool under the falls to swim. We saw lots of water monitors scampering around the rocks.We also ran into our friends again, which delighted the kids.

We finished the day with a trip to Windjana Gorge. a soaring gorge with sandy banks and a fairly still river through it full of fresh water crocs, this is one gorge they dont recommend you to swim in not that it looks that inviting. We got there about 4pm and didnt see any crocs on the bank, apparently there are usually lots of them sunning themselves on the sandy bank but we did see quite a few cruising down the river.

The walk in to Windjana Gorge

Windjana Gorge

We then had to continue on to Derby and off the Gibb river road and back onto bitumen and civilisation. We got into Derby at about 7pm, hungry, exhausted and dirty but strangely content after our great adventure on the Gibb!

Galvans Gorge

On the way to Charnley River Station we stopped off at Galvans Gorge. It was a really pretty pool with a substantial waterfall and good jumping rocks for Maddy, especially after she'd seen a young tourist group come through and seen the young men jumping off the top off the waterfall, Emma is also developing a worrying tendency to follow! The gorge also had some aboriginal paintings which is always an added bonus.

Then we continued onto our accommodation for the night, a" Ronderval"- basically a hexagonal room with fly screen walls in the middle of the bush, so you feel you are sleeping in the bush, Pete certainly did when he heard the wallabies all night- I of course slept soundly.

The Ronderval

The charm of Charnley was the hospitality of the manager, mike and his wife Karen. We arrived late, about 5,30pm he came out and greeted us personally and told us dinner would be ready at 6pm. We got settled and went to the main homestead for dinner and mike had cooked up a great Roast beef and we all sat at the long table and chatted, not that we were much fun after the long day. There was another family staying with kids and the little boy took Harry to the creek to see the croc and the girls played spotlight.

The next day we awoke to peacocks, lots of them wandering around . after a Mike's  special breakky we headed off to explore the gorges which were pretty disappointing , because its the dry season a lot of the waterfalls have stopped flowing and the swimming holes are drying up, they haven't had rain since March. We liked Dilli gorge, which was a huge river flowing into the gorge so we could swim (the average temperature is 35 degrees). We ran into a family we keep bumping into, the kids had a ball plying, making a stick house high up i the rocks in a cliff and swimming all day. We relaxed i the shade and swam when it got to hot.

The next morning we headed off early as we had decided to back track to a gorge we'd missed on the way in as we had gotten there too late.We were going a little faster than usual on the dodgy rocky roads and just as we pulled into Mt Barnett road house to get our permit the dreaded happened, a flat tyre! So in 35 degree heat , we had to unpack all our gear, the spare tyre is under the car and to get to the winch to lower it you have to lift up the boot floor. So with all our stuff on the side of the Road and me reading the manual Pete changed the tyre. The sense of camaraderie on the Gibb is very strong and we were offered help, but it was really just a matter of plodding on. After an hour we were back in business- the only trouble we now no longer had a spare, whilst we were driving down the Gibb graveyard for tyres, it was not uncommon to see 4-5 people a day pulled over changing tyres or with mechanical problems. We also now know why they recommend that you carry two spares, a plug-kit and a pump none of which we had.

After the tyre change we continued on, very apprehensively as we couldn't afford to be stranded with another flat in the middle of nowhere, no phone reception. Manning gorge was amazing, a series of huge pools and a huge water fall feeding into them. The walk in was also lots of fun as it begins with a swim to an island, you put your stuff in foam boxes and float them across you then continue to the other side of the pool and you can then start the 1.5 km walk in to the gorge.
the walk was hot and rocky with lots of steep hills so we were dying for a swim at the end of it.

Maddy considering her jump.......

To put it into perspective, she is standing on the rock ledge just above the closest waterfall to the left.

After Manning gorge we continued on to the Bell Gorge Wilderness lodge, a little bit of luxury on or last night on the Gibb, not that that was planned that's the only accommodation there was. We stayed in Eco tents which were really nice harry really enjoyed playing in the luggage trolley.

In the morning we were up bright and early to set off to Bell Gorge, after we visited the trye man . the only mechanic on the Gibb River road and he sold tyres, ours was wrecked it was like it had been slashed by a sharp rock.the drive into the start of the walk was 29km of nasty road, very rocky with lots of sharp ones- at least we now had a spare. The walk in to Bell Gorge was about 2 km, you had the walk through the river, not too deep, at the top of the falls and then you descended down the side of the cliff face to the pool under the falls to swim. We saw lots of water monitors scampering around the rocks.We also ran into our friends again, which delighted the kids.

We finished the day with a trip to Windjana Gorge. a soaring gorge with sandy banks and a fairly still river through it full of fresh water crocs, this is one gorge they don't recommend you to swim in not that it looks that inviting. We got there about 4pm and didn't see any crocs on the bank, apparently there are usually lots of them sunning themselves on the sandy bank but we did see quite a few cruising down the river.

The walk in to Windjana Gorge

Windjana Gorge

We then had to continue on to Derby and off the Gibb river road and back onto bitumen and civilisation. We got into Derby at about 7pm, hungry, exhausted and dirty but strangely content after our great adventure on the Gibb!

We Survived the Gibb River Road!! (Part 1)

Now we didn't plan it but we ended up "doing" the/"Gibb River Road. Now for hose of you who don't know The "Gibb" is 660 km of gravel, rocks , sand and river crossings connecting Kunnunurrra and Derby. It used to be used as a stock route to take the stock from the stations to  the towns. It is a beautiful, wild part of the Kimberley and there are gorges, waterfalls, swimming holes and cattle stations dotted along it.You don't get mobile phone reception or internet connection, you feel like you are "roughing" it.
   So we didn't think we had time to do the whole road so was just going to El Questro a million acre cattle station, complete with beautiful gorges and falls and then we were going back to the highway, but we loved it so much we thought stuff it we're going down the Gibb. After approximately 10 phone calls on the pay phone, I secured accommodation and changed the previous itinerary so we could do it.

   The first gorge we visited was Emma gorge, it was a great walk in and ver beautiful. Water was icy, but we found a warm spring and a warm rock bath half way up th rocks which we climbed to, magnificent.

We stayed at El Questro where Harry burnt his hand on Maddy's marshmallow, which was on fire, pretty nasty for the little guy. He got to know the nurse there quite well after a nasty graze to his knee, then elbow then his burn- he did get a free ice-cream on the first visit, I kind of wonder if maybe he was after another ice-cream with all his injuries.

We also loved Zebedee springs, a thermal spring fed series of pools in the rain forest.

Pete helping Maddy up the boulder which separates the half-way pool from the rest of the El Questro gorge. To go on this particular walk you walked to the half-way pool (about 1.5km) then swim through a pool to this boulder climb it and continue the rest of the 2km walk/climb. We were out of time so had to stop here much to the kids dismay, they have become real mountain goats, better at rock climbing than Pte and I , though I think I have discovered that I have a fear of heights, so I'm not much enjoying Harry scampering over rocks with a 10 metre drop over the edge!

To continue on the Gibb river Road you then have to cross the infamous Pentecost River. A fairly deep and wide crocodile (salt water) infested river, you don't want to get stuck mid way as you can't get out because of the crocs lurking close by. (You tube it for a real appreciation )

This scary crossing got us on our way to Home Valley Sation. Another million acre cattle station. This was a beautiful green, oasis in the middle of the kimberley . We stayed in great eco tents and we check in you get a bag of marshmallows to cook on your own private campfire. the kids loved Home Valley because it had a playground and swimming pool, not many great walks or gorges though.

After Home Valley we headed North  to Drysdale River Station- a little more basic then the previous two stations. We stayed in a "donga", which I was informed was a tin shed! It was fine though, we all slept well. Had a lovely swim in the afternoon at Miners Pool, a beautiful, calm pool in the river which we had to ourselves. In the morning we took a flight over Kings Cascades and the Mitchell Falls. It was a two hour flight over the area, I think Harry was bored after the initial excitement of being in an aeroplane wore off, about 10 minutes and it didn't take long for Emma and Harry to start fighting in the back seat, I was really missing in-flight entertainment.
Nevertheless, we saw some great views from the sky and it was the only way to see Mitchell Falls... this time!

Pete was the co-pilot!

Yeah, looking sweet and innocent now! Poor Harry"s fringe, the result of a home haircut- at least there are no mirrors around!

Mitchell Falls-from above

We then continued on to Charnley River Station....to be continued........good night

The NT

Who knew that the speed limit up here is 130 km/hr?!! And that they also have road trains- a huge truck with three or four huge trailers attached. I would have thought that those two things should be mutually exclusive.....makes for some excitement when you pass a roadtrain doing the speed limit whilst you are towing a caravan !

We are back to Katherine for a night before heading to the West, Kununura tomorrow.

Litchfield

We have had a great time in Litchfield National Park. On our first day we saw huge termite mounds and then cooled off at the Buley waterholes. They were an amazing string of rockpools, big enough to swim in and jump into on different levels connected with mini waterfalls. We started at the top and worked our way down. The kids loved jumping off the edges in to them.
After that we went to the Florence Falls, a spectacular waterfall with a huge, calm pool to swim in at the bottom.
The following day we started at Tolmer Falls, which is a another beautiful waterfall, looking only,  although we did enjoy dipping our feet in to  the creek on our creek walk. We finished today with a swim at the most popular falls and swimming hole, Wangi Falls. This was the biggest swimming hole we've seen and it has two huge waterfalls flowing into it. We also enjoyed climbing over and exploring the rock wall at the back of the main pool ,in which we found a little pool we could plunge into. I've loved the waterfalls and swimming holes of Litchfield.
Can anyone spot what's missing on Harry?

Back to Katherine for a night tomorrow before we start heading West.

Darwin

We have been a little slack in Darwin, lots of fun at water parks, a quick trip to the museum and a great night at the markets. We loved the Mindil markets and had a delicious dinner of fresh oysters, prawns, Thai food and crepes, sounds like a strange mix but believe me it worked!

Kakadu

We have had an awesome few days exploring Kakadu. They have been long days and nights, eating out way more than we should.....
We have seen some amazing waterfalls, Twin Falls and Jim Jim, lots of crocodiles and beautiful birdlife as well as some beautiful aboriginal rock art. We have been on some great walks exploring the park and aboriginal culture- it has been good seeing the aboriginals in their natural environment and learning a bit about their complex culture.

We are off to the water park in Darwin today followed by the twilight markets, better go!