Gorgeous Gorges (The Kimberley)

26th & 27^th July

After getting back on the GRR from our detour to the Mitchell Plateau the journey was all about visiting and swimming in as many gorges and waterholes as possible. Not a difficult task in this part of the world.

Barnett River Gorge – just a 5km drive off the GRR, Barnett River Gorge is very accessible. Parked and followed rock cairns to a view looking down on the gorge and then walked back to swim in a small but delightful water hole complete with a lace monitor sunning itself on the rock and oblivious to us taking its photo. Further along the GRR from here the Mt Barnett Roadhouse had excellent old style hamburgers with ‘the lot’ for lunch (I had a barra burger which was equally as tasty).

Galvan’s Gorge – a 1km walk from the parking area and the narrow track opened up to very deep pool fed by a tall waterfall. The water was refreshing and we both jumped off the waterfall (from various heights but not the top). I didn’t however let Stephen use the rope swing – a game for younger folk me thinks. Didn’t fancy re-enacting Japan Story on this trip!

Bell Gorge – arrived late in the afternoon to the Silent Grove camp ground which was very busy but allowed quick and easy access to the spectacular Bell Gorge the following morning. Wow – this would have to be a highlight of the gorgeous gorges tour. After driving about 10km from Silent Grove we walked the 1km into the gorge and arrived at Bell Creek and the top of some beautiful falls. The creek drops over the first fall and cascades over a number of others into a deeper and narrower gorge with a large waterhole surrounded by steep cliffs on either side. We admired the view and swam in the shallow pools at the top of the falls and then rock hopped along the cliff edge and down to the pool at the bottom for a fantastic view back on the waterfalls and of course, a swim in the crisp, clear water. Found some great rocks to jump off into the seemingly bottomless pool. Didn’t want to leave this magic place but as the morning progressed more and more people arrived which took away from the experience a little so we headed off in search of more gorges.

Can you find Jo in this photo?

Windjana Gorge – this gorge is regarded by geologists as one of the classic examples of world geology. The gorge is a picturesque, narrow canyon cut over millions of years by the Lennard River through the Napier Range which was once a coral barrier reef. Hard to fathom that this hot, dry and dusty place was once the floor of a seabed. The gorge is about 3.5km long, up to 100m deep and has near vertical wall for most of its length. It is truly awe inspiring. A number of fossil remains of extinct crocodiles and turtles have been found in river gravels along with the bones of the extinct giant marsupial, Diprotodon. There are currently about 100 freshwater crocodiles inhabiting the water in the bottom of the gorge and you can get up close and personal with them as you walk along the river bed. Another cool thing we watched while on our walk in Windjana Gorge was a sulphur crested cockatoo persistently pull bark off a tree for minutes to give it access to a small hole in the tree trunk where he reached in, plucked out a fat, juicy grub and proceeded to devour it.

They say that you can remember distinctly where you are when historic events occur and this was where we were on September 11^th 2001 listening to the horrific unfolding events all crowded around a shortwave radio that a fellow camper had. While many people in Sydney and other places watched the planes fly into the World Trade Centre in real time, it wasn’t until a few weeks later that we actually saw the footage and got further news about what had actually unfolded. The Kimberley fourteen years ago and still today is some very remote country.

A sad day indeed! We finished the last of Rita's cookies. How can we go on?

Tunnel Creek – the last of our gorge tour, Tunnel Creek flows through the Napier Range in a remarkable natural tunnel more than 750m long. The tunnel contains permanent pools of fresh water and you can enter the tunnel at one end and walk through to the other and then return. For some of the walk you are in pitch blackness and wading through knee deep water which is a little disconcerting even with torches. Even more disconcerting was on our way back we heard a splash in the darkness and movement only about 2m away from us and when we shone our torch in that direction we saw a small freshwater croc – perhaps we scared him more than he scared us but I think that would be debatable. Needless to say, our journey back to the entrance was a lot quicker than the walk in!!!

The tunnel is limestone so there are stalactites and stalagmites to be viewed on the walk. The roof has collapsed near the centre and it is interesting to look up to the daylight above when you reach that point. There are also a number of bat colonies residing in the tunnel and it is sometimes referred to as the Cave of Bats. Some colourful history about the tunnel is that it was a hideout for the infamous ‘Pigeon’ – an indigenous outlaw or freedom fighter of the Kimberley area in the late 1800’s. All in all, quite a unique experience.