16 July - 17 July 2013 – Galvans Gorge, Bell Gorge, Imintji Store, Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek

This morning we were packed up and had left the station campground by 7.30am.  At Mt Barnett Roadhouse we had to wait around until 8am for the shop to open so we could get fuel and a morning coffee.  Not far down the road we pulled into Galvans Gorge.  It was only a short walk in before the waterfall was in front of us.  We all had a quick refreshing swim and then went back to the cars.  We continued on down the dusty road and came to Imintji Store where we had an early lunch. Our next stop was to be at Bell Gorge but the road was so corrugated that we stopped 20kms in at Silent Grove to drop of the caravans before continuing the last bumpy 10kms.  The walk into Bell Gorge was a longer walk in the very hot sun and we forgot our wet shoes so had to wear our thongs.  There are two different levels for swimming but with our choice of shoes, we thought it would be dangerous to try and walk down the cliff to the lovely multi-tiered waterfall but opted to swim in the top pool area instead.  It was a beautiful place to swim but we had to make tracks as we still had quite a drive ahead of us.  We had to drive the 30kms back onto the Gibb River Road and head about 180kms further west to our next stop-over at Windjana Gorge camping ground.  In our travels, we passed a man who we’d seen quite a few times along this trip – he is alone and riding a bike along the dusty GRR; I can only imagine how much dust he must breathe in as each car passes him.  We stopped him for a quick chat and a photo and he told us that he was actually riding his bike from Darwin to Perth.  We were impressed with the campsite when we pulled up as they had proper flush toilets and solar heated showers – very good for a cheap national park camping ground in the middle of nowhere.  It was nearing dark so after setting up we simply cooked up our dinner and sat chatting outside for the evening.

Wednesday morning we packed up most of the van and then went for a walk into Windjana Gorge.  This gorge used to be the bottom of the ocean around 360 million years ago and the surrounding limestone rocks have a few fossils in them.  The Lennard River that runs through this gorge has plenty of freshwater crocodiles lazing in and on the edges of the water and we crept up to a few for some happy snaps.  Fortunately, if you don’t disturb or threaten them, they are mostly harmless.  After leaving Windjana and on our way to Tunnel Creek, we stopped nearby at the ruins of Lillimooloora Police Station.  In the late 1800’s, there was conflict between the Bunuba tribe and the white settlers which turned into a day-long battle between the two at Windjana Gorge.  The main aborigine, Jandamarra, once worked with the settlers in helping to capture the aboriginals but later turned on and killed some of the settlers and instead aided his fellow aboriginal men.  He was eventually shot and killed at the entrance to Tunnel Creek, where we headed to next.  The entrance to Tunnel Creek is through some large boulders but once you get in, it opens up to a much larger area.  We had taken our torches upon advice, and fortunately so, as without them it was pitch black.  We were told that there were freshies living in the tunnels bur fortunately didn’t come across any as we were wading through the water.  The cavework of the tunnel had a few stalactites hanging down and we even managed to see a tiny frog in the dark.  This was very different to any of the caves, tubes and tunnels that we’d previously seen.  We drove back to the caravan and hooked it up, then made our way towards Derby.  Before too long, we’d hit some gravel and what we thought was the end of the dusty Gibb River Road.  We pulled over and put air back in all our tyres and ripped off the tape which was preventing the dust finding its way into the van.  However, further up the road, we hit red dusty road again – bummer!  We continued on anyway and eventually came to Derby without any damage and not too much dust.  We pulled into the busy Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park and started to wipe some of the dust out of the van.  Tonight was the 3^rd State of Origin – the decider!  We made a few calls back home to family and friends before sitting down to dinner of meat pies and watching the game.  It was a bit disappointing as NSW lost the Origin for the 8^th year in a row – but they didn’t play well and I guess we always have next year!