Four gorges and a tunnel or two

Besides the lack of plumbing, the other big challenge for me was always going to happen when we started to walk, my being more in favour of 'exercise' that involves turning the pages of a book or twisting wool around knitting needles.

Two activities on the itinerary came with warnings: the entrance to Tunnel Creek (“quite challenging”) and the walk up to Emma Gorge waterfall (“medium level of fitness required”). In fact, my level of fitness, while it could and should be better for all sorts of reasons and occasions, was OK for this trip. People in my age bracket would be more likely to find difficulty with flexibility – or lack thereof! The rough terrain was the biggest problem. There were some pathways in Kakadu but in the Kimberley there were virtually none. The tramping of many feet caused earth to compact into a path if there was sufficient soil, but often there wasn't. Instead, what you had was indicators of best routes over stone, ranging from pebbles to boulders.

The steepest walk was quite short – up to the rim of the Wolfe Creek crater – and it did have a defined path, although rocky underfoot once you got to the climb.

Climb to the rim of Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater
- steeper than this looks

Both Tunnel Creek and Emma Gorge presented you with boulders for which I found “all fours” better than two feet and a walking pole. I didn't get exhausted anywhere but I was amongst the slowest, in fact the very last down from Emma Gorge.

After negotiating the entrance to Tunnel Creek it was down into the water, up to the top of my thighs – the one day I wore shorts! Dark too, literally a tunnel through the Napier Range with light midway where part of the hill had fallen in – a long time ago, we weren't in (much?) danger ... although you never can tell – there were warnings! On the way out my head torch (a great invention!) picked up the eyes of a crocodile resting on a ledge at water's edge. We didn't bother each other!! And I was too busy watching my footing to worry about the bats overhead. Back in daylight at the far end, the air wasn't thick with butterflies but there were still a few late-season ones about. It was a beautiful spot to have a picnic but you'd need to plan it well. Then back out again, stumbling along tentatively in the watery dark, over the entrance rocks again, and out. Magic!

Outside Tunnel Creek
See Tunnel Creek photos here

 


















We camped one night at Windjana Gorge, getting in too late to see the gorge that evening. We nevertheless walked there and through the tunnel but stopped at that point because we couldn't see too much by torchlight. Funny that! So much better seeing it very early next morning instead – beautiful. Flat, easy access too. The short tunnel hid the beauty from you as you approached so that there was a gasp of delight when the gorge appeared. You can walk some distance but we only loitered close to the access point so didn't have to work too much for that treat. The hardest part was walking in the sand of the river bed, trying without much success to imagine floods of water rushing through.

Windjana Gorge
See more photos here

Bell Gorge wasn't even on the itinerary. That was one of the fabulous things about this trip .... doing so much more than expected. Another easy walk to what was obviously and understandably a popular swimming spot.

Bell Gorge
More Bell Gorge photos here

Our group didn't swim at Bell Gorge because we were heading for a swim at Manning Gorge  later in the day, but in between we had a stop at Galvans Gorge (not exactly a difficult walk but you had to concentrate) where some, but not I, swam.

Swimmers at Galvans Gorge
See more of Galvans Gorge here

This is stunningly beautiful country!

Manning Gorge

Manning Gorge riverbed at sunset

 

Truckin' 2

There's swimming, flying, sailing and the towns .... and there's Terra Firma, where most time was spent. So much of that time was spent travelling, mostly on unmade roads. Yes, we bounced around a bit with the occasional jolt here and there. But really it was very comfortable. Never once did I think “Aren't we there yet?” or “Let me off!!” I even dozed a bit, sad to say as I missed the scenery.

People will say, “Oh, but the scenery doesn't change much.” In fact, it does. Slowly and subtly, but change it does. Wide, flat, open; hills, trees, scrub, palms; water crossings, with and without water; termite mounds, big and small; the very rare building of some sort; roadhouses, fences, no fences; passing traffic, every hour or so.

The first major trek was across the Tanami Desert. Next was the drive into Purnululu NP, just on 60km off the Great Northern Highway but it took 2½hrs to do it, such were the twists and turns.

The second major trek was the iconic Gibb River Road. I expected this to be really bad, but it wasn't, well not from the point of view of this passenger! Mind you, I wouldn't have wanted to drive it!! The wear and tear on the truck was enough to make you realise you'd have to be prepared to write off a vehicle if you drove a 4WD across. It wouldn't necessarily happen – although it did to a woman trying to hitch to anywhere from Mt Barnett Roadhouse! It would definitely take years off the life of a 4WD though and only a fool would attempt it in a regular car. That said, the road was in pretty good nick, reasonably graded. But you can see why you don't travel the Gibb in the wet. Seeing the height that water reaches by the debris caught high in tree branches – you'd need your floaties, and then some!!

The third, though shorter, major trek was on the rugged Kalumburu Road, off the Gibb, then off that again up to Mitchell Plateau on the most rugged stretch of all.

Pretty much all the rest was on sealed roads. The romantic factor took a steep dive! Anyone wanting to experience the romance of the Gibb needs to get on with it. It's sealed from the Great Northern Highway to Emma Gorge Resort and major roadworks are under way to seal from there to the El Questro Homestead turn-off. Once that's complete it's not hard to imagine that the rest will follow, not quickly perhaps, but the days of the unsealed road look to be numbered.

I've not read any words nor seen any photos anywhere that do this trip justice or give a real appreciation of the majesty of Kimberley country. But I'll try to give a little of the flavour with these photos.

Start of the Gibb River Road, near Derby,WA
More photos -
Gibb River Road - Part 1
Gibb River Road - Part 2
After the Gibb - Part 1
After the Gibb - Part 2

Accommodation and the unmentionable

The proper accommodation, i.e. in a building with a proper bed and your own shower and toilet, was nicely spaced throughout the trip. Best of all, I loved sleeping under the stars. I coped with the shower blocks, was glad there weren't too many behind-a-bush toilet stops. But along with most others, I was always counting down to the plumbing of real civilisation. It varied from the luxury of Cable Beach Club, to the most expensive but nothing out of the ordinary hotel in Darwin, to a couple of better than average motels, to a permanent “tent” at Emma Gorge.

Wee small hours - full moon
at Drysdale River Station

"Tent" at Emma Gorge resort -
complete with en suite bathroom!

The stars are so shiny and numerous and the full moon was so bright. We miss these things in our cities filled with light pollution. I put up a tent when we were staying somewhere for two nights, as much as anything because it seemed odd to leave my belongings simply stacked in a pile when we went off for the day. It was the thought of it looking odd, security was unchanged. I finished up sleeping in the tent for three nights. One night there was a lot of dew and my sleeping bag got wet. It dried quickly the following day but I didn't want to be rolling up a wet bag after the night after that. Then we hit the big smoke of Kununurra. What a shock to the system! That camp-ground was very much high-density living after the isolation across the Gibb River Road. No room to put a tent up and have outside space for a stretcher.

I did have one bush shower – in a canvas cubicle with a hose poking in at the top. It was only put up once, for the experience I guess.

I spotted a couple with Outback Spirit backpacks arriving at the hotel in Darwin. I asked their owners what trip they were doing .... the reverse of what I'd just done. I said what a brilliant time they were in for then the man said to his wife, “I'll check in and you can talk about women's stuff.” Well, he and she meant toilets, didn't they? Were there many bush stops? A few. Were there really bushes at bush stops? A few, not always too bushy though. I was very pleased that in the gym programme I did before going away that squats featured and had to be practised often – it put me in good stead ;-)

The long drops – varied in design, pretty clean on the whole, didn't smell too bad, sometimes worse at a distance when 'the odour' drifted across to the camp-site on a breeze. Only one that made me gag and there was no reason for that – there was a resident ranger at Mitchell Falls so things should have been in tip-top order. The thunder-box over the hole in the ground when crossing the Tanami worked – although the hole could have been deeper. There was plenty of paper on board where that wasn't provided or had run out, and hand cleanser got used when there were no taps ... and in addition to a water wash when taps were available! For someone who always swore she'd never go anywhere where there wasn't a flush toilet, I did pretty damn well!!! 
If you see what I mean - photos here!