To Windjana Gorge

Thursday 29^th May 2008

So, we made it by 7:05 – a minor miracle! It must be said that the girls were still in their pyjamas and their sleeping bags with their seatbelts over the top but that is not important! The auto electricians were very friendly and promised to call us as soon as it was ready.

We headed off to Cable Beach to have breakfast at Zanders, only to find they didn’t open til 8am. The girls were dressed by this time and ready to face the world, well, Holly was, so we decided a walk on the beach was the go. Katie refused to leave her sleeping bag so we left her with a comic in the car. The beach was glorious, if a little busy, and the highlight for Holly was patting a camel from the camel train – that was as close as she was going to get to a camel ride.

Zanders was open for business when we returned so we ordered up and each had exactly what we had been feeling like and left the plates sparkling clean except for one pancake from Katie’s enormous pile.

We did a quick last minute shop for duct tape (don’t want to run out before we leave the dirt roads behind!) and a couple of luxuries such as chocolate before picking up our trailer and heading out of town.

We saw some bush fires looming closer but luckily the road bent to the left just as we thought we were going to be heading into it and beyond that the skies were clear once more.

We stopped for a quick look at the ‘Prison’ boab tree which is a massive great thing that is hollow in the middle and is said to have been used to hold prisoners overnight on their way to the Derby gaol. We weren’t allowed right up to it or in it – much to all our disappointment – but it is still impressive. I also took advantage of this stop to tape up the back of the trailer before we hit the dirt.

We were talking to Johno (last minute important messages from Paul!) as we turned onto...

THE GIBB RIVER ROAD.

This part has been the looming adventure that has occupied my mind (causing slight worry) for several months, now but it was a very gentle introduction today. The first 70km or so are sealed and the next section is in extremely good condition up to Windjana Gorge, with a part that was being improved as we drove through (following the water truck so that car and trailer were covered in soggy red mud!).

The campsite at Windjana was also a pleasant surprise with flush toilets and showers (albeit cold) and a nice open feel. We got there in the early afternoon and pretty much had our pick of spots but it certainly filled up by evening. There was also a Bower Bird nest with a couple of birds hanging around – it was beautifully made and had a stack of white stones piled up outside. It also had some blue plastic bottle tops and some blue tape which the bird had obviously felt would add extra appeal to any potential females. It’s a shame it was right outside the showers so that the birds had to run for it every time someone came past.

At about 4:30 we headed off into the gorge to check out the sunset. It was an easy walk in – makes a change after the rock climbing at Karijini – and the Corellas were there in their hundreds, squawking and flapping and filling the gorge with their noise. We also saw the promised Freshwater crocs on the opposite bank, unmoving and not so big but still menacing when you looked up close. We found one on our side and managed a good look at it – it seemed unphased by the loud children dancing around it.

The gorge was big and wide and seemed much more benign than those at Karijini – probably because it was wider. The sides were extremely high with yet more interesting rock formations (which, naturally, really impressed the girls!), the water meandered through and there were plenty of trees and undergrowth. The sunset turned the rocks into a fiery orange which contrasted with the gloom in the gorge where we were. We’d been told that we could see the freshies trying to catch bats as they came out in the twilight but we didn’t have torches and decided it was more important to get safely back to our camper – maybe we’ll be more organised tomorrow?!