Gibb River Road, Western End, West Australia

Thursday June 23rd saw us putting the caravans in storage again to complete Part 2 of our Gibb River Road adventure. We moved our two caravans to sites in the storage area of Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park before heading off on the West end of the Gibb River Road.

The first 100 Km was mostly sealed with a few small dirt sections. Once we got near the Windjana Gorge/Fitzroy Crossing road the conditions took a turn for the worse with fairly heavy corrugation. We continued East towards Bell Gorge in the King Leopold Ranges. The ranges here are quite different than the ones we saw on the East end of the road.

We arrived at Silent Grove Campground on the Bell Gorge Road around lunch time and checked in with the Campground host. This is a National Park and you need to pay a Park permit for your vehicle as well as a per person charge for camping. Works out relatively expensive at $60 for two nights. Campground was a nice bush setting with some shaded areas. It was already fairly full but we managed to find a couple of sites with some shade. There were shower blocks with Solar heated water and individual dunny style flush toilets. Not bad for remote bush camping so 3 Stars.

Spent a relaxing afternoon doing some bird-watching and a very short walk along the creek. Sandra learned the hard way that it can be hazardous sitting directly beneath a Corella!

Friday morning we had a big Bacon & Eggs breakfast to start us off. Nothing like bacon over a hot fire on a camping trip! Once we cleaned up we headed off to Bell Gorge. Was about 10 Km of fairly rough 4WD road to the Gorge parking area. From there was a fairly short walk into the top of the Gorge. Got a nice view of the falls from above.

We then crossed the creek above the falls to continue our walk to the base of Bell Gorge. A bit of excitement/laughs there as Rans lost his balance on some wobbly rocks and ended up horizontal in the water. Luckily he wasn't hurt and the Ranger key fob survived the dunking! The walk down to the base was a bit longer and involved some rock hopping. Beautiful views when we made it down though. The entry into the water was a bit tricky as sloped, slippery rock. We enjoyed a swim and a break while we took in the views. A tour group turned up but our timing was pretty good as we were ready to leave.

We made the return climb to the top pool above the Gorge for another swim and some photos. This would probably be our second favourite Gorge site after Manning Gorge on the Gibb.

We returned to our cars and completed the return journey to our campsite. Another relaxing afternoon was enjoyed with a big BBQ dinner to finish off our day. Met a nice fellow from Maitland, NSW while we were at Silent Grove and enjoyed a few stories/laughs with him.

Saturday morning saw us packing up and heading off for our second stop on this stage of our adventure. We headed back West again towards Derby before heading South towards Windjana Gorge. We arrive in good time and had a good selection of campsites to choose from. This is also a National Park with same fee structure as Silent Grove but is a self registration site. We found ourselves a nice shaded area where we could setup both tents. Lucked out with a picnic table as well which made things easier. Amenity facilities were the same as Silent Grove so I'll stick with 3 Stars.

We had planned to tour Tunnel Creek in the afternoon but Rans was in a bit of pain from his Bell Gorge experience so we decided to enjoy a bit of a rest day. That being said we did a short walk into Windjana Gorge around 3 PM. Very interesting as is completely different rock structure than the previous Gorges in the Kimberley. When we got to the main pool of water we were treated to seeing 40+ freshwater crocodiles. Lots of different sizes floating in the water or up on sand bars. We got some nice pictures and decided to return in the morning to complete the longer walk.

Sunday morning we ventured into Windjana Gorge again. Beautiful blue sky with part of a moon hanging over the gorge. Not as many crocs as the day before but we did get a close look at a few big ones. The Gorge walls were a bit of a different colour with the sun shining from a different angle. We walked down the gorge a few kilometres along the sandy river bed. We saw a rock wallaby as well as various bird life. Some of the rock formations were very interesting with one section looking like melted candle wax.

We returned to the campsite for morning tea before jumping back in the car(s) for a trip down to Tunnel Creek. This was about 35 Km further down the road toward Fitzroy Crossing. The road had a bit of corrugation and quite a few sharp rocks. We enjoyed a snack when we reached the conservation area before setting out on the walk.

The walk was fairly short but involved a bit of rock climbing to actually enter the tunnel/cave. Once in; the walk was unique in that much of it was pitch black and you were wading through creek water in several sections. Just over knee height is some sections but is much higher after a bigger wet season. The Ranger at Windjana said it was completely full of swirling water during a big wet season. You needed to carry a good torch to keep the path lit in front of you.

There was an opening near the middle of the tunnel where there was quite a bit of water before plunging back into darkness again. The tunnel ended with a nice creek view. There was a small collection of Aboriginal Rock paintings outside the exit as well.

Returned back through the tunnel to complete our walk. We all survived with no falls and only moderate wetness. Loaded up in the cars and headed back to Windjana campground. We enjoyed a relaxed afternoon with another BBQ steak dinner to finish off the day. We got some nice photos of the changing colours of the gorge walls at sunset. Last night of our Gibb River Road experience. We have enjoyed our time on the Gibb but stand by the observations we made on our first trip from the East end. It is relatively expensive and you really need to get off the beaten track and do some walks to really see much.

Derby & Horizontal Falls, Western Australia

Tuesday saw us travelling the short trip North to Derby. We arrived at the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park shortly after 10 AM. We got settled into a couple of lovely large, shaded sites near the back of the Park. We had stayed here on our previous trip and enjoyed good service from Ian and Julie. Park was larger than we remembered but quite well laid out with a couple of amenity blocks. The Amenity Blocks were relatively modern and clean but nothing special. Let’s say 3 Stars for them.

Once we got setup we did a bit of a tour around town. This consisted of a trip down to the wharf to see the tide, a trip to an Aboriginal Art Gallery, and a visit to the Tourist Info Centre. All three were interesting to see!

We did a small shop at the local I.G.A. as well before returning the caravan park. Much of the afternoon was spent preparing a Baked BBQ dinner. Roast lamb and roast pork was a lovely way to end off the day!

Wednesday morning Sandra and I were off on our Horizontal Falls trip! The Bus picked us up at the caravan park and delivered us to the airport. The airport was very busy with at least 4 flights to the Falls leaving that morning. We were assigned our plane and 12 of us boarded a float plane and were on our way to the Horizontal Falls. The flight was fairly direct and mainly passed over the mud flats before reaching Talbot Bay.

The pilot flew around the Horizontal Falls below a couple of times in each direction so everyone could get a good look at them. The landing was smooth and we were quickly taxied to the main Horizontal Falls base. Conditions were perfect with lots of blue sky and water!

We were then assigned to a boat crew who would look after us while at the Falls. We lucked out with our boat/crew assignment as we got a smaller boat and the most experienced skipper.

Our first stop was the Barra Shack (house boat) where we deposited our backpacks etc. before our first visit to the Falls themselves. Our skipper, Adrian, took us through both sets of falls to explain what we would be seeing and experiencing later at high tide. Was still very exciting without the full high tide. We enjoyed a number of passes through the falls before returning to Barra Shack for morning tea.

From there we were transported over to the main base to watch a shark feeding. There is a caged area where you can stand in the water while they feed Tawny Nurse Sharks. A number of other fish including Golden Trevally and Bat fish were also present. A total of about 4 sharks showed up; two with names. Tim, was a special shark who liked to lie on his back and sometime floated away in distraction. While they seem quite tame it is important to remember they are dangerous and will bite. One of the handlers got a nasty bite a while ago.

Back on the boat for our main event through the Falls at High Tide. The tide was about 11 Metres which is very good for this time of year. We enjoyed a number of passes through the first wider falls before venturing on the second narrower falls. We were backed into this one expertly and could really see the amount of drop there was in the water and the force with which it was being forced through the gap between the rocks. Another exciting pass through the main falls took us back to the Barra Shack for lunch. BBQ Barramundi and Salad rolls.

After lunch we enjoyed a more leisurely cruise up Cyclone Creek. Beautiful scenery and a bit of a geology lesson from our skipper. Some exciting high speed cruising, twisting through the Mangroves to finish off the trip before returning to the base.

Back on board the float plane for our return to Derby. Took a bit more scenic flight path on the return journey passing over more of the Buchaneer Archipelago. Some lovely water views to finish off our day.

We were dropped off at the caravan park again by bus in the late afternoon. We spent the rest of the day rushing to pack for our next tenting adventure on the Gibb River road. Watched part of Origin Two with the Ransleys before calling an early night.