Day 38
Derby - Gibb River Road - Windjana Gorge - Tunnel Creek - Derby
" while the other kids were rocking round the clock, we were hopping and bopping to the crocodile rock...."
We were up at 6 this morning to get on the road by 7 to make the most of what was a fantastic day. Today we drove a good chunk of the Gibb River Road - 370 k round trip on both the black top and all kinds of rusty red. The Kimberley fog is not as rich as Pilbarra fog but it still manages to get everywhere! The road was much better than I thought it would be - only 1 dry creek bed crossing that could have been tricky - not in the Disco though.
We drove to Tunnel Creek first - the furthest point on our drive today so we could work back from there.
Tunnel Creek was awesome! It's a 1.7 k round trip walk in the pitch black cave that the creek runs through - you get wet up to your thighs (adults) waist ( kids). Torches and water shoes are a must here - you couldn't do it without them! The creek is cool and there are parts that are muddy and you need a good balance . The formations of stalactites and limestone drips are great to view.
It was in the middle of the darkness that Cayden kept pestering us to shine the mag lite on something he'd seen shining..... The shining things turned out to be a pair of crocodile eyes.... A small Freshwater croc ( about 1.5m) but enough to freak out the smaller CMJs - especially when it was only discovered about 4 or so metres from us in the water !! Cobey turned into Miss " I think we should turn back now" and I had to drag Cayla through the water to continue for a while . We did finish the creek to the other side.... But we had to get back too! This was actually a lot easier than I thought - they did get over it pretty quick! We managed to find a side cave as well on the way back thanks to a couple we met in the water. It's called Crystal Palace and it was a squeeze to get into after a short climb - and warmer too but it was well worth it. I posted a pic of the sparkling crystal formations. You would never find it in the dark yourself and tours do it - which is how we found out - the couple watched the tour deviate.
Croc avoided, we all exited the creek into the 30 degree sunshine again.
We then drove 35 k's on the dirt to Windjana Gorge. If Cobey was concerned about crocs, it was going to get even more interesting here. 51 apparently were counted!! There are about 70 in the whole gorge system so we saw most of them! The gorge has huge cliff on either side and a very inviting river for swimming in - if only the 51 other inhabitants weren't there first! So no swimming.
We hiked in about 2 kilometres and it was actually good for the kids to get closer to and more comfortable with the crocs. They all now have a healthy respect for them and aren't so freaked out. Estuarines are a totally different ball game and so they had a good croc learning day today. We didn't see any of those today.
We drove the 150 k's back to Derby avoiding all the cattle, roos and other 4wd's on the sometimes single road ok and we decided to go watch the sunset over the Derby Jetty tonight. A different set of colours against the jetty pillars and we even caught up with our friends Brendan and Janelle who are doing a similar trip to us - a few beers and some stories whilst the sun finished its work for the day.
We planned ahead and decided after a big day to have a couple of meat pies and salad for dinner which hit the spot.
Tomorrow we are off to Fitzroy Crossing and Geike Gorge.
PS - saw an interesting sight this afternoon whilst topping up the Disco at the BP . A White Toyota land cruiser 70's series comes driving by on the main drag of Derby. Its a bit rusty in places but in it are at least 15 aboriginals and the cruiser clearly has no rego - no number plates - nothing.
The police drive bys have been quite regular this afternoon too - all over the town.