Now, up here the Gibb, as the locals call it, has a notorious reputation. Lee at Kimberley Land Caravan Park told us about all the cars and vans that broke down or fell apart on the Gibb this season. There was the Bushtracker caravan (Bushwacker as Angela called it) that was rescued twice from breakdown. Then there was the guy that waited 39 days for parts to arrive for his car! Even when Nicholas was collecting our car there was a Britz 4x4 with three flat tires that had been towed in from the Gibb. At least the beast only breaks on made road not dirt. We were more than a little worried as to what the Gibb might throw at us!
Friday we travelled over 400km to Mt Elizabeth Station (the Lacey's were not home, David and Jennie) without incident. The vistas along the Gibb were nothing less than spectacular. There were high hills with flat tops then sheer cliffs before the hill angled out at 45 degrees. In some places we could see where gorges existed between the hills, alas this end of the Gibb was now all closed so we could only admire from afar.
The road surface has been much better than we were led to believe. The corrugations were much shallower and our speed was higher than anticipated. We certainly have been on much worse roads this trip. The road was very quiet too. All day we saw three other cars, one grader and one roller, that was it, and all going the opposite direction to us. At every corner, flood way or culvert we held out breathe for the road quality to fall away.
Mt Elizabeth Station is a good base to explore the middle section of the Gibb. The facilities are basic but functional and there is no power so the generator got another run. We sat out Friday night and watched the lightening in the distance while above us the stars twinkled.
Saturday morning we again started early and headed for Manning Gorge. Manning is part of Mt Barnett Station and a pass is required from Mt Barnett Roadhouse. We arrived at the Roadhouse at 0830 but it was closed until 1000. Rather than waiting around for the heat to get up we drove straight to the gorge. Had we waited we would have found out Manning gorge was closed also. There was no sign at the roadhouse other than 'no camping' and all the gates were open so blissfully unaware we bolled on in for a walk and swim.
To start the walk we all needed to cross the river, usually there is a boat to pull people over in, but not today. Angela, Chelsea, Chantelle and Bianca chose to tackle the river head on while Nicholas took the camera and things that shouldn't get wet down stream to find a dry crossing. When we met up the girls couldn't refrain from telling Nicholas that Angela slipped and went under (which actually she didn't but why let the truth get in the way of a good story!).
Being wet from the crossing made the 4 ishkm walk a little easier. The swim at the other end made the walk well worth while. Even this early in the wet season there was water in each of the pools and they were all quite large. After cooling off in the first hole we ventured further up to explore other pools. The second pool certainly eclipsed the first. A massive pool easily 50m across extremely deep with high cliffs and a bit difficult to climb out once in. A piece of rock that jutted out made a perfect launch pad to jump about 3m into the water. There was no stopping Chantelle closely followed by Bianca then Chelsea and even Nicholas had a go. Then we found a lower launch pad that suited us all a bit better. What fun we all had! After 3 hours swimming, jumping and exploring we started the trek back to the crossing and car park.
At the crossing Nicholas stayed on the bank to watch the crossing before crossing lower down again with the the water sensitive items. And what a crossing he had to behold. First Chelsea held the camel pack upside down above her head and bits started falling out of the pockets. Then Chantelle slipped and fell under with only her hat visible on the water. When Chantelle surfaced she had lost both water shoes! Bianca and Angela were both in amongst it helping retrieve bits and bring people and items back to the bank to regroup for a second attempt. Then Chelsea realised "I've lost my hat, where is my hat?". Cowboy hats like water shoes don't float.
With the kids on the bank Nicholas and Angela were in the water looking for shoes and a hat in 3m of water. Angela spotted the hat and Nicholas dived down to retrieve it and found a water shoe close by. Saved one hat and one water shoe, lost one shoe. Chantelle is the only person we know that has lost a shoe in two instances in different rivers in different states of Australia.
Further down the road we stopped at Galvin Gorge for lunch and a look. Galvin didn't look like much now but with a bit more water in it and the waterfall running it would be pretty spectacular.
Heading back to Mount Elizabeth we watched rain approach and dump on us and then move on. As we turned off the Gibb to the station the road was a bit wet and became wetter the further we got. Oh no, we had left flaps open for cooling and chairs out. When we got back we discovered that our lovely hosts had closed windows and put chairs under cover for us. We were very lucky as they had 26mm in 2 hours. Before we ate dinner another storm hit with wind, lightening and thunder. We retreated inside to eat out of the rain.
Sunday morning and other than the tree debris there was little evidence of rain from the night before. All the canvas was dry for packing up. The rain did bring out the wildlife. Bianca befriended a pretty faced kangaroo that came right up to our campsite. Probably to see what we were doing in the rain last night.
On the drive out of the station we saw a lot of frilled neck lizards on the road, but strangely few cattle.
Our plan was to refuel at Imintji before going on to Windjana Gorge. The Imintji store closed at 1200 we arrived at 1225. Hema maps had wrong store hours. Imintji store was nice enough to turn the pumps back on for us. At $2.35/l who wouldn't want to sell all the fuel they could? That saved us driving 200km to Derby to refuel to see Windjana.
Just passed Imintji the road crosses Bell Creek. The lady at Imintji store told us of a lovely hidden spot beside Bell Creek for lunch. Really was a lovely spot and had the potential for a rough camping spot also.
After lunch we passed through spectacular Inglis Gap (special mention for you Scott, Sarah and the boys). The road twisted and turned between high coiffed mountains, presumably following a creek path through the range.
We passed a rock formation that is called Queen Victoria's Head. It looked just like the bust of Queen Victoria from old coins. The closer we got to it the less it looked like the old queen.
Just outside Windjana Gorge we drove past several large fires burning in the scrub. As night fell over our camp at Windjana, the sky was glowing red from the fires burning quite close by. A German tourist named Manfred was quite concerned and spoke to Nicholas about the fires. Nicholas drove to the ranger to see what was going on. The fire was quite close but the ranger assured Nicholas that there was 1000m of stone fire break on top of the gorge and we were all very safe where we were. The ranger was living on the park and was making no obvious plans to evacuate himself. Nicholas reported back to family and Manfred. As Manfred was camping alone we invited him over. Manfred had brought his own car from Germany and is travelling the world in it. He has been travelling for six years and is doing well at 72 years old. He recently shipped his car from South Africa to Perth to explore Australia for the next 12 months.
By morning the fire had burned itself out and there was not even smoke in the air. We were all up very early in the morning to explore Windjana Gorge before the heat started. We left camp by 6am for our explore of the gorge. The path into the gorge took us through trees so that most of the gorge was hidden from view by foliage. There were huge numbers of bats in the trees roosting after a night of feeding. We also came across a short-eared rock wallaby which was a great treat to see such a rare animal.
The other animal that is in the gorge in abundance is freshwater crocodiles. The gorge must be 80m wide in places however the water has dried up to only a few small pools. Those pools that are left are over populated with freshwater crocodiles. Bianca did a rough head (eye or nostril) count and quickly counted over fifty in just one pool. There could easily be that number again that cannot be seen! Little wonder there are warnings not to enter the water here.
After a beautiful walk we were back at camp for breakfast and then to packup our camp to drive to Derby via Tunnel Creek. On the way to Tunnel Creek we stopped at Lillimilura Police Post ruins. This area, Windjana, Lillimilura and Tunnel Creek, are the central to the Jandamarra story. Jandamarra as a young aboriginal boy became a skilled stockman and was later employed as a tracker at Lillimilura Police Post. At Lillimilura he struggled with his loyalties to his policeman partner and his tribal elders. While some of his tribe were in gaol at Lillimilura Jandamarra shot and killed his partner and freed his tribe members. This started a three year guerrilla war against police and European settlers. His hit and run tactics and his vanishing tricks became almost mythical. In one incident a police patrol followed him to his hideout at Tunnel Creek, but Jandamarra disappeared mysteriously. It was many years later that it was discovered that Tunnel Creek has a collapsed section that allows entry and egress from the top of the Range.
At Tunnel Creek we walked through the tunnel and in places we had to walk through water up to half a meter deep. This was fine for most of the tunnel but the last section we saw dozens of red eyes in the beams of our torches. Each pair belonged to a freshwater crocodile. Because the water was quite deep we decided that it was not worth the risk walking through the water with potentially very hungry little crocs in the dark. The tunnel was created by a creek flowing through the soft limestone and creating a massive tunnel through the range. Angela had a huge fright during the walk when a massive Blue Tounge Lizard crawled over her foot in the dark! Later while Nicholas, Chelsea, Chantelle and Bianca were again looking for the lizard Angela found it by almost standing on it again. Maybe the Blue Tounge was trying to give Angela a heart attack!
After a 2km walk through Tunnel Creek through water, over rocks and sandbars and crocodiles hissing at us we emerged back into the day light. After the cool of Tunnel Creek the midday heat was oppressive to say the least. Instead of eating at the picnic tables in the blazing sun we chose to eat and drive in the car on the way to Derby.
We have seen all there is to see in Derby. Derby's claim to fame is the highest tides in Australia. These massive tide changes churn up the mudflats making the sea a coffee brown colour. We walked the jetty, visited the centennial mosaic in the centenary pavilion, viewed the old gaol (which makes the Old Melbourne Gaol look like the Grand Hyatt in comparison). At the jetty we met Michael Gugeri, a long time Derby local, whose father made the first vehicle crossing of the Tanimi from Halls Creek to Alice Springs and back and Michael carted the fuel for the building of the Gibb River Road. Michael has also written a book of stories of the area mostly about his father's life.
On the way to Broome we stopped at the boab prison tree where prisoners were locked up and rested before being marched into Derby. The interesting thing is both prisoners and witnesses were treated the same way. Both were put in neck irons then each prisoner was connected neck to neck in a long conga line. At night in the old Derby Gaol each prisoner's neck iron was handcuffed to an iron loop in the floor. No mention of these prisoners being anything other than aboriginal.
Also near the prison tree is the original stock quarantine station. All stock destined for the live export trade out of Derby were held here and checked. Going by the size of the water trough there must have been huge numbers of stock held at times.
During WWII there was a large base at Myalls Bore. Because of the large amount of water a member lobbied for a bathing pool. After it was constructed it was named Frosty Pool after Charles Frost. Years later the pool was closed because of hook worm, yuck. Maybe swimmers should have been quarantined first with the cattle.
By early afternoon we were in Broome to setup camp for the 50th time. That is about 1000 pegs that have been hammered in, sometimes into concrete it seems and 450 tent poles set vertical.
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