Gibb River Rd

We've reached Broome after spending 8 days traveling the 'Gibb' and beyond.

We began the Kimberley at Kununurra and spent some time fishing at Wyndham jetty and a small billabong called Telegraph Pool halfway between Kununurra and Wyndham. Sophie caught the first fish, a catfish at the jetty. Tayla caught a large Snapping-turtle on her fishing line but it got off near the water's edge. I had no luck with the elusive Barramundi but I did catch two fish and threw them back as I didnt know what they were.

We visited Parry's Lagoon south of Wyndham and the bird life here was amazing. Here we saw or first Saltwater Crocodile and the birds and us were feeling slightly nervous with him around.

Parrys Lagoon

Camping under a boab

 Our first major stop on the road was Emma Gorge near El Questro Station. Even though it was a long rough walk up the gorge the falls at the end made it worthwhile but the water temperature made us feel like we were in Victoria again!

Emma Gorge, El Questro Station

Next was Home Valley Station after crossing the deep Pentecost River. One couple in a 4x4 had two tyres come straight off the rim from the rocks in the river and they damaged their rim as well.
We spent two days at Home Valley and tried our luck (or no luck as it happened!) fishing the Pentecost. After seeing a large Saltwater Croc near us we cut short our fishing and headed back to camp. Apparently, after talking to staff at Home Valley, there was a 24 foot (6m) croc with a den near where we fished and a tourist had a close call a few weeks previously.

Pentecost River: Croc heaven

Non-crocodile swimming spot

 
Craig had lost his thongs at the previous camp but he found one and made another out of foam matting and rope. It 'worked' for 3 days until he bought a new pair.

Turning north off the Gibb onto the Kalumburu Rd we called at Drysdale River Station to get fuel. It was $2.09, the most expensive we'd found so far. Sophie liked the fridge phone at the station (it actually had a pay phone in it).

Huh?

 After 150 or so kms of extremely corrugated road we finally turned off the Kalumburu Rd and camped at the King Edward River crossing on the Mitchell Falls Rd. There were many signs of cars and trailers coming to grief on this road. It took us a while to put all our bones back in place after the rattling.
The next morning we got to the Mitchell Falls camp ground after another rough road. After lunch we took a helicopter to the falls with smiles all round, especially the girls. The Kimberley has had a reasonably mild wet season so the falls aren't quite as big as usual.

 On the walk back from the falls we found the hidden little gem of Little Merten's Falls. Wow, what a spot! This waterfall has a large alcove behind the falls with many aboriginal paintings and a large swimming hole in front. Most of the native fig trees were loaded with fruit and we spent a great deal of time here under the falls swimming, looking at paintings and eating the figs. Above the falls the view was great as the sun began to set.

Little Merten's Falls

The next day we were back at the King Edward River and found some fantastic aboriginal paintings in a rocky outcrop. There was a mixture of styles including many Wandjina and Bradshaw-style art. One overhang had a human burial site in a crevice with several bones and skulls.

Bradshaw paintings

Wandjina painting

The next day was Sophie's birthday but I will let her write a blog about this and other things she saw.

One other fantastic place we visited but almost bypassed was Bell Gorge, one of the highlights of the trip. This was a very deep and extensive gorge system and we followed it downstream for a long way, swimming and rock climbing.

Bell Gorge

Another little side trip we did was visit Windjana Gorge, part of a huge ancient barrier reef system extending from the Arafura Sea to Fitzroy River at the south end of the Kimberley. Here there were many Freshwater Crocodiles and Tayla counted 19.

Freshwater Crocodiles at Windjana Gorge

Anyway, we're sitting here in balmy Broome resting our sore bums from a camel ride and preparing for our next stage of the trip.

Craig's putting together another post for the blog on the nature in the Kimberley, we'll keep you posted,

The Boasies