do on a Saturday afternoon. After lunch we headed out to Windjanna Gorge on the start of the Gibb River Rd. On the way we stopped at the Mowanjum Art & Cultural Centre and learnt about the Wandjina, the supreme creator of all beings. The story and drawings of Wandjina passes on to generation to generation and apparently just as white people have different interpretations of God so Aboriginals do with Wandjina.
The last 23km of the road were rough and corrugated, with a steep rocky dry creek bed to navigate through. We even passed a Toyota Kluger which had taken a corner to fast, gone down and up a down a dry creek and gotten airborne before finally landing. Luckily the elderly passenger wasn't hurt and the driver just jarred his back.
Again we had broken our golden rule of setting up at dusk. We quickly chose a site (in the generator section), and set up. The boys did an awesome job and we were set up in record time. Great work guys.
Zach was so excited, he was almost wetting his pants with excitement. Finally we had reached croc country. We'd heard of the fresh water crocs just on the banks of the gorge.
We all got up early in readiness to head to Tunnel Creek, a walk through a rock cavity about 1 km long - in the dark and through water. We were all looking forward to this adventure. Driving the 35km of dirt road we admired the rocky gorges and giant boab trees and cattle that occasionally walked across the road in front of us.
Probably the best bit of the trip was yelling "DIP" for Nick to slow down through the dry creek beds and dips.
As we entered the cave and turned on our torches, we clambered over some rocks and waded through the first shallow water crossing. Finding snake skins and birds nests in the rocks above us was exciting, as was the knowledge that there are fresh water crocs in the creek as well. Nick spotted a black and white striped snake above him, and the kids liked a cascading waterfall over a wide stalagtite. It didn't take us long before our eyes adjusted to the darkness and we wadded our way through the cave.
Once at the end we followed Jo & Petes advice and headed left to find some Aboriginal art on the rock walls, before heading to the creek for a drink, and for Zach a swim.
We met Rosa and Dennis & kids there, and all 9 kids enjoyed exploring their way back. This was a really fun walk, one which won't be forgotten for a while.
Nick had been speaking to people about the condition of the road from
Tunnel Creek to Fitzroy Crossing. There are numerous river crossings and dips and rough road. Our original thought was that we would backtrack to Derby then go to Fitzroy Crossing as we had been warned about the road by Jo and Pete who know our vehicle and van well. A ranger advised us to try the closest 2 river crossings in the car to see what we thought and if we could get though that then we would be ok.
The first of the river crossings had a drop before entering the water. It was quite steep and we took it slowly. Made it!!!! We tried it again to make sure we knew the best way to enter and exit with the van. The road to the next crossing was in better condition than the corrugated section we drove yesterday. The second river crossing although deeper wasn't as steep as the first, and after a lengthy discussion we've decided to give it a go as it would save us 250km of driving if we did go this way.
After returning and having some lunch, we headed down to Windjanna Gorge in search of some crocodiles. Zach was almost sprinting in order to find them. As we approached we could see a handful swimming in the water, so we headed off 2km down a track to find more. At one stage I wondered where Nick and Zach were, and when we finally caught up I said to Nick "it might have been nice to have waited for the rest of us" to which Nick laughed and said "Zach was on a mission and wasn't stopping til he found some crocs." Poor Nick was in bare feet as the first section was sandy. Nick wanted to get his thongs but Zach wouldn't let him "we've got to keep going dad." Finally we found about 5 sunning themselves on a bank across the river. After watching them for a while, and moans of "I'm bored" from 3 other children, we persuaded Zach to walk back, with the promise that if we packed up quickly the next morning we could come back and look again.
As we approached the sandy bank at the beginning of the walk Josh watched in awe (and sheer jealousy) some local indigenous kids catching barramundi in the river. Feeling quite cheated that he wasn't allowed to fish in a national park he wasn't interested in the fact they lived here and essentially "owned" this land.
True to our word, after a very smooth and quick pack up we ventured down to the gorge only to find 2 crocs in the water and one sunning themselves. Zach was a bit disappointed he didn't get closer to them.
It was now time to set off on an adventure we weren't sure that Tory (the ford territory) and Bob (the Jayco Hawk) could cope with, and what the consequences could be.
With the tyre pressure lowered, Nick cautiously drove towards the first river crossing. So far so good. Averaging a speed of between 40-60km per hour and slowing for dips the car and van were handling the road well. As we approached the first (and steepest ) crossing the kids and I jumped out and walked across to make the load lighter. Nick edged forward and slowly guided the car and van through. We all cheered when he reached the other side, piled back in the car and with adrenalin pumping eagerly waited for the next crossing, which although muddier than the first was easier to drive through.
Well it took us 2 hours to drive the 112km, 4 wet river crossings, numerous dry crossings and 3 pee stops for Nick (nervous energy apparently), but we made it. Tory and Bob coped with the adventure and the scenery we passed along the way magnificent.
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