Stats Overview
Km's Travelled: 1038
Km's Hiked: 15
No. of Camps: 5
The Adventures
We have officially survived the Gibb River Road...and we are now proud owners of a fridge magnet to prove it! Unfortunately, we didn't quite make it out unscathed as Will discovered on our last night that we had snapped one of the bolts holding the suspension arm in place on our caravan. We did a quick fix (nothing like duct tape and some zippy ties) and got up really early so we could nurse our van the last hundred kilometres into Derby without holding up all the traffic. We were very fortunate to be staying at a place in Derby with a mechanic we had met a few weeks earlier. So he helped to patch the van up so we can take it down to Broome next week to get it serviced and properly fixed. Even with the extra drama of the caravan, we still had the best time on the Gibb River Road and would do it again in a heartbeat! (And there a heaps of tour companies that will take you on the Gibb so you can damage their equipment and not yours!)
This week on the Gibb it was all about gorges with us hiking to and swimming at Manning, Bell and Galvans Gorge. Manning Gorge was our favourite gorge to swim in. It also had a fun hike where we had to swim across the river to get to the starting point. The Manning River was also pretty special as it was the first place we have seen a freshwater crocodile in the water while we have been swimming! We can confirm that the signage you see about freshies in the water is not just there to scare you! We also did a hike to Lennard Gorge where they have banned people swimming as the sides of the gorge are very steep with the water a long way down. Unfortunately a few people have died trying to get to the water to go for a swim - so we were pretty happy just to look at this one! The non-gorge related highlight was doing the hike through Tunnel Creek in Dimalurru NP. The creek has carved a 750m tunnel through the limestone mountain with the hike taking you through the rocky mountain out to the other side. The only part we didn't like was the length of water that was so deep you had to swim across. The water was so cold it literally took your breath away and your body would start to go numb, so there was no slacking when you entered the water! The only good thing about the freezing water was that the air temperature felt so warm once you got out of it and continued with the hike!
When we got to Derby we also treated ourselves to going on a tour and staying overnight out at the Horizontal Falls. This was definitely a surreal experience and is up there as one of the best adventures we have had on our trip! The Horizontal Falls are a natural phenomena where fast moving tidal waters (Derby has the second largest tides on earth) have to squeeze through two narrow gorges which creates rapids and essentially a waterfall on its side. We got to take a seaplane over the falls and land on Talbot Bay where the pontoon was and then take a jetboat tour to the falls and also to explore more of the Buccaneer Archipelago. There are two falls, however, these days you are only allowed through the wider of the two. On the tour they told us it was because the Traditional Owners have requested them not to go through the smaller gap, but that sounds a lot nicer when you are on the boat than them trying to explain the accident they had out on the narrower falls last year! Doing the overnight tour meant we were able to go out on the boat twice to see the falls and experience them flowing in both directions with the changes in the tides. It is definitely an experience we would recommend doing, although it would be the most spectacular when they have the biggest tides occurring - we went when they were having 6 metre tides but we think the 11 metre tides would make the Horizontal Falls spectacular!
Kodak Moments
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| Had to treat ourselves while on the Gibb! - Mt Barnett Road House |
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| Nothing like starting your hike with a swim across the river! - Manning Gorge |
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| This was definitely our favourite gorge on the whole Gibb! - Manning Gorge |
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| We spent a lot of time trying to warm up in the sun as the water is a little chilly! - Manning Gorge |
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| Will was feeling pretty chuffed with himself because he managed to beat the tour group to be the first person in the water! - Bell Gorge |
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| Everybody loved my "roll cage" for hiking to the gorges! - Bell Gorge |
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| This is the steepest gorge we have ever seen. I crawled out to the edge and you could not see the water below! - Lennard Gorge |
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| This is the Kimberley Rose which we were very lucky to see out in flower! - Gibb River Road |
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| Early morning light over the Kimberley - Gibb River Road |
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| Our first time on a sea plane! - Derby |
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| Seeing this from the air made the air sickness worth it! (We flew during a wind warning so it was a pretty bumpy flight) - Horizontal Falls |
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| We got to go on a jet boat tour to explore the islands. The water is the same turquoise as the Whitsundays and contrasts so nicely with the red rocks. - Buccaneer Archipelago |
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| Will having a swim with some sharks! - Horizontal Falls |
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The lighting makes it a bit difficult to see the drop in water height that occurs when all the water is trying to rush through the gap. - Horizontal Falls
 | | Enjoying exploring the caves! - Tunnel Creek |
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| Getting ready for the coldest swim of my life! - Tunnel Creek |
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| One of the caves in the middle collapsed and left us with this nice view! - Tunnel Creek |
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