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10 May - 13 May
We are a little behind on our diary but as I'm jetlegged (we are in the US now but I'm still on UK time--1:30 am which is a little frustrating!) I thought I may as well catch up on it.
Overall the Kimberly region was amazing. Gorge after gorge and loads of waterfalls and swimming holes. We started our trip in Broome and travelled with Western Exposure. The guide was fantastic and we enjoyed all aspects of the trip. We camped every night and slept in swags and while there were not showers (and hot water was a luxuery) overall I think I handed it really well and everyone in the group smelled bad together. The Gibb River Road is very much in the middle of nowhere and a majority of it is an unsealed road. During the wet season you can't even drive on it. We were the first trip of the season for our tour guide that could drive the whole distance.
The first day we started in Broome and first stop was at a huge Boab tree near Derby. I love the boab trees in general but this one was
amazing. We had a few other quick stops before arriving in Winjana Gorge around 3pm. We did a walk around the gorge and saw loads and loads of freshwater crocks. Freshwater ones are the good ones--as in they wont hurt you unless you really provoke them. Saltwater ones are the crocks you have to worry about. We were pretty comfortable getting about 3 meters away from them (some people were even more brave and got even closer).
The next morning we went to Tunnel Creek. Basically you walk down to an opening in the gorge and then through a tunnel while walking through a creek. We made good use of our headlamps. Apparantly sometimes there are freshwater crocks in here which is a little nerve wracking as you can't see very well and it would be easy to step on one (I think that counts as provoking). The closest thing we saw to to crock though was a harmless lizard. At the end of the walk there is a small swimming hole which about half of us decided to swim in. It was a little cold as it was only about 8:30 in the morning but still fun to
swim. After the walk we drove to Bells Gorge and went for a short walk to a viewpoint before going to bed.
On 12 May we went to Bells Gorge which was my favourite. The path included crossing a river which I kinda just walked through before going to a viewpoint and then back down into the river. By 8:30 we were swimming in the river and it was fantastic (I did have a moment this day where I thought, it is Tuesday today and I would be at work right now!!). There was a huge waterfall which we swam to and then several smaller ones we swam around and down. The current was strong and rocks were slippery so we had to be careful. But basically we were swimming in a river and surrounded by a huge gorge on either side of us. Fantastic!! After this walk we drove to Galvin Gorge and did a short walk to another waterfall and swimming hole. There was a rope swing and most of the boys had a go. The water was freezing but we still went in.
On 13 May we got up really early and did Manning Gorge
which was walking distance from our campsite. This one was fantastic as the very beginning of the walk included swimming across a river--literally this was the path. So, we put cameras in a dry bag and jumped in. The water was not too cold considering it was 7:30am and the walk was pretty good (about an hour). We ended up at beautiful waterwall and went swimming again. A few of the guys did some jumps. Our guide did a really really high one (about 18 meters) and afterwards said it was the stupidest thing he had ever done as the water was not deep enough. You think?? He was ok though and we went back to the campsite and got back on the road. That night we slept in El Questro Campsite which was a really luxury as it had hot showers! There was also a bar there although rob and I didn't go.
On 14 May we got up and went to some hot springs before going to Emma Gorge which was Rob's favourite. It was about a 45 minute walk and ended at a dead-end with very tall waterfall. Really amazing. You could tell this one was more on the beaten track as there was a resort type hotel at the start of the walk and more people on this one. This was pretty much the end of the Gibb River road. We drove down the the outside of the bungle bungles and slept at a campsite that evening before going into the park.
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