Advertisement
Dough for Damper
This is our breakfast this morningDAY 211
We had a peaceful nights sleep; the temperature had cooled considerably however it was far from being cold. I remember being woken up by the noise of people moving around outside this morning, no one was being quiet yet it was 6 am you would think it was much later with the hive of activity going on around the campsite.
Looking through the mosquito screen I could see some people walking towards the gorge, it is a good idea to start early, or later in the afternoon if you are doing the gorge as it does get very hot.
After a short lounge around bed enjoying the cool of the morning and watching the sun come up over the Devonian Reef, it was time to get up and have a cup of tea.
It felt lovely being here, despite the numbers of people camping it is a lovely campsite and a beautiful atmosphere. A few campers are preparing to move, but we are staying here tonight, though in the grand scheme of things if a better site comes up then we may well move.
Andy fancied making some Damper, so he got the heat
beads ready for our little camp cooker. I got mixing and before long had some dough, threw a few chocolate chips into it and kneaded it then placed it in the already hot camp oven. I checked after a while and it was rising nicely, I cannot be sure how long it actually cooked for but we just left it until it was looking cooked and then turned it over to brown the top of it up. Suffice to say that breakfast this morning was lovely, we enjoyed chocolate chip damper with some cocky’s joy, I think any Australian stockman would have been proud of our efforts.
We had a lovely leisurely start to the day, a few campers had moved out and before long a nice spot became available so we moved, it was no big deal just to pull out the pegs, hook up the trailer and Andy kept the tent of the ground while I drove at snails pace across the site and between some trees out to the shady spot on the other side.
Within minutes our new site was set, we were pitched and ready for the day. The first task was to
try and get some firewood, but you are unable to collect firewood here, as it is a national park, so we drove off down the track and picked up some wood from the side of the dirt road.
This road seems quite busy, with traffic; you can see someone coming from quite a distance before you see the vehicle itself you can see the dust and through the heat waves you can eventually see an object coming towards you at some speed.
Just as we finished I was looking in the wing mirror and could see a cloud of dust, the object that was coming out of the heat looked a familiar shape of the older style Nissan Patrol, I mentioned it to Andy wondering if it was Andrew & Kirsty, and within minutes my suspicion was confirmed they pulled up along side us.
After a quick chin wag, we they followed us back to camp, where of course before anything else happened the kettle was put on. Working out where they were going to pitch their tent, we had some lunch and then headed off to Tunnel Creek which is about 37 kilometres further down the
dirt road in the direction of Fitzroy Crossing.
We had been told to take a good torch with us, the name speaks for itself, and the creek runs through a 750metre long passage that cuts through the Napier Range. We are prepared to wade through knee-deep water.
In we go and almost immediately in the distant darkness we can see several little lights bobbing around as people are picking their way through the darkness on the creek bed.
Not long after we are wading through water, it is not unpleasant, but you would not want to swim in it. There are bats in the tunnel, 5 different varieties including Ghost Bats, you are asked to be considerate and not flash your torches at them.
I would not like to be in here with deeper running water, but I am quite surprised that I am not feeling like I want to turn around and run out of here, there are a few areas where the roof is low, but you can still stand upright and walk through.
It is an interesting walk, we see a few people coming through from time to time, some people are
Brothers
Wayne Trevor Day from Russel Island on a long journey around Aus. Just heading up Gibb River Road. wearing aqua shoes that you can easily wade through the water and walk on the sand without getting shoes full of sand and whatever else happens to be in the water, which in fact are full of cherubin (prawn looking things) and other little fish, I had wondered at one stage if a little fish had slipped into my hiking sandal which gave me some urgency to slip it off and tip it up to be sure that there was nothing there.
We reach a point where there is light, the roof caved in here some time ago to but it gives us a bit of respite from the darkness. Then walking on your eyes need to adjust to the darkness again and work out how you are going to pick a route out through the water.
We see some Stalactites and interesting rock formations, but no bats; although you hear an occasional squeak or two.
Before long we can see light at the end of the tunnel, wading through the water and onto the rocks on the other side, there is a little paradise found. We were hoping to see some Freshwater Crocodiles (Freshies) here, but
sadly not, Kirsty even walked ahead and down the river for a bit just to see if she could see anything.
We enjoyed a short rest and the little paradise at this end of the tunnel and then we started the journey back, again allowing our eyes time to adjust to the darkness, however my torch had decided to pack up so I had no light at all and had to rely on the others to pick my way through this interesting terrain. Although you could not always tell how deep the water was going to be and was hoping that I was not just going to step into a hole.
Plenty more people passed us on their way into the tunnel, but it was late afternoon so I was sure that there were not going to be loads more coming in, it is a very popular spot.
Again light at the end of the tunnel as we step back out into the daylight and wade knee deep through the water, except that this time you could see a film of something sitting on the water, I had grazed my leg earlier and wading through the water
Tour Bus
Great tour buses built for the job. it was stinging.
The sun was low in the sky, as we drove across Fairfield Station and back to camp at Windjana. Stopping briefly at Lillimooloora a ruin of a homestead and Police Outstation dating back to 1893, the aboriginal tracker Jandamarra shot Constable Richardson dead here in 1894. Jandamarra was a highly skilled stockman who helped police track aborigines who were spearing sheep, however tribal loyalty go the better of him and thus shooting Constable Richardson before releasing his captured tribe members.
Back at camp I jumped into the shower, the site was busy but not as busy as it was the night before, I wanted to make sure I had a shower before the hot water ran out. But I should not have been worried it was lovely and hot, it felt very refreshing after a hot day.
Andrew and Kirsty erected their tent, without putting on the fly sheet, I see a lot of people doing just that up in this part of Australia, otherwise it can be too hot, the only time people use the fly sheet is to keep the rain off and hopefully there is not a lot of that up
Daylight
In the Tunnel at Tunnel Creek here at the moment.
It was all action getting dinner ready, Kirsty was coaxed into using the camp oven to cook our tea tonight which was Chow Mein, using the firewood we collected earlier it was soon cooking. It was delicious, washed down with the obligatory cup of tea.
Even better, Kirsty appeared with a bag of marshmallows, then of course we toasted those to eat, unfortunately I dropped one of them, it cooked itself nicely but as it melted it dropped off the end of the toasting fork. I was disappointed at the loss, but soon got another on the go.
The campfire was still burning, so after dinner we pulled our chairs around to sit, talk and just soak up the atmosphere. The temperature again dropped but not to anything too cool, we were just comfortable but by 9.00 we were ready for bed, the campsite was already quiet and so we all retired into a restful sleep.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.158s; Tpl: 0.027s; cc: 11; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0948s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
