Outback Spirit Tour - Days Two and Three- Gibb River Road and Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary

---

DAYS TWO AND THREE

Today we began our journey along the infamous Gibb River Road, passing through the King Leopold Ranges before arriving at Bell Gorge. Lovely waterfalls and clear waters. We didn’t go in but there were people swimming.

We continued on to our camp for the next two nights at the Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary. Paul, our driver, rang through on the telephone for the gates to be opened for us. This once dominant cattle station is now opened by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and is one of the largest non-govt owned protected areas in Australia. The sanctuary covers 800,000 acres of the upper Fitzroy catchment and protects a range of ecosystems.

We stayed in safari tents overlooking Annie Creek. Drinks by the campfire before dinner in the open air restaurant.

We were woken the next morning by a helicopter taking TV crew away as they had been at the lodge doing the weather crosses for morning TV.

After breakfast we were given a guided tour of part of the property along Annie Creek by one of the staff, pointing out some of the species both flora and fauna they are trying to save . We had a snake cross our path which livened things up a bit. We saw a number of birds but unfortunately no Gouldian finch. The tour was to provide lots of experiences to bird watch, particularly several breeds of finches.

After morning tea we got into 4wd vehicles to explore the sanctuary. We were given more information about AWC's conservation programs while we travelled through spectacular scenery travelling along the Termite Trail exploring the world of termites in the savannah. The termites play an important part in the functioning of the ecosystem. We had a picnic lunch near the Cadjeput waterhole in the Fitzroy river which is shaded by large paperbarks and lined with freshwater mangroves. The river is inhabited by barramundi, sooty grunter, striped archerfish and two species of freshwater turtle. We had a very refreshing swim. Took some great photos of the red tailed black cockatoos that flew close by.

The afternoon was spent relaxing at camp.

After dinner we watched a slide show highlighting the ecological challenges that exist in the Kimberley and the role of the AWC.

---