Australia June 2013 - Visiting Squid: Part 2

Monday 10 June

A special day, as Squid had bought me (us) a trip to see the Horizontal Waterfalls as a Birthday and Christmas present for about the next four years.

We were picked up, eventually, by a rattly old bus which had done the rounds of hotels and campgrounds of Derby. At the airfield we were split into two groups of ten & loaded, after a brief briefing, into two floatplanes. As we flew north there were great views over, er, Derby Prison (the new one, not the iron cage in the town!), the winding muddy creeks of Stokes Bay and then the red rock ridges of the Buccaneer Archipelago. We circled overhead the two narrow gaps in the rocks where the tidal flows create the 'waterfalls', and then landed on the water in an arm of Talbot Bay.

Being briefed before the flight

The Horizontal Waterfalls through the (grubby) plane window

Above the Falls, from the boat

Floatplane landing

The refueling process
Having landed, and tied up at a floating pontoon base, we transferred to a speedboat and shot the 'waterfall' several times. The height difference through the gaps can reach 5m, at which point the speedboats cannot safely go through - hence the rush to get onto the speedboats as the tide was rising fast.

Back on the pontoons there was a chance to swim - well not swim exactly, but to get into the water in shark cages whilst they fed the sharks. I was glad to be behind bars, given the size of the bitey things in the water!

Before lunch we had another boat trip up another arm of Talbot Bay, with extraordinary tall termite mounds clinging to the slopes and rock strata showing clearly through the sparse vegetation

After lunch of Barramundi and salad we had another speedboat trip through the wider of the two 'waterfalls', the narrow one being too high to be shot. The driver let the boat slide backwards towards the gap, and had to maintain the speed at 11 knots to avoid dropping back down the 'waterfall'.
All to soon it was time to return to Derby, Squid having the honour of occupying the co-pilot's seat. This time we flew much lower around the Buccaneer Archipelago, over the mangrove fringes, the bare sand and the bush and finally over the small water-filled rectangle in the mud near Derby - the site of the annual mud football match. A fantastic experience all round - thanks Squid!

I've got my eye on you!

Another huge bitey thing

Derby, from overhead the jetty
We were back early enough to start shopping and packing for the Great Gibb River Road Trip, which we were starting the next day. And to join the 837rd  Derby Hash run - not a lot of running, lots of stubbies, a strange cocktail at the Hash Halt, and numerous politically incorrect songs during the down-downs, followed by a meal in the garden at the back of the town pharmacy..

Tuesday 11 June

Time to get on the road, but first we needed a vehicle as Squid's 4WD was deemed too tame for the Gibb River Road (a go-cart according to Pete). Getting the hire car turned into a protracted affair, and example of brilliant service:
  • Shown round vehicle, then asked if it had dual batteries - so we could run a fridge without draining the car battery
  • Shown round second vehicle, which even had a dedicated fridge socket
  • Discovered socket was for an Engel fridge, and our borrowed fridge wasn't an Engel
  • Dave, the hire manager, offers us his fridge 'for a crate of beer', he also gives us some advice (keep all windows closed & use air-con on recycling mode because of the dust) & and an additional spare wheel.
  • Plug in fridge - doesn't work, so he suggests calling in on Tim next door to check electrics
  • Electrics checked, and contacts cleaned while we wait, but then battery found to be dying, Squid goes hunting for last-minute items (like ice, got free from the bait store next door) while I wait for new battery to be installed
  • Vehicle, complete with working fridge, new battery and a new bridging lead, is ready & at last the vehicle is ours!

The Devonian Reef at Windjana Gorge

 

 At last, just after midday we had packed the vehicle, got last minute tips on camping spots from Will next door, covering our map with post-it notes, and were on the road east. I drove the first bit, which was sealed (ie tarmac), then Squid took over and we hit the corrugated gravel and dust. This was OK until something came the other way & visibility dropped to zero for a while. Headlights on all the time - another bit of Dave's advice....

After124 km we turned off the main road towards our first tourist target of the trip - Windjana Gorge "a spectacular 3.5 km long gorge carved through an ancient barrier reef...one of the best places to see freshwater crocodiles..." according to the map. We decided to camp here in the National Park site, then had a couple of hours before dusk to walk into the gorge with towering orange and black limestone walls, and still pools in the sandy floor of the gorge with plenty of crocs. Lots of bats too in the trees by the dried up river.

 

A 'freshie'

Another 'freshie'

Fruit bat

Looking out from Winjana Gorge
The first time of setting up camp takes some time, finding everything & discovering what works, and what doesn't (e.g. moving the Engel so that the lid could actually be opened).  The stew, over which Squid & Pete had slaved, and dumplings (my contribution) was for dinner, along with beautifully chilled white wine. Squid decided to sleep in her swag (tied to a tree & with a pole at the rear it was a mini-tent really), and I decided to sleep in/on my borrowed swag (no pole) inside a mossie dome. This meant I could lie looking up at the fabulous starry night through the thin mesh. No need for a sleeping bag, it was so warm.

Wednesday 12 June

One thing about the mossie-dome is that there is nothing to prevent you watching the dawn from your sleeping bag...as a result, despite being unused to breakfasting & packing up the camp we were back on the road by 9am. We were in Jandamarra territory - the aborigine 'freedom fighter' (we would call him now) who fought & hid in this area in the 1890's and we visited Tunnel Creek, where he hid for years until finally found & killed by another aborigine tracker. Before entering the cave that the river had formed when breaking through the Devonian Reef, we were stopped by some other visitors, who pointed to a long brown snake that was crossing the path - A King Brown, and somewhat deadly!

Packing up camp: mossie-dome on the right

All done - now how's that for a onesie?

King Brown snake (mid-section!)

Heading into Tunnel Creek
Having watched the snake slither safely out of range we entered the cave, clambering over rocks initially, but then walking on the sandy floor of the creek - sometimes having to wade through pools. There was only a relatively short stretch in total darkness, but the torch was helpful in seeing some of the formations in the roof. The roof had collapsed in the centre, giving Jandamarra a useful hidden exit from the cave in his fugitive years. At the far end of the cave the creek, such as it was, got swallowed up in the bush, so we didn't explore any further.
Back on the road, we turned and  bumped our way the 55km back to the Gibb River Road. Up until now, apart from the Devonian Reef, the landscape had been flat savannah, with the occasional Brahmin cattle grazing in the bush. having crossed the reef again the flat gave way to more rolling red sandstone, with conical hills and rocky edges. The next 'sight' on our list was the Lennard River Gorge, where we took the 1.5km bouldery path to a look-out point, with the Lennard River way below us in a gorge that followed a junction between black volcanic dolerite and red sandstone. Not a good swimming point, due to the need for abseiling!

Back on the road we crested several ridges with extensive views, and, with squid driving, we had our first serious river crossing, the Bell River. No problem....

Given that this was winter, despite the 25-30oC temperatures, night fell early, so we usually 'planned' to be at a campsite by 4.30pm.  So we went direct to the Silent Spring campsite, which was pretty crowded, and after a quick look began at the spring itself we reinforced the routine of beer, reading, food (stew & dumplings part II), more beer or wine, then bed early as it was dark just after 6pm & reading by torchlight is tiring!

Tunnel Creek - the far exit

Tunnel Creek roof collapse

Tunnel Creek - coming back out

Lennard River Gorge

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