Gorges and falls…repeat. Karen kayaked for sunrise this morning. I was too obsessed with finishing my tapestry that I bought in Broome. We were off and hiking (or should I say swimming) by 9. The start of the walk to Manning Falls requires a 50m swim across a waterhole. With dry bags in tow we embraced it – let me say the water temp isn’t like Bitter Springs. I don’t do cold water EVER at home, but things are requiring me to reassess here….
Last night we saw some video of vehicles crossing the Barnett River yesterday at 800mm depth. Even though the road is open it concerned us a lot. We started relooking at alternate plan F which involves going as far the Barnett River and then backtracking 1500km and hitting the road from the other end. This would involve an extra 1000km getting back to Kununurra and effectively driving the Gibb twice. Not ideal, but it’s where we find ourselves… Regardless of that, we were…
Easy morning today. Karen & Kieran explored/exercised while we had a lazy breakfast and researched the gorges we will see in the next couple of days and the ever changing road and river conditions reports. We headed out on a drive late morning to check out the local community store and to see if there were any attractions nearby we could day trip to. After a takeaway lunch and the hottest coffee ever, we headed to a Boab attraction on…
Today was so relaxing. We headed off around 830 for the 8km drive and then 2km hike to the gorge. Shoes came off and we walked through the water at the top of the falls to get down the really steep and rocky access to the base of the falls. So worth it! Once we got down to the bottom it was like a little piece of paradise. We spent the morning swimming, droning and Karen and I continued feeding…
Just a one night stopover at Mt Hart and we were on our way again this morning. Bob and I were naturally apprehensive about the almost last water crossing after our misadventure yesterday. Thankfully all went well on our way out. Karen kindly videoed the evidence. I watch this and can’t believe Bob and I are attempting this ‘real 4wding’. Not our comfort zone at all, but handling it ok. Once we’d made it back to the relative comfort of…
Well, we are finally on THE road! We were out of Birdwood Downs by 7 this morning which made for a leisurely trip to Mt Hart. There is a 50km driveway into the campground with about 20 water crossings. Crossing number 2 brought us some grief as we dropped into a large hole with one wheel of the van and ripped the motorised step from it’s bracket. Bob isn’t questioning my purchase of a $6 step at Kmart in Broome…
This morning was a beautiful sunrise. I felt guilty as I lay in bed watching out the window (but not guilty enough to get up and take photos…). Karen and Kieran were off early for their Horizontal Falls tour. Bob and I got ourselves organised to get into Derby by 830 so we could get all the road and access information from the visitor centre. Unfortunately, the website was incorrect and the centre isn’t open on weekends, so I guess…
This morning was a particularly low tide so we set off before sunrise to have a final attempt at finding the elusive dinosaur footprints at Gantheaume Point. After scrambling down to the water over rocks and boulders, this time we had success! Very large and very obvious footprints close to each other 🙂 . Feeling energised and confident after our positive sighting, we decided to drive over to Cable Beach and see if we could repeat the outcome on the…
Our research is suggesting that the Gibb River Road should be fully open by early next week. We have decided that we are going to stick with the original itinerary and see how we go. So tomorrow we head off for Birdwood Downs for a couple of nights and then we are in the thick of it. Today was spent mostly prepping for the trip. We are looking at 3+ weeks off grid and who knows what is available in…
A few admin things this morning including hair cuts for both of us. I am trying to embrace the ‘grey’ nomad lifestyle, but after my cut today I’m not so sure I will last until I go back to work in a couple of months…. We booked a Dinosaur Adventure Cruise for the afternoon. It was run by the husband and wife owners of the company and was extremely informative about all things Broome and nature. We headed out and…