Tuesday 19th June 2018
Piccaninny Gorge Day 2 – Adventure day without our big packs. Woohoo!!
David had a good night sleep and mine was ok with my new, thicker, heavier mattress. Time to decide what to do today. I was still keen to explore as otherwise it feels like we have just trudged in and out, with no fun bit. So DB said ‘The Dominator’ wins. I don’t think I am the dominator but we had an explore day anyway. We headed out at 8am with just daypacks, a bit earlier and lighter which was good. I thought we would go to the 2nd junction ‘Finger 5’ but when we got there DB wanted to do his usual and check around the next corner. In the end we kept walking to the furthest finger junction. This was a lot trickier section, up and over boulders, around water holes, across sheer ledges, down slippery rocks, over slippery spinifex and all in all a great adventure. DB was a bit happier. By this time it was 11.30 so we stopped and had some lunch. We decided against exploring one of the fingers (gorge) at the end as we had already walked 10km and we still had to get back. This was supposed to be an easier day. I was still hoping to do one of the two fingers closer to home. When we got back to this junction we met a lone girl who was hiking up the gorge. We sat and talked to her for about 30 mins, unfortunately this was my ‘finger’ trek time,  so I missed out. After our chat we just headed back to camp. We arrived to camp at about 3.30pm and thought we would have time to get some water, have dinner and a bath before dark (5pm). No such luck, a couple arrived to get water and we talked to them for 30 mins as well. Oh well, at least we managed to get water in the day light.

It is now 7pm and we are in bed ready to go to sleep as we have a big day again tomorrow. Full packs back on, hopefully a little lighter as we won’t carry 4 litres of water each, our food will have been depleted except for lunch and it should be a little easier going. Hopefully we will set out earlier than 10.30 as we have a couple of side tracks to do on the way out. Anyway nighty night.

Monday 18th June 2018
Piccaninny Gorge Day 1
Our first overnight hike for this trip, two nights in Piccaninny Gorge, I am really looking forward to this one. We had to hire an Eperb from the Visitors Centre as they said our sat phone wouldn’t cut it. We had planned to get away early but as always packing for an overnight hike always takes longer than we think. I wanted to pack last night but DB wanted to do it in the daylight. Understandable but was never going to help us get away early. One would say we should learn to do less the day before but we are still learning that one. One day maybe!

Anyway, we finally got on to the track at 10.30am. Bugger, the sun was shining and it was hot already. The first part of the walk was quite easy, we even stopped for a chat with a Swedish couple for about 20 mins. If I had known it was going to be so long I would have removed my backpack as it is very very heavy. Anyway, we finally got moving again, we had decided against doing any side tracks today as we had a long way to go to set up camp for the night. So we walked passed The Domes, then Cathedral Gorge, we went to the Window (as it was just off the main track), then we saw some friends who had been to Whip Snake Gorge (who said it was just ok). This stage of the walk was across big rock platforms, a little tricky in parts but reasonably easy. Unfortunately as we progressed along the track, the sun shone hotter, and the track changed to soft sand and little pebbles. This was very tough going with 12-15kg on your back. Anyway, onwards we go. The gorge was pretty but quite the same along the way, not that we looked too much as we spent a lot of time watching where we put our feet.

As the time went on and the kilometres clocked up, our destination was getting nearer but my legs and body were getting weary. I felt like we were trudging along not really appreciating the splendour of the gorge, just sinking one foot in front of the other (and I mean sinking, either in soft sand or loose gravelly round pebbles). I even had a couple of sooky moments when we had to climb over some boulders and up some steep rock ledges, ones that without an overnight pack I would have bounced over. Balance becomes an issue with a really heavy pack which is why I brought out the hiking poles, hopefully to help with my balance and the weight of the pack. Oh well, once I got over those ledges and pulled myself together we continued on our way. We had hoped to get to the first finger junction to camp but by 3.30pm I was shattered and we stopped at the side track to Black Rock Pool. This was a water source for overnight hikers. After finding a flat spot to put up our hiking tent, we realised that we really didn’t know how to do it. We hadn’t put it up since in the shop when we bought it last year. Oh well, we will have to improvise. After a couple of retakes we finally have it up. DB then when for a walk to Black Rock Pool to replenish our water supply. This was supposed to be safe to drink if you treat it, so we put it through our special water filter and then boiled it. Just to be on the safe side. I had a rest and organised dinner. Not real hard, boil water, add to pack, stir and seal. Wait 10 mins then eat. Love hiking cooking. After dinner and a bath, we were both shattered after our 12km tough hike, so we headed to bed. The lights were out at 7.40pm.

David not keen to explore tomorrow but I am, so we will see how we feel in the morning and decide then.

Sunday 17th June 2018
After camping at Bungle Bungle Caravan Park, checking in with everyone this morning, we started on the drive to Purnululu National Park. It was a 50km drive to the Visitors Centre which took about 2 hours. The roads were heavily corrugated, with sharp rocks, winding and slow. It was very rough on the car and the driver. At one stage we came up over the hill and were eyeballed by the most amazing bull. He looked so healthy and he was very large. Unfortunately he headed in to the bush before I could get a photo. At the Visitors Centre we registered for our overnight hike to Piccaninny Gorge, were told we had to hire an Eperb ($30 a day), their rules stated that our Sat Phone wasn’t enough. Oh well, so we did as requested. After reading the brochures when we got to the car, we decided we would register for 2 nights in the gorge just in case we wanted to stay in there longer. All set to go now.

We then headed to the north part of the Park, stopping on our way at the Kungkalanayi Lookout, then off to the northern most part, where we did the Echidna Chasm hike. The rocks were so high and were explained as conglomerates (see pic fro explanation). The best viewing time was 11am but unfortunately we didn’t make it till 1pm. Oh well, it was still quite spectacular.

After lunch we rode our bikes to the start of the Escarpment walk which was about 4km, left them at the start and did the Escarpment and Mini Palm Gorge trails. These were also amazing, high rocks along rocky creek bed some of the way, over boulders, up stairs, through narrow gaps and along a lovely path. All in all we walked 10km and rode 4km today.

We then headed to the south end of the park to Walardi Camp via the lookout for a quick sunset photo. The camp host is a single lady in her 60s who was very friendly. She is here for 2 months.

After diner we did a little preparation for the overnight hike we are starting tomorrow as it always takes longer than we expect and we would like to get an early start.

Saturday 16th June 2018
Well we left Lake Argyle reasonably early as we needed to go to Kununurra to pick up the Clutch Slave Cylinder from the mechanic. That done and jerry can for our next adventure bought, I am now sitting in the car whilst David does the job. Lucky he is so clever. Well almost, he has lost a bolt in the grass, so he is putting it together with one bolt and will move the car to try and find it later, even putting glasses on didn’t help.

I went for a walk to the service station across the road and there is a queue to wash your car. They all look like Gibb River Rd travellers. We might wait till after the Tanami Desert Road to do that. The red dust is like talcum powder and is in every little gap in the car.

Found the bolt, car fixed. I couldn’t get a hairdresser appointment so soldier on we must.

After doing some groceries. Yay, fresh veggies again we had a change of plan. It was only 3pm and Bungle Bungle Caravan Park was about 2.5 hours away so we decided to go for it. Get us ahead a day. At 5.15pm when we still had 30mins to go, we questioned that decision as there was cattle, horses and kangaroos on the side of the road causing havoc. One of the reasons we had been getting to our camp site before dark. This was just a friendly reminder to go back to that way again. Also, we hate choosing a camp site in the dark when they are not numbered, which invariably the unpowered sites are not.

Anyway, we have arrived safely, have eaten and are getting organised for our next adventure in the Bungle Bungle (Purnululu) National Park tomorrow.

We will be out of range for a couple of days again.

Really looking forward to some more hiking. Maybe an overnight one as well.

Friday 15th June 2018
David woke early this morning but I just could not wake up. After a little housekeeping we headed off on a walk to the Old River Gorge. This was supposed to be an hour and a half walk but we had made it to the lookout in just 20mins. So a lot shorter than we expected.

After this we had a chat with our new neighbours, some European backpacker girls, Miss Italy 25, Miss France 21 and Miss Germany 19. They had met in Perth and were travelling in a $2000 Falcon. They had been having an amazing adventure in Australia over the last 9 months. They are at the tail end of Miss Italy and Miss France are at the tail end of their adventure and Miss Germany is heading to Darwin to find work as her money is running low. They are so amazing and very friendly. We then chatted with some other people we had seen at El Questro. By this time it was now 10.45 as we set out on our next walk to The Bluff. This was to be 2.5 hours so we will see how long it takes. It was quite warm again today even though there was a little breeze which unfortunately affected our photos. The lookout at the bluff looked straight down Lake Argyle which is 10 times the size of Sydney Harbour. Amazing views.

After we walked back it was now 12.30ish and very warm, we headed straight to the pool where we met some more friends from El Questro and made some new ones. We had a lovely relax by the pool for about an hour, then headed back to camp for lunch and a bit more relaxing and some reading.

About 3pm we went for a drive to the Water Tank lookout, then the Dam Wall and then to Pannikan Bay Lookout for sunset. The track to Pannikan Bay was a 4WD track with some nasty, sharp rocks which we managed skilfully to avoid Well done DB! The sunset was beautiful but unfortunately it was very windy and the clouds rolled in, which is a first for a very long time. We even had a little rain. Not much but a little. We met two families from Newcastle at the lookout who are travelling for 4 months. It is amazing how many families we have seen on this adventure who were travelling for over 3 months. When my kids were that age we did well just to get to the Gold Coast for a couple of weeks. Wow how things have changed since then.

Then back to camp for dinner and bed. We had another chat with our neighbours before bed. They were very interesting to chat with and it is nice to share theirs and our journeys.

FYI. They turnover 100 campsites a day at this caravan park and it starts at 7.30am. Blows us away how many are on the road. Amazing.

Thursday 14th June 2018
Well was our decision to stay in a freebie a good one or not?

My call if you wear hearing aids it was a good stop, but we managed to get a reasonable nights sleep anyway. There were so many people in this rest area which was just off the Gibb River Rd but at the intersection of 2 highways with a truck stop next door and toilet facilities. In hindsight the worst freebie roadside stop possible. We even had a greyhound bus visit at 2.30am, they just circled within the rest area and drove out. Lesson learned.

We headed on bitumen towards Wyndham, we were both feeling a little sad to be on our way back to civilisation. It was a funny feeling, we weren’t ready for it. Oh well, it is either back to the ruts or move forward. We do know we have to start headed east, so off we go.

First stop was The Grotto, we walked the 140 steps down to a waterhole at the bottom of a dry waterfall, then back up the 140 steps. It was an ok looking gorge but quite amazing cliffs.

We then headed to Wyndham which is no longer as busy a town as it  was in its hey day. We went up to the Five Rivers lookout which is where the 5 rivers meet. We met a couple and their family which we had last seen at Mt Nameless in Tom Price about 5 weeks ago. We had a catch up like we were old friends. We went for a little trail walk around the lookout, had some lunch and headed on our way again.

We went for a lovely scenic drive to Lake Argyle and are now staying here tonight. How long for we don’t know as it is very lovely here. Unfortunately we have to make a trip back to Kununurra to fix the car tomorrow. So whether we come back or not we don’t know yet.

I am sitting in the beer garden, listening to a country singer, the weather is beautiful, the temperature perfect and lovely company. Very peaceful. And now I have just ordered dinner, so a night off cooking. Let’s enjoy.

We are loving this adventure and started talking about where to next today as the last couple of weeks has just been about the Gibb River Road adventure. Now it is where to next. Stay tuned and I will let you know as the days unfold.

DB is happy with the caravan park here, his words “You get a lot for your $35 here, music, infinity pool, beer garden and an amazing view”.

Wednesday 13th June 2018
Well we have had a mammoth day today. We got up reasonably early and readied ourselves to leave.

Plan A was to head up to Branco’s Lookout then do the Champagne Springs trail (10km return loop) then on to Emma Gorge. This was a fail. As we left the campsite David was having trouble with the clutch, we decided we would do the walk first and as we arrived at the start of the trail, he totally lost the clutch pedal. Oh no!! What to do, we are still 100km from Kununurra and still have to do at least 2 river crossings that we know of. How will we manage it. In DB style, he said “we may as well do the walk and worry about it later.” So off we went. The Champagne Springs trail was a class 5 walk. It started off on an easy trail along the Pentecost River with Pandanus and Livistona palms lining the riverbank. Then there was a little rock hopping and a couple of river and creek crossings. DB ever looking for a crocodile. As we walked further along it became quite sandy, then more rock hopping, then we climbed up higher and walked over the rocks, this section was really hot (we assume about 30-35°C as that is what it has been for weeks now) and there was minimal shade. The view now was quite spectacular, the escarpment was red rocks and beautiful. We kept walking and finally came to the springs first pool. We kept walking to the next pool which was called Champagne Springs which also had a waterfall. We had a lovely refreshing swim in the pool.

Then it was time to head back, it was by now 11.20am and very warm. We didn’t even dry ourselves after the swim, hoping our wet costumes and the wet clothes would keep us a little cool. This only lasted about 15 mins before our clothes were all dry. The sheet notes for this walk suggests you don’t start it after 11am and we can understand why. As we headed back the same way (something DB really doesn’t like) the day was getting hotter and we were very grateful to get back into the shade. I even took my shirt off and dunked it in the river and put it on dripping wet to cool me down. This worked a treat. Good suggestion DB. We finally made it to the end of the walk in about 1.5 hours, a little quicker than the 1.75 hours it took us to walk there. Although hot and long it was a good walk.

When we got back to the car DB started it and the clutch was working, so we headed back to the camp shop for an ice block and to investigate further. After getting under the car yet again, DB determined we needed to replace the Clutch Slave Cylinder. How are we going to get one for this old petrol beast in diesel country. He did his favourite thing and made some phone call enquiries and managed to get someone in Kununurra to order one in for us. Luckily they think they can have it in by Friday, so it will only hold us up a day. Woohoo!. So all we have to do is make it there. Hopefully we have some good karma after giving the guy at Home Valley Station our bottle of brake and clutch fluid. Surely that will help us. Hehehe!!

So it was only 2pm, so we continued on t=with our days plan, minus Branco’s lookout as this was a difficult 4WD track and with a dodgy clutch not a good option. SO on to Emma Gorge we went. This was another 5km return walk, a slight incline to start with, then lots of rock hopping. We are getting very good at this since being in the Kimberleys. The gorge was vey beautiful but the water was quite cool but very refreshing again. There was even a little thermal pool but you had to swim through the cold pool afterwards so was a little pointless. We had a lovely swim then headed back on our way as it was getting late. We finished the walk about 4.30pm.

Decision time. Head back 12km to El Questro for the night, headed forwards to a free camp on the side of the road on head 85km to Wyndham. We decided on the freebie camp as we could make it there in the light. We joined the other 20 cars and caravans at the rest area. Oh well, only time will tell if that was a good decision.

Wish us luck with the car tomorrow, hopefully we make it ok.

Tuesday 12th June 2018
Well we have had an amazing day, compliments of Broady’s Adventure Tours.

We started out early at 7am and headed to the Zebedee Springs, these are thermal springs which are between 28-32°C. They were very warm. We arrived there and there were only 2 other cars in the carpark. Another arrived as we were walking from the carpark and the older couple did the “harry holt” past us as if they were running late for an appointment. It was just so they could get into the springs and find their swimming hole before us. It was quite funny to watch. We shared one of the pools with our neighbours from the campsite and had a pleasant chat for the next hour. At about 8am the first tour bus of 24 arrived and we stayed for a little while longer but it was getting very crowded so we left at about 8.30am. We then had brekky in the car park and then headed to El Questro Gorge. Before arriving at the gorge we had our deepest and longest creek crossing to negotiate. We watched a few cars go across that had snorkels fitted to their cars. They managed it OK but it came up to their bonnets, so we waited until we saw a car without a snorkel cross. Once they had made it across we gave it a go. We gave off quite a good bow wave and it came up to just below the bonnet. It would have bee about 100m and took us 51 seconds to get across. Well we made it over so time to enjoy the walk.

El Questro Gorge was beautiful, we walked through the Livistona Palm forest in the gorge, with sheer  very high cliffs. It was also quite a difficult rock clambering climb in some sections. We have got our rock hopping legs working quite well so was a great walk. We arrived at halfway pool where you have to walk through the pool and it comes to your chest so bags held on heads we made it to the other side where you placed the bags on the ledge and then climbed up. We were lucky their was a couple of tourists from London on the ledge so DB passed our bags to them. Then we climbed up over the very large boulder. This was the half way mark and had already taken us an hour. The next hour was even more difficult with some sheer rock climbing along the way. We finally made it to the waterfall at the end in Macmicking Pool. This was very beautiful. We had lunch here and a chat with the couple who had helped us at the boulder. They left and we then had the pool to ourselves for the next 10 mins when another couple we had met at the springs arrived. We chatted with them for a while then started the return journey. It always takes my legs a little while to warm up again after a swim but eventually they get going again. It was a really enjoyable morning/afternoon as it took us 4 hours to go the 7.4km return journey.

From here we headed to Moonshine Gorge which was supposed to be a relatively easy, 5km loop trail. We started this at 3pm and after 25mins had only gone 850m along an overgrown rocky trail. Given the time it had taken for the first almost KM we decided to turn around as we didn’t have our head torches and didn’t fancy doing the creek crossing in the dark. We never like not completing a walk once we start but erred on the side of safety today.

Our return creek crossing was interesting, at the half way mark the lights all came on the dash and DB thought we were going to stall. That would have meant a seized engine if the water got in, but it didn’t stall and we made it to the other side ok. Phew! The water actually came over the bonnet momentarily. That has been out longest deep crossing yet.

We then headed back to camp where we showered and headed to the bar for pizza for dinner with some live entertainment. Country Singer Catherine Britt. It was an enjoyable night.

Another big day out completed.

Monday 11th June 2018
Today I woke and saw another amazing sunrise over the Pentecost River and Cockburn Ranges, the colour of the sky was an amazing orange/red, the river was clear and as smooth as glass. David got up early and went crocodile hunting again, unfortunately to no avail. We will see a salty yet hopefully later today when we cross the Pentecost River. We had a relaxing morning then set off on our way to El Questro Wilderness Park/Station. This involved crossing the famous Pentecost River which at the beginning of the dry season prevents many people from going any further, some manage to cross at low tide. For us it wasn’t too bad only about 1-1.5 feet deep but still about 100m long. It was a relatively easy crossing and no salties again!

Onwards to El Questro, we are finally on bitumen again, but only for a moment then back to dirt road again. On the drive in to El Questro we  crossed another deeper section of the Pentecost River, we must have crossed over 200 water crossings since we started on the Gibb River Road 12 days ago. We can’t walk them anymore now though as they we are in Saltwater Croc country. We finally arrived at El Questro which is a huge resort style caravan park, with restaurant, bar and entertainment, shop, chopper, plane, private riverfront sites, powered and unpowered campsites, accommodation and organised tours. It is a very major tourist destination. A bit too commercial for us but hopefully we can get out in to the wilderness at some stage.

We had a bit of a rest till the weather cooled down a bit and headed for a drive to Chamberlain Gorge, they have a rive cruise on here but it would have been just like the gorge we paddle d the canoe so didn’t do this one. We then went to Explosion Gorge/Branco’s Lookout trail but decided we would give this track a miss, it was looking like a serious 4WD track. We then headed to Saddleback Ridge Lookout. This too was a difficult 4WD track, narrow, steep and winding with some challenging sections of rocky drops. We made it after carefully negotiating some tricky bits and were rewarded with 360° views of the station and ranges. We were going to watch the sun set here but decided with the steep track and tricky sections we had to do on the way back that we would get a start sooner rather than later. The car handled it very well and DB has done amazingly. I get a little nervous when the tracks are difficult but he really handles the situations with care and skill.

We headed back to our camp by the river to find out that our chosen spot for tonight was the noisiest spot on the block. We sure can pick them. Oh well hopefully they go to bed before we are ready to go to sleep. Only time will tell.

It is now 9.10pm and our neighbours kids have hit the sack hopefully the adults go to bed soon too.

Anyway goodnight and I hope you have been enjoying the blog and pictures.

Sunday 10th June 2018
Just before we went to sleep last night we heard what may have been the crocodile in the river, so I had an average nights sleep as every time I woke I lay there listening to see if I could hear any movement in the water. Then I got the song “Never Smile at a Crocodile” in my head and could not turn off.

Well today we woke to another beautiful day down by the Pentecost River, forecast temperature 35°C. This has been pretty consistent for the last 40-50 days. I was pretty tired as I hadn’t slept too well.

David wasn’t feeling that great today, maybe all that driving and concentration has worn him out, so we are just going for a little walk. We hiked to Mt Baldy Lookout which has an mazing viewpoint for the Cockburn Ranges. We then did the Bindoola Gorge Trail. After that we headed back to the Station as it was extremely hot. We had lunch at Dusty’s Bar and Grill, Grilled Barramundi Burger and Chips, which was very nice, then headed outside for a swim in the Resort Pool. Then believe it or not a rest and relax by the pool for a couple of hours. Woohoo!!

We then headed back down to the river to hopefully see a crocodile (Unfortunately, not to be) and to watch the sunset as the light makes an amazing reflection on the Cockburn Ranges.

It was a well earned rest day. Ready for the last stage of the Gibb River Road.