Mitchell Falls to Drysdale River Station, Gibb River Rd, Kimberley WA

Friday 8th June 2018
Well today is mainly a travel day, the decision is early before all the dust or a bit later to avoid some dust. We were ready early, about 7.30am and as always just as we were heading out our neighbour snuck out just before us. So we waited a little, finally taking off at about 8am. We knew the first 30km was terrible conditions and took about 90mins, then the next 46kms took another 2 hours to get to King Edwards River including a stop at the Munurra Art site No 2. This was another aboriginal paintings and cultural site. Along with some great Aboriginal Paintings we also saw aa burial site which was jus a hole in the rocks near some winjanas with the bones of humans in the hole. Very interesting again, and we feel very lucky to be able to see this as we are sure it is on the sacred ground. It was just a fenced off area asking you not to go past the fence. Then on to Munurra Falls for lunch and a swim. Then to Munurra Art site No 1. Next stop was Drysdale River Station to collect our bike which we left behind so as not to break the bike rack on the heavily rutted roads to and from Mitchell Falls. We arrived here at about 3pm and decided to stay here the night, do some washing, have a rest and a meal cooked for us. Woohoo!! A night off cooking for me. Yay!!

We shared a lovely chat with a couple of guys from Belgium, hearing stories of their travels. They had the same excitement over their swim with the whale shark and they did it last year. Hopefully I can still feel the same excitement in a years time as well. I think I will. We added a few destinations to the bucket list.

: Inspecting the repair job on the tyre.

: Looks pretty good, it has had 48 hours to set so hopefully it holds. How long, who knows?

: On the way out David saw some brolgas in the pastures..

: ..who were very accommodating, allowing their photo to be taken. They were about 1.5m tall. They were very beautiful. I am amazed how DB sees these in the bush when he is supposed to be watching the very rocky road.

: ..maybe he should have been watching the rocks not the brolgas. We have made it 76km but unfortunately the tyre repair not so good.

: We had a day of sharing the tourist destinations with this tour bus..

: ..and this one as well. They even shared their left over quiches from lunch with us. A welcome treat.

: This is where the artworks are hidden, just in ordinary bushland.

: Some more Bradshaw Stick Figures.

: Enjoying the walk through the Art site.

: 3765 Then on to Munurra Falls which were very small compared to yesterday. Loved the smoothness of the rocks here..

: Time for a quick dip with the freshwater crocodiles which apparently have been in most gorges along the Gibb River Rd, but we Thankfully haven’t seen any since Windjana Gorge on the first day.

: A quick swim session. Six strokes out and then six strokes back. Swim session done and dusted. Hehehe!

: This is how easily you damage your tyre. Luckily it didn’t pop it this time. Fingers crossed for the rest of the Gibb River Road.

: Some more aboriginal art at Munurra Art Site No 1.

: DBs favourites – The Wanjinas

: A contributing factor in the decision to stay at Drysdale tonight. We had the buffet. Roast Lamb Shank with mash, roasted veggies was too hard for me to resist. Plus it was about time I had a night off cooking. The Vanilla Pannacotta also twisted my arm. And it was delicious.

: OUCH!! The petrol prices here are a killer. Need to get that diesel car.