The Kimberly continued

Geikie Gorge
Geologists tell us that back in the Devonian Age much of Northern Australia was under the sea and during this time a massive coral reef, much like the Great Barrier reef, was formed. The land was raised, the water retreated and over eons of erosion much of the sandstone has been removed but the harder limestone of the reef remains and now exists in many places as an exposed range, often much higher than the surrounding country. Our first encounter with this reef/range was at Geikie Gorge where the mighty Fitzroy River has cut through the range. We did a one hour, Ranger led boat trip which was interesting and informative.

The lighter rock is limestone which has been polished by the river during the Wet and shows the height of the river in a normal year, the 2011 Wet was some 3m above this height.The darker rock above this is weathered limestone with some traces of iron. The Fitzroy River is Australia's largest in terms of volume of water carried - they estimate that the 2011 flow would have filled the large reservoirs supplying Perths water in 10 minutes - the impact of the water on the walls of the Gorge produces many interesting formations. 

Returning back to camp at the Fitzroy River Lodge, which was a lovely park, we drove across the original crossing.

Tunnel Creek

Travelling west from Fitzroy Crossing we turned off the Highway on to a road that a large sign said was open to high clearance 4wd vehicles - not exactly us. The first 10kms were terrible, lots of sandy bits, then rocky, and some awful corrugations. Then it settled down to quite a good gravel road and we again encountered the Devonian Reef we were following. A long section over a river plain had been recently worked on and you could easily sit on 80km/hr. Then came the creek crossings! The first was small and easily crossed. The second had a gravel base and we dropped onto a few holes but kept traction and pulled through OK, although we were a bit nervous by now because we had only seen one other vehicle for the morning. The third was much wider than the other two and as we found out, much deeper. We slowly crossed with some water splashing over the bonnet, hoping there would be no holes to swallow us up. In the middle I thought 'This is it, we are in trouble', but we weren't, we just kept going. The fourth was only a short distance across but we could see the opposite side was  steep and muddy with a distinct ledge to be negotiated just above the water line. Once again the Santa Fe easily got us through. We were  relieved to reach the Tunnel Creel N.P. and you can imagine our suprise to find the carpark full of 4WD,s and a couple of tourist buses. They had come from the Derby direction. You can also imagine our suprise when we opened the van to have a much needed morning coffee, to discover the fridge door completely off and much of the fridge contents on the floor mingled with the contents of the cutlery draw which had lost it's front panel - it had been a rough road. We were able to get things back together - thank goodness for gaffer tape. And then it was off to explore Tunnel Creek, which proved to be quite a highlight.

The tunnel was formed by a creek actually following fault lines through the range and over the centurys carving out huge caverns. We had to wade for much of the 750m and needed torches to find our way and to see the features of the caves. In about the middle the roof had collapsed providing a sunny, sandy, break along the way. The caves are home to many bats, fish and sometimes freshwater crocodiles.

Heading in



Half way

From Tunnel Creek we travelled over very corrugated road to Windjana Gorge National Park where we set up camp for a late lunch and restored order in the van. Merilyn wiped out and restored the fridge, Bruce glued the drawer, tightened up some screws and washed the van floor, removing the art work of beetroot juice and red dust. Late in the day we did a short walk through the grassland along side the rocky range - that Devonian Reef again.

Windjana Gorge

Apart from the reef/range the surrounding country is grassland, with some larger eucalypts and boabs, as far as the eye can see. We  entered the gorge through a natural arch and immediately the yellow grasslands gave way to a tropical oasis with deep green pools and green trees and shrubs, at the base of immensely high, straight cliffs, quite overwhelming. Most of the walk was through the trees and bushes - especially large paperbarks with leaves hanging like weeping willows. Freshwater crocodiles were sunning themselves on the banks - we saw 3 groups of 4 or 5 altogether. We walked close to eroded limestone that was truly beautiful - pink with white marbling going through it. Just a beautiful place.

                   

Derby                                                                                                                                              

We enjoyed two days exploring the town of Derby. One day we did 30km on our bikes. People would see us and say "we saw you down at the wharf this morning". Obviously we are very 'noticeable". I am not sure if it is our fashionable clothes, our striking looks or the fancy bikes.

Derby is on a sandy peninsula that juts out into wide mudflats. The town is about 1km from the port. A new bike track runs from the caravan park to the port and we enjoyed using it. We found the port quite fascinating with its semi-circular jetty. Tidal variations are huge - up to 11m, one of the highest in the world. This is because King Sound narrows markedly below Derby and the mighty Fitzroy River runs in at the bottom of the Sound. The combination of all the material the river brings down in the Wet with the high tidal flows results in the water being a very muddy colour.

Tide's out

 We were very interested watching a barge which serviced an island near the head of the Sound,  fuel up from a road train on the pier and then move to a ramp where it took on equipment for a mine on the island. All of this had to be done quickly and efficiently because if they miss the tide they end up sitting on the mud for 6 hours.

Derby's early history was closely associated with the development of the cattle industry in the Kimberly. Drovers brought cattle to the port over vast distances. Clashes with the aboriginal population was also part of the 'frontier' history of this region and reading about this at the historic Derby Gaol, an awful place, was quite disturbing. Many aboriginals were chained up in the gaol for up to two years for slaughtering a cow. This was less than 100 years ago.

50 cattle could water at this trough in the holding paddock.

Chained aboriginals were imprisoned inside this hollow boab on their way to the infamous Derby Gaol

A week in Broome will be the end of our Kimberly experience.