We packed up early and headed out from this pretty, camping spot to Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge. The Leopold Downs Rd continued to be highly corrugated so we travelled at at low speed and with plenty of shaking we slowly made our way northwards towards Tunnel Creek. Robyn did the majority of the drive and got a little annoyed with my back seat driving :)
With the increasing number of creek crossings, we were determined to follow Vic's advice and inspect the crossings before attempting them. So we got the long shovel out and waded out, feeling our way slowly across the four creek crossings for the day. After some debate on the right gears to be in, we engaged diff-lock and low range and made our way across. In one of the crossings I was too clever for my own good, playing around with the gears and almost getting stuck in what must be one of the smallest creek crossings possible! Lucky we sorted it out before anybody else came through. We saw lots of cars not performing any inspections and doing the crossings at speed – something we weren't willing to risk.
We got to Tunnel Creek National Park in one piece and parked on the road amongst a large number of 4WD's. With reef shoes on, clothed only in our swimming costumes we made our way through the dark cave system with only the light of our torches illuminating the way. We waded through at times waist deep water through the caves which ended 700 metres at a scenic view at the other end.
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Windjana NP
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Kimberley Bauhinia
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Windjana NP campground
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Bower Bird adorning its nest with white gravel
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We had been a little worried at the start about seeing freshies on the way, but with so many noisy tourists, they seem to keep their distance away from the tunnel. Our confidence had grown by the time we got through one end and the way back was easy – how quickly we had become experts! The boys and Jasmine thought that Tunnel Creek was awesome and certainly the experience was a highlight for all our family.
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| Yikes! |
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| Here freshie, freshie! |
We continued our drive further north up Leopold Downs Rd to Windjana Gorge. We camped at this large well laid out camp area. There was a short walk along the gorge, entering it through a small gap in the rocks leading to spectacular views of the creek running past deeply cut cliff walls. The sandy walk led us past many freshies laying motionless in the water.
We also were also very lucky to see that the dress rehearsal was on for a play at the gorge – Jandamarra was on that evening. We were able to see this famous aboriginal play for a small donation. The camp ground and play were completely booked out for the rest of the week – so this was indeed very fortuitous. So we brought down our chairs in the evening, and with Windjana Gorge for a backdrop, we watched the story of how an aboriginal man from the Bunaba people led a resistance against white pastoralists for three years, ending with his death at Tunnel Creek. We were treated with a great cultural experience, and left understanding a little better the indigenous people's link with the land, their stories and their tragic history.
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| The set for Jandamurra |
