Tour Australia

The next day we traveled down to Halls Creek and visited China Wall. It is an amazing natural wall made from limestone. It is white so really sticks out from the surrounding area. The blocks of limestone are precariously stacked to form the wall. It is a very short walk to view the wall and the drive in is short as well. It is quite interesting and worth a look.

We left Halls Creek and made out way all the way down to Fitzroy Crossing. They have a really new and well stocked IGA which we stopped in to. From there we headed up to Geike Gorge and did the sunset cruise. It was run by Parks and Wildlife and lasted 1 hour. Geike Gorge is an old Devonian reef which means at one time it was underwater and is made up of limestone. It has some amazing tunnels and rock formations which make up the walls of the gorge. It is said to be around 380 million years old! The sunset was very beautiful and we saw some nice colours on the gorge walls which also made some great reflections on the still water. The river is also home to a number of fresh water crocodiles which we saw no shortage of. We would highly recommend this tour and having a look at the gorge. It wasn’t like anything we’d seen up until this time!

It was getting late so we quickly left the gorge and continued west. Darkness fell and we traveled all the way to the turn off to Windjana Gorge/Tunnel Creek where we stayed the night.

After a discussion with a truckie and a fellow caravaner who had just come down the road we decided to proceed with the caravan. The road was unsealed all the way through but with the exception of a couple of small sections, it was in really good condition.

We arrived at Tunnel Creek and proceeded straight into the walk. It is only a very short walk to the beginning of the tunnel and then the tunnel itself is 750m long. It is a real natural wonder! Make sure you have a good torch as the tunnel is large and dark. A few different animals inhabit the tunnel including fish, shrimps, bats and you may even see some small fresh water crocodiles down the far end. They are very shy and stay away from you so it would seem there is nothing to be frightened of. There is some rock scrambling to get into the tunnel and some shallow wading through water in the tunnel.

We had a great time doing this walk and it was very different to other things we’ve done. Outside the tunnel you may be able to find some aboriginal rock art. The authenticity isn’t known and there are no signs directing you to it. When you go through the massive rock shelter on the way to the tunnel it is just up the small hill on the rock wall.

We made our way to Windjana Gorge and enjoyed some shade and lunch. We then did the short walk into the gorge and made our way up the gorge a short way. The gorge walls are from the Devonian reef and are steep and tall. You may even see a fossil or two on the walls.

Once you reach the body of water in the gorge you will be amazed by the number of fresh water crocodiles in it. We saw over 80 crocodiles in total! As a result there is no swimming in the water – not that it looks very inviting anyway.

The gorge is quite amazing and the crocodiles just add to the experience!

We left the gorge and made our way to the Gibb River Road. Only a short drive up the Gibb is the Lenard River and on the northern side of the road is an unofficial camp area. We found a place we liked and set up camp.