The Kimberley

PRISON BOAB TREE
Hardly worth mentioning, but it was our first stop. Boabs are these really fat trees (shaped like pineapples) with windy branches. This one was especially big, and had been hollowed out inside to keep aboriginal prisoners back in the day, before transporting them to Derby.

WINDJANA GORGE
Our campsite on night 1. Windjana is basically made of craggy black rock that looks like it was painted gray and orange, and is set along the Lennard River where wildlife abounds. The area used to be covered in water (it was known as the Devonian Reef) and left behind are carved-out limestone and some fish fossils. A bunch of boabs are scattered around and on the gorge. We saw several freshwater crocodiles basking on the riverbank, one was only about a meter from us! Freshies are nowhere near as dangerous as the saltwater crocs though. This one was only a couple meters long. We also saw hundreds of little corellas (white birds) sitting on a tree on the river and squawking like crazy, and we saw a peregrine falcon flying around as well.

TUNNEL CREEK
On the outside, it looks somewhat like Windjana; but inside, it’s a long dark cave with an intriguing ceiling structure and all sorts of crevices. We hiked through the creek, where the water was knee-deep at times. We had torches to guide us, and the occasional light seeping through cracks in the walls. It was awesome, possibly my favorite part of the Gibb. The end of the tunnel led us to the outdoor part of the creek, with all sorts of windy trees. Freckle showed us some aboriginal rock art in an area they used for teaching. They use the rock as a sort of blackboard and allow people to come and look at it for free. Apparently aboriginals always share things and are excellent listeners. They lost a lot of their culture in the 60′s and 70′s but it’s now being retaught and reintegrated in the newer generation.

 

 
BELL GORGE
We walked a bit around the cliff edge and had a wonderful view of the waterfall, creek pond, and surrounding hills. We had to cross a creek to get across the gorge, which always makes me paranoid about slipping and/or dropping my camera. From there, we walked down to some rocks beyond the falls and relaxed for a bit while half of us went for a swim, myself included. It was chilly and windy out, but nice after awhile. I decided to swim more during this trip, in an effort to enjoy it more. It adds another dimension to the experience when you get more involved, I find. I normally don’t do much swimming though.

GALVINS GORGE
I thought this one would be *just another gorge*, but it ended up being like a gorgeous little watering hole in the woods! It was a circular pool with beautiful reflections of the trees and bush around. There’s a 20m-high waterfall in 2 parts, the bottom part being tiered and quite warm. The top of the gorge is home to a big boab tree. All around the pool are bushes and vines and it’s very jungle-esque. It was amazing! I couldn’t see too far without my contacts in, but it was awesome and refreshing anyway. Plus, the rock walls nearby had some aboriginal rock art as well, and there was a rope swing to negotiate (at least for those daring enough!). And oh, we also saw some lizards. Awesome gorge.

MANNING GORGE
This hike began with our traversing a few creeks, which was bloody murder on barefeet! It soon gave way to some hills of flat rock, which was also not so fun since you had to be constantly looking at the ground to avoid tripping over rocks. But after an hour or so, we saw the gorge from above and a reddish rock plateau on top before descending into the gorge. Once there, we got to see the oldest aboriginal rock art in Australia, in the form of 3-layered paint of people/lizards. Then around the gorge were the usual bendy trees and climbable rocks that make the gorge look like separate pools. But the best part was the actual falls: there were a bunch of tiny falls over flat layered rocks, and then 4 bigger falls in a row, spilling into the pool. I swam out to them and went behind the waterfalls where I could actually see, and I went underneath the rock walls behind the falls. You could see a full rainbow in front of the falls that got bigger/clearer as you moved. So pretty!

 
 

 
COCKBURN RANGES/PENTECOST RIVER
At 1.8 billion years old, these ranges are stunning! They’re a light brown color with green plants scattered over them, as well as sandstone bands resembling ribbons that seem to wrap across the tops of the ranges. Timing is everything – we got to the lookout point just before sunset when the ribbons appeared pink, and the mountains were glowing with sunlight. The trees and bush below were also illuminated by the light. Amazing. In my paper journal, I deemed this the first awe-inspiring thing I’d seen in the Kimberley. Shortly after, we arrived at the Pentecost River crossing, by far the widest river we’d had to drive through. It was another glorious view of the road cutting through the river, with the pink mountains in the background. The sunset at this point led to a light purple/pink pastel-colored sky, with a quick dash of bright pink that reflected in the river beautifully off the ranges. Oh it was a beautiful evening.

 
 
 
 

 
EL QUESTRO
We drove to El Questro, a rustic wilderness lodge resort, after sunset over the Pentecost RIver. The ride there was actually quite enjoyable — it was completely dark, the roads were bumpy and wind-y, and the stars shined so brightly that it felt like a Space Mountain ride! We finally arrive, and pull up in front of the BBQ buffet area where all the families and old folks were taking advantage of the $30 dinner deal. They were all clean and neatly-dressed, while all of us were dirty, tired, starving, and hadn’t had a proper shower all trip. This is a very touristy place to stay, for those who want to see the Kimberley in luxury and pay $800-1200/night for a cabin. However, the resort did have a camping area. And as soon as we unpacked, everyone rushed off to take their first hot shower in 4 days. The showers here were in little modern-looking huts, complete with tiled floors, slanted roofs, and even a sink and toilet in each shower hut. It was amazing. We ended up eating pretty late, and my team did our dinner cleanup duties in record time! We rule. I then immediately went to bed, but tried to lay awake for a bit in my swag, gazing up at the stars in the sky. Out here, you can see so many stars, even the Milky Way. Incredible. The next morning, we stopped at Zebedee Springs for a quick dip in the hot pools. It was in a lush forest area, with a bunch of scattered springs amidst the rocks. It felt so great.