Ideally this trip would have been done over several weeks. That was our initial intention but the various obligations of three families in two different states made this difficult so we took what we could get and saw as much as we could over just one week with sadly only two families. The roads were dusty and corrugated. They felt empty in a huge landscape but the campgrounds were crowded and usually we had to camp in the overflow areas. People who had been unable to travel for big chunks of 2020 and who might have otherwise travelled outside Australia set their sights on the Kimberley. It was a bumper season for tourism operators there. Luckily the actual sights were spectacular enough and large enough that we did feel that we had plenty of space to enjoy them calmly but it was not the untouched paradise that we had expected!
Windjana Gorge
Winjana had a different feel about it from the other gorges we saw because the land forms were made by an enormous reef in a sea several millennia ago.
Tunnel Creek
We have no pictures to share of this place because it was too dark and too wet for any of our camera (let's face it we pretty much used our phones!). The water was absolutely freezing and the two children with the highest surface area to volume ratio were shivering and blue by the time we finished! It did feel like a grand adventure though and the bigger kids thought it was very exciting until they got too cold too! It was exactly as the name suggests a very long cave-tunnel under a hill. The story of the indigenous "outlaw" Jandamarra hiding out and being killed here was also engaging.
Bell Gorge
There was a lovely bush walk into Bell Gorge. This was a spectacular gorge and waterfall surrounded by high cliffs of red sandstone.
Manning Gorge
This was our favourite place so we stayed an extra day. Although the caravan park was overflowing and the toilet was a half hour walk away we were camped by a lovely shallow creek with large paperbark trees. The children loved playing in the creek and were occupied for hours creating large dams in it.
There was time for campfires and reading and an awful lot of rolling around in the dirt.
The walk up to this gorge was just fun. To begin we had to swim across a deeper part of the creek. Floating containers were provided in which to transport our shoes and bags to keep them dry. It was a longer walk and it was hot but our wet bathers kept us cool enough for most of the walk. Just as the whinging started we reached the spectacular gorge. There was more space to relax and play here and the waterfall was beautiful.
We had fun at the deeper part of the creek near the campsite in the morning before we parted ways with the Ross Family.
El Questro
It was a long drive from Maning Gorge. We got some reception for the first time in several days and it was apparent that the covid situation in Sydney was deteriorating and that we would be returning to a full lockdown situation. There were many options to consider. Mum also had some difficult news about a diagnosis of breast cancer. Mum and Dad had already had several weeks of stressful tests and waiting for more information but by the time they relayed it to me the news was mostly good. This was going to be an unpleasant and worrying time but Mum will almost certainly be ok at the end. We had intended to stay at Home Valley but a slow drive, a flat tyre and the long phone calls made our arrival there too late to enter. We camped at a lookout and awoke to a spectacular view over a valley which I failed to capture in any photo worth sharing. It was a short drive from there to El Questro during which we crossed the Pentecost river which Ed tells me is famous amongst 4WD enthusiasts so we had to film it!
Ooh and there were roadworks at which we had to stop for a while and a local worker gave the kids his snake to keep them entertained while we waited.
It was great to have a lovely restaurant and cafe and shop and good bathroom facilities again. From the home base of the campsite we were able to explore the numerous beautiful sites on the station. They even had kids' art classes!
Zebedee Springs was a highlight.
Emma Gorge
Technically still part of El Questro, Emma Gorge is a stunning place a little further along the freeway.
We headed home with the intention of stopping somewhere for the night but somehow when we were ready to stop there was nowhere really appropriate so we aimed for dinner in Katherine with a colleague I had worked with in Katherine, Alpesh. After dinner we decided to push on to Darwin River to stay with Meg and Paul again. My cousins Leena and Sarah and their families were both in the NT visiting so we wanted to spend a little time with them all. It was also apparent that we needed to delay our move to Sydney as we were headed into a lockdown situation. We were lucky to spend 5 days with the family while we explored our options. They live on a peaceful block with resident bower bird and tree frog as well as myriad other beautiful creatures. It is just down the road from Berri Springs and we grabbed a couple of swims there.
Here are all the second cousins together, Reece, Cassie, Charlotte, Zoe, Connor and Luca.
Ultimately we decided to head for Wamboin. This region was unaffected by covid. The children could go back to their old school, I could get some work with my old beloved colleagues in Bungendore and Janine and Rod came out of the woodwork to let us know that their house was sitting vacant in Wamboin while they also travelled around WA with their caravan. We kissed Ed goodbye and donned our masks, hopeful for a brief sojourn near the ACT then a move into our new house in Sydney. We donned many layers of warm clothing for the first time in several years and moved forward carrying memories of star studded evenings, hot bush walks and spectacular, cool gorges.
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