Broome to Windjana Gorge

6th May 2013

Well it was time to leave Broome and after breakfast and final pack up we said our goodbyes to Tanya and we were on our way by 8.30am to tackle the mighty Gibb River Road.

We made our way to Derby, where we checked conditions of the road  ahead at the Tourist Info, refuelled, did a supply shop and checked out the jetty, where we saw a family catching mud crabs. One of Derby's claim to fame (some may say only) is that it has the second highest tides in the world (Broome is 3rd!!!).

After a brief stop for lunch and the obligatory photo of us parked under a Gibb River Rd sign we were off on yet another adventure and we were once again all very excited. The first 100kms of the Gibb is bitumen and then it's onto the gravel from there.

 Our first stop on the Gibb was Windjana Gorge (124kms from Derby). The 3.5km gorge is part of the Napier Range has been formed over the past 360 million years where the Lennard River has carved this magnificent gorge.

We arrived around 2pm, set up camp and headed off for a hike through the gorge. Windjana, which has to be seen to be believed was once part of a Great Barrier Reef, which was very hard to fathom, as we looked up at the towering gorge walls above us, another amazing experience.

During our hike, the girls spotted about 40 freshwater crocodiles floating in the river, it was awesome to see. It's because of the high concentration of freshwater crocs here, that they recommend that people don't swim in the river, which was a shame, because it was still about 38 degrees at 4pm, so a swim would have been fantastic.

After about an hour & a half through the Devonian reef, we headed back to camp where we had dinner, did some star gazing in our "million star hotel" and turned in for an early night.

A great way to start the Gibb!