Windjana Gorge

6-7 July

Well, a couple of days in 'town' and we couldn't wait to go bush again!  We retraced about 100km of the Gibb River Road to the turnoff for Windjana Gorge, a further 20km along a stony, corrugated road.  We're constantly amazed at how a rocky range suddenly appears in the middle of otherwise flat country (and most have a gorge or two to be explored).  This one was vertical rocks and crevices where most have been horizontal.

The camping ground is right at the base of the rock wall and only 100m from the gorge itself.  We found ourselves a lovely spot with the back of the troopy opening towards a cluster of trees - which we soon discovered shelter a group of bower birds.  I'd never seen one of their bowers before.  It was large and beautifully decorated with white and silver trimmings.  The male bird kept us well entertained with his dancing, strutting and general showing off.

the bower

View from the campsite, to the wall of Windjana Gorge

It was only about 7.30am when we set off on our walk through Windjana Gorge.  The light was soft and the pool of water, when we came to it, was like a mirror.  

It was quiet except for the bird sounds, and really beautiful.  The track took us through a variety of vegetation – we don’t know a lot of the plants but there were boabs among them.  We started seeing crocodiles in the water, just slightly protruding to get the sun on their backs.

 At one point we went down into the sandy riverbed and sat quietly enjoying the peace.  The walls are so high, with the rocks in vertical formations.   Then further along again, we found another spot where we sat and observed the crocodiles.  There was one on the mudflat about 10 metres away, sleeping in the warm sun and not the least interested in us.  We sat here for ages and could see the crocs slowly drifting along the river.  When we got up to continue our walk, we were amazed to see how many were along the banks.  We  were able to count 26 crocs, some in the water and many sunning themselves.  We got photos and were able to get quite close to them when it was evident they had no interest in us.

Up close and personal

Continuing along the trail we came to the big pool and could see dozens of crocs lying around the edge and dozens more floating in the water.  They appear not to move at all, they just float.  When they swim they propel themselves with a sideways motion of the tail.  A man nearby had counted 57 of them to this point and he hadn’t reached the area up river where we’d seen 26.

No words can describe this sort of thing and no photo can truly depict it.  The sight of a pool full of floating crocs is one that has to be seen to be believed.

We spent 5 hours doing this 2 hour walk, it was fascinating.  Then we returned in the early evening to see the effect of the sun on the gorge walls.

There was a beautiful pink glow throughout the trees and sand, while the walls were spectacularly orange.