13th August 2008

We were off to a reasonable start this morning as we planned to walk to the end of the Windjana Gorge.
The Gorge is about 3.5 kms long and varies in terrain, depending where you decide to walk. On our outward trek, we decided to stay above the river bed on firm ground. It was really nice to just walk quietly through the bush and surrounded by the Gorge walls. The sounds of all types of birds were heard such as finches, corellas and kites just o name some. There is a variety of trees, such as paperbarks, river gums and numerous other types.
As we neared the end of the Gorge we came across a young French couple that said that there should have been a fence to indicate the end of the trail but they had not seen it. We discovered it a little further on. It had taken us less than 1½ hours but we did not worry.
Our return journey, which took much the same, was in the river bed which is mostly all sand. As the day was warming we found nice shade to walk in on the northern side of the river bed. We passed one crocodile and numerous birds and bats on our way back. The last kilometre or so was amazing with over 40 freshwater crocodiles either sunning themselves on the sand or still in the water. They were from about 75cm to around 3 metres long. They do not worry about all the tourists, unless provoked, and remained on the sand as we walk past. Apparently, they are not interested in humans as they mostly are fish eaters. I would not trust them in the water.
There are numerous conversations with other travellers sharing where animals or interesting items are located. Also, it is a regular talking point on where we all come from with so many Australians, but as I have mentioned before, many from overseas.
As we were preparing for lunch, a French couple, that we had spoken to near the end of the Gorge, asked if we could put a little charge into their camera battery. As we had the generator going it was not a problem. We all had our lunch together and discovered that they both were in the medical field and he had been in Adelaide to present a paper to some convention. They were interesting to speak to and they asked about us as well. They then left for Bell Gorge along the Gibb River Road after thanking us so much for charging their battery.
Most of the afternoon, Prue was doing some sketching and some painting. This was done by moving into the shade so often. She says the acrylic paint dries out very quickly in the low humidity environment we are in. I spent a lot of the afternoon reading about the Kimberley Region in general, both history and recent factual information.
Sooner than later, it was time again for our pre dinner drinks before I cooked some nice Scotch fillet that has been in our deep freeze since we left Lennox Head.
Later it was time to enjoy another night looking at the Kimberley moon. I think that is a James Blundell song! A beautiful moon to sit and look at.