Walking Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge
Trip Start
Aug 08, 2011
1
20
52
Trip End
Dec 09, 2011
Windjana Gorge, Western Australia, Australia
Friday, September 9, 2011
After setting up camp at round noon we set out for Tunnel Creek, which we decided was an excellent option for the heat of the day - and we were right.
Tunnel Creek (a favourite hiding place of Bunuba warrior Jandamurra) carves a tunnel through the limestone remains of a devonian reef - walking through involves entering the creek path and sometimes pitch dark as you wade through the cool waters of the creek. There is a cave-in about half way through that not only lets in some light, but also is home to a colony of bats that hang from the stalactites beside some magnificent calcium carbonate formations.
We walked right through to the other side of the range - with water reaching about hip height (unless you took a different route - some parts are up to armpits if you like). At least it meant we were nice and refreshed when we came out of the tunnel and had our picnic lunch in the car park!
Next we headed back to Windjana Gorge and walked down the gorge in the late afternoon with corellas screeching and grooming each other and freashwater crocs soaking up the last of the sunlight.
We headedback to camp where Ted felt brave enough to hand over the shears to Kaz for a bush haircut (very brave of him!!) and had dinner, then headed back into the gorge with our torches to spotlight the freshwater crocs out for the night. We spotted three.
Next morning, we headed down the gorge for a final time to see the crocs basking on the sand to warm up after a cool night and weren't disappointed.
Next stop, Bell Gorge.
