Wednesday 13th June - Fitzroy Crossing to Windjana Gorge

Underground Adventures

[Back to Fitzroy Crossing on the 17th June after 5 days without internet access so this is catch up]


Adjusting the tyre pressure on Leopold Downs Road WA

We left the caravan at Fitzroy Crossing and ventured forth onto unsealed roads armed with our little tent, inflatable mattresses, primus stove and tinned/ dried provisions as for the next 5 days there was no electricity.

John reduced the tyre pressure when we left the sealed road to avoid a repeat of the tyre shredding from last week.  Turns out the majority of the Gibb River road was well maintained, some of the side roads into the gorges are a bit rough.  The creeks are dropping all the time so there was nothing over about 500mm deep.

Entrance to Tunnel Creek cave WA

Tunnel Creek leaves the cave WA

We stopped off at Tunnel Creek National Park on the way to Windjana Gorge where we spent the night in the DEC [Dept of Environment & Conservation] camp.  Tunnel creek flows for 750m of it's length underground and it is possible to wade through from one end of the tunnel to the other, which we did.  Torches are essential and it was a lot of fun. 

The cave is home to 5 species of bats, some quite rare.  We heard them but did not see any as they roost in the furthest recesses of the cave.  There are also a number of frogs, fish and crustaceans but we didn't manage to see any.  Some areas of the cave have active stalactites and flow stones and one of these in particular is magnificent with a constant flow of water over it into the creek below.

Flowstone inside Tunnel Creek cave.  WA

We arrived at Windjana and put up the tent, managed to cook a meal and went to bed very early as we only have one lantern and were unsure how long the batteries would last. The main evening entertainment is looking at the night sky which is absolutely stunning in such a remote place.  Thousands of stars and the milky way are very visible.  Apart from sliding off the air mattress a number of times during the night [we learnt to inflate them less] the tent was suprisingly cosy and comfortable.  Listening to the eerie silence in the middle of the night, punctuated occasionally by the call of an owl, then hearing the dawn chorus was a great experience.