Gibb River Road Tour!!

We had no idea what to expect when we started our Gibb River Road trip. Some people had said they drove everyday for a week, just trying to get off it. Other people said they knew people who did it in a day. A lot of people came up to us at camp saying "yeah, mate, it's rough. It's really rough. I broke a shockie/tire." So, needless to say, we were a little apprehensive before we started, but it turned out to be fine. The road was a corrugated dirt road with some river crossings, but better than the Savannah (that shook our spotlights right out of the front of our car).

I won't say that it was the most beautiful drive I have ever been on. The first bit had some beautiful escarpment (you can see us in front of a great chunk of it) but most of the actual Gibb River Road was just dirt and trees, nothing too spectacular.

The gorges and pools were all located about 8 - 12 km off the track, on some very dicey roads. Even at the hight of my being "gorged-out" they were all beautiful and all different. Some were huge, others were small. Some wide, others narrow. You could swim in some (the water was icy cold enough to drive Phil out, so Heather and I stayed warm, dry and on the bank) but not in others. They were great.

The hightlight of the road was, luckily, what we saw last: Tunnel Creek and Windjana gorge. Tunnel Creek was awesome - you walked along the floor of a creek surrounded by high cave walls. The water was chilly, but it seemed a lot warmer at the end of your trip than the start because by the end your feet were totally numb. It was a really nice trip because of the staligmites and staligtights and because it was something totally different from a gorge.

Windjana was spectacular. It was one of those places where you have to stop, jaw gaping, and just drink it in. The gorge is formed by a petrified coral reef, which is incredibly cool, but after a walk through a little tunnel, you end up with a great view of this amazing ... well, gorge. It is lined with freshwater crocs (we saw maybe 50 of them and you are warned to stay a measily 4m away from them) and you can hear the cockatoos screetching while they're flying all over the place. It is truly amazing.

Big Red came through most of the Gibb River Road almost unscathed. He had a slow leak in one of his rear tires on the second day, but a kind traveler plugged it for us in exchange for some beer and cookies. The only major problem came just as we hit the pavement - we got a serious flat. Poor Phil had to crawl around on the dusty ground getting the spare out, then had to drive the car up on some sandbags so we could get the jack underneath (why would they build a jack too tall to fit under where you need to put it?!) then change the tire as fellow travellers are barreling past at shocking speeds. We got it all changed, hopped in the car only to find that there was a hole in our exhaust pipe, so we essentially limped into Derby, all praying that it was just a hole in the exhaust pipe that was causing the noise. Anyway, all's well that ends well and it was just a crack in the pipe that we got fixed in Derby.