Windjana Gorge

July 25th

Another early start, but as the days quickly heat up it is better to walk early in the morning. And what a morning it was! After a lovely night at Windjana campground we were all a bit sorry we couldn't stay longer like we had planned - we even tossed around the idea of buying tickets to the Janamarra play just so we could but with 11 kids who probably wouldn't like it we decided it would make it a very expensive stay. As we walked into the gorge we passed where the play was being performed and thought it would have been excellent seeing it with the gorge as the backdrop.

What we thought would be even more excellent would have been if we were there on Wednesday night because Paul Kelly was playing - and yes we are seriously contemplating going back there!

Windjana Gorge was quite different to the others we have visited in the Kimberly - for a start it is not part of a running river system in the dry and there is absolutely no swimming and when we got down into the sandy beach area we could see why. There were plenty of freshwater crocs out sunning themselves. Thank heavens for zoom lenses!

We walked along the gorge for a while and then headed back to the cars and took off for Fitzroy Crossing - what we didn't realise was that Deb and Mike were so far behind us leaving so when we got the the end of the raod from hell (it was very rough and corrugations galore and probably hasn't been graded since the Beatles last hit record) and we couldn't raise Deb and Mike on the CB. We waited on the side of the road for a while trying to get them and then turned around and went back the the very end of the road and waited and just as Matt was about to unhitch and go and look for them a car came out so we asked if thiey had passed a Land Cruiser towing a Kimberly Kamper in trouble and they hadn't so we figures they weren't broken down.

In the end we decided to head into town and at least book campsites (which they wouldn't let us do for Deb and Mike even though I was going to pay for it) so we drove in and found three sites and parked on theirs until they arrived. Anyway turns out it was as simple as a wrong turn and they got here not long after us.

Fishing was the order of business this afternoon. I did Sam, Claire and Luke's rod (Luke has taken quite a liking to fishing). Sam of course, having the attention span of an ant, threw his in once and when he didn't catch anything decided he had enough. We managed to lose a couple more lures, tangle a reel and catch absolutely nothing - so once again no Barra for dinner and we have to go back and have some pasta.

Possibly the best thing about today is that the place we are staying has washing machines which means clean clothes tomorrow! We are all starting to stink a bit - I had planned on wearing clothes for two days out here but I didn't factor in the amount of dirt and dust and with packing up each day we are getting filthy. I think Luke has worn the same board shorts four days in a row and swimming in waterholes isn't rinsing them out!