We got up with the birds this morning, wolfed down breakfast & we were inside the track to Windjana Gorge just as the sun was rising.  With John & Sue, we were the first ones out enjoying the tranquillity & beauty of it all.  No, we haven’t been bird, gorge, big rock or water holed out yet.  This is a completely different gorge, the rocks are limestone made of corals about 360 million years old. It’s something like out of middle earth.  We enjoyed every step of the 3 km way, watching the birds, bats & the crocodiles.  We saw around a dozen crocodiles in the shallow water, goodness knows how many more we didn’t see – we didn’t tempt fate by having a swim. A few of the larger crocodiles were waiting patiently under the bats waiting for one to drop into the water.  A special treat was sighting a mating pair of grey goshawks, this is only the second time I have seen one, the last in Canberra around 15 years ago.

On our return to the camp it was time to pack up.  We travelled 35 km to Tunnel Creek. The sun was beating down, luckily we only had a short walk before the entrance.  Great big boulders to climb over & through – wow, what an amazing entrance into this unreal cave.  The walk is easy after the initial entrance – sand & wading through water up to your belly button if you are me or not getting your bottom wet if you are Ron, 6’2” tall.  We used our head lamps as it is pitch black up to about half way, a break through the cliff & back to dark until the end, 1 ½ km return trip.  The cave runs from one side of the Napier Range to the other & in the 1890s was used as a hideout for Jandamarra, an aboriginal freedom fighter until he was killed there.  The cave had a lot of fruit bats in it & wonderful ghost bats, tiny catfish, freshwater prawns & on our return Ron noticed some shiny reflection, on closer inspection crocodile eyes.  The ceiling was formed through millions of years of water erosion & formed some giant stalactites.

The road to Fitzroy Crossing was about 110 km of very rough corrugated dusty road, then we hit the Northwest Highway – bitumen!  20 km out of town our mobile phone came on – hurray!  Back to civilization!  Great to catch up with the kids, Mum, Dad & family.