The Gibb River road – The Leopold Downs road

The Gibb River road  -  The Leopold Downs road

http://www.about-australia.com/attractions/boab-prison-tree/

Almost in Derby I reached the turnoff to the Gibb River road. Just short of the Gibb River road turnoff is a picnic area and a fenced off section with a Boab tree with a very large trunk that has been hollowed out by the weather. It is many hundreds of years old and was used in the old British days a s a local prison where miscreants were held by police until they could be transported to a prison.

See the link above.

Windjana Gorge

I started off along the Gibb River road and was surprised that it is a bitumen road to start off or very well maintained and graded red dirt road. All over the place one can see big Boab trees that add something special to the local scenery. I was heading to the turnoff of the Leopold Downs road, the route to two very remarkable sites.

Dreamtime like spindly arms of a Boab; making it look like a night time ghost.

I intended going down this road to visit Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek. This road leaves Gibb River road heading east towards Fitzroy Crossing and eventually terminates close to Kununurra in the north. It is an average gravel road, but takes in the two spectacular sites above.

Shortly after turning off I could see a dark mountain range on the horizon. I had read about this range that it was in fact a coral reef from the Devonian period some 370 million years ago. Some planet upheaval had raised this up and the reef had now petrified into hard rock. It is absolutely massive and tens of kilometers long and in parts wider than one kilometer, There are valleys between the ranges where water has carved a passage over the millennia. The sky in the Kimberley is a fantastic blue and the vegetation is sub-tropical trees and scrub.

I turned into the Windjana Gorge camping area and proceeded along the path towards the massive wall of the reef. The path leads towards the mountain until a small triangle shape gap appears that takes you through the rock into the valley beyond. The path takes you along the river that is filled with some prehistoric fish and many Freshwater Crocodiles… Not the man eating Salties, but the smaller Freshies that feed on frogs and the like. A bit further the path takes you onto the dry river bed which is filled with soft white sand that looks like a great beach. Of interest are some of the side walls of the reef that still contain fossilized shells.

Tunnel Creek

I left the gorge and travelled another 20 km to get to Tunnel Creek. It is named so as there is a river that has tunneled a passage way under and through the coral reef/ mountains from one side of the reef to the other. The tunnel is around 700 meters long and pitch dark. You need a good torch to get from one end to the other. You have to wade through the river up to waist high in ice cold water and there are Freshies that live there.

When I stuck my foot in I did not know how deep it was going to get. It was cold and I thought ‘no, bugger that’. As I was about to chicken out I saw a light approaching from the other side. It turned out to be a 12 year old boy and his skinny mother that had done the trip and returned. Well, they shamed me into doing the trip into the unknown.

12 year old boy and mother exploring

As you approach the entrance to Tunnel Creek you walk around some massive rocks and then enter through a triangular opening. Next thing you know you are in the tunnel which at this point has a huge vaulted ceiling that stretches off into the dark distance. You are walking on dry river sand that suddenly is replaced by water that is cold and waist deep. Bring along a good bright torch as this is the only light around. About one third of the distance in, the roof has collapsed on the side and the light shows the opening where bats are hanging in the dark corners. You can see the vegetation on top of the reef as you look up the valley from the point of collapse.

Looking back to the entrance

I turned back into the dark and headed through the rest of the tunnel. Just after the half way point it makes a left turn and then heads for the exit. This is visible from far away. The exit is beautifully structures by the natural forces. At the exit one looks into a pretty valley and river which is located on the other side of the mountain. See pics.

Exit

I returned the way I had come and drove back to the Gibb River road. By then it was getting late . So I set up camp next to the Lennard River some 50 meters from the road. I enjoyed a peaceful evening before turning in.