Thursday morning, I got picked up from the hostel to join my next 6 day tour with Western Exposure, a 4WD trip through the Kimberley from Broome to Darwin. I quickly learned this was the real outback camping experience with no tents, limited showers, and drop toilets. That also meant the group was young and fit and flexible and FUN!
We drove through Jandamarra Country, passed over the Fitzroy River, saw this prison boab tree, and continued traveling along Gibb River Rd.
We stopped at Windjana Gorge for lunch, where I ran into the two Swiss girls from Gantheume Point and the hostel.
We saw freshwater crocodiles at Windjana Gorge.
Anna and Prisca are 'freaked out' by the croc.
Anna and Prisca are 'freaked out' by the croc.
Windjana Gorge.
We snuck through this crevice in the rocks to gain access to the gorge.
Our next stop of the day was at Tunnel Creek, which consisted of a 750m trek each way through the tunnel in the bottom of the mountains carved out only by the powerful surge of water over time.
We were told to wear shoes for this walk which began innocently enough but before long we were trudging through knee deep water in soggy sneakers. We came just after wet season, so there was more standing water.
It was too dark to capture any good pictures in side the tunnel, but here we are coming out the other side. At many parts in the middle, our only light came from our torches (Australian term for flashlight).
Here we are at the other side of the tunnel, where we stopped for a short break and snuck a peek of some secret Aboriginal painting on the rock edge.
Rock color varies with weathering and time.
We watched the sun drop as we made our way to our bush camp under the stars at Fitzroy Crossing.
Each night we unloaded everything from the bus and reloaded it in the morning.
We all helped with the preparation, cooking, and clean-up of each meal.
