Friday 21 June 2013 - Barnett River Gorge

Friday 21 June 2013 - Barnett River Gorge

Well, we finally tore ourselves away from Kalumburu. We ended up spending a week there and could have easily made it two, except it was $20 per person per night (kids were free). So on Tuesday morning, after doing the majority of packing up the previous afternoon, we set off with Mel and Nathan. After dumping our rubbish at the tip, we called into town and bought a few groceries, had a bit of a wander around the museum (we only get time to read the first sentence at each exhibit when touring with two young children), then attempted to visit Teacher’s Pool. The track wasn’t in the best condition and closed in tighter and tighter the further we traversed it, so we decided not to pursue it. However, in the course of trying to find where the track started, we visited the old dump, a place where all bad Toyotas go to die (spare parts anyone?). 

Then it was back on Kalumburu Road, which was in much better condition than on the way up. This was because a week’s worth of traffic had dispersed much of the freshly graded rocks that we had been battling against when we were coming through. We stopped at the Carson River crossing for a brief paddle, took some photos, then continued on until we were almost at Drysdale River Station. We found a nice little bushcamp beside a creek and pulled up for the night. Unfortunately, a deceased cow had pulled up for the night a few weeks earlier and the ‘perfume’ periodically wafted through on the afternoon breeze. The boys sorted it with a little bit of fiery magic – roast beef anyone?

In the morning, we called into Drysdale for a tiny bit of fuel and a shower ($5 each!) and then said goodbye to Nathan and Mel, as they were heading east at the Gibb River Road turn-off, whilst we continue west. We arrived at Barnett River Gorge mid-afternoon on Wednesday and found a great little spot not too far from the creek. The weather had been clouding over throughout the day and although the water was safe for swimming, no one much felt like it because it wasn’t all that hot. Yasmin and Sienna got as far as putting their swimmers on, but chickened out once they got their feet wet!

The next day was a cool, drizzly rainy one, which is very unseasonable for the Kimberley during the dry. We found it quite a novelty though, Glenn chilling out with a TV series he’d been given by another friend we’d made at Kalumburu and Yasmin (Square Eyes) watched most of it alongside him. I baked a loaf of bread and Glenn made a chocolate cake, both cooked in the camp oven beside the fire. It was nice to chill out and do absolutely nothing (for a change! hehe)... wonder what the rich people are doing?

Over the past few days, several groups had driven through the camp, either asking where the gorge was or telling us it wasn’t that great. Today we drove the kilometre up the track to go and check it out ourselves. There weren’t any signs or particularly clear markings, but stacks of rock cairns everywhere indicated where to go. We happened to meet some other people on their way back who gave us a few more tips as well. It was definitely worth the effort! I think those people who weren’t all that impressed can’t have seen what we saw – a fairly deep gorge, carved out over millions of years, with a pretty little river cascading through it, forming a few falls and rapids. The walk itself was quite fun, because it takes you up along one side of the gorge so you end up standing above it, looking down into it. Yasmin coped with it quite well (it wasn’t very long, only about half an hour) and Sienna did her best in bare feet for a decent portion of it too!