The focus of the Art here was the Wandjina, it is considered the supreme spirit being. If you remember back to the Sydney Olympics this Art featured prominently in the opening ceremony and as become famous since. We were greeted by friendly staff and asked if we wanted to watch a movie. Was a great relief from the outside heat, but we did feel for the dogs in the hot car. The movie was Fantastic and did a wonderful Job of explaining the Mowanjum people and their history, as well as the special connection to the Wandjina itself. I was again disappointed at just missing out on the cultural festival held in July. We spent a couple of hours looking at all the Art at we both fell in love with the Wandjina, we wanted to buy some but remembered our budget (just in time too) and agreed when we get back home with a bit more cash in our pockets to get a painting then.
There was a lot of smoke and we drove through a burn off on the side of the road. There were all these eagles flying around picking up all the small animals fleeing.
We moved on and said goodbye to the bitumen, and were surprised at how well maintained the road was. It got very hot by about 1pm so we pulled over under a big tree and waited out the heat in the shade for a few hours, was good for the car, the girlies and us!
We moved on and shortly after hitting the road again found our spot for the night, overlooking Lenard river Bridge. A young couple had been there for lunch/rest and as they were leaving, as they were about to return their hire car, and had nearly finished the Gibb, they offered us 15L of water, was a very kind gesture and were grateful, as its spring water and we have been running on tap water. The river water was barely there, but after i had a rest (NIck went and learnt a new song to play on the Ukulele........ from some Belgium backpackers- no woman no cry if you want to know the tune) The sun was about to set. we noticed earlier another camper pulling up who had a dog and decided to have a yarn and see if they had any good tips on the road ahead, especially as they had come from the other direction. Well lucky we did and after an hour or so, and a full sheet of info we said a big thanks and a happy travels! We went over and then had a shared dinner with the German/Japanese/ Belgium backpackers it was lovely.
After an early night and one of my best sleeps since becoming pregnant, we were up at 5:30am, to pack up and head off as planned, so we could visit the National Parks while the girlies remained in the vehicle, before it got too HOT. First on the list was Windjana Gorge, and as we were so early to arrive we were the first ones to enter for the day (we could tell by all the cobwebs we broke as we walked along the path) We saw a lovely wallaby and joey as we entered the park, and were awed by the size of these limestone walls, at points over 100 meters high, and a stunning array of colours. It felt like walking through the set for Jurassic park, with birds chirping, green flora, blue skies and being extra cautious for any stray crocs bathing on the banks.
We walked most of the distance, the last km was shut due to erosion so we only got a 5Km return walk. We saw an amazing display of fruit bats who were nosily trying to stake their claim for their day time resting spot.
We were both impressed to see a few fossils amongst the limestone walls, and there are from the Devonian times. We hadn't seen many fresh water crocodiles as it was cool, and the sun hadn't cleared the range yet. On the walk back there were heaps! We sat at this one spot and counted around 50, sunbathing on the far bank, or floating in the water. Wish my camera had better Zoom, but im sure you can get the gist. Some just look like logs.
We snuck over to the campgrounds and had the BEST hot/warm shower, it had been nearly a week, then visited the camp host and bought a couple souvenir t-shirts each. Yes its a bit daggy, I know.
The entrance to the park.
We Headed onto Tunnel creek National Park. This place is famous for Jandammarra(the famous Aboriginal who was used for a tracker, a man caught between two cultures, after he shot his white fella partner, to free his family, he and family spent most of his time hiding out here, his final battle was at the entrance where another Aboriginal tracker shot him, there is a movie about it and for the life of me i cant remember the name... Petra/Cheryl help me here.) We had a torch to share, and loved trekking through the cave system. It reminded us both of our caving experience in Thailand, minus the rotten bamboo ladders and bridges. If i recall correctly the walk took us about half and hour each way. It was soo cool in there, and a nice break from the outside heat, possibly around 25 degrees already by 10 am! We both wished we could do the Aboriginal guided tour there but the next one was at 2pm, and that meant waiting all afternoon with the dogs, in a national park, and then having to leave them in the car for 2 hours.... another time for sure.
The exit to the tunnel, there is a light!
The tunnel was pitch black, the water came above my knees
The marbling in the stone was stunning.
Huge stalagmites & stalactites.
Rest stop at the end
We made lunch, let the girlies out for a wee break, then left and headed onwards to find a camp for the night at approx. 12noon, was super HOT i'd say nearing around 35 degrees now. We followed the ranger out and decided to stop as we were just driving through his dust trail, and let the girlies have a proper run and pick up a pod of a fallen Boab, they are edible, and are meant to taste somewhat like powdered milk (according to our bush tucker guide- thanks Jimmy) Yeah well they dont, more like a sour powdered milk! Anyways we moved on and i kid you not, 100 meters down the road we fell victim to the tyre monster. Yep first flat since we have been on the road.
Of course the sun was beating down on us and there was no shady tree in sight. So i started writing this blog, while Nick changed the tyre in the heat (wasn't much i could do anyways) Was great every second car and one out of two tour busses stopped to see if we /Nick was ok or needed anything to which Nick would reply 'a cold beer'. Nick discovered that one of the leaf springs was broken (back of the axe and some fencing wire job ) :) lucky he noticed otherwise it may have destroyed the tyre completely.
We checked out the Lillimooloora Homestead, this spot is where Jandammara choose between the two cultures. He shot the man (and friend) who had his family in chains, destined for ownership by the North West Pastoral Company, setting his family free and committing murder. This sparked a man hunt witch lasted 3 years. His story is a interesting one (of which there is much more), and has us wondering what we would have done in the same position. The place is just ruins and had some bunting around one part of the house. Would have been good to see this site properly maintained.
We pushed on again, and finally (after what seemed forever) made it back to the spot where we camped last night. We had been told by the water giving couple about a spot they swam in 50Km or so from where we spent last night. We decided to push on, and came across this lovely lookout to view the ranges from.
We ended up decided to pull over at 3:30 ish, didn't find the swimming spot, as we'd driven for long enough, Girlies needed a break, and this spot was ultra shady, and by a small creek. When we got out to explore i found lovely water lilies in the creek. The creek was named Apex.
Nick is using Johns puncture kit and repairing the tyre as i type this, in the cool shade.
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