Diary: Saturday 24 June

Saturday 24 June 2000

Early start to catch the 8:00am boat trip up Geikie Gorge (we, correctly figured, that the bus trips wouldn’t be around until later). Interesting if rather pricey tour took us 3km up the Fitzroy River. Spectacular limestone cliffs and rock formations which originated as coral reefs in the Devonian Era. We also saw heaps of freshwater crocodiles (generally harmless to man) but not the swordfish or tays that still inhabit the river, despite being several hundred kilometres from the sea.

Back on the road again at more or less the usual time, we travelled to Tunnel Creek. Armed with torches and camera flashlight, we found the entrance to the 750m long cave that forms a tunnel through a limestone ridge. The creek that runs through the tunnel was quite high – hindsight showed that wearing swim suit would have been a good idea. Still we kept the camera dry. The cave was high ceilinged and had some smashing formations – most rather too high to photograph. Halfway along, a rock fall allows daylight to filter through. Tree roots dangled down to reach the water.

Drip-dried and back on the road, we arrived at Windjana Gorge National Park in time for lunch. We set up camp before picnicking. Had a very pleasant walk up the gorge. Saw a large number of ‘biggish’ freshwater crocs, so decided that it might be wiser not to swim.