05/10/2015 Gibb River Road, Windjana Gorge

Windjana Gorge

In the southern part of the Gibb, we wanted to visit Windjana Gorge (a gorge) and Tunnel Creek (a cave). We drove 90 km on a gravel road towards these two 'attractions', and here our car had to cross a river for the first time, which it managed super well!

Arriving at Windjana Gorge, we packed our backpack (first aid kit, lots of drinks, a little bit of food) and set out on a 7 km hiking trail. The hiking trail was classified as Class 4, which means it's not just an easy walk. After 500 m, we came across a small riverbed that was not completely dried out, where we could observe freshwater crocodiles.

Totally fascinating! Supposedly, you don't have to be afraid of freshwater crocodiles, and although we also had the impression that they are very harmless, a crocodile is still a crocodile. This day was so unbearably hot that after 2 km of hiking, we decided to turn back.

But it was definitely enough for some beautiful pictures, and hello, we saw crocodiles!! We spent one night in the Windjana National Park at a campground. This night was by far the warmest so far.. We laid wet towels on our bodies to be able to sleep somewhat comfortably. The next morning, we were naturally awakened by the sun at 5 o'clock, so the night was already over.

Well, at least we had a lot of the day left. That morning, we met the ranger. He told us that we should go back to the crocodiles because every 4 years, the crocodiles are caught and examined by a team, and today marks 4 years. So we thought, why not go back to the crocodiles. It was quite interesting to see how the team proceeded.

They stretched out a huge net in the riverbed to catch the crocodiles. On land, the crocodile's eyes and mouth were taped shut for later examination. Since we were right there, we were even allowed to touch a crocodile, which was incredible! When do you ever get the chance to touch a crocodile? Surprisingly, the crocodile was not rough and dry as we had imagined, it was quite soft and slimy. Just take a look at the pictures, sometimes we believe that pictures can say more than words ;-).