Saturday 3rd July - Gibb River Road - Lennard River to Bell Creek

It’s strange how you keep bumping into the same people, although a couple driving a brand new white 110 Defender tend to stand out in this land of Toyotas and Nissans.  We first met Mitch and Chelsea in Tom Price, and we saw their not quite so shiny Land Rover again yesterday at the Lillimilura Police Station.  Then today they pulled up behind us at the Inglis Gap lookout,

having spent the night at the Windjana Gorge campsite.

Our final meeting was at Bell Gorge after we had detoured to walk down to Lennard Gorge, the latter highly recommended by Heini (which in his mind is a proper gorge, being tall and narrow). SPOT

Maybe we’ll see them on the road tomorrow, but if not we’ve been told to look them up when we reach Darwin.

The Crightons, in their Chasing Rainbows book about their circumnavigation of the southern hemisphere in a V8 Discovery, said that Bell Gorge was the “jewel in the crown” of the Kimberley region, and we tend to agree. SPOT

Yes there were lots of people there, but you can escape the crowds by working your way downstream to find your own secluded waterfall and pool.

After three days without a shower a swim was definitely welcome.  The water coming down the main waterfall was like a warm power shower, and the sun soon dried us off.

We’ve found a slightly less buggy spot to camp tonight, however the huge grasshoppers keep launching attacks which make us jump (and squirm slightly as it hurts when they leap off you).  Last night one jumped into the Land Rover and it sounded like a bullet ricocheting about the back until it eventually decided to crawl out.  Mike has also just had one jump up his shorts, which he quickly dropped in order to evict the unwelcomed guest (it was a fine comedy moment); fortunately we’re camping by ourselves tonight.  What also has us pondering is a country where ants are bigger than frogs... SPOT

Posted by Anne.