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June 24 - Six Mile, Tunnel Creek, to Windjana Gorge
2011.06.28
The entrance to tunnel creek.
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The start of the real walk in the dark.
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Someone coming back.
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Looking back at the entrance.
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Looking back in from the other end. I couldn't decide which of these i preferred.
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The far end.
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Lunch with smoked oysters. Yum!
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Boabs and the Devonian Reef.
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Date 24 June 2011 Friday
Destination: Six mile to Windjana Gorge via Tunnel Creek
Distance: 48km
Departure time: 9.30am to 4.30
Water - Not so many creeks along the way. Maybe 3 small ones and tunnel creek of course which was 10km after last night's camp. No choice basically but to camp at windjana gorge Nat Park Campsite as there didn’t seem to be any other creeks nearby.
8.0am Breakfast
Oats w prunes, sultanas, raisins, apricots no almonds
No coffee/tea
An easy ride to Tunnel Creek. TC was fun - Everyone else says so too. A lovely cave through which runs a cold creek. The idea is to walk through the creek from one end to the other of the cave. Its very very dark and it is said there are freshwater crocodiles in it. If there are, I didn’t feel anything. There were plenty of other tourists there. We walked over sand mostly. I had my tiny little keyring torch to light the way but other people didn’t think it would be adequate. It was. Wearing a bikini to avoid getting my clothes wet, a top for warmth, and thongs tied on at the back with gaffa tape for stability - I had my laptop and camera in a pannier so I didn’t want to fall over. If I didn’t bring them with me, they’d be on my bike and in theory anyone could rob me but its probably unlikely. I got wet up above the waist at the deepest point. Not forgetting that its quite cool here. Occasionally you meet the odd person whose fear is so great that they can’t make themselves do it. I’d probably be like that if I was the only one here but with all these other people coming back telling you its fine and with them just being there in any case, there’s really nothing to worry about. The water depth at only one brief place was above waist height but at least that was at the end of the tunnel.
The road was better today.
1pm: Lunch at Tunnel Creek
Spaghetti w smoked oysters, cheese, oil etc.
That was a big lunch. The 35km to Windjana Gorge passed slowly. It was hot. The traffic got faster and therefore threw up more dust as the afternoon wore on and the road got bettter. Not everyone was sympathetic to my attempts to slow them down. I passed a vehicle who was fixing a blowout. A chance for me to suggest that slower driving might be a good idea.
There was a rocky reef running alongside the road the whole way which made it very scenic and with the boab trees set against them. Otherwise the land became flat and less interesting with long grass. [This rocky reef is something interesting geologically but I can’t remember the details. I didn’t take too much notice of that aspect. I think it was the Devonian period or something]
Just before the gorge, I rode in to see the “historic site” - a bit of ruined homestead. [There was a very interesting story about an aboriginal rebel who went from being a tracker to a runaway prisoner. He hid out in Tunnel Creek for about 3 years I think before being caught] My bucket handle broke - this was the one I found by the side of the road some weeks ago] and I had to leave the bucket behind at this place because I could no longer attach it to the bike even though there was no bin. I would miss it not long after in the showers. I had a mild twinge of guilt leaving my bucket there as rubbish. But what else could I do.
At the campsite, the first thing I did was have a hot solar shower. It was good though I wanted to wash my clothes out and couldn’t without my bucket. I”m feeling cheesed off again at the rates of camping ($11 per night) and generally limited facilities and restrictions. I didn’t put my money in the honesty system envelope when I rode in. There is a ranger here and a camp host. I was going to do it tonight and went asking some neighbours for change but some said the camp host was coming around, only he didn’t come by my place afterall. So I didn’t pay.
Then I had to go hunt up some wood which turned out to be easier than at first glance looked. No one else needed or wanted to cook with fire. The fireplace provided was far from the tables and where I had put my tent. I found I had pitched my tent right next to the people who I had camped beside at Halls Creek. You are not supposed to make fires except in the fire pits but they were far from the picnic table which I needed more.
7pm: Dinner at Windjana Gorge
Whisky!!
Hamburger with salad and fried potatoes
Port!!
Coffee
The neighbour who told me that the camp host was coming round turned out to be israelis -a father and son. They invited me to dinner. We had hamburger, salad, and fried potatoes. It was such a treat to have whisky and port. So very civilised.
I still had to cook my beans for lunch tomorrow. They let me cook the beans on their stove which was easier than doing it on my fire so I didn’t need that for anything but for atmosphere and light in the end.. I invited them to come and eat at my fireplace and table because they only had two chairs. I made them coffee which I know did not impress them much as the son (only 20) was saying how we don’t have good coffee in this country and went on length about in - but in good humour. His father said nothing. Just drank it politely withhout comment. Not that this was in the least upsetting. The young lad was charming in his simplicity and not by any means stupid since he was going off to Germany to study physics or maths.
The father was a neurologist from Tel Aviv and the son had just finished the army and was travelling here while his dad was having a holiday visiting him. I had to be careful not to be too dull or stupid in this clever company. I think it went ok. I enjoyed the drinks. I hate it when certain people ask what I do at home for a living. I often get the impression that they expect me to have some interesting profession and then when I tell them I grow vegetables, their faces all but drop. I don’t blame them, I am just as guilty of judging people on the basis of what they do in the first instance.
Destination: Six mile to Windjana Gorge via Tunnel Creek
Distance: 48km
Departure time: 9.30am to 4.30
Water - Not so many creeks along the way. Maybe 3 small ones and tunnel creek of course which was 10km after last night's camp. No choice basically but to camp at windjana gorge Nat Park Campsite as there didn’t seem to be any other creeks nearby.
8.0am Breakfast
Oats w prunes, sultanas, raisins, apricots no almonds
No coffee/tea
An easy ride to Tunnel Creek. TC was fun - Everyone else says so too. A lovely cave through which runs a cold creek. The idea is to walk through the creek from one end to the other of the cave. Its very very dark and it is said there are freshwater crocodiles in it. If there are, I didn’t feel anything. There were plenty of other tourists there. We walked over sand mostly. I had my tiny little keyring torch to light the way but other people didn’t think it would be adequate. It was. Wearing a bikini to avoid getting my clothes wet, a top for warmth, and thongs tied on at the back with gaffa tape for stability - I had my laptop and camera in a pannier so I didn’t want to fall over. If I didn’t bring them with me, they’d be on my bike and in theory anyone could rob me but its probably unlikely. I got wet up above the waist at the deepest point. Not forgetting that its quite cool here. Occasionally you meet the odd person whose fear is so great that they can’t make themselves do it. I’d probably be like that if I was the only one here but with all these other people coming back telling you its fine and with them just being there in any case, there’s really nothing to worry about. The water depth at only one brief place was above waist height but at least that was at the end of the tunnel.
The road was better today.
1pm: Lunch at Tunnel Creek
Spaghetti w smoked oysters, cheese, oil etc.
That was a big lunch. The 35km to Windjana Gorge passed slowly. It was hot. The traffic got faster and therefore threw up more dust as the afternoon wore on and the road got bettter. Not everyone was sympathetic to my attempts to slow them down. I passed a vehicle who was fixing a blowout. A chance for me to suggest that slower driving might be a good idea.
There was a rocky reef running alongside the road the whole way which made it very scenic and with the boab trees set against them. Otherwise the land became flat and less interesting with long grass. [This rocky reef is something interesting geologically but I can’t remember the details. I didn’t take too much notice of that aspect. I think it was the Devonian period or something]
Just before the gorge, I rode in to see the “historic site” - a bit of ruined homestead. [There was a very interesting story about an aboriginal rebel who went from being a tracker to a runaway prisoner. He hid out in Tunnel Creek for about 3 years I think before being caught] My bucket handle broke - this was the one I found by the side of the road some weeks ago] and I had to leave the bucket behind at this place because I could no longer attach it to the bike even though there was no bin. I would miss it not long after in the showers. I had a mild twinge of guilt leaving my bucket there as rubbish. But what else could I do.
At the campsite, the first thing I did was have a hot solar shower. It was good though I wanted to wash my clothes out and couldn’t without my bucket. I”m feeling cheesed off again at the rates of camping ($11 per night) and generally limited facilities and restrictions. I didn’t put my money in the honesty system envelope when I rode in. There is a ranger here and a camp host. I was going to do it tonight and went asking some neighbours for change but some said the camp host was coming around, only he didn’t come by my place afterall. So I didn’t pay.
Then I had to go hunt up some wood which turned out to be easier than at first glance looked. No one else needed or wanted to cook with fire. The fireplace provided was far from the tables and where I had put my tent. I found I had pitched my tent right next to the people who I had camped beside at Halls Creek. You are not supposed to make fires except in the fire pits but they were far from the picnic table which I needed more.
7pm: Dinner at Windjana Gorge
Whisky!!
Hamburger with salad and fried potatoes
Port!!
Coffee
The neighbour who told me that the camp host was coming round turned out to be israelis -a father and son. They invited me to dinner. We had hamburger, salad, and fried potatoes. It was such a treat to have whisky and port. So very civilised.
I still had to cook my beans for lunch tomorrow. They let me cook the beans on their stove which was easier than doing it on my fire so I didn’t need that for anything but for atmosphere and light in the end.. I invited them to come and eat at my fireplace and table because they only had two chairs. I made them coffee which I know did not impress them much as the son (only 20) was saying how we don’t have good coffee in this country and went on length about in - but in good humour. His father said nothing. Just drank it politely withhout comment. Not that this was in the least upsetting. The young lad was charming in his simplicity and not by any means stupid since he was going off to Germany to study physics or maths.
The father was a neurologist from Tel Aviv and the son had just finished the army and was travelling here while his dad was having a holiday visiting him. I had to be careful not to be too dull or stupid in this clever company. I think it went ok. I enjoyed the drinks. I hate it when certain people ask what I do at home for a living. I often get the impression that they expect me to have some interesting profession and then when I tell them I grow vegetables, their faces all but drop. I don’t blame them, I am just as guilty of judging people on the basis of what they do in the first instance.
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There is no way I could walk through that tunnel.
JenPat · 2011-10-15: 08:13
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The photos of that tunnel are so cool.
Oweena · 2011-10-17: 20:39
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What a fantastic place. Lovely pics, like the spaghetti one too.
janec · 2011-10-19: 03:17
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I love that pool under the rocks - that looks like a place I'd spend half my summer.
MelanieO · 2011-10-30: 00:40
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crocs again? i dont think i would get into that tunnel
veronicainheels · 2011-11-24: 14:49
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