We
continued on our way – a very exciting and
beautiful walk right to the end of the gorge and back, with many
highlights. First we discovered the famous fossilised nautiloid
advertised in our guides. We stopped at one point for 15 minutes to
view the activities of a busy bower bird around its bower. As the gorge
narrowed we walked on mud flats in the middle, and saw many footprints
in the mud that we took to be emu-prints.
However
on our return, when we were already on a path in the
bush at the side of the gorge, we tracked two exquisite brolgas for 10
minutes as they elegantly stepped along the gorge. So perhaps the
prints had been from brolgas. We found an outcrop of pink quartz
containing many fossilised seashells. We sat down for our lunch on sand
in the shade of the reef, beside the waters of the gorge, with several
cruising crocs close to the shore. We observed a night heron preparing
to fish. There were several freshies lazing in the sun some metres from
us and after lunch we could approach quite close to examine and
photograph them.
Somewhat reluctantly we set out in the early afternoon. Soon the road joined the Gibb River Road. What a great feeling to be actually on that road at last. It was a stunning drive. First we travelled beside the Napier Range (part of the Devonian reef), and then the country changed as we drove up through the King Leopold Range. We stopped at a beautiful outlook at Inglis Gap. We turned off the Gibb and travelled about 30Km on a lesser road to reach our destination, Silent Grove campsite, with plenty of time to set up tent and enjoy the area before nightfall. We were surprised and pleased to find that showers were available (cold, communal, with shower curtains that blew in the breeze) – unexpectedly we also found flush toilets, possibly because many organised tours stopped here overnight. When collecting the camping fee, the ranger strongly recommended we visit the nearby Bell Gorge next morning. That night the Milky Way was again amazing.
