Day 33. Derby to Windjana Gorge 22-5-16

Another early start.  During pack-up, we ring our grandson Jarvis to wish happy birthday for turning 6.  He is at the football watching his older brother co-captain his Under 8 side.
Tony has remembered that we need lots of $10 for National Parks.  We don’t have any.  Off to a local café for a coffee before we head off, where we frighten them with $100 notes and ask for change in $10 notes, of course they can’t oblige, but we think we will be OK.
We leave Derby on the Gibb River Road, the initial part being tarred, much to Tony’s disappointment, as it only encourages the ordinary tourists.   We travel through a range of country, much of it being pastoral country, with a variety of ant/termite mounds/columns.  There are sections of bitumen then dirt and finally reach just dirt, so it is time to drop the tyre pressure…this takes a bit of time for the 8 tyres.
Arrive at Windjana, after a comfortable 2 – 2.5 hour drive and decide to stay 2 nights in a clean National Park facility.
We walked through the gorge this afternoon.  It is stunning, we like it very much.  Quite a few fresh water crocs, a bower bird has built his bower close to the path and is trying to attract a female, he is making the most incredible noises, hisses, growls, cackles etc, she doesn’t seem too interested.
On the walls of the gorge in one section are fossilised remains of sea creatures. Parts of the gorge have sandy beaches with trees growing on the banks with the orange and black walls of the gorge as a backdrop. We didn’t walk the entire gorge, apparently the last km is closed, we met some people who had just gone as far as was feasible and reported it overgrown and mosquito ridden.  That was enough for us, Jen, Michael and I have been bitten a lot and the bites come up in large red lumps we will have to be more stringent with our personal insect sprays.  Tony, of course, seems immune.
It is very humid and we have come back dripping in perspiration, but—there are hot showers here in the campground so it is easy to freshen up.
It is threatening rain this afternoon and we plan to go to Tunnel Gorge tomorrow, so we hope it holds off.
Tony says we will go to Tunnel Gorge about  8:00 to 8:30 in the morning.
It was a very hot night in the van, so sleeping was very difficult, especially when bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:00pm.