Today started same as the last few days , awake with the birds before the sun had risen , so we got up and had breakfast & got sorted for what was to come . Our destination , Bell Gorge , about 9klms from the campsite . Not surprisingly , we were the first car in the carpark , packed our drinks & lunch and headed down the track . We got down to a small creek , which was nice enough , but the water was only trickling in - our thoughts then were oh well it is late in the season , the water may have dried up a bit???
We kept going down the creek bed , and a few other younger people overtook us , that's all right , we have all day !
Pandanus & palm trees dotted the little valley and the sun was hitting the western side , lighting it up .
Another 200m and we came out to a huge pool of water , perfectly still and reflecting everything above it . We could also hear water falling , much more than the trickle we first saw .
And here it was , not lots of water , but enough to make it a beautiful place to be . It cascaded over steps in the rocks and fell into a huge pool below
The pool stretched it's way through a narrow section in the rocks to another large pool , before going down further steps into the gorge below.
You can get a feeling for the size from the people standing on the left hand side of the gorge .
We stopped for a while and cooled our feet in one of the pools , before going for a walk over the rocks to the upper pools . A steep rocky hillside on the right and a sloping rock shelf on the left , with many trees & palms .
A tiny ball flower got my attention , growing beside the water in small patches of earth & moss .
We continued to explore our surroundings .
This hole was interesting - an almost round rock was sitting in the bottom of the hole and another rock not quite as round was in a small pool of water . Tide marks where the water has dried out , left interesting patterns . The rocks down the bottom have probably been there for a long time , getting rolled round and round by floodwaters , enlarging the hole gradually .
The rocks beside the creek were stained an interesting colour , baked on by the sun .
I left Lyn at the top pools and clambered up the hill & down to the lower pool - just as well I don't mind some rock hopping ! Down at the bottom pool I took some photo's before getting into the water for a swim - talk about breathtaking - yes the views , but also the water temperature - it was very refreshing !!
After some lunch and another swim in the upper pools , we headed back to camp - what an excellent 6 hours we had spent here .
Another great night's sleep had us awake early again we ignored the birds for a while before springing back into action , breakfast & packup and onto a new destination . It didn't take long to get back to Gibb River Rd and before long we'd arrived at Imintji Store - and I had some Optus service , so we stopped & checked emails etc , fueled up @ $2 a litre , and had a chat with the store owner - he owns Ivanhoe Caravan Park in Kununurra , leases Mt Hart Wilderness Lodge and the store here , he told us his trade was down 70% due to Covid !! After about 30mins chatting , we wandered off down the road , next stop Adcock Gorge . Driving in off the road was interesting as the track was a bit washed out , but we found a parking area and stopped . Finding the gorge was the next thing - out came the drone to check things out for us . This next photo is the creek that flows into the gorge .
This is the gorge and plunge pool , not a lot of water going in .
We found a track and a way to the pool , lot's of rock hopping , climbing up & down , then we were there .
The next 2 photo's are of a couple of fig trees clinging to the cliff faces .
The smaller one on the right appears to be growing from under a rock shelf .
There was one small freshie in the pool , that didn't stop this guy from having a dip though .
After an hour or so , we wandered back to the ute & found some shade under a tree to have some lunch.
Back onto the Gibb for another short drive to the top of the Phillips Range , where there is a lookout unfortunately it is a lot overgrown and views aren't good . Down the hill we found Galvans Gorge - probably the easiest walk of all the gorges so far , at least till the end where you have to do some rock hopping again . It was also the hottest , being in the afternoon sun and ridges either side stopping any breeze . There were some wildflowers on the way in .
This was the pool at the end of the gorge , again very little water running in and out .
Back out to the road and down to Barnett Roadhouse and Manning Gorge Campground to set up camp again . That's it for today , here's your map link :-
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1taROlvnp65uItPEF6R03oTtb90rBzRq4&usp=sharing
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