Bell Gorge

Last night it was nice and cool.  Woke up to the Dawn Chorus which was occasionally interrupted by “tap tap bump, tap tap bump”.  I peered out of the window and saw a small black and white bird (a Mudlark I think) having a punch up with its own reflection in the car windscreen.  He was losing badly.  Each “tap tap” was followed by a full-on head butt (the “bump”) which resulted in the bird collapsing on to the bonnet, wings flailing in all directions.  Undeterred he fought on with determination whilst we had breakfast but he finished up in a heap on the ground after trying a blindside attack from the wing mirror.

Bell Gorge Waterfall

After breakfast we headed back to Bell Gorge.  We met JR and Bernie, a nice couple taking a few days off from work at El Questro station (where we plan to finish our Gibb River Road trip).  They were heading West to Windjana Gorge from where they planned to cut down to Fitzroy Crossing then back east to El Questro.  They told us not to miss Galvan’s Gorge which is beside the Gibb River Road just before the Mount Barnett Roadhouse, it sounds like a good place to have lunch.

When we reached the base of the main Bell Gorge waterfall the children and I set off to explore the pools and small waterfalls downstream.  As we drifted with the current we saw several Merten’s Monitors basking on rocks that broke the surface of the pools.  The gorge echoed with the sounds of excited children.

Bell Gorge Below Main Waterfall

We reached a tricky little waterfall and, after some careful deliberation on the safest place to descend, we found a small rock step near the centre of the fall.  The step was covered in bright green weed but, unlike many of the surrounding rocks, it wasn’t  slippery.  We continued on downstream, marvelling at our magnificent surroundings, until we reached the shallow pool at the top of a huge waterfall.  From here there was no easy way down but the view down the Gorge was amazing.

Bell Gorge Swimming Downstream from main waterfall.

Charlotte swam down to join us then we retraced our steps/swim back up to the main waterfall, the current was not very strong but we were pretty tired when we got there.  We hiked back up to the top of the waterfall where the children had another swim and played a game that appeared to be a combination of Avatar and Crocodile Dundee.

Bell Gorge Above Main Waterfall. A game about Crocodile Dundee and Avatar!

We collected firewood on the way back to the campground, and after dinner we toasted marshmallows.

Toasting Marshmallows at Silent Grove; an end to a fantastic day.