Bell Gorge

Friday 14th
All my clothes dried that I had hanging out over night and there was no monster of a spider to be seen the next day, so we said goodbye to Marsh Fly Creek.
Bell Gorge was not far up the road but was a far drive in off the Gibb. About 30km one way.

We saw our first Brolga bird. The long legged bird crossed the road in front of us but by the time we got close it had made sure it was well out in the tall grass. The kids were excited as they have all read the book from the library "Olga the Brolga".

Tim got another water crossing. Even though the water is not very deep we had to go slow as in the wet season the water must flow through these water ways pretty fast and dig out holes that we can't see. I ran across this water to get the photo and had a quick look for crocodiles. There are signs that crocodiles are living in the waters so we didn't get in our bathers thinking we wouldn't be able to swim at Bell Gorge.We should off guessed we could swim when in the car park we saw a couple walking off with a pink rubber ring and towels.

So there was a lot of people all swimming so we went in all our clothes. Across the other side you can see some rocks in the water under the ledges and as the kids swam over there they found some lizards warming themselves on the rocks. The lizards didn't really want the kids getting too close so they swam in the water to the next rock. They were between 50 to 70cm long. Swimming up to the water fall is good fitness as the water pushes you away but just great swimming in fresh water. The kids made a slide into the water on the rocks and now I have to buy more shorts!!!!! Lunch time came quick. We then got back in the car and headed further on the Gibb River road. We stopped at Imintji road house which had the cheapest fuel on the Gibb at $2.20 so we filled up. A nice little roadhouse. The road was still fine with the surprising patch of bitumen but was a little hard for the kids to do school work.
It is becoming a regular thing that when we slow down and pull into a spot one of the kids asks "Are we staying here tonight?" On the Gibb there are large rubbish collecting places or dumps that you have to carry your rubbish to. On this day we pulled in to dump our rubbish and someone says "Are we staying here?" It was a full on rubbish dump! Our kids are really learning to ruff it! We kept heading towards our real camping spot which Manning was very excited about as it was Manning Gorge Camp Grounds! We pulled into Mt Barnett roadhouse to get directions and pay and the lady told me that when you walk to the gorge you go to a sandy beach - hold on, out here, a sandy beach? She must of seen my face and repeated "Yes a sandy beach with a boat that will get you to the other side" As I booked 1 night there I thought I would probably have to extend our stay as it sounded like what the kids would love.

This is our car at Mt Barnett road house. Still looking good. We set up camp at Manning camp grounds and survived day 3 on the Gibb!