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| Tunnel Creek Cave |
After leaving Fitzroy Crossing (see last post) we left the
bitumen Savannah Way to head north on the supposedly 4-wheel-drive-only Leopold
Road that links the highway to the Gibb River Road. We did this because we
wanted to see two of the Kimberley’s main natural attractions – Tunnel Creek
National Park and Windjana Gorge National Park.
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| Tunnel Creek Cave entrance |
The road was pretty rough and at one point we had to drive
through quite a deep creek crossing. Tunnel Creek was the hideout of famed
Aboriginal resistance leader Jandamarra before he was tracked down and shot
at the entrance to the cave tunnel (above).
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| Tunnel Creek Cave |
This is a wonderful site. You walk for a kilometre or so
through a tall cave that has been carved through the limestone King Leopold Ranges.
You need a torch and to be prepared to wade through lots of cold water. The effect is quite stunning.
I saw bats but they were high up on the cave ceiling so light
and photographic limitations prevented decent shots. I nonetheless I
identified 3 species (Ghose Bat, Dusky Leaf-nosed Bat, Common Sheathtail Bat).
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| Ghost Bat |
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Common Sheathtail Bat
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We moved on to Windjana Gorge, which I last visited in the
late 1970s, for a two-night stay in the overcrowded but pleasant enough national park camping ground.
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| King Leopold Range, Windjana Gorge |
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| Windjana Gorge |
Here, a spectacular gorge has been cut through the rugged limestone
mountain ranges which rise abruptly from the surrounding savannah.
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| Freshwater Crocodiles |
Freshwater crocodiles were common; we saw perhaps 50,
including 20 in one waterhole. They will be gone when the cane toads eventually
reach here.
Of interest were fossils of ancient
Trilobites (crustacea sort of things) embedded in sandstone caves
along the base of the gorge.
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