Terrific Tunnel Creek

We made our way to a caravan park with power at Fitzroy Crossing as our base for the area. Many people do Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge on the Gibb River Road from Derby, but we had no interest in doing the GRR so decided to go in from the other side at FC. We stayed at the Fitzroy River Lodge and they had HUGE sites especially for buses. On our last day, there were 3 buses in there! The kids checked out the pool and I did some washing and we were all set for a big day the next day. We were up early and drove ‘straight’ to Tunnel Creek, which is a hike through a cave that runs through a mountain. It was a 4WD only track and we even had our first water crossing. It was more of a large permanent puddle, than a creek or river, but Baby Bertha still got wet! The road didn’t appear on the GPS, so we were relying on the map and ‘navigation’ of wikicamps. It only shows current location and distance in ‘crows flight terms’ so the constant turns and wiggles in the road made the trip longer than expected. As did the many corrugations. We eventually made it to the entrance and were relieved to see a sign showing the effects of a croc bite – cuts and bruises only as they are ‘freshies’. Lexie was a little concerned about crocs after our croc visit in Broome, so we were glad to see the information in the sign.

Tunnel Creek was another ‘class 4’ hike and boy was it GREAT! We all loved it. The entrance was rather a scramble around, over and under very large rocks and boulders, but once into the cave, it was amazing! We spent a good 2 hours walking through, eating lunch and walking back again. The water was ankle deep most of the way, though there were 2 parts where it went over my knees. Halfway through the cave there is a ‘cave in’ which lets the light in, so you only need the torches for 2 fairly short sections. But BOY is it dark for them!

We stopped for lunch on the other side. I always try to pack a healthy lunch and we take our backpack (which is usually carried by Dunc, though we do take turns) when we do these sorts of hikes. It means we can stop and appreciate where we are. I see so many people who get there, stand and look around for all of 3 or 4 minutes and turn around and go back again. Why?!? What’s the rush people?! While we were eating, there was the hauntingly beautiful sound of a didgeridoo echoing out from the tunnel. There was a famous Aboriginal named Jandamurra who hid out in the tunnel for THREE years to escape police in the 1800s, and there must have been a tour group going through the tunnel during our lunch. The tours got music and lunch provided, and we got to enjoy their music over our lunch! Lovely.