Gorgeous Gorges between Mornington and Manning

Today we left Mornington Wildlife sanctuary heading towards Manning Gorge. Along the way we planned to stop off at two gorges for a look and swim.  The first was Adcock Gorge.  By the time we had travelled the 90kms from Mornington back onto the Gibb River (GRR) and the extra 20kms to get to the Adcock Gorge turn off we were ready to get out of the car.  Adcock gorge is only 5kms off the the GRR but it is a rough track with deep washouts, rocky sections, and a pretty challenging water crossing.  Apart from the turn off sign there were no other directions.  We thought we were going to be the only ones there but were surprised to see about 4 other cars parked at the end.

              An Australian Bustard                                                Road block by a hungry Dingo

Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary

Hi everyone! I don't usually send out 2 blogs in a row, but we are currently in Kununurra and after not having Internet or phone coverage for the last 3 weeks I'm madly trying to catch up on the blogging, before we go out of range again......

We spent three nights at Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary, swimming in waterholes and visiting two gorges, including canoeing on Dimond Gorge.

Swimming with Water Monitors.....Bell Gorge, the Kimberleys

The kids and Scott dipped into the beautiful Bell Gorge for their first Kimberley swim. I watched taking photo's as they made their way across to the other side. Next thing I see Scott looking at the head of something pop out of the water about a metre away from them. Just as he's saying "What's that?" it goes under, they all start picking up the pace and the 3 of them including the mystery creature beached on the same rock. Turns out it was a harmless water monitor Lizard. It had obviously just been fishing and proceeded to crunch on a crab right in front of them all.

Into the darkness - Tunnel Creek

From the Windjana Gorge campground its about a 32km drive down to the Tunnel Creek National Park. We were told to wear our swimmers and take good torches which sounded very exciting so we were all looking forward to this experience.

Horse Riding in the Kimberleys

One of Hannahs top 10 to do's on the trip was horse riding, so we thought we'd make our first stop along the Gibb River Road at Birdwood Downs, a 5000acre working cattle station that offers horse riding. After a stop in Derby on the way from Broome we arrived at the station to be greeted by Robyn the owner who was well and truly weathered by a life on the land. She kept referring to the kids as the 'youngens' and quickly told them where not to run around!

Kooljamin Resort - Cape Leveque, Dampier Peninsular WA

By far the most touristy of all our Dampier Peninsular destinations, the Kooljamin Resort consumes prime position at the very tip of the peninsular.  Its at the end of the road where you can watch the sun rise and set over the ocean.

Talking about position, check out our beach shelter campsite.....its a hard life.

Mud crabbing at Chile Creek - Dampier Peninsular WA

What a fantastic experience!

           Ben with a grin from ear to ear                                               Brave Hannah the first to hold one

After leaving Middle lagoon we continued north towards the Aboriginal community of Lombadina where we took a left turn off down another narrow track towards a place called Chile Creek.