Before starting our trip along the Gibb River Road, we made sure of our survival for the first week with a big shopping session at the Broome’s mall. Then, we visited the liquor store just outside to plan for the best aperitifs in the Australian outback.
Our journey along the GRR lasted about 15 days. The landscape is mostly desert, but it reserves several natural hidden beauty: gorges and natural springs.
The Kimberley gorges are very popular, and can be reached only after a nice walking/hiking or even with a boat or canoe ride. Geikie Gorge is one of the most beautiful, impressive for the reflections of the rocks on water. Windjiana Gorge is timeless, with its almost prehistoric landscape (its formation dates back to the Devonian period) and its banks populated by hundreds of freshwater crocodiles. Tunnel Creek is also interesting: it is a cave that has a portion of path completely in the dark (the entire tunnel is 700m long) with icy water that reaches up to the knees.
Lennard, Galvans and Manning Gorge are worth a stop: here, swimming is allowed because there are no crocodiles. Compared to the first two, the latter is very spectacular and fun at the same time. In order to reach it, you have to either swim in a pond or take the boat made available by the campsite, which works by pulling it with a rope tied around two trees placed at the end of the pond. You have to wait for your turn because the boat can hold at most three people. Once you reach the opposite bank, it takes only half an hour of hiking to find yourself inside a magical landscape. Everything is so perfect that it almost seems like a replica of an amusement park: waterfalls, small islands and lush plants make you want to take a refreshing bath. You won’t feel like doing it as soon as you dip your toe into the water that obviously is freezing cold, but you have to take some courage and throw yourself in. Do not even think about going in slowly, it’s an agony. It is a fantastic experience: after, you will feel regenerated.
