Manning Gorge...hot going but glorious swimming holes luckily!

Two nights at Charnley River Station was enough and we farewelled Lorrie and Chicko and made the 40km trek back out to the Gibb River Road.  On the horseshoe gate l got a shock to find a small Cape York short tailed bat hiding in the gate chamber.  After my heart returned to normal pace l stood and marveled at the creature until Marty was looking impatiently at me to get going.

The GRR was great with minor corrugations and we veered off to the left to check out Galvin's Gorge.  The day was heating up quickly again and we changed into our bathers at the car, using the doors to hide our imperfections from the public pulling up.  The walk was short but that didn't stop Meg from whining all the way in.  I was getting sick of Meg whining and so was the rest of the family.  The walk was short and un-interesting but the gorge, well that was fabulous.  As we arrived Boo let out a little squeal as she came across something moving by the tree near the water.  Once everyone froze and our eyes focused on the movement we saw that it was a water monitor and we watched it swim to the rock by the edge of the water to sun bake. Was pretty amazing.....  The water was so tranquil with the sound of the waterfall lightly spraying into the pool, the gorge lined with lush green foliage and palms.  I dived into the water and lucky my hands were out front as my bloody head would have hit a submerged rock pretty hard, stupid thing to do l know, forever warning the girls about exactly what l had just done!  Marty, the girls and l had a lovely time swimming around and sitting under the water fall.  After half an hour we were all refreshed and enjoyed the quiet walk back to the car, marveling at the gorgeous lilly's in the creek.  

The monitor that scared the shit out of me!

Time for a cool off!

Sun baking time!

Family shot under the falls...

Me and the girls over at the other side of Galvin's Gorge...

Posers!

Loving the lilly's!

It was a short drive up to Mt Barnett Roadhouse where we pulled in to stock up on more supplies and book into the Manning Gorge campground which was situated out back.  Was $40 per night, these camps were becoming way too overpriced as we got further into the GRR!  We drove down and after Marty walked around for a bit, as normal like a cat circling to find the comfiest spot to settle, found our camp spot under a boab tree.  It was dusty and bindies were scattered around the ground, but it was only for one night.  Don't reckon it was worth the $40 per night, had no water available and the amenities were pretty ordinary but it did have a fire pit and table and chairs at our camp site so not all bad.  Jill and Justin, who we had come across at Silent Grove and Charnley River Station campgrounds, pulled up next to us and we made plans for a catch up over a fire with a beer later in the evening.  

Barnett Roadhouse...

Camp for the night...

After lunch we set off for the walk to Manning Gorge.  It was 1pm. so the hottest part of the day, and we made sure we had plenty of water for the hour walk.  First we had to cross the picturesque river, which the girls were very excited about for the last few days leading up to arriving.  See you had to pull yourself across in a tinny via a rope pulley system, brilliantly constructed l thought.  We all crammed into the boat and heave ho we were off and at the other side in no time, Boo and Marty did well to get us there.  The walk was really hard, especially in the heat of the day which we reckon would have been well into the mid 30's.  Meg and Boo were very unimpressed, Marty and l even struggled after our big walk yesterday.  Was pretty hard going, the most physical walk we had done so far on the GRR.  We not only had to walk on the dusty unshaded track but had to scramble over rocks and boulders, climbing up and down thru dry rocky creek beds.  The main killer though was the heat!  After an hour of fairly fast paced walking we arrived to what we thought was the gorge, and like heat stricken dehydrated hikers, we all stripped off our bags and hats and jumped into the cool water of the pool.  After floating like starfish and cooling off for a little while, some fellow hikers informed us that the gorge was a little further up the rocks and around the corner, whoops!  We had to coax that girls out of the water, but at least we were all cooled off, to do the short rock scramble to find another picturesque oasis.  The gorge was hugged by lush tall palms and huge boulders and on the other side there was a dribbling waterfall.  We all jumped in the water again and swam over to the water fall, hung out under the cliff for a while, the girls loving floating under the fall with their mouths open.  We swam back to shore and saw yet another water monitor sun baking on the rocks, unbelievable!  We spent just over an hour at the gorge cooling off, sitting and marvelling in the beauty of nature and enjoying a chat with other travellers.  Jill and Justin even turned up, Marty and l not believing how quick they had arrived.  We had to beg the girls to leave, they weren't dumb, they knew the walk they had ahead of them.  No one was looking forward to the walk back l can tell you!  Luckily it was slightly cooler on the way back with a slight breeze in the air and it sort of felt quicker.  We fed the girls lollies to keep them eager to continue and as normal Meg was great on the way back but Boo became an emotional wreck.  Always seems to be the way, Megs a pain on the walk in to things and Boo on the way back, never are they both happy!  We arrived back to the river crossing with Jill and Justin having caught up to us.  We all got in the boat and pulled ourselves back.

Heave-Ho!

Not very happy in the heat!

What a swimming hole!

Thumbs up from the girls....

Needed time to cool off, pity had to get out and walk a bit more to the
right gorge!

Manning Gorge!

Girls happy again!

Panoramic of Manning Gorge....

Marty keeping an eye on the monitor!

Dark selfie of us under the small gorge falls...

On the other side of the gorge...

Monitor on the loose.....

There swimming action is so sleek!

Time to head back into the heat!  Argh..

 

Hoping no snakes in there!

Not much shade on this walk!

Yay...back to the boat!

The girls then enjoyed a swim in the river whilst Marty and l kicked back and enjoyed a few coldies on the banks.  Was great to just sit and relax.  The girls soon got playing with the boat and other kids made their way down and they all enjoyed playing pirates for over an hour or so in the boat.  Jill and l walked over in the water to a submerged boulder in the middle of the river and enjoyed a wine as the sun set.  A bloke even had his paddle board out and l had a go.  First effort to stand up was a cracker with me falling off straight away.  Second go and l stood up from a kneeling position which worked.  I had always wanted to give this a go and l loved it!!! I kept my balance but have no idea how l would go in the ocean with waves instead of the calm and steady river.  As the sun had set for another fantastic day we headed back to camp to get dinner ready.

Cheeky bugger!

Loved the shallow swimming hole!

Marty had to light the fire as tonight was jaffle night.  I had told Marty to come up with something for dinner and cook it seeing l was over the dinner preparations and jaffles is what he came up with.  We enjoyed left over spag bol and chilli con carne in the jaffles, so a bit gourmet!  With the lure of the fire we were soon joined by Jill and Justin and another couple, one being the guy who let me have a go on his paddle board. Now he was a know it all and l soon learnt not to start up a conversation with him.  Jill and Justin, however, were lovely people.  They were from Bendigo and on a quick trip up north WA.  They were eager to hear of our travel experiences as this short trip has inspired them to give the travelling life a go. Great to meet new people after hanging with the same crowd for so long.  We toasted some marshmallows for desert and enjoyed the yarn around a fire.  We ended up finishing up at 9pm!!! Wow we are rebels, the latest night in a long time!  Everyone had a quick shower and were asleep in no time, all exhausted from another physically taxing day.......

Fire roaring!

Marty cooking his favourite jaffles!

Bell Xxx