The morning commenced with a most raucous racket, dear reader. The likes of which we had never heard before. I thought it was the end of days. It continued for a number of minutes, ensuring everyone at the lodge was awake. "What is that?" croaked Jayne from her side of our king bed, sometime around 4:30 am. It was a bird, or more accurately birds, but I had no idea what variety. Needless to report, sleep did not fully return. Breakfast was at 6:30 anyway and the light arrives later up here in the north. So we dozed for a while until breakfast where the disruptive bird was named as the Blue-winged Kookaburra. It's like our Kookaburra in the east except it just can't get the laugh out and keeps repeating the beginning sounds. A veritable cacophony of squawking. Not quite music to my ears at that time of day.
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| A juvenile pied butcherbird near the food tent. |
Although we did not spot them at Bell Gorge they made their presence felt regularly. Today we headed for Dalmanyi, the gorge area and swimming spot after which the wilderness retreat is named. It was back into the truck searching for our seats after the daily rotation.
Resting on the drive to the gorge was not on the agenda due to the corrugated nature of the Gibb River Road and the fact that, Kylie, one of our guides felt compelled to provide information about the area.
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| Debris in the tree from the wet season. |
Of course there was the regular hyperbolic description of the walk to the falls. Except the word 'walk' was replaced by 'hike'. This was accentuated, significantly and unnecessarily, ad nauseum. While I understand the reasoning behind the exaggerated description and overt warning, I don't believe it is effective. The people it should apply to always believe the warning is for someone else. I've seen it previously. Besides, everyone on this trip was capable of completing this walk, sorry, hike.
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| How blue is a Kimberley sky? |
Dalmanyi is part of Bell Creek and is located on Silent Grove Road. The creek system is fed by water from the Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges and it is a beautiful spot to swim and relax in the dry season. There is a pool above the falls for those who feel the 2km walk, sorry, hike, from the car park is sufficient exercise on a hot day.
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| The pool above the falls. |
For the more adventurous, me, there is a short walk across the escarpment and a bit of a rock scramble to access the pool below the falls. The water in both pools is quite refreshing, or cold as it was described by others.
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| The falls and pool below. |
The walk from the carpark, although quite picturesque, was challenging in parts, not because it was particularly arduous, but because you were walking on the creek bed. It was predominantly river rock, unstable, difficult to negotiate at times, and hard on the ankles.
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| A Kimberley Rose or Sticky Kurrajong. |
After admiring the view and enjoying an energising swim, our time in Dalmanyi ended all too quickly. It was back along the rocky creek bed to the car park and lunch at Silent Grove (Dulmundi) Camp Ground.
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| A Rainbow Bee-eater. |
This is an APT tour where too much food is barely enough. Lunch was wraps, fruit and juice. I snapped a few bird photos while Kylie led us in a name game to ensure that we all remembered each other's name. Any teacher would be familiar with this game where everyone sits in a circle and the first person says their name and the next person repeats it and states their name. The variation to this was the requirement to attach something to your name. For instance, we had Ken who became Ken and Barbie, and Brian who became the Life of Brian and Teresa who became Mother Teresa. You get the picture and now understand today's title. It became a bit of a them for us. Remember it, from the Monty Python movie of the same name.
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| Peaceful Dove |
After lunch, it was back to the wilderness lodge to rest for a while before dinner. We arrived around 4 pm and dinner was set for 6:30 pm, a pattern that became quite familiar over the next few days. Dinner was a typical APT affair, three courses although, unlike the overseas tours, wine was at your own cost.
The morning light comes late and the night arrives early in the Kimberley. After a lovely dinner, it was time to return to our tent and get some much needed sleep.
Until next time.
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