Everyone was woken with a lot shout of “Get out of it!!” coming from Gordon’s tent at 0200hrs…. Just prior to that we had heard a loud rustling and then when Gordie called out, the sound of tent zips in unison being ripped open was heard. We all jumped out and shone torches around – but nothing was seen. Whatever had been rustling around was long gone…but everyone was now awake.

The night was surprisingly warmer than at Manning Gorge and the stars, as always, were a myriad of sparkling diamonds in the night sky. We all went back to bed and woke to the sounds of birds at about 6AM.

We began to pack up when an older guy came over asking for help to jump start his car – Dave already had the Pearl running charging his fridge battery so he drove over along with Branch who had been having a bit of a dry patch with no real issues to deal with in the camp (or so he tough as potentially some issues were going undisclosed….)

Unfortunately the Pearl could not get their car going so MacGyver came over…and then Glen, Gordie with his generator, a couple of other blokes from the camp ground and finally the Landcruiser kicked into life – the couple were now heading straight for Derby unable to stop their car as a battery cell had collapsed and they needed a new battery.

The birds in Slient Grove were in abundance and very cheeky – Rosie could not help herself and fed them a weetbix which only encouraged them further…. Lots of bird poo on chairs, tents, my hand…the GOPRO!!

Before we left for Bell Gorge we had a team meeting (aka everyone talking at once!) to sort out protocol for travelling together to ensure debacles like yesterday such as overshooting turnoffs/ missing turnoffs/turning the incorrect way do not occur in the future – and to ensure everyone is quite clear on where we are heading and what we are doing…. Suggestions were flying left right and centre – if this team had to care for critically ill patients they would have killed them all as no one would have received clear directions or messages – nor would they have remembered what was the correct type of info. ISBAR communication style was introduced and the team left for Bell Gorge with a better understanding of how to work together – the team that grows together works together!!

We drove the 10ks to Bells Gorge and began the walk along the creek bed and up to the waterfall and gorge.

The scenery was beautiful with lots of palms, pandanus and gums. We arrived at the top of the waterfall and took in the beautiful area.

We continued on down the descent to the falls which became a bit challenging as it was steep and lots of boulders to walk down but was really worth the effort.

Large rocks teetered on the edge of the cliff and there were huge overhangs – all looking as if they could fall at any moment!

The waterfalls were still falling and the pools were large and great to swim in.

Trev and Gordie filled up Rosie and Kerry’s waterbottles under the falls – the water was cool and pure – great to drink.

The rocks under the water were so slippery they necessitated a crocodile-like exit!!

After morning tea and a refreshing swim we left and climbed up the cliff, returned to the cars and drove back out to Imintji  – along the way Glen and Dave stopped to help Gerdie – a German woman who had a flat tyre – then we all met at the Imitji Community Store where we grabbed some icecreams and coffee. It was a great store with grass and shady trees out the front.

We drove on to Windjana Gorge through the King Leopold Ranges the landscape changed again to tall mountains ..

– past Napier Station and the very prominent Queen Victoria’s head rockface..

across the Lennard River which was dry…

We turned off to Windjana Gorge National Park and arrived at a great time to get good spots in the generator camping area.

We set up for the last time on this leg of the journey – by this time everyone was a well oiled machine and setup went really smoothly.

Len the park volunteer had informed up that you could not swim at Windjana Gorge as the water was putrid and there were over 140 freshwater crocs in the gorge – everywhere apparently and as we are approaching mating season the females were getting cranky!

Tunnel Creek was still flowing and Len gave us a very informative and descriptive narrative on accessing and walking through it – the guys were relieved as we could get in the water there…

After eating dinner we had listened to a talk on Daniel Chapter 2 which prompted a long and great discussion on how God works in peoples lives, end times and what we should have as priorities in our lives.