That night we slept on a camp site right next to the new Fitzroy River Bridge. It was the last night of our bus tour and the whole group of travelers joined for dinner at the camp pub. Our twelve day tour through the Kimberleys would come to an end the next day and we exchanged contact details and said our first good byes.
A long travel day lay ahead of us. But there was one more special treat on our last day of the tour: looking for freshwater crocodiles, or “freshies”, in Tunnel Creek located in the King Leopold Ranges. This 2 km return walk goes through a naturally formed tunnel carved over millions of years during the wet-season. The creek is accessible via a heavily corrugated dirt road- a 4- wheel vehicle is a must to get here.
What makes this hike spectacular is the fact that to get through the tunnel you have to swim through pitch black water inhabited by freshies while bats hover above you. So we turned our head lights on and started to swim. We were lucky enough to see two freshies on our way in sections where we could walk again.
Freshies are rather shy and flee from humans. They cannot open their mouths far enough to be a danger to humans- though they have been known to bite when threatened. Swimming with them is nerv wrecking nonetheless.
By early evening we reached Broome and it was time to say goodbye to our fellow travelers.
Note to myself: no more camping holidays. Or at least not longer than 4 nights. This trip confirmed what I thought: camping is not for me. Sleeping in tents with no lights and surrounded by noisy caravans just is not my thing. But if you want to see areas like the Kimberleys there is no other way to do it. However, as I am writing this I am convinced that 10 years from now things in Western Australia will have changed dramatically. The first investors are already starting to ramp up and I bet soon the access roads will start to get paved and hotels will open up.
We feel very fortunate that we could see the stunning Kimberley region as the jewel it is today- even if that meant freezing in tents.