In the heart of the Kimberley, at the western end of the Gibb River Road, lies Windjana Gorge. It’s a place I’ll never forget. Not because it is especially beautiful and photogenic (it isn’t) but because it literally made my spine tingle. While I was there, all my senses were heightened and I felt as if time stood still.
I walked into the gorge completely alone, across a frazzled Kimberley landscape. It was so parched that the vegetation snapped and crunched underfoot. As I walked, I noticed that my footsteps and my breathing were the only sounds. There was no sign of any other living thing, apart from some hardy plants and six huge black buzzards, which were soaring high above me.

The walk into Windjana Gorge
It was an eerie sensation. I was so hot and uncomfortable that I was tempted to turn around and head back to the car. What kept me going was the memory of Al’s face earlier that morning. He’d already been down to the gorge before me, and as I watched him stride back, I could feel an unusual energy radiating from him. He was elated. “You have to go down there,” he gasped as he reached me. “It’s incredible!”
So I grabbed my camera bag and headed off across the shadeless desert. The path led me across a vast open savanna and over a dry riverbed and then through a narrow gap in a towering rock face.

The eerie rock passageway that leads to the gorge
As I emerged through the other side of the passageway, everything changed. The space echoed with the sound of hundreds of cockatoos, which were all around, perching in trees but hidden from sight. Their raucous calls were so strange and unexpected after the stony silence on the other side of the passage. It was almost as if the birds were warning: “Hey! Watch out! Don’t come in here! Go back!”

Windjana Gorge, The Kimberley
That’s when my spine started tingling. The sudden drop in temperature, and the dramatic change in vegetation also contributed. In a couple of seconds, I had passed from flat, rain-starved desert to a fossil-peppered passageway, then out to a deep water-filled gorge that was fringed with towering emerald palms and herb-scented eucalypts.
I felt like I was dreaming as I picked my way across the rocks, searching through the trees for the thing I’d really come to see: dozens of freshwater crocodiles, stranded by the dry season in the shady, lime green pools of Windjana Gorge.

The water at Windjana Gorge – in the sunlight it’s lime green and in the shadows it’s teal
As I rounded a bend in the path, I saw them. Piled up on top of each other, looking like a tangle of prehistoric creatures, they lined the sides of the rock pools. The closest were only a couple of feet away, suspended in the clear water, staring at me, glassy-eyed.

The freshwater crocodiles of Windjana Gorge. Unlike the region’s saltwater crocs (which are Australia’s most dangerous predator), “freshies” aren’t aggressive toward humans unless provoked

Yes, he was looking at me. And yes, I was a bit too close. I backed off pretty quickly after taking this shot!
It was an unforgettable experience. Although we visited other beautiful gorges and spectacular outlooks as we travelled “the Gibb” over the next couple of days, nothing affected me as powerfully as Windjana.

Manning Gorge, Gibb River Road

The Pentecost River, Gibb River Road

The walk into Barnett River Gorge, “The Gibb”

March Fly Glen, “The Gibb”

The road from Home Valley, leading up to the Cockburn Range, at the eastern end of “The Gibb”

The road into Ellenbrae Station, “The Gibb”

Directions to the swimming hole at Ellenbrae

Our stockman’s hut (known as a “humpy”) at Ellenbrae Station
I think part of the magic of my Windjana experience was created by a couple of events in the days leading up to it. One of them, which I won’t go into here, involved a day in hospital in a small outback town. At Windjana, I was still experiencing the surge of intense gratitude and joy that follows the release from extreme pain.
Just as significant, the previous day, I’d visited the Mowanjum Cultural Centre (just outside the town of Derby at the start of the Gibb River Road). There, I’d been introduced to the cave art of the Western Kimberley, which is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s dominated by visions of ancient Aboriginal spirits called Wandjinas. These spirits, which are painted in bold form in beautiful earthy tones, decorate cave walls all over the Kimberley. They’re so striking that they’ve stayed with me. And I think what made Windjana so special was the feeling that the Wandjinas were all around me, staring out from the ancient rock face as I passed from the desert and into the gorge.

My friends the Wandjinas, West Kimberley
Hi Al and Tanya,
Magical. It looks like Crocodile Dundee territory. I want to go there!!!! Fantastic art. We saw that that type of art is being sold in main street Broadbeach, with ‘genuine’ aboriginal artists sitting on the floor of the shop creating works in progress.
Cheers
John
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Beautiful Tanya. I sense the spirits now as I write. Seems you were gifted with a unique experience at Windjana that can only be felt if we hold a space of openness and respect for both place and for all beings in our own connected hearts. Thank you for sharing. Camille
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Thank you, Camille! I’ve just re-read it after a long break, and it still makes me tingle 😊.
Hope to see you again soon! I really enjoyed Authur’s Talk the other evening and enjoyed meeting you x
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Hello I would just like to know if you know who the author of this wandjina painting may be??
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Hi Veronica, I’m not sure. It’s so striking, isn’t it! I love it. If you want more info on Wandjina paintings, I recommend contacting the Norval Gallery in Derby.
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Thank you and I will have to take a look…..I have two more questions…..was this painted on a canvas or a cave and was this painted by someone today or thousands or years ago (by the aboriginal people).
Thanks again
Veronica
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Hi again Veronica,
You can still see wandjina cave paintings in the Kimberley if you’re lucky enough to join a special tour, but the sites are sacred, and it’s actually a controversial issue as to whether tourists ought to be allowed access. The cave paintings are truly ancient, and are part of the oldest continuous painting movement on earth. These days it continues, but on canvas rather than rock, painted by the descendants of the original aboriginal artists. You can see the paintings displayed in galleries in the Kimberley, and if you visit local aboriginal communities around Derby and along the Gibb River Road. We particularly like the work of Edna Dale and her daughter, Petrina Bedford – so much so that we drove back up to the Kimberley at the end of our trip around Australia and bought some of their original artworks. I mention it in one of my last blog posts on our Four Corners Australia blog – I think it’s in the blog piece titled “The Long Road to Winter”.
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