Monday, 25 May 2026
What a difference a day makes AND the right preparation is paramount! This morning we set out to visit … yet ANOTHER gorge. This morning, after breakfast, we headed west on the Gibb River Road for 8.5 kilometres to reach the turn off to Dalmanyi (Bell Gorge). We bumped our way along 29 kilometres of corrugated road, negotiated several water crossings and a couple of mud holes. We were very lucky indeed to be able to go in to Bell Gorge today, as it has only just opened after the wet season. It’s anticipated opening was actually today, but they were able to open a couple of days early on Friday. So, we are not the first visitors into the gorge this season but certainly amongst the first for 2026.
So, the preparation. I Googled about the trail for today last night. That research told me that it was going to be a Grade 4 walk to the top of the falls and then, if we were to go down to the bottom of the falls, that rest of the trail would be Grade 5, ‘requiring three points of contact’, it said!! At dinner last night, the couple we shared the table with advised us that the walk/hike would be wet and dry. Good to know. With the difficulty factor clear in my head AND two sets of footwear, we set off.
We started the hike in our hiking boots, heading first down a rocky rill eroded into the slope, before continuing along the creek bed filled with rounded river rocks. So far, so easy. Especially when compared with yesterday. And, very quickly, we were at the end of the 700 metre, Class 4 section of the trail, and we found ourselves at a rock pool at the top of the falls. But you cannot truly appreciate a waterfall from the top can you?
We were now confronted with a river crossing. Another tip from last night, don’t cross at this point, walk about 100 metres to the right and cross at that point. We took that good advice and walked upstream. We sat on a convenient rock and took off our hiking boots, exchanging them for our water shoes. At this point we were able to cross the river in water that only reached our lower calf. At the designated crossing place, we had seen people wading across rather than paddling.
On the other side, we sat on another well-placed rock shelf, dried our feet and put our hiking boots back on, to negotiate the Class 5 section of the trail. Ahem, three points of contact for some maybe. I didn’t manage much of it with fewer than four points of contact (two hands, two feet) and needed five points of contact for some sections (two hands, two feet and my butt). Although, arguably, there may have been one or two sections with only one point of contact. Basically my whole body pasted to the rock as I contemplated my next move, ha, ha.
We made it safely to the bottom. After taking a couple of photos of the waterfall, we switched our footwear AGAIN and stripped down to our togs to swim. It was a bit concerning for a moment. There were three people who had swum to the rock shelf, jutting into the middle of the pool, who were convinced that a stick was a water snake and they were too scared to swim back. Even with my paranoia about snakes, I could tell it was a stick.
They were eventually convinced that the stick was not dangerous and they swam back. Bernie dry-bagged his phone and made his way out to the middle. It turned out he could just about walk across the bottom most of the way. I even braved it (knowing Bernie could touch the bottom helped) and breast stroked my way across to the rock shelf. It is only from this point that you can see the small, conical hill behind the waterfall. So very picturesque.
We were about to swim back and people on the other side were pointing and gesturing just as Bernie entered the water. What the hell? Is it another ‘snake’? Or … a freshwater crocodile? I wasn’t confident to enter the water without confirming what they were pointing at. I peered over the side. No, further to your left, further to your left. Eventually, I was able to peer over the side and spy … a monitor lizard beached on a rock shelf below me. OK, that’s fine, I can cope with a monitor lizard, even if it decides to re-enter the water.
Back on the other side of the water hole, we started the whole rigmarole in reverse. Back into our hiking boots, climb back to the top of the falls, swap boots for water shoes, cross the river, put the hiking boots back on and hike back to the car. Knowing what to expect and being prepared with the right footwear made so much difference to today’s gorge experience.
We decided to drive back to the campground for lunch. The campground is about one third of the way back to the GRR. We splurged on a sack lunch from the lodge today, seeing as it was Bernie’s birthday. We had already eaten our cake, when we were down by the falls, but we still had rolls, apples and juice boxes to finish. We found a picnic table under a tree and ate our delicious packed lunches. A couple we had seen at the falls arrived back at their tent near the table we had chosen so we chatted with her a bit more. I think he was less than happy about us invading their space, even if it was only temporarily?
We were enjoying our lunch, when we heard rustling in the bushes and then a wild boar stumbled out of the undergrowth. WTF? And it lurched drunkenly around, obviously looking quite unwell. It was heading towards us, so we shifted position to put the picnic table between us and it and made ready to retreat to the car. After a few minutes is stumbled off and back into the bushes. I, for one, felt very glad that we were not camping here tonight with a wild boar in the area.
After finishing lunch we drove the remaining 19 kilometres back to the GRR, turned left and returned to the APT Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge. We showered and changed and then parked ourselves in the outdoor dining area to process photos and write up the travel diary until dinner time.
At 6.30pm it was time for another delicious four course meal. Freshly baked sourdough bread with miso butter, entree of beetroot humous with diced and shredded beetroot (a couple of nasty mushrooms) and goat’s cheese, chicken for main course and scrumptious white chocolate mouse/cheesecake for desert. Bernie’s came out with a candle in the top because someone had spilled the beans about it being his birthday today. There were two birthdays last night, so I had a quick word to the staff this morning about there being another birthday to celebrate today.
There was a new tour group of about 20 in tonight seated across three tables. We were seated at a table beside the other two independent travellers in the lodge tonight. Lucas and Phoebe hail from Perth. They flew to Broome where they picked up a hire vehicle, before driving to visit friends in Derby. They were taken to a remote island in their friend’s boat for an overnight trip that sounded a little bit Gilligan’s Island. It only took them two hours to reach the island, but five hours in very rough seas to return, after an unexpected wind change. What an adventure!
Steps: 8,574 (5.24kms)
