29 – 31 August 2022
We had
booked 2 nights camping at Silent Grove before we left Mount Barnett Roadhouse
and continued along the Gibb River Road, with a stop at Imintji store to buy
some bread and have a coffee. From there it was a short drive to the turn-off
to Silent Grove.
We
found a nice shady spot and Mick did some exploring, looking for birds around
the campground. This campground comes complete with flushing toilets and hot
showers as well as some picnic tables. It was lovely to have so much shade but
we did struggle a bit to get enough solar power happening. It didn’t help that
the batteries were well below 100% after three days off-grid and only a
relatively short drive to get here.
We made
an early start to drive up to Dalmanyi Bell Gorge, about 11 kilometres from the
campground. The 1.5 kilometre walk starts with a big downhill section and then
follows the creekline to the top of the falls. It is possible to keep going and
scramble down to the lower pools, but we were satisfied with the pool near the
top. I enjoyed a long swim while Mick took some more photos.
The
uphill walk back to the carpark took a bit of an effort but this walk was far
easier than some we had been on lately. On the way back we passed a tour group
who had just arrived so we felt we had timed our departure well. It’s so much
nicer to not have crowds around when visiting places like this.
We
spent another relaxing afternoon back at the camp while considering our next
stop. We decided on Bandilngan Windjana Gorge National Park. Thanks to good
Optus cover, we were able to book two nights before leaving Silent Grove.
We left
Silent Grove and headed back to the Gibb River Road for the final unsealed
section. The bitumen starts at the Fairfield-Leopold Downs Road junction and
goes all the way to Derby.
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