June 13 -16 Manning River

Behind the Mt Barnett Roadhouse which is the last refuelling and grocery stop before Kununurra is the Manning River and Gorge.
It is a nice change to be camping next to a river where we can swim. Everywhere else so far has been a 20-30km drive from camp. The river is cold which did not deter anyone from swimming as the days are so hot.
On the first day we met up with two families that the Serisiers and Webbs had met in their travels. There were more kids to play with than you could poke a stick at. They spent the afternoon playing by the river. Chris/ Simon and the kids found a dead croc and whipped away with its teeth for souvenirs. Despite Emily and Fred’s best attempts to ward off other campers with their duck impersonations, we were eventually surrounded by elderly campers. One couple pulled up in their van mid afternoon, drank beers all afternoon, adjourned to their caravan for a video at night and left the next morning. Makes you wonder why they even bothered leaving home. We have been somewhat surprised about how crowded all the campsites have been throughout the "remote" Kimberleys.
Spent the next day having a cruisy day at the campsite catching up on the blog, reading, laundry and Tim even went to the big effort of having a shave. Kids worked on their pyro skills. The men spent time tinkering with the cars. Chris has been advising Tim and Sam on the cars as he is a bit of guru with all things mechanical. We also did a long walk in the afternoon along the river amongst the pandanus palms and paper gums.
On Sunday we did the 2.5km walk into Manning Gorge. This involved a river crossing that we had to swim across with the aid of some foam boxes to transport our clothes and backpacks. There were also inner tubes for the kids to use. 45 minutes later we arrived at Manning Gorge. Yet another beautiful waterfall and even higher jump rocks. We spent the day picnicking, swimming, rock scrambling and lazing in the sun. This life isn’t too bad.

We’ve enjoyed the river camp so much we have decided to stay another day. Did a day trip to some nearby gorges Adcock (Tim has rated in bottom 5, although we have been to less than 10) and Galvan Gorge. Galvan gorge had a rope swing from an overhanging tree at the bottom of the waterfall that kept the kids well entertained.