Galvan Gorge
The Gibb River Road was in pretty good condition and we made good progress arriving at Galvan Gorge late morning. This is an easy walk over mainly flat ground to emerge at an oasis like swimming hole. We had the place to ourselves and enjoyed the tranquility of the flowing waterfall and quiet birdsong before returning to the car. We got back just in time as a fully loaded tour bus was pulling up in the car park.
Manning Gorge
Later that afternoon we arrived at the Mount Barnett Roadhouse and checked in to the Manning Gorge campground.
The Manning Gorge hike starts off with a river crossing. The owners have thoughtfully installed a dingy on a rope pulley system to make it easier. The trail then leads over slowly inclining ground before the trail turns loose underfoot and heads down and up a rocky valley. The trail arrives at a small sandy beach before taking a sharp turn to follow along the stream before opening out at the magnificent swimming hole.
We didn’t swim on this day, but sat and had our picnic lunch watching others enjoy the waterfalls. After relaxing in the shade for a while we headed back the same way we had come, finally arriving back at the campground.
Mount Barnett Roadhouse
As we left Manning Gorge we topped up with diesel at $2.00 per litre.
The roadhouse had had a delivery and there was a limited range of fresh food available as well as the usual range of tinned and packaged goods. There were also several freezers labeled ‘meat’, ‘frozen veg’, ‘seafood’ and ‘bread’. At the time that we travelled the GRR (June 2015) this was the only shop on the road suppling either food or fuel with the Imintji Roadhouse remaining closed following a dispute between the landowners and the business owners. So although we didn’t need anything especially we took the opportunity to grab some snacks and racked up $50 of good pretty quickly! Finally we refilled the water tanks and hit the road again.
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Hit The Toad 
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