It’s an hour or so back to the Gibb River Road (south) from Drysdale River Station, and then we continued west. The corrugations continued too. At least you get to pause now and then to check on other travellers that have pulled over. Lately, there’s been the spare tyre that dropped off a trailer, the stone guard over a gas tank that came loose, the flat tyre with bonus damaged rim, and the pipe that connected the gas to the engine that came off – unfixable – and the guy had no petrol left to switch to, being the same guy who was sure he could fix it. But actually couldn’t.
The Barnett Range loomed up on our left, a nice surprise after so much flat terrain.

We stopped in at Galvan Gorge. As the Kimberley’s most accessible pool, there was every chance the tour buses would invade. But all was well, they were nowhere to be seen – and we had a lovely morning dip after just 15 minutes’ walk from the car!
There are many more gorge/falls/swim options along this stretch of road, but we are being a little choosey, and don’t want to get gorged out. As it were.
We didn’t have quite enough fuel to do everything we planned to do before Derby, so we bought some more overpriced diesel ($2.26 this time – bargain) at the Imintji Community Roadhouse. This was the best stocked and well run Roadhouse we have stopped at. They had a huge range of exactly what you need as a traveller, and also catered for the local indigenous community. But wait, there’s more…..they do the best Barra Burger in town – mainly because they are town. We indulged in a bought lunch (a rare occasion) and feasted on said Barra Burgers, Roo Pie and milkshakes – including the bit that doesn’t fit in the glass. Now that’s a real milkshake.
Feeling rather full, we headed off down The Road to Silent Grove Campground, 10km short of Bell Gorge (the camping police won’t let anyone camp at the falls). John rode the bike to the falls – but we beat him in the car! He was secretly hoping for a really rough road to slow us down.
Bell Falls are pretty cool. Like a smaller version of Mitchell Falls, which sort of makes them more accessible. And no crocs, so swimming below the falls is fine.

Above is the view from the top. The thing that is most amazing is that there seems to be such a small amount of water going over the falls, but such a huge amount of water actually tumbling down.

And looking down, you can see people swimming at the base.
This is where we walked down to for a great view of the falls:

And just thought I’d slip in a boab photo, hoping you’ll forgive the indulgence. We camped right next to this beauty. I hugged him goodnight, and he watched over us all night. Fair deal.