I thought I’d be doing a page on Wyndham, but unfortunately, it’s one of those towns that appears out on it’s feet. Port Wyndham is definitely on the canvass. Yes, the pies were delicious but was it worth the 120klm round trip? No. However, two spots along the way made this diversion worth it. The first was The Grotto, a natural gorge pool and definitely swimmable. Only 144 steps to the bottom and your own (almost) private rock pool. We had been a little wary with the dry season and how much water would be there, but it is deep and sheltered and a nice cool off.
After our fleeting visit to Wyndham, we Googled for anything interesting on the way back to the turn-off. There were two billabongs, one not too far off the highway but the other was way out there… somewhere. So 10klm’s on the way back, we took a left down an unmarked dirt road. Now, there are moments on this journey when the imagined becomes reality. Here we were on a flood plain, mountain ranges right and left with a line of green off in the distance. No-one else in sight and no idea what we would find. What we found was Marlgu, a long shallow billabong teeming with bird life.Â
Normally this is for day trippers only, but we found a little side track and a turning circle and decided to set up shop for the rest of the day. The billabong was full of birds and a cool breeze made for a very relaxing afternoon just takin’ it all in. It is a destination for the occasional tourist bus and self drive tours but for most of the time we had it to ourselves.
There is a bird hide on the billabong edge along with one crocodile which I didn’t see, but Tamika saw a bird struggling furiously near the opposite bank, so I’ll take it as a given. So, for the twitchers out there, these pics are for you.
