The helicopter had no door

When I called shotgun on the front seat of the helicopter I was thinking of photo opportunities – I had absolutely no idea that our tiny, little chopper would come without that most basic of equipment – a door.

So there we were banking high above the very beautiful Mitmiluk Gorge and all that was holding me in my seat was a basic car seatbelt. I am rather proud that, according to my watch, my heart rate at that point was only 87!

Seeing the gorge from above was a great way to get perspective on how it runs and connects with the surrounding land. It was both pretty and inspiring.

Then this afternoon we went on a board tour up the gorge. There is one gorge divided into several pools at this time of year so the trip meant walking between pools. We visited the first three pools and had a swim at the Lily Ponds.

We saw some rock art, lots of birds and some beautiful rock walls. We also saw a fair few crocodiles. And let me tell you the boat also did not have a door!

One nice thing was finding out that the river is named after the blue winged kookaburra that has been a fearless feature of our hotel.