Tunnel Creek is a creek located within the grounds of

Tunnel Creek National Park Tunnel Creek National Park is a national park in the Kimberley (Western Australia), Kimberley region of Western Australia, northeast of Perth and east of Broome, Western Australia, Broome. The natural cave through which Tunnel Creek flows is a ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Along with

Geikie Gorge Danggu (Geikie) Gorge National Park is a national park in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, (great-circle distance) northeast of Perth and approximately east of Broome by road. it is closed owing to damage caused by flooding of the ...

and

Windjana Gorge Windjana Gorge, also known as Bandiln͟gan, is a gorge in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It is located within the Windjana Gorge National Park. The gorge was formed by the Lennard River having eroded away a section of the Napier Ra ...

, Tunnel Creek is part of an ancient

barrier reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

that developed during the

Devonian Period The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era during the Phanerozoic eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian period at million years ago ( Ma), to the beginning of the succeeding C ...

. Tunnel Creek is located 63 kilometres from the Great Northern Highway, between

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

and

Fitzroy Crossing Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People Given name * Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: ** FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Somerset, 8th Duke of Beaufort (Henry Charles ...

, and was created by waters from a creek that cut a 750-metre

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

through the reef. The tunnel is 15 metres wide and up to 12 metres high. Tunnel Creek was also the hideout for the

Bunuba The ''Bunuba'' (also known as Bunaba, Punapa, Punuba) are a group of Indigenous Australians and are one of the traditional owners of the southern West Kimberley, in Western Australia. Many now live in and around the town of Fitzroy Crossing. ...

man

Jandamarra Jandamarra or Tjandamurra ( 1873–1 April 1897), known to British settlers as Pigeon,
in: Taylor (2004) was ...

, also known as Pigeon, who was killed there by police in 1897. The yellow-lipped cave bat, species ''

Vespadelus douglasorum The yellow-lipped cave bat (''Vespadelus douglasorum'') is a vesper bat, an insectivorous flying mammal, that only occurs in the Kimberley region of north-west Australia. The bat was first captured at Tunnel Creek in 1958 and a description publi ...

'', was first collected at this location.

References

Watercourses of Western Australia Kimberley (Western Australia) {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub

See also

References