Its a couple of driving days to get to Mitchell Falls from El Questro.  We stopped at Ellenbrae Station, famous for their scones, and had the GF vanilla muffins with cream and jam, almost as good!  Shared the gravel road driving to Drysdale River Station (off the Gibb River Road) where we camped for the night.  Then it was four hours of corrugated and rocky roads to the Mitchell Falls campground.  Saw two dingoes, one in a picnic area and one crossing the road.  Stopped at Munurru Campground (aka King Edward River Camp) to check it out and have lunch.  Interesting that all the ‘traditional’ English names in these areas are being replaced by the original aboriginal names and most areas are under joint management between the government and the traditional owners.  We pulled in behind an APT tour bus and some people from the tour came over and offerred us their leftover lunch as it was only going to be thrown out.  So we had tandoori chicken and roasted vegetable salad courtesy of APT.  We also later gave away another bag of their vegetables to a fellow camper.  At that lunch stop on the King Edward River I had a quick swim in a beautiful spot on the river and no one else was there. Magic place! It took 2 hours for Dick to drive 78 k’s into Mitchell Falls campground as the road was pretty rough.  I did 109 k’s in 2 hours, also on gravel and corrugations, so we had a dusty, juddery day and it was too much for the fridge door shelf (gaffer tape to the rescue)!  About 40 k’s before Mitchell Falls we encountered a slide-on campervan being loaded onto a tow truck for the long drive to Kununurra (estimated to cost $5-$6,000 for the tow truck).  A somewhat sobering sight!

Mitchell Falls day (aka Punamii-unpuu) started with a 6 minute helicopter taxi ride to the falls at 10am (and we both figured it was a good way to spend $250).  That gave us lots of time to look around at the top of the falls, have a swim and lunch before walking 5 k’s back to camp in the hot afternoon sun.  The falls were spectacular (four tiers and all had water even though its getting late in the season) and also quite a special place to be in.  We were allowed to swim in the pools at the top of the falls but not at the bottom as it would be disrespectful to the local people since it is a sacred place inhabited by powerful dreamtime serpents; as well as saltwater crocodiles.  We did see two quolls chattering and scrambling over rocks on our walk back.  We did not see the aboriginal artwork under Little Mertens Falls which we walked by.

Started the day by doing the River View walk and then walking back to Little Mertens Falls to see the aboriginal artwork we missed yesterday.  Again we struggled to find the way to get down under the falls but fortunately a tour guide with three clients came along so we followed them down under the falls.  We saw quite a lot of interesting aboriginal artwork, some Bradshaw(Gwion Gwion) and some Wandjinas, and then we found the swimming hole under the falls.  It was lovely and again I had a nice swim.  Dick even got a bit further into the water this time. Another hot, sunny day with clear blue skies and we managed to get in a 5 km walk before we did the two hour, rough road drive back to the Munurru campground.  Stopped at a lookout and another aboriginal art site on the way.

Ongoing maintenance and repair jobs are keeping the IT support/handyman quite busy, especially after those rocky, corrugated roads when cupboards stop closing, spice bottles empty, sinks get loose, and things under the vehicle need refastening (the magic crawler for getting under the vehicle is proving useful). We checked out the King Edward River which is very lovely but decided against a morning swim before we left the camp.  Stopped at another aboriginal art site; almost got lost in the rocks a la ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ and did see some interesting aboriginal art.  I drove back to Drysdale River Station where we decided to stay as they have laundry facilities.  We finished the day with the famous Drysdale hamburgers for dinner and chats with fellow travellers in the beer garden.  Drove to Mt Barnett Roadhouse/Manning Gorge so back on the Gibb River Road the next day.  One unplanned stop when the CB aerial broke (no wonder considering the corrugations we had been on!).  All passers by stopped to check if we were ok while Dick checked out the damage.  Its a nice feeling that people are looking out for each other, although it is hard to take a pee at the side of the road.

Another hot and sunny day for our walk to Manning Gorge (6k return).  The walk started by crossing the Manning River in a boat that you pull yourself across via ropes connected to pulleys at both ends.  The walk started out flat and easy but the last 500 meters was climbing over and down large boulders.  We spent a pleasant few hours on the rocks opposite the falls, and I had a swim, Dick had a sit in the water.  Managed another swim in the river near the camp when we got back – very relaxing day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a slow, relaxing start for our first day of exploring El Questro Wilderness Park, which is one million acres of gorge country offerring fishing, thermal pools, cruises, horseback riding, hiking and helicopter flights (sort of resort/outback station). We are in a large, private bush camp on the Pentecost River about 5 k’s from the main camping area.  Our site features a very large, lovely boab tree.  A sign warns us against swimming here!  We drove to El Questro Gorge as it was recommended as a good shady afternoon walk and not too long or too hard.  Took 3 or 4 river crossings to get there.  This is definately a 4 WD ONLY place.  Things to do seem to involve difficult gorge walks or rough 4 WD tracks to lookouts.  The gorge walk was only 2.6 k return but it took an hour each way as there was lots of scrambling over rocks and boulders and multiple creek crossings on stepping stones. It was a deep, narrow and lush gorge. We were glad we had our boots and poles but others were doing it in sandals and thongs.  I had a nice swim in the pool at the end and Dick even soaked in the pool and got partly wet.

An early start so we could get to Zebedee Springs early – they open at 7am and close to the public at 12PM. We were there just before 8:30, which worked out well as lots were leaving then.  This is a series of rocky thermal pools in an area dense with Livistona Palms (only found here and in the Bungles).  It was a lovely natural oasis and we found our own private little pool at the top section.  As we were enjoying a lovely soak, our Swiss neighbors from the Bungles appeared so we had a good catch up with them sitting in our own pool in the middle of a beautiful area of palms, nice rocks and sheer red cliffs.  We spent nearly two hours sitting in the warm thermal pools, before heading to the main station township for a nice lunch.  For afternoon excitement we drove the 4 WD track to Branco’s lookout.  The track started with a long & extremely rocky river crossing (took 8 minutes as I videoed it) followed by narrow, steep and rocky tracks to the lookout.  Extensive views of the property and the Pentecost River awaited us, and at about 100 meters up we could still see a 3 meter croc in the river below.  We finished the afternoon having drinks with our Swiss friends who were impressed with our private camp and large boab.

For our third day at El Questro we spent the morning on chores and did the Moonshine Gorge walk in the afternoon. Luckily the weather had cooled down to 29 degrees C and we had a slight breeze.  The walk was 5 k’s, reasonably difficult as we walked on rocks or boulders 80% of the time and it took us 3 hours.  The gorge was lush and beautiful with lots of palms, places to swim, multiple river crossings and more lovely red cliffs.  There was a  beautiful pool at the end so I had a swim and Dick had a sit in the water.  We were both tired after the walk.  The walking here and the 4 wheel driving share a lot – scrambling over rocks, always needing to watch where you put your feet or your wheels, which means both are quite difficult and take lots of concentration.

Emma Gorge is a separate part of El Questro and we did the 3.2k return walk to Emma Gorge after leaving our lovely private camp at El Questro.  The walk was challenging with lots of rock scrambling and large boulders to navigate, but the pool and waterfall at the end were worth it.  Dick had his first swim of the trip in Emma Gorge and for me the swim marked seven days of swimming in a row. We had a long chat with a couple from the central coast at the gorge so it ended up being a long walk.  Then we treated ourselves to lunch (again) before heading down the Gibb River Road.  El Questro marks the start or end of the Gibb River Road.  We are spending the night at a free roadside camp with amazing views, lovely sunset on the ranges and Telstra/internet coverage (so I could talk to Amy and Helen and do emails) – what more could we want!