Our Travels

Back on the Gibb River Rd, we left Drysdale around 9:30 and around 11 there was a sign on the side of the road advertising scones with jam & cream. One of the travellers at Drysdale had mentioned that Ellenbrae Station put on scones for travellers. They had a really nice setup, coffee, scones with jam & cream in a rustic open air setting with finches flying back and forward between feeding stations.

An hour later we were back on the Gibb River road, the amount of dust in this section is incredible, you cannot pass any one unless they pull over and let you go past. The dust from the vehicles in front lingers for about 2 kms. Coming out near the Pentecost Ranges was spectacular.

The mighty 105, just starting to show the red dust

We had intended to bush camp on the other side of the Pentecost River but the people at Ellenbrae said the El Questro staff had moved people on from there earlier in the week so we decided to stay at Home Valley Station on their river camp grounds. Jacky was pretty apprehensive about the warnings not to camp on the riverside of the road and to keep 2-3 metres from the river bank.

The view over the Pentecost River from the Home Valley Campsite

The campsite had fantastic views of the river and the Pentecost Ranges, I was really looking forward to the view in the morning but Jacky insisted we camp towards the back of the camp ground and just before dark 3 camper trailers came in and camped right in front of us.

That night we put our “best clothes” on and went to the restaurant for tea. Garlic prawns, Barramundi for me, scotch fillet steak for Jacky, followed by apple crumble with icecream. A bit of a change from our usual suppers.

We packed up from Mitchell Falls and headed back to Drysdale Station and arrived there in time for lunch. Lunch has presented problems up north, we set out with the intention to find some nice place to stop and make our own lunch but when you eventually find a spot the heat discourages you from pulling all the gear out and making lunch on the side of the road so when a roadhouse comes up around lunch time the intention of a cheap self-made lunch disappears and we just buy lunch. As we set up camp it became quite smoky for a while because they were burning off a fire break around the camping area.

The national park itinerary suggested driving up to Surveyors pool and then to a lookout over the coast line for the second day, so we set off and eventually found the pool. I don’t think too many people follow their itinerary. We passed only one vehicle and there was no one at the car park. The walk to the pool was 1.5 km return, a stroll after yesterday. It was a beautiful spot. The information sign asked you to respect the aboriginal snake that resided in the pools below the falls and not to swim in these pools, the second line on the sign suggested that there were estuarine crocodiles in the pools.

Respect Guaranteed

I think the respect was guaranteed. There were two waterfalls into a large pool, one stepped and the other one was a direct drop into the pool.

Waterfall into Surveyor’s Pool

Surveyors Pool

We found a small pool above the falls that was deep enough to get wet. There was a little scum on the rock bottom but once that cleared, sitting in the cool, rushing water on a hot day in May was brilliant.

From Surveyors pool the itinerary suggested a lookout further up the road where you could look out over the coast line. Unfortunately the lookout was not marked and the track continued on to the coast. As the track came down from the escarpment it became rougher and rougher. It was time to engage low range, nearly an hour later of crawling over this steep rocky track we came out near the coast with a fairly large bog hole in front of us. There was evidence that vehicles had been through it recently but being on our own and facing an hour crawl back up this track we decided it was time to turn around and head back to camp.

Walking shoes on, backpack full of water and snacks and we were off for a 5km hike to the Mitchell Falls. It turned out to be quite a challenging walk with much of it climbing over rocks, down gorges and alongside a creek and crossing over waterfalls. Along the creek was really nice, the trees provided plenty of shade and it was quite cool but the rocky areas were quite exposed and hot. Crossing the Merton Creek where it drops 80 metres into a gorge was quite spectacular, there was not a lot of water flowing over but the drop into the gorge was spectacular and you are right on the edge of that drop.

Big Merton Falls

The walking track across Big Merton Falls

From there it was over one more hill and we were at the Mitchell River crossing. That proved to be a challenge. Up to this point we had got our feet wet but just in small streams, here we were going to get more than our feet wet. There was little option as the Helicopter pick up was on the other side as well as the views of the falls. Our shoes were already wet so we left them on hoping for a little grip on the slippery rocks. The first section had a number of rocks where the water was flowing over them at about shin deep however in the gaps between them the water was waist deep. I went first wondering if the decision to bring my $4000 camera and lens was the right one. I quickly realised that while I could step over the gaps the lack of grip was certain to make me lose my balance so I decided it was a nice day to get wet. Jacky had more trouble but eventually she was able to get past those gaps. The next section was about knee deep but the rock bottom offered very little grip. Jacky gave up trying to stand up and decided to do it on her hands and knees however she lost her grip and started to float down the river. I wisely told her to grab hold of the bottom. After she said she couldn’t grip the bottom (twice) I realised she was in trouble. I was close enough to be able to take two steps and grab her hand without losing my balance or dropping my camera. If I had of missed that opportunity she may have gone over the rapids that were about 10 metres away with about a 2 metre drop.

Rapids at the Mitchell River Crossing

The rest of the crossing was uneventful, the last 20 metres was only ankle deep. It was only after we were across that we realised how close a call it was. It is marvellous how our God looks after us. We found out later that the crossing had only been open for 2 days, before that you could walk to the crossing but you had to take the helicopter to actually see the falls.

Mitchell River Crossing

Mitchell River Crossing from the other side

We had nearly 2 hours before our helicopter ride arrived. The views of the falls are fantastic. In front of the helicopter pickup area is a wide open section of the river where you can swim, the fresh water was beautiful to swim in but there was no way I could persuade Jacky back into the water. I think she’d had enough of the river for one day.

Mitchell Falls from the air

Mitchell Falls

After nearly 3 hrs to walk there, the helicopter ride back was 6 mins and that included 2 circuits of the falls to allow you to take photos.

Jacky at the Mitchell Falls

Packed up again, drove to the homestead and left the trailer there and headed up to the Mitchell plateau. The creek crossings were pretty numerous both on the Kalumburu road and the road into the Mitchell Falls but most were only 5-10 cms deep. The Kalumburu Rd was pretty good, much of it had been graded in the last week, even the road to the Mitchell falls wasn’t too bad. There were some rough sections near the water crossings, some steep sections and some muddy sections. The major river crossing was the King Edward River, the water was about 50 cms and flowing fairly fast but the bottom was rocky and there was plenty of traction. In hindsight we could have pulled the camper trailer in, in fact while we were there we saw 4 full size caravans in there plus a couple of camper trailers. Still we have to justify lugging a swag on the roof rack so we were quite happy to swag it for 3 nights

We arrived around 3 pm after a 3 hour drive, set up camp and went to explore. First stop was the Helicopter office, Jacky had read the notes about the 2 ½ – 3 hr walk to the falls and was not looking forward to the walk back in the heat of the day. The Helicopter service will take you to the falls or pick you up from the falls, plus they offer extended flights over the Mitchell River and out to the coast. The ride back included 2 circuits of the falls so we decided to lash out and pay for the return trip.

From the Helicopter office we went down to the start of the walk to see what we were in for the next day. There were a couple swimming (getting wet) in the creek near the camp and they thoroughly recommended it. It was pretty hot so we went back to the car and did a quick change in the car park and headed down to the water. It was beautiful, cool enough to be refreshing. We just lay in the water and watched the little fish come up and nibble at our legs. It spooked Jacky a little until she realised what was happening, even then she wasn’t too sure about it

Miners Pool: another day to relax and take it easy. After spending the morning reading and playing games we decided to go and checkout the river. Access to the river was limited to one track and we didn’t notice it as we drove in and we had camped a fair distance from it, so we drove up to it. There was another couple down on the river fishing, so I thought I’d get the gear out and try my new barramundi lure. There was a lot of small fish in the river and I managed to get a few medium size ones to follow the lure but none of them were interested in taking a bite at it. It was a really tranquil spot and the water looked inviting to swim but once I pointed out the freshwater crocodile to Jacky all thoughts of swimming disappeared and I didn’t fancy swimming by myself.

Packed up and headed off up the Gibb River road, scenery changed from flat open plains to hills and rocky escarpments as we went through the Leopold Ranges. We arrived at Mt Barnet roadhouse around lunch time so we decided to try their steak burger, it was pretty good and at $18 it was not the most expensive we have seen. Fuel prices have taken a leap on this road, $2.50 / litre so I limited myself to only 100 litres. We had read / heard that Manning Gorge was worth a look so we were thinking about an early camp there before going on to Drysdale Station. It turned out that Mt Barnett was the booking office for this camp ground and they wanted $20 /person/night. We decided beautiful gorge or not $40 for bush camping was a little too much. Drysdale was another 150 kms so we decided to push on. We arrived at Drysdale River Station around 4:45pm just before the office closed and the choice was camping by the homestead with flushing toilets, hot & cold showers for $15 /p/n or Miners Pool for $10 /p/n with pit toilets.

Miners Pool – Drysdale Station

The homestead camping looked a little crowded so we opted for Miners Pool. What a place, close to 10 acres of camping spread along the Drysdale river and we had it totally to ourselves.

Today we drove 50 kms to Tunnel Creek and did the walk through the cave (tunnel) and then back through it again as there is no way out over the limestone cliffs. It was in the mid-thirties again but somewhat cooler in the cave. There was a fair amount of water to wade through, some up to my (Terry) knees but the water was cool although not as cold I had expected it to be. The entrance into the tunnel was quite a challenge and involved climbing over some quite large rocks. This, together with the warning about freshwater crocodiles, the warning about disturbing the bat colonies, one species being the Ghost Bat (Australia’s only carnivorous bat) and a genuine dislike of inhabited dark spaces almost stopped Jacky from going in at all. However she conquered her fears and did it. Later in the afternoon when it was a little cooler we went for a hike into the Windjana Gorge.

First Crocodile sighting

The track runs alongside a creek and we saw about ten small freshwater crocodiles. The outside walls of the gorge are black rock with pinky orange sections throughout. Inside the gorge is limestone reef with fossils throughout. We had our second lot of rain although it wasn’t much.

Pack up took a little longer this morning as we needed to make some phone calls to sort out a couple of things. Once we were packed up we headed out to the Prison Boab Tree. It has some very interesting information about the area before you get to the tree.

Boab Prison Tree

The tree itself is quite large with a small opening to get in or out of it. I imagine it would be quite dark inside but the public are not allowed inside. I didn’t mind, particularly after I read the sign that suggested it could house a few snakes. I wasn’t in any hurry to find out if this was true so observed from a reasonable distance.

Gibb River Road

Then! The Gibb River Road was calling us. It starts off bitumen then changes to gravel. We travelled down to Windjana Gorge National Park. The camping area was quite spacious with few people there when we arrived. We set up near a nice shady tree. There are flushing toilets and showers here which is a nice surprise. I visited the toilet to find a nice bright green tree frog in the toilet bowl so I left him to it and chose another toilet. Terry went to the toilet a while later and rescued the frog and set him free. It seemed he didn’t want to be free and tried to get back into the bowl as Terry was sitting on it contemplating life. Our spacious camping area wasn’t empty for too long. About 5pm people just started arriving and it became quite crowded. I’m so glad we arrived when we did and were able to choose our spot.

Mother’s Day

Unfortunately Mother’s day was spent travelling. We went back to Broome for more supplies and it didn’t take much persuasion from Terry to talk me into having lunch at the café in the shopping centre. After buying our supplies we headed off to Derby. We found a really nice caravan park and set up the for a one night stay. Terry cooked his first meal of the trip because it was mother’s day although he keeps reminding me that I’m not his mother.