Monday, 30 June 2014

Mitchell Plateau

25-28 June

We turned north off the Gibb River Road at the Kalumburu Road junction as our destination was Mitchell Falls.  It's a 92km drive to the campground, 2-3 hours though.  We were surprised to see so many palm trees and in such density.  Despite the deep orange dirt and dust it was almost tropical.


After a long, fairly bumpy drive we settled in to the national park camping area, where we ended up spending 4 nights as we loved the area so much.  The highlight of course was the 8.6km return walk to Mitchell Falls.  We set off around 7.30 am, a gorgeous time of the morning here as the sun rises around 6am so we're always up early.  The walk took us over a creek, across the top of a gorge, through some flat areas, along a shady gully, over rocks, through a river and finally over more rocks to a viewing area.

Oh wow, just to be here was amazing.  It only got better though.  There was a faint track leading down a little further, then onto some rocks where we went between two boulders and sat on a rocky ledge.  From here we could see the ‘classic’ Mitchell Falls view.  All four tiers, top to bottom, with the lowest fall dropping into a huge pool far below.  Speaking of tiers, I’ll admit to shedding a few tears – just the overwhelming sense of being here.  A long-held dream I didn’t in all honesty expect to realise.  This was awesome in every sense of the word and we sat up here for close to an hour, just taking it all in. 





Re-crossing the river, we made our way to where the river drops over the cliff to become the Mitchell Falls.  It was beautiful up here!  We could look down several tiers, we could see the flat first tier where the water laps under a cave and there’s a separate waterfall on the right wall.  Best of all, up there in the hot sun, we could feel the light spray of the water as the breeze caught it.  This was such fun!


Top of the Mitchell Falls

The walk back was good too.  We took our time and explored some caves with aboriginal art in them.  The track crosses the top of Mertens Falls which drop into a huge gorge.  When we got to Little Mertens Falls we walked down to the large pool into which the falls drop.  It’s quite lush in there, a beautiful swimming spot which we had almost to ourselves.  I sat on a rock where I was sprayed gently from above.  Oh wow, I enjoyed this so much.  It cooled me down better than a swim would have, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do – sit beneath a waterfall getting wet.  Phil climbed around the cliff behind the falls for a different perspective.


Behind the falls

Back at the top of the falls there’s a series of rocky waterholes and a couple of these were like sitting in a spa.  The water came from two directions and where it met in the crevice of two rocks, it gushed into the waterhole with a lot of force and felt great on our backs.
The spa!

We returned to camp and at 6pm took our chairs to the campfire chat the ranger was doing.  This turned out to be fascinating as he’s been a ranger at Mitchell Falls for 12 years and showed slides and video clips he’s taken of the place during the wet season.  We’d been wondering many times just how much water flows through there in the wet and we saw the photographic evidence.  It floods big time!  No wonder everything’s closed for 5-6 months and much of the Kimberley is inaccessible.  He also talked about the aboriginal art found in the area and the archaeological digs that have been done and with which he was involved.  A very intelligent and passionate man.  We learned quite a lot.  In fact almost every camper attended this talk (about 80).

The next couple of days we spent enjoying the area, especially Little Mertens Falls for the swimming, the falls and the waterholes but also the nearby caves and rock ledges full of aboriginal art.  We both got a real feel for this place … its beauty but also its relative isolation and its history.  A real highlight.

Gibb River Road

22-23 June

This is the Pentecost River crossing along the Gibb River Road, with the Cockburn Range in the background.  We’ve just come across and are admiring the scenery from the opposite bank – away from the river’s edge.  Yep, saltwater crocodiles inhabit this river.  It’s a really beautiful area.




Not far along is Home Valley Station where we decided to stay mainly for the views of the ranges at sunset from the riverside camp area. It’s a working cattle station which takes guests and we absolutely loved camping along the river where it was quiet and the sunset and sunrise were beautiful.
The next morning we had a fun time watching about a dozen water snakes chasing food in the river.  Being a tidal river, the Pentecost is known for its saltwater crocs but fortunately we didn’t see any. 

We stayed at another working station the next night – Ellenbrae.  The homestead’s pretty basic and in a lush garden setting.  We sat on the deck there and had a Devonshire tea, with little ‘double-barred’ finches all around us, before heading down to the camping ground.


Meanwhile travelling along the Gibb River Road brought all sorts of surprises – great views, a variety of road conditions, even a lily pond.  We’re learning to expect the unexpected, that’s for sure.

Crossing the Durack River
  


El Questro Station

Yes it’s been a while since we’ve been able to update our whereabouts.  No internet or phone reception for the past ten days – it’s quite nice to be completely free of technology for a while. 

We left Kununurra ten days ago to “go bush”, or to be more precise to explore the areas along the Gibb River Road and the far north Kimberley.  It’s been absolutely amazing, so read on!



Friday 20 June

It was a bit of fun to be starting the journey along the Gibb River Road, hence the photo.  This has long been an iconic 4 wheel drive adventure, though the road is far less rugged than it used to be.  It’s no highway though, that’s for sure!


However it is bitumen through to the turnoff to El Questro Station.  The road into El Questro isn’t sealed and with a couple of river crossings and sandy bits definitely requires 4WD.  It’s a lovely spot with a nice camping area by the Pentecost River where they have croc-free swimming holes.  There’s an outdoor bar, a restaurant, lots of scenic tours available and live entertainment at night.  The campground was quite full the two nights we were there. 


Phil enjoying Zebedee Springs
El Questro gorge 'halfway pool'
We did the walk halfway into El Questro gorge (that’s as far as you can go) which follows a creek along a palm-shaded track and ends at a great swimming hole.  We enjoyed a dip in here before the walk back.


Zebedee Springs, also on El Questro Station (the station’s a million acres) is the most natural, beautiful springs you could imagine.  The water’s warmish, and there are lots of little pools among the rocks in which you can sit and enjoy the view up through palms and gums to the cliffs above.


The second night there we drove up to a lookout for sunset.  Wow, that was some drive.  We had to cross a croc-infested river (not that we saw any) with the Troopy having to crawl over submerged basketball-sized rocks – this was the track through the river!

Then it was a rugged climb up to the lookout area but well worth it.  The views were across the Chamberlain River, El Questro Homestead (the really exclusive place) and the Cockburn Range.

So while we both thought El Questro was a bit commercial with its expensive tours, restaurant, compulsory 'park pass' and even expensive camping fees, it was well worth seeing and the natural features of this area are fantastic.



Wednesday, 18 June 2014

Bungle Bungles



This is one of the most captivating places either of us has ever been to.  No words, no photos can really give a sense of how it feels to be walking around in such an ancient and beautiful environment.  

The rock and sandstone formations have been dated at 360 mill. years old

Between the domes is the beautiful 'cathedral gorge' which is like a huge
amphitheatre with water in the middle

The domes are huge, mainly sandstone.  That's a helicopter above

Echidna Chasm was spectacular, almost like walking through
a series of caves but without the stalagmites/tites

It's quite an expedition to get to the Bungle Bungles and you'd only do it in a 4WD due to the corrugations and creek crossings.  Most were only puddles really, at this time of year, but the first one would have stopped most 2WD vehicles.  It's a 53km track in from the bitumen road, which took us a little over 2 hours to drive (they say 2-3 hrs).  It crosses a cattle station for most of the way, before becoming national park.  What a beautiful drive it was though, and a fun one too.  The road took us on all sorts of twists and turns, up and downhill, nothing hard, just scenic and interesting.  


We camped for 3 nights in the national park (real name is Purnululu), 2 at the northern end of the park and one at the southern.  There are no facilities other than long-drop toilets, it's very much bush camping - so peaceful.  And the stars!!  The camping areas are a good 15km from the ranges and domes of the Bungle Bungles; the Aboriginal 'owners', national parks and Mabel Downs Station seem to be working co-operatively to really care for the fragile environment.  Walking is strictly limited to the tracks that have been created to take visitors to the main features and best viewing areas.  However, you're definitely up close and personal with it all!

As you can tell, we were seriously impressed and thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. 

Tonight we returned to Kununurra and watched the sunset over the lake.  Believe it or not, we sat watching a crocodile making its way very stealthily towards a dead fish floating near the shore.  Just its eyes were visible above the water.  Apparently freshwater crocs are commonly seen in the lake - the local woman who pointed it out was standing knee deep in the water fishing.  We wouldn't take any chances on guessing whether it was a freshie or a salty though!

The croc's eyes can be seen in the photo, slightly to right and below centre

Saturday, 14 June 2014

We're living the dream!


Lake Argyle




We left Victoria River planning to do a walk somewhere - there were a couple of walking tracks shown on a map so we randomly chose one called Joe Creek.  Just to stretch our legs and see a bit of the escarpment country.  Well, this turned out to be one of the best walks ever (have I said that before?  Probably ..)  Anyway, it really was fantastic.  Very rocky, pretty steep for a while but it took us up from the valley to the escarpment wall through ancient palms, snappy gums and red rock.

Our efforts were well rewarded with some genuine Aboriginal rock art along the base of the escarpment.  Sitting there, we could only imagine what it must have been like for the people who called this place home all those years ago.  Great shelter, that's for sure.

 The palms were the ancient livistona ones like those in Palm Valley in Central Australia. They're incredibly straight and tall.  It was silent in here, a pretty special experience.


After that bit of exercise, it was time to continue towards the WA border.
Woohoo!!
They have strict quarantine laws preventing fruit, vegies, honey and plants being taken over the border, but we already knew that and hadn't stocked up.  We took the turnoff to Lake Argyle, intending to spend a night out there but the Resort where we camped was so lovely, we stayed two nights.


We're not keen on helicopters, but there were flights over Lake Argyle

and is illuminated at night
The "infinity" pool overlooks Lake Argyle
Not just a Kimberley moon, but a Kimberley FULL moon

Yes, this place is beautiful but we're also really looking forward to the next few weeks "out bush".

This morning (Sat 14th June) after having a look around the Durack homestead, we continued to Kununurra where we are now.  It's the centre of the Ord Irrigation Scheme and was built in about 1960.  Tomorrow we're off to the Bungle Bungles for 3 or 4 nights' camping and a few bush walks.  We'll return to Kununurra to stock up then plan to go up to Kalumburu, the Mitchell plateau, back to the Gibb River Road and lots of amazing things in between.  As off the beaten track as is possible (or sensible).  We're unlikely to have internet connection so will update whenever we can.