Gibb River Road - El Questro

After spending a couple of days in Kununurra we were looking over our maps and stuff and saw that there was a fair bit of stuff in El Questro to do.  Before the trip, I had booked 3 nights in some bungalows for a bit of mid-trip luxury.  It just so happened (actually no coincidence at all) that Keyla's birthday would be while were staying in the bungalows.

We decided to head out to El Questro a day early and camp there and have a bit of a relax and get a feel for the place.  After booking in and having a couple of beers at the reception, we went and set up camp under a shady tree.  I started writing some blogs on the lappie and Keyla was reading her "Coaching for Performance" book (she had already knocked off her Di Morrisey novel she got in Broome).

In the past I've had troubles with UHF antennas snapping off due to the vibrations from the corrugations.  No problem I thought - I'll just go and get an antenna that'll survive the trip.  I went to the local UHF store and got the good oil - an antenna that was encased in rubber from the base to up past the phasing coils.  It worked.  I had no problems with the antenna.  The ground indpendent mount however was a different story.  It didn't survive.  After a repair with Tarzan's Grip and later Araldite (both failed quickly), I decided to give it more than 3 minutes attention.  So while Keyla read her book, I drank beer and set to work on the antenna mount with Araldite, cloth tape and cable ties from my "useful box".  The repairs are still holding and will probably outlast the vehicle.....

Shady Campsite at El Questro

The only victim of the corrugations

The following day we got up early (consistent with our "up early and do stuff while it's cool" strategy) to visit Zebedee Springs. We had also been told by others to get there early to avoid the "crowds" later on.
The Zebedee Springs were a short and very easy walk from the carpark and the sensation was like being teleported from a hot dry rocky area to an idyllic spring in a rainforest. Pictures don't do justice to the beauty and ambience of the place. We arrived there at about 7:00am and ended up having the place to ourselves for almost an hour. The water was absolutely crystal clear and pleasantly warm. We soaked and relaxed in those pools for a couple of hours. It is an amazingly peaceful place.  One of the highlights of the whole trip.

One area of Zebedee Springs - deeper than it looks

Area where we spent a couple of hours

Stephen chillaxing in the springs

In the afternoon we decided to do a bit of 4WD.  We had some maps in our hands with lots of warnings on them "Caution - Experienced 4WD Drivers Only" etc..  This raised my interest a bit.  The tracks (roads?) generally led to lookouts that provided groovy vistas of the surrounding countryside.  Either I'm an amazing 4WD driver, or the signs are there to scare off the "unsure" - the roads were a bit of a doddle from a 4WD point of view.  However the scenery was good and we saw a fair bit of wildlife as we crept along.

View from a lookout (Pentecost River?)

Chamberlain River? from lookout

Chamberlain Gorge? from lookout

The next day we got up early again to go and walk Emma Gorge (which is about half an hour's drive away).  We hatted, watered and suncreened up and set off for the Gorge.  The first half of the walk was fairly exposed but reasonably easy.  The second half of the walk in involved a bit more "rock hopping" but was still fairly easy - and shady.

Emma Gorge was another one of those places that you just say "WOW" repeatedly in a catatonic state as you stand there and try and take it all in.  Again, the photos don't do the place justice at all.  The swimming hole at the end of the gorge is very large and full of deep crystal clear water both from warm groundwater seeping in, and cold water from the waterfall that cascades down from on high.  It isn't a quiet place (given the tall waterfall) but a peacful one at that.  It was a marvellous sensation to float on our backs under the waterfall and watch the water cascade down towards us in slow-motion.  Again, we stayed for a couple of hours.  However these waters were fairly cool in comparison to Zebedee and it'd be difficult to stay in the water all day (previous statement applies to everyone except Warrnamboolites).

Easy walk into Emma Gorge

Waterfall and Pool at Emma Gorge - it's very big

Waterfall and Pool at Emma Gorge - it's very big

Stephen swimming under waterfall

Looking back out along Emma Gorge

We found a rock to sit on at the back of the pool

After relaxing at Emma Gorge - we went on a small 4WD circuit near the northern end of the Gibb River Road.  We stopped by Tier Gorge where a previous owner of El Questro had set up a "perfect Human society" in 2000.  The maps now invite you in to view the ruins of the exercise (very funny when you read between the lines).  We saw some modern ruins but enjoyed the cute little gorge and the finest stand of Pandanus Spiralus that we had seen on our travels.

Tier Gorge - site of the "perfect human society"

Impressive stand of Pandanus Spiralus at Tier Gorge

23rd September - a significant date - it's the equinox where the sun crosses the equator from the nothern hemisphere to the south; it's when sidreal time matches up with local solar time; I'm not sure but druids probably do wierd stuff with goats at stonehenge, and, it's also Keyla's birthday.  An "in" family joke has over recent years has involved Elodie's birthday in early July.  Over the last few years Elodie has celebrated her birthday in remote places (Karajini, Innamincka, Shark Bay, the Coral Coast.. the list goes on); this year Elodie taunted Keyla with the line "Ha - now you'll have your birthday in the middle of nowhere".

We had an easy day planned for Keyla's birthday.  First up was a breakfast cruise along Chamberlain Gorge.  We arrived there a bit before the departure time of 7:15 am.  We were welcomed on the boat by a local ranger, a tour guide and a lass from the catering dept.  We sat and talked for a while and drank cups of tea whilst waiting for the bus-load of tourists to arrive.  Time passed and a couple of radio calls to the base confirmed that the bus wasn't coming.  The 3 staff were delighted to give Keyla and I a private tour of Chamberlain Gorge.  They told us to get busy, as we had 40 egg and bacon rolls to eat along with a dozen bottles of champagne and platters of fruit.  Co-incidentally it was the last breakfast cruise for the year.  We enjoyed a lovely 3ish hour gentle cruise down the gorge looking at the rock wallabies and searching for saltwater crocodiles (none spotted).  We stopped in the shade of a cliff in the "no fishing" zone for about an hour and fed catfish and archer fish crumbs of bread and horse pellets.  We delighted in getting the archer fish to squirt the crumbs from our fingers.  Good thing it was warm, as they squirted anthing that was shiny.  Cameras and sunglasses were a favourite of theirs.  It was difficullt to stay dry.  They also were eternal optimists in that they'd occasionally just squirt us while we were sitting in the boat.  I don't know what they thought or were hoping to do - maybe squirt one of us out of the boat??.  It'd be like a dog chasing a car and actually catching it - now what do I do? The archer fish were really cool.  We also watched the really big barramundi hang around and eat the occasional juvenile archer fish or catfish (swallow them whole in a single gulp).  It was darwinisim in action, all unfolding in front of my eyes - I was agog.  The 3 staff wished Keyla a happy birthday as we left to return to prepare for our walk for the day.

The Birthday Girl

Looking North from boat ramp at Chamberlain Gorge

The "fish nursery" (southern) end of the Gorge - lots of Archer Fish and Barramundi

As we arrived back at the station village to water/hat/suncsreen up for our walk for the day - the guys from the cruise caught up with us and gave Keyla one of the 11 remaining bottles of Champagne to help her celebrate her birthday.  Keyla was becoming a minor celebrity in the place - just about everyone was wishing her a happy birthday.

El Questro Gorge is 2 walks in one.  The first walk of about an hour gets you to halfway pool.  Beyond that you need to swim and climb over some bog rocks to continue.  After that it's and hour and a half to the end of the gorge.  Given the heat and our late start (due to the cruise), we let discretion be the better part of valour and decided to go only as far as Halfway Pool.  The walk was pretty easy and reasonably shady as the gorge was quite narrow.  We were rewarded with beautiful scenery along the way and a beautiful swimming hole at Halfway Pool.  It was crystal clear, deep and had lovely fish just schmoozing around doing fish stuff.

We met some really conservative german tourists there at halfway pool.  They were great fun to talk with (although rather than laughing - they tried to analyse why german tourists make up 84% of all croc attack victims when we told them this "fact").  We spent an hour or so swimming and chatting with them on all range of topics such as destinations to visit, tyre pressures and 4WD techniques for novices.

Typical scene walking into El Questro Gorge

Keyla standing in typical scene in El Questro Gorge

Rotten and horrible crystal clear pools along the way

Halfway Pool - simply gorgeous

Permanent residents of halfway pool

Stephen doing fish impersonations

A lovely spot for a swim

After walking back to the Beast we headed back to the El Questro station township where we were staying.  Given that it had been a big birthday so far, with much acheived, and it was only about 3 in the afternoon, Keyla did what any person would do in that situation.  She had a Nanna Nap.  I was content with taking a few photos around the place and doing some maintenance on the Beast.

Later in the evening, we took Keyla's birthday Champagne (from the cruise dudes) to the restaurant at the station township.  The staff at the restaurant had set up a special table in the corner of the verandah with beautiful views all around.  We were treated like royalty all night.  We were just chillaxing after we finished our meal, when we heard "happy birthday" being sung in a far corner of the restaurant.  Keyla turned around to see who else was having a birthday, when she saw a birthday cake being carried across the room towards her.  By the time the cake was halfway across the room, everyone in the restaurant was giving it their all singing "happy birthday".  She was grinning so much her ears nearly fell off.

I think she had a marvellous 45th birthday.

Keyla with her birthday cake

Photo by a happy diner who insisted on taking a pic

Next post - the trip home begins...