Wide open spaces

When planning this trip back in Sydney, one of the things I really wanted to take the family to was the Gibb River Road, an iconic off road track that links Kununurra on Western Australia’s eastern border with Derby on the west coast. Cutting right through the rugged heart of the Kimberly region, it passes through beautiful ranges, countless gorges and an equal number of swimming holes and waterfalls, including the spectacular Mitchell Falls. Although it is not nearly as hard to travel along as it used to be, it is still an adventure and one that we were finally about to embark on. Our plan was to head from Kununurra to El Questro for a couple of nights before stopping at another couple of places on the way to the turn off to the Mitchell Falls. We would then head up the notoriously bad road to Mitchell Falls before returning down the same road to the Gibb again, at which time we would continue on to Derby, stopping at a few more gorges along the way. We expected the trip to take about 18 days and had loaded the car and trailer up with as much food as we could fit. Although there were some small shops along the way, fresh food was only likely if we arrived the same day as the weekly delivery truck.

El Questro

The drive to El Questro was pretty easy. Most of it was on the blacktop until the turnoff from where we had 16km of dirt including three creek crossings. One we got to the campground we fully understood the expression ‘peak season’. Being school holidays, it was chockers, with people everywhere and most campsites full. We finally found one and after manoeuvring the trailer into position we set up and went for an explore. The place was well set up, with a huge grassy area adjacent to tables and chairs near the bar and bistro. It did feel a lot like a money making machine designed to cash in on the tourist dollar, and we felt that it would definitely be a more appealing place to stay in the off season.

With a bit of time to kill before dinner, we hopped in the car and headed for Pigeon Hole lookout. The drive was nice, with a few more creek crossings before a short but steep climb to the lookout. It was a gorgeous view looking up a meandering river that cut its way through the surrounding mountains. We enjoyed the peaceful view for a while before heading back to camp as the masses descended on the lookout for sunset, taking away from the middle of nowhere feel the place had when we arrived. After hamburgers for dinner, we all headed to bed early.

The next morning we headed out to Emma Gorge, which was back towards Kununurra about 20km. The walk into the gorge was not too bad, although there wasn’t a lot of shade. After about 2km, walking along a mainly dry river bed, we arrived at our desination. It was a beautiful swimming hole with a massive waterfall. The towering walls surrounding the waterhole provided a shaded oasis to cool off in after the hot walk. Although there were a lot of people there it didn’t feel busy as the waterhole was huge with plenty of space for all. The kids got changed and hopped straight in, followed by Kat. I didn’t go in as my leg was still healing so I didn’t want to get it wet. They all had fun swimming under the waterfall and climbing on the rocks by the shore. After an hour or so, we embarked on the more arduous return walk. The return was always harder, not only because there was nothing at the end of it to entice us to go on, but also because it was so much hotter once the middle of the day arrived. Kat and I took the strategy of taking one kid each and chatting to them about whatever they wanted. If the kids were distracted they could walk for hours, but give them enough silence to realise they were walking in the heat and they would collapse on the ground in 5 minutes claiming that they couldn’t go on. Our plan worked flawlessly and we arrived back at the car exhausted but without incident. After lunch Oli and I did some more programming of Ollie the robot, while Kat and Em played cards. We then all wandered up to the grassy area for a game of soccer. Before long another kid asked if he could join in, then another, and another. Soon we had about a dozen extra kids making it a great game of soccer. After a while, Kat and I retired from the game, and headed to the bar to take advantage of the happy hour offer that had started a minute earlier. We sat and watched the kids play soccer as we enjoyed a drink together. We finally tore Oli away from the soccer as the light was fading and enjoyed dinner up at the tables by the grass. Exhausted from the day’s activities, we all collapsed into bed early again that night.

We had one more stop planned for El Questro before hitting the Gibb again so after packing up the trailer in record time, we parked it up at the main area and headed off without it to explore El Questro Gorge. The drive there wasn’t too far, but we did have to tackle a long and deep (at least in terms of what we had done previously) water crossing. It was about 50m long and 50cm deep. The kids loved it. After getting to the car park, we set off towards the gorge. The kids had their hydration packs on with plenty of scroggan and a few lollies to get them through. The walk up was really nice. It took up us a mainly shaded river bed, full of ferns and trees. There was a bit of rock hopping along the way but nothing the kids couldn’t handle. After about 1.5 hours we arrived at the half way pool, which was our final destination, as the full walk was about double that, and not something any of us were up for. I still wasn’t swimming so Kat had the kids again. This time things didn’t go quite so smoothly. There was a rock you could jump off and the kids really wanted to have a go. The first problem was that neither of them could actually get up there, and with her sore back, Kat couldn’t pull them up. Luckily there was a nice man that helped the kids up to the top. That was where they hit the second problem. Neither of the kids wanted to jump off the rock in to the water as it was a big jump into a small area. After about 5 minutes of coaxing, Oli jumped in and all was good. Em, on the other hand, was completely freaked out and wouldn’t budge. Kat used all her powers of persuasion and finally got Em to jump in without incident. At that point we were ready to head back, knowing that the walk back would test our patience, but having now conquered her fear, Em just wanted to do it again and wouldn’t take no for an answer. We eventually managed to get the out of the water and changed, and headed off on the return walk. Today’s return walk didn’t go quite so smoothly but eventually we made it back to the car and headed back to get the trailer. We had some lunch before heading off. As we reached the junction of the Gibb and the El Questro turnoff, we headed left and hit the start of a couple of weeks of dirt and corrugations.

Home Valley Station

The road to Home Valley Station was not too bad. The Gibb was full of corrugations, but how bad they were depended upon when the grader had last been through. Apart from a few bad patches, it was a nice way to ease us into the Gibb. We also got to cross the Pentecost River today. It was a fun one to cross, not too deep, but more than 100m wide, although the angle of all the trees that line the bank showed us just how much water must flow down the river in the wet season. It was only when we got to the other side and looked back that we realised what a spectacular place it was. The Cockburn Ranges provide a breathtaking backdrop to the river, with bird life adding to the vista. We enjoyed the view for a while before pushing on. Home Valley was a lovely place, with a big grassy area for camping, a playground and pool to keep the kids amused and a bar and bistro. After setting up we headed to the pool where the kids had a great time cooling off while we grabbed a happy hour drink from the bar to enjoy poolside. That night was the decider in the State of Origin, and they were planning to show it on the big screen. With the time difference it would be on at around 5:30 which was perfectly timed with dinner. They were also offering a special on burgers for that night so we decided to have a night off the cooking and washing up. Oli had been really enjoying seeing some AFL in Kununurra and he was equally keen to watch the origin. We enjoyed a great night and a couple of drinks watching the game, but it was too much for Em, who fell asleep before the first half was over, although she didn’t really miss out on much given the result. After the game it was off to bed. The next morning the kids had a great time playing in the playground while we packed up the camper, ready to hit the road again.

Ellenbrae Station

Within a few minutes of leaving Home Valley Station we climbed a steep incline which took us to a lookout with beautiful views over the Cockburn ranges. After a brief stop there, we pushed on, encountering a pretty bad stretch of corrugations that lasted about 40km. It was definitely the worst we had driven along so far, and we were glad once we got to the end of that and found ourselves on a much smoother section which we assumed had been recently graded. We enjoyed a couple more river crossings before we arrived at Ellenbrae Station where we planned another overnight stop. When we registered they told us that because they were grading the road nearby, there would be diggers coming into the campground to get dirt from about 7am to 5pm, so instead of $15 per adult and $5 per kid they would only charge us $5 per adult and kids were free.  The roadworks really didn’t end up bothering us at all so we were pretty happy with the discount. After setting up we headed to the homestead for afternoon tea as we were keen to try some of their famous jam and scones. The setting was surprisingly lush with the surrounding shaded garden full of finches flittering around. It was an unusual sight in an otherwise dry and dusty environment. The scones were very good and filled everyone up. While we were at the cafe the kids caught up on their journals. We then headed back to camp, a few minutes drive down the road, and played a bit of Red Light, Green Light before dinner. The campground was a bit of a dustbowl but had enough trees around to provide some shade. Having been reading her way through a fairy book collection on her Kindle, Em made a fairy garden that afternoon and was keen to leave a note and some chocolate for the fairies that night. The next morning, the chocolate was gone and the fairies had left a thank you note telling her how delicious the chocolate was. We didn’t have too far to drive to the next place so we didn’t rush the pack up. We enjoyed a game of rugby in the campground once everyone else had left, before cleaning ourselves up,  hopping in the car and setting off.

El Questro

Home Valley Station

Ellenbrae