Today we all piled into Les' and Barb's car and took a drive to El Questro Station out along the infamous Gibb River Road. This is a station which happens to have a number of attractions within its confines and they've exploited it. I'd estimate they would see a thousand people through it's gates each day... We paid $10 a head for the privilege. It calls itself a Wilderness Park. El Questro is the home of several gorges and mountain ranges. At the turn off, we encountered a bloke whose camper trailer had suffered an injury to its suspension. We stopped and Les helped him reassemble his leaf springs. It was interesting to watch, he started out with the intention of just advising but couldn't help himself. You could see that he was fighting the urge and eventually, he had his head and hands in there getting dirty.
After resuming our day trip, we started off at Zebedee Springs which is a natural spring fed babbling brook. Water temperature is 32 degrees. Had smoko at El Questro Station Township. Township is a loose use of the term but here you can camp, fish and join any number of guided tours only limited by your budget. We chose the budget option today which is self drive.
El Questro Gorge was the next stop on our itinerary. We didn't quite get there. The old Pajero balked at a creek crossing that we decided to not take the risk on. We headed off to a lookout which provides a panoramic view of the Cockburn Range. Unfortunately, the view was hampered by a blue smoke haze but certainly a view to behold. On our return trip, we stopped in at Emma Gorge. Here, Jude and I took the walk into the Gorge... The walk was 1.8km over some pretty tough terrain. It took us an hour. It started off reasonably simple but within about 500m from the end, it got tough and probably not so much a walk but more a climb over boulders. For an old fart with a gammy knee and 20 kilos of camera gear on board, I thought I was doing OK. I had my hiker's pole in one hand and tripod in the other. Within 100m of the end, I saw a photo opportunity off to the side of the 'track' and ventured over to get the shot. On the way over, I got my foot tangled in a fern frond and, yes, I fell 'arthur over fred'. I knew this wasn't going to end well once you get to that point where your off kilter in the forward leaning free fall. I've been there before more times than I care to remember. Actually, I never mentioned it, but on the first day of our trip, I went all the way to a concrete footpath in a similar manner at Julia Creek when I stepped over the drawbar of the van with a handful of gear. I got one foot over and the other one didn't follow. Took a heap of bark off my hand.
Today, I hit the deck pretty hard. I had my camera around my neck and it hit the rocks too. It actually landed it's lens in some water as well. Surprisingly though, the camera suffered some bruising but nothing broken, My neck is a bit sore from the jolt but otherwise, I'm OK. Tomorrow morning when I get out of bed, I'm sure I'll be reminded of the ordeal.
Anyway, I got the shot and decided that I'd come too far to give up, so we battled on to the holy grail at the end of the trail. It was a true spectacle where the 120m high sandstone cliffs meet at a small waterfall which spills into a small pond all year round. A simply stunning place to behold. It was worth the effort!!!
On the way back out, Judy took a small tumble too. She suffered a bruise to her knee.
So, all in all, the day was eventful but also rewarding. We got back at about 1730 in need of some relaxation time to lick our wounds.
After today, we have in all, traveled about 400km of the Gibb River Road except that we did an 'out and back' trip from each end. After doing those trips, we are pretty comfortable with our decision to not do it from end to end. The ends of it are reputed to be the best parts. It's basically 660km of crap road.
In all, the road conditions in WA have been quite good. Over here, they still have one lane bridges that we outlawed 20 years ago in Qld. There are no Give Way signs on them - it's a case of first in best dressed.
Tomorrow, we leave WA and make our way into the northern parts of the NT. Catch you there but it maybe a couple of days of communications blackout. Stay tuned.
Links:
See more images at... https://picasaweb.google.com/106361511620108780730/Day1824072012
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