THE KIMBERLEY – GIBB RIVER ROAD – Part 1 – El Questro to Mitchell Falls

THE GIBB RIVER ROAD

Brad was very excited to be starting our Gibb River Road adventure. (which of course had to start with a photo of the Ranger at the road sign lol).

FIRST STOP – EL QUESTRO

It was a last minute change of plans and we decided to head to El Questro as we had heard some good things about it and our friends (the De-Ross Fields) were heading there too.  We set up camp and went for a swim in the river.  There was a number of things to do at El Questro:  4wd tracks, bushwalks/hiking, horse riding, swimming, hot springs and a bar with live music (which Brad and I snuck out to when the girls were in bed).

We indulged in all that was on offer.  The girls went on a kids horse ride and loved it.  So when Raelene asked if I was interested in doing the 2 hour sunrise ride I was keen to do it.  We both took our oldest girls with us for the ride.  I woke Abi up with the surprise of the horse ride and the look on her face was priceless.  She asked if she was dreaming.  Great morning spent with my big girl on horseback!  She was so good on the horse and definitely looked the part with denim on denim.

We explored the thermal springs at Zebedee Springs (Brad claimed the bikini clad French backpackers photo bombed his photo, somehow this keeps on happening) and floated around in the Pentecost River on tyre tubes and noodles.

Just prior to dusk, we set out 4wding to Branco’s lookout which has a spectacular view of the Pentecost River.  There were a couple of river crossing and steep mountain climbs.  Brad was grinning from ear to ear.

 

SECOND STOP – HOME VALLEY STATION

On the way to Home Valley Station was the Pentecost River Crossing.  Brad had been looking forward to this. Reports were that this is a deepish, fast flowing saltwater croc infested river.  While this was a wide river crossing, it was not as impressive as Brad had hoped, being only about 400 ml deep, and not a croc to be seen.

After the crossing is where the road conditions deteriorate. Corrugations spaced about 2 foot apart and at least 8 inches deep. Some people say to go fast enough to float over the corrugations, others say to do them really slowly.

Brad had the tyre pressures dropped down and did a combination of fast and slow trying to work out the best way for both car and van. Not sure we really worked out what worked best….it was rough anyway.

We arrived in one piece at HVS, for a 2 night stay. HVS was another ranch style stop.  Unfortunately the main pool was not working so the only relief was a smaller swimming pool that is normally set aside for the cabin guests. The five of us almost filled it! 

We only did one of the short walks here as there was no swimming at the gorges due to crocodiles.

On the second night the 5 girls (this included Lucia and Chelsea) organised a campfire and cooked their own dinner (can of spaghetti) and made some damper.  Fortunately for the parents, Darryl cooked up some fish.

THIRD STOP – KING EDWARD RIVER & MITCHELL FALLS

We had decided to try and get all the way to King Edward River in one day and then trek out to Mitchell Falls for a full day trip the following day.  So we started early in the morning as it was going to be a long day of driving and bad corrugations.

The road up to Mitchell Falls is the Kolumburu rd, and has a reputation for destroying cars and caravans (even more so than the Gibb River Rd).  When we stopped at the turnoff for a toilet break, a truck pulled in with a broken down Patrol 4WD.  Apparently it costs $5,700 to get towed out !!

Brad spoke to a few people and found out that the grader had been up recently, so hopefully, we would be OK………

We headed off and found that although there was some patches of bad corrugations, all in all the road was not too bad.

 I was determined to stop in at Drysdale Station and get one of their famous burgers for lunch.

And I wasn’t disappointed.

I also called mum and dad from the payphone which was located in a fridge!

We got to the King Edward River  campsite and found there was red dust all through the van.  It was a mess.  It seems that the vent for the ensuite was left open (maybe by me oops) and therefore the ensuite was covered in a fine sheet of red dust.  While I cleaned up, I sent the troops out to explore.  They came back and we all went swimming in a nice spot with a ladder into the river off the rocks.  It was a little bit cold but we all got in.  After we relaxed in the water, Brad calmly said “Now that you are all in, I just want to say, there is a crocodile there on the bank”.  I jumped out in .1 seconds and said I would take their photo, grabbed the camera, took the photo and then they all jumped out very quickly. It was just a little freshy.

MITCHELL FALLLS Day trip

We were up early and headed to Mitchell Falls.  We had been told by a number of travellers that the road was really rough (4 hours to do 80km), but lucky for us we were following the grader up the road for the first 35kms, however then it got messy.  The next 53kms were slow (thank god we left the van at King Edward River).

The walk to Mitchell Falls was a Class 5, 2.5km hike.  We had done a number of hikes longer than that, but this time we decided to arrange for a scenic helicopter flight back, due to a number of factors (being time restriction to get back to the KER before dark on the rough road and unfortunately Paige had been unwell for a few days and had a rough night of coughing).  We were hoping the flight was going to be a surprise for the girls, but you need to weigh in at the helicopter office prior, so that gave it away and the girls had worked out what was going on and they were so excited to be going on the helicopter.

The hike to the top of the falls was mostly shady which was great as it was so very hot!  Paige was a real trooper and kept going with little complaint (well no more than the other 2).  There were a few lookout points on the walk which were spectacular.

Then we hit the top, and that view was amazing.  It was open for swimming so we all jumped in for a swim to cool off as we were all roasting.  After we had been refreshed, we had a picnic which Brad had lugged up for us of salami, cheese and crackers.   Abi had also done a great job carrying 2ltrs of water in her bladder backpack.  Well done Abi.  Then we hung out at the falls until our flight booked at 2.30.

Paige begged to be the one in the front of the helicopter and she was not disappointed.  The grin on her face was from ear to ear and it has been her trip highlight.  Can’t say the same for Abi and Sarah who were both a bit scared.  Don’t know what they were scared of, Brad and I were on either side of them with no doors and butt cheeks hanging out LOL

 We made it back to our car and headed back to King Edward River campgrounds.   We picked up firewood on the way back and that night Brad and the girls cooked some marshmallow and nutella damper.