Day 8 – What started as an early night (Day 7) proved to be an interrupted night’s sleep. A young German couple camped next to us decided to have a couple or 6 bottles of wine. The girl went quietly off to bed but the bloke decided to sit in his car and listen to (c)rap music. After several hours of the same CD over and over Stephen went to ask him to turn it off to find him fast asleep (pissed) and unable to rouse him. Stephen opened the door of his car and turned the volume off. About midnight he woke up and turned it on again and this time decided to sing as well!!! Fortunately he only ‘sang’ one song then turned it off and loudly got into bed. Hmmm, the joys of camping. We were on our way to Manning Gorge by 8am. Quite a difficult walk in but well worth the effort. A series of falls into a glorious waterhole. We watched the German people jump off the high rocks into the swimming hole. It probably wasn’t such a bad way to clear the cobwebs from the previous night. After much umming and ahrring we decided to drive to Drysdale around lunchtime and check out the road to Mitchell Falls. We had heard some horrendous stories of broken down cars and shredded tyres and that the road was in the worst condition it has ever been. The drive to Drysdale wasn’t too bad and when we arrived we were delighted to hear that the grader was currently grading the Mitchell Falls road. Yahoo, just in time. We booked in for dinner at the ‘bar’ then ordered a drink and rang the kids from a public phone housed in an old refrigerator. Great to hear Fynn and the girls voices and Cath, Julse and Pat’s also. Set up camp then back to the bar for dinner. We were chatting to some people when I spotted Kununurra Scott. He was supposed to take a group of 4 up to Mitchell Plateau but had been unable to get his trailer up there. He assured us that we would be okay as the grader had almost finished its job. We sat next to a couple who said they had driven/crawled for 9 hours to get to the falls but had a wonderful time and were very encouraging. We had lamb shanks and chocolate pudding for dinner and some very good company.
Day 9 – We left for Mitchell Falls at 8.30am. It was 105 kms to the falls turn off and we did that in 1 hour and 40 minutes. The last 20 kms were shocking with corrugations that went up to my elbow and there was quite a lot of rock. It was 87 kms from the turn off to the campsite. The first 7 kms were very bad conditions but after that the grader had been through which made it a lot easier. However, it was not an easy drive by any means, very slow and you needed to concentrate. The last 16 kms (which were not yet graded) were again very, very slow and hard driving but at 1.40pm we finally reach the Mitchell Plateau Camping Ground. We had made it unscathed but very tired. We found a shady spot, set up camp and did very little for the rest of the day. Lots of animals crawling around outside during the night.
Day 10 – We commenced the 1 ½ hour walk to the falls at 8.30am. Got to Little Merton Falls in about 20 minutes where we found lots of aboriginal art including some Bradshaw art. We spent 40 minutes walking under the falls and exploring the artwork. We ventured on to find more artwork along the way before finally reaching Big Merton Falls. These falls were dry but quite spectacular all the same. Took some photos and moved onto the top of Mitchell Falls where we waded across the water. We had finally reached our major destination for this trip. Much excitement. We went for a bit of an explore and found the track Dave had told us about which took us right around passed the falls to a ledge where we could look back and see all 4 levels of the waterfall. It was magical. We sat by ourselves and ate our lunch on the ledge looking at the most beautiful setting in the Kimberley. If we had walked 5 steps forward we would have plunged into the gorge below. With photos taken we put our backpacks back on and went back to the falls for a cooling swim. At 2.30pm we caught the helicopter back to the camping ground. Well, sometimes its just nice to take the easy option. Spent the evening with Rosemary and Bill, a couple of 'old cockies' from the Mallee.
Day 11 – 5990 kms from home we backtracked along the MF road to Drysdale. The grader had finished the last 16 kms and it was a nice smooth track out. We were accompanied by Rosemary and Bill and it was good to know we weren’t completely alone. Turned onto the Kalumburru/Drysdale Rd in under 2 hours. About 7 kms down the road we came across some poor bastard who had broken a main spring and was limping back to Drysdale. Not much you can do except let them know back at Drysdale that they are coming. Got back to Drysdale in 4 hours, an hour off our time going up. As it was lunchtime we had lunch with Rosemary and Bill and Jo and Donald, a couple from Kojanup in south WA at the pub then decided to push onto Home Valley. In hindsight this was not such a good idea as it was much further than we though and the road was shocking, shaly and rocky. We stopped at Ellenbrae for scones, jam and cream – yummy but $4.50 for one scone was a bit rich. We were getting a little concerned as it was almost sunset and as we came over the crest towards Home Valley we were greeted with a magnificent view of the Cockburn Ranges in full light from the setting sun. For the first time we put the tent up in the dark then hit the bar for a much needed and deserved beer for Stephen and G & T for me.
Day 12 – A day of rest. We were stuffed after the drive from the previous day so decided to spend the day rubbing our feet in the grass at Home Valley and swimming in the very nice pool. We are definitely sick of the red and gray dust and dirt and this little oasis of grass was just what we needed. As the sun set over the Cockburn Ranges we rang the kids from the lookout – unexpected phone coverage – and Ails to catch up on all the gossip and footy scores. Late in the evening while sitting by the fire a young couple, Anna and Brett from Port Melbourne, asked if we could keep an ear out for their sleeping children while they had dinner at the homestead. It was good to act like grandparents again.
Day 13 – Destination El Questro. After much uummming and aahhhring (again) we decided on the $30 a night camping option rather than the $2000 per night homestead suite (minimum stay 2 nights). The camping ground was very picturesque and shady and the amenities very good – I’m still thinking we chose the wrong option. We spent the morning at Zeberdee Springs, beautiful spring falls which ran rings around any other springs we had previously seen. In the afternoon we went to the Branco and Saddle back lookouts – real 4x4 stuff and Anne was a bit scared-y-catish. Great vantage points to look out over the property. Ran into a couple of donkeys on the way back. We also took a detour to Chamberlain Gorge for a sticky beak at the homestead. Also caught up with Tyreman and Shazza and heard their tales of woe of wrecking 5 tyres on the Gibb and having to limp into Kununurra for a complete set of 6 new tyres. They didn’t get to see or do much at all after we last saw them. We obviously had luck on our side.
Day 14 – We started the day early with a walk to El Questro Gorge. A lovely walk with ferns and crystal clear swimming holes. Feeling ready for a challenge we passed/climbed the halfway point where most people stop, waded through a pool up to our chests with our gear above our heads and climbed/or was pulled up a very large boulder. We came across some magnificent waterholes so clear you could count the pebbles on the bottom of the pool. A demanding walk but a lot of fun. Back to the tent for lunch then a river cruise up Chamberlain Gorge for 2 hours. Lovely gorge but we should have saved our money on the cruise and hired a couple of self drive boats, it would have been better value. Returned to the camping ground to find Anna, Brett and the new grandkids camped behind us. We sat around the fire after dinner chatting for several hours and it must have been at least 9pm when we crawled into bed!!
Lots of photos on: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/stephen.hede/BroomeGibbRiverRoadWeek2?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2jnd6Sv8KIVg#
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