The Kimberley Week 2 (Mt Elizabeth to Home Valley)

We only had a short drive to Mt Elizabeth Station. This will be basecamp for the next 2 nights before tackling the track up to Mitchell Falls. Mt E is a working cattle station with nice shady campsites and clean amenities. That afternoon we headed out the 30min drive to a sandy beach by the Hamelin River. I did a little fishing with no luck while everyone swam for the afternoon. It was a very pretty spot and the drive in was reasonably comfortable but narrow. We collected firewood on the way back and were shocked to see the campground had completely filled up where there was only 2 sites filled when we left. We had a lovely meal and toasted marshies around the campfire.

Assessing the track - we made it down this one

...but not this one...

The next day we decided to tackle the 'difficult' track out to another unnamed gorge. The track was only 10km long and we were told it would take us an hour. The first 5km took us about 15min. The next 5km took us 50min! The track was very rough and rocky with a couple of very difficult rocky sections. With about 1km to go we came to the most difficult section and after much assessing of angles, lines and the cost of recovery we decided to park before the main carpark. This made our walk to the gorge only 30mins instead of 15 which was no big deal. The best thing was we had the entire place to ourselves for most of the time. A lovely cascading waterfall into a deep swimming hole so we all had a lot of fun.

All to ourselves

That night we got chatting to some fellow Qlders and after much searching on the radio was able to listen to the 2nd half of the State of Origin decider. 8 in a row - Go Queenslander!!!

The next day was a big driving day as we were going to attempt to drive the entire way up to the Mitchell Falls campground. Maria took the first leg driving from Mt E to Drysdale Station roadhouse. We stopped here to refuel and top up with fresh drinking water. We then noticed they had a nice bar and a very tasty looking lunch menu so we stopped for some VERY yummy burgers. The trip from Drysdale to Mitchell falls is about 180km and we were told it would take us at least 4 hours. I took over the driving and after a slow steady trip it took us 4hrs and 10 minutes! The car and camper did brilliantly. It's 100km up the Kulumburu Road to the Mitchell Plateau turn-off then 80km into the campground. The 100km took us 1.5hrs. The 80km took us 2.5! The campground was nice and shady but when we opened the camper it was like a waterfall of red dust fell out! Oh dear. Our experiment with the Goldstreams' patented pressure cap FAILED! It is officially useless. We have since sorted the dust problem now after completely covering vents in the door and above the cooktop.

This sign is about halfway down the bumpy road - very clever

The next day dawned warm and sunny. We'd decided that morning to take a helicopter trip from the top of the falls back down to the campsite. Because Lachie and Grace's combined weights were less than 74kgs we paid for 4 instead of 5 people which was cool. The walk up to the falls was fairly easy and interesting as you passed Little and Big Mertens Falls before getting to Mitchell Falls. We swam and explored around the top of the falls which are absolutely the most spectacular you'll ever see. Four tiers of breathtaking power and beauty. At 1.30pm our helicopter arrived and we excitedly strapped ourselves in for the 6min flight! Whilst I can hear you gagging on your cornflakes it was worth every penny. To see the falls from a totally different perspective as well as seeing the surrounding countryside was well worth it. It also saved us 2hrs walking down the hill back to camp. We then spent the afternoon swimming at Little Mertens falls which also has some really impressive ancient rock art as well.

Top of the falls

Not much of a landing pad!

No doors, no worries!

On the way back to camp I noticed a little hopping marsupial which turned out to be a Monjon and then saw a Quoll. They literally ran into each other!

Mrs Monjon - baby was under the rock

We drove back out of Mitchell camp the next day. The trip out didn't seem nearly as long however we had a mishap on the way. About halfway up the track we slowed down to let a group past us and noticed something dangling off our bulbar. It turned out to be one of the spotlights. So as I was surveying the damage, one of the cars pulled up and literally before I knew someone was underneath the car screwing the spotlight back on with spare bolts. Turns out this guy is a bit of a whizz and has had similar issues with his lights so always carries spares so it was fixed in 15min! Amazing how things like that happen so often on the road. We also lost the campers andersen plug which pulled out and ripped off on the trip. Not the end of the world but I didn't have a spare, but the guy next to me at Drysdale station did and a fuse which I didn't have which blew when I was trying to fix it.

We stopped at an ancient rock art site which had some amazing Bradshaws and a seriously spooky burial site complete with three skulls.

That night at Drysdale Station we were able to shower and partake of the all you can eat buffet for $45! While the food was ordinary we did meet a very nice couple called Pete and Annie Wall. We gave them some advice on the Gibb tracks we had done and also got to know them a little. Pete actually wrote the music for the ABC news tv opening which Lachie found pretty cool. Annie was also doing a ski trip in February with Skiare so what are the odds. We would continue to bump into them throughout the Kimberley and became good friends so we'll hopefully catch up with them in Sydney in the new year.

Next stop was Home Valley Station which was another couple of hundred km's back up the Gibb. HV8 as they call themselves is beautiful, but there isn't as much to do from a gorge perspective. I'd say it's a great place to simply relax after a long Gibb trip. Great campground where we had a powered site, terrific pool and the homestead eating area Dusty's Bar and Grill was outstanding. Great food, cold drinks and entertainment every night. Lachie also had his birthday here which was great. We had pancakes for his birthday brekky then he and I went Barra fishing that afternoon on the Pentecost River. Lachie caught a couple of catfish while 2 barra were caught unfortunately not by us! Where we were fishing was absolutely stunning.

Maria also went on a long horse trail ride while the girls took a sulky around the grounds with Timmy the pony.

Timeout for a game of giant chess

A Barking Owl - WHO ARE YOU?

A teenager in the family - eeek!

Not Lachlans but nice to see one caught. Not a bad fishing spot either on the Pentecost River!

The girls with Timmy

Mum with Smokey

Lachie's birthday was our last night so we had dinner at Dusty's. I had caught a mudcrab fishing that day and the chefs agreed to cook it up for me. They also had a couple of other crabs caught the previous day but the guy left and didn't collect them so they cooked them for us too. We had a great night singing along with the band and he also sang Lachlan Happy Birthday!

Mum could even make Lachie a Thermocake!

We had some great R&R at Home Valley and will definitely be back. Next stop it just gets better as we are off to El Questro Station for 5 nights. Just can't wait.