The Kimberley Week 3 (El Questro Station)

The trip from Home Valley is only about 50km. We'd heard the state of the track was pretty corrugated and for about 15km it was pretty bad until we reached the famous Pentecost River Crossing. The water was pretty low but it is still a great experience crossing such a big river with a saltwater crocodile lurking behind every rock! We had another minor mishap. If you look closely on the side of the camper you'll notice the slide-out bbq has in fact slid out! We lost the toaster/grill plate somewhere on the Gibb or in the river! Lachie wouldn't go in swimming to look for it though...

Crossing the mighty Pentecost

Ok, not so mighty at the moment:-)

Soon after the crossing there were some major roadworks and the drive into El Questro was smooth and actually a little muddy from the trucks trying to water the dust down.

The 16km drive in was a little corrugated and windy with a couple of cool creek crossings. We were also able to get an idea of some of the main sites including El Questro Gorge and Zebedee Springs. We'd booked a private campsite called Wren which was about 3.5km from the main township. It was actually recommended to us a by a family we met at Manning Gorge who'd just come from there. It is by far the most beautiful campsite of the trip. We set up under huge paperbarks with the Pentecost River flowing over rocks onto a sandy beach below us, The steep cliffs of Saddleback Ridge behind us and no-one else for a couple of hundred metres either side. Coupled with that, the drop toilet servicing our site and 2 others, was only a 30m walk.

We spent 5 nights here and could easily have stayed another 5. There is so much to see and do from beautiful gorges, hot springs, some challenging 4WD tracks, horse riding, well you get the picture. There's a bar and good restaurant as well and every Saturday night they put on a BBQ with entertainment which was tasty and lots of fun. The kids also went to a junior ranger clinic one evening. On our first arvo however we were in desperate need of supplies. i.e. we had no food of note, no beer, no wine, no cheese or crackers it was dire indeed so we drove into Kununurra which is only an hour up the road. Unfortunately as we had internet we tried to catch up on a few banking things and Lachie's US trip so we didn't get back until after nightfall. The drive up the Gibb then into the station in pitch black was not fun and driving through deep creeks at night is even more disconcerting as you pass the crocodile warning signs!

Our first morning we went to Zebedee Hot Springs. It's an oasis in the desert amidst livistona palms and rock pools, this is a shangri-la type moment as you take the short walk from the car park. It's very popular and all guests not staying at the exclusive ELQ Homestead have to be out by midday but it didn't really matter. We stayed there about an hour and a half and literally could have stayed all day. The water is 28 - 32 degrees all year round and crystal clear.

In the springs

We also visited El Questro Gorge on another day. We arrived early in the morning and spent most of the day in the gorge. The drive to the gorge carpark is fun to with a quite deep water crossing which nearly brought a few cars undone. The walk up the gorge was easy for half of the walk along a babbling stream under palms. Then you get to midway pool. Many people stop here as you have to spider your way up a boulder. We all made it up in the end, even mum who had a few issues but with some encouragement and instruction, scrambled her way up.

The back packs were already passed up overhead!

The walk the remainder of the way was up, over and around large rocks up through the chasm. We were all getting hot and tired when we finally arrived at our destination. The waterfall and pool are only narrow at the top of El Questro gorge and the water is freezing as it never receives sunlight however it's an incredibly peaceful place particularly when you have it all to ourselves as we did. It was a lovely spot for lunch and another swim before the hike down.

El Questro Gorge top pool

One afternoon we visited Chamberlain Gorge which you can only do through a boat tour. We drove from our campsite down to the jetty on the Chamberlain River and boarded the flat bottomed boat for a 1.5hr tour up the gorge and back. It was magnificent. The gorge is incredible geologically, as it is over 1.8 billion years old. It's the oldest of it's kind on the planet. So old in fact there are no fossils as it was formed about 1.4 billion years before life on the planet! It's quite humbling as you punt up the at times shallow water. It was a poor wet season in Kimberley terms with only about 400mm (a good season is 600mm) There were 40 people on board and at one very shallow point 20 people had to get off and walk the rest of the way which was only 100m or so. At the top of the gorge drinks and nibblies were put on where the guide Jim sang Tenterfield Saddler.

The kids all got to feed one of the local Barramundi which was a hoot. The sound it makes as it sucks the fish out of their hands is startling, a big WHUMP! We also held out marron pellets so the Archerfish could spit water and practice their aim. It simulates the wild when they shoot jets of water at insects on low hanging trees and leaves knocking them into the water. It was funny as quite a few people sitting on the edge of the boat had the backs of their shirts squirted so often they had to move. The archer fish weren't taking no for an answer! We had a nice roast dinner back at camp that night and a fire under the stars. It was a very magical day.

The most famous gorge on ELQ's million acre property is Emma Gorge. It is actually a further 27km down the Gibb on another part of the station where it has safari tent style accommodation and a restaurant/homestead. The walk into the gorge was typically beautiful and not too challenging but took us a touch over half an hour. The gorge is spectacular where the water in the wet season creates a perfect whirlpool in the amphitheatre type setting. We had a great swim and there is even a hot spring feeding the pool so you can get some respite from the icy cold water.

Emma Gorge

We became friendly with another family, The Jansen's (Michael and Sandy) who we met at Home Valley so arranged to have dinner together so the kids could play at the Saturday night BBQ. The food was really tasty and we all got our monies worth. It was nice as the kids got to play with their boys who were around the same age and we also had some adult conversation as well over several bottles of red!

On Sunday the kids had a ride on horses around a paddock (their first time solo) with a very funny character called Christian. He was VERY country and announced to all parents that they were not to give any advice to their kids. He had a 3 strike policy. Unfortunately Maria failed and I was up for a carton of beer...Just couldn't help herself. Actually she would have failed a five strike policy! That evening as the kids did Junior Rangers we also bumped into our friends Pete and Annie and had a drink with them before dinner which was nice. We hopefully arranged to try and catch up with them in the Bungles.

Sadly our time at ELQ was over. What a beautiful station. This place is a destination in itself. I'll say it again, we will be back. On a positive we were off directly to the Bungle Bungles for a couple of nights.