Gibb River Road - Mornington to Mount Elizabeth Station

Mornington was a good stop but we had to move on so we drove 90km back up the track to pick up the Gibb River Road again.

We called in at Galvans Gorge to view the falls and cool off with a quick dip.

We shared the pool with this beautiful metre long Water Monitor.

Our next camp was at Mount Barnett Roadhouse where we were able to refuel the car. We would have just made it without the extra fuel tanks but it would have been a close thing.

The camp site at Mt Barnett was quite busy but we managed to find ourselves a nice spot in the bush away from the crowds. The facilities were a bit basic though!

We walked a track that took us to Manning Falls but the track started across the other side of a river that we first had to cross. Some polystyrene boxes had been left on the bank to keep our rucksacks dry. Unfortunately they were all on the other side of the river so we sent a Creek Walker in to retrieve them.

It was a hot hike to the falls but they were great with plenty of water flowing and there was even a Jacuzzi in one of the small falls.

At the end of the hike back we had to swim across the river again with our gear in the polystyrene boxes which were on the opposite bank again. About 50 metres from where we were crossing there were some fresh water crocs sunning themselves on the rocks!

From Mt Barnett our next camp was as Mount Elizabeth Station. This is an active cattle station although it was suffering financially due to the government which had imposed a ban on live exports due to the way the cattle were treated abroad. We did share the campsite with a few of the locals but they were friendly enough!

We drove out on a very rough 4WD track to some falls on the Barnett River. The station had conveniently left some ladders by the falls to help people get down.

We had the place to ourselves and it was good to get in for a swim.

There was also some fine aboriginal rock art on the walls of the gorge.

The station had an orphaned joey that they had taken in. Quite a commitment as they need to be nursed for a year before they can let them go in the bush.

One of the station's dogs took us for a bush walk and Ali thought it looked like Bella back home.