Gibb River Road - Mount Elizabeth Station to El Questro

After leaving Mount Elizabeth Station we headed for Drysdale Station. The road was getting more interesting with some deeper creeks to cross.

We decided that it was time to prepare the Creek Walkers.

Before we could use them properly they needed calibrating.

From Drysdale we had hoped that we could drive out to the Mitchell Plateau but the road had been damaged so badly from the extended wet that we were told that it was unlikely to open for several weeks and the road to Kalumburu could be closed for months.

Our only option was to take to the air so we booked a 2 hour flight from the station's airstrip.

Here are a few shots we took from the plane. The first is of the station that we are staying on and as you can see there aren't too many neighbours to worry about. We are camped on the left hand side of the track.

Waterfalls on the Prince Regent River.

Mount Trafalgar in St George Basin.

The Mitchell Falls.

After topping up with fuel at Drysdale Station our next campsite was at Ellenbrae Station. It was a nice quiet site in a bush setting.

There were even hot showers but you had to stoke up the donkey boiler with a few logs to get the water hot.

There was a lot of bird life around the campsite including Red Tailed Black Cockatoo and the birds that usually woke us up each morning the Blue Winged Kookaburra (or the monkey bird as Josie has renamed them).

And also the pretty little Double Barred Finch.

If we had been back home in the UK then we would have been in Dunster where traditionally we have had a creamed tea on this day so Ellenbrae came to our rescue.

From Ellenbrae we headed for El Questro but we had to cross two large rivers the Durack and the Pentecost. When we set out on the Gibb River Road the depth of water in the Durack was a little deeper than we would have liked but fortunately the level had dropped a little by the time we arrived.

Having survived the Durack River crossing the final hurdle to cross was the Pentecost River. This river was tidal at the crossing point which meant that the depth was uncertain and that it was inhabited by salt water crocodiles. It was also much wider than any of the other crossings. The Creek Walkers both had a sickie for the day!

We got across OK and made our way beside the Cockburn Range of hills towards El Questro.

El Questro (or El Que$tro as we named it) was a big disappointment. It was very busy, very noisy and very expensive. We booked a cruise along the Chamberlain Gorge which was advertised as a two and a half hour cruise with a guided walk which turned out to be a one and a half hour cruise without the walk. The small store had very little in the way of foodstuffs which meant you had to eat in their expensive restaurant if you had limited supplies as we did.

The Zebedee Hot Springs were closed at midday in order that the upper class guests staying at the lodge didn't have to put up with the lesser mortals like us! We did enjoy walking the gorges that were open. Chamberlain Gorge had really suffered in the wet with all vegetation having been stripped from its banks and even boab trees that must have been hundreds of years old had been toppled.

We walked into Edith Gorge which has a nice plunge pool at the end with a couple of waterfalls.

We went in for a very brief swim but the water was very cold!

We also visited El Questro Gorge which was smaller and much narrower. The track took you along a shady palm lined creek with crystal clear water.

From El Questro we finished our 19 day 1,200km journey along the Gibb River Road and came out onto the Great Northern Highway between Wyndham and our next stop, Kununurra.