Gibb River Rd – Ellenbrae Station – 12 to 13 August 2010

We left King Edward River reluctantly and retraced our steps to Drysdale Station and then back to the Gibb River Road. We had lunch again at Drysdale Station and not long after lunch we encountered the two Whippets, one a 1926 Vintage and the other a 1928 Vintage. We stopped, chatted and donated to the Make a Wish Foundation, their fund raising project. The Whippets, built in the old Holden body works in South Australia on a Willys Overland Chassis and Engine were doing fine, but the trailer of their support vehicle had broken a spring. So much for modern engineering on these primitive roads!!
Having rejoined the Gibb River Road we drove on in relative smoothness to Ellenbrae Station, now owned by Rino Grollo, and an oasis of scones and tea in the pastoral landscape. We loved the series of welcome signs as we drove up the entry road, and the welcome was indeed warm and friendly.





At the campsite were happy to see an old style “Donkey” hot water service, which reminded us of our first house. Being experts so to speak we fired it up in the morning for our hot showers, much to the delight of other campers, all of whom were foreign German, French,Dutch and Japanese tourists possibly intimidated by the imposing bulk and presence of the Donkey, like some dark sentinel in the middle of the camp kitchen.
We enjoyed our brief stay here, there is a nice waterhole by the campsite and we had the luxury of tea and scones before setting off in the morning. The Double Barred Finches were almost tame as they flocked to the seeds in the bird feeder.

Gibb River Rd – King Edward River, Mitchell Plateau – 9 to 12 August 2010

The road into Drysdale Station is not great, but as we wanted to see the Mitchell Plateau and Falls we traveled the next 105km so we could camp at King Edward River. [ Collect firewood on the way in as this is a National Park.] Starting very early we drove the 87km up to the Mitchell Falls for the day and then back to King Edward River for dinner.
At the Mitchell Falls we chose to walk from the information bay to the top of the falls.

After the Little Mertens Fall’s we missed the turn to the Rock Art so John walked the two kilometers back in order to photograph it, before we walked on to the Big Mertens Falls.

At the top of the falls we had our lunch and a swim before taking the Sling Air Mudcrab helicopter flight back to the information bay, via the JCR and Lower Mitchell Falls. This let us see the Mitchell River winding its way to the sea in the Cambridge Gulf near Wyndham. Most people we talked to took the helicopter up and walked back, but we would highly recommend this way of doing it as it means the glorious view and easy trip back is saved for last.


We liked the King Edward River Campsite and we stayed an extra day here. We did a walk to their tiny waterfall, swam in the plunge pool and showered in the waterfall. This was a splendiferous end to a lovely camp.

Gibb River Rd - Drysdale Station – 8 to 9 August 2010

From Mt Elizabeth we drove to Drysdale River Station, a fully working Station. This is a very efficient and impressive operation, with an attached camp ground, shop,[with minimal but adequate food to purchase] fuel pumps and cafe. The cafe’s specialty is the Kimberley Hamburger [with the lot!] which makes a great lunch.

As we like to support these local stations, we also had dinner there.
Dinner is the same meal as is served to the Station hands, which gives the opportunity to talk to the locals [including the truck drivers] around the bar before dinner. This is a great place to pick up local information on road conditions and hear the local gossip. Stations like this one remind us of medieval castles, totally self sufficient communities.
This is the Gibb river crossing on the road to Drysdale Station.

Gibb River Rd – Galvin’s Gorge, Mt Elizabeth – 7 to 8 August 2010

We rejoined the Gibb River Road. A number of fires were burning in the distance, with large billowing smoke clouds on the horizon. This is patch burning which will protect the countryside from fierce hot fires later in the season. Little incendiaries are dropped by helicopter and will ignite and burn a small area. Fires here are usually caused by lightening strikes during the buildup. If part of the country is burnt already in cool fires native flora and fauna are not so damaged and the lightening fires don't have an opportunity to spread and burn for a long distance because there is no ground fuel. In the past they would burn till they reached the sea.The burnt areas give animals a place of refuge. This is the traditional aboriginal way to manage the country.


We stopped at Galvin’s Gorge for lunch and a swim.

We then took the road north to Mount Elizabeth Station, where we stopped for the evening. Mt Elizabeth Station has a very bad road in. It offers hot showers and if you collect firewood on the way in it has varied containers to light a fire in.

Gibb River Rd - Mornington Wilderness – 5 to 7 August 2010

From Bell Gorge we drove back to the Gibb River Road, and then after a short distance took the turn off to to Mornington Wilderness Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary is owned and run by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, and part of the property has been destocked to provide a habitat for the endangered Gouldian Finch. It is a haven for many other bird species.

We swam in Cadjeput Water Hole and went out to Sir John Gorge at sunset. We had a dinner at Redtails Restaurant in the lodge; it is a set menu.
The next day we canoed up Dimond Gorge.

 


We did the bird walk at Mornington at 6.00a.m.

After breakfast in the lodge we said goodbye to Mornington Wilderness, a very special place.