Home Valley Station to El Questro Station, Gibb River Road, Kimberley, WA

Monday 11th June 2018
Today I woke and saw another amazing sunrise over the Pentecost River and Cockburn Ranges, the colour of the sky was an amazing orange/red, the river was clear and as smooth as glass. David got up early and went crocodile hunting again, unfortunately to no avail. We will see a salty yet hopefully later today when we cross the Pentecost River. We had a relaxing morning then set off on our way to El Questro Wilderness Park/Station. This involved crossing the famous Pentecost River which at the beginning of the dry season prevents many people from going any further, some manage to cross at low tide. For us it wasn’t too bad only about 1-1.5 feet deep but still about 100m long. It was a relatively easy crossing and no salties again!

Onwards to El Questro, we are finally on bitumen again, but only for a moment then back to dirt road again. On the drive in to El Questro we crossed another deeper section of the Pentecost River, we must have crossed over 200 water crossings since we started on the Gibb River Road 12 days ago. We can’t walk them anymore now though as they we are in Saltwater Croc country. We finally arrived at El Questro which is a huge resort style caravan park, with restaurant, bar and entertainment, shop, chopper, plane, private riverfront sites, powered and unpowered campsites, accommodation and organised tours. It is a very major tourist destination. A bit too commercial for us but hopefully we can get out in to the wilderness at some stage.

We had a bit of a rest till the weather cooled down a bit and headed for a drive to Chamberlain Gorge, they have a rive cruise on here but it would have been just like the gorge we paddle d the canoe so didn’t do this one. We then went to Explosion Gorge/Branco’s Lookout trail but decided we would give this track a miss, it was looking like a serious 4WD track. We then headed to Saddleback Ridge Lookout. This too was a difficult 4WD track, narrow, steep and winding with some challenging sections of rocky drops. We made it after carefully negotiating some tricky bits and were rewarded with 360° views of the station and ranges. We were going to watch the sun set here but decided with the steep track and tricky sections we had to do on the way back that we would get a start sooner rather than later. The car handled it very well and DB has done amazingly. I get a little nervous when the tracks are difficult but he really handles the situations with care and skill.

We headed back to our camp by the river to find out that our chosen spot for tonight was the noisiest spot on the block. We sure can pick them. Oh well hopefully they go to bed before we are ready to go to sleep. Only time will tell.

It is now 9.10pm and our neighbours kids have hit the sack hopefully the adults go to bed soon too.

Anyway goodnight and I hope you have been enjoying the blog and pictures.

: David is off early on a crocodile hunt down by the river with instructions to be careful. Which he always is, he watches and assesses all situations before moving forward.

: Looking down the Pentecost River from the campground at Home Valley Station..

: David helps out a fellow camper with his brakes and gives him some brake fluid as he drove in yesterday without any brakes.

: Having a read and enjoying the view of the Pentecost River and Cockburn Ranges before we head out today.

: Whistling Kite near the Pentecost River

: Looking for crocs again but only managed to find the Whistling Kite.

: Watching some other people cross the Pentecost River

: Now it is our turn. It is about 100m across the river but it is only 1-1.5 feet deep. As long as you don’t get a puncture you are ok.

: Woohoo!! Bitumen. DB thought this went all the way to the end..

: .. but unfortunately not. Only 100 or so metres then back on dirt.

: We arrived at El Questro, a busy tourist park.

: Chamberlain Gorge River Cruise boat. Was very pretty gorge.

: Every opportunity David is still looking for crocs.

: The river crossing to go to Branco’s Lookout.

: Will we or won’t we. Decision – No, we don’t need to get a puncture on a river we don’t have to cross, disappointing but safe. (track grade was moderate to difficult)