Gibb River Road (part 6) - El Questro Station

Pentecost River

11 June

Our plan this morning was to leave Home Valley Station early and reach El Questro Station before the grey nomads arrived. El Questro do not take bookings and we wanted to secure a private campsite. Although we were in a hurry we could not pass up the opportunity to take photos of the awesome sight of the mighty Pentecost River as it wound its way in front of us. I don’t think the pictures do the view justice.

After crossing the Durack River (which the Northern Territory Government had just filled with rocks to reduce the depth of the crossing to approx. 350mm deep) followed by the Pentecost River (approx 450mm deep) we arrived at El Questro and managed to get the last private campsite. This was a beautiful area right next to the Pentecost River with not another person in sight.

Our private campsite

We quickly set up the camper and made the short drive to Emma Gorge Resort where we had lunch before hiking in to see Emma Gorge. El Questro Station owns this resort as well (one million acres in total) but the only accommodation they have is cabins. After lunch we started our hike with Linda, Thomas and Declan commencing the walk while I went back to the car to get Declan's hat. While walking to catch up to them another Brown Snake (this time and olive coloured one - they range from brown to tan to olive green) - slithered across the path and upon seeing me reared up before heading back from where he had come. He obviously didn't want to hear what I called his mate.

Emma Gorge

The walk in to Emma Gorge is a pretty one with some beautiful scenery along the way and we were met with a very tall waterfall plunging in to a large pool. Although it had a small amount of thermal water entering the pool from the side we decided the water was too cold for a swim.

We threw the fishing lines into the river flowing past our campsite and although I caught a Barramundi - it was about 40cm (still 15cm short of the minimum size) – I had to throw it back.  It was disappointing to have to return it but at least I have now caught a fish on this trip.

Tonight El Questro had a gourmet buffet BBQ so we thought it was a good opportunity to fill Thomas up since he could eat all that he wanted. This proved to be the case as there was steak, chops, sausages, barramundi beaut,iful salads and wonderful deserts. At one stage it looked like Thomas would not be able to fit in deserts but he managed to find a bit of room he had in reserve.

Chamberlain Gorge

12 June

We woke up early this morning as we had booked a hire boat to cruise down the Chamberlain River to see Chamberlain Gorge. It is only possible to see Chamberlain Gorge from a boat or from the air so we picked up the motor, oars, life jackets and grabbed our fishing rods and drove down to the boats moored on the river. The motors are small electric ones that come with a small battery and after attaching it to the boat we cruised down the river. After avoiding the rocks dotted down the middle of the river we came to a small secluded beach where we beached the boat and explored the area while we had morning tea. The fish did not seem to be hungry again and after trawling on the return voyage our battery ran out of power and we had to row the last 100m to moor the boat.

After lunch Thomas, Declan and myself headed off to Fish Hole where we thought of all places we should be able to catch fish. Unfortunately the fish had other ideas and although we got a few bites we had to give the fish the points again.

13 June

Zebedee Springs

This morning we packed lunch and went to have a soak in Zebedee Springs – a thermal spring that has warm water cascading from waterfalls in to several different pools. This is a very beautiful area with the springs shaded by very old Livistonia Palms giving a tropical appearance. We spent about an hour in the pools and, after becoming quite wrinkly decided to get out and explore El Questro Gorge.

El Questro Gorge

El Questro Gorge was only a short drive away and proved to be the most challenging of the walks we have done so far. Although quite long (6.9km) the challenge came from the terrain we had to cross. The trail has some very large boulders that need to be scaled and water to be crossed. At the halfway point, an area a lot of people turn back, we had to remove our shoes and socks and carry our bags above our heads before clambering up a very big boulder so that we could continue our journey. We formed a chain with some other hikers and helped each other get our gear on to the large boulder without getting it wet. From there we continued our hike through some magnificent scenery to arrive at a waterfall at the end of the gorge. We ate lunch and I decided to have a swim before the return walk. The water was quite nice but when I got out the wind created by the waterfall quickly cooled me down. I think, although quite difficult, this has been the best walk we have done. The boys did a fantastic job of negotiating a very difficult walk.

14 June

Amalia Gorge

Today we decided to go and trek along Amalia Gorge. I think Declan was still feeling the effects of the long walk yesterday as he fell over a few times near the start of the walk and although it was nothing serious he took a while to get going. Once underway and on to the more difficult sections of the walk Declan was climbing the rocks like a rock wallaby. This walk has a difficult section where you walk along a narrow ledge about 4m above a rockpool. Once we had negotiated this section, it was a relatively easy walk to the now customary waterfall at the end of the gorge.

Upon returning to El Questro Township we had lunch and decided to drive up to Saddleback Ridge Lookout. After starting the drive we found the track was closed so we headed off to Pigeon Lookout to look out over much of the El Questro property. With the sun just starting to set it made for beautiful viewing.

Pigeon Lookout