Friday 14th June 2013 - Monday 17th of June 2013
As mum and dad had travelled this far from the South Coast we convinced them that they should come and experience part of the true Kimberley by getting off road and visiting El Questro. We had heard from other travellers that the track into El Questro was suitable for two wheel drives so they agreed to make the trip.
The first part of the Gibb River was sealed until we arrived to the turnoff of El Questro station. From there we drove along the dirt track towards the entrance of the park. All was well until we passed the grader and the corrugations became quite brutal.
We lost sight of mum and dad, who were driving behind us, so we pulled over to wait for them. After about half and hour we thought they must have turned around so we drove back along the track until we spotted them. They were driving extremely slow along the side of the road, trying to lessen the impact of the corrugations on their car and caravan. I am sure they were cursing us under their breath and for a brief time were regretting the decision to go off road. There were also 3 creek crossings that made mum very nervous - but they got across with no dramas and we made it to the station gates.
As we were checking in we bumped into Michelle, Cameron, Ryan and Liam who coincidentally arrived at El Questro at the same time as us. Adam was very excited that he was going to be able to hang around his mate once again and we all found a nice shady spot by the river to set up camp.
Once camp was established, we headed up to the bar for happy hour to calm grandma and grandad's nerves after the interesting drive in.
The next day we took an early morning walk with Ryan and his family along El Questro Gorge. It was lovely - we ended up at a refreshing and crystal clear pool where the kids were brave enough to take a dip in the cold water.
On the second afternoon we took a cruise on the Chamberlain River. Along the way our guide availed us of the history of El Questro and we learnt about the wildlife surrounding the Gorge. At the end of the Gorge the kids were able to feed the Archer fish who catch their prey by shooting it with a squirt of water. The kids held out a piece of bread for the fish and the fish spat the water back at them.
We spent one morning rejuvenating at the Zebedee Thermal Springs. Craig, Cameron, Michelle and I found a nice relaxing spa pool at the top of the rocks and we declared it kid free. The kids enjoyed hanging out in the bottom pools with Grandma and Grandad.
The kids found a rope swing and had fun jumping into the part of the river you could swim in.
Dad decided to have a swim in the part of the river that you couldn't swim in and was joined by a crocodile. He could not get out of the water fast enough and was very much out of breath when he raced back to camp.
The resident cowboy had a whip for sale so we bought one for the family. Lachlan picked it up and started cracking it like a professional. He was impressing everyone with his whip cracking skills and was certainly looking the part with his cowboy hat and boots.
Craig and I sat up at the camp fire one night sharing stories with many other travellers and enjoying the local entertainment. We were the last of the guests to leave the camp fire along with the El Questro staff members who were enjoying after work drinks.
The day before we left, Craig, Dad and I booked ourselves into a half hour helicopter flight so that we could take in El Questro from the air. We were all set to go until the pilot announced that the helicopter was having trouble starting. After a short delay the engineers fixed the problem (which was a flat battery) and the pilot convinced us that the helicopter wasn't going to fall out of the sky. We were on our way!
It took us all about 10 minutes to relax into the flight but after that we sat back and enjoyed the view and the commentary about this spectacular million acre property.
El Questro Homestead
