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| Welcome to Ellenbrae! |
We stopped at a number of stations throughout the trip. These were oases in the desert where we lunched, had morning or afternoon tea, or camped. Not to mention, better toilets and the essential refuelling points – most important when there could be hundreds of km from one fuel pump to the next. The water available to make a green oasis was in stark contrast to the water available to the rest of the million acres or so of these stations.
Our very first stop was on a station – Tilmouth Well, a planned oasis on Napperby for the benefit of travellers. A fairly dusty oasis, nothing too picturesque about it, but it had the required facilities and was a good spot to learn about how the camping would work for the next three weeks.
Then we didn't stay on stations, as such, until the Gibb River Road.
Manning Gorge is on Mt. Barnett Station (as is the eponymously named Roadhouse!). Apart from the shower block, this was a bare campgroud, i.e. no irrigation to water a lawn (or grassed area!) that didn't occur naturally. The oasis was natural though – the swimming hole. We arrived there late and left early so apart from the swim had no time to further explore the gorge.
We had a toilet stop and truck refuel at Drysdale River Station on the way up to Mitchell Plateau then we stayed one night at the homestead campground on the way back. Some were delighted to have bar facilities but that didn't interest me. What I remember most is, unlike everywhere else that was so laid back, here at the camp shop they were sticklers for business hours. I rocked up 2 minutes after closing time and they wouldn't serve me, even though I told them I wanted to buy three handmade cards/pictures (suitable for framing, made by local Aboriginal artists) that would have been worth an extra three minutes on their part I'd have thought. But no.
Ellenbrae is owned by Big Business (the Grollos) but has the local, personal feel of a family run homestead. There's plenty of water for irrigation and it shows, with lush green lawns, beautiful gardens, and a vegie patch. This was the morning tea stop with the Devonshire tea!
Home Valley Station, HV8, is run by the Indigenous Land Corporation and is a training station for Aboriginal Australians across the Kimberley region. It was a great place for a lunch stop, on the Pentecost River (stay well clear, saltwater crocs!) and looking towards the Cockburn Ranges.
El Questro Wilderness Park is the station where rich folk stay. Not inappropriate that we stayed at Emma Gorge Resort, the cheaper of the two built accommodation areas at ELQ, because the tour itself wasn't cheap. The Homestead is much more expensive, apparently – we didn't get to see that! The camping area was certainly well watered and grassed. We had a morning tea stop at the camping area after our relax at Zebedee Thermal Springs, also located at El Questro.
The stations were all different but all equally appreciated. They provided variety and pleasant stopping spots along the way – and saved us from too many 'behind a bush' toilet stops!! But I did love best our lunch and morning and afternoon tea stops that were in the middle of nowhere. The isolation was magical.
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| El Questro More Station photos here |