Stations – oases in the desert

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.

El Questro
More Station photos here

Truckin' 2

There's swimming, flying, sailing and the towns .... and there's Terra Firma, where most time was spent. So much of that time was spent travelling, mostly on unmade roads. Yes, we bounced around a bit with the occasional jolt here and there. But really it was very comfortable. Never once did I think “Aren't we there yet?” or “Let me off!!” I even dozed a bit, sad to say as I missed the scenery.

People will say, “Oh, but the scenery doesn't change much.” In fact, it does. Slowly and subtly, but change it does. Wide, flat, open; hills, trees, scrub, palms; water crossings, with and without water; termite mounds, big and small; the very rare building of some sort; roadhouses, fences, no fences; passing traffic, every hour or so.

The first major trek was across the Tanami Desert. Next was the drive into Purnululu NP, just on 60km off the Great Northern Highway but it took 2½hrs to do it, such were the twists and turns.

The second major trek was the iconic Gibb River Road. I expected this to be really bad, but it wasn't, well not from the point of view of this passenger! Mind you, I wouldn't have wanted to drive it!! The wear and tear on the truck was enough to make you realise you'd have to be prepared to write off a vehicle if you drove a 4WD across. It wouldn't necessarily happen – although it did to a woman trying to hitch to anywhere from Mt Barnett Roadhouse! It would definitely take years off the life of a 4WD though and only a fool would attempt it in a regular car. That said, the road was in pretty good nick, reasonably graded. But you can see why you don't travel the Gibb in the wet. Seeing the height that water reaches by the debris caught high in tree branches – you'd need your floaties, and then some!!

The third, though shorter, major trek was on the rugged Kalumburu Road, off the Gibb, then off that again up to Mitchell Plateau on the most rugged stretch of all.

Pretty much all the rest was on sealed roads. The romantic factor took a steep dive! Anyone wanting to experience the romance of the Gibb needs to get on with it. It's sealed from the Great Northern Highway to Emma Gorge Resort and major roadworks are under way to seal from there to the El Questro Homestead turn-off. Once that's complete it's not hard to imagine that the rest will follow, not quickly perhaps, but the days of the unsealed road look to be numbered.

I've not read any words nor seen any photos anywhere that do this trip justice or give a real appreciation of the majesty of Kimberley country. But I'll try to give a little of the flavour with these photos.

Start of the Gibb River Road, near Derby,WA
More photos -
Gibb River Road - Part 1
Gibb River Road - Part 2
After the Gibb - Part 1
After the Gibb - Part 2