To Mitchell falls

Well, hello all.

Sorry about the lack of posts but haven't had a lot of internet access. This one will be a big one as I have lots to tell and show.

Here we are at the Wyndham end of the Gibb River Road, the start of the gravel.

Emma Gorge at El Questro Wilderness Park www.elquestro.com.au , one of the hardest walks I have ever done!

After Emma Gorge we continued on to El Questro for two nights. The lookouts there were spectacular, I missed them last year due to having the Hilux Camper.

Tour Boat Cruise on Chamberlain gorge

Pidgeon Hole Lookout

Pidgeon Hole Lookout

Branco's Lookout

The Troopy crossing The Pentecost River

Leaving El Questro we crossed the Pentecost River to Home Valley Station, roughing it that night in the Kimberley with fine dining at The Dusty Bar. 

The Things you see this Jayco Motorhome was at Home Valley

From Home Valley we travelled to Bindoola Falls

Bindoola Falls

Crossing the Gibb River on the kalumbaru Road

The corrugations along the road were horrendous, we lost a few drinks and jars along the way with the cans just rubbing through. Arriving at Drysdale River Station to our coldest night of the trip chilling to a brisk 8c but still hitting 30c the next day. The night was spent shivering and listening to the usual chorus of Dingo howling.
It took another 3 hours the next morning to reach the Mitchell turnoff. From there another 3 plus hours to do the 85km to the Mitchell River Campground. The king Edward River crossing was easily forded as it was only knee deep but flowing fairly swiftly.

Troopy crossing the King Edward River

swimming hole at King Edward River

The Campsite at King Edward is stunning and i could have easily spent a week there but we had to push on to Mitchell. Still sunburnt every day. Next morning bright and early it was off on the 4km hike into Mitchell Falls. the walk wasn't as hard as I expected but was faily danerous as one poor lady discovered the day after our visit. 

Above Little Merton Falls

Little Merton Falls

Us crossing Merton Creek at the top of Merton falls

Big Merton Falls

This is where the poor lady fell to her death the day we left Mitchell Campground, while taking photos.

Mitchell river above the Falls

 It was here we had to wade 30 metres through knee deep very swift flowing water to access the top of the falls. At this stage I went arse up in the river and destroyed my camera and Ipod. The Ipod survived to live another day but the camera is dead. Luckily I had my old previous camera along for emergencies.

Mitchell falls

the 4 Tiers of Mitchell Falls

Mitchell falls at right Big Merton at left

 Well folks that's all for today I will update from Mitchell onwards over the weekend. we have made it to Broome, where i hope to buy a new camera for the Horizontal Waterfalls Seaplane flight we have booked for Tuesday

The Transit Leg

Hello all

We all arrived in Darwin safely to 32c and 65% humidity. A pretty sticky night was had by all. Suffer Melbournians!

The Landcruiser pulls like a 15 year old schoolboy, and rides a lot better than I expected so all should be good for the Gibb.

Tonight we are at Timber Creek about 200k short of the WA border and will meet Team Perth in Kununurra tomorrow morning. Currently 27.4c  but dropping to a chilly 16c tonight. hehe 

The trek north begins

Hello all,

Julie and Kev left Perth today, beginning the journey north to Kununurra. The rest of us Fly to Darwin on Friday to collect our vehicle and head off to Kununurra from there. I can't wait!! It was 32C in Darwin today dropping to a chilly 18c tonight.

Safe trip Perthies, see you soon.

Road Open

UPDATE.  SWEK (Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley) opened the road to Mitchell Falls today. 
We were starting to get a bit concerned that it may not be open. As long as the weather holds out it's all systems go. 

The Rigs

One crew is leaving from Perth in the Backpacker Troopy, and 3 are flying to Darwin and picking up the Safari Landcruiser.

This setup gives us 2 kitchens, two fridges and seating for 8, giving us plenty of room to bounce around on nearly 700km of corrugations. This also allows us to all pile into 1 vehicle for little trips to watch the sunsets and so on.

Updates will be a little erratic this trip, sorry, as internet coverage will be a little scarce, after leaving Kununurra there is no coverage at El Questro. On a good day you can get a signal from the top of a hill near Home Valley Station, but after that there is nothing until Derby. I will update whenever I can, so stay tuned.

We will meet in Kununurra on June 3 to spend a fortune on food at the supermarket before heading off to El Questro Station via Emma Gorge.