Arising at our usual time of 6ish, we had breakfast and then
packed up the van and filled the water tanks ready for our last onslaught of
the rough bit of the Gibb River Road.
What a high traffic route the section of road between Home Valley
Station and El Questro - cars must have roared past us at least every 2
minutes. We got to the famous Pentecost
River crossing and there was enough water in it to make it interesting without
so much that Jenny got nervous or the water had any chance of coming in through
the doors.
A bit further on and there was the end of the gravel and the
start of the bitumen that heads all the way east to the Wyndham turn off. We had just long enough to go "Ah,
that's so smooth!"before turning in onto the El Questro ("the heart
of the Kimberley!") entry road and back on to the gravel and the
corrugations. A surprisingly bumpy ride
given they charge everyone entering the park a $20 fee which supposedly goes
towards road maintenance amongst other things.
About here is when Larry started to reminisce - "It was nothing
like this 26 years ago" becoming a common refrain. Fording a final stream which was actually
deeper and more exciting than the famous one we were in the 'town' so parked up
and headed into reception. A nice girl
did some shuffling of bookings to get us a powered site for the 3 nights we
needed so that we don't have to move sites after one night. It's a lovely shady spot although a bit
squeezy with vans and camper trailers all around us but, oh, the luxury of
power and running water!!!
Set up and then wandered back up to the station store for
lunch and a drink and for an internet update and to work out a plan of attack
for the various gorges and lookouts around El Questro. Headed back to the van first off though as
there were some maintenance, repairs and housework to be done. We had forgotten to lock the ensuite door
into place before heading off this morning and unfortunately the rough roads
had made it jump and gouge out its track.
In addition, Larry discovered the fan on one of the ensuite hatches had
come loose. Whilst L worked on these, J
went in search of the coin operated washing machines and dryers boasted of in
the brochure. Unfortunately the amenity
blocks are so new (and so incredibly modern and trendy compared to those we've
experienced over the last week!) that all there was, was a space where they are
going to be installed (with shiny new power points ready and waiting). Oh well.
Lugged the laundry back to the van and did 4 loads in that instead as it
is only big enough to take one towel and a few smalls at a time.
A very warm afternoon so we changed into our bathers and
headed down to the creek at the bottom of the campground for a dip in the
pool. Very refreshing as it was in the
shade and had nice smooth rocks around the side for sitting on whilst sipping a
refreshingly cold beverage. We managed
to snag 3 pool lounges on the grassy bank and so sat back in the warm afternoon
breeze and did some more relaxing (which we are now getting very good at!)
Back to reception to book dinner for tomorrow night and to
enquire about fishing spots and hiring a boat (which, once again, is promoted
in the brochure). The bookings lady
advised that the fishing pool known as Pigeon Hole is now closed to visitors as
a giant saltwater crocodile has taken up residence and is probably larger than
the dinghy they had for hire. Hmmm. Change of plan for tomorrow then!
Back to the van and cooked up Ingham Chicken parcels, the
last of the potatoes and peas and corn for dinner. Then took advantage of having power to
microwave popcorn for a slightly different dessert to our usual mini chocolate
bar (although we had one of those too!)
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