Today was a very full day! Kieran did Park Run while Karen explored the national park and Bob and I rode to the local markets where we picked up fresh bread (yum) and some salad ingredients. We rode back to the van, dropped our purchases off and continued our ride to the diversion dam on the Ord River (see photo above). There are 20 individual gates on this dam to allow wet season flooding through when necessary. Today there were…
This morning Karen and Kieran headed out early to explore on their bikes. We elected to get out and knock off the largish shopping list before the influx of travellers arrived to strip the shelves. After a successful expedition we were free to explore around town from late morning. We headed out to Ivanhoe Crossing and spent some time photographing and droning. A very different crossing to those we have completed on the Gibb, with a much higher flow and…
This morning we left El Questro after a last coffee and croissant at the restaurant and me spending even more money on Boab art at the local art gallery. We savoured our last 16km of dirt road (not!) and stopped to reinflate the tyres for hopefully one of the last times. We headed to Wyndham where we checked out the port, took the obligatory photo at the big croc and headed up to the lookout to see the 5 rivers…
Our last day at El Questro and on the Gibb. We’ve had the last 27 nights along the road and haven’t been connected to 240V power since we were in Broome. Something we’d never have considered before this trip. This morning we were back out by 630 in our car this time for the 30km drive to the Emma Gorge hike (with Karen doing her thing and heading out for a sunrise walk beforehand). Despite our concerns after the El…
I can’t believe it’s August! We left home at the end of April and will be back home in a month….there is still so much to see and do until then though. This morning Karen and Kieran headed off early for the hike to Amalia Gorge. They really enjoyed it, however Bob and I have decided to save our knees for Emma Gorge tomorrow. We weren’t far behind them and were at Zebedee Springs just after 8. The springs are…
I don’t have words to describe today adequately. I have completed the hardest hike I’ve done at least since I’ve had kids. The ‘no knees Mitcho’s’ brigade have excelled themselves! We left camp at 630 as the day was forecast to reach 36 deg (which it did!). First stop was at the water crossing to the gorge which we had been warned was 1m deep and was very long. We parked up the vehicles and did our best to walk…
Today we finally crossed the infamous Pentecost. After hearing stories of 25% of vehicles requiring retrieval a month ago, we were so happy to traverse this lengthy crossing with low water level and no surprises under the surface. We timed our crossing close to low tide as the river is tidal (hence the croc warnings). Not the trickiest crossing we have done by far 🙂 Once we were over the river, the tar started….and it may not stop till we…
Today was really, really hot! It was 38 deg inside the van this afternoon with all windows and roof hatches open. I’m starting to find the heat oppressive again – I expect the humidity is rising. This morning we actually set our alarms and headed back out to Bindoola Falls for brekky. It was a lovely sunrise looking out from my spot in bed… Karen rode 15 or so km towards the ‘falls’ and we picked her up along the…
This morning we headed out earlyish to try to beat the heat of the day. Karen and Kieran rode the 4.5km from our river camp to the station and we drove (surprise, surprise). We decided on a relatively short hike to the Mt Baldy lookout with views of the Cockburn Ranges. We didn’t count on getting lost along the way! We corrected our path by walking directly up the side of the hill with the accompanying spinifex spiking of our legs along the way. Once we…
We’ve become accustomed to staying at a location for around 3 nights. Today was pack up day and it isn’t very exciting anymore. At least we are heading somewhere new to make it a bit more interesting. We first headed across the Durack River. The level is really quite low now so it wasn’t stressful at all. I put the drone up and tried to put it in follow me mode but only succeeded in turning it off when I wanted it on and…