Wyndham –10/8/15
After some quick and successful morning shopping (some toe-covered shoes for Sarah and a National Park Permit) we left Kununurra and drove the 100 km into Wyndham, the top town of WA in relation to the NT border and also the last port northward before Darwin. And again the scenery was very different from before: rolling, yellowish-brown hills with some cliffs to be seen in the distance and very dry. The main attraction in Wyndham is the Five Rivers Lookout, 350m above sea level from where you can see the Ord, Forrest, King, Durack, and Pentecost Rivers enter the Cambridge Gulf. There was a lot of dust or smoke in the air and the view was not a clear one but still it was an amazingly red sunset. And we still managed to skype with Peter and get Sarah to bed before she was over-tired. Successful day!
Finally on the Gibb -11/8/15
Finally – 50 km from Wyndham we turned onto the famous Gibb River Road (see picture for evidence). It didn’t feel any different, though, because it’s still bitumen for about 35 km or until you reach El Questro (ELQ) turn off. We stopped at Emma Gorges (20km into the Gibb) but decided not to do the 3.2km walk to the waterfall and rock pool because a) Sarah and we were somehow tired, b) it was about 11.30 am and 33 C, and c) it costs $12/adult for a day pass to do the walk and access the ELQ station land. But we relaxed with a coffee and scone (just another $12 per serving) in very comfortable chairs in the shade and Sarah played hide and seek under the couch cushions :-)
Just after the turn off to the ELQ station Martin had to let the tyre pressure down: yeah – we’re on gravel road again!
The road was fairly smooth up to the Pentecost River crossing, the major event of this drive. The water is about 40-50 cm deep and the riverbed is very rocky - the car and van were shaking quite a bit. For a split second Martin saw a warning “water in fuel” popping up but it disappeared and we made it safely to the other side. Sarah loved it and actually wanted to walk through the crossing – sorry, croc-country. Another 10 km with an amazing view on the Cockburn Range on the right hand side (which could easily be called the 12 Apostles of the north) and we reached our final destination for the next 2 nights: Home Valley Station. A big restaurant, a pool, a bar, horses and a donkey, and the best “official” playground for the last 500 km with playmates for Sarah. Just a bit crowded. Welcome to the Gibb River Road, one of the last ‘real adventures’ of Australia! :-D
Home Valley Station and views onto the Cockburn Range
We stayed for 2 nights at Home Valley Station (HV8) – it was just too good for Sarah to have a playground, a pool and playmates. She made friends with a nearly 4 year old girl, Madison, who nearly taught her to swim without floaties again. We did a small trip to a lookout (Telstra reception!!), and we returned for sunset pictures of the Cockburn range :-) and to the second campground of HV8 near the river. It was certainly the better campground scenery wise, but no playground, no pool and too many generator- and music-playing-real-adventure-camper.
Home Valley Station has about 3,500,000 acres (14,000 km2) however the cattle property seems to be completely separate from the tourist resort. So we have no clue what happens there. Sarah was also very disappointed as they had horses for guided tours, but they didn’t do kids rides. At least she was able to pat some horses again.