El Questro Day 2 - Continued

No one was going to accuse us of not filling our days with things to do. After El Questro Gorge we hired a tinne (on the advice of Tim & Jodie) and took a boat ride on the Chamberlain River to see the gorge. This was a relaxing way to spend the hot afternoon s we could cruise in the shadows of the gorge. All the kids had a turn of steering the boat, but of course Lachie showed the way and did most of the navigating. Once again exhausted we cooked tea and then fell into bed at around 7.30pm ready for our start the next day at around 5.45am.

El Questro Day 2 - Continued

We came across lots of people that hadn't made it to the end and turned back at various points when the going got tough. The 10th marker was called "half-way pool" and was one of the hardest obstacles but we were determind to reach the gorge at the 17th marker. Hundreds of boulders and several waterfall climbs later, we reached the gorge. The gorge was pretty but small. If you could have it all to yourself it would be a very peaceful place to stay for a few hours. Thankfully as it was so hard to get to, it wasn't too crowded. The water was crystal clear and divine to swim in. On the return journey, Bec was leading us along the path when out popped a yellow snake that hissed at her. She nearly died of fright and as the tears rolled uncontrollably down her face, she could barely get the words out to tell us what was wrong. Chris was going to have to tell the rangers that there was a snake in the El Questro Gorge walk that was in need of counselling as we couldn't work out who was more traumatised - the snake or Bec.

El Questro Day 2

We started the day today in a very civilised way and went out for breaky at the El Questro Wilderness Park restaurant. Bec & Fiona had a nice Ciabatta bacon & egg roll with carmelised onion and aioli. Delicious! Everyone else had eggs their favourite way. With full tummies we made our way to the El Questro Gorge walk which involves a drive along a 4wd track and river crossing before you even reach the start point.

This turned out to be one of the most challenging walks we had done so far. It involved wading through rock pools waist deep carrying your belongings above your head to keep dry and then climbing beside, up and over boulders 6 - 7 metres in diameter. Once again Lachie was our very own rock wallaby bounding from rock to rock with ease. He has an amazing amount of energy. Bec has also impressed us with her determination, but poor Mel has not done some of these as easily because she has been unwell with a cold and not herself. Normally she would be the leader of the pack and showing us the way.

El Questro Day 1 - Continued

Today's walk was to Emma Gorge and check out Emma Gorge Resort which are next to each other. Whilst the resort area was nice, it didn't impress us as being outstanding. The pool was ordinary but the gardens and buildings very nice and would be a nice place to relax after a hot day on the trails. Emma Gorge was another rock hopping walk and it took us a few hours to complete the 3.2k return walk incorporating a swim at the gorge.

El Questro Day 1

Once again we were visited by some of the local wildlife. This time a water monitor - not unusual as we were camped right beside the Pentecost River. Another day, another gorge walk. But firstly we walked to Zebedee Springs for a hot bath from the spring fed rock pools. These places would be so nice to enjoy on your own. There are so many travellers there that it was hard to find a place to relax in. We chatted to few people and caught up with what they were doing in their travels and then dried off to move on to our next challenge for the day.

Katherine To El Questro

Today we finally hit the Gibb River Road leaving Katherine, crosssing into WA, visiting Lake Argyle and stopping briefly in Kununurra. In order to save space we had packed an ebay purchased camera charger that worked off both 12v and 240v. Unfortunately it gave us exact value for money and got extremely hot on several occasions (nearly setting fire to our clothes at Darwin) and then ultimately stopped working. About 50k's out of Kununurra we tried connecting to the internet in the hope we could find a shop that sold both a new battery and a charger. Thankfully we were able to find both. Re-supply with food and fuel and we were on our way to El Questro.

Katherine - Nitmiluk National Park

We stayed at the camping ground within Nitmiluk National Park. We really liked the campground which had a nice pool area with a bar and live entertainment each night. The tame local wildlife also visited in the evenings foraging for food scraps. The next morning we went on a cruise of the Katherine River into two of the gorges.