It was a much less daunting hike into El Questro over the 16 km of unsealed roads after the 90 km or so of unsealed roads getting into Lawn Hill. We knew we could do it. We knew the van and the Land Rover could handle it also. We packed better knowing without it we would have stuff rolling everywhere thoughout the van and the red dust is a given, we just clean it up at some stage or another…nothing we can do to prevent that one!
But we were pleasantly surprised. For a lot of our relatively short journey we were directly behind a grader that had just laid down the red carpet for us to get into the station!
But we were pleasantly surprised. For a lot of our relatively short journey we were directly behind a grader that had just laid down the red carpet for us to get into the station!
We arrived in some fairly warm weather after a smooth get away from Kununurra by about 7.30am. Paul and Isaac found us a sweet little spot down by Pentecost River (one of the 5 rivers on El Q), we settled in and had some breakfast cereal for morning tea (we’d had fruit for breaky on the road). We got into cossies and headed for Zebedee Springs, a sweet little natural spring that ranged from 28-32 degrees year round. It was much smaller than Mataranka, still lovely though and not interfered with at all. Just a few little pools and waterfalls… full of people. Luckily they are said to “close” at 12 so the rich folks at the Homestead can have exclusive access. We “lost track of time” a little and stayed a few minutes after most of the others had left and had our own exclusive access which was well worth the guilty feeling of “breaking curfew”!
After an epic family game of Uno during the heat of the day, we spent the late afternoon walking into Emma Gorge. It was also pretty special! Fairly busy walking; the sort that you have to concentrate pretty hard on every step to make sure you don’t turn your ankle or fall. Interestingly while I was walking with my big boys, all of us in silence for a while. I said “ I am really enjoying this walk” And commented that I liked how when you are concentrating on the walk your mind can drift off and both boys were right with me! I had been fantasizing about the possibility of going on a horse ride while at El Q, Sascha was taking a scenic flight over the Bungle Bungles and Isaac was dreaming that he was a condor with the head of a wedge tailed eagle that was on this walk with our family! It was lovely to be inside each other’s head for a second. The walk opened up to a lovely area where we could swim. It was crystal clear and “crocless” and freezing! Thankfully the boys found a sweet little natural spring feeding the pool which was at bath water temperature and they played there for the duration. Paul found a cheeky cane toad and tried to catch it in our lolly bag but it had escaped by the time he returned. The toads have only been on El Q for about a year. They are actively trying to keep them out of Emma Gorge with a fence and a removal program etc. Even with these measures 3 out of the 20 different species of goanna in that area have dropped precipitously in a season. It’s pretty heartbreaking what these toads have done and are doing…
The next morning we were up early for a cruise down Chamberlain gorge. It was time for more lessons on heartbreak amidst all the splendour. In 2011/12 the 800mm of rain for the season had already fallen and then they got another 900mm in one week which decimated the gorge. All the trees, including the ancient boabs were wiped out, ¾ of the Homestead cottages were washed away. It was devastating, especially to the local indigenous people who revere the boabs, and had nothing like this in any of their songlines or Dreaming stories. Never before had they ever lost their boabs. This year of course is setting all records for dry. The water was a metre lower than normal for this time in the season and we needed to get out of the boat for it to make it across one part of the shallows. Climate change and the increase in extreme weather events were up front and centre for today's lesson. Despite this sad note, the new life springing up amidst the ancient land in the form of saplings and little crocs (the big ones were all washed away) was lovely. The kids especially enjoyed the fish feeding part of the trip. We held out some fish food for the local archer fish. When they shot our hands we would reward them with a pellet. That was funny and messy. Amazing how many times we would get a splash in the face or the back as some archer fish or another shot someones pellet, or overshot! Sascha even got to handfeed a mighty barramundi. It was about 1m long and created quite the splash as it sucked up the fish in his hand. Some bush poetry and songs by our talented guides rounded out the trip. The kids made friends with 3 other kids from a family from Perth (Casey, Bella and Tyler) and spent a lot of time with them in the next 24 hours on the rope swing and kayaks in the river behind our caravans.
After splashy play as above for a few hours we headed out to El Questro Gorge. That was a narrow watery one with lots of shade from the towering cliffs above us. We made it halfway to a lovely pool and were happy with that. It was one of those spectacular moments swimming in the cool clear water like we were the only people in the world. The boys were a bit ratbaggy and needed an early night after that early morning but were desperate to go cane toad hunting with the new mates from Perth. Dom crashed out by 7 and the big ones did appropriate penance with washing and drying the dishes and were pulled out of purgatory and allowed out! They happily caught 3, that added to the two that Paul and the guy next door caught. It was pretty gross carrying a jumpy plastic bag. The kids dumped them in a storage box where they get held till freeze and burn time which happens twice weekly.
Our last morning was horsey heaven for me. I haven’t ridden since 96, except for a pony ride with Dom at Big Camp! So I was keen and nervous! I was put on Jolly while our guide Laura settled Brant (a brother of a staff member) onto old Euro, one of the original station horses. Jolly had just finished his breakfast and was perusing everybody else’s, much to their disgust. I was keen to avoid a row while I was on board but not assertive enough to keep Jolly out of everyone else’s way. By the end of the day I was feeling fine enough to give him a firm “no” and a gentle slap on the nose for giving me a bite on the chest. It was great. We took in lots of river crossings with some steep banks where I felt like a mini Man from Snowy River with the stirrups forward and the lean right back! We tried some bush foods (Rosella – sour warheads, Boab tree seeds – lemon powdered milk) and I helped Laura with the name of a few birds that she spotted. Good to have some use! Laura was a great guide and new Mum and we had a lovely chat about all sorts of stuff about real life and kids and food etc. Turns out her husband is a farrier and chef and they live in the Victorian Alps in our summer. They run Hidden Trails horse riding trips. The kid's camps where the kids learn riding, cooking, fire making etc etc sounds like a fantastic thing to do. The boys are very interested… which is a lovely change! They were all a bit nervous but Laura and I took them out, after my ride, on Euro, Jolly and Moonshine for a “real ride”. The big boys were chuffed about the whole getting to get the horse to stop and go and steer on their commands. What a rush of power!!
Paul had mostly packed by the time we were all finished washing down the horses, so email addressess/blogs etc were exchanged with our Perth mates and we said a fond farewell to El Q. What a wonderful station. It really does have something for everybody. We will be back, next time maybe in May so there is a little more water flowing in the falls and gorges, but still nice and quiet!
Apologies to everyone, especially Andrew Boogie, I may have gone a little OTT with the photos... just. Where is that NBN???
Apologies to everyone, especially Andrew Boogie, I may have gone a little OTT with the photos... just. Where is that NBN???