Days 26 to 31 – In July 2003 my family left home for another exciting journey. Our destination was the ‘Kimberley’ in Western Australia. We travelled from Victoria to South Australia, then to the Northern Territory and to Western Australia via the Tanami Track, then did a circuit of the Kimberley including the Gibb River Road then across to Katherine and down south home on the Stuart Highway. We travelled about 10,000 kilometres in 6 weeks.
Kimberley Holiday Itinerary in PDF View, Save, Print and Share
Days 26, 27 & 28 - Our next stop is the famous El Questro Station which has featured on many travel shows, but they only show you the 5 star accommodation, the helicopter rides and cruise down the Chamberlain River.
We found the other side of El Questro it is called ‘camping’, with all the promotion of their 5 star accommodation we expected top quality camping facilities, instead it was the most expensive campsite with the worst amenities. (We have been told it has improved since 2003) All we could see was the guarded gates that lead to the above 5 star accommodation.
However El Questro does have some beautiful water features, gorges and springs to see, there is usually a walk into them.
Champagne Springs was the first one we went to, unfortunately there wasn’t too much water flowing, but it was good to cool off in.
Zebedee Springs was only a few hundred metres from the carpark and it was beautiful, warm spring water flowing into many rock pools surrounded by palm trees.
El Questro Gorge was amazing, walking in we were surrounded by cliffs with creepers and lush plants everywhere. The creek bed was rock with pools of water in the deeper holes.
Day 29 – Emma Gorge is another part of El Questro, we drove there on the last morning on our way to Kununurra. Emma Gorge was at least a 30 minute walk in, but it was worth it, a beautiful big pool, massive cliffs and the water falling from the top.
Days 29, 30 & 31 – We left El Questro Station and drove to Kununurra and we stayed at Kona Waters Holiday Park which is situated on the banks of Lake Kununurra.
We camped right on the banks of the Lake only several metres from the water. Lake Kununurra is full of freshwater crocodiles, this freshwater crocodile has been coming up to the bank for several years to get fed from a long term park resident every day around 4 to 5 o’clock, his name is ‘George’.
About 100 metres from our camp this sea plane was moored, we had seen them take off several times going past our camp. When I heard I grabbed my closest which happened to be a disposble panaramic. I only had time to take one photo as it was moving along and I got very lucky and took this amazing photo.
The men and older boys went on an organised day tour to hopefully catch some Barramundi, unfortunately they only got one because they tides had stirred up the water and the Barra were not biting much. So they came back to camp very disappointed. They did see plenty of wildlife including this 6 metre crocodile.
On the last afternoon we were at Kununurra we drove to a lookout, this photo is looking across Kununurra township and creen crops growing in the distance.
We also went to Ivanhoe Crossing which is about 10 minutes north of Kununurra. The crossing was built for access across the Ord River which is full of salt water crocodiles. Ivanhoe Crossing was featured in the movie ‘Australia’.
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Where ever you go in Northern Australia you will find unique stunning locations waiting for you to visit and explore.
http://www.travel-australia-planning-guide.com/adventure-trips-in-australia.html
