We both fell for the Falls!!

Hello Family and Friends,

Well, this trip just seems to get better and better. Since my last update, boy have we covered a lot of territory.

We stayed at Home Valley Station (on the Gibb River Road) for a total of 4 nights. We didn't do an awful lot of anything- just relaxed! The lunch we did have at the restaurant though was lovely and I can recommend their cappuccinos!! We met some lovely people there including a lady called Sam who was travelling the Gibb River Road on her own. I also think she might have been ill as she was always wearing a scarf on her head and I don't think she had any hair underneath, and she didn't have any eye brows. She was a really gutsy lady and she was just lovely to talk to. She had started her trip in Broome and was travelling the opposite way to us. I gave her some pointers on the roads and places we had visited and she was able to do the same for us. She was from Victoria and had a good laugh when I bagged some Victorians under my breath when they drove into the camp ground driving like idiots!!

Next stop was Ellenbrae where we stayed for one night. This again was a lovely spot but not as flash as HV8 (this is Home Valley’s logo and also their stock branding symbol- Ellenbrae’s is 7XL). We did have the most magnificent scones, jam and cream at Ellenbrae though. They were still warm and must have just been made. They do have a very good reputation for their morning and afternoon teas with many people just driving in for the scones then leaving. At $8.00 per person, it is a nice side line, if you ask me!

The next day was a big one for us as we headed up the Kalumbaru Road towards Mitchell Falls. 9 years ago when we did this trip, the Kalumbaru Road was disgusting, as was the road into Mitchell Falls, and we did both shockers and a tyre in our feeble attempt to see the Falls. So, were we really surprised when the Kalumbaru Road was in very good condition. We stayed at Drysdale Station (well, their watering hole 5 km from the Station at a place called Miners Pool) for the night. We went for a swim in the pool and it was just divine- not cold at all. There are no crocs here so the only things you have to worry about are other travelers’ and their kids jumping around! (well, it is school holidays so there are tons of them around!!)

The next day we headed up to Mitchell Falls. This was always going to be a huge “I can do it” sort of day for us as we got into trouble right at the beginning of the Mitchell Falls Road so we really didn’t achieve anything on our previous trip except for breaking the car and travelling on a truly shitty road for 2 days!! So again how surprised were we when the Mitchell Falls Road was also in terrific condition. And when we passed the Grader Man, who just happened to be standing along side his grader, I just had to get Anthony to stop and thank this guy so very much for all the great work he does. It would be a terrible, thankless job, but for us it was just terrific. Poor guy was so shy he just didn’t know what to say or where to look!! I’m glad we stopped though, as it is not very often you do get to say thanks for a job well done to the actual person responsible. The most we normally do is wave to him as we slowly go past.

Well we got up to Mitchell Falls at about 11.30am, found a really nice spot and set up our tent!! Yes, we left the camper trailer behind at Drysdale. We were always going to “tent” it into the Bungles and Mitchell Falls as we did not want to do any damage to the camper. The fact that both roads were in brilliant condition meant we could have taken the camper, but we were happy to tent it. Although you do appreciate the camper so much more when you use it after “tenting it”- there’s so much more room(and you can stand up to get changed!!)

We went over to the Helicopter booking office to enquire about flights to the falls. After speaking to “our neighbors” after we arrived, they suggested flying to the falls at 8am (first flight) and walking back. They had just done that and the walk back in the mid morning was very comfortable, they said.

You could get a flight straight to the falls (6 minutes) for $115.00 each, but we decided to do the 18 minute flight which takes you over the Lower Mitchell Falls and the JCR Falls, both of which are inaccessible by foot and have crocs!! It was a truly spectacular flight and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Our pilot, Shaun, did some slow sweeps over the falls and the occasional dip. I mentioned to the pilot when we were flying (via the intercom system) that I was loving his flying, and he shot his head around to look at me. Poor guy probably thought I was about to throw up over the back of his head!!

Mitchell River

JCR Falls 

Mitchell Falls from the air and from the ground (below)

Once he dropped us at the Falls though, we were the only ones up there- for about 10 minutes until some of the early morning walkers arrived!! Still, we were able to get quote a few photos with no one else in them!! The falls themselves are just spectacular and we are so glad we were able to see them from both the ground AND the air. 

On our walk back to the camp we stopped 3 times to have a swim in the waterholes. They were just lovely and again it was just us every time. We were very lucky as you pass so many people walking on the tracks and the helicopters are going all through out the day, yet we were having these waterholes to ourselves!

Little Mertens waterhole near Mitchell Falls campground

The following day we headed back to Drysdale Station (Miners Pool) and spent 2 nights here. This was a great opportunity for me to do some hand washing and again we went swimming in the pool 2 or 3 times a day to keep cool. Oh, and Anthony filled up at Drysdale when we went in to pick up the camper. $2.35 for diesel and it cost nearly $290.00 to put in 123 litres (that’s not even a full tanks worth!!) So stop complaining at home about petrol prices!!!

After Drysdale we headed back out to the Gibb River Road again. Once we had turned onto it we both mentioned that this road was “very average” compared to the newly graded Kalumbaru and Mitchell Falls Roads. Oh well, it’s still not a bad road to drive on and we are able to sit on around 50 to 80 kms, depending on conditions.

At the moment we are at Mt Elizabeth Station. This is a working station with 2 terrific 4WD drives to waterholes and waterfalls. We did the harder of the 2 this morning and Anthony thoroughly enjoyed himself. The waterhole and waterfall at the end were just magnificent. And again we had it to ourselves. We passed 2 families who were walking in to the area as we were walking out (we noticed they were both South Aussies when we got back to the car park!!) but for the hour we were there it was just us. Just damn lucky I suppose!!

Well that’s it for now. More updates in the next couple of days.

Love, Anthony and Julie xx