After filling water bottles, we
were packed up and ready for our next stop which was around 110kms along the
rocky and bumpy dirt track. It was just
after lunch when we stopped at Ellenbrae Station where we were able to grab
something to eat – it was a toss-up between all on their menu: scones with cream and jam OR a toasted ham ,
cheese and tomato sandwich. We tried
both, not cheap but it was fresh and tasted good. Their toilets on the other hand left a lot to
be desired so we used our own. 70kms
further along we found what we were looking for, the turn-off to head north
along Kalumburu Road, in the direction of the Mitchell River National Park. Just near the turn-off there was an
information board to read on the area so we pulled over. There was also a troop carrier broken down
here with about a dozen aboriginal people trying to get back to their home town
of Kalumburu. Josh went over to see if
he could help out and in doing so found out that they were actually returning
from a basketball competition. They had
a radiator leak so Josh passed them something from his box of goodies to try
and fix it and then left them to their own devices as we had to get to our own
destination which was still another slow 60kms away. If that was to fail, I did manage to find out
that the ranger was sending another troop carrier to pick them up which wasn’t
too far away – they weren’t going to have to spend another night here. We continued on until we reached Drysdale
Station, another cattle station that had plenty of room for camping. Unfortunately no power or water to hook up to
but they did have a cleaner shower block than many I’d seen and plenty of
pressurised hot water. I cooked up some
spaghetti for dinner and tonight we spent some time reclined in our chairs and
staring at the thousands of stars above us in the dark of the night.
Up early the following morning as
we needed to pack our camping gear. We
were leaving our vans at Drysdale Station to do the next leg of our trip. We sorted our sleeping and cooking gear and
what food we would take – not that we had much to choose from as the fresh food
is just about all gone. Our last shop
was back in Kununurra before doing the Bungle Bungles. Shaun and Liz sorted their stuff out too (fortunately
they bought a tent in Kununurra to get them by these few days). We took off just before 10am and hit that
bloody rocky road once more. Josh is
building his muscles by driving these roads.
From Drysdale Station we had about 100kms to the north and then about
another 85kms west along a very rough track.
Normally this would only take a couple of hours but thanks to the rough
drive, it took double the normal time – I’m glad the caravan was left
behind! After having a short stop at the
Mitchell Falls turn-off, we stopped a bit further up the road to look at some
Aboriginal artwork before resuming the trip.
Down the road was a tow truck with an Apollo hire vehicle on its tray. It had the front passenger tyre hanging off
due to snapped ball joints off the control arms due to the massive corrugations
so for the rest of our short trip I was secretly praying that we wouldn’t end
up in the same predicament along this torturous road. It was fairly late in the afternoon when we
pulled into Mitchell River National Park, stopped to pay our fees and then go
in to find a campsite for the next few nights.
Fortunately we found a spot big enough for both families to camp and a
bonus fireplace between us. Matt and the
girls hunted about for some firewood while we were setting up. We even got the hammocks out and set all four
up but fortunately it wasn’t that hot at night where we felt the need to sleep
in the hammock overnight, particularly seeing as though we saw plenty of wild
dogs on our way in. We cooked up dinner
of packet curry pasta and some marinated chicken (as well as some masala
sausages for lunch the next day) and sat by our campfire playing games. It actually got quite cold so we headed for
bed very early just like everyone else around us. We kind of felt guilty if we
made any noise seeing as though everyone in this part of WA appears to go to
bed well before 8pm, not long after the sunsets (which is quite early, around
5.30pm).
Our first night in the tent on
this little camping trip was bearable (I don’t think Shaun and Liz would say
the same) but we were up early and it was a crisp morning. After breakfast, cleaning up, and packing our
bags for our 8.6km trek along the Punamii – Unpuu (Mitchell Falls) Walking
Trail. It was probably close to 9am by
the time we left camp and the sun was shining bright as it always does up here. We crossed past the heliport reading the
entry signs along the way stating that there were “cliff and water risks”. The first part of our walk was about 800m through
woodland and spinifex to Little Mertens Falls.
It would have been great to stop here for a swim but we had a long way
to go in the heat of the day so instead saved the swim for on the way
back. The next leg was 3.5kms over more
of the same of the rocky path we’d come from and past Big Mertens Falls which
is a water crossing along the top of a long deep gorge and the views were
spectacular. I was keeping a close eye
on the kids to ensure that they didn’t get too close to the edge or they would
have fallen to their deaths. We
continued on our very hot hike until reaching the Mitchell River. We just dropped our bags and dived on in,
clothes, shoes and all and the water was beautiful and a great relief to
walking in the sunshine with only small spurts of shade. After wading our way across the river we kept
to the final part of the track until we came to a small rock surrounded
clearing where there were a number of people who had walked in as part of a
tour. They had stopped here to have
lunch and enjoy the view. However, we’d
been told by previous campers that if we kept walking around we’d get the full
view of the falls which included the bottom pool so we continued a little
further around to a small cave-like area.
Upon clambering up onto some big boulders that appeared to overhang the
water, we got a sensational view of Mitchell Falls, an 80m four-tiered section
of sandstone which creates a series of impressive falls and pools. The only thing that ruined the view was that
in the second pool from the top was a small white blob, which if you looked
closely was actually a dead kangaroo floating around which we’ve been told had
been there for a couple of weeks. Yes –
gross! We took some pictures trying to
capture the beauty and had our lunch in our own little habitat. We headed back a little to the now vacant
rocky area and found Shaun, Liz, Matt & Olivia here eating their lunch, so
took a few more pictures before returning to the Mitchell River for another
well-earned swim. Just near this river
crossing is also where many people catch the taxi helicopter service back to
the campsite but we decided to save our $115 per person, 8 minute flight and
head back to camp by foot.
Unfortunately, it was even hotter now being after lunch time and hard to
keep the kids on their toes. We stopped
for the occasional sip of water before continuing to push them along all the
way back to Little Mertens Falls for that swim.
It was fantastic (that is actually an understatement)! Shaun and Liz met up with us here not too
much later and joined in the swim before we all packed up and hiked that last
800m back to the tents. It was good to
get out of our wet shoes and socks and stretch our toes and laze about in the
hammocks before having to get dinner underway.
It wasn’t anywhere near as cold as last night tonight but we still had
another campfire and went to bed pretty exhausted from our long walk today.
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