Thursday 18 May - to Mitchell Falls

We left the wonderful HVS and returned to the Gibb River Road.

This wonderful old work shed has been transformed into the dining area

Lots of wonderful memorabilia here

I was lucky enough to have my turn sitting up front – Shotgun – what a great section of road for this.

A short drive from the station we turned off the road to visit the falls on the river which runs through the station. A freshwater croc was trapped in the pool below.

A flock of magpie geese

Everyone was so captivated with the crocodile they missed the main event - the waterfalls

We crossed the Durack River and through magnificent countryside. Belting along at 100km it was quite a ride.

There are small tar sections called Jump Ups which are over ranges and helps avoid the wash away of the road during the Wet. This one was famously first negotiated by a Rolls Royce.

Lots of debris has been moved off the road

Sign for the Durack River

A very large river it is too

Still lots of grading work going on

Soon we were at the intersection with the Kalumburu Road. This is a road which heads north and takes us up to the Mitchell Plateau.

This map shows areas which property or indigenous land owners are responsible for prescribed burning

Our lunch stop was at Drysdale River Station. Then we were off again on the last leg of this long drive – 450km to our Mitchell Falls camp.

An unusual phone box

The road was reasonable from Drysdale to the turn off to the Plateau. The last 75 km of road in, however, was very rough and took two hours to travel. There was no one riding Shotgun on this section because George needed to concentrate on the road.

We passed an unfortunate caravan which had broken its axel. Luckily they were carrying a spare! Many vehicles are abandoned on this road after a breakdown because of the high cost of towing. $4000 on average to tow a vehicle back to Kununurra.

The scenery gradually became more lush

Crocodile Dreaming last night at HVS, now simply Dreaming