Around Oz the First Time - Chapter 34 - Kununurra to El Questro

There are two things that are high on my bucket list, both of which can potentially be crossed off by a visit to El Questro. In fact one was crossed off the moment we drove in, the actual being at El Questro, the other entails a metre plus barramundi which by all reports might not happen this trip, with the wet season being so poor and the dry season not being hot enough, the water levels not allowing the fish into the upper reaches, it may not happen this time.

First though we need to get there and to do that we need to leave Kununurra. All vans have attacks of small ants overnight. I catch Silver Leader about to head into town from replacement provisions and suggest to him, better if I drive as I need to fill up anyway. He agrees and off we go, I have a letter to post, and have to find a post box as well as the cheapest fuel in town, and although its only a short hop, the next one is a large one and I don’t want to push the edge of the envelope with fuel consumption.

Silver Leader returns from Coles with a trolley full of provisions, the ants must have done a lot more damage than in our van. My job, find a Post Office is made easy once I view past the Argyle Diamonds shop. Obviously, the girls’ eyes were so taken by the sparkle of the gemstones they did not see the Post Office just behind. Not only was there a Post Office it was accompanied by a large car park, funny how you miss things when you are blinkered by desire, Robyn will be ribbed heaps on my return. We hit the fuel stop, another unmanned, credit card only venue (we are getting used to these now) where I top up and head back.

Upon the return Robyn gets her sledge to which she simply shrugs her shoulders and agrees with the blinkered scenario, and show she is wearing the earrings again, good come back I thought.

We are now readying ourselves for departure in earnest now, but before we do I have to head back into town for some Ant Rid and some Stop Itch, this I do with speed and efficiency once I find the aisle with the Ant Rid in it. I see the directory and it says pest control – aisle 9 – but aisle 9 has no such section. Getting frustrated I move to the next aisle and the prior one just in case they have it wrong in the directory, then I see it, aisle 9 actually includes a perpendicular aisle along the wall at the end of the aisles I am touring around. Smart that! Items purchased, its back to the car as 2 Harley Davidson bikes roar into the spot beside me, which is shaded. A husband and wife emerge from the leathers and bid a warm good morning.

Back at the park preparations are in earnest. I back the Cruiser to the van and attach it, starting my checklist for departure, ball security lock off and stowed, ball secured and overlock engaged, main lights plug inserted, red and grey Anderson plugs inserted, reversing camera plug inserted, earth for the auto stop mechanism attached, chains locked into place, hand brake off, jockey wheel and wooden base plate stowed. Sound about right, but I forgot to reattach the jockey wheel holder I found out when we got to our destination, no harm no foul.

Disconnect the grey water pipe and I am immediately covered in water, the syphon effect of the end of the hose being slightly higher than the outlet has meant the grey water tank has not drained. No worries, it has now. Disconnect the water input and power cord, check that Robyn is happy we have both done our jobs in full and we are ready.

Rosalie suggests to Robyn she needs a mango smoothie to go and Robyn readily agrees she needs one too. Robyn needs a toilet stop before we head out so we tell both women we will meet them at the front gate which is adjacent to the smoothie distributor. Once there Robyn remembers she has not checked the lights, she jumps out of the Cruiser, leaving the door open and I continue to crawl to the boom gate, no worries here there is quite a queue. The radio starts with jibes about trying to leave her behind as I had done with the boys at the drive though bottle shop yesterday, but there was method to our madness and the job got done.

Out on the road we head as we had done yesterday to Molly’s Springs left from the van park. We are soon in familiar territory heading sown the road. Its only a small hop today, the odometer at the end of the trip will not even be into triple figures according to Silver Leader. Enough time of course not to see a camel I jibe. Forbsy comments he was not going to comment on that one. Silver Leader does make a comment about the difference water makes. We saw acres and acres of greenery yesterday, maize, sorghum and sugar cane. We also saw sandalwood trees with symbiont plantings beside them to ensure pests stay away.

As with previous trips this last little while the scenery goes from magnificent to gobsmacking and back again. We pass through gorges, along the bottom of cliff topped escarpments on one side and rolling hills on the other. We soon turn along the Gibb River Road, this road is notorious for its effects on vehicles and vans, tearing them apart. Thankfully we only have to traverse the bitumen bit today before we tun off to El Questro. Along the way, causeways, mere signs on the road previously now become vehicle slowing dips, some of which have wicked bums in the bottom to keep you on your toes.

We stop at the corner for the phot-opportunity under the El Questro sign before the gravel road leg of the journey. The road is very corrugated and Silver Leader takes it slow, too slow in Forbsy, mine and a couple of vehicles soon to be behind us. Robyn videos the UHF antenna trying to be two at once as the corrugations make it sway from side to side. Finally, he does increase speed to an effective 55kph which, expect for the dust makes life much more comfortable (or maybe the road is a little better). Some of the vehicles behind overtake on the dusty road making it even harder for us.

We come to the first of 2 water crossings. This one is only a puddle really and I could almost traverse the water part of it but the gibbers on the road mean I need to crawl. By the second Forbsy and I have caught up to Silver Leader traversing the second water crossing. This one has 500mm of water flowing over it, the van which had overtaken us is right behind Silver Leader on the causeway, not a safe place to be in our thinking. Forbsy and I both wait for the crossing to be completed and venture across one at a time. That crossing done and we are here, and only 100km of driving distance, but certainly the most “challenging” so far for Cruiser and Scorpion.

El Questro is (or was) a working cattle station, I have brought my riding gear in the small hope of a horse ride on something other than a single file ride along a track, nahhh that ain’t gunna happen. First impressions of El Questro are a bit of a letdown, and the brochures brought back by Robyn from the reception do not give rise to an increase in enthusiasm. Supply and demand, this is one of the jewels in the crown of the Kimberley, well marketed and well patronised. Nothing is cheap here, a beer was $11. We will be doing much self-propelled stuff from here we decide, but I would like to fish and perhaps take a helicopter ride, the latter “that ain’t gunna happen” either, Robyn is uneasy about small flying machines.

This place is simply caravan park, and not a well maintained one either. Many of the amenities are broken or out of commission or both. Funny how your expectation, built up over many years of imagination are brought back to earth once you get there. The previous week there were no expectations and they results were breathtaking, even Kununurra, but now faced with a place I had seen, dreamed about and placed on my bucket list, the best I can say is I ticked it off.

I wonder whether its more that I am simply still tired. We seem to run form attraction to attraction, we have had lay days and still managed to fit lots in. Here at El Questro we are talking about walks, cruises and tours in two days, before moving on to the Bungle Bungles. When we first started I was sleeping 10 to 11 hours a night, lately it has only been 8, perhaps that is the problem. These last couple of days I have been very keen to limit any alcohol to perhaps 2 standards a day whereas a bottle of bourbon was lasting less than a few days, using the tin mug as a drinking receptacle and meaning much larger portions of alcohol to go with the larger portion of mixer, and then in percentages that seem to favour the bourbon.

But these last couple of nights, the sleep has been a bit restless and Robyn has lost the doona battle. Maybe tonight will be different, like I said I am tired, it’s just the sun gets up (and so do the others in the van parks) so early in WA.

We are on tour not on holidays.