By Fi
The time had come to exit Purnululu National Park, and continue our trip north. For the coming days, we would be exploring the gorges of El Questro as well as more of the Ord River Catchment area of Kununurra and Lake Argyle.
Pictured is out last sunset over the western side of the Purnululu National Park.
Heading in to El Questro, we were thrilled to drive through a bunch of water. Nothing so deep that said “you will need to have a snorkel on your car” but still enough for us to get a little bow wave going around the car, and wash the undercarriage (pictured is us going through this last wet section into the main accommodation areas).
Arriving in El Questro felt a little bit like getting on to a cruise ship for the first time. Check in Desk – “There is the bar, here are the tours, here is where you eat, and this is where you sleep – and these are the rules”.
The walks here are supposed to be epic, and we had passed a few spots on the way in. Checking with one of the staff, Adrian discovered that most likely the “El Questro Gorge walk” (instructions and map pictured) would be the most interesting and challenging walk for us to do, with some swimming and beautiful scenery thrown in.
El Questro planned, we headed off toward the gorge where we were warned “you will need a snorkel to get into the gorge carpark”. And yes, we did… Pictured is the view from my passenger side window of the water half way up the door.
El Questro gorge was worth every water crossing, crowded campsite and corrugated road. The walk was technical, beautiful and we were able to have the most luxurious swim at the top of the gorge in the crystal clear blue water of the water hole, fed by a cascading waterfall.
After the Gorge walk, we decided to also stop in and do another couple of hours walking at Emma Gorge. This was yet another spectacular gorge, with some beautiful swimming at the end. Possibly one of the most beautiful swimming holes we have been in (pictured).
Sufficiently gorged, we headed north towards a small remote camp site near Wyndham. Parry’s Creek is a conservation area, and supposed to be one of the most prolific bird spotting places in the area (we did see a lot of birds and would recommend to budding ornithologists).
We also took a quick detour to Wyndham so I could show Adrian the 5 rivers lookout (pictured) which is one of the most spectacular views in the area. You can see the rivers branching off the estuary here. In this instance, photos definitely speak louder than any words I could possibly write to describe the amazing views. I had been here 2 decades before, and remember it being a lot more brown, but in front of me the lush flood plains spread out to the horizon.
After a great nights sleep, we left the sweet spot of Parry’s camp, and drove to Kununurra. Kununurra is a place I had seen before, and I was excited to show Adrian Ivanhoe’s crossing, the Stone Art Gallery, the Hoochery (although, now that we aren’t drinking, we opted for the Sandalwood Factory instead) and Lake Kununurra (pictured).
We did some much needed resupplying and enjoyed a gluten free treat at the coffee shop. Kununurra is positively cosmopolitan compared to when I had spent time there previously. Pictured is Ivanhoe Crossing, a road connecting the outer parts of Wyndham and the outer parts of Kununurra. It is under water year round, and closed when the waters are really running during and just after the wet season. Estuarine crocodiles (salt water crocodiles) are known to frequent this area.
Kununurra was hosting the “Ord Valley Muster” and was therefore full of whip cracking, V8 driving, permanently tipsy people with very broad Australian accents. Being introverted, flat white sipping, inner west greenie types, we felt we might be taking up space for someone who would better enjoy the hive of activity. So, we stayed one night, then briefly marvelled at the prices of a small piece of sparkly pink rock (see Argyle Pink Diamonds in google if interested), and headed to Lake Argyle where we had booked a couple of evenings. Pictured is a fleeting moment of us being the only car at one of Kununurra’s attractions.
It was at this point we checked the date, and realised that the tourist season (AKA the dry season) was now in full swing, and that our days of quiet camping in secluded spots admiring the views were definitely over. Lake Argyle is a beautiful spot, and we took some time out to relax a little. We were planning some walks over the coming week across the border at Katherine Gorge and back to Kakadu. We felt that conserving some of our energy would serve us well to ensure we got the most out of our last week of touring. Plus we both got COVID jabs… More on that later.
Fi, that was a wonderful read, it brought back so many memories of the first time we went to the Kimberley in 2009. I fell in love with Parry Lagoon on that trip, it is indeed a birdwatchers paradise. Living your dry style of writing! Xx
So glad you liked it! Sorry we are a bit slow with the comments on the blog.
Its such a stunning area the whole place. So happy we got to go there before CV put a stop to everything. Hope you’re doing okay.