Author Archives: stuart

El Questro – Part 1 of the Kimberley

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We arrived in El Questo for the first part of our trip. We managed to get a private campsite. It was $174 for two days, though about half of that was the “park pass” that gave you access to the gorges. A bit pricey… but wow! It was worth it. It was the best campsite that I have seen. Right on a river, under some great trees, with no one around. It is a cattle station and we were a bit suprised to see a herd of cows sitting around the camp site. Most left but one was a bit bold and kept trying to come over. We shooed her away, but she would always come back. Eventually we managed to chase her off in the car.


Campsite

Moonrise by the River

The next morning we woke up early and headed straight to the thermal spring. It was a great spot to swim, with only a couple of people there we timed it really well.


Then we went to Emma Gorge. Claire nearly walked over a black snake. Usually snakes are quite scared of humans but this one was quite happy taking the path, not interested in leaving on account of us.


Emma Gorge

The Emma Gorge walk was amazing, when we got there it was far too cold to swim, but we had some bikkies and dip before heading back.

On the way back we went to El Questro gorge. It was really Jurassic Park like. Walking at the bottom of some massive escarpments all the way through. Had a good swim in the half way pool too, then headed back. The water crossing there was a bit scary, all of them are very easy but this one started easy at about 300mm on rocks then suddenly changed to 500mm on mud. But we got through without a problem.

That night we had some more fun with a swim a few drinks by our river, once again had a great moon in the blue sky. One of the neighbours was pumping music, and I went over to ask them to turn it down… turns out it wasn’t them, but the homestead. What was even funnier was, thanks to WA time, it was actually 7.30pm at night. I’ve clearly turned into a grumpy old man.

The next morning we packed up and checked the stockmans waterhole out. We had a bit of driving to do to get to the King Edward river camp site, so we didn’t go for a swim.

Wading through Catfish

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Been doing a bit of camping and other busy work, combined with a small boat, bluewater season, and a decent wind – I haven’t been fishing much. Decided to head out with Mud and Alice to Leeders creek to try to get some Jewies on the turn of the tide. We both managed to mistime what the tide would be, which meant an hour less fishing, but also an hour less on the incoming tide which was where we expected to get fish.

The catfish were on! At the start of the day it was catfish after catfish, Mud termed the phrase “wading through the catfish” as every now and again we would get a blue salmon, or a goldie. Never got the jew we were aiming for. I hooked something quite large that jumped, but it managed to bite through my 80lb mono leader.

After the turn of the tide the fishing dropped right off. Still the occasional catfish but

Got:
Me: Decent blue salmon
Mud: Slightly smaller blue salmon, impressive black tipped reef shark
Alice: Small goldie
All with lots of catfish!

Story of the trip:
Not sure, my first try at fish cakes with the salmon worked out quite well. Or perhaps not being able to land the largest fish, even though it jumped we didn’t know what it was.

Boat problems:
None for today, after a rather expensive service it was running like a dream.

Snap:

Douglas Hot Springs

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Is a campsite that has water (that you need to boil) toilets and showers. It also has hot thermal springs which are (in parts) hot enough to burn you. Pay attention to the signs and it is a great place to visit. The spring itself is about waist deep at the deepest, and knee deep throughout most. You can light fires anywhere, and firewood isn’t too hard to find, but generally best to gather some on the way in.

Long weekend in Wagiman Country

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Just got back from an amazing long weekend away.

On the first day we got to Douglas Hot Springs to find the camping ground was packed! I guess you can’t really expect much else on a long weekend. We found a nice spot and then went to the thermal springs. I was expecting them to be like the luke warm pools of Mataranka, but I was wrong. Parts are hot enough to burn you! Everyone sits up a bout 20 metres downstream and the water temperature is fantastic, ranging from a hot bath to cool.

Claire and I had a swim and a drink, before heading back to camp. We were treated to an amazing sunset. I used this to take some snaps of Suzi with her new roof rack. (And everyone knows bullbars double as clotheslines).

The next morning we went to Butterfly Gorge, and I managed to leave my camera at the campsite! We had been there before it wasn’t so bad. It is one of the best places to swim in the NT. I have to admit the rock hopping can get quite difficult – I am always a little relieved that Claire manages to get out uninjured.
We went back and hit the thermal pools again in the afternoon, it was much needed, as the water at Butterfly Gorge was freezing.
The Sunday night was slightly less crowded but unfortunately it brought out the camping behaviour that makes me avoid busy periods. A shame, but I would still recommend the campsite, especially to those with young children.
Got up on the Monday and headed to Umbrawarra Gorge. It took a bit of finding, but it was a really lovely spot, a nice beach next to a striking gorge. You could have spent a lot of time moving up it, but we only had a few hours, so we just had a swim and some lunch, before having to head back home.