Day 5 Wyndham and El Questro

The view from the Wynham lookout over the tidal delta.

Can you take a photo of us...

... while I take a photo of you?

Boab trees and dirt roads.

The 'spiral' palm. The fronds have been trimmed, but look at the way they come out of the trunk.

Emma Gorge.

A butcher bird eating an amphibian.

Riding shotgun.

The flooded road.

The beautiful and unique boab tree.

Wednesday, September 14^th.

Up at the crack of dawn, had breakfast of cereal and oranges and helped to clean up and load the truck. We left camp by 6:30 and retraced our steps back to the Doon Doon Roadhouse, where we picked up a few supplies, ice and diesel.

We spent most of the morning driving to Wyndam which is on the north coast. Damien had never been here but wanted to see the Five River Lookout. This is where five rivers are connected by the tidal inlet. They have the second largest tides here, second only to the Bay of Fundy. We drove up a large hill with switchbacks to the lookout over the tidal area. After that we went back to this very small town to a shop beside a massive statue of a crocodile. An aboriginal man showed Oliver and I the information board about the history of the town. I was dying to take a picture of him but didn't want to offend. But then we all posed for a group photo by the croc and Damien gave an iPhone and a GoPro to him to take photos of us. While he was trying to figure them out I got some good photos of him.

Then we left town and doubled back to the highway. Shortly thereafter we turned west onto the Gibb River Road, famous for the cattle drives in days of old. The first thing we saw was a sign saying next petrol 341 kms! The road was paved right to the El Questro Resort at Emma Gorge. This is an expensive place in the middle of nowhere where rich people get a chance to experience the Kimberley and have an outback experience.

We had lunch on their lawn and then hiked up the gorge on a very rocky path. When Ollie and I got to the end of the gorge there was a another pool similar to cathedral gorge, surrounded by very tall cliffs in a narrow chasm. We went in the water immediately as it was very hot. Eventually everyone arrived and we swam and cooled off for an hour and a half. Then I decided to head back. I walked with a 64 year old Aussie man and his Russian girlfriend who complained about the noise of our young girls who they felt ruined the serenity of the place.

Then we loaded up and drove another 40 minutes to our camp in another El Questro facility. Just before we got there we came to a creek that flooded the road and Damien swore. He looked unsure and we feared the worst but then he said “oh wait we are in a 4 wheel truck!” and we drove through the river. This facility has good toilets and showers and electricity and a bar. Before we set up we went on one more short drive to see Chamberlain Grove which was pretty. Then we drove back and set up camp. All day I have been trying to take photos of boab trees as we drove past them with limited success. I have been in the shotgun seat for most of the trip and today Damien and I had a good yack about nature shows, Hilary Clinton and her illness and the problems of the world, the US in particular. He believes in the conspiracy theories around 9/11.

Dinner was barramudi fillets and coucous with veggies. Damien baked a chocolate cake on the campfire in a cast iron put with embers under it as well as on top. Unfortunately he burned the top, but he just peeled it off and melted TimTams (an Australian chocolate cookie) on it for icing. I sat at the bar by myself thinking, enjoying, sweating, enjoying a beer and waiting for my camera battery to charge in the toilet.