Drysdale Station {Gibb River Road}

It was nice to get ‘home’ after a few nights away. I can’t for the life of me remember when it was that we actually got home but after some lunch it was time to do some much needed washing & relaxing.

The men & children even headed back to the river for the afternoon for a ‘splash’ and I had a nap.  PERFECT.

It was a great way to end this part of the trip, before another long day in the car.  Even better was looking at all the water birds in the tree at sunset.

Drysdale Station {Gibb River Road}

Well didn’t this turn out to be an interesting drive!  30 minutes after leaving Barnett River we lost another bloody tyre…..

 

Yes you did read this right, driving along and there goes our back left hand tyre.  I have never seen Justin do angry & never been so thankful that a little black metal disc didn’t go flying after it.  We had a head start on the rest of the group but they soon arrived to our little mess.

I walked up the road looking for the nuts, of which I did manage to find a few and the boys set to work removing spares, getting jacks down, changing studs & nuts {thankfully we kept some of the ones that J took off when he put the new ones on} and getting our tyre back on.  An hour later the entire part was on the way again.

We had a reasonable good run until we hit the turn off to Kalumbaru and to say that there was heaps of corrugations would be the understatement of the century.  It is by far the worst part of road that we have been on so far this trip and made for one slow drive to Drysdale.

 

Eventually we arrived, dusty and read to be off the road.  The plan was to set up for the night, pack down before Mitchell Falls as we where leaving the camper here, thankfully we discovered that provided we didn’t camp right on the loos {which you might think, no one in their right mind would do… someone with a tent DID} we could leave it set up, which made things a lot easier for everyone.

After setting up, enjoying a beer {or two} we decided to head to the bar for dinner.  It was a lovely spot to sit and enjoy but for the price not somewhere I would eat again.  It was really just a buffet, although it was nice to not have to cook for the night.

After dinner & a few drinks around the fire we headed home for an early night before taking off on our adventure to Mitchell Falls…. In a tent!

Galvin's Gorge & Barnett River Station {Gibb River Road}

After two wonderful nights at Silent Grove we made our way to Barnett River Station, also the place of what turned out to be spectacular Manning Falls.

After loading up three cars, three campers and our mob of children we yet again where on the road. We decided that of all of the ‘stops’ that we could make along the way research showed the only one worth a look was Galvin’s Gorge and as luck would have it that was also the shortest walk to get to.  

Words can’t describe the way the scenery changes when driving along the Gibb.  It truly is breathe taking in some places the way that it continually changes.  There really is never a dull section {well that I have found yet}.  After winding roads, up & down hills, along with some road work we made it to Galvin’s Gorge. 

It was a short walk into this one and even though it wasn’t an overly warm day the pool at the bottom of the falls {which came down over a few levels} was too inviting to turn down.  Again we timed our arrival perfectly being the only ones there.  We took all of the children over to the other side to have a chance of sitting under the falls which most thought was fabulous.  That was until Cass spotted a snake trying to get it’s dinner a way up the rock face.  It was great to see nature in action, although I am sure that the snake was disappointed when in the end the tree frog won the fight {and even after fall down all that way it still managed to recover and hop away}.

 

Eventually it was time to remove ourselves from the water, with perfect timing again as the tourist bus arrived and off we went to our spot for the night.

We got to Barnett River about five minutes after leaving the gorge which meant we had plenty of time to set up camp and then head off to explore the falls.

After much decision someone decided that the walk would be fine to do in thongs and we would have plenty of time.  The first part of the walk involves a lovely boat ride over to the other side of the river {or the pool in the river} which has a lovely beach, a rock island and plenty of birdlife.

Well thongs might not have been the best idea and it was a very long & hard walk but we made it in the end with little carrying of Kyla {she really did very well given how tired she was}.  We made it to the end and it was certainly worth the walk.  We each had a child on our backs and swam up to get a better look of the falls, even if Kyla did try to climb up on my head by the end of the walk!

The men folk swam under the falls first and then we tagged teamed and it was the females turn.  I will admit that as much as I would have loved to have swum behind the falls I was too chicken of the dark space, not to mention the fast flowing water to actually follow through with it BUT it really was worth all of the effort involved to experience just being right there.

After a little swim for the smalls it was time to head back to camp before it got to dark.  In hindsight we should have stayed another night to spend more time there but to be honest I am fairly certainly I wouldn’t have been able to do the walk again the next day so we stuck with our original plan and after a night around the camp fire headed to bed ready for the next day.

We had a relaxing morning before we totally packed down with a spot of fishing, the smalls playing in the sand and exploring more spots around the pool. Perfect end to the night.

Next stop Drysdale Station

Silent Grove { Gibb River Road }

After our extra night at Silent Grove and a chance to do a little washing & preparing it was time to hit the road to move to travel up the Gibb towards Silent Grove.  It was nice to be back in the car, knowing that we would have yet another beautiful spot to stop at for a few nights.

The drive, as was becoming apparently was full of various changes in scenery.  Some water crossings, some soft spots in the road, some cattle and plenty of trees. We drove through the Napier Rangers, which included what is known as 'Queen Victoria Head'.  An interesting profile that is believed to look just like the Queen.

We had a lovely stop on the way after one of the crossings as to the left we all {meaning the females in our party} noticed a lovely pond filled with lillies.  Ever the gentlemen the lovely Stuart even picked three, one each.

Once we arrived at the camper ground we found a spot that left us 'alone' and close to one of the toilets that the National Parks have put in place.  These ones even flush {instead of the lovely old school long drops we had when I was a child}.  We all set up for our two night stay and after lunch enjoyed some cake baking {for a certain little woman's birthday} while the men folk and children played some football & even hit a few golf balls.

Before our celebrations we decided to head up to Bell's to take a walk to have a look at the top of the falls/ the creek.  We all decided we would wear our Japanese safety footwear {read thongs} which in hindsight wasn't such a great idea, but after our walk down we where rewarded with a lovely afternoon swimming in the pool and exploring the rocks.




After our trip back up the hill and back to camp we had our birthday cake, a nice warm fire, some food before settling the children to bed so we could have some adult time. 

Thursday saw us pack snacks, lunch, water, towels and anything else you can think of to make our way back out to Bells and down to explore the falls.  This time a little smarter with our footwear selection.  After turning into mountain goats once we made it to the other side of the creek we walked down to see the fast running, breathe taking view of Bells Falls.

Everyone headed straight for the water for a swim.  Exploring over to the other side of the falls under the rock ledge, right up to the falls and further down the pool.  It was one of those moments where even though the water was too cold and 'dark' for my liking I couldn't not jump in and experience what was on offer.  I am more than glad that I did {and thankfully this experience set the precedent for the entire trip}.  Cass and I had a grand old time together swimming right up to touch the back of the waterfall and surprisingly so it actually hurts ones head while under it.

After watching the king of mountian goats, Stuart climb down the falls and jump into the pool below {all the while listening to his youngest telling him off} we decided it was time to head back up to camp as everyone was getting a little tired.  So we packed up everything, loaded the children and started our way back up and out of the falls.

Before we knew it the day was ending and it was time to start the nightly routine of feeding everyone.

Friday morning saw us pack down to get ready to head to our next stop, Barnnet River Station.