Day 4 - Mornington to Manning Gorge

Tuesday, 12 June 2012

The drive out of Mornington was awful. The dust of ten cars whilst driving into the sun not a good combination. No wind at all, so the dust just didn't clear. Fortunately we got a break at Galvans Gorge. Very pretty and an easy walk in, apart from meeting a very large and angry brown snake. We outnumbered him, so he had to give way. The gorge reminded me of a small sunlit grotto. Ate more dust again, but we got to camp at Manning Gorge for lunch. There is a large waterfall here (the best we are told) a good 2KM walk/climb (40 mins). But first you have to swim across a waterhole. Polystyrene boxes had been provided for you to put shoes/cameras etc. in to float across with you. What a good idea. We gave the waterfall a 10 out of 10 and too soon we had to head back to camp. At least we had another refreshing swim to look forward to at the end. Got back to camp to hear Wendy's tale of Guy doing a strip tease for her due to hanging washing up amidst an ant nest. Apparently he did race into the privacy of their camper before ripping off his clothes!

Day 5 - Manning Gorge to Mitchel Falls

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

Back on the Gibb River again, dust et all!! Pushed on to Drysdale. A very large station and campsite. Change of plan not too stay and turned off up to King Edward campsite. We decided not to stay, along with the other two vehicles not towing. We also weren't going to cheat and get the helicopter up to Mitchell Falls, so it made sense to camp as close to the start of the 8.5 km walk. Had been told the next 76 km of track was in bad condition, however, we found most of it ok at 50-60 km, a few rocky patches and "anti bumps"! A long days drive for chauffeur, and a back ache to boot. One of the other vehicles had to be towed into the King Edward site as the clutch had gone! We all eagerly watched Michael tow George over the river, but he did an excellent job. We await to see what the vehicle recovery cost is going to be :(

Day 6 - Mitchell Falls

Thursday, 14 June 2012

This is it. I have been looking forward to this day with great anticipation. You always hope after everything you read and what people tell you that you won't be disappointed. WE WEREN'T. It was great. Up early so as to take advantage of the cool morning. We were all bustling around the camp packing lots of food and water. We were with Michael, our long time traveling companion and David and Chris. It is an 8.5 km return walk (without all the side trekking). Was led to believe it was quite a challenging walk, but it was nothing harder than we had already done, just a bit longer. After crossing the stepping stones over the first creek, we trotting along to Little Merten Falls which has a beautiful swimming hole at the base. Decided to keep that for the return walk. Arrived at Big Merten Falls so quickly we couldn't believe we were almost there. Sadly someone had died here last week crossing the slippery rocks at the top. Very sobering. Another 40 minutes or rock scrambling brought us to the top of Mitchell Falls. It has to be seen to believed. Quite incredible. To get to the best viewing spot it meant taking off shoes and wading across a side feeder to the falls. Whilst only mid-thigh deep the current was quite strong and the rocks slippery. The helicopters were buzzing around like giant helicopters. It felt like a war zone to me, the only negative of the whole day. It was wonderful to sit atop a rock and take in the thundering water (in between helicopter landings every 15 minutes). Most of the rest of our convoy cheated and took the helicopter at least one way. Whilst the views probably couldn't be beaten, for me half of the enjoyment was the challenge was trekking in. We found a little side pool to swim in and cool off and despite it being only 10:30 we tucked into lunch. Everything looked quite different on the way out and the swim in the Little Merten Pool was so refreshing. Very hot by the time we got back to camp, and we veged out in the shade until the sun got a little lower before the evening chores began.

Day 7 - Mitchell Falls to King Edward Camp

Friday, 15 June 2012

We all voted we had time to redo a little bit of the walk again and in. O time we headed back to Little Merten Falls. This time we found the secret track to the rock art and in behind the falls. This place is mesmerizing. Found myself perched on a flattish rock 'contemplating'. Later, looking around, I could see all the other 4 similarly perched doing the same thing. Just awesome. The sound of the water was huge. The back of the overhang lined with ferns. Back down to the pool for a quick swim, dry out on a rock then swim back to get clothes on before walking back to camp. The drive back to the rest of the 'Mob' seemed a bit longer this time, and the corrugations sharper but it was more apparent you were driving along a plateau with views through the unique Mitchell Plateau Fan Palms to valleys beyond.

Stopped just 4km short of the King Edward River campsite to check out moreRock Art. This stuff really blew us away.

Back to join the others and another swimm in delightful crock-free river. Oh this is such a hard life :)

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