Day 71 Sunday 2nd September Home Valley Station (HV8)

Today being Father’s Day Leanne and the girls spoilt Jason with a “ big breakfast” of eggs, bacon, chirozo sausage, toast and hash browns for breakfast! The girls had a lovely card and we all watched a video called “Dads Quiz” which they had made  for him in Lake Argyle while he was in Kununurra getting supplies one day…….Hilarious..

After the girls did the dishes we all went to the pool as it was hot enough for a swim at this early hour (9am)! In the afternoon we packed up a picnic and went down to the Pentecost River to do some fishing off the bank. Unfortunately we didn’t catch anything but the girls had a go at casting and decided they liked fishing. Leanne had a laugh at Jason (after she realised he was OK and there was no immediate danger of crocs) when he missed his footing on the bank and slid into the deep muddy shore of the river and got covered in thick mud!!  It was quite funny and he had a laugh too!

After this he decided he had had enough, so we went back to the pool. Around 4.45pm we drove out to the sunset viewing area along the track and watched the amazing colours over the surrounding hills as the sun went behind the horizon. for dinner we all went to the Dusty Bar and Grill and had a nice dinner sampling some of the local produce!!  Apparently the HV8 (as all the locals and staff refer to it as) is the stations branding for their cattle, as the 8 is hard to tamper with and it was easier to miss out the S at the end and replace it with an 8.

Day 70 Saturday 1st September. El Questro - Home Valley Station (HV8)

Packed up and left camp by 9 am before the heat. The road to HV8 was extremely corrugated in some sections and not so bad in others, lots of corrugations though. We took it slow and arrived there at 10am. Lovley green grass, and a pool !!!! Sign said "Outback Oasis" and we thought that we pretty accurate. The van held up quite well with no breakages and little dust entering inside, so all good. After set up we had a swim and relaxed alot, then went for a drive down to the riverside campsites were we are thinking about trying out on night 3 here. 

Day 69 Friday 31st August. El Questro Station

This morning we drove to Saddleback Ridge lookout which took us over a small river crossing and up a steep track to a viewing platform that swept 360 deg. Magnificent sweeping views of the station and all it's wilderness, until then we don't thing the girls comprehended just how big the station was. It covers  1 million acres in total!!!! After this we drove to Zebedee Springs for a dip in the thermal pools, beautiful, but for once in this trip we actually could have used a bit cooler water !!! temp was 28-32 deg. Back to camp for lunch, then more 4WD. We drove to Chamberlian Gorge, Brancos Lookout ( which involved an extremely rocky river crossing) and checked out the "private camp sites" along the  Pentecost River. We came back to camp then and had a swim in the river, and walked up to the bar and had a quiet drink under the trees outside. For dinner tonight we made a campfire and enjoyed jaffles and toasted marshmallows around the fire.

Saddleback back Ridge Lookout

Zebedee Springs

Chamberlain River

The Homestead $2000 per night and can accommodate 12 people

Branco's lookout

Branco's lookout

The river crossing on the way to explosion Gorge and Branco's lookout, we did not go to Explosion Gorge as we did not have time however this crossing was very difficult and hard on the car.

Swimming in the river at El Questro

The general Store / Bar / and information

Enjoying a drink after the adventures of the day.

Day 68 Thursday 30th August. Lake Argyle -El Questro Station

Packed up and headed into Kununurra enroute to El Questro. Stocked up on supplies while the van fridge had a service as it hasn't been working very well. We also put some gear into storage to lighten up the load as we have decided to take our van along the GRR  to Broome. We  have heard the road isn't too bad.

After the fridge mechanic checked out the fridge he decided there was nothing wrong with it, it was just struggling in the extreme heat up here! He suggested we try and have it plugged into power for at least 3 days in the shade if possible!!!!  We had a laugh about this in the car later. Half an hour later we turned onto the GRR and were on our way to El Questro. We drove past the turn off for Emma Gorge and decided to do this today while we were in the area. By this stage it was 2.50 pm.  When Jason got our park permit he was told last hike in was at 3 pm!, so we put the girls in turbo gear and quickly put hiking boots and bathers on, collected backpack and drinks and ran up to the entry. We made it just in time, it took us 40 mins to hike in and  Jason and Leanne reminisced about the last time we were in there, carrying Lucy all the way, as she was only two!!! Once we got to the gorge we all  took in the beautiful gorge, its hanging tree ferns, droplet waterfall and warm springs inlet, then enjoyed a refreshing swim. The hike out was much quicker as we were a lot cooler and knew the track . We then drove to El Questro station were we decided on a campsite and had a late dinner. It was a hot night, but we all woke up cold in early hours of morning.

 The Start of Gibb River Road the first surprise was it was sealed to El Questro which had only just been completed.

 Emma Gorge

 Emma Gorge

Emma Gorge

Emma Gorge

Day 67 Wednesday 29th August. Lake Argyle

Jason left early to head into Kununurra to get some more bits for the van, while Leanne caught up on some washing and the girls got busy cleaning up the van !!  Ava’s front tooth finally came out after a long couple of weeks being wobbly and Jason constantly being asked to pull it out despite it not being  ready!!! Once this happened a long discussion started between Ava and Olivia over where the best spot was to leave the tooth for the tooth fairy !! !After lunch we all had a swim then caught our bus to our boat cruise at Lake Argyle. Our cruise was a 3 hour sunset cruise which included afternoon tea and drinks at sunset. The views were even more amazing than at the infinity pool at the park, just beautiful… The girls were exhausted when we got home at 6.30pm and went straight to bed!! Tomorrow we begin our trek along the GRR, where we will have limited power and no internet coverage so the blog will not be updated for 10-12 days

Lake Argyle Dam Wall

Fresh Water Croc, in the lake the Males can grow up to 4m!

 The 3 Captains

The views and pictures were amazing at this place, these are a few of what we took.

Day 66 Tuesday 28th August. Lake Argyle

Up early for our hike to the Durrack Homestead Museum which is a 3 km return hike from our caravan park and back over the hills. Girls coped very well considering the heat, we all enjoyed a refreshing swim on our return. By this time it was only 10.30am! Jason then went into Kununurra to get some equipment for the car and our upcoming off road trip on Gibb River Road. We have decided after talking to locals and fellow travellers to take our van across on the Gibb River Road as it is in quite good condition and this will save us 2 days dropping off and collecting the van from storage also. Leanne and the girls did some schoolwork and more swimming in the amazing pool. We had happy hour sitting overlooking the cliffs taking in the sunset.

 The Durack Homestead and the walk from the Park

The view from the Pool

Day 65 Monday 27th August Lake Argyle

Daylight woke us up at 5.30am, girls were  recharged and ready to go for the day!   We managed to keep them in their beds for another hour, then got up for an early morning swim. After breakfast we headed into Kununurra to post office and visitor centre to check road conditions of Gibb River Road (GRR) and other local info. After an early lunch we headed off to Wyndham to the 5 ways lookout,  and as remembered from last visit there isn't much else there! Back to camp for a swim and to take in the amazing sunset views.