Vikings in Australia - Víkingar í Ástralíu

Mt Elizabeth Station: 25 – 26^th August

We left the Manning Gorge camping ground as the sewer suction machine arrived. They come on a regular basis to empty the tanks. At Mt. Barnett roadhouse, Sibba did a bit of shopping, while I filled the tanks, Diesel and Water. The Sibba used the Telstra payphone to call Linda and got through, so we could update Linda on our status and vica versa. Then, back on the Gibb River road and the destination was Mt. Elizabeth station.

On the way we stopped at the Mt. Barnett Gorge, which is about 3km off the main road. Along the way we drove through land that had been ravaged by fire, interestingly only on one side of the road. Perhaps this was not a bushfire, but Ecofire. This is a new word we have recently heard and been told about. Ecofire is started by humans under certain conditions and in certain places. This is done to create small bushfires scattered over the place. This greatly reduces the propensity for large scale fires that tend to burn across large areas, which in turn benefits the eco system by allowing plants to grow a bit longer.

Anyway, the objective was to see the Mt. Barnett Gorge. Sibba wasn’t feeling too well, so I did the 2km trek to get a view over the gorge. This gorge is on the Barnett River and the water was flowing. I only had a brief look and then headed back to the car park. When I was about to approach the car park I heard a loud hiss. I almost had stepped on a snake. He quickly scuttled away under a rock. A good thing I wasn’t bitten!

Then it was back to the Gibb River road and then up the 23km side road to Mt. Elizabeth station. The track is pretty corrugated. Not the fine corrugations, but the bigger ones that have a larger gap between them. So, we took it easy and arrived just after lunch. We got our camping spot and instructions on the two main things to see here from the homestead. After having set up camp and relaxed a bit, we headed out to the Warrla Gorge, which is on the Hann River. Driving there is on a rugged station track, so one doesn’t go very fast. Once there we jumped in for a swim to cool down, as it was over 35 degrees hot. It was dark by the time we got back so we had to drive carefully once again, so not to kill any cattle and/or other wildlife along the way. We also set up a campfire with some firewood we had stopped to collect on the way in and were pretty happy campers.

Bush fire on the right hand side only!

Mt. Barnett Gorge.

The snake scuttling under a rock after hissing at me!

This is where the Ibiz birds hang out in Mt. Elizabeth station.

Ibiz birds in the tree at the camping ground at Mt. Elizabeth station.

Getting ready to swim in Warrla Gorge.

Sunset at Warrla Gorge.

On the way back from Warrla gorge, Sibba had to open/close the station gates!

We collected some firewood on the way in and started a camp fire. Pretty cozy! Kylie was impressed.

The following day we headed out to the other gorge, that is a must to see. It’s the Wunnumurra Gorge, which is also on the Barnett river, just a few km’s up from the Mt. Barnett Gorge. The track out there is pretty rough and required a fair bit of rock hopping in low drive. It’s only about 10km track, but one doesn’t go very fast. All along the track the land was burned out after a bush fire. So, pretty bleak landscape.

Once we got to the gorge, we climbed down a couple of ladders that make it a bit easier to access. Once down it was very scenic and once again a great place to swim. As small waterfall drops into the pool so the water is pretty fresh. Sibba went for a swim, while I headed a bit further down- stream to check out some aboriginal rock art that was supposed to be there. I wasn't disappointed. Several paintings of the Wanjina spirit, Kangaroos and other things. Perhaps aliens? Who knows.

I then went back and dipped into the pool as well. After lunch we headed back to camp. As we were climbing the ledges and ladders, I noticed a very small frog hopping in the water. It’s not bigger than about 1cm, so it was quite small. It blended in very well with the surrounding rocks. I managed to snap a photo, so let’s see if you can spot it. We then went back to the car and headed to the camp site, navigating the rocky path back. We also picked up some firewood for the camp fire and as we did that another one of these mini tornados (Dust devil or Whirly Whirly, according to Chris) breezed past us and then die out.

Back in camp we took it easy. Later in the day we took a walk around the farm, just to see what a cattle station homestead looks like. Well, not much different from what you would expect for a farm. A house, where people live in, a very large shed for repairing things, a house with a diesel generator, a large number of solar panels, water pumps to pump ground water and fences around the property to keep horses and cattle in or out. We also noticed some weather measuring equipment. Then at the back, further away, the graveyard of old cars and obligatory rusty equipment.

All in all, nothing unusual, apart from the satellite antenna and the Telstra public phone, behind the homestead. The telstra payphone had a very old chair, which someone must have donated!