Day 6 – El Questro Station

An unexpectedly good day for one with no walk and no swim. We drove from Manning Gorge Campsite to El Questro Station. It took us the whole day, including several stops.

We left just before 7.30 am after packing up and having breakfast. We stopped every two hours or so for a stretch, something to eat, a nice view, or something interesting to see along the way.

Our first stop took a little longer than anticipated as we had a problem with the trailer tyre and axle. Or something like that. Nothing that could be fixed in the middle of nowhere.

We ended up transferring our bags and sleeping gear from the trailer into the bus and leaving the trailer behind.

Luckily we had enough space to accommodate everything on the back seat row and still have a seat for everyone.

Jerry made arrangements for the trailer to be rescued and brought back to us at El Questro, our final destination for the day and home for the next three nights.

After some delay we finally resumed our trip. Our next stop was for morning tea at about 10.30 or so near some picnic tables and toilet blocks along the road.

Afterwards, as we were leaving the area to continue on our way, the bus wouldn’t start. It had to be pushed for the engine to respond. Luckily it did so quickly, without much effort.

So off we went again along some bumpy, corrugated roads for another two hours or so.

We stopped again at Ellenbrae Station where we had something to eat. I had their famous scones which were delicious.

Next, what was supposed to be a quick stretch-and-photo break turned out to be a much longer stop as those of us with Telstra soon discovered the coverage signal on our phones for the first time in days!

From there, another two hours or so in the bus before we had another break at the Pentecost River crossing area. Nice views of the ranges at a distance. On our way there I think we had Cockburn range on our right and Durack on the left, but I could be wrong.

Back in the bus for the last 10km on unsealed road before reaching the paved stretch to El Questro.

That’s when we came across a big tour group (Wild Kimberly) who had had bus trouble themselves and were now stuck, literally in the middle of nowhere, waiting to be rescued.

Our guides offered to take one of their guides to the campsite to hurry things up, while the others waited for their rescue team to arrive. So now, besides our extra gear, we had another person on board. Luckily we had one last seat to spare.

By now we were feeling very lucky indeed. We’d only had a trailer problem and were not stranded on a dusty road at twilight. Their bus had apparently caught fire!

We reach El Questro before dark. EQ is a caravan park and a station on a one million acre piece of land located 16km off the Gibb River Road. Before COVID, it was visited every year by thousands of tourists from all over the world. Not as crowded now, but still a shock to find a place like this in such a remote area!

We were very surprised by the number of people, the loud music, the big bar and restaurant. It took a little adjusting after our previous delightful quiet days in the Kimberly outback.

After putting up our tents (some were already up but not all), we had showers and then met at the bar for drinks. Most of us had a beer for a change.

Dinner was at the El Questro restaurant, courtesy of Inspiration Outdoors. Some of us had beef steak, others game meat (crocodile, kangaroo, emu), some of us fish. I had the red emperor with some local, interesting vegetables.

Right now I’m back in my tent writing this. Jerry said we could sleep in tomorrow as we won’t leave until around 8am. I plan to get up at 6am anyway to do my laundry before brekky – and before the crowds!

It’s almost 10pm now, so goodnight 🌙