Monday was a rare “take it easy” day. Thankfully, we decided not to attempt AmaliaGorge, which is best done very early in the day before it gets hot. Today was slated for about 32°C and at 9am the sun was already starting to bite. 

We took our time getting up and packing, as we were moving to El Questro Station for that night. We sat at the restaurant for a little while afterwards, having a coffee. I also bought a bamboo fibre shirt and now look like one of the staff. 

With not too much planned until the afternoon, we looked at the map and saw there was a lookout not far down the rough part of the Gibb River Road, so we set off. We hit gravel and when the Pentecost River crossing didn’t become immediately visible, we wondered if we’d gone the wrong way. The car shuddered a lot and the idea of doing 300km of it (to complete the Gibb River Road journey) didn’t seem all that appealing. 

We eventually reached Pentecost River and easily crossed it in the car, recognising that the crossing was actually where the photo on the cover of Narelle’s out school Kimberley map was taken. The ridge/gorge in the background is spectacular. 

From the crossing it was another 10km to the lookout, where we got a good view of the ranges (though it was a little hazy), saw a lizard, then got back in the car and returned to El Questro. This time I drove the crossing so I can now say I’ve done a river crossing in a 4WD. Achievement unlocked!

We stopped at El Questro Station, checked in, ate lunch (another crocodile tail burger for me) and dumped our luggage in our separate cabins. Narelle was in Fruit Bat; Glen and I in Lizard. The rooms are nice, with a balcony, bathroom and air conditioning. Definitely not roughing it. 

With some time to kill before the boat cruise, Narelle suggested we do Branko’s

Crossing, a very rocky water crossing that leads up to Explosion Gorge and Branko’s Lookout, the highest lookout at El Questro. The route is also one of the toughest to drive, with multiple signs and warnings saying it’s only for experienced 4WDrivers. We attempted it anyway. 

There were big rocks, deep sand, steep ascents and a one-way road. 

We managed to get to the top without having an accident, but it was stressful and hairy, and I was only sitting in the back. Fair play to Narelle for attempting it; I’m not sure I would have bothered if I’d been driving. 

We reached the top, had a great view of the land, the cliffs and the river, then went back down the hill and on to the jetty for a boat cruise down the river through Chamberlain Gorge. 

We saw archer fish and an estuarine crocodile while standing on the jetty, then boarded the 40-seater boat, that sailed about 30 minutes down the river. We spotted short-eared wallabies on the top of the gorges, which was pretty cool to see, especially on the return when they were going hell for leather bounding down the ledges to flee from a startled pheasant coucal. 

We stopped at the end of the river, where we given chicken feed pellets and permission to stick our hands over the side of the boat. The archer fish have been trained to know when food is at hand, and spat mostly well aimed water jets at us to then be rewarded with food. 

They spat at us even when we weren’t holding anything, with most of getting hit in the face or chest. It was heaps of fun. Lots of big catfish also appeared to muscle in on the archer fish’s food, as one as one solitary male barrimundi. 

And while the fish were being fed, we had champagne and fruit. 

We sailed back to the jetty, the rocks reddening as golden hour approached. We were disgorged after about two hours in total, then returned to the station for a rest before dinner. 

We gorged ourselves at the steakhouse (again) then went off to bed and were asleep by 9. 

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