Mitchell River National Park....the longest drive ever, luckily such a spectacular place!

Marty was on a misson and the GRR wasn't really living up to his expectations, or mine really.  We had thought that the GRR would be a little like Cape York, all remote and wondrous with heaps of 4X4 driving, however, we were faced with a boring dirt road and expensive camping.  So l think Marty was on a mission to get it over and done with in as quick as possible.  I would have loved to stay at Manning Gorge for one more night but Marty wanted to get going again.  So we packed up and refuelled at Barnett Station were l met up with the couple running the place who were on the FB group site of T.A.W.K. (Travelling Australia With Kids).  Funny how you can run into people who are connected to your world without even having met them.  Again, l must remind you that Marty was on a mission, so my talking to this couple was getting on his nerves and he came into hurry me up.  My bad again!

Some art work at Burnett Roadhouse....love it!

So we had heard that the Kulumbaroo road was not good and we were hoping that the Nissan would succeed without injury.  We left Manning Gorge at 8:30am and arrived at our campground at Mitchell River NP at 2:30pm!  It was the longest day we had done so far on the GRR and the worst!  We drove 350km and took over 6hrs to complete, with the 80km Mitchell falls road taking 2hrs alone!  The corrugations were so big and rough with alot of rocky ruts along the way, but the Nissan didn't let us down and we arrived unscathed.  We didn't come across much traffic on the road which was good as it meant less dust.  A bloody Pagero we were following, which was going so slow btw, nearly caused us to have an accident twice.  Marty went to overtake and he pulled into the middle of the road which led to Marty flashing his lights and using colourful language in the car!  The Pagero driver then gave us the indicator signal that we could pass (finally) and when Marty pulled out l quickly yelled "car"!  The bloody idiot had given us the nod to overtake whilst a car was coming the other way.  What morons can get their license l tell you?! We were furious and a little shaken.  We finally got past him with Marty giving him some sign language as we drove past.....Enough with my tangent, back to the story.  The countryside was amazing, which didn't leave everything to shit seeing hte road was so bad.  It changed all throughout the Kulumburru road with typical flat country with gum trees then developing to lush tropical land with palm trees galore.  We encountered a few small creek crossings on the Mitchell falls road, nothing to rave home about though.  Marty reluctantly stopped for firewood, again being on a mission to get to camp, but thankfully we got it when we did as when we drove up a little further we had reached a firewood collection prohibited area.

The corrugations commence!!!

Yet another shallow water crossing!

Can you see how deep these bloody corrugations are?!?!?!

Up the edge of the road most the way, at least one
side of the ride is smooth!

As fast as we can travel....argh!

Slow going!

Change to the scenery.....

We arrived, finally, all worn out and self registered for two nights at a total cost of $44.40.  We decided Meg would be 5 and so wouldn't have to pay for her, cheap skates we know as it only saved $2.20 per night, but if you add all the NP stops, it does add up.  We found a nice shaded spot with small sun for Marty's solar panels and had set up by 3pm.  We had a well deserved coldie or two while we made the girls get some school done.  We were a bit behind but they did well.  Marty got the fire going and l did a cook up for the next few nights.  We took our meal over with our chairs to enjoy a talk on the wet season in the Kimberley and aboriginal art and archaeology in the park by Ranger John.  It ended up being the longest talk ever, finishing after 2hrs!  Lucky he had a fire going as the nights are cold.  The talk was interesting though and he was certainly passionate about archaeology in the area as he educated us about the few digs he had been involved with.  Interesting fact we learnt was the way they estimate hte age of aboriginal rock art is by how old the wasp nests around the drawings are.  Fascinating.  We made our way back to camp and into bed as we needed plenty of rest for tomorrows walk.  As we were trying to get to sleep we heard big bangs in the distance which l thought were the drop toilet lids going down after people using the toilet, Marty gave a giggle and informed me it was the fuel drums in the helicopter area expanding!! Dumb blonde again......

Yay...what a long day in the car!

Girls happy doing their school work!

Marty happy to crack a can!

Camp set up....

Evidence of a long day in the car....

Sunset.....

..time for the Ranger talk!

Lucky had a fire to keep us warm...talk went for a bit!

We got up the next morning all rested and ready for our walk to Mitchell Falls today.  We set off by 8am fully loaded with food, water and lollies!!! We had been informed that the walk would take 2.5hrs one way, glad to hear also that this was with stops along the way.  Before we got onto the walking track we led the girls over to the helicopters where we surprised them by booking a return flight.  They were so excited and at only a mear $390, so they should be!  We got a discount due to the girls being able to share a seat which was good.  With the girls buzzing we headed off to follow the Wanjana man sign posted track.  We arrived at Little Mertens which was a beautiful little spot, not much of a waterfall but Marty found some awesome aboriginal rock art.  The girls unfortunately tripped over a few times and took a bit of bark off. Unfortunately, the Nikon was failing me seeing my zoom auto focus flange had broken yet again, not abling me to focus on full zoom.  Still l got some good pics!!

Winjana sign posts....

Not far in to having to cross the creek.

On track!

Little Mertens Falls!

At the lookout!

Sheer drop!

Time for a rest hey?

It just goes on and on this glorious country of ours!

"You lookin at me?"

The fascinating Aboriginal Rock Art!  Totally amazing, one of the best
we've seen on our trip!

Love the tribal people figures...

Just amazing! Such stories.....

Under the cliff at the rock art site...

Funny how the heads are not evident, either worn off with
the elements or a stronger message in the story?

Wasp nest, which was fascinating from
the talk the night before.  It's how the
archiologists age the paintings.

Loving the textures.....

Now when we arrived at Big Mertens we were faced with an enormous gorge which had such a sheer drop, making me slightly woozy when l looked down.  There was no barriers in place so we were sure to keep the girls away.  The cliff face was awesome red and black stained in the rock and a small waterfall.  Could imagine how fierce it would be in the wet!  There was a little creek on the opposite side which was filled with water lilies galore.  

Off we go again...

Been ages since l've seen sap on a tree!

Marty found more art....good eyes!

Snack time!!!

Long way down!

Lilly heaven!

Hello up there!

We finally reached Mitchelll Falls with the girls just starting to play up, but when we said the word "helicoptor" they soon changed their attitudes.  We all made a bee line for the water, which ended up getting us off track and we had to scramble over the rocks to finally get across to pools to swim, which took us longer than if we had stuck to the track Marty reminded us!  After crossing the creek on the rock steps we got to the swimming area.  There was a little cascade of water which dropped down into littler pools of water.  We had a brilliant time wasting the day off in the water swimming and the girls loving jumping off the rocks into the water.  We had some peanut butter salada's to energize ourself before having more fun in the water, the girls happily playing in the small water cascades.  We even saw another water monitor sunbaking on the rocks, must be the time of year for them!!!

Mitchell River!

Little critters you meet out in their homes!

Little rock climbing beauties...

Natural patterns....

Heaven to our eyes after the hot walk!

Ledge walks again....

Time for a swim!

Girls cant get enough!

Lazing around!

Another family pic!

Slip and slide time!

Warming up for the wuss!

Yet another trying to warm up!

Peanut butter salada time!@

Toothless princess....

We had just under 2 hours to go until we had to catch the helicopter, luckily we booked before we went as we had been told that we could just book when we got to Mitchell Falls if we wanted to, but that was nonsense.  If you ever get up here and want the helicopter flight back then you have to book prior to going.  Anyway, we had still not viewed the magnificent Mitchell Falls so thought we should head off to check it out.  Arriving at the lookout and we saw a brilliant view of four cascading waterfalls which went down to a pool which then followed down to a big fall plummeting down into the gorge below.  There was even a beautiful rainbow in the water spray.  The lookout was amazing but god it was slightly scary with no railings and a sheer drop as you looked down.  One wrong footing and you would plummet to your death!  So what do l do?  I line my family up on the ledge to take a family pic with the falls behind us.... We met a tour operator who let us know of another lookout which was equally as spectacular.  Looking at the waterfall l couldn't imagine the voracity of the water in the wet and how loud it would be?!  Apologies for the copious amounts of photo's, so amazed by the place!

Watch out for the holes!

The infamous Mitchell Falls...

So wish we could go for a swim in that pool!

Panoramic!

See the little rainbow in L) lower corner from the spray?

Another family selfie!

Time to go :(

With time ending before our time to fly out in the helicopter we made our way to lie in the shade of the rocks.  The girls sat and watched the helicopter's coming in and taking off with such excitement, then it was our turn.  We boarded and put our headphones on, then it slowly made its way into the air.  The 6 minute flight went so quick, the pilot took us on a scenic route over the falls which gave it yet another amazing perspective, then back to our camp.  The horizon being hazed by the smoke filled air from burning fires.  Marty was comfortable in the front seat, enthralled by all the buttons and gadgets whilst the girls and l enjoyed the wind blasting in from the 'no doors' option in the back.  The look on the girls faces was worth the 6 minute almost $400 price, it was their first helicopter ride and l could tell they were having the times of their lives.

Good idea!

They spot the helicopter!

Our turn!

Duck your heads!

Tad excited!

View from the air!

Winding river goes as far as the eye can see!

Back over the Mitchell Falls again...

Definite thumbs up from the girls!

6 minutes of fun over!

We arrived back at camp by 2pm where we naturally cooled off with some beverages and the girls even got some more school out of the way.  Whilst relaxing l noticed this bloke in a camper across the campground walking around 'starkers'!  Yes, that's right, bloody naked!  What did he think this place was?  A nudist colony?  And l had young girls for gods sake.  He wasn't even trying to hide himself behind his car, walking around with his big slong dangling in between his legs!  Marty and l tried to shelter the girls from viewing him, which thankfully worked.    We got the fire going, heated up last night cook up meal and were joined by two other couples who had just pulled up at camp.  Loving the chats we are having along the way with fellow campers, helps pass the time and boredom of talking to one another all the time!  Now l don't think that came out right, love Marty and the girls, but there's only so much you can talk about with one another....Again, the girls enjoyed toasted marshmallows, which was sort of a reward for their good work with school and the walk today.  We covered the fire, headed to bed after yet another big day and another big day of driving ahead of us tomorrow to get back on the GRR......

Bell Xxx