Mitchell Falls / Gibb River Road 9/9/2013

The bandits were back again! This time we were well prepared, everything put away and the dustbin bag hung on a pole out of reach. The resourceful little critters spent the night launching themselves at the dustbin bag, alternating between the awning and the spare wheel cover. Our defences held, but not much sleep was had.

We packed up and left Mitchell Falls, stopping for a break at the Drysdale roadhouse. We sat under the shade of a tree, having a cold drink and chatting to the elderly gentleman manning the shop. It is really interesting talking to the people that actually live out here, so much to learn, and if you are polite and friendly they tell you lots of secret places to visit in the area.

We stopped for a snack at the Gibb River, where we had met Susanna and Pieter. We had hoped to park in the spot they had been in right on the river, but it was occupied by a not too friendly bull! We moved on and went to the other side of the river, we had just poured coffee when I saw horns on the other side of the bank we were parked in front of. I climbed onto the bumper and there were 4 not to friendly bulls all looking in our direction. Needless to say I sat in the front seat of the car drinking my coffee as they one by one walked past to check us out.

Our next stop for a break was the Mt Barnett roadhouse to get some fuel and have some lunch.We sat outside at their picnic tables and got the map out. We decided our next destination was Mornington Wilderness Camp about 90km off the Gibb River road, we had heard it was well worth seeing, so decided to make the effort. All the information books said it was best to call ahead to make sure they had space. I tried the sat phone, but after 3 attempts, gave it to Iain in frustration. They said they were very quiet and they had loads of vacancies. By now it was getting late, so we decided to push on further and bush camp for the night. The lady at Mt Barnett had said that we needed to be cautious as there were a lot of bush fires around. She wasn’t wrong, there were spot fires all over the place. We found a gravel pit near the Mornington turn off and thought that it would be the safest option as hey are big open areas with no vegetation.

We got ourselves set up, and as we had filled up with water at Mt Barnett, we decided to have a nice long bush shower, and give ourselves a good scrub. It was fantastic, we went straight up to bed feeling all fresh and clean.