Ellenbrae Station

 18 – 20 August 2022

We left Parry Creek Farm and drove the long way back towards Wyndham so that Mick could try again for the finches we had seen on our drive the previous morning. We stopped along the way and he did manage to get a few shots. From there we drove back into town where we picked up some groceries at the supermarket and bread rolls from the very good bakery. We also fuelled up and then we were on our way to the next part of our adventure – Gibb River Road.

We followed the Great Northern Highway back towards Kununurra then turned off onto “The Gibb”. The first hundred or so kilometres of this famous outback road is bitumen – with the last section leading to the Pentecost River just finished. I drove across the river crossing made famous in many YouTube videos but the only challenge was the rocky surface as the water level was way down at this time of year and there were only a few puddles to drive through.

Once on the other side the real challenge began.  We stopped to take air out of the tyres and chatted to some people who had just arrived at the crossing from the other direction. They told us about the road condition – which we know can change daily – and the adventures they had been on.

Mick took over the driving as we were expecting some bad road conditions. It certainly was corrugated and rough in parts, but probably not as bad as we had expected. There aren’t many spots to stop but we did pull in to a lookout but decided it wasn’t a great place for lunch – no shade and very exposed. We drove on and found a pull over where we made lunch and sat in the car to eat it.

We continued west and took the turn for the short drive in to Ellenbrae Station. We were to spend the night there and were impressed with the lovely green lawn around the homestead. We were allocated to one of the two campgrounds and made our way to “Ringers”. Although there was another nice green lawn around the amenities and seating area, the rest of the campground was dry and dusty. We could pick our own spot and, because it was still quite early, we were able to get one with some shade. Once we were set up we wandered down to the swimming hole for a look. I ended up standing in the water up to my knees while we chatted to some other travellers. It would have been a nice spot for a swim if we were staying a couple of days, but we had decided on just one.

In the morning we packed up and Mick carried out some more minor repairs – the fridge cable had broken so a fix was required. Ellenbrae is famous for their scones so we drove back to the homestead for a very early morning tea treat before setting off again towards Drysdale Station.