El Questro

Sunday we drove from the Doon Doon Roadhouse to El Questro, where the movie "Australia" with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman was filmed. We stopped at Zebedee Sprins on the way. We were jumping and climbing between hot thermal natural pools.


The whole area felt very tropical and had lots of pocket 'hot tubs'.

I sat under one of the many waterfalls at Zebedee Springs.

A bunch of us from the tour group sat in the very top pool looking up at the mountain side on one side, and down on the series of hot springs on the other side.

Then we hiked into El Questro Gorge. We scaled boulders and hopped from rock to rock.

We were rewarded with a refreshing swim in the cold swimming hole.

Here I am diving into the spring.

Here I am swinging from the vines.

me walking back from the spring through the El Questro Gorge.

We camped at El Questro Station, but arrived early enough to sneak in a swim in the Pentecost River and lay in the sun for a while (me and Kat).

We were ecstatic to partake in happy hour at the station bar. It had been a few days since we'd seen any semblance of civilization.

Another shot of the crew at El Questro Station bar.

Clark and Take grilled kangaroo and buffalo over an open fire, while a few of us continued happy hour back at the campsite.

The 4WD (named Megatron) was brand new for our trip but is a little dirty after all the off roading.

The Bungle Bungles

We were all so excited to be out of the bus and walking around! We had an entire day at the Bungle Bungles in Purnululu (over 320,000 hectares). Our first stop was Echidna Chasm.

We were tiny in comparison to the towering cliffs - here's a Danish guy and French Lolo from the tour.

The rule of our group hikes was that we all had to go straight to the destination without stopping, then we could make our way back at our own pace to take our pictures.

We saw lots of green frogs on the rocks and in the toilets.

me at Echidna Chasm.

Echidna Chasm.

A few of us beat the others back to the bus so we had a bit of fun climbing on top of the bus.

Our next stop brought us through the domes at the Bungle Bungles.

Here we are walking among the tiger-striped, beehive-shaped domes which are 300m high.

A close up of the sandstone and conglomerate domes.

Here I am in the center of Cathedral Gorge.

We all stopped for a break inside Cathedral Gorge.

The open roof of Cathedral Gorge.

More domes at the Bungle Bungles. Legend says over the span of 350 million years, rivers washed sand and pebbles into the area, layer-upon-layer, and the sand was ground finer and harder together until it formed sandstone rock. Strong winds and heavy rains have eroded the sandstone away to form the dome shapes now present. The tiger-stripes result from black algae growth that permeates the more porous layers of the rock, and a glossy orange build up of manganese and iron staining.

And here we have a drop toilet with a spectacular backdrop.

After a full day at the Bungle Bungles, we started the drive to El Questro. As we couldn't drive after dark, we ended up camping next to a roadhouse/petrol station. We had a lucky surprise of showers, which was a good thing because we ended up sleeping under the toilet block/awning porch when it started pouring that night.

Prisca, Stefanie, and Kat curled up by the toilets.

Osmand Range

Each morning, we were up with the sun, eating breakfast and reloading the bus.


We slept the first night with our swags directly on the ground under the stars.

Here's the view from one of our pitt stops along our very long day of driving on the Great Northern Highway via Halls Creek.

And here's a lone spectator taking it all in. Kind of a funny shot of a guy in the middle of nowhere.

Mabel Downs marked the beginning of Spring Creek Track, a 53km bumpy dirt road which took more than 2 hours to traverse, up and down hills and through rivers. It also marked the entrance to the world heritage listed Purnurlulu National Park.

Here we are in the bus bumping along Spring Creek Track.

Here's one of the smaller creeks we passed through.

A view of the Osmand Range into the sun.

Ana, Bridget?, Prisca, Stefanie, and Kat in front of the Halls Creek fault line from the Osmand Range lookout.

me in front of the Halls Creek fault line from the Osmand Range lookout.

The cliffs turned a bright orange color as the sun set over the mountain range. We went for a bush walk wander near the camp. Our tour guide Clark explained that real didgeridoos only come from Arnhem Land where the ants eat through bloodwood or eucalyptus trees.

The ground was rough and prickly, so we laid our swags on top of this giant tarp.

We ate dinner around the campfire.

Windjana Gorge & Tunnel Creek

Thursday morning, I got picked up from the hostel to join my next 6 day tour with Western Exposure, a 4WD trip through the Kimberley from Broome to Darwin. I quickly learned this was the real outback camping experience with no tents, limited showers, and drop toilets. That also meant the group was young and fit and flexible and FUN!

We drove through Jandamarra Country, passed over the Fitzroy River, saw this prison boab tree, and continued traveling along Gibb River Rd.

We stopped at Windjana Gorge for lunch, where I ran into the two Swiss girls from Gantheume Point and the hostel.

We saw freshwater crocodiles at Windjana Gorge.


Anna and Prisca are 'freaked out' by the croc.

Windjana Gorge.

We snuck through this crevice in the rocks to gain access to the gorge.

Our next stop of the day was at Tunnel Creek, which consisted of a 750m trek each way through the tunnel in the bottom of the mountains carved out only by the powerful surge of water over time.

We were told to wear shoes for this walk which began innocently enough but before long we were trudging through knee deep water in soggy sneakers. We came just after wet season, so there was more standing water.

It was too dark to capture any good pictures in side the tunnel, but here we are coming out the other side. At many parts in the middle, our only light came from our torches (Australian term for flashlight).

Here we are at the other side of the tunnel, where we stopped for a short break and snuck a peek of some secret Aboriginal painting on the rock edge.

Rock color varies with weathering and time.

We watched the sun drop as we made our way to our bush camp under the stars at Fitzroy Crossing.

Each night we unloaded everything from the bus and reloaded it in the morning.

We all helped with the preparation, cooking, and clean-up of each meal.