Leaving Mornington, To Drysdale Station

Friday 6^th June 2008

We awoke (early) to lots of clouds this morning but that didn’t stop us being up at the office by 5:45 so that we could meet Malcolm and join him to check the traps he’d set out the night before. He was specifically trying to get cats but would have been happy with dingoes as well. The bait was eau de ..??.. and the traps are buried and attached to something very large (buried parts of vehicles in some cases, tree roots in others) so that they can’t be dragged away. For us it was kind of a relief that nothing had been interested enough to get caught because I don’t think the kids would really have like that too much but I’m sure Malcolm was disappointed after all his hard work. He’d even used a tin of sardines at the last trap – to no avail.

Back at camp we went through all the packing up rigmarole again then headed back to settle our bill. This time I got to meet Richard Kingsmill who had just taken delivery of a whole load of fuel. Apparently they have just been doing an audit of their fuel usage and found the walk-in freezer was a big offender so it has been abandoned which has resulted in a huge saving.

The clouds were still gathering ominously and Richard Faulkner regaled us with a few stories of last year’s storms and the resulting stranding of many visitors.

On the way out of Mornington I walked through the biggest creek crossing to get photo of car coming through – the water didn’t reach anywhere near the door of the camper trailer.

We came across the fuel truck heading out and the driver (and his travelling partner – all dolled up in skimpy shorts and full make-up) opened and closed the first gate for us after which we just opened gates and left them for him to close – bonus!

In terms of wildlife we saw plenty of the cute Spinifex Pigeons, a couple of dingoes (one of which followed us, running, for a while) and a long snake (probably an olive python) crossing the road under us. The Stanleys didn’t see the snake so I guess we didn’t do it any damage.

And then we were back onto the Gibb River Rd for yet more jolting and jumping. There was one section where the grader was at work and we had to creep carefully up the rugged side of road. We went straight on past Adcock and Galvans Gorges because the weather was distinctly overcast and cool. The photos wouldn’t have been any good, no one would have wanted to swim and we don’t want the girls getting fed up with gorges just yet!

We stopped at Mt Barnett roadhouse for lunch and basic supplies such as bread and butter and reconsidered our plan to stay just up the road at Manning Gorge. The kids were coping okay with the drive and the rain was starting to fall (see above for reasons not to visit gorges in the rain) so we decided to head straight on up the Kalumburu Rd to Drysdale Station.

We crossed over into the Shire of Wyndham and the road conditions immediately worsened – more and deeper corrugations but when we got onto the Kalumburu Rd it was definitely no worse than the Gibb River road, despite all tales to the contrary.

We reached Drysdale where the many, many signs exhorting us to drive slowly (including threats of being asked to leave if caught speeding!) made us slightly annoyed. In the toilets and showers were more signs telling us not to waste water, not to leave lights on, to make sure we put toilet lids down etc etc all added to our sense of being welcome! We waited a while for the Stanleys, having booked into the camp at Miner’s Pool (down the road, beside the river, no power but with toilets) but decided to head down when finally they turned up with a very sad tale. Their trailer’s suspension had given up back on the Gibb River Rd and left them dragging it along for a few hundred metres so they’d grabbed the few necessities they could reach and abandoned it!

We went on to our camp at Miners Pool, set up in the dusk and got moody with each other because the toilets were disgusting, the weather was shite and Paul didn’t like being so far from any action. Also, we were worried about the Stanleys.

I started dinner but then Paul sent the girls and I back to Drysdale to check on the others. They had rung the RAC/NRMA who had agreed (after some discussion) to get someone to pick up the trailer while they used their tent (lucky they bought it in Broome) and carried on with the trip up to Mitchell Falls, to which they hadn’t been intending to take the trailer anyway. By the time we got there they were just setting up tent and were going to go and beg a few toasted sandwiches from the kitchen (they wouldn’t serve dinner to them because they hadn’t booked earlier and so weren’t catered for!).

Just as we left the station to head back to our camp it started to rain quite heavily – adding insult to injury. Back at camp, Paul had finished off dinner with just a lamp because all the power had run out – we’ve decided that somehow the trailer’s power is no longer charging when we drive along – might be something to do with the melted and slightly blackened connection to the car that was supposed to have been fixed back in Perth?! (Don’t worry, the lights, indicators etc. all still work so we are safe on the road). Oh, and the little gas canister we use for cooking outside ran out while we were at Mornington and it seems that none of the roadhouses or stops (apart from Imintji which we passed before going into Mornington) do refills so all cooking is inside for the foreseeable future.

The rain seemed to have set in (although not too heavily) with thunder and lightning surrounding us, adding to the not so happy atmosphere within our four walls!