Remote and Alone In an Oasis

Sadly this morning our great companions Andrew and Anne packed up early from King Edward River and started the journey to Broome. Anne’s mum is very ill and they have been checking in on the satellite phone to see how she is. They have decided to head back home to Melbourne and will fly out from Broome. Broome is about 700km from here so they will camp overnight on the way as a fair chunk of the distance is the slow going Gibb River Road.

We will miss The Lloyde’s as we have had so much fun on our adventures together. They leave us this morning with half a packet of Weetbix. That’s nice of them... Hang on, our spare tyre is missing, they’ve taken our food supplies and wait a minute, they’ve bloody syphoned the fuel from our petrol tank... thank god we still have water... what water?, Jenny replies.

On that note, here’s 5 things we couldn’t do without.

1. Memory Foam Mattress Topper
2. Foldable Plastic Washing Basin
3. Hiking Stove and Kettle for a Cuppa
4. USB Phone Charger
5. Chocolate, lots of it

It’s time for a morning dip in the King Edward. We follow the track further up the river to another step ladder leading into a fresh water pool. Before we take the plunge, we venture further and follow a trickle from the main river through an oasis of lush greenery and abundant trees. The trickle becomes a small pretty waterfall cascading into a natural water hollow.

We are surrounded by bronzed stone rocks which are the base of a dry river floor. The rock is smooth as silk and weathered by fast running water for Millenia. In some places, big rock pools have been carved from the river bed and the rock has a shiny glazed look like its pottery, just come out of the kiln.

We are all alone in our amazing oasis, miles from anywhere and at least a day’s trip from the nearest mobile and internet communication. It’s a magical place.

Returning to the ladder, we enjoy a morning wash in the fresh water pool and walk back to our camp site. With the Lloyde’s gone, the site is massive and like a giant crop circle. I make a coffee and for a change, have a morning nap whilst Jen has her head stuck in a book.

We pack up our camp at about 10.30am and move on. Before we leave King Edward River, there are two Aboriginal art sites to visit depicting stories up to 20,000 years old within this area called Munurru. (See next footprint for pics and info).

As we drive up the dirt road, a stubby and muscular Dingo crosses our path. It looked more like the size of a Bull Dog and nothing like the Dingoes we saw on Fraser Island. These Dingoes are completely wild and not used to human contact scavenging for food so they are built solid and tough.

DRIVE: King Edward River to Drysdale Station (120km).

We head back to Drysdale Station passing the bull and Brumbies we saw on the way up. After being remote, it’s time for a big clean up. The clothes washing is on, our supplies are sorted, we have a proper shower and I plug in everything we have to charge up on our powered site.

Drysdale Station has an outdoor bar and restaurant which opens at 4.00pm. We walk over and grab a coldie before returning to our camp site to make dinner. I have a few vacuum sealed steaks in the 12v fridge so we decide to make steak sangas for dinner, a simple but tasty meal to finish the day.

CAMP: Drysdale Station / 1 Nightもっと詳しく