Today began before dawn, with a float on the Manning Gorge billabong in our trusty inflatable. I didn't see the bittern again, or the fresh-water crocodile which basks on the bank during the warm part of the day, but I did see some blue-winged kookaburras, and lots of lovely reflections. Some may call the place a paperbark swamp, but it's been one of the major highlights of our trip so far. Pristine and peaceful. We stopped at Galvan's Gorge along the way today ...

Today was actually cloudy at dawn, but the clouds soon burnt off and another warm, sunny day followed. Regular as clockwork. We decided to do the walk upriver to the falls, but it was about three times longer than we expected, and at moderate grade with a fair bit of rock scrambling, Narrelle found it tough going. We made it there eventually. The falls or cascades had a fair bit of water coming down and the pool at the bottom was large and deep. Deb and I had a...

More campfires this morning and evening are driving our relaxation and enjoyment levels to new highs. Unfortunately some of this was undone by the roughness of Gibb River Road west of Kalumburu Road. One of today’s highlights was a brief photo stop at the Gibb River crossing, which was picturesque with lots of big trees and white sand, wattle trees and rocky knolls. And a bull. A big Shorthorn bull was grazing close by, and I took several shots of it from as c...

My birthday today, so the kids woke up very excited to see me open my presents ... they and Deb gave me some bicycle lights (good choice), and Len and Narrelle gave me a puzzle (one of the steel ones where you have to figure out how to get the ring off). The road was pretty good most of the way to the Kalumburu Road turnoff, where we stopped to photograph the signs. There was a sign there advertising the scenic flights from Drysdale River Station over Mitchell F...

Today we journeyed west along Gibb River Road to Ellenbrae Station. The camping area is informal and small, surrounded by bush and wildflowers. There are only maybe ten groups camped here, so it is really quiet, a welcome relief after El Questro. The amenities block is quite a curiosity, a stone-and-iron building with a single toilet, shower and bath, with hot water provided by a "donkey" heater, a large cast iron cylinder in which you light a fire, an...