Tuesday - June 17
We got up, had brekkie and left Kununurra for our amazing visit to El Questro - Ben picked us up right on time at 10:30am. It took about an hour to get to Emma Gorge where we had a rest stop and change of vehicle and driver. Lori Litwack, the General Manager, drove us the rest of the way to the Homestead - about 30 odd minutes. Lori is originally from Canada and her partner, an Aussie, is the head chef - they have been with El Questro for 11 years. We arrived around 12:30pm and Ross welcomed us with a glass of Champagne and gave us a run down on the resort. We checked-in to our room, upgraded a few days prior to the Cliff Villa, overlooking the Chamberlin River - amazing.
There are a number of freshies in the river - the biggest, Charlie, is at least 5m and is often spotted sunning himself on the rocky banks just below the homestead.
Lunch was at 1:00pm so we hurried back to the main area, met several other guests and had a delicious lunch of grilled snapper - washed down with matching wines.
After a post-lunch break we elected to take the Chamberlin Gorge sunset boat trip (3:00 - 5:00pm) - 2 other couples joined us (Sally, Tony, Francoise (from Rimouski) and Rob) - in spite of having 2 electric motors and 4 batteries we almost did not make it back. (We were thinking that our experience 4 years ago maybe was not so unusual - our motor conked out then).
Back at the Homestead, I tried our outdoor free-standing bath. We changed for dinner then headed to the “big" room for pre-dinner Champagne and canapés followed by a wonderful dinner (salmon tartare, fillet mignon and chocolate mouse cake, all with matching wines of course). Dinner was served on the terrace but we were kept warm by 2 large heaters. After dinner, we headed off to bed since we were half planning to do the 6:00am bird watching tour.
Wednesday - June 18
We managed to get up in time for the 6:00am bird watching tour - another couple, Jan and John from Sydney joined us. Lucy (one of the front of house staff) provided steaming cups of coffee to take on the tour - very much appreciated. It was a cool (around 10℃) but beautiful morning - as the sun got higher in the sky it really warmed up - but it was certainly no heat-wave.
Back at the resort we settled in for an a la carte breakfast - we both had a fruit plate followed by eggs florentine and of course perfect coffee.
We had lots of time for relaxing then a short walk around the homestead - the highlight being the Durack Tree - a 9-headed boab.
After another delicious lunch (monk fish) we set off for Zeebedee Springs - an amazing gorge with a hot spring and pools. We arrived back in time for showers then sundowners followed by an excellent dinner of prawn salad followed by rack of lamb.
Thursday - June 19
The day started out partly cloudy but very mild - and it warmed up to the mid-30’s. After breakfast (eggs florentine again!) we set out at 8:00am for the Amalia Gorge walk - a 45 minutes drive away. A couple from Melbourne (Martin and Vicki) joined us with our ranger guide, Reece. The walk was about 1 hour each direction up a rocky river bed with several refreshing pools along the way. There were a couple a really hairy bits on the walk - climbing up rock faces with just a few foot and hand holds - with a little bit of a steadying hand from Reece and Dieter, I made it !! We had a bit of a rest at the top - looking for the freshwater crocs which inhabit the pools but there were none to be seen. Reece told us that just a few ago they had to remove a 5m freshie who had become quite aggressive towards tourists. We arrived back at the homestead in time for a shower and a refreshing G&T and beer before lunch (poached chicken salad - delicious).
We had a siesta after lunch then late in the afternoon we took the homestead dinghy out with John and Jan to do a bit of fishing, croc spotting and idling about - we stayed out until just after sunset but did not catch anything.
A few new guests had arrived today so it was almost a full house for dinner (16 - max is 18). Dinner was Jamon Iberico salad followed by barramundi (fortunately the chef was not relying on our afternoon catch) - it was a balmy evening - a huge difference from just a few days ago. I headed to bed at 9:00pm but Dieter stayed up to have a few beers with the chef.
Friday - June 20
When I got up at 7:30am it was clear it would be another hot day - Charlie and his much smaller mate were already sunning themselves on the opposite bank of the Chamberlin. I had a pre-breakfast coffee on our deck while waiting for Dieter to get a few additional zzzz’s. We had a lazy morning, as planned, I tested the pool which was very refreshing to say the least. Lunch was again superb - grilled tassie salmon salad.
We departed at 2;15pm for our Explosion Gorge tour with Jan and John as well as 6 others from El Questro (the Station and Emma Gorge) - we did a real 4WD trip to another part of the Chamberlin River where we took a 1-hour cruise then 4-wheeled it to Branco’s Lookout for sundowners - we arrived back at the homestead at 6pm just in time of showers before pre-dinner drinks and canapés. All guests had some sort of cliff-side dining - it was very romantic at our tabel for 2 on cliff edge wathing Charlie and his pal cruising by. Dinner was stuffed calamari followed by duck breast - I finally showed some will power and passed on dessert.
Saturday - June 21
Last day for us and 6 other guests. After brekkie and packed we farewelled Jan and John who felt by chopper for Brerkly River Lodge. Then Lorraine & Bill (from the UK) and John & Heather (from Aubury) left in their own vehvicle. We had a farewell glass of Champagne before heading off at 11:45am for Kununarra with Ben, our driver - same one who pickup us up 4 days earlier.