Scones and disappointments

 22-23 May, Ellenbrae Station

Last time we were up this way, we zipped past the sign for Ellenbrae Station, boasting the best scones with jam and cream on the GRR.  This of course was very distressing for me, but Beth simply refused my entreaties to stop, claiming that a 60 km detour was just not necessary. I think she may have given me an apple or something as consolation. This deprivation has played on my mind for 7 years, but happily for me, rescheduling El Questro to avoid the GRR Challenge means that Ellenbrae is the right distance from Wyndham to be our first stop, and even more happily, the sign with the scones with jam and cream boast was also still there.

Ellenbrae is a working cattle station, which I suspect makes more money out of its tourist operations than its cattle.  The first thing we do when we check in is to sit down in their rustic outdoor dining area and test out their scones.  I suspect they are the best on the GRR, and as good as you would find anywhere for that matter.  The campground that we stayed in was delightful.  Everything is made from recycled old farm equipment, very rustic but perfectly functional. The open top shower in a repurposed water tank was a treat.

As we finished setting up, we noticed that all was not well on C&S’s site.  The pop top of their van had only partially popped and S, despite his tenfootedness needed the help of a milk crate to reach the unpopped part of his roof so that he could persuade it to do the right thing.  But neither the roof nor the milk crate were in any mood to behave. The milk crate tipped on the uneven ground upon which it had been placed and sent S crashing down most unceremoniously. The ground shook, causing campers heads to turn. Fortunately, one such head was that of T-Van man from across the way.  C&S’s Topaz van is made by Track trailers, who also make a smaller more utilitarian go-anywhere camper trailer called the T-Van, one of which, unsurprisingly, T-Van man was the happy owner. Having witnessed the commotion at the C&S site, T-Van man strode over laconically, surveyed the scene and immediately took control without any fuss.  A broken strut was diagnosed, and without a spare, the prognosis was not good.  The other struts would need to be disabled, and from here on in there would be no popping of the top until replacement struts were found. Not such a drastic prognosis for C, who is, well, let’s say not tall, but for S, this was disastrous, all indoor activities would now need to be done on his knees.  T-Van man set about carrying out the makeshift repairs, then brushed himself off and wandered off into the sunset. I would not say that generally I am taken to envy, but gee, I wish I were T-Van man.

Although there were no spectacular gorges, relaxing hot springs or challenging 4wd tracks, we were quite taken by Ellenbrae and decided to spend 2 days here rather than the planned one. This decision was also influenced by the continued uncertainty of the Mitchell Falls road opening.  We were relying heavily on the GRR grapevine to keep us advised, and the news was not promising.  By staying another night at Ellenbrae we thought we might buy some time and get lucky.  One Victorian couple we had bumped into a few times were also eagerly waiting for the Mitchell Falls road to open, and like us they had extended their stay at Ellenbrae.

We have still not quite come to grips with the changed time zones and we are doing the campers thing of going to bed when it gets dark and getting up when the sun rises, which means we are in bed by 8 and up at 5.  This gives us the opportunity to get in a couple of hours of exercise before the day really starts.  Although Ellenbrae does not boast any substantial walking tracks, we substitute by just walking down their driveway for a few kilometres and then walking back. Not exactly awe inspiring, but not terrible either, and certainly gets the muscles moving and the pulse racing (well, cantering maybe).  I sense another theme developing.  It doesn’t matter where we are, or what walks are available to us, first thing in the morning is walk time. Out of bed, on with your shoes and hit the road. Sightseeing, photography, nature watching and the like are not the purpose of these walks, the focus is exercise.

Three sets of scones and coffee machine lattes is bordering on excess, so after two nights we move on in the forlorn hope that the Mitchell falls road may be open, but in our hearts we know this will not be the case and that our next destination will be Mt Elizabeth Station, bypassing the beautiful Mitchell falls.  This is devastating for Beth,  both because she would love to visit this place again, but also because C&S have not been here before and they will miss something special. Oh well, a reason to come back here another time.  As we are sipping our last Ellenbrae latte and gathering up the last scone crumbs, we notice the Victorian couple being shown the around the kitchen. They have no intention on missing out on Mitchell falls, and have taken on a short term role at Ellenbrae until the road opens.

Dining room Ellenbrae

C&S crossing the Pentecost River 

Alpine garden!!???!?!

24 May, Mount Elizabeth Station

Very disappointed about Mitchell Falls, but we are heading to Mount Elizabeth station, which is also a working cattle farm. Beth is very excited, because although the Mount Elizabeth homestead and camp ground is ok rather than sensational (no scones, no coffee),  it does have the wonderful Wannamurra Gorge just a short rough 4wd track away.  We remember this gorge fondly. The track out was very rough, and clearly put most people off, because we had this wonderful gorge, with rock art, swimming and delightful falls all to ourselves.  As we booked into Mt Elizabeth, Beth, almost as a courtesy, asked whether Wannamurra Gorge was open. Her face dropped when told that the gorge is probably 6 weeks away from opening.  Our Gibb River adventure is off to an inauspicious start.  Oh well, at least we know all the other gorges are open, so nothing to do but stay the night, move on and hope for the best.

So far we have travelled about 300 km of the 700 km GRR, and the road appears to be in very good condition. There are corrugations and occasional patches of water damage, and a few water crossings (all just a little bit deeper than I remember), but by and large the going has been quite easy. One disturbing aspect of the road though is the number of people on it, particularly ones towing big monsters of caravans. We did expect that this years unique set of circumstances would bring out a lot of people, but what we didn’t expect was the size of the toys they would bring to play with.