Day 19 07/06/2013 Drysdale River Station to Mitchell Falls campground.
Surprisingly we were on the road by 6.30am! 1km down the track we came to another crossing of the Drysdale River. Although there was water over it, there was a ford, so no problem at all. The route was very pretty.....tall open eucalyptus woodland. There were plenty of water crossings to keep us on our toes....some needed to be checked for depth and possible holes, but most were ok. It took us just under 2 hours to do the 100km to the turn off to the Mitchell Plateau. From here it is 82km to the Mitchell Falls campground on a pretty rough road. The first 'obstacle' is the crossing of the King Edward River. Although this was a longish crossing, it wasn't too deep or problematic. It took us two and a half hours, to travel the 82km, which is about average, since the guides books say to allow between 2-3 hours. At the the start of the track, a sign warns drivers to take care as the road is un-maintained. However this isn't strictly true since there was evidence of a grader having been through. There were none of the usual road signs though, so bends, steep descents and water crossings were often a bit of a surprise and could be a problem for the less than careful driver. As the track climbs towards the plateau, graceful fan palms make an appearance in between the gum trees. These lush palms are able to grow here because this area of WA receives the highest amount of annual rainfall. They do look rather odd though, in amongst the Aussie bush! We saw three or four dingoes today, usually wandering across the road. When they spotted us, they trotted off quickly into the bush, not stopping for a photo-op!! I did manage to get a photo of a pair of brolgas though....they were also high-tailing it into the bush as we approached.
Once at the campground we registered and found a spot to camp. Although we didn't see too many other vehicles on the track today, the campground is reasonably busy, but there is lots of space. We have found a great secluded spot. After lunch we went for a 30 minute walk to Little Merten falls....very pretty with a beautiful, (croc-free), swimming hole at the base of the falls. We were able to spend an hour there cooling off.....it has been very hot today. At one point we were the only people there! There was also some Aboriginal rock art to be found in this area.
We joined our new friends, Evan and Kerry, from last night, for happy hour again, with another couple, Jill and Tony, who we also met at Home Valley and again at the Miners Pool camp. Tony has somehow miscalculated his fuel requirements for the return journey, (same road out of here!), so since we are carrying 80L extra in four cans, we are going to let them have (buy!) 20L of ours.
If any of you reading this get the chance to look at a map, you will see that we are in quite a remote part of Western Australia. However not 200m from our campsite is a helipad where you can get on a helicopter for an aerial tour of the region. They also run a 'taxi' service! This means that campers can hike into the Falls.......it takes about 3 hours.....have a swim, lunch etc. and then catch the heli-taxi back to the campground ......which only takes 6 minutes and includes an aerial view of the falls. We have booked a taxi for tomorrow!!!