Day 21 09/06/2013 Mitchell Plateau to Manning Gorge.
After saying goodbye to our new friends we left the Mitchell Plateau before 7am. There is only one road in and out, so we pretty much knew that we had a long drive ahead of us. Again the most noticeable wildlife, apart from birds, was the dingo. One even came out of the bush and chased us for several metres down the track! We stopped at the King Edward River for coffee. There were quite a few oncoming vehicles and we even saw the grader! We caught up to another vehicle, which isn't ideal because of dust, so we had to slow down......not that we were going fast! They stopped at the Gibb River crossing. Most major rivers and creeks have name signs as you approach them. There were no such signs at the Gibb River and we can only assume that inconsiderate tourists have taken them as souvenirs. Once back on the Gibb RR we could tell that the grader had been at work on quite a long section, so it was very smooth driving for quite a while. We again crossed several creeks and rivers with the Hann River crossing, (yes it had a sign!), being particularly pretty. We decided to take the track to the Barnett River Gorge.....only 3km, according to the sign. Well......it was a VERY rough track and the 3km took us about 40 mins! We couldn't turn back because it was too narrow. We were hoping that there would be space to turn when we got there!!! When we arrived there was space....except it was occupied by a large tour bus......goodness knows how it got in there! But the tour guide and travellers were very friendly, even sharing their lunch with us! They had lovely cakes!!!! They left after lunch and so we were able to use the space to turn around so that when we came back from our walk we were pointing in the right direction.
We walked to a pretty little spot on the Barnett River and also along the top of the gorge but disappointingly didn't find the waterfall. The route was not signed in any way; we didn't realise how far it was; we had no water with us and it was a hot day. We turned around.
We drove the excruciatingly slow 3km back to the GRR. It was not far to the Mt Barnett Roadhouse where we got fuel and a permit to camp at Manning Gorge. The two young women working there were from Germany......similar situation to that previously mentioned with regard to the working visa requirements. You have to admire these young people, coming from Europe, to live and work basically in the middle of nowhere. However, unlike the young lass in the pub in Boulia, who told us that she spent her money on Internet shopping, the girls in the Mt Barnett roadhouse said that they were saving theirs because there were no shops and no internet access!!!
The campground was 7km from the roadhouse, down a much easier track. We found a spot to camp and headed for the very picturesque and easily accessible swimming hole. After a cooling dip it was almost time for sunset drinks by the water. Lovely! Although the campground was reasonably busy with quite a few families and young people, it was all quiet by 7.30pm. Everyone had gone to bed!