We spent a couple of days in Kununurra stocking up and letting Lachie recover after a bout of diarrhoea, poor little fella. After a huge grocery shop we headed off for the Gibb River Road! Our first stop was at Emma Gorge, a pleasant walk (although got the heart pounding after seeing a snake on the track) in to a spectacular waterhole. There were hot springs coming out from places in the rock walls making little warm pools and water dripping down from the tall, overhanging escarpments. Jack had the pleasure of swimming next to a small freshie! He thought he was so lucky! On the way back Will stepped over another snake on the track but we later discovered they were harmless yellow tree snakes! After the walk we drove in to El Questro to set up. What a beautiful spot. We got a site overlooking the river and it felt very private when in fact the campground was packed!
The next day we set out to explore the station by 4WD. Our first track was up to a lookout and was quite a challenging and exciting track, winding up the hill, sometimes feeling almost vertical! The view was amazing! We left there and went down to the boat ramp on the Chamberlain River for morning tea then headed off on another track to Explosion Gorge. The track crossed a very rocky river that was quite a challenge! Ben even had to get out and move some rocks to give us some clearance. We had cheese and vegemite sangers by the gorge on our own, it was a treat to have the beauty and peace of a special place all to ourselves. After heading back to the van Lachie and Ben had a ride on a horse and cart then I got to go on a 2 hour sunset horse ride! It was lots of fun with creek and river crossings and a hill climb to watch the sun set with drinks and nibbles. Divine. I have the bug and want to learn how to ride properly when we get back!!

The following day we spent exploring the gorges and special spots around El Questro. We started the day with a stunning walk into Zebedee Hot Springs. It was a spectacular looking spot and lovely in the warm pools but unfortunatley extremely popular so we were lucky to nab a nice pool to have to ourselves. We went from there to do a walk into El Questro Gorge. It was another spectacular, but longer, hotter walk into a very small swimming hole. The boys were disappointed but we spent some time there swimming and relaxing before making the long trek back. The next morning Jack and Will had their turn on the horses with a half hour kids ride. They were great, had a ball and loved it too! Jack said when he's next at Archie's place it will be the horse he asks to ride not the motorbike!!