Thursday 29th June
El Questro W.A.
Emma Gorge Pool and water falls
It was an overcast morning but still warm and a touch muggy. After breakfast we decided to walk
Emma Gorge. Emma is situated 8 kilometres further along the
Gibb River Road towards
Wyndham.
One of the dry waterfalls along the walk
The Gorge resort was a lovely looking arrangement with the open alfresco dining room overlooking manicured lawns and a swimming
pool. Numerous self contained bungalows were situated along the start of
the gorge. From there it was a 1.5 km walk along the rugged creek bed and across boulders and pools to reach first,
emerald pool and then eventually the
rock pool and waterfall at the end. The
cliff faces of
the gorge tower 120 metres above the scree slopes and the red of the
sandstone and contrasting white quartz are impressive. Many of the boulders on
the gorge floor had rippled surfaces the sands of ancient fossilised seabeds.
The Emma Resort bungalows
The falls at the end of
the gorge tumbled 80 metres into a large clear
pool. Ferns and mosses grew in profusion on the walls in the moist conditions. To the right of
the pool, a
thermal spring bubbled warm water out of the rocks. A lovely spot. On our arrival back we explored
the gorge resort and decided to have lunch.
The aptly named Emerald Pool - Emma Gorge
Very reasonably priced and excellent food. Most enjoyable.
On the return journey, we encountered a guy in a hire ute parked forlornly by the Gibb only a kilometres prior to the ELQ turnoff. He’d managed to ignore the obvious signs of a deflating rear passenger’s side tyre until the strange angle the vehicle appeared to be on, coupled with the metallic clang of the rim running on the rough road, alerted him to a possible issue. With no rubber left, the vehicle was on the back left rim and he couldn’t fit the piddly hydraulic jack under the rear axel housing. Thankfully the Navara scissor jack managed to fit under and handing him a pair of gloves, we were up and had the spare on in no time.
Lunch at the Emma Gorge Resort
It was a relax around the
camp and then up to the bar for happy hour at 5.00 p.m. Big mistake as a shouted round turned into two and three rounds. The guy with the flat shouted a bottle or two by way of thanks for the assistance. Don’t know what time I got
home but we all had a good night round the fire. Buddy, the legendary ELQ stockman
No that my friends is camp cooking at it's best!
and raconteur held us enthralled. Mind you I was a bit nervous when the whip cracking started. Apparently no maxims like “I’ve you drink and whip…you’re a bloody idiot” up here. Still he impressed the lady’s and didn’t knock anyones eye out!.