13th September
From El Questro, we headed back to the Gibb River Road and travelled about 30km further, crossed the Pentescost River and stopped at Home Valley Station. This section of road was our first taste of the horrid roads that the Gibb is famous for. It was all corrugations littered with sharp shale-like rocks. A perfect recipe for ripping the side wall out of your tyres. In the 30km we did between the El Questro and Home Valley turn offs we saw at least one shredded tyre every couple of kilometres. We just went slow, taking over 2 hours to travel 45km. We crossed the Pentecost River to get here – pretty straight forward and only 30-40cm deep. Earlier in the wet season apparently the crossing can be a bit hairy.
Home Valley is an oasis in the outback. It has a beautiful green grassy campsite. Such a luxury when you are used to camping in red dirt!! There is also a pool and a playground which the kids loved.
Home Valley doesn’t have the variety of gorges that El Questro does, but offers a beautiful view of the stunning Cockburn Ranges from a hill a short stroll from camp or from the banks of the Pentecost River a few kilometres drive from camp. The river is particularly beautiful at sunset with the changing colours of the ranges reflecting along the river.
There is no swimming in the river here due to the salt water crocs. We did see a few lazing on the river bank and floating by. The Barra fishing is reputedly pretty good here. The boys tried their luck, to no avail.
Temperatures the past few weeks have been around the high 30’s – surprisingly bearable – with the hottest part of the day being early afternoon. Yesterday hit over 40 degrees so we were happy for the reprieve of the pool and our shady campsite.
We ended up spending 3 nights here. Just lazy days, sunsets by the river and nights around the campfire with our new friends.
Click on the link for Gibb River Road – it’s a wrap!!
The Travelling Dixons 