Monday 10 June 2013 - King Edward River (Munurru) Campground
We arrived here on Saturday after a 100km trek up the Kalumburu Road. The drive wasn’t too bad, a few corrugations and some small water crossings but nothing too unpleasant. At one stage we had to pull over after we heard a funny noise in the rear left wheel of the car just after going through a bit of water. Glenn took the wheel off and found a little stone caught between the disc brake and backing plate. Once he’d reattached the wheel, we took off again there was no funny noise, so we’re assuming that was what was responsible for it.
The campground is really good here. All the sites are well-spaced, there’s a bit of shade, a nice breeze and we’re only a short walk from the river. After we set up, we went down to the water for a swim and a wander – after about 50m or so of rock clambering (nothing strenuous, the girls took it all in their stride), we reached a gorgeous waterfall. The rocks themselves are fascinating (as you’ll see in the photos), all sorts of colours and shapes, with great big holes gouged out over thousands of years.
Yesterday was our big Mitchell Falls day. We’d packed stacks of food and water the night before, had our clothes all laid out and were ready to leap out of bed as soon as Sienna woke up (usually between 5 and 5:15am) because we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us, plus a long walk in the warm sun. At 5:25 she was still asleep! We decided to get moving anyway and as soon as we started stirring, she woke instantly. After a quick brekkie and packing the camper away securely, we were on the road (well, dirt track) by 6:10am.
The 76km to the start of the Falls walk can be quite rough, but we didn’t find it too bad. Apparently the grader had just been through because it had been closed after some rain a few weeks ago. It took us 2 1/2 hours on the way there, but Glenn managed to shave 20 minutes off on the return journey. Plenty of corrugations, a few small water crossings and the occasional incline and decline kept the journey interesting. The surrounding vegetation was quite stunning, most commonly featuring the Livistonia palm and of course lots of other fauna that I can’t name. We spotted a couple of dingoes along the way, both of which weren’t all that fazed by the traffic passing through. There would have been about 20 vehicles passing us as we drove in, people who’d stayed at the Mitchell Falls Campground itself and were getting an early start as they headed back out to the Kalumburu Road.
On arriving at the carpark, we tightened our shoelaces, applied our sunscreen, drank some water and psyched ourselves up for the 4.2km walk. We also booked our return leg on the helicopter (this was Yasmin’s birthday present from all the family). After a bit of sooking from Yasmin even before we’d started the walk trail (apparently it was too far from the chopper booking office back to the carpark), I had a few words to her and finally, at about 9:30am, we were off.
The morning was warming up, but there was a nice breeze around and some of the walk was in shade. The first stop was Little Mertens Falls, where some Aboriginal cave art can be seen. We walked right down underneath the falls, but decided not to swim because we had to meet our chopper at 12:30pm. The combination of the sound of thundering water, the spray from the falls cooling us off and the ‘spiritual presence’ of the Aboriginal ancestors made the whole area feel quite magical.
Next we came to Big Mertens Falls, which you actually walk across the top of (stepping over the rocks) and then once you’re past them, you can climb up a few rocks and look back on it. These falls drop straight into a really deep, steep gorge – absolutely stunning. The sun was quite warm on us now and Yasmin was getting quite tired. She had walked a fair bit and Sienna had done some walking too. Glenn or I carried Yasmin over some of the trickier rocks, but she gained confidence as we continued and was doing most of them herself. Only at the very end, when we were approaching Mitchell Falls themselves, did she want to be carried again (and this was over the easy flat trail).
We finally made our way to the top of Mitchell Falls and that was, of course, awesome. The noise, the spray, the vista below us, the fact that we knew we were nearly finished, all made it pretty spectacular! But the trickiest part wasn’t over yet, because we had to cross the falls a little further up in order to get to the helipad, as well as the best viewing spot for Mitchell Falls.
This water crossing was much more challenging – the water was thigh deep in places, about 20m wide, flowing very fast and the rocks were large, uneven and super-slippery. Sienna was asleep in the backpack on Glenn and I had been carrying Yasmin, but I didn’t feel confident to take her across the water myself, so Glenn took both girls. Because we were at the end of the walk where the chopper flies in and out, there were stacks of people watching, probably waiting for one of us to go arse-up. After taking our shoes and socks off, we slowly picked our way through, Glenn in front and me lagging behind. I nearly slipped at the start, but soon found my groove and after a few minutes, we were at the other side. I was very glad we were taking the chopper back – not because I couldn’t face that walk again, I just didn’t fancy risking dropping the girls or the backpack with our camera in the strong current!
After clambering up the last few rocks, we didn’t bother putting our shoes and socks back on, just walked straight up to the rocky lookout around the corner that gives the best view of Mitchell Falls. Then it was back to the shelter near the helipad, where we quickly stripped off and walked down for a cooling dip. We’d finished the walk with only about half an hour to spare before we were due to meet the chopper so we ate a few snacks, dressed and went to wait. We had a few quiet words to Yasmin about how exciting and fun the chopper would we (she has a habit of freaking out at the last minute) and after watching three or four landings and take-offs, it was our turn!
Sienna was placed between Yasmin and I on the back seat and Glenn sat in the front. Initially we were told that Sienna would sit on one of our laps, but the pilot said they didn’t have an infant seatbelt. She was not impressed and started crying, but after we took off she settled down. Yasmin was strapped in and handed her ‘special headphones’ and sat back happy as can be. She was a little nervous, but smiling all the same. After we took off, she was grinning from ear to ear – priceless! The pilot took us up past Mitchell Falls several times, looping around and then we traced our walk back to the carpark from the air. Six minutes is pretty quick in a chopper, but it was still worth every cent ($115 per person, Sienna was free).
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