It’s easy to get caught up in the driving when you’re planning a Kimberley trip. Which tracks are open, how much fuel you’ll need and whether everything in the van will still be attached at the other end. But some of the best things to do in the Kimberley start once you’ve parked up.
From soaking in warm springs to cruising between towering gorge walls, there’s plenty worth swapping the driver’s seat for. With a few favourites centred around El Questro, here are five experiences worth leaving room for in your itinerary.
It’s a bit difficult to explain, but there’s something about waking up early, before the sun has had a chance to warm the land up. You’re chilly, you’re a bit groggy and you’re sporting a baseline level of tiredness that comes from spending long days in the saddle in the dust and dirt. When you get the opportunity to do something so perfect, so rewarding and so damn refreshing, something like visiting Zebedee springs, you don’t say no, you make it happen.
It’s not that getting into a natural hot spring is somehow going to change your life, but it’s impossible to slip beneath that water without feeling like everything is instantly better than it was a few minutes ago.
Look, I could bang on endlessly about Zebedee springs like your drunk uncle telling you about that time he met Emilio Estevez, but I’ll spare you any further waxing existential about the place. If you’re out this way: strong recommend.
There are a lot of gorges throughout the Kimberley region. In fact, they’re part of what gives the place its unique topography, flora and fauna. So, it’d be reckless of you to come all this way and not spend a few hours on a boat traveling up one or two of them, wouldn’t it?
One a recent trip with Isuzu’s iVenture club, we were treated to a trip up the Chamberlain Gorge and got to experience what 1.8 billion years of natural terrain formation looks like. It was perspective-shifting to say the least. And that’s not even counting the marine and terrestrial wildlife we encountered either.
The boat left from El Questro Wilderness Park (another highly recommended destination, just quietly) and wound its way up a few kilometres of the kind of scenery the James Bond villains would use to build an underground evil lair in. Stunning is one word for it, another would be whatever word sums up staring open-mouthed at the natural wonder surrounding you.
They reckon the Kimberley is home to some of Australia’s oldest rock paintings, dating back some 17,300 years. Think about that for a sec. That’s over 15,000 years before Jesus Christ was inventing water-wine and bio-mechanical carpentry. Or around the same time when the last planetary ice-age was ending, and megafauna was still kicking around making humans feel inadequate.
If you were in Europe, you’d go to see much more recent art, right? The Sistine Chapel, the Louvre, the Coliseum and so on. Why wouldn’t you take the time while you’re out here and see some of the earliest known pieces of art?
Much like much of the region, it’s difficult to describe the feelings you have when looking at stuff that was painted when Australia was still connected to New Guinea and Tasmania hadn’t broken away to do its own thing. But there’s something strangely profound at taking in artistic representations of childbirth or Gwion Motifs of humankind. It’s both humbling and amazing in equal measure.
El Questro offers many things. From several levels of accommodation from basic camping to private villas. There’s fine dining to be had; too many drives to mention; gorge walks that’ll melt your brain and more history and grandeur than anything found this side of the Great Wall of China. However, if you want to gain a completely unique and otherwise impossible-to-get perspective on this mind-melting landscape then experiencing it from the air is calling your name.
There are regular chartered tourist helicopter rides out of the El Questro homestead, and given the location, they’re even reasonably priced. Many consider the few hundred bucks well worth the outlay to get the views and sheer appreciation for the topography that would otherwise be impossible.
No matter what you’re into: horse riding, bushwalking, fine dining, there’s something to enjoy in the Kimberley. However, the size of the region and the massive number of sights, sounds and enormity of the cultural history means that missing out on key events, places and spectacles is all too easy.
That’s why joining a guided tour or three is highly encouraged. You can see the entirety of a station from horseback, walk through otherwise untrodden gorges and discover parts of this unique location that would be impossible to find without a little direction from the folks who know it like the back of their hand.
Having a flick of some soft-plastics for barra is fantastic but may yield little on the way of tight lines. Having a local put you onto the holes, if not the specific structure, that’s guaranteed to give you the best chance of reeling in that metrey, well, that’s just spending your time wisely if you ask us.
Plus the fishing guides will know the movements of the croc population and will be able to steer you clear of the elite killing machines that didn’t get the memo about humans being top of the food chain. And if you need more reasons to hook up with a guided tour, other than the fact meeting up with a bunch of like-minded folks, you’re also directly contributing to the local economy. Something to be encouraged for all visitors to remote areas.
The driving might get you to the Kimberley, but don’t let it take up the whole trip. Park up, wash off the dust and give yourself time to experience the places you’ve come all this way to see.
