4 Sep 10 - Mitchell Falls

By Craig: Walk in and walk out, you reckon! It is way too hot, let’s catch a helicopter back. Yeah!


It was warm when we arrived and was going to get hotter during the walk so we were looking forward to the swim when we got there. No swimming or access allowed to the Mitchell River apparently some 40,000 year old serpent lives at the bottom of the falls but rock pools at the top of the falls are still running and a great place to cool off.


Our track in was about 4kms and a class 4 which meant a reasonable effort was required over some rocky ground.


























We had an opportunity to see the top of the falls and a number of collecting pools before we walked around to face the falls. Mitchell Falls is quite a spectacular sight with three levels each having a collecting pool.
















After seeking out a spot for photos it was time to head back to the pickup point for our heli-ride.




















The excitement was building, poor Sam was jumping up and down on the spot so excited he could hardly contain himself when we heard the sound of the chopper approaching. It was a little like one of those scenes out of MASH.











After landing, the pilot waved us over and Sam was more excited when he got front seat right next to the pilot. Now he was really smiling.









Louise was a little apprehensive but once strapped in she was smiling as well. The take off was smooth and we were quickly presented with a birds eye view of not only Mitchell Falls but the river, adjacent gorges and the surrounding Kimberly area.















WoW! What a view and what a completely different perspective being in the air gives to the area you have just tracked in on.




























Well back on the road and back onto the worst section of corrugated road travelled in our trip. After a short stop at Drysdale River Station for fuel and lunch we were within 60kms of the Gibb River Road and again the spring hanger tore away from the chassis.










This time with a lot of swearing we decided to strap it forward with a wire rope and finish the Gibb River Road and Emma Gorge before we would head back to Kununurra for another weld.























By Lou: We left camp at 7am for the 73km drive to the beginning of the Mitchell Falls walk and it took us 2 hours. We braced ourselves for a 2.5 hour walk but it only took us 1.5 hours. I’d been told there was some very good rock art along the way however I overlooked the un-signposted turnoff so we missed it. Woops at least Craig had his eye out for wildlife.


By the time we got to the plateau where the falls begin, it was nice to see the view but it was better to have a dunk in the cold water.
We found a nice little spot with a small waterfall and had a giggle and a slide and a frolic…only to discover we were covered in dozens of tiny leaches.






They didn’t mention them on the glossy brochure.







While Craig went off in search of photo opportunities, up popped the rare yellow-backed-gun-toting-rock-wallaby more commonly found in Queensland.


I don’t know why Craig thinks I was apprehensive about the helicopter flight because I wasn’t until I saw the flimsy seatbelt which was to be my only security measure for the door-less flight.
They are like the ones in a regular airplane that just flip open if you accidentally brush against them. But it wasn’t terror that pinned me upright into the seat…I was trying to stay out of the photographer’s way.