There are waterfalls like Mitchell Falls and there are waterfall experts like us

Honeymoon Beach is the northern most point you can drive to in Western Australia.  We woke from our quiet beach camping spot to a beautiful sunny morning, getting early shade from a huge boab tree that had grown to its monstrous size on the edge of the sandy beach.  This was a symbolic turnaround point for our trip, the north-west corner of our journey, and from here it was all south with a bit of west for the next couple of weeks.

Just pull up to the bowser and say 'fill her up'

We followed a hand painted sign to McGowan’s Beach where the caretaker had diesel for sale cheaper than the Catholic Mission in the nearby Aboriginal community of Kalumburu.  When I say cheaper, I mean it was ‘only’ $2.70 per litre, a bargain up here.  I drove down to the beach and pulled up next to the huge oil tanker trailer that had been dropped off here by barge.  He pumped the fuel directly from the tanker into the Cruiser and after a quick calculation and passing of substantial funds, we were on our way.

The unique Wandjina rock art showing a halo-like feature around the head with eyes and ears but no mouth

Our next target was one of the expected highlights of our journey in the Kimberley – Mitchell Falls.  First stop along the way near the King Edward River was a great site with Aboriginal rock art unique to this region. The special feature of the Wandjina style of rock art is the faces with what appears to be halos around their heads and more detail than other drawings.  It was very cool to see this special form of local art, completely different to rock art in other regions.

The road from hell across the Mitchell Plateau - bad corrugations, rocks, dips and sand

After lunch under the huge melaleucas on the banks of the King Edward River we drove the 88 kms across what is called the Mitchell Plateau on what has been referred to as the ‘road from hell’. This area is known for its rich collection of flora and fauna and at certain points we gained panoramic views of the valleys below us.  We particularly enjoyed the huge thick groves of Livistona Palms that carpeted the landscape and were lucky to see a pair of antilipines, a large reddish wallaby that lives on the plateau.

We enjoyed the change in scenery on the plateau - much better than the normal savannah woodland

Our goal was Mitchell Falls National Park, or what is now referred to rather awkwardly called Punamii-Unpuu National Park.  This mostly single width road is notorious for its poor condition but we were slightly lucky in that a grader had been working on it recently and some sections were okay.  But in 38 degree heat we were buggered by the time we got to the campsite so spent a lazy afternoon in the shade and after dark enjoyed one of our favourite activities – the bucket bath.

The Monjon, a cute little marsupial with a tail that curls up

The next morning we started early on the 3.5 kilometre walk to the falls, known to be a tough trek in any weather, and were lucky to come across a little Monjon which is a small wallaby found uniquely on the Plateau and has a cute little tail that curls up.  We passed both Little Merton Falls and the very impressive Big Merton Falls on the way.  In any other setting these two falls would have warranted the long drive, especially Big Merton which cascaded off the escarpment and into a deep ravine far below us.  But we were aiming for a bigger prize.

Standing at the top of Big Merton Falls and the deep gorge below

Mitchell Falls is often featured in Western Australia promotional material.  It is in a magnificent setting and has five large cascading falls, each bigger than the previous, until the final long falls pours into a huge pool far below.  We stood at the top of the top fall, gazing over the edge at the amazing spectacle below us and had to pinch ourselves such was the scene.  It made all those corrugations, dust and sweat worthwhile.

The top two tiers of Mitchell Falls

We found a little pool above the top fall and had a well deserved swim, conscious of the need to stay cool in the high 30’s temperature and the lack of any shade.  Then it was a walk upstream, fording the river with our shoes in hand, then scrambling back along a faint track on the edge of the escarpment until we were exactly facing the five falls like a giant staircase, a full frontal view of the entire scene directly in front of us.  We didn’t need a helicopter, professional photographer or cinematography tricks to appreciate this amazing scene – it was right in front of us in all its full glory.  Absolutely stunning.

Mitchell Falls in the dry season - imagine what it would look like in the wet

It was hard work to get here but worth every step

After perching ourselves on a precarious rock to absorb this view we made our way back to the top of the fall, swimming again to keep cool in this oppressive heat, and with soaked T shirts and strong fortitude we made our way back to camp under very difficult midday circumstances.

The long drive south off the Mitchell Plateau was a second chance for us to enjoy the unique countryside.  We came across a huge grader on the side of the track and its rough dusty driver flagged us down.  He had a broken hose and needed a lift to his camp which was about 12 kms away.  Oh, and one other thing, he had a loaded pistol that he didn’t want to leave in the grader.  We didn’t have any spare seats so we put the pistol in the back and he and Julie shared the passenger seat.

A double great view

Crossing the King Edward River, barely a trickle this time of year

Amazingly, this old guy has owned the massive Drysdale station, which we had stayed at earlier, for the last 30 years.  We peppered him with questions about life on the land, managing one million acres, the cattle business and why he was grading this road.  Basically his wife runs the station, which is mostly just a travellers’ stop these days, while he does what he enjoys which is drive the grader for the council’s fees.  He was a likeable guy, full of fascinating information, in particular complaining about how the cattle business is unviable because it takes so long to muster his cattle and get them to market he can’t compete with properties closer to transport and the major markets.  We kept him talking for 20 minutes before getting back to his camp and saying goodbye.

Another perfect ten campsite on the Drysdale River

That afternoon we drove down to where the huge Drysdale River crossed and then drove upstream along its sandy banks until we found a beautiful little private spot to camp for the night.  This was a magic spot with majestic melaleucas spreading their branches above us, the sound of the barely running river trickling by, dozens of different birds squawking, singing, kawing and crying all around us.  Julie cooked a beautiful damper in the camp oven under another star-studded sky, we loved the light of the fire reflecting off the trees above us and we unanimously rated this campsite a perfext ten.

Damper cooking in the camp oven while we enjoy the beautiful setting on the river banks

The next day we would be back on the Gibb and heading further west but this five day diversion north to see Kalumburu and the breathtaking Mitchell Falls had been a full journey in itself.  What could possibly be ahead of us that would beat it?