Adventure Playground

El Questro is an adventure playground for grown-ups. Just let the pressure down in your tyres, take a deep breath, and enjoy romping on a million acres sprinkled with 4WD tracks of all levels!!

A boggy mess!!!!

Okay, so some tracks are best left alone. A quick jaunt down a steep riverbank, in along the river bed, over logs and rocks and goodness-knows-what, over mud and a big big bog, and we soon learned that the track is made from cattle hooves, not 4WD vehicles after all.

The Patrol is utterly brilliant of course.... but even some tracks are best left alone.....

Back tyres are spinning



We try to dig ourselves out with rocks (we accidentally left the shovel back at camp)


We make some distance after 30 minutes digging....


....and in the end, we winch ourselves out, up over the steep riverbank, and safely home!



Saddleback Ridge is easier....

Saddleback Ridge

Extremely steep and narrow, this track takes you up the side of a mountain and across its ridge. You are rewarded with 360 views when you reach the summit. Truly beautiful.

Great plumes of fine pink dust follow your rig so be sure to close all car windows when passing other vehicles.

Near-vertical views from the track.


You have to raise out of your seat to see the road in front of you, it's just that steep.

The view of the road below from the car.

Riding the River

Still at El Questro.....

Today we hire a boat, complete with tiny electric motor, for $110.

A cheese platter with a couple of beers is the perfect lunch.


Beautiful red cliffs.

This snake was attacked by a hawk - a spectacular sight to witness. The hawk eventually gave up, but not before dropping its catch on the side of this cliff face.

A few moments later we also spot our first crocodile - a baby freshwater crock, all of 50cm or so....

Some tourists decide on the group tour, complete with ranger talking loudly through a microphone. No thanks....

First barramundi catch of the day. A little mince meat with some flour added seemed to do the trick nicely.

My first ever barramundi!!!!

Barramundi #2, just a baby. When I asked Jase to take this photo, his repsonse was, "whah?? You want a photo of THAT little thing???"

Barra #3 - even smaller! Jase pulled an even sillier face when I asked him to photograph the event!!

Okay, maybe I need to change to larger hooks......

And be assured no barramundi were harmed in the making of this website.... all set free immediately after the camera came out.

Springs & Gorges

ZEBEDEE SPRINGS

The springs flow with warm water... a balmy 32 degrees.

EMMA GORGE

Eel-tailed catfish swim in the shade of surrounding rocks

Algae gives the water a milky appearance.

The water is so still, reflections are like oil paintings.

A passing hiker, a nice old fella, offers to take our photo together.

Water drips from a 65m chasm in the gorge.

This waterfall is spectacular - noisy and cold!

Today my ankles and knees are reminding me i’m not 20 any more, although it is encouraging to see people in their 70s take the difficult hike to Emma Gorge. The water, however, is hypothermic, and your body tells you with some alarm that you’d want to be sure before proceeding. You are rewarded, however, with a thermal spring hidden behind some rocks, which eases your ails.

El Questro!

Welcome to El Questro Wilderness Park.

1,000,000 acres of bliss..... you can camp or stay in their many types of accommodation (including an exclusive room costing $2,500 per night!).

There is a main camping ground, close to the township or you might be lucky enough to secure one of the 25 "private" camping sites.

We managed to score site number 15, with neighbours well out of sight (100m on one side and 400m on the other).

A few metres from our caravan is this stunning river, which also has shallow still pools in some spots. 5 nights of heaven..... we didn't want to leave!!!!!

Sulphur-crested and black cockatoos fly to the river’s edge to socialise and drink water.

We have enjoyed the sun setting at 6.30pm but since crossing the border (and despite being only a few km’s from the old time zone), the usn sets (and rises, mind you) at 5 o’clock. We decide this is ‘just silly’ and keep our clocks on the old time. Who wants to have dinner at 5 o’clock?

‘The dry’ is truly dry, and there is no humidity in the air.

Morning mist rises from the river as soon as it is sunkissed.‘Pandanus spiralis’ lines the shores; great swordlike leaves point in all directions in search of sun.


Chops for dinner, a guitar, and a can of insect repellent. What more do you need? (The wine is hiding out of view....)




The evening fire is a breeze to light – a few strands of grass and a piece of paperbark will do the trcik nicely; but morning carries with it a heavy dew and so it can be laborious to build enough flame to cook the morning’s bacon & egg sandwich.




Curiously, this morning’s campfire smells of camphor; a fresh, rich, lingering smell that is pleasant and unlike the usual sooty scents of a fire.

Friar birds greet the morning enthusiastically, with tone deaf honks and screeches. These birds appear vulturous – hooked lumpy beaks and skinned heads.

Jase catches a beautiful barramundi on his second cast, right outside our campsite.

There are lots of river crossings to enjoy (or endure) at El Questro.

The Patrol was born for this!

The 4WD tracks vary in difficulty. This one was relatively easy, allowing both driver and passenger to admire the everchanging views during the journey.

Lots of grevillea and acacia in this piece of Australia

The view from one of the many 4WD tracks in El Questro. You almost get a bird's eye view of the surrounding landscape.

These footprints at our campsite look ominously like crocodile prints....

although they are only a few centimetres wide....