One of the most talked about places to visit on the Gibb River Road was El Questro. As we were travelling from West to East along the road, we would find ourselves regularly comparing places to see with other campers heading in the opposite direction, El Questro certainly seemed to be at the top of everybody's list.
One thing they failed to inform us of however, was how ridiculously overpriced it was. Bearing in mind that the most we have ever paid to visit a National Park is $25 per day in Tasmania and too that El Questro is actually privately owned property, we were requested to fork out $72 for one nights' stay at their self proclaimed "Wilderness Park".
$18 per person for the "Wilderness Park" Pass plus $18 per person per night for an unpowered site. While I'll agree that the place is very nice to visit, it's one hell of a rip off thinking they can justify charging such ludicrously high prices. It makes me feel sick in the stomach, the thought of them using the excuse that it's to cover the costs of the upkeep of the roads and to preserve the areas natural beauty bla bla bla... when National Parks in general are better maintained at less than half the price.
But I guess, at the end of the day they can so ,they will while pocketing a rather hefty lump sum of cash for the sake of the land. Either way, purely out of protest we refused to stay there. Which wasn't really a protest in itself because shamefully, we got in line with all of the other sheep and reluctantly handed over $36 for the right to visit explore the land.
And damn it, we both loved Zebedee Springs. Damn them and their amazing thermal pool...
Damn their Saddleback Ridge that was marked as a 'difficult 4WD' that was fun to drive up and offered incredible views once you were up there. Damn it.
So yes, while I may be heavily contradicting myself, we did still have fun at El Questro. And we are really glad we went. But we did leave there with a dark cloud hanging over our heads, after all of the natural beauties we had discovered throughout Australia, El Costro managed to turn something so beautiful into one gigantic dollar sign.
After our morning visit, we journeyed back out to the Gibb River Road for our final stretch of corrugation. As we approached the bitumen on the horizon, we realised that our four day bbbbbumpy drive had come to an end. We were to return to the smoothness of the bitumen, our ears would no longer ring and our heads would no longer bang. We were to return to peaceful bliss... for now at least.
Rating : 11 / 20
Facilities : Really peaceful setting, great open spaces. Has a pool, camp kitchen, hot showers featuring an abundance of frogs, restaurant, campfires allowed. Nestled right next to a lagoon that you're strongly advised to steer clear of the banks thanks to the Saltwater Croc that invited himself in during the wet season.
Tommy found a cast net that had been left behind by a fisherman, it was ripped and was in need of much R&R. After spending over 10hours (and that's no exaggeration!) on the net, he now has himself a 'like-new' cast net for baitfish and prawns.. except I wouldn't allow him to test it out in the lagoon... one guess why.
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