Mitchell Plateau

thankyou for the information its just i got a book that said i need to ring for permission anyway hope it looks just as good in real life

Yes the chopper ride is great. I only did the upper and lower falls, but the perspective from the air really gives you a sense of how rough the country is. The road to Port Warrender is worth the drive. Last 8ks will take an hour. The fishing is brilliant, the sand flies are killers, so I wouldn't recommend camping there.

We are planning our Mitchell Plateau trip in 2006 also. Just wondering why the Port Warrender trip is worth the drive - the scenery, the fishing at the end, or both? We don't have a tinny, will this be a problem for fishing?

Also is Crystal Creek worth a visit? Not for camping but maybe fishing and birdwatchifng?

What are the camp sites like at Mitchell Falls - any shade? I believe there's nice camping at King Edward River. Is it worth using as a base for Mitchell Falls, or is it too far? We're just thinking of minimising breaking and setting up camps.

Thanks for any advice
June

The drive is worth it just for the view. We also enjoyed it becasue increasingly, the once notorious Australian tracks are becoming gravel superhighways. At least there is a bit of off-road fun driving the last 8 k to Port Warrender.

Fising without a tinny will not be a problem.

Plenty of shady spots everywhere. You could use King Edward river as a base it isn;t that far, at least you avoid the noise of the helos, but the camping at the falls is pretty good as well. The helos didn't really bother us.

Dave O

Many thanks Dave O. That's wonderful info and helps us with a lot of our decision making.
June

I towed a 5m boat to Kalumburu and the Plateau this year. Local knowledge is critical, as is getting there at the right tides. I did most of the fishing out of Kalumburu, and with assistance from a couple from WA who had been 3 times before got onto the fish straight away and had a brilliant time. You need to be set up to travel up to 50 km a day, have excellent GPS and sounder ( and know how to use them!) and have gear to get you out of trouble eg sat phone as you don't see people for several days, at least early in the season. Some guys we met went to Port Warrender afterwards and tried to fish spring tides, but we did a lot better at Kulumburu due to the smaller tides eg 3m compared with 7-9m. Our experience is that neap tides are the go as the fish stop biting once springs come. The bait fish seem to also disappear. You need to be able to throw a cast net to get live bait each day. We were advised not to go to Port Warrender as we may not get a 13m long rig around the bends and down the hill, and launching a bigger boat would be extremely difficult off the rocky beach. Send me an email to pd@dewing.com.au and I will ring you and give you more info.
Phil