Wednesday, Jun 18, 2008 at 22:52
We just camped at
El Questro... it was one of the highlights of our trip. It *is* privately run and owned by Voyages, so it's got nothing to do with the National Parks passes you can buy (
Geikie Gorge is another one that our 4 week national pass holiday pass didn't cover, and there is a fourth place not covered). It's a bit confusing as it's called a wilderness
park, but that's just Voyages' name for the place. It's not an official
park.
If you're thinking of skipping it because of the cost, you'd be mad - I reckon we'll have racked up a $6000 fuel bill for our trip, and sure it's $30 a night per couple (plus the entry fee), but most caravan parks we've stayed in while in WA are charging $26-32 a night for a powered site per couple (
El Questro is unpowered sites), so it's very comparable and the $30 entry fee pales into insignificance compared to the petrol it cost to get there. Not many caravan parks have highlights like
Zebedee Springs either.
We've run into a few people that bitched about the cost... and none of them have been there. We didn't meet a single person on this trip that stayed at
El Questro and didn't enjoy it. Green grassy sites, the hot springs, crocodile free swimming in the river, excellent restaurant (if you're so inclined), a bar (long way to Drysdale for a beer!), mini market, mechanical repairs, gorges with barra and crocs, tinny rentals for fishing with no licence required (unlike
Cape Leveque - no licence, no rental), gorges that are croc free for swimming, 4WDing from sandy tracks to razor shark rock crawling up steep hills, list goes on. One of the absolute highlights of our
Gibb River adventure. Would go back in a heartbeat.
El Questro was also the only place in WA I caught a barramundi, but the threadfin salmon at
Eighty Mile Beach are a better fighting fish :)
Just saw the post above as I was previewing....
the springs are available for "regular" guests between 5:30am and 12pm... after 12pm they are reserved for tour groups and the "discerning" guests paying upwards of $800 a night PER PERSON - so a bit of bloody privacy can be expected for that money! If you can't get your butts up out of bed and to
the springs and enjoy them for a good few hours before 12pm then you've picked the wrong sort of travel holiday :)
By the way, not once did we feel like we were being treated like inferior guests because we were
camping. Voyages know how to recruit good people in the
services industry.
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