Mornington Wilderness Camp

Thanks for the reply. You're right, in that really, what's $180 when we're funding a 7 month trip lol

Found a typical photo of the track into Mornington. Image Could Not Be Found

Brilliant, thanks Derek. Much appreciated!

Hi,
Obviously it is all in the eyes of the beholder, My wife and I were there 12 years ago when it was $16.50 a night and no entry fee and thought the facilities were very basic and the 2 Gorges were nice but ! on a score of 10 would give it a 5 nothing compared to Mitchell, Windjina, Manning and Bells Gorges and $60 a night is just ridiculous, just my humble opinion.
Colin

We chose Charnley as the one and only station stay, and gave Mornington a miss due to the distance. Spending over three weeks along the GRR (including going to Mitchell Plateau and Kalumburu), we saw many lovely gorges and had to draw the line somewhere.

Motherhen

Have been to both Mornington and Charnley and think Mornington is better, despite the distance.
Think I read somewhere that the lease on Charnely has changed hands and part of the property is to be run by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Don't know if that means Charnley will close for campers, or not.

I did not intend to make any comparison between Charnley and Mornington.

We chose to skip Mornington because of distance, and the amount of wonderful gorges we were seeing closer to the GRR.

We chose to visit Charnley for quite different reasons, as well as the fact that other people had enjoyed visiting the two gorges open to the public. There are many more not open to the public on Charnley, so if change of ownership means more will be open, it will be a good thing.

Motherhen

The reason for raising Charnley wasn't about one being better than the other rather just another/alternative place to stay. Depending upon what time of the year you travel etc some of the other GRR 'highlights' may be well and truly full of people and alternative options may be required.

Mornington is in the process of extending wildlife boundaries to eliminate cattle, donkeys etc from the reserve immediately surrounding the camping area.

These costs are quite prohibitive + costs for staff etc on what is basically a disused cattle station must be a expense to the Australian Wilderness Conservancy. These combined with expansion plans in other wilderness parts of Oz means funds are required.

PS Waterhole pictured is Cadjebut Pool

You wont be sorry!
Have been there 3 times now in the last 10 years, the last two times to show friends, and loved it each time, the last being in August last year. Not the cheapest, but one great experience. Definitely paddle Dimond Gorge; stunning. The 2-person canoes cost about $80 for the day, but on two occasions, we took our 12' inflatable craft. But it's a bit of a pain carrying it the 200m across rocks to get to the river, whereas their canoes are right at the river.
The lic. restaurant serves good fare, and even if you're carrying your own food, one night out there is a nice experience. Some nights, the meal is followed up with a talk from a resident academic/staffer on the local wildlife and what they're doing to the place.
Worth a trip in on the way out there is Moll Gorge if you've got a couple of days. This is part of Mt House Station and is a stunning gorge on the Hann River, with camping on the river' edge, under shade, with magnificent views across the gorge. It must be booked with Mt House, it's not that cheap, no facilities, but you get the campsite to yourself; no others allowed in. Good fishing, friendly freshies :-). And we took our inflatable about 5km upstream.
Some mentioned Charnely River station - if you're got time, that too is great, with a visit 30km to the north to Grevillea Gorge a must. They too offer both in-house accommodation and camping with facilities.

cheers,
Gerry

Mal/Di,

You were lucky when I was there in 2008 I went looking but didn't see any.
Best I did was a flock of Crimson Finches.