Day 46 El Questro

Today we started out early heading down the start of the Gibb Road on the way to El Questro. We stopped along the road for magnificent views of the Cockburn Ranges.



We then turned off onto the El Questro dirt road, we stopped and deflated the tyres etc and we were on our way. We came to some water and we thought this was the first of the river crossings, went though and thought that wasn't so bad and on we went. Later to discover that this was only a creek crossing. Must admit that I was a little too occupied with the crossing of the rivers that were 50 - 60cm deep and 50 metres wide to take photos will do a better job when we return in a couple of days for the cruise.



We made our way to Zebedee Springs as we knew that the public only had access to the springs until 12 noon. They were just lovely an oasis of Livistona Palms which flank the walk along the stream. So it was easy to relax in the warm water in the shade. They were very popular and only small in size.







We drove to the Station and had our picnic lunch and then the Jetty as we are going on a cruise here in a few days and wanted to know timeframes etc. After lunch Kevin mentioned that he saw a sign to Saddleback Ridge Lookout and thought that would be good to investigate. So off we went, the sign says it is an experience in itself to drive it. My door handle I am sure now has slots of your fingers from where I was gripping it. Steep sections the sign said, I say all 5.3km were steep. The 4WD track or walking trail to reach the top climbs a steep 146 meters (480 feet) in elevation gain from the base. While it isn't the highest point in the park (Branko's Lookout holds that title), it is widely considered one of the best spots because it is perched right on a razor-sharp ridge line, giving you a spectacular, uninterrupted 360-degree view of the Pentecost River, the township, and the surrounding red sandstone escarpments.











After my feet were back on the ground we headed to Amelia Gorge which is made up of ancient “Warton Sandstone” and “Elgee Siltsone” estimated to be up to 1800 million years old. As we had spent some time achieving the heights of the Saddleback Ridge drive, and this walk was graded 4 and 3.4km in distance and the last part of the walk requiring you to pull yourself up on chains we walked halfway until we crossed the creekbed and then we decided to return as we still had to drive out of the park and inflate the tyres etc and the sun sets here at about 5pm so play time is limited.












There has been a crescent moon the last couple of nights here however it is different to home with the crescent forming at the bottom instead of the side that we are use to seeing. I have used a picture from facebook by Dan Butler to show what we can see as my camera isn't able to capture it.