Mitchell Falls

Finally, the Gibb River Road was finished. The last 120km were already quite boring, as they were paved. The Gibb ends at a place called Derby, but we had heard rather bad things about it along the way, so we decided to go another 200km further to Broome. From here, we then started our last trip into the Kimberleys - a flight to the Mitchell Falls.

You could also have reached these falls by car, but the conditions would have been challenging for a 4WD, it would have taken several days, and there would have been no accommodations along the way. Additionally, there would have been issues with permits from local Aboriginal tribes... a day trip sounded very tempting.

We were picked up at our hotel at 5:15 am by Company A (our contractual partner), and by 6 am, our bush plane took off - already before sunrise. We then headed straight northwest for 2 hours, landing on a bumpy runway that was worse than the Gibb River Road. Here, we were handed over from Company A to Company B, which rattled us around for half an hour in a Jeep, then served us morning tea, and handed us over to Company C. Company C took us on a 5-10 minute helicopter ride (without doors) up and down in front of the waterfalls and finally dropped us off at the landing site. Now, Company B took over again - we first walked to 4-5 viewpoints with good views of the falls and then made our way back to the Jeep on foot. After another half hour of Jeep rattling, we were back at the bush plane way too early... Monica (the pilot from Company A and also the daughter of a Samoan mother and a German father) was not yet expecting us. But she quickly got the plane ready, and we then flew back to Broome on a sightseeing route, seeing many islands, beautiful sea colors, horizontal waterfalls, pearl farms, some cliffs, and humpback whales in the sea. At 4:30 pm, we were finally back in Broome.

It quickly became clear that Company B had completely messed up its task. We had been traveling with a couple from Luxembourg, and they had complained a lot. We joined in and were rewarded with a substantial refund... for us, the disappointment over the imperfect day balances out with the joy of many additional cocktails.

********************************************************************

On day 7, the Gibb River Road was finally done. The last 80 miles were already a bit boring (because sealed). The Gibb ends at a town called Derby, but Derby doesn't seem to be a nice town, so we headed 130 miles further to Broome. From there we started our last excursion into the Kimberleys - a flight to the Mitchell Falls.

It would have been possible to reach this point by car as well, however, it would have taken multiple days, with no accommodation on the trip, and with the need to get several permissions from the indigenous people living there... a day trip with no such hassle did feel very good for us.

We were picked up by company A at our hotel in the morning at 5:15, at 6 am - before sunrise - we were already in the air with a little bush plane. We headed straight on for 2 hours to reach the Mitchell Plateau in time, and landed there on an airstrip which was in worse condition than the Gibb road. Here, we were handed over to company B which drove us along for half an hour of a very bumpy ride. Then, we had morning tea, and were given in the hands of company C. These guys gave us a 5-10 minute helicopter ride (with no doors) in front of the waterfalls and landed us close to the falls. Now, company B took over again. They brought us to a number of viewpoints for the falls, and afterwards, we started to walk back to the jeep. We got another half hour bumpy ride back to the airstrip and had there been left alone much too early - our pilot (Monica - with a German father and a mother from Samoa) was not yet prepared to start the return flight. But - once she appeared, she made the best out of it, quickly prepared the plane and brought us then on a flightseeing route, showing us lots of islands, wonderful colours of the sea, horizontal waterfalls, pearl farms, cliff coastlines, and some humpback whales in the sea. At 4:30 pm were finally back in Broome.

We quickly recognized that company B did mess up its job pretty completely. We had been on this trip with a couple from Luxembourg, and those did complain pretty heavily. Well, we joined this and went out of the day with some significant refund... for us, it balances the day.