{"id":740,"date":"2016-05-10T05:39:41","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T05:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/?p=740"},"modified":"2016-05-10T05:39:41","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T05:39:41","slug":"a-guide-to-el-questro-the-jewel-of-the-kimberley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/a-guide-to-el-questro-the-jewel-of-the-kimberley\/","title":{"rendered":"A guide to El Questro: The jewel of The Kimberley"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you\u2019re driving along unsealed roads through one of the world\u2019s last great wildernesses, it pays to have a safe spot to call home. For us, and a lot of travellers in The Kimberley<\/a>, that place is El Questro. It\u2019s probably the region\u2019s most famous property, a lazy 700,000 acres (practically a hobby farm up this way) that covers some of Western Australia\u2019s most rugged and untamed parkland.<\/p>\n

The homestead resort at El Questro was built in the early 90s, but there\u2019s a range of accommodation options to suit every style and budget. You can live it up and eat chef-grilled barramundi at Emma Gorge, or throw a few snags on a fire in the Riverside campground. It all depends what you\u2019re looking for. Whether you\u2019re a solo traveller or on a Kimberley group tour<\/a>, it makes a great base of explorations.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything you need to know about Australia\u2019s best kept secret:<\/p>\n

Why go to the Kimberley?<\/h3>\n
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Image c\/o Teloro, Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

There aren\u2019t a lot of places left in the world that are considered truly remote and unchartered, but The Kimberley is one of them. It\u2019s a massive region tucked away in the far north of Western Australia: about 421,000 square kilometers of gorges, valleys, sandstone ridges, ancient Aboriginal sites and shady billabongs. A lot of travellers will head to the Red Centre for a taste of the \u2018real\u2019 Australia, but its arguable you\u2019ll get way more adventure for your buck in The Kimberley<\/a>. The Gibb River Rd (one of the area\u2019s major arteries) is an incredible drive, and there are epic highlights like the Bungle Bungles to explore. And the best place to stay in The Kimberley? El Questro.<\/p>\n

El Questro Accommodation<\/h3>\n
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Image c\/o Tripadvisor<\/p><\/div>\n

Our Kimberley group tours<\/a> use El Questro\u2019s campsite in the El Questro Wilderness Park. We pull up the van, and pitch tents among the gum trees. It’s not fancy, but it’s got everything you need for a good night’s sleep.\u00a0If you\u2019re passing through and you want something a bit more private, there are 30 private riverside camp sites named after their natural residents (Willy Wagtail, Sea Eagle or Bustard). They\u2019re a bit further along the beautiful Pentecost River, but still within easy reach of the property itself. If you really want to splash out , head to \u2018The Homestead\u2019 that sits above the stunning Chamberlain Gorge. This place isn\u2019t cheap (a night will set you back anywhere from $2000 upwards) but it\u2019s a pretty special place for a honeymoon.<\/p>\n

Activities<\/h3>\n
\"el-questro---honeymoons.com\"

Image c\/o honeymoons.com<\/p><\/div>\n

El Questro runs a bunch of tours through its property, but if you travel with us, you won\u2019t need an external guide (your Adventure Tours leader has all the contacts and know-how to plan your day). Here\u2019s a quick run-down of how a typical day might go: wake up at 8:00am to the warbling and screeching of Red Tailed Cockatoos and Little Corellas. Grab some breakfast at the campsite, then head out for an early morning Chamberlain Gorge Cruise. Ride horses through the bushland and tuck into some lunch, then go for a swim in a nearby billabong (croc-free, we promise). Before dinner, head up to Buddy\u2019s Point and watch the sun set, then return to camp for burgers and steaks cooked over a roaring campfire. Really, you need way more than a day to do El Questro justice. If you\u2019re planning a solo Kimberley adventure, try to allow at least a week on the property. Trust us, you\u2019ll find ways to fill it.<\/p>\n

Getting there<\/h3>\n
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Image c\/o Michael Theis, Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

Getting to El Questro isn’t as hard as it used to be. Most of the highways are sealed now (your car’s suspension thanks you) and it’s only a few hours from Kununurra. First, head west for about 110kms along the sealed highway, then \u00a0turn onto the Great Northern Highway towards Wyndham. Travel along that for about 58kms, then another 36km along the famous Gibb River Rd. After that it’s just 16km on a bumpy gravel driveway (pretty short, as driveways go in The Kimberley) up to the El Questro\u00a0Wilderness Park.<\/p>\n

Want to stay at El Questro? Check out our small group trips<\/a> running through The Kimberley.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you\u2019re driving along unsealed roads through one of the world\u2019s last great wildernesses, it pays to have a safe spot to call home. For us, and a lot of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[154],"tags":[183,198,186,187,179,182,38],"class_list":["post-740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","tag-bungle-bungles","tag-chamberlain-gorge","tag-el-questro","tag-gibb-river-rd","tag-kimberley","tag-the-kimberley","tag-western-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adventuretours.com.au\/australia-outback-yarns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}