A new walking tour at El Questro Homestead offers exclusive access to the hidden waterfalls and hot springs of Western Australia's Kimberley. Photo / Supplied
A new walking tour at the home of outback luxury offers exclusive access to the hidden waterfalls and hot springs of Western Australia’s Kimberley, writes Alexis Buxton-Collins.
Deep gorges slice through forbidding hillsides of two-billion-year-old rock, their sinuous squiggles and horseshoe bends linked by cascading falls that appear as streaks of white on the burnt orange cliffs. On the plateau above them, twin emerald pools resemble the eyes of some dormant deity staring into the cloudless blue sky.
On either side of me, a sprawling wilderness stretches out to the horizon – at one and a half times the size of New Zealand, the Kimberley region in northwestern Australia is so vast that it’s impossible to take everything in all at once. And when I see a sliver of manicured lawn it provides a sense of scale that only adds to the immensity. Behind it, on a sandstone escarpment overlooking the Chamberlain River, lies a homestead shaded by a cluster of frangipanis and stark white ghost gums.
The helicopter landing on the tennis court provides a rockstar entrance to El Questro Homestead, but instead of adoring crowds, a smiling staff member is on hand to greet me with a cooling lavender-scented cloth before showing me to my room, which is cantilevered so that the deck is perched directly above the river.
Since opening to tourism in 1991, this 303,000ha property has cemented itself as the home of outback luxury, and the brand new four-day Kimberley Walk allows me to experience this ancient landscape in style. Viewing the sprawling wilderness from a helicopter provides the perfect introduction to the region, but the daily walks allow the wonders of the Kimberley to unfold in a more visceral fashion at close quarters.
At Emma Gorge, a dusty 3.5km return trail follows a bubbling creek into a canyon where the air is hot and still, even in the early morning. As the walls of rock grow closer on either side, I spy a waterfall plunging so far down that it almost disperses into a mist by the time it hits the large pool below.
“Can you feel that?” asks our group leader, an eager young ranger by the name of Dan. “It’s like someone turned on the air conditioning.” A few steps later, I feel goosebumps form as a cool torrent of air washes over me to provide sweet relief from the tropical heat. The water is even more refreshing, and as I dive in I look up to see a hanging garden of ferns clinging to the rock wall, the lower ones waving gently in the cool breeze created by the waterfall.
Even more beautiful is El Questro’s onsite spa, which is accessed via a short walk through an open woodland of woollybutt and bloodwood trees. At Zebedee Springs, a warm spring emerges from a garden of fan palms to feed a series of gin-clear pools, each hovering between 28 and 32 degrees.
Though it’s open to the public in the morning, numbers are limited to protect the fragile environment, and in the afternoons it’s reserved for the exclusive use of homestead guests. With just half a dozen of us, it’s easy to find a private pool and I feel my muscles relaxing almost instantly as I sink into the soothing water.
Behind me, an escarpment rises steeply to create a giant amphitheatre. As the sun dips towards the horizon, the rock face captures and reflects the orange light back on us until the entire scene is suffused in a soft golden glow, an effect no doubt enhanced by the flutes of Champagne that Dan has thoughtfully brought along.
It’s no surprise to learn that this oasis was long considered a place of healing by the Ngarinyin people, who recently regained ownership of the land. And having private access to this magical spot feels like being given a backstage pass to one of the most beautiful regions in Australia.
So it’s fitting that each day of walking (and swimming) is followed by a captivating performance. Each evening we gather at the homestead or one of the hilltop sunset spots scattered around the property to watch the placid Chamberlain River transform into a sheet of burnished gold, its surface mirroring the incandescent sky above before fading to mark the transition from Champagne sundowners to pre-dinner cocktails.
As Venus and Orion join the party, I get to know my fellow guests seated on the terrace while the chef introduces five increasingly elaborate courses, each with a matched wine from the surprisingly voluminous cellar. The remoteness of the Kimberley means you could probably travel a thousand kilometres in any direction without encountering a petit chablis like the one served alongside our plump Exmouth prawns with charred radicchio, while the pan-fried duck breast with leek pie, cauliflower puree, charred onion and Pedro Ximenez jus is a showstopper. When dessert arrives, the zingy green ant tart with miso caramel icecream is matched by a late harvest chenin blanc sporting a hint of spiced poached pears that’s so beguiling I stay for a second glass.
But before the night skies overhead can start spinning, our party disperses to rest in preparation for another full day. At slender El Questro Gorge, we clamber over boulders and swim through pools to reach a flooded cave fed by a hidden waterfall, while Mitchell Falls is more outspoken, a thundering mass of foaming water that would no doubt attract millions of visitors each year if it was more conveniently located. And therein lies the beauty of the Kimberley: over four days, I frequently find myself awestruck by the superlative natural beauty, my sense of wonder enhanced by the fact that our small group is often completely alone.
As we get ready for the hour-long drive back to Kununurra on the final day, I’m still greedily taking in every detail. On either side of the road, Dan points out delicate rosella blooms that resemble pink crepe paper, grevilleas covered in spidery flowers that burst forth like cream-coloured chandeliers, and squat, bulbous boab trees that look as if they’ve been planted upside down with a tangle of roots protruding skyward.
Beyond them, colossal outcrops of sandstone tower 600m above a broad savannah of dry yellow grass. Ringed by forbidding red cliffs, they resemble the backdrop to a classic western and I can almost imagine John Wayne striding through this landscape. But I’m channelling another action hero as I look around this wild, untamed land and ponder how much more there is to explore. I haven’t even left yet, but I know that I’ll be back.
Checklist
The Kimberley
Getting there
Air New Zealand operates daily codeshare flights from Auckland to Kununurra via Perth. The four-Day Kimberley Walk at El Questro Homestead includes return transfers from Kununurra.
Details
Walk Into Luxury’s Kimberley Walk at El Questro Homestead is a four-day, three-night guided hiking holiday that operates between April and September. Daily walks vary in length, from a short stroll to Zebedee Springs to a challenging all-day walk in El Questro Gorge. The all-inclusive package begins at $9715pp.
Some domestic regional flights have been affected.