Day 43 - 01/06/16 Drysdale River Station to Ellenbrae Station 135km

Michael
Slow start to the morning as we had to wait for Tony and Jen to appear from Miner’s Pool to fill up with fuel circa 8:30am.  We woke at day break and beat the hordes to the showers….last night there were queues for them.   Time drags when you are waiting and most of the campground had cleared by 8:30am, which was a good thing as Michael did not have too many vehicles overtaking…..very hard on some of the narrower sections and with the amount of dust blocking out visibility.
We have a good run and and catch up with Tony and Jen at the main Gibb Road intersection for a quick break, then onto Ellenbrae and the promise of scones, jam & cream.  After another 75 klm of good dirt road we arrive and book in for the night.    One of the managers – Larissa greets us all in a very friendly manner, shaking your hand and wanting to know your name.
Before we go to set up,  it is time to order the scones and a drink, in their shady covered area.  It is adjacent to a massive Boab tree which fell over earlier this month.  The very large trunk section is still on the ground.  Their information sheet tells us that the property has been owned by members of the Grollo family The scones, jam & cream are enjoyable and upon completion we take our vans to the Ringer campground.   Being early we get the opportunity to pick good sites and the opportunity to put out our awning to dry from a morning or so ago.
The usual rest from the heat after lunch and then off to the swimming water hole to cool down.    The water hole is surrounded by large trees to provide shading, but is a stagnant body of water and quite dark in colour and not as warm as previous swimming places.
Back to the vans, where Tony is providing information to a fellow camper, when he notices the reinstalled shocker on our van is hanging in 2 pieces.  Michael changes into his dirty torn shorts (repaired with gaffa tape) and is under the van removing the broken parts.  We decide to bypass Home Valley Station and Parry’s Lagoon and head straight to Kununurra tomorrow to get telephone connection and see whether repairs can be undertaken there.  Tony’s satellite phone is out to attempt to contact the Kununurra caravan park to bring our booking forward, but he is having interference from the passing clouds and knock off time at the park.   Tony resorts to getting daughter Rhoda in Melbourne to take over and resolve the booking issue at the caravan park, which she does most efficiently,
Tea followed by sitting outside as it is cooler, until the mossies force us inside for our usual early night.   We hear a mixture of dingoes and cattle dogs howling during the night.