Ellenbrae 14 June

As we had met our fellow Kavango owners, Bruce and Jan Foreman at El Questro and again at Home Valley, our journeys continued to coincide on the trip towards Derby. Shortly after leaving Home Valley we met up again at Bindoola Falls which was a short walk in from the road. Although the falls had ceased flowing there was still a substantial pool at the base. It was a strange green colour. There were substantial sized trees growing in the small gorge the falls flowed into.

The next stop was Ellenbrae Station, only a couple of hours along the road. I had heard from someone else about the fantastic scones with jam and cream at Ellenbrae, so it was wonderful to see the sign advertising them. A small amount of mental drooling kept us going. As we arrived at Ellenbrae we were greeted by lush green lawn with sprinklers going and a mature homestead garden to devour our scones. We decided to set up camp first at the Riggers Campground a kilometre or so down the road. The scones were enormous and delicious, so good that a photo slipped my mind completely.

The campground was quirky to say the least, although it did have good shade and plenty of space. A donkey hot water system heated the shower water. There was a flushing toilet, a shower and a bathtub all behind one door entitled Floodway. The camp kitchen had been constructed from beautiful slabs of stone, decorated with large oyster shells. The morning bathroom rush had to be carefully co-ordinated. 

The toilet at the homestead was even more quirky, with a shadecloth door and instructions for “flushing.”

The swimming hole, a short walk from the campsite was very welcome – a lovely place to cool off as it is still very hot. Before the swim we had a wood gathering expedition with Bruce finding a novel way to bring a large log back to the campsite – tied to the tow hitch and dragging along the road.

The wood burned very well and we shared a very pleasant evening with Bruce and Jan

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