Back to the ’20s

Kick up your heels and get ready to party at the original “palace in the wilderness”,

grazing land. Changes to the industry and the harsh environment mean that many cattle stations are diversifying into tourism, and El Questro Station leads the way.

At El Questro’s Emma Gorge Resort, safari tents nestle into vegetation along the river bed. Setting out early to avoid the heat, our El Questro guide explains geology, plants and animals as we walk. The end of the gorge is marked by a pristine swimming hole flanked by sheer cliffs supporting a natural vertical garden. The cooling water is pure bliss, and as I float on my back watching the bluest sky, tiny water droplets plummet over an almost-dry waterfall onto my face. In a corner of the pool, warm water flows out of the ancient rock wall and today, a toddler splashes in her natural spa.

Aside from landscapes, the Kimberley’s living icons are equally unique. Bulbous, gnarled boab trees take many forms, and some are estimated to be over a thousand years old. Near Derby we visit a mighty specimen of importance to the local indigenous people. In the late 1800s, it became known as the Prison Boab Tree, significant for a sobering reason. Aboriginal prisoners, slaves in chains, would make a stopover here before being marched on to Broome and forced to work, and often die, on pearling vessels.

The Kimberley’s first inhabitants were drawn here at least 50,000 years ago, and their culture is alive and evolving. At Galvans Gorge on a sheltered rock face, we view a Wandjina rock art painting, a creation being synonymous with the tribes of this region. Seeing the painting is a privilege, and at the Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Cultural Centre outside Derby, we get further insight into local artists.

Icons of the Kimberley come in human guise as well. At Home Valley Station, Aboriginal guide Alfie Wapau explains

Home Valley’s history and how it became an important training facility for Aboriginal youth seeking a tourism career.

“So that’s the history section, now to the party section!” Alfie says, as he loads coolers of drinks and snacks into his ute and leads our bus up Telstra Hill, known for having mobile reception, and we enjoy a sunset view of the Cockburn Range.

The Gibb River Road campsites are closing for the season, and on our last night at Bell Gorge Wilderness Lodge, staff and travellers discuss coming back to the Kimberley next year, as the vibrant stars disappear behind forming clouds. In the night, I hear distant thunder, and dream of visiting after

‘the wet’ in a replenished landscape with gushing waterfalls.

Maybe Graham was right to warn me. I consider something Alfie said back at Home Valley Station. “The Kimberley gets in your blood,” he told me. “They call it Kimberley calling.” And as raindrops splat on my canvas roof, I know I’ve been called.

“The Kimberley gets in your blood.”

B ack in the early 1900s, the Hydro Majestic Hotel, at Medlow Bath in the NSW Blue Mountains, was the place to be seen. By all accounts wealthy wild child owner Mark Foy loved a decadent Gatsby-esque party with lavish entertainment and great feasts, and guests converged on the hotel ready to indulge.

It seems fitting then that the heritage-listed Hydro hosts an annual naughty knees-up, the Roaring ’20s Festival. And 2020 is set to be the family-friendly event’s biggest year yet, as we re-enter the ’20s once more.

It’s always quite an experience to take in the fashions, vintage cars and music of the era against the backdrop of the historic hotel. The celebration will include the Charleston for Charity dance, a community event where an energetic troupe of swing dancers take punters dressed in their finest through their paces, learning the Charleston to perform as a group. Expect high kicks, swinging arms, some “bees knees” and requisite “woos” thrown in for good measure.

Relive the glamour and decadence from Saturday, February 8, with the Charleston for Charity, the Majestic Long Lunch in the hotel’s Ballroom and themed high tea at The Wintergarden restaurant. Or try your luck on February 29 at the Gatsby Casino Fundraising Night. For more information, visit hydromajestic.com.au. AWW