El Questro

Gerty Dancer · Guru

El Questro

pricey43 · Guru

Have to agree whole heartedly Gert. We drove out there 6 years ago. Emma Gorge was closed due to cyclone damage so no entry unless you were on a paid tour then you could go in. We managed an enjoyable soak in Zebbedee Springs until we had to leave for tour guests. We decided that we would not stay and camp given the cost for non power site. Definately not impressed.

milo · Guru

even going to alice and ularu seems to be expensive from whst im seing,
but these are once in a lifetime thing, so i guess you just put up with it..
still worth going tho..

bill12 · Guru

i thought El Questro should change its name to El ripoff. I was there a couple of years ago and can say it was over priced and over regulated. Everything was double the price of other places, and the other places were better. I will NOT be going back.

Cupie · Guru

It's a long time since we were last there ... but even then I was not impressed.

We arrived just after lunch but were informed that we were too late to walk to Emma Gorge & were refused entry.

So we sat in the reception for an hour or so, enjoyed the atmosphere, drank a few cups of their free coffee & left.

wendyv · Guru

In 2007, we paid $15 each entry fee, and $15 each a night to camp in one of the "private" riverside camp spots. I think the ownership has changed since then, but the prices seem similar. It does seem expensive, but the place does have a lot of infrastructure to maintain - all those tracks that must be repaired after the Wet, then regularly graded. The airstrip......The walking tracks maintained.......
Just about everywhere in the Kimberley charges fairly high prices - they have to get some return on their development, over a short tourist season. I note from the 2007 trip that we paid $20 a night to camp in the Bungles NP - no showers there. $30 a night at Charnley River and Mornington. $25 at Mt Barnett - cold showers there - and so on. So ElQ is comparable with the other places through there.
The riverside camp spots are, I think, much more enjoyable than the main camp ground. There was a composting toilet not far from the one we stayed at in 2007. We had to drive to the main camp for a shower, but that was a nice reason to be there for Happy Hour, too!
There are some really great walking tracks, like to Moonshine Gorge.
If we ever get back to the Kimberley, I would go back there again. But I also really like the riverbank camp area at Home Valley, which is not that far from ElQuestro.

Cruising Granny · Guru

El Questro roads are not better, and in some cases worse than many of the station roads I have driven on. Stations which don't depend on the 5 star tourist dollar. There's the celebrity set which El Questro caters to which gets the "treatment", and if anyone else wants to experience the station life and the region's features, they have to pay. I have camped there but I'd rather stay at Mornington where the showers were hot, the dunnies did flush, and we had exclusive use of the Fitzroy River at Diamond Gorge at no extra cost. We also had free access to the compressor to fix a couple of punctured tyres. Mornington also has a licensed bar, although there is a new management system and no cattle these days.
There are better, less complicated places to stay in the Kimberleys without the glitz and glam price tag of El Questro.