Downstream of Mertens Falls where a shady patch of rainforest cools the trail, rock art glimpsed by chance lures us unexpectedly off track. We wade and rockhop with backpacks and boots held overhead to come face to face with a long-extinct thylacine, etched in vibrant red and yellow ochre on hidden, overhung rock.
A vibrant battle scene colours the rock face too, and its intricate, 30,000-year-old details mesmerise us as we float in the perfect plunge pool at its base, gazing upwards in the most surreal of art galleries.
We’re on the trail to Mitchell Falls, a magical, four-tiered beauty which is quite literally the high point for all dusty road trippers who ride the rugged Gibb River Road to reach this remote bastion of wilderness in the Kimberley’s far northwest.
The experience, whether you fly or drive in from Broome, is as bucket-list as it comes, and days around Mitchell Falls are routinely spent bathing atop diamond-studded waterfalls in lofty spa pools, exploring outcrops etched with some of the finest rock art in Australia, and discovering rare Indigenous burial sites too.
There are luxurious wilderness retreats and a dozen idyllic Kimberley bush camps to enjoy en route, and when all paths
