Package Holidays in Western Australia

Gibb River Road Kimberley Western Australia

Mornington Gibb River Road Western Australia Australia

Lying 100 kms away from the Gibb River Road along a turn off that is 247 km from Derby and 400 km from Kununurra, Mornington Wilderness Camp takes up sections of the rugged King Leopold Ranges in the heart of the Central Kimberley bioregion.

Old Mornington Station - Aboriginal History

The area of Mornington Wilderness Park is part of the country of the aboriginal Banuba people who named the mighty Kimberley river cutting through their lands Bandrarl Ngadu. That is the name of the prolific paper bark trees of the area, the Melaleuca argentea.

Old Mornington Station - History

When white man came to the Kimberley, Bandrarl Ngadu became called the Fitzroy River. In the late 20th century, Old Mornington Station became a three quarter million acre working Kimberley Cattle Station and mecca for the serious adventurer. Old Mornington was owned and managed by archetypical bushie, Michael Curr. Mike was an experienced pilot and was thoroughly intimate with the sheer diversity; sustained and majestic beauty of his domain which is dominated by the Fitzroy River and King Leopold Ranges and he enthralled visitors to the station with his knowledge and his yarns.

Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary

In the 1950s and again in the 1990's it was mooted that the Fitzroy River should be dammed at Dimond Gorge to created a reservoir for water to be piped to Perth. However, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy AWC purchased Mornington in 2001; removed cattle from large parts of the property to allow regeneration of native vegetation and to create a wilderness sanctuary. Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary is home to nearly 100 reptiles and amphibians and 35 mammal species and to 200 birds; including rare and endangered species such as the Red Goshawk, Purplecrowned Fairy-wren Eucalyptusmooreana and one of the last remaining large populations of Gouldian Finches. Gouldian Finches once covered the northern top end of Australia in flocks of thousands now Gouldians are in tiny flocks in numbers of tens or mere hundreds.

Mornington Wilderness Sanctuary Activities

The mighty Fitzroy River cuts through the tropical savannah of Mornington, creating spectacular gorges, such as Sir John Gorge and Dimond Gorge. Popular activities include canoeing at Dimond Gorge and swimming and exploring Sir John Gorge. Mornington is a naturalists paradise; the visitor programme at Mornington offers interpretive walking trails, guided tours, slideshows and a resource centre helping to raise awareness of the plight of northern Australia's biodiversity.