Get lost with Russ and Margy: Eliot Falls, Twin Falls and Fruit Bat Falls on the OTT

We spent one night at Bramwell Tourist Park and enjoyed the happy hour (half price was $5 for a can of XXXX!!) and a very interesting talk about the Station. In addition to the tourism business, they also own Bramwell Roadhouse, the cattle station and also a road work business that services the road from well south of Bramwell to the tip. Clever people! We met Stephen and Margaret from Sydney here and enjoyed their company over happy hour and then for the excellent live entertainment by Geoffrey – singing and bush poetry.

We arrived at the OTT crossing before Eliot Falls and got our van parked in a fairly level area. We watched a few people do the deep crossing and others doing the steep but shallow crossing. We managed the steep but shallow crossing with our 2 wheel drive (bicycles) and cycled the 14km return trip to Eliot Falls and Twin Falls. It was a mix of severe corrugations, sandy areas and good surfaces and I’m not sure how it managed to be uphill in both directions. In any case, it was great exercise. We complained about the windy, showery weather but if it had been really hot, the ride would have been very uncomfortable. Eliot Falls and Twin Falls were spectacular and we thoroughly enjoyed climbing up the waterfalls and relaxing in the waterholes and getting fabulous massages under the waterfalls. We spotted the sundews and the pitcher plants that catch insects. Once we had seen one, we could see loads of them even though many had died in the heat. On our return to the crossing, we saw lots more people arrive – some crossed the river and some turned back. One guy arrived in a tiny open Suzuki (Suzi) with the pink bikini he had bought for Suzi (the top stretched over the front and the pants at the back). He was the most relaxed person you could imagine to be travelling all over Australia. As he predicted, he actually floated his car over the deep crossing. He drove it into the water, until it started to float, pushed it through the water, then started the motor once he got to the other side. He had a home made snorkel made out of a vacuum cleaner hose. He didn’t have a tent or bedding and his only food was a box of BBQ shapes. No idea how he made it all work!