21st – 24th June 2017
The Gibb River Road
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| Start of the Gibb river road |
We were up early on the 21st so
we get could get packed up and down to the Toyota dealer in Broome by 7.30 am
for an oil change and quick check of the car before we hit the infamous Gibb
River Road. We said goodbye to Jos & Tony as they headed back home via the
black top – We planned to catch up with them again in Alice Springs. By 10.30 am we were all done, and although
they found a couple of minor issues, I decided they could last till we got
home, and after fueling up we headed east towards Derby – straight and
boring !
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| Windjanna Gorge |
We refueled again in Derby so that we hit
the dirt of the Gibb River Road with full tanks, and headed towards Windjanna Gorge. We reached the campsite just before sunset,
and after setting up in the “Generators Area”
(ironically quieter and less crowded than the supposedly quieter “No
generators area” ) we went for a short walk into the gorge in the setting sun. Saw a few crocs beside the river, and then headed
back for some yummy soup and bed.
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| Crocs in the river |
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| Blue winged Kookaburra |
Next morning I got up at 6.15 and headed
into the gorge, while Janet decided to rest her knee. I walked for some 45 minutes up into the
gorge before turning back. Lots of morning bird songs, and spent some time watching
a beautiful blue winged kookaburra, a member of the kingfisher family. And LOTS
of crocs basking in the morning sun ! I
think I was one of the first to go up the gorge this morning as there seemed to
be a lot of roo and snake tracks in the sand, so I kept a close eye out for
live ones while I headed back for breakfast.
Some more photos here :- https://goo.gl/photos/MZYBe7rUG2XQqjV37
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| 50 cc postie bike tour ! |
Back on the road, we headed on SE towards
Tunnel Gorge, and on the way we were passed by 20 or 30 guys on 50cc Honda
Postman’s bikes ! These ultra reliable
little motor bikes enjoy a bit of a cult following, and this was obviously an
organized tour for people renting them.
Some were totally at ease and waved at us as we passed, while others
were hanging on for grim death as they rode on the sandy and rocky road !
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| Helicopter mustering |
Then we saw more and more cattle, and came
round a corner and there were some being herded across the road by a mustering
helicopter, aided by a couple of cowboys on horseback. The cattle get so spread out up here that
when it comes time for branding or selling them, they need to use helicopters
in order to cover the vast distances involved.
One hears about this, but rarely sees it, so it was great to see it
right in front of us.
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| Brolgas on the road |
Shortly after that we passed some brolgas,
a local type of heron, as they strolled along the road, before taking flight as
we got closer.
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| In Tunnel Gorge |
We parked up and went into Tunnel Gorge,
but it was so dark in there that the small torches we had brought were useless,
so I had to traipse back for better ones.
Once we had them, we could see a bit better, but it really was a bit of
a difficult walk, over rocks and through deep water – I fell against the walls
at one stage and gashed my hand, and although Janet went a little further into
the water, it wasn’t very enjoyable, so eventually we turned back and headed to
the car. Back on the road, we went back
past Windjanna Gorge and then back to the Gibb River Road proper and turned
east.
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| King Leopold Ranges |
We drove through the hilly King Leopold
Ranges which were quite impressive, and then stopped for a sandwhich and a
coffee at Imintji before stopping at Galvin’s Gorge for a quick look. This is a short walk up through the forest to
a beautiful clear waterhole where several families were having a lovely time
jumping off the rocks, swinging out on ropes, and swimming under the
waterfall. A very peaceful spot,
especially on a hot day.
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| One of the many river crossings on our route |
There were some really beautiful river
crossings as we headed up the very dusty and corrugated Gibb River Road. As about 3 pm we were going to stop at the
Manning River to overnight, but as it was still a bit early, we decided to keep
going a little further – Which turned out to be a big mistake because there
wasn’t anywhere else, and we ended up stopping at sunset in an isolated “No
Camping” area – Too pooped to continue.
Should have stopped at Manning River as apparently it is really nice
!! Whoops.
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| Dead cattle and eagles on the road |
The next morning, the 23rd June,
we awoke early and while breakfasting we learned from a local, Clive, that the
Gibb River Station just back down the road DID have camping, but they do not
advertise it as it is not properly set up yet.
Another whoops ! Another guy,
Chris, had overnighted in the parking area, and he had major problems as he had
split his fuel tank ! He had tried to
fix it unsuccessfully, so when Clive came, he took him back to the station and
they were going to see if they could do something to help him. We also saw a truck with a caravan on it with
a broken axle – Lot of damage happening to cars and vans up here
due to the
terrible corrugations.
Some more pics of this section here :- https://goo.gl/photos/UELqju8kd2AVa7dd6
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| Corrugations ! |
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| And beautiful creek crossings |
The plus side was that there were several
absolutely stunning creek crossings along the road that really showed the
beauty of the Australian bush. What this
area must be like in the wet season can only be imagined.
We finally made it back to our previous
overnight stop, and turned back east on the Gibb River Road, where we saw
several other travellers licking their (mechanical) wounds after making the
trip north !
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| Double barred finches |
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| Ellenbrae |
The GRR was little better for a while, and
after some 70 kms of teeth clenching driving we turned into Ellenbrae Station
at about 11 am to test their renowned scones, cream and jam. 5 kms off the road, Ellenbrae is delightful,
a peaceful oasis off the dry dusty road, and we enjoyed a very pleasant hour’s
rest sampling their scones (yes, they are excellent !) and resting our shaken
bones. Lots of little Double Barred
finches were feeding beside us, entertaining us with their antics.
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| More dirt and corrugations |
Then it was back on the road east, and for
a while it was like a freeway as they had a grader out working the road ! Unfortunately our joy was shortlived, and we
were soon back to pretty miserable corrugations, albeit no where near as bad as
the Drysdale Road. There were infrequent
and all-too-short sections on hills where the road is tarmacced, which were
bliss ! We stopped at a couple of
lookouts for photos over the seemingly endless views, and eventually, at about
3 pm, reached Home Valley, where we turned in to yet another massive cattle
Tonight we are camping on the banks of the
wide Pentecost River, an area apparently frequented by salt water crocs (as
compared to the less dangerous fresh water variety), so we are camped well back
from the banks of the river ! A great hot
shower are 3 days on the dusty roads, a delicious steak for supper cooked on
our grill, and we turned in looking forward to getting off the dirt road later
tomorrow, if only for a couple of 100 kms.
Even my number plate nearly fell off today, with one of the screws
vibrating loose so the plate was hanging off the back ! Fixed with zip ties !!
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| Pentecost River sunset |
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| Going in to El Questro |
In the morning of the 24th, had
another shower to wash more red dirt off, checked out the river for crocs, and
then headed out along the GRR again – Sometimes smooth, sometimes terrible, but
not as bad as it had been. We arrived at
the El Questro turn off at about 10.30 am and turned in for the 20 km or so
drive in. Couldn’t work out why there
were so many caravans going at 2 kmh, and then realized they had come from the
west, on black top road, and this were their first piece of (bad) dirt road, so
they were all freaking out ! And the
river crossing had them all hanging around to check them out first, while a
gang of us big 4WD’s who had come from the east thought this was the smoothest
bit of road and shallowest river crossing we had seen for 3 or 4 days, so were
ploughing along at 80 kmh !!
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| Kimberley colours - painting by Coralee |
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| Coralee Boabs |
Arriving at El Questro it is TOURIST
CENTRAL – Helicopters, coaches, restaurants, and lots of tourists queuing up to
book tours etc. All very nice, but just
a bit of a surprise and contrast after the past few days ! We had a coffee, and wandered around – it is
all really well set up, and would be a lovely spot to stay for a few days and
explore some of the local gorges on foot – But very expensive. We ended up finding artist in residence
Coralee, and fell in love with her artwork of boabs, Kimberley colours, and her
friendliness. After a few visits and discussions, we decided on a painting for
my imminent 70th birthday, although we had Coralee make a couple of
changes to it – A commission painting, you might say ! She will courier it to our home once it is
finished.
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| Leaving El Questro |
After wandering around, and checking out
the campsite, we left El Questro – Truly a lovely spot that would be worth returning
to one day. Back out, through the creek
crossings, to the main road, and find that it is all tarmac again now – No wonder
the people coming in from the west were so surprised by the dirt and deep river
crossings ! We made a detour into
Wyndham and went up to
the Lookout – A delightful spot with incredible 360 deg
views, so we had our lunch up there. We
then had a quick wander round Old Wyndham, which has an Afghan / Camel heritage
as this was where the Afghans first arrived in the 1800’s – A lot of history up
here.
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| Wyndham lookout |
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| Doon Doon camp site |
From Wyndham it was on down the road
towards Halls Creek, and we reached the Doon Doon Roadhouse at about 3.30 pm. A very pleasant surprise – nice campsite,
friendly host, met Tony and Barbara from New Zealand, and had a very pleasant
evening. Glad to see the back of the Gibb River Road !
More pics of this section here :- https://goo.gl/photos/qdGmSonbGCBzqXf68
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