In 2007, we towed our previous van across the Gary Junction Road from Alice Springs to Marble Bar. We then camped on the cliffs at Barn Hill Station before continuing north to Broome. From there, we ventured as far as Bell Gorge on the Gibb River Road before running short of time. We then returned home via the Tanami Road and Plenty Highway.
Now, it was time to complete the remainder of the Gibb River Road (GRR) and to explore parts of the Mitchell Plateau. The GRR was initially built to transport cattle from the surrounding stations to the Derby abattoirs in the late 1960s and was gradually extended through to Wyndham. Road conditions vary depending on when the road was last graded and the amount of traffic that has been over it since then. The entire road and most of the gorges are on private property, so camping is only permitted at official campgrounds.
Leaving Derby, just 5 km south of town, we turned east onto the GRR, and for the next 100 km, we travelled along a single bitumen road. For some unknown reason, we then encountered a 10 km stretch of dirt road before returning to the bitumen. The start of the dirt track was 24 km before we turned south onto the Leopold Downs Road.
The most direct route from Derby along the Gibb River Road to the Great Northern Highway near Kununurra is 647 km. Our plan was to extend this to 1347 km by taking side trips off the GRR.
Information we received at the Broome Visitor Centre, what we read on Wikicamps, and advice from fellow Bushtracker owners Wendy and Peter indicated that the road into Windjana Gorge was badly corrugated. The road into Bell Gorge was described as atrocious.
But to our surprise, as we turned off the Gibb onto the road into Windjana Gorge, we came across a bulldozer grading the road. We sat comfortably at 60 km/h for the 20 km trip into the gorge.
Elapsed time: 03:07; Time moving: 02:39; Average speed: 56.3 km/h; Max speed: 84.4 km/h.
After coffee and before breakfast, we walked into the gorge and took some photos just after sunrise, before the crowds arrived. The 3.5 km gorge has been carved through limestone of the Napier Range, and in some places, the gorge walls rise 100 metres above the Lennard River. The low rainfall over the past four wet seasons is reflected in the small pools remaining in the river.
We were surprised by how few people were camped in the generator campground. In future, we will check out the generator area before deciding where to camp.
After just 9 km, we stopped and turned around. Our van tyres were down to 22 psi, and the four-wheel drive tyres to 28 psi, but the corrugations were relentless, and there was no relief to be found. We would have continued under these conditions by lowering our tyre pressures further if we hadn't already visited Bell Gorge.
We paused at the now-closed Imintji Roadhouse for a coffee before deciding where to go next. We spoke with two groups of people heading back to Derby. They had just spent two days camping at Charnley River Station, so we decided to head that way. Twenty-nine kilometres later, we turned off the Gibb River Road and drove 43 km north to the station homestead.
The station is now part of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, as is Mornington Wilderness Camp. The property is a 300,000-hectare sanctuary. There are many self-driving roads on the estate, and on our second day here, we explored just over 106 km of these, travelling around to observe the numerous gorges and waterholes.
Camping costs $40 per couple, with areas available for both generator and non-generator setups. Drinking water is accessible, along with hot showers and flushing toilets; however, fires are not permitted. Once again, the poor wet season and our later travel into the dry season have resulted in many waterholes drying up, except for Dillie Gorge.
We decided to bypass Galvans Gorge and visit it later without the Bushtracker in tow.
Distance covered: 98.1 km/h
Elapsed time: 02:46, Time moving: 02:19, Average speed: 42.3 km/h, Max speed: 71.6 km/h
The campsite itself has some boab trees scattered around, but the entire site is really just a dust bowl, with most people driving too quickly and kicking up dust everywhere.
Unfortunately, the facilities are well past their use-by date. The showers and toilets are housed in demountables, with only three showers and toilets for women, and the same for men. The site is quite large, and on our first night, over two hundred people camped here. The best part about camping here is being just 100 metres from an excellent waterhole, where we spent a reasonable amount of time each day.
After two days, we navigated the rough track back to the roadhouse before heading further east on the GRR.
From here, we travelled through flat grasslands with eucalyptus forests all the way to the Hann River crossing.
The road surface for the first 40 km consisted of quite bad stretches with corrugations, mixed with stony sections. We crossed the numerous floodways at walking pace because the surface of each was down to bare rock and could be best described as extremely rough.
Elapsed time 04:31, Moving time 03:30, Average speed 50.0 km/h, Maximum speed 68.7 km/h
Our tyre pressures on the van have been checked each morning, and we have driven the entire journey so far with just 22 psi cold in the tyres. The 4wd cold tyre pressures have been 28 psi all round, and of course, speed has been reduced to account for the lower pressures.
A check of the van after this morning’s run revealed that the drinking water pump had come loose from its mountings, and we suspected that the mountings were broken. On closer inspection, we realised that the mountings weren’t broken. The mountings slide in and out of brackets attached to the pump, so all I had to do was reconnect them and tighten the screws, and we were back in business.
Our campsite is a large area, roughly about 5 acres in imperial measurements. There are sparse eucalyptus trees scattered throughout the site, but none of these provides any shade. The entire area has been mown at some point, leaving patches of dead grass, while most of the ground is covered in good old-fashioned dirt. Thank goodness for our CGear mat, which helps to keep the area under the annexe free of dirt.
Most of the serious off-road makes have been here, including a Kedron, Trakmaster, Free Spirit, and Explorer, along with numerous camper trailers, tents, and swags.
Today was a rest day with a short drive to Miners Pool on the Drysdale River, 5 km north of the station. Camping here costs $10 per night, with drop toilets as the only amenities.
On our last night, we enjoyed one of their famous burgers at the homestead. Ros and I started with a beer each before buying a bottle of Merlot to finish our dinner.
Our intention was to leave our van at the King Edward River Crossing and spend an evening at Mitchell Falls. However, there are no longer camp hosts at the campground, and we were reluctant to leave our van there with no one to look after it. Chris also explained that the falls were now just a trickle, and the swimming holes above the falls that people used to cool down in after the walk had become stagnant. The 84 km access road took them four hours to complete with their 4-wheel drive vehicle.
The road surface was composed of grey, shale-like rock, with constant corrugations that worsened the further east we travelled. The land was flat at first, but then we drove through a series of hills with many twists and turns that slowed us down and made the corrugations seem even worse.
We stopped at the homestead to try their famous scones with cream and jam, which were very enjoyable, before paying our camping fees and setting up at the Ringers Campground. We were told that the nearby waterhole was safe for swimming and that it occasionally had freshwater crocodiles, but the dark water and pandanus palms didn't appeal.
Next morning, we drove the 5 km back to the GRR along their rough entrance track before turning east again. We continued along the same road surface as yesterday, except the corrugations had become much worse and persisted for the 111 km until we reached Home Valley Station.
Home Valley Station is now operated by Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia. The station offers programs for Aboriginal people from the Kimberley, including courses in welding, fencing, and horsemanship.
The station is situated several kilometres from the Gibb River Road and offers a range of accommodation options. Besides the campground near the homestead, there was another camping area on the banks of the Pentecost River, about 4 km further on. We chose to stay near the homestead, which has a swimming pool and restaurant just a short walk away. Initially, we had planned to camp beside the Pentecost River, but after checking out the area, I am glad we stayed at the homestead, even though most of the sites had very little grass.
We could see from our helicopter flight yesterday that there was very little water over the crossing. One can only imagine what this crossing must look like during the wet season.
Ros waited on the western bank, and I drove across to the other side so we could take a picture with the Cockburn Ranges as a backdrop. The remaining 24 km to the EL Questro turnoff were badly corrugated, just like the road has been since leaving the Kalumburu turnoff.
No doubt about it guys, the scenery around Home Valley is sensational.
ReplyDeleteWe thought it was pretty special too, and would like to see it just after the wet season.
ReplyDeleteThat's another plan for the future.