Advertisement
Published: August 10th 2007
Edit Blog Post
The Pentacost River meets the Gibb River Road
Only 4WD vehicles allowed, snorkels recommended for smaller trucks I have just completed an eleven day camping safari from Darwin to Broome, much of this on dirt track only 4WD vehicles could manage. We started Sunday July 29th in Darwin, at the top end and we drove all the way to Broome in Western Australia. Everynight in tents, sleeping bags and cooking by campfire. But it really wasn't as rough as it sounds because the food was excellent: we ate like kings and queens. Indeed, although we hiked and swam everyday we ate so well we could have gained weight. Dessert everynight, one night our hostess produced (out of a hat) - tiramisu. We ate chicken, lamb, kangaroo, lasagne, and plenty of fruit, cereal, salads etc. In no way was this a camping trip of baked beens and sausages from a tin.
Our first night after 600 km of driving was still in the Northern Territory. It's a long drive to get to the Kimberly. The second night was at a permanent campsite at Purnululu National Park, the site of the Bungle Bungle Ranges. To get there is a very rough 50 km dirt track that took 2 hours to drive: up, down, left, right, stop, go. The Bungle
Bungles are a visual delight of banded sandstone. We had two nights here, the first day was just the drive to the park and the second day was to explore the park. In the late afternoon we had a helicopter flight over the ranges. They removed the helicopter doors for our viewing pleasure, so keep your seatbelt on - don't fall out!
Then we drove to El Questro, a campsite fully equiped including hot showers, electricity, laundry, and a pub. We stayed two nights here, and the second day was hiking through the gorges nearby. We even had a hot springs to soak in. Let's call them warm springs. All of this is along the Gibb River Road, only 4WD vehicles can make it from one end to the other. Once we left El Questro we had to cross a river 100m wide. It's about 1m deep so our truck had no problem. This road is mostly impassable during the Wet, the summer months from November to March. That river swells to several meters deep and 100's of meters wide. Most 4WD vehicles here have snorkels for those river crossings.
After El Questro we had three more nights
Bell Gorge
Required some wading and floating of gear to reach this waterhole. out in the middle of nowhere. Three campsites with only basic ammenities: cold shower and drop toilet. But our truck has been specially built for touring so we still ate like kings and queens even when there was nothing around for hundreds of miles. One of our hikes was to and through Tunnel Creek. 750 m through a limestone cave, an ancient Devonian (350 mya) coral reef. You need a torch (that's flashlight to you North Americans) and you have to wade through ankle to knee deep water in the pitch black cave. You couldn't really do this walk without a flashlight. There is no way back to the truck other than going back through the cave. 1.5 km of splunking. Jandumarra, a fugitive Aborigine, eluded the white man for three years by hiding out in this cave 100 years ago. This was one of my favorite walks.
Day 10 we got to Broome. We were driven to Cable Beach to watch the sunset. Now I live in Vancouver on the west coast, but I've never quite seen a sunset like this here over the Indian Ocean. The ocean is calm, a beautiful blue lined by the red soil,
the yellow sand and palm trees. The sun slowly goes over the horizon and lights up the sky and land an amazing red.
Day 11 was the last day. We were given a tour of the town, and then driven to our new digs. I am staying at Broome's Last Resort. This place really should be your last resort, it's a bit of a dive. Mixed dorm rooms so even less privacy. The last day of the tour was an evening kayak paddle on ther ocean during the sunset. We paddled out to a rocky point at the end of the beach. Juice, crackers and dip were served by our guides, and then we paddled back. We stopped paddling and watched while the sun actually dip below the horizon. Then a mad paddle back to shore as we lost light and heat. I was salty and sandy but this was a fabulous afternoon.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.057s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 15; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0262s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb