Gibb River Road - '1'

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Gibb River Road – ‘1’

7th June 2012

We have now started to travel the Gibb River Road and as it will be such a large Blog entry I will split it into a number of parts, of which this will be the first and therefore, Part ‘1’

The Gibb River Road plays an important role in the History of the Kimberley and has come a long way since its origins as a rough bullock & donkey wagon team track. Stretching 660 Klm from its southern end to it’s intersection with the Great Northern Highway 48klm to the east of Wyndham this is still a great adventure.

According to the history of the Kimberley, the first explorers to traverse the Gibb River Road region were Alexander and Matthew Forrest in 1879. The expedition undertook an epic journey through the Kimberley’s during the wet season, and reported on the vegetation and prospects of mineral wealth in the region. They named the King Leopold Ranges after King Leopold of Belgium who was a patron of exploration.

Frank Hann, a gold prospector and explorer, was the first to describe the southern area of the Kimberley plateau in 1898. Many of the features of this southern area bear the names he gave them and include Mt Elizabeth, (named after his mother), Bell Creek (after Dr Bell of Derby) and Adcock Creek (after a Derby storekeeper).Frank Hann’s expedition opened up the Kimberley plateau, now a vast and prosperous cattle region. The Gibb River Road basically follows Hann’s track through the King Leopold Range as far as Mt Elizabeth. The Brockman North-West Kimberley expedition of 1901 entered the Kimberley from the Wyndham end - Dr House (Mt House Station) was the surgeon on that expedition. They located Mt Elizabeth and went north from there. The Pentecost River is named after Tom Pentecost, an expedition member on the Brockman project.

Before the launch of the Beef Roads Scheme in the 1960’s the road was a rough track known as the Mt House Road and only extended between Derby and Mt House Station. Up until the 1950's mustering was done on the back of mules and later horses, the stations provisions were collected from Derby either by bullock or donkey teams & wagons. Mt House, Mt Hart, Glenroy and Gibb River Stations were more isolated as they had no ‘track’ and were required to drove their cattle long distances through rugged and extreme terrain. In 1962 the track was renamed 'The Gibb River Road' after construction was completed under the Beef Roads Scheme all the way to Gibb River Station (from Derby). Gibb River itself, was named by Charles Crossland after Gibb Maitland a government geologist, ( a member of Brockman's Expedition,) who first came across the river in 1901.

The lack of major pastoral leases in the northern Kimberley’s and a lack of funding meant that the road north of Gibb River Station was not as well constructed or maintained as the southern section. The Gibb River Road was eventually completed in 1967.

So you can see that this part of Australia has been an isolated and vastly ‘untravelled’ region right up until ‘modern times’ when you consider that most of the world was explored and/or developed in some format by then. The Kimberley Region experiences two seasons, a wet season and a dry season. Travel in this region is generally not possible during the wet season due to flooding which makes the Forrest expedition back in 1879 an extraordinary feat.

The road is described as a ‘graded road in poor to good condition’ with ‘caution required at all creek crossings’ and Travel Tips finishes off by stating, ‘High clearance 4WD vehicles are recommended throughout. Conventional vehicles, lightweight 4WD ‘s and the towing of trailers and caravans is NOT RECOMMENDED’

So with that join us as we take the 'Troll' and 'Trakkie' on an adventure of a lifetime to some breathtaking places.

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Photos

Gibb River Road
660 Klm of corrugations and rocks...bring it on!

Gibb River Road
Can you see President Nixon's profile?

Gibb River Road
King Leopold Ranges

Gibb River Road
King Leopold Ranges

Gibb River Road
one of many creek and river crossings along the road, some are small like this, others a lot bigger and deeper.

Gibb River Road
King Leopold Rangers

Gibb River Road
Mt Bell from near Inglis Gap

Gibb River Road
Late afternoon colours

Gibb River Road
Late afternoon colours in the King Leopold Range

Gibb River Road
Late afternoon in the King Leopold Range

Comments

[BEN]

Good luck on this adventure, hope jack enjoys it .be carefull miss the three of you . Im out of here 6th july heading south to the Murray.xxx

[MikeandTrishV]

Tēnā koe
Howdy mate, you should be with us, you know that! All good here just need to get blog up to date for you all. Jackie is fine and missing you too, she says 'woof'.

[Matty]

Haha!
It took me a while but I eventually saw it! Hilarious!