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Gibb River Road
Campsite in Leopold Ranges areaGibb River Road – ‘2’
Well we have finally arrived in the one region of Australia that neither of us has visited before across this vast country and the one region/area that holds the most fascination for us, The Heart of The Kimberley’s. The Gibb River Road is the 4WD option of the 2 main routes crossing the Kimberley from east to west (or vice versa) and provides access to the numerous gorges that are the main highlight for us, as well as the spectacular scenery of course.
The Kimberley experiences monsoonal rains (wet season) from December - April, which will often wash away tracks and bridges. The Gibb River Road becomes impassable at crossings such as the Barnett, Hann, Durack, Pentecost and King Rivers. Road closures during the wet season are a part of life in the Kimberley so travel is limited to the months of April - November and only then after checking current road conditions and weather reports for possible effects of adverse weather experiences. Once the dry season has settled in, usually late March, early April the graders will make a couple of attempts to smooth out the worst of the ruts but they cannot
Gibb River Road
there is something new and exciting around every corner and at the bottom of every gully... cut out the corrugations. This year the wet was a bit later and the graders did not get onto the road until late April and so we timed our trip along the Gibb to be early in the (tourist) season for two reasons. The First was we wanted to do the trip whilst the road was in a ‘better condition’ than it will be in another month’s time, (it gets cut up badly with the amount of traffic it gets and becomes incredibly dusty and with worse corrugations as the dry season goes on). The second reason is we wanted to be in ‘front of’ the tourist hordes that would fill all the camp spots and create an endless cloud of dust hanging in the valleys and over the road. So our timing of early June, we felt, would be OK, road still ‘useable’ and not the hordes that will follow later in the month or in fact in July (school holidays also), and August the peak period.
After camping near Lennard River on our first night our next day was planned to take in Bell Gorge within the King Leopold Range. This spectacular, (a word I can see
Gibb River Road
another good camp site that will be used often on this leg of the trip!), range extends along the south-western edge of the Kimberley Plateau with the ranges of the Devonian barrier reef and the Fitzroy River flanking its southern margin. Stretching 225 km The Leopold Range has the region's 2 highest peaks, the 936 m Mt Ord and the 927 m Mt Broom. The Explorer Alexander Forrest wrote of the range in May 1879 that they were "amazingly beautiful" and described them as an "earthly paradise".
Bell Gorge has been described to us as one of the most magnificent Gorges in the Kimberley, so when the tour Operator of the Outback Spirit group we met at Tunnel Creek said ‘Do not miss Bell Gorge on the Gibb’ we were convinced it was a 'must do'. The turnoff to Bell Gorge was at the 219klm mark from Derby and the road (track) in to the west was a further 29klm. Described as a 2klm return walk from the carpark, the path, although rocky and steep in a couple of places, was a relatively pleasant and easy one and well worth any effort required. When we came over a small creek to be met
Gibb River Road
King Leopold Ranges by a magnificent view of the river and pools above the falls we understood why this was a 'must do'. The ‘river’, as I call it, is actually Bell creek which flows into the Isdell River not much further on below the gorges downstream from the falls. Beautiful is not a good word, but that is what this place is, the combination of colours, greens, blues and reds, was striking. I doubt any photos we take within the Kimberleys will do justice to what we saw as a vista before us, but take pics we will, and hopefully they will convey to you all something of what we saw.
After clambering around the gorge and pools within the river itself we headed back to the vehicle and retraced our steps to the Gibb, and continued along to Imiintji Store. This is a community run store that sells some basic needs as well as fuel ($2.04/Ltr). On past Mt House and Charnley River Stations we drove on a section of road that was not too bad. By that I mean the corrugations were there, but did not rattle us to bits entirely and the rocks were not enough to cause
Gibb River Road
Welcome to Country any major tyre concerns (although we had let pressures down to create more flex in the walls). We were probably able to average around 55klm along this stretch, pretty good. There was traffic (in both directions) and all of it was tourist traffic with a couple of station vehicles amongst them. Generally vehicles were infrequent which was good as it meant we were not constantly fighting dust from other vehicles passing, which you will do by going in the peak times along this road. After ’ice creams’ at Imintji, (very civilised), we headed on to Mt Barnett Roadhouse. Free camping along this stretch was difficult as it was all private station country and all side tracks had signs saying private land, no camping. We know that many people do not respect these signs and do camp (who is going to catch you out here!), but if the road is going to stay an ‘iconic trip for travellers’ in the future, respect of Station country needs to be adhered to or it could all be locked up for good and no one will get in to any of these places that are all, in reality, on private Station lands.
Coming
Bell Gorge
Pools above the falls into Mt Barnett roadhouse the corrugations did become worse than what we regarded as the ‘norm’ for the Gibb and some sections had been top dressed with rocks as opposed to gravel, even very large gravel! Mt Barnett Station (and roadhouse ) is owned and operated by the Kupungarri Aboriginal Community. The roadhouse provides a reasonable range of grocery lines, some camping basic hardware/camping lines and fuel (diesel $2.05/Ltr) and is the gateway to the pristine waters of the Manning River and the Manning Gorge.
The camping ground at Mt Barnett is on the Manning River and is the base for exploring Manning Gorge. A big area, mostly grassed and plenty of shade with basic amenities and cold showers only, despite the solar panels evident on the roof. I can well imagine and have been told that later in the season, most of the grass will have turned to dust and the ability to find a shady campsite will be down to luck as the campground gets packed and it is one for all and all for one when trying to fit in and find a spot to set up, again our decision to come early in the season
Bell Gorge
How good is this place! has paid off.
The walk to Manning Gorge and the Manning Gorge Falls starts from the campground and with the temperature around 30C, the fact that you have to swim across the Manning river at the start was well received. Styrofoam boxes are provided so that you can float your gear across (shoes, clothes, camera gear etc), including Jackie who when asked to swim across kept turning around and going back to the bank she started from!
After the welcome swim across the river, no, no crocodiles here, the walk is open and sunny, you do have to do some rock hopping and there are a few steep climbs in and out of gullies, but the scenery is beautiful. You can't get lost, because the track is so well marked with hundreds of rock cairns and red disks and arrows and beer cans and all sorts of other markers strung into the trees. The walk was advised as a 2klm walk in but it certainly seemed much longer and most people we talked to agreed. After 45 minutes however you come up out of a gully and over the rise to hear the rushing sound of water and
glimpses of the water and it looked great.
The gorge itself is spectacular and it has several pools to swim through and rocks to climb up and over. There was even a sandy beach for Jackie to play on and swim from which she loved. Again, coming early in the season meant we saw the waterfall cascading over the full width of the rocks, The falls dry up fast after the wet but the pools are deep and you can apparently swim all year round here. We had a great time in Manning Gorge and it truly was a fantastic, amazing place to visit and at the end of the walk back the return swim across the Manning is very welcome. This was a fantastic camp for a few days where you can enjoy the river and take a break from the dust and corrugations.
We enjoyed our walk into, and out of, the gorge, although we had to help Jackie over a few spots (all part of the fun and the experience for us), and the gorge itself was up there with the best we have seen but we did hear others complaining ‘that the walk was
too long and it was too hot’. My answer to that is we are in the Kimberley’s in a hot tropical environment and it is a remote, (thank goodness), part of this country…what do you expect!
Our expectations are being surpassed by the Kimberleys, and the Gibb and we are looking forward to the next part of this trip…….
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BEN
non-member comment
At this rate i won't have to go up there, just keep writing. Miss you three xxx.I'm out of Buss on monday heading for the Bite