Blogs from Gibb River Road, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 3

On 15thMay we went for a farewell dinner (roast and yummy ice cream for dessert) to Sue, Clive and Jens and determined we would meet for Christmas in a couple of years. It has been wonderful to catch up with the Bolvig side of my family again. The boys especially liked the dessert and playing with Molly the cat. JoJo the bird was not impressed. We left Kununurra on 16th May with our new windscreen in place and headed west towards the beginning of the Gibb River Road. The first thing we came across was the dam wall blocked off by a work crew and we had to wait to be able to cross. The actual wall is not very wide at all which surprised us. Once across we drove to the beginning of the Gibb ... read more

Gibb River Road – ‘3’ Leaving our great camp on the Manning River was tough but hey there will be more (great spots), I am sure. Just after leaving Mt Barnett Roadhouse we came to a section of the road with conditions that I just do not like, give me dust, give me corrugations, but rocks that have been purposefully laid as ‘screenings’ to create a road surface is not good on tyres or other ‘bits’ underneath vehicles and vans. And it was not long before we saw a vehicle with a blown tyre and no less than a brand new Mickey Thompson, ouch, very expensive. These are great tyres, in fact we had them on the Hilux and loved them, so it just goes to show that even the mighty can fail. This brings me ... read more

Gibb 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 ... read more

Emma Gorge was our destination today. To get there however we had to travel along a small section of the Gibb River Road. So you say, that doesn’t sound like much, but the road can be and often is very corrugated. Believe me when I say motor homes are not built for corrugated roads. We were not supposed to be on this road, as it is off limits as far as the motor home company is concerned, and we can now see why. Anyone who didn’t have any consideration for the motor home or the state of the road, could certainly do some damage. As it happened, when we turned onto the Gibb River Road, a lady in a four wheel drive was putting out signs saying that there is a grader ahead. Great we thought, ... read more

After a peaceful night at the Manning Gorge campsite, we got ready to go and visit the Manning Gorge Falls. This was futile though as at the beginning of the walk there were 2 options :- 1. Swim across the river (approx 150m) 2. Walk around the river and across the creek. However at this time of year the creek was not very empty either and this would also have involved getting quite wet - wading knee deep in weedy murky creek water for about 20m or so. Neither option was that appealing, especially as I'd read in guide books that in swampy creek areas there could be leeches. The swim would have been OK were it not for the fact that you would also need your hiking boots / walking shoes to continue the walk ... read more