Blogs from Gibb River Road, Western Australia, Australia, Oceania - page 6

Drove along Gibb River Road - wasn’t as bumpy as everyone had told us. Arrived at King Edward River Camp late. In the morning tried to catch some fish with a bucket. Had a swim, and then went kayaking down the river. Didn’t go past a spot where the rocks made it very shallow. Came back, had lunch and went down the river again as far as we could go. Next day packed up in the wind. Drove up to Mitchell Falls. Broke a shock on the camper on the way. Stayed there a night. Had to bush walk into Mitchell Falls, including climbing over 6ft high rocks. The Falls were nice. Had a swim above the falls, and then walked back. Drove back to Kalumburu Road and did another shock on the camper. Thought the ... read more

Silent Grove (Wednesday 4th - Thursday 5th June) We were very keen to get to Bell Gorge in the King Leopold Ranges for a long awaited swim. We set up camp at Silent Grove situated about 10km from the falls. Our camp site was beautiful with a scenic rock wall behind us, table and fire place - Luxury! After set up was complete we donned our bathers, packed the backpack and drove to the gorge walk starting point. It was then about a 2km walk over rocky terrain to the falls. The walk was truly worth it with a spectacular water fall and lots of rocky swimming pools. We had a great afternoon swimming and following the rock pools upstream. The view was amazing as well as the wildlife with lots of water monitors, frogs and ... read more

After our unexpected bog experience it was lovely to have a bit of a lie-in. In complete contrast to the mud-splattered states we were in the day before, we relaxed round the pool in the morning while Ian went to rescue the bus which had been stood in the mud overnight. We all cheered when he finally came back avec bus! Set off again in the afternoon after thanking the Parry Creek people for their help, stopping at the Five River Lookout at Wyndham. It was quite interesting to see where the rivers join (with help from the map) but wasn't the most inspiring view compared to the sights we've previously seen - a bit grey at the edges due to the silt at the edges. We had a long journey to our camp at Pentecost ... read more

So off we set on our 4wd, 9 day tour through the Kimberley to reach Darwin. We had booked the trip in Perth a few days after arrival and Kimberley Adventure Tours had come recommended. Certainly the vehicle was fairly new, but this was to be expected as the gruelling terrain in the Kimberley makes wrecks of everything. Our driver, cook and guide were all bundled into one very capable and instantly likeable Queenslander named Joel. During the tourist season (April to November) he does the nine day tour to Darwin, has a few days to get everything cleaned up and prepared again and then takes a group in the opposite direction to Broome (less popular) while his fellow guide with another group is heading from Broome to Darwin. So it goes constantly over and back ... read more

Please note -the happy and friendly crew we met and got bogged in with at Manning Gorge, on The Gibb River Road, in The Gorge and then at dinner at the pub when we all hit Derby,after showers and shaves, such a great bunch of people, from all over the world, who made THE most of the 6 days the road was closed!!! The other great shot is of us crossing The King Edward river (with our skirt on the front, that is, the multi used tarp, to stop water going into the engine), which was kindly emailed to us by some lovely people we met on the other side of the river. Heather and her hubby were on a Kimberley Wilderness trip in a big bus and they took the shot of us to ... read more