The Kimberley & The Gibb River Road, W.A.

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Onward from Brisbane again and a Friday late night flight saw me arrive in Darwin to begin my trip down the west coast of the Australian continent towards Perth, a journey I hoped to complete in about a month. Having originally begun the Australian part of my adventure in Darwin some 10 months previous I had already explored the city (town really) and surrounding Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks and I was happy not to delay in the area long before beginning my western adventure.

So early on Sunday morning I left my hostel and met with 14 others who were to join with me on a Western Xposure 4WD trip down the famous 'Gibb River Road' towards the isolated coastal town of Broome. Sometime just before 7am a not unwelcome farewell was bid to Darwin and off we went. Australia is no ordinary country and though they may be one of the closest towns to each other the distance between Darwin and Broome is vast. Two thousands plus kilometres vast! To get the journey done and to see the places we wanted to see in the limited time we had, we knew we would have a number of days where there would be a lot of driving and not much else. As it turns out, day one was one of those. Stopping outside Katherine at Edith Falls for an afternoon swim we spent most of the rest of the day on the bus getting to know one another and simply unwinding while looking out the window at parched landscape pass us by. As evening rolled in we pulled into the rear of Victoria River roadhouse and settled down for the night. Zoltan our driver, tour guide and cook for the trip prepared dinner before we all gathered together around the camp fire and shared stories and jokes and a camp fire game or two amongst ourselves, a scene that would be happily replayed over and over as we moved further down the road towards Perth. The only difference being that we would actually have a fire lighting in the later camps! The temperatures that day had soared past 40 degrees and a total fire ban was in place so no open fires were being light (not that at 40 plus degrees we needed any....). Our accommodation for the night was simple....swags (a waterproof sleeping bag in essence with a built in padded surface to act as a mattress). But as the night promised rain we opted to leave the star gazing for another night and found space in a shed where we laid down together and got some sleep. Though sleep was minimal for some. The night stayed well into the thirties and the air was thick and sticky. Even after living in Queensland for the year I found it tough. Just as I had finally adapted and lulled myself into a proper sleep the sun was already on its way up again. And when you sleep outdoors in northern Australia unfortunately its not only the sun that rises at dawn. Two minutes after sunrise and you begin to slow roast if you do not get out of your swag!

Destination for day two was the town of Kunamulla. From there we would be side-tracking a little to take in the unmissable 'Bungle Bungle' mountains before leaving the sealed roads altogether and heading down back country along the Gibb River Road for some 700kms until we met the west coast just outside of the town of Derby. From there it would be only a short spin (in Australian terms anyway) into Broome. But before we got to Kunamulla we spent the afternoon around Lake Argyle, the largest man-made lake in the southern hemisphere. And like everything in this part of the world...it is likened to be 'about the size of Ireland'! And of course any comparison to Ireland makes it a most impressive of sights to behold! But the story behind the lake and the lands it drowned was even more of an impressive story. The Durack family, originally from Galway/Clare were one of the first pioneering families to settle the Kimberley region. They had earlier been one of the first families to also settle far western Queensland. Little had I realised but on my Birdsville trip I had already travelled across their lands at Cooper's Creek. During lunch at a nearby picnic area Zoltan had told me a little about the family and their history. After deciding to leave Queensland for the promise of better lands and more reliable rains in northern Australian they began a cattle drove of their animals up and across the northern territory. A journey that took them two and a half years to complete. With huge huge losses of stock along the way it was a wonder that they ever reached Argyle at all.

While we were at the lake a local guy took us out on a boat around a small section of the lake stopping off at a spot where a few of the more adventurous in the group happily hurtled themselves off some cliffs into the distant water below! From Argyle it was back onto the bus again to wallow happily in the comfort of air-conditioning as we watched another couple of hours slip by before landing at a 'hoochery' just outside Kunamulla. We didn't have much time to spend in the place but in the 20 or so minutes that we had we found plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere....along with a half dozen or more rums. And let me tell you...these guys knew how to make rum! There was none that I would not have tried a second time if the clock wasn't against us! The night was spent in Kunamulla where we were treated to Pizza at a local cafe to celebrate the birthdays of two of the people that were on the trip with me.

The following morning and everyone was a little excited to be finally heading for the Bungle Bungles. After driving south for several hours we finally turned off road and begun a slow and bumpy journey inland to the base of the mountains. As big as the Bungle Bungle ranges are, only a very small portion is open to the public as they are on aboriginal lands and are held very sacred to the aboriginal people. That said we still did manage to spend a lovely afternoon trekking into some spectacular gorges snaking and winding their ways into the mountain side. Even with the shade of the gorges, the heat was still immense and to avoid dehydration I was literally forcing litres of water into myself. The downside of this of course, well for the people sitting next to me at least, was that it was pouring out of me as sweat as soon as I had it drank.
Night time fell and as some cooked dinner, others cleared an area for us to lay our swags for the night and off loaded the luggage from the back of the bus. This was a routine that we had easily fell into since our first night near the banks of the crocodile infested Victoria river. After dinner as we stood around chatting to each other someone notice a spider climb over one of the food storage boxes. Hoping it was a harmless little creature I went to enquire. No such luck! While he may not leave you for dead (though there was a decent chance he would) we were more than happy not to give him any reason to snack on us! So we diverted his course away from us and (cautiously!!) went back to chatting. It was not until a little while later as we were preparing for swag time (bed) that we were greeted by at least three of his brothers hiding themselves away between our bags. The next 30 minutes were mental turmoil as we all cold sweated and wondered where in hell we were going to sleep that night. While swags were a great way to sleep to keep cool they do not tend to be poisonous spider proof and it was with nervous adrenalin on everyone's part that we rolled our swags out and bed down for the night. It has to be said that some did not take the chance and Zoltan brought out some SOS tents from the back of the bus for them to sleep in but I, along with about seven others fanned our swags into the shape of sun rays, heads gathered to the middle and closed our eyes hoping to get some rest. We were in The Kimberley once...and we were determined to do it the Crocodile Dundee way! Turns out that the spider was the least of my worries that night...sleeping with 7 heads next to me, snoring was always going to be an issue!

The following morning and a few of the group, myself included took a helicopter flight over the range to get a better idea of the uniqueness of the place. And all I can say to you is that it is unique..very unique. Words that I write here or photos that I show you could never do the place justice. I am afraid it is just one of those things that has to be seen with the naked eye to be able to fully appreciate. The old mountain has weathered away into a vast array of honeycomb structures fanning out as far as the eye can see and lying amidst it all is a huge crater left after a now ancient meteor impact. The mountain is so unusually formed that it even seems beyond natures ability. It is as if some Hollywood film crew have got in there and rigged some bizarre set for some futuristic movie.

As night time fell, we had retraced our steps north and joined the Gibb River Road. 40kms into the dirt road we pulled into El Questro, a cattle station (though more of a tourist destination these days). This is where we would be basing ourselves for the next two nights as we explored what the area had to offer. And it had lots to offer...Gorges for walking in, watering holes for swimming in and scenery that was hard be beat. For those of you that have seen the film 'Australia' this is where a lot of the scenery was recorded. And as in the days before, all this was done while we slow roasted ourselves in the 40 plus temperatures. Its not a very attractive sight to behold, a strawberry shaded Irishman generating more water than the rise of the river Shannon as he tramps his way through the wilds of Western Australia with fierce bloodshot eyes due wholly to the gallons of sunscreen slowly mixing with the stream of sweat dripping from his forehead and finding its way into the deepest crevices of his eye sockets. I therefore, for the most part of the trip looked a striking resemblance of a deranged man. Thankfully the attention was taken from my somewhat liquid appearance when Andy (a swiss guy on the trip) bought himself a not unnoticeable cowboy hat. As you know by now it was hot in The Kimberley and poor Andy had brought no hat with him. So when the sun became too much for him a day or so in, he was forced to buy a hat at one of the roadhouses we stopped at to refill the bus with fuel. Unfortunately for poor Andy... the only hat they had left was a rather feminine looking (almost luminous) green cowboy hat! The attention was finally diverted from the rivers of 'babble-a-lot' once more!

After a very enjoyable two nights at El-Questro we were off once more heading south along a 700km stretch of dirt road. This is crocodile country and along the way there were a number of river fords that needed crossing. That's why we were on a bus that resembled more of a truck. As it turned out however, we were so late in the dry season that the only thing missing from the rivers was water! (I was thinking that if I could somehow divert that sweat I may be able to do something to help there....). The road passed beneath us as mile after mile we watched a seemingly never ending land void of all waters go by. It was hard to believe that within a few weeks this road along with all the surrounding land would disappear under a flood of water for up to six months as the rains of the wet season rolled in. And with the rains came even more isolation for the already isolated farmers that chose to call The Kimberley home. All land access would be cut off and they would have to remain self reliant until the Autumn (late April), the only access with the outside world being by helicopter.

The Gibb River road was originally built to access this isolated area to allow trucks to haul cattle for processing but as time has gone by and as society has become better off the road is nowadays more of a back country adventure for the 4WD brigade going in search of isolation, adventure and freedom. As a consequence a roadhouse has sprung up every few hundred kilometres to cater for their needs. So in the end, peoples desire to go off the beaten track has stripped the area, somewhat at least, of the very things they went in search of... true isolation and freedom.

That being said, without a doubt there was still plenty of adventure to be had and Zoltan took us off the 'off the beaten track' more than once where we got to trek through valleys and discover hidden creeks and gorges and where with the heat, even I was thankful of the chance of a swim! Though more often than not I left it up to the others to continue the trend of hurtling themselves off ridiculous heights into the smallest of pools below.

As the days passed we called upon the Gibb river itself (the one that the road is now named after), though water was again the noticeable absentee from the scene. We passed beneath the King Leopold Ranges, we swam some more and trekked some more and as night fell we happily prepared food and played card games together before falling into our swags and staring at the stars drift past above our heads. I am not sure I have ever and I am not sure I ever will see another place where the night skies were as vivid. Over the course of the trip I began to realise I didn't need my watch to tell what time of the night it was. You simple traced the southern cross as it travelled across the sky during the night. It was clear to see Bear Grylls had to watch out. I was really becoming a man of the wild!!!

As the final morning of the trip arrived we found ourselves camping at the southern verges of the Gibb River Road. We rolled our swags one final time and loaded them onto the roof of the bus before having our breakfasts and making use of the toilet facilities (a shovel and a thousand kilometres of bush!). From there it was back onto the bus and one final bumpy ride that brought us back onto sealed roads and to the west coast settlement of Derby. Our first stop was a rather grim Boab tree. Or rather it was the history of the tree that was grim. Boab trees can have trunks that grow up to 16ft wide. But as they grow they become hollow in their centres. It was trees like these that white settlers used as makeshift prisons during the transfer of 'aboriginal prisoners' in the area. And it was one of these 'prisons' that greeted our arrival on the west coast.

I am sure that in its day, when Derby was a major point for the processing and shipping of stock coming out of The Kimberley, the town must have been a noble place. But time seems to have forgotten Derby and except for the few tourists tackling the Gibb River Road, I am not sure Derby gets much traffic these days. And like many towns I have travelled through in Australia it seems to have lost its spirit. It is now, no more than the remnants of a forgotten time. After a quick trip around the town we settled back onto the bus, ice-creams in hand, and enjoyed the final few hours driving drive to Broome. After spending the last week isolated in the dry and arid reaches of The Kimberley our final approach to Broome brought with it a collective "WOW" as Zoltan brought the bus over the brow of a hill and then all at once we were staring at the most amazing turquoise sea from the vantage of Cape Lurveque.

Rolling the bus onto the beach we all off loaded and piled into the ocean for our grand finale. Ten minutes later and suitably soaked we gathered ourselves around the bus for a bittersweet group photo and one final beer. Two beers later and we made our way to our hostel. But there was no need to be too melancholy just yet as we were all in Broome for a few days and we had already plans made for to explore the place together...and besides I still had the journey south to complete and ten of my new friends were to continue south with me.

But for now we had the sun and sand of Broome to enjoy....

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Photos

Lake Argyle Acrobatics
....why I ask.... why???

Wolf Spider
...not all that far from Wolf Creek either!!! (at least in Australian terms) The lid is roughly about 10cm thick I think!!

Purnululu National Park
Thats the Bungle Bungles to you and me!

Emma Gorge
..well its definitely one of the gorges around El Questro... I think its Emma Gorge?

Kimberley Cats
The heat up here is so bad that they even shave there cats!

Camp Fire
... one we were allowed to light!

Night Sky in The Kimberley
taken on my little D70s

The Beautiful Ocean at Broome
thats the Indian ocean by the way!

The Clan
...as the end is in sight