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Published: June 27th 2007
The Kunnanurra Moon Experience and heading onto The Gibb River Road.
Friday 1st June In Kunnannura for us was the beginning of getting packed up, 3 final loads of washing, topping up our food supplies, water, gas and petrol, checking over the car and trailer and generally getting ready for our early Sunday morning departure.
kunnanurra had been great, but after 9 days in a caravan park we were ready now for the next stage of our Kimberley adventure, 4 wheel driving the famous Gibb River Road.
But we still had the Ordmuster celebration of The Moon Experience Concert, on the banks of Lake Kunnanurra to attend on Saturday from 3.30pm to ???, hence our doing all the prep for the trip on the Friday.
This concert is the biggest event that happens in downtown Kunnanurra all year ,so the whole town was abuzz with it and all the celebrities coming to town and how the full moon will look over the Lake, such a good beat in a little country town, you had to get in on it !!!
Friday afternoon we went and did a little sightseeing around the town, Zebra Rock, the
Argyle Diamond shop,(looking for a birthday presy for Charlotte, but knowing she’s not a pink girl we didn’t get a diamond) then The Boab store,(to see all the array of Boab products) The Ord Dam and one of the local galleries that we hadn’t got to previously, then we climbed up to Kelly’s Knob Lookout for sunset over all the Ord River and the beautiful lush green gravity feed fields of Kunnanurra and a glass of wine, while we took in the sunset.
“The Sunset Moony Show” followed - when on the way back down the hill with all the other romantics and/or tourists Ian did a great little number, when his trousers just suddenly fell gracefully down to his ankles, yes he’s been loosing weight, but he had also forgotten his belt.
If no one had seen it when it happened they certainly all would, have when we both screamed with laughter ,as we tried to get our footing, put down all our bits and pieces and then pull his trou back up ,once all together again we then went and enjoyed a farewell to kunnanurra dinner at our favorite little Boab café and then home to the
King size bed in our little Canvas Chateau.
Saturday morning, we went into the farmers market in the town square and as well as picking up some lovely fresh F & V, we did a trade in on our 5 video’s for 5 new/used ones(great little deal) and then bought up a few bits and pieces to prepare our picnic for the Concert. We then headed back to the caravan park, had a swim, lunch, made up the picnic and then went and showered and shaved and got all frocked up in time for the 3.30 free bus to the concert (even the ablution blocks were abuzz with excitement), the atmosphere in the whole town was a great atmosphere, everyone was smiling and happy, and that was before the concert !
At 3.30 with our chairs ,bottles ,gourmet picnic and in our best glad rags off we went, with many of our fellow campers to the biggest show in The Kimberleys.
Didn’t know hardly any of them on the way there, but we were all best friends on the way home.
The show was absolutely FANTASTIC !!! Girlfriend is such a good act !!!!!
From 6pm on we
were up at the stage dancing to/with our “Girlfiend” Marcia Hines and James Blundell with and amongst people in Black tie, the Indigenous land owners , fellow campers and many others who are now all our second best friends forever ( ie if we would ever recognise them). We went home on the last bus, with a similar variety of people at sometime either just before or just after 12,we think, having had “A BALL”!!!!Top Night, good show Kunnanurra!!!
Sunday morn at sunrise,it was up with the birds and slight hangovers. Had our tea and toast packed up the trailer and headed out of town, going West.
Off to El Questro our first stop on The Gibb River Rd.
EQ is a 1million acre wilderness park which offers accommodation ranging from $15 to $2,000 a night we opted for the $15, same gorges, rivers ,crocodiles and 5 million stars, we reckon!! After a couple of river crossings and a bit of John Williamson we hit the station shop were you book your accommodation.As we were good and early both in time and the season we were lucky enough to get a private 5 acre Pentecost river campsite , one
of only 12, so we were very happy, ours was called Mopoke and it was just divine, so there we stayed for 5 nights. During the days we did the gorge walks, bathed in the thermal springs, had a cruise up the Chamberlain gorge, had our first sighting of The (highly contentious) Bradshaw artwork and just soaked up the amazing bright red escarpments (particulary at sunset) and all the natural beauty and birdlife of El Questro. And a few days Dundee(E) and I had the occasional dip in our own private part of the Pentecost river (with the pic axe for just in case of!)
During our stay at Mopoke “Appy”,(Ian’s sleep Apnoea machine) started playing up, so ,after a few calls to the manufacturers Ian drove Appy back in to Kunnanurra and posted it back to Sydney for repair, I sat and did some quilting and read my book, they said they’ll be able to repair it in 3 days, but either way our next mail stop will be at Derby on the 30th, some 3 weeks away.But we will be fine in the meantime, actually it will be funny, after 3 years for Appy not to be with
us ,we’re both just so use to her always being in bed with us every night.
After our 5 glorious days in EQ we reluctantly topped up the water(the best spring water in The Kimberleys, we’re told) petrol and a loaf of fresh bread and headed back onto The Gibb River Rd for only another 58kms till we reached yet another very famous rd up this way - Kalumbaru Rd, this road heads north, enroute to Mitchell falls and then reaching The Timor sea and Kalumbaru.
100 kms later we stopped at Drysdale Station another 1 million acre station, which once survived solely on cattle and now life at Drysdale is all about the Tourist trade, topped with petrol, food supplies, camping and scenic flights all being available.
We pulled in and checked on the road condition up ahead,from Pam who runs the shop and has “all” the up to date local news ,but we actually decided to camp up the road a bit at another spot called MinersPool as there was a river safe for swimming and we thought we would do the Drysdale station stop on the way back down from Kalumbaru.
This was a beaut
stop for us as we had a good chat to some folks who had just come down from Kalumbaru so they gave us a heap of good tips on the roads, river crossings and where to stay etc and we shared a good campfire night with two other couples who told some more good stories, you really do meet some great characters out here and they all have a story to tell.
Next morning about 8.00am we said our farewells and thanks for all the good tips and departed for The King Edward River bush campsite no 1 and it was here right beside the river and waterfall, at the most idyllic campsite you could possibly imagine, that we fell “totally in love with the Kimberleys”
.
This part of Australia is just magic!!!!
And to All of you who weren’t planning to come here, you just have to!!!
This cannot be missed, it really is God’s country!!
On arrival, as we were the only one’s there we set ourselves up in the prime spot, right on the river with a view as good as home and greeted all the new arrivals.
6am next morn, with swimmers,
food supplies, back packs and our comfy walking gear etc we headed off for the 21/2 hour drive and then a 11/2 hour walk, with side trips to some amazing Rock art (see photo’s) and into the magnificent Mitchell Falls. It was on this drive that we did the hardest and deepest of the river crossings so far.
And just before one of them, out in the middle of nowhere we came across this elderley couple whose car had broken down and they were stuck there for over a week waiting to be towed out, the tow truck had to come from kunnanurra 600kms away (poor buggers).We offered them food and water etc, but other than that there’s not a lot you can do, if you breakdown, except either to fix it if at all possible or just to be “bloody patient and extremely positive” while you wait for help.
Our drive and walk through the Estonia palm covered plateau into the falls was every moment worthwhile and then after a swim in the top pool, picnic and a water crossing in our swimmers through the cascades we then topped it off with the 6 minute helicopter taxi flight(
my 2nd time in a copter!) back to the car to drive home to base at our King Edward river camp site,which by the way was FREE!!!
The 6 minute flight (with no doors)was absolutely fantastic as he did 2 figure 8’s at only 1500 ft over the falls and we got some great photo’s.
The following 3 days we just O.D’d on our spot at King Edward, went looking at some other Aboriginal Rock art sites we had been told about by Pam back at Drysdale(one she advised us was definetly a Bradshaw), swam each day, Ian tried his hand at fishing, he (bloody) whipped me a couple of times at Scrabble and we meet and had drinks with a few groups of fellow campers, all really beaut people, Peter and Lynette who inspired us to do the Canning Stock Route and Pete, Dan and Sean and their families,including Emma who was only 7mths and teething and not too happy about all this travelling(the boys were all coppers from Sydney, with 6 months plus long service leave) a great bunch!
We also made a great friend of Lulu the local (1 metre long) goanna and Jezebelle the very friendly
stray bull who would just wander right up to us for a bit of a look.
The bird life around the river bank was a spoiler, with brolga’s, corella’s,heron’s and Ian even spotted a Jaibaru one day (thank goodness, we invested in our Bird book, we use it nearly everyday).
But as with each of our spots we eventually have to reconcile with moving on, this one was harder than any for me so far, I could have lived here !!
So after 5 nights we packed up the Canvas Chateau did the river crossing back out to Kalumbaru Rd and headed North.
Assorted corregations, plenty of our favorite red dirt, varied sizes of pot holes and 16 river/creek crossings later (but all in one piece, except a broken shock absorber) we hit the Aboriginal community and Benedictine Mission of Kalumbaru.
Actually the road had just had the grader through a week before so all up( Ian says) it was “not too bad,” I wouldn’t have wanted to be on it pre the grader, if that was” not too bad” even my cheeks were sore!! But I must say the Ipod did keep on singing, quite amazing!
Our first impressions
of Kalumbaru were really good, it looked pretty clean and there was no doubt the Benedictine influence,which arrived in 1908 had been a positive one.
Kalumbaru has an amazing history, with being attacked by the Japanese in WW11 and wrecked Allied bomber planes still on the airstrip, then the ongoing influence of the Benedictine monks and of course the local Aboriginal community.
It was only about 10 years ago that the last known Aboriginal Witch Doctor/medicine man and cannibal, who both came from this area passed away.
Our second day in Kalumbaru we did a 2 hour tour of the Mission and the museum by Father Anscar,(the resident Monk) one of Australia’s “very special” characters, with just so much information stored and a wonderful sense of humour to boot. The tour cost $10 but we would have paid lots more, it was just so worthwhile.
On arrival we needed to obtain 2 permits to stay at Kalumbaru, one for the town and the other to camp out on the beaches $35.00, once we had purchased those from the Indigenous Affairs dept we then headed out to McGowans Island about 20kms out on the coast to camp and fish for
3 days.
Enroute we stopped at the local tip to drop off our rubbish,it was full of dingo’s and crows fighting over the latest dropoff’s, but great to get rid of!!
On our way out to McGowans, we turned a bend and much to our surprise here was our mate Pete and his wife (from King Edward),on the other side of a very red, mud and water filled pot hole, with a broken differential and not too happy, they were in caos/planning mode as to what to do next ??? They had found out there was a local mechanic and his brother had headed back into town to find him and make the necessary arrangements.(when we left 4 days later they had spent nearly everyday in with the mechanic, helping him, and were still waiting on a part to arrive from Broome and then they would be back on the road again??)That’s 4w driving for you!!!
UP the road a little further and over a small rise and guess what, there it was, THE beautiful blue glistening OCEAN !!!Looked really good after 2 months, but we couldn’t get too excited as up here it’s full of Salties, so there won’t
be any swimming for us !!!
Our campsite was right on the beach, but don’t worry far enough back.
Yes, back there I did say and FISH !!
Kalumbaru, is a lure and haven for fisherman and we had been told of this Aboriginal fellow at McGowans, Alex who would take you out fishing and not come back till you had whatever fish and however many you could eat before you left (not allowed to take them out of Kalumbaru) So on day 3, after Ian had spent some time on days 1 and 2 trying on the rocks, he booked Alex for the next day at sunrise.
At 8.30am Ian arrived back on the beach, a very happy hooker,with a fish in each hand, “My Hero”, fish for lunch was Mother in laws bream and for dinner was Red Emperer, both were just beautiful, melted in your mouth.
It was a great experience for Ian, he learn’t a lot and he has now got the bug, I think I can feel a rod or two coming on, just gotta keep that bait outa the fridge, as it’s pretty pungent stuff !!
Ian said all up he caught about 10
-12 fish, some too small,so they got to go back and a few sharks that Alex didn’t recommend, but all up great fishing collaterial for down the line,so to speak !!!
The sunsets at Mc Gowans were incredible over the ocean, weather was very hot about 30o.
During our days there we baked another one of Aunty Ron’s Mango fruit cakes in the camp oven and I got one win in the scrabble tournament and then on day 4 or 5 (lost count,sorry) we packed up and began to head South for the first time and sadly away from the Ocean until Derby on the 30th.
The drive back down to Drysdale on the 16th was like being on the Road of Peril, there were so many breakdowns along the way, guys with flipped trailers , broken windows, dead snakes and cows in the middle of the road, we would always stop and offer help and hear the story, it’s all part of the journey out here!!!
Some how John Williamson was just so right for this road, the lyrics are sooooo good and give you such a laugh.(I remember hearing him for the first time ever, down in the
Margaret river with my Special mates Bren and Rob when I wore shoulder pads and had no idea who JW was, seems like a million miles ago).
We hit Drysdale at about 2.30 and I hit the laundry about 2.31, hadn’t washed in a machine since El Questro and had plenty of red dirt in store.
Ian treated us out for dinner at the Station café, Barramundi and cheesecake, quite a treat!!
On the way back to our camper we spotted a Rufus owl, then another owl(not sure what species) I’m sure one of them was Mum, coming to see if we were ok.
Hit the hay and then up at 5.30am, quick change, and a brisk walk to the airstrip to board the little 6 seater, for our 2 hour flight out over the Admiralty Gulf, and to see Mt Trafalgar and Mt Waterloo, the Kings cascades and the Prince Regent river and Nature Reserve, the sights that you can only see from the air, and that are still inaccessible by land, it was a super flight, every bit worthwhile, it helped us to get a little more perspective on the what was beyond the road we had travelled.
Got back, had a little breaky and packed up, to head off down K rd and turned right onto The Gibb again, heading for The Mt Barnett Roadhouse, where you pay for access and camping on the Manning River and the walk to The Manning gorge we planned to have 3 days here.
On arrival about 1.30pm we were hungry, so decided to do lunch first, fill the car and pay for camping then head down the 7 km track and set up camp ---- “but all good plans of mice and men” ----- We had lunch and then Ian took our car over to the bowser to fill up and I went to pay for the camping and grab a loaf of bread.
When I came out Ian was at our car with the bonnet up, looking inside, oh no, the starter motor wouldn’t work, oh no.
Well what to do? No mechanic available at the road house and the nearest 60km away at an Aboriginal community.
A consultation with the owners of the roadhouse and Ian concluded that it could only be the starter motor or the solenoid for the starter motor and probably the brushes in the starter motor or contacts in the solenoid due to water crossings.
So tool box out and Ian under the car on the concrete pad of the fuel point of the road house to remove the starter and the solenoid with no prior knowledge on this vehicle.
Corrie asked what she could do and I suggested she just pray for a mechanic to pull up for fuel and tell us what to do.
Soon after and covered in dirt and grease we had the stater motor out and on inspection of the bushes with an Aeronautical engineer the conclusion was that they were not the problem.
So to the solenoid and just as we got the central core out and were bewildered what to do next except look at the contacts which we could not see and could not get out. A guy off our morning flight with his wife and baby pulled in and greeted Corrie with what is wrong, she explained and then in jest asked Scott if he was a mechanic and guess what? - he said yes!!!!!
He walked over took one look at the centre of the solenoid which Ian had just removed and he said clean up the contact ring with some Emery paper and get some RP7 on the whole spring mechanism and free it up and it will work and it was a common problem in the bush with these vehicles, he said.
So with these instructions and Corrie’s nail file for Emery paper and a tin of RP7 from the tool box we were quickly reassembling with the reassurance from Scott that if we did not get to the camp site by dark he would come back and help.
All back together and hit the ignition switch half an hour after sunset and BUGGER me it started and we were off to the camp site and 7km later just on dark we were once again setting up camp next to the manning River. MY HERO !!! JEAN PIERRE the engineer, so clever !!! Scott, Maria and baby Emily came to visit as we were getting some dinner under way and gave Ian a few more helpful tips, such a nice couple.It was quite an experience but due to determination, a good brain and the power of prayer it all worked out ok in the end, we were very lucky!!!
Next morning we headed back up the track to the roadhouse to have a hot shower and just generally chill out watching all the coming and goings on the Gibb River Rd.
Next morning we planned to get up do the Manning Gorge walk and the next day head off for Mornington a wilderness camp about 150 kms up the road ----- but best laid plans---- and all that, that was not to be, as the sky openned up and down came 4 days of unseasonal rain and NO going nowhere for us and all the other campers on the Gibb River Rd, the road was officially CLOSED and the fine for going on it was $1000 a wheel. An adventure tour bus tried to get out, only to get bogged half way up to the road, with a bunch of American tourists.
The next 4 days, until we were told we could leave, was an interesting example of how differently people cope under pressure,some were short of food and/or petrol, some had deadlines to meet and some of us just pooled together made great mates ,had lot’s of laughs around a communal campfire and made the most of being stuck? and on day 5 it cleared and we got to do the walk to the falls, which we pretty well had to ourselves, how lucky were we !One day Ian and I walked up to the bus to see how they were managing and the next day a few of the guys trekked and drove and trekked to the roadhouse and bought us all a few supplies.
On the night of day 6 we did have a fancy dress party planned.
But on day 6 about 10.30am, after 11/2 -2 days of no rain, John from the roadhouse came down and advised us all that the road from Mt Barnett to Derby only was open for us to leave(only) and that more rain was expected tomorrow, which would keep the road closed for another week. Mornington, Bells and Windjana were all closed and they had not been told they were allowed to leave.
All of us except one couple Bob and Nancy, in an off rd caravan decided to go for it and meet for dinner at the Pub in Derby that night, sounded good to us!!
About 45mins later the whole camp except Bob and Nancy were on the rd to Derby Caravan park, fresh food, water and washing machines and a cold beer.
The road up at the Roadhouse was areal mess but generally Mt Barnett to Derby wasn’t too bad.
Hitting the bitumen 60k out of Derby felt pretty damm good and the feed at the pub was great fun as we laughed about all the games and jokes of the last 6 days, but I must say for me the VERY BEST thing about hitting Derby was having a beautiful hot shower, we do have a solar camp shower but it’s not quite the same.
Rob, didn’t you recommend Manning to us ????
We ended up spending 3 nights at Derby and over that time we farwelled most of The Manning Team, plus Ian bought a crab pot and with Steven and Karen and Bruce and Amanda we went sunset crabbing off the Derby pier, Ian caught 5 !!!!!MY HERO !!!
We then went for a farewell Chinese meal with Steven and Karen a really beaut NZ couple and when we got back home we cooked the crabs.
Tues 26th June We departed Derby and the rest of The Manning Team about 9.30 and headed to Broome and our 4 day booking at The Frangipani self contained apartments and a little taste of normality.
On arrival into Broome we went and booked our flights (for Barb & us)over the Horizontal Waterfalls up in The Buccaneer Archipelago and the headed for the apartments, such a good idea, glass, crockery, a normal bed,clean loo,TV,dishwasher, fridge and a BBQ, such luxury!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!And 4 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We unpacked, set up the computer, started making calls to friends and family.
I prepared a roast vegetable salad, on the BBQ and Ian cracked open the crabs, we popped a bottle of champagne and toasted our crabs and a wonderful trip on The Gibb River Road.
We’ll do sunset on Cable Beach tomorrow night.
Excitement is building towards the 3rd of July and our best mates arrival,can't wait to see her!!!!
Our love and hugs to you all, and a double, double thanks ever so much for the calls,lovely messages,
emails and comments on the blog, every bit of communication out here is much appreciated!
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Sue
non-member comment
Ohh for warmth
Dear Corrie and Ian Really enjoying you trip and your descriptions are so vivid. It is very cold here - just above freezing today and yesterday morning was minus 8. Last Thursday we had 3 inches of snow here and school closed at noon and were shut on Friday as well. Tomorrow I am off to Auckland for a long weekend with Noel and can't wait. Just to get out of the cold will be great. Continue to have fun and write it all up for us. Much love Sue and All xxx