Grab a double shot of coffee where back on the Gibb

 The cruiser is set back up in camper mode, up early to drop the van off, the property the van is camping on for the next 10 days is 10km’s out of Derby and a few km up the Gibb River Rd. The first 100km of the Gibb is tar so easy driving up to just before the turn off to Tunnel creek where the dirt begins so it’s time to drop the tyre pressures,  the smooth driving is over. Driving past the entrance of Windjana Gorge where we would come back to camp for the night, we could see  dust in the distance we soon came head to head with a road train full of cattle so a quick exit off the road till the dust settled, dirt was sliding down the windscreen like water, those trucks really get a work out on these roads.

Tunnel Creek

 Preparing for our walk through Tunnel creek some fella asks me if there are crocs in the creek, no mate too cold in there, hmm maybe I shouldn’t be so confident & ask someone myself  ‘O’ well I’ll send the kids in first. Everyone has a torch ( new batteries would have been a good idea ) we went into the tunnel, first in the water yep its cold so we waded through the creek to the other end, in places it was waist deep. At the other end we stopped for morning tea, the fella I spoke to outside came through not long afterwards & happened to mention that there were crocs swimming around in there,  we didn’t see any but we weren’t looking for them either, great,  now we’ve got to walk back it was a good thing the batteries were going flat in the torches by the time we got to the other end they were all flat we waited for others to come through to follow them out. :o Walking back to the car the temp was around 35 deg so it didn’t take long to dry off.

Windjana Gorge

 On the way to Windjana we stopped at the old police station ruins, had a walk around & read up on the history of the area.  Josh actually did an assignment later in the year when he was at school in Karratha on this part of our trip so he could relate his experience to the class.

  It is really getting hot now so we waited a few hours before setting up the tent. As the afternoon cooled we went for a walk up Windjana Gorge while we were walking along the water’s edge there where fresh water crocs floating in the water we saw 20-30 crocs  that afternoon & got some good photos of Josh & I up close to them.

Bell Gorge

 Our plans up the Gibb were to miss every 2^nd walk/gorge & visit them on the way back, so the next stop was at Lennard Gorge, we walk up & down hills to a look out over the gorge & a water fall, there wasn’t anywhere to swim so back to the car to cool down. Driving onto Silent Grove camping area, the drive through the King Leopold Ranges was fantastic the views were great. There is a rock formation called Queen Victoria Range the formation looks like the Queens head from both directions these are the little things that the kids will always remember. We set up camp then went to Bell Gorge a 10 km drive up the road were we then walked to the top of the water fall of Bell Gorge,  there were people swimming below the falls so we all climbed down, Josh & I swam out under the falls, after a while we went back up to the top of the falls & swam there,  by this stage we were the only ones there, it’s amazing how many times we are in a beautiful spot in this great country & we end up there by ourselves it may only be for a while but we get that special moment. Back to camp for a feed & off to bed, so far the road isn’t too rough corrugated but we can sit on around 80kmh most of the time. As we left camp the next morning & got back on to the Gibb we saw our first brown snake for the trip so we slowed down to take a look he isn’t happy let’s keep going.

Drysdale Station

 Fuelling up at Mount Barnett Roadhouse (diesel $2:05 per litre) & an ice cream,  we drove through to where the Gibb & the Kalumburu Rd meet, there we had lunch this is the turn off to go to Mitchell Falls & the road (that’s what the locals call it) gets very rough. It was not too far where we crossed the actual Gibb River then we stopped at Drysdale station and booked into their cheap campground camp ground for the night, 3kms up the road at Minors pool.  Kylie, Josh & Clare decided to go for a walk & find somewhere to swim, Josh ends up swimming in a narrow part of the river & Kylie sat on the bank with her feet in the water next thing a 2meter fresh water croc swims past so he yells DON’T SPLASH to Kylie stay still, so she decided to scare the croc away as a good mum would & splashed, the croc turned & looked straight at them then swam towards them, still yelling at his mother while she was laughing when they got back to camp he calmed down then found the funny side of the moment.

Mitchell Falls

 The next morning we headed off towards Mitchell Falls the road was so rough that I thought the poor cruiser was going to break in half, the corrugations were about a metre apart & 300-400 mm high so we had to do 70kmh to get up on top of the ruts. For the next 5 hours we got thrashed, I stopped a few times to check the roof rack still had our stuff on top & starting off again was unbelievable to get back up to speed, I have never been so exhausted from driving as I was on this road.

  Arriving at Mitchell Falls camp ground we had a walk around and found that about 1km from camp there was a swimming hole so we headed off for a swim, beautiful spot, we made Kylie go in first so Josh could splash. The next morning we walked through to Mitchell falls got some great photos & found a great spot to swim for the day we met a few people from Qld. There are chopper flights over the falls where you can fly in/walk out or walk in/fly out we did the walk in walk out with me as our tour guide, this was the longest walk we had done so far 8.5kms in 35+ degrees heat.

Gibb River Camp

 Leaving the next morning we weren’t looking forward to our drive out so we got cracking & got to Drysdale station for more fuel ($2:08 per litre), exhausted we stopped on the Gibb River and set up the tent about 30meters from the river bank, Josh was concerned about camping too close to the water, I think he is still a bit paranoid. Later that arvo Josh went up the track a bit to crack his whip when out of know where this massive bull turned up, the whip cracking upset him & he’s looking for Josh (so I pointed him in the right direction), I ran for the car to cut him off if he decided to chase Josh, Josh hid behind a tree until he left.  We are still laughing about this trip it was so exciting. Later that night we climbed into bed & as I lay there I could hear noises from the river (bugger Josh may have been right). The next morning went I woke up, I checked the bottom of the sleeping bag yep 2 legs it was a good night.

Manning Gorge

 After a slow pack up we set off back to Mount Barnet roadhouse, Manning Gorge camp ground is 7kms out the back of the roadhouse which was where we planned to stay for the night.  We stopped at the Gibb & Kalumburu intersection for some photos of the Gibb River road sign, WOW smooth road,  well it was a lot better,  90km one arm on the wheel this in livin. When we got to the road house & we booked a spot the lady behind the counter gave us info for the walk to the gorge, first we need to swim across a river with our cloths in something that floats, ok, then with a cheeky smile on her face she said don’t worry about the crocs there friendly, just another day in paradise.

 So we set up camp again went down to the river for a swim & there was lots of bait in the river already, this looks safe, Josh you go first ok just don’t splash. After a few hours of swimming & we got more info about the walk the next day, we had an early night.

 Leaving at 6am the water was fresh, out the other side we put on our walking boots  & 2 hours later we arrived at  the gorge & water fall,  absolutely the best spot yet,  straight in for a swim, we jumped off the rocks that were 3-4 meters  into the water,  it was so deep you couldn’t see the bottom, we swam out under the falls & finally got Kylie to swim under the falls, we spent 4 hours there,  oh well doesn’t look like were moving on today. Walking back to camp was hot work so it was nice to swim back across the river, that’s where we spent the rest of the day.

 The next morning we packed up the tent for the last time this adventure & set off for Derby & back to the van. We stopped at Galvan’s gorge a beautiful spot for a swim. No punctures this time until we got to Derby & we got a nail in 1 tyre, the cruiser held up very well it still doesn’t have any rattles or squeaks which is surprising with the roads it has been on.

Having problems uploading photos so stay tuned.

Coffee @ Larrawa

 Back on the road early our first stop was at Halls Creek where we parked in town near the pool, Kylie had to do some work so the kids & I went for a walk around town that didn’t take long so we had lunch & looked at where we would stay that night. That night we drove through to Mary Pool camp this was a big camp ground on a dried up river. The next morning we were heading for Fitzroy Crossing so Kylie could do more work, as we drove past the gates of Larrawa Station our phones went off, we had service, so we rang Wendy at Larrawa she said they had internet so looks like were camping on a cattle station. 4km down the dirt road we pulled up at the camp ground & Sam the family dog met us with his big smile not far behind was Wendy who made us feel very welcome. Larrawa has great facilities hot showers & flushing toilets, the cattle & horses roam around the camp ground Larrawa is a non mechanical station so Kevin does everything on horseback. There are several walks that are on the property, plenty of fire wood & bbq’s. For those mod cons there is a camp kitchen, the sunsets from the camp ground where fantastic what a great start to our Kimberly adventure. Kylie caught up on her work, the kids caught up on their school work & I spent valuable time testing my eye lids for holes (none found). The 3^rd day we were there we saw a cloud of dust coming down the drive way then around the camp ground when it settled there was that motley crew Ned & Gae, Alan & Donna laughing, now we’re even, Looks like another camp fire & more yarns.Sad good bye the day we left Larrawa Station Wendy & Kevin made us feel like family looks like we have somewhere else to come back to on future trips. Larrawa is in Camps 6- 635 so when you’re in the Kimberly make sure you drop in & say hi from us. Thanks for your Hospitality.

Time for a long awaited coffee break

 Heading out of Kununurra we realised that we didn’t see everything that we wanted to see, looks like Kununurra will be one of those towns we will revisit on another trip. 50km down the road we turn left towards the bungles, there is a camp on the corner as we pull in for smoko we spotted Ned & Gae, & Alan & Donna set up, so a drive by just to stir up the dust, well we better stop now they recognised the van. A few heckling remarks & we set up for the night some more travel storeys while we watch the footy on TV (yep that’s bush camping).

 Leaving the next morning the road to the Bungles had a few narrow bridges to cross as we got to one bridge there was a van on the side of the road, “O” no its smashed, the car was parked off to one side, this isn’t looking good so we stopped to make sure everyone was ok, as I walked back to the damaged van the people came out of the van (what was left) their ok still very shaken it happened the day before & they were still waiting for a tow truck to take the van back to Kununurra. As they crossed the bridge the day before a road train was coming the other way he miss judged the speed of the truck, the car made it over the bridge but the van didn’t & the truck parked in the left hand side of the van right up to the wheels & ripped the van off the car they were lucky to not be hurt. It took hours for a crane to lift the truck out of the van, this shook us all up how your trip can change so quickly so far from home.

 

Bungle Bungles

 We arrived at the gate into the bungles then went another km down the road to the free stay on a creek, there we set up to leave the van & go into the bungles for 3 days. The road in was very windy & undulated with 8 water crossings a comfortable speed was around 40 km. The first 7 km of walks were the opposite end of where we were camping so a bite to eat, grab our water & we’re off. The walks are mapped out so you’re not back tracking too much & the visitor centre advises you on the time of day for each walk. The first walk was to a lookout through a dry river bed between the bee hive domes a spectacular site there are domes as far as you can see. Back tracking a little we then walked into the Cathedral WOW this is amazing, this is where they made the Qantas adds a few years ago, there were some people in there playing guitars & then someone sang some 80s songs how cool is that (I didn’t sing). We sat in there for an hour in the cool, in different areas of the Cathedral the acoustics sounded amazing with the different noises bouncing off the walls. Walking back through the river bed it was amazing to see how much the domes had changed with the sun light on them from a different angle; the next walk was to a smaller cathedral it was getting very hot at this stage as the heat off the domes zaps your energy from you.

 We found our camp site & set up later that arvo in the cool the awning on the car was a great help for shade. We left the tent set up the next morning & went off to the next 3 walks the 1^st was up through & over boulders this was a fun walk climbing these boulders the kids went nuts jumping from one to another, at the end of the chasm there were steps onto a board walk where looking back to where we walked from towards the domes was spectacular & Josh cooeed which echoed through the chasm. The next walk had to be done in the middle of the day, when you walked between the cliff walls to the end as the sun was coming over it looked like larva flowing down the walls of the cliff face the height of the walls was a blow out we looked like ants in there we got some amazing photos. The next morning we packed up & went back to the van then striped the car down & transformed it back for travelling to our next destination.