Elquestro was our first stop on
the Gibb River Road. We had a nice, quiet, private campsite and stayed
for 3 nights. The park has gorges
and hot springs to explore either on
your own or with organized tours by 4x4, plane, helicopter or boat. We
left our pillows and the gas fitting for the stove in the caravan so
drove back to Kununarra to get that (300kms return) one morning then Paj
burnt his hand stoking up the campfire that night so he and I ended up
back in Kununarra the next day at the pharmacy stocking up on dressings
etc as the first aid kit didn’t have enough to see us through to the
other end. Not a good start to the trip!
On the move again and Geoff blew
a tyre and killed the rim on the camper-trailer. There was nothing left
of the tyre except a bit of rubber a few inches long a
nd wire wrapped
round the axle. The rim looked like a flower. We swapped it with the
spare then got replacements at Ellenbrae Station where we stopped for
lunch. It was a lovely spot with lots of birds and a café where they
served toasted sandwiches and delicious scones with jam and cream. We
had heard so many reports about the bad road going up to the Mitchell
Falls and people blowing shocks and having to wait 5 days for parts to
be flown in that we decided not to go up there as originally planned.
We continued on and stayed at Han River for the night. Then on to
Silent Grove. We explored a few gorges enroute. Manning Gorge, Galvins
Gorge and
Adcock Gorge were all worth visiting and all quite different.
We spent a couple of nights at Silent Grove and did the Bell Gorge
walk. Bell Gorge was spectacular, the best one we have seen. From
there it was down to Windjana for a couple of nights to see all the
freshwater crocodiles and then Tunnel Creek.
The Gibb River Road was not what
we had expected. We had expected it to be a lot more difficult. It was
corrugated (badly, in parts) and very inconsistent with a lot of dips
and creek crossings but provided you drove to conditions it wasn’t a
problem. We came across a German couple who had wanted adventure! They
blew a tyre, had a silly little jack that he didn’t know how to use
properly and had no idea what he was doing. Another Italian family,
fresh out from Italy on holiday, had hired a 4x4 in Perth and driven up
and chosen
this route to get across to Darwin. They had no repair or
recovery gear, no extra water or fuel. The third one was a roll over.
We had seen him not driving to the conditions the day before and
commented that he was an accident waiting to happen. Sure enough, the
next day we came across his rental campervan rolled over on the side of
the road. It is these people who die out here and there are no rules
or regulations requiring them to do any training before they attack the
outback. You really need to be prepared for anything. Fortunately our
vehicles came through virtually unscathed. Between the 2 of us we had
one blown tyre and wrecked rim and a cracked winch control plate.
Derby marked the end of the off road part of the trip.
Next stop – Broome
Paj and Heather's Big Adventure 2008
Part Three - Gibb river
