24 August Gibb River Road Conquered

Hi All, we have conquered the Gibb River Road and are now heading to Broome for some civilisation after 2 ½ weeks of red dusty roads and campsites. We have had a fantastic time and seen some amazing sights and experienced some really beautiful places. From Kununurra we headed north to Wyndham where we met up with the Cracknells again and visited the crocodile farm to learn the difference between Freshwater and Saltwater crocodiles. You really don’t want to meet a Salt Water crocodile which are huge and very nasty. After viewing where the 5 rivers meet we headed down the Karunjie Track, a back road that meets the Gibb River road. After visiting some aboriginal art, we headed to the banks of the King River to bush camp. We soon discovered we were sharing the river with some Salties and the next morning (Luke’s Birthday) we saw a Salty with a Kangaroo in its mouth going upstream. That day we had a beautiful drive next to the Cockburn Mountain Range across the Pentecost River flats, visiting a Prison Boab Tree enroute.
We then arrived at El Questro where we spent 3 nights bush camped by the River. El Questro was a nice surprise with beautiful gorges, hot springs and swimming holes, but being reasonably priced for those wanting to bush camp. Still with the Cracknells we left El Questro visiting Emma Gorge the most beautiful of the waterholes with freezing water before heading to the banks of the Pentecost River to camp. There was a lot of water activity that night and we were told the next day that a 6m crocodile was residing there The following morning, the Cracknells discovered a broken spring on their camper so we headed over the river and went to Home Valley homestead where we ended up staying the night much to the kids delight due to a very nice swimming pool, whilst the Dad’s sorted out the springs back in Kununurra. Alison and I even got to vote as the roaming electoral people happened to be there that afternoon. Next morning all fixed up we headed back down the Gibb River Road, not nearly as notorious as its reputation, although we did go past a number of break downs. We managed about 100km and were just stopping for a break near the next homestead Ellen Brae when the Cracknells discovered another broken spring. Luck has definitely not been on their side, however they were very good at breaking down right next to homesteads. They limped into Ellen Brae where we all spent the night and they arranged to have their camper fixed.
We all decided it was time to part company for a while, so the next day the Kelly/VC gang headed up north on the Kalumburu Road to King Edward River. Again the road, did not live up to expectations in how bad it would be and we made it by lunchtime. This was a very special spot where we ended up spending 4 nights camped just near the King Edward River where we enjoyed swimming(with freshies), boating, attempts at fishing and the boys had a great time tadpoling. On one of the days we went up to the Mitchell Plateau and walked into the Mitchell Falls which were particularly impressive with a lot of water. One of the highlights of the trip to date for all, was taking a helicopter back from the Falls and flying over them back to the car park. The road here was particularly awful and took us 2 hours to get to the plateau 80km’s away. The weather was now really heating up and reaching the high 30’s so the priority for travelling now was to leave early and find swimming holes. After leaving King Edward we came back to the Gibb River Road and spent the night at Barnett River Gorge. The boys enjoyed mucking around in the river where there were shallow water holes, and later in the afternoon we walked further up to find a beautifully deep swimming hole near the edge of the gorge. The next day we headed to Old Mornington via Manning Gorge and guess what another fabulous swimming hole where we swam with a water monitor. Old Mornington (named after the Mornington Peninsula as its founder rode a horse from the Mornington Peninsula to the Kimberly to help with droving) is a wilderness conservation park. It was particularly special as it limits the number of people in there at any particular time so we could visit the gorges and waterholes and most of the time had them entirely to ourselves. The wakeup call front the birds in the mornings was really exceptional and the surrounding scenery and mountain ranges spectacular. The boys enjoyed making bows and arrows there, and we spent a day canoeing down one of the gorges on the Fitzroy river. From Old Mornington we headed to Bell Creek Gorge which was probably the most enjoyable swimming hole we were at with a stunning waterfall. Just as we were leaving who should arrive but the Cracknell’s, a fantastic location for a reunion. We all camped together that night, the Cracknells back with their campervan and the following morning headed to Windjana Gorge. After setting up camp we explored Tunnel Creek where we walked through water in a massive underground cave system for nearly a km. Although we were told there was a croc, we missed him but did come across lots of flyng foxes. The boys all really enjoyed exploring through the massive tunnel in the dark with their torches and finding the fish and frogs in the cold water.
And that brings us to today! This morning we went for a walk along the Windjana Gorge which again was really specy, but I think we are all now at our limit with the gorges. Unfortunately despite the really hot weather this was not the place to swim as we could easily see lots of crocodiles, which despite bein g freshies were a little off putting. We also came across again a massive group of bats which were fascinating to watch. So we have now completed the Gibb River road, which I think is fair to say has been the highlight. We have called into Derby and are now heading to Broome where the boys are particularly excited about staying at a caravan park, I am looking forward not to having to eat pasta or rice for a while and clean sheets and clothes will also be a bonus. We may even wash the car which is still very red in appearance. We have all really enjoyed swimming in the fresh water swimming holes and rivers so it will be interesting to see how we find the sea. Broome is likely to be heaving and we’re lucky to get in. There is a big festival on this weekend which we may stay for before heading to the more secluded beaches up north of Middle Lagoon and Cape Laveque.
We are all travelling well, seem to be experiencing no home sickness, physical sickness and even mentally all seem to be coping well. Homework could maybe be doing a bit better but we’re doing our best. We’re very much looking forward to a break from the dust and dirt but I suspect we won’t be getting much sympathy from anyone reading this Until Broome.... photos to come.