Mercer Travels: The Kimberley

We left Broome a little later than planned so stayed at a roadside stop about 100km east called Nillibubbica, waking up in the morning one of the other campers had a close encounter with a Brahman Bull standing outside their door.

Next stop was Derby, only really to have a look at the prison boab tree and the main wharf in town, the tide was running out but we had a quick go at crabbing with no success. Derby experiences some of the biggest tidal ranges in Australia of about 11m which causes huge amounts of water to flow in and out of King Sound.

Continuing on after lunch we made it to another roadside stop at Ellendale, these 24hr rest areas are very handy but you have to get in early to get a spot, no cows at this one but nice to catch up with another family returning from the Gibb River Road.

Arriving in Fitzroy Crossing we went straight out to Geikie Gorge National Park just out of town to join one of the boat cruises down the gorge, this was a brilliant little trip and our first experience of Johnson crocodiles which are the freshwater variety and considered fairly harmless unless provoked. Also along the gorge we had other animals identified to us including water monitors, sea eagles, kites along with many plant and trees, if in this area we can recommend this tour.

We now had to back track out of town to the Leopold Downs Rd which joins the Gibb River Rd, along the way you visit Tunnel Creek which is a cool walk underground following the creek before coming out the other side and returning the same way. It said freshwater crocs inhabited the creek but we had not seen any until returning through the deepest section of water, about thigh high on us adults, I had crossed and Lili was half way when Kel spotted the red eyes of a croc not far from us. Lil moved a little quicker to my side as I watched the croc submerge not knowing where it was heading, Kel and Fred needed some encouragement before crossing after us.

We moved onto Windjana Gorge National Park to set up camp for a couple of days, from the campground there is a 3km walk along the banks of the creek following Windjana Gorge, here you will see quite a few freshwater crocs and some impressive views of the gorge walls before returning to camp and relaxing in the shade for the rest of the day.

The next part of our journey was taking us into an area many want to visit but do not get the chance due to the distance from major centres, the Gibb River Road is an old stock route across the Kimberley’s with a number of gorges to visit and a side track to visit Mitchell Falls and the aboriginal community at Kalumburu.

Passing Queen Victoria’s Head we came over the Leopold Ranges and took the turn off for Silent Grove campsite where we setup, the next morning it was a short drive out to Bell Gorge before walking down to the bottom of the gorge for a swim being joined by a small water monitor.

Next stop was Galvans Gorge just a short walk from the carpark, this was one of our favourites as we had the place to ourselves and the water was great for a swim early in the morning.

Manning Gorge just near the Mt Barnett Roadhouse was our destination, after setting up we decided to talk the walk out to the gorge, listed as 2km this was well within our normal range so off we set. First challenge was to cross the creek by the campsite using the small boat and ropes, the temperature was about 32’C and the walk was not so easy with many ups and downs but finally we could hear water and were not disappointed with the views. Fred nearly sprinted to get in the water and before long we all were chilling out in the warm waters and jumping of rocks under the waterfall, one guy was even jumping from about 10m, seems his girlfriend was not so keen. Back at the river we swam across and used the boat to ferry the dry clothes and camera across.

Our plans were to change from here on, the Gibb is known for its sometimes rough road conditions as it is dirt for most of its length and so also becomes corrugated. We had been having a good run so far as the graders had been working and the road in general was in good condition, not far from the Kalumburu Rd we hit some large corrugations and after slowing we felt the caravan not riding right. After we stopped we were greeted with the sorry sight of the drivers side tyre destroyed and the van resting on the tyre, a spring ubolt had snapped which dropped the spring off the axle. Now we were a few hundred km from any assistance and thanks to all those that stopped to check we were ok, special thanks to the family that had picked up the spring and returned it to us. It was time for some bush mechanics and so using a rachet strap I was able to jack the van up to relocate the spring before holding it all together with the strap, limping slowly to the rest stop 15km up the road we finished the day with a swim in the Gibb River to wash off the dust.

Our options were limited but Drysdale Station was closest so the next day I left Kel and the kids with the van and went looking for parts, unfortunately nothing suitable was available so after refuelling I returned to the van. Other than using the satellite phone and calling an expensive tow truck our only option was to keeping heading towards Kununurra taking it easy, we knew the graders had been through that section recently so it was in good condition compared to returning from where we had come, and so taking it easy and checking frequently we made it to Home Valley Station and enjoyed a few wines in the bar listening to the live music.

From Home Valley we took a drive into Kununurra and I was able to find the right replacement ubolts along with a couple of spares, back at the van repairs were made and we decided to just continue on to El Questro just down the road, here we booked in for 4 nights and spent the days taking in the sights around the station, we also got to catch up with old friends from Sydney which was great. Lili got to go on a short horse ride and we all got to swim in the creeks and springs on the property, the last day we went out to Emma Gorge which has a fantastic plunge pool at the end which was enjoyable on a hot day. Coming back to the car we topped up our water bottles from the Boab tap, not sure how that one works?.