Tuesday, 25 August 2015

THE KIMBERLEY – GIBB RIVER ROAD – Part 2 – Manning Gorge to Windjana Touring with the De-Ross Fields

THE KIMBERLEY – GIBB RIVER ROAD – Part 2 – Manning Gorge to Windjana
Touring with the De-Ross Fields

Early start again as it was going to be a long drive from King Edward River to Manning Gorge.  However we didn’t get out as early as we wanted as there was some caravan maintenance that needed to be attended to.  One of the roof clips had worked its way loose on the corrugations.  Brad was glad he had packed a comprehensive toolkit.


After a relatively uneventful drive (ie nothing broke or came loose), we got to Manning Gorge around 2pm and were happy to see our friends had also arrived at Manning Gorge on the same day.  After set up we headed the river for a much needed swim. Strung across the river was a little dingi with a rope pulley system to get you across the river without swimming in order to hike to the gorge.  The 5 girls has a great time playing with the other kids in the water going back and forth on the boat.


 


Camping next to us in tiny 1man tents were “the crazy Germans”.  They were a father and son cycling across the Gibb River Road together (hence the crazy part).  Ralph (the father) was excited to see Brad’s toolbox and the men in the nearby camps all huddled around the bike and “helped” Ralph with some bike maintenance.  They sat up with us and were very appreciative of the offer of a few cold beers.   From then on, each time we saw them on the road, we would stop and give them a cold can of coke.  They were very grateful. 



Next morning the crazy Germans were off on their bikes again and we headed out to hike to Manning Gorge.  We loaded the 5 kids in the first trip across on the pulley boat and then the 4 adults on the second trip (it was travelling low).  The hike was a rocky walk, which included a number of rock climbing sections to a lovely spot with swimming.  We all jumped in and swam to the other side in order to go to the waterfall over the rocks.


The waterfall was very impressive.  All the kids were jumping off the rocks into the water and loving it!  Brad and Darryl were inspired by a younger fitter (hotter) guy doing bigger dives from the higher rocks.  So up they went for a go.  It was funny watching them both puff out their chests and dive from the higher cliff. 

  


After we cooked up some hot dogs at the swimming hole (thanks Raelene) we headed back to the campsite.  It was so hot on the walk back so everyone swam back across the river at the campsite and Darryl, Brad and I took all the stuff across on the boat. 








That night the 5 girls all practiced dance routines and giggled.  They were all a bit tired after the long hot walk and went to bed early.  But not until Brad cooked up some more “Glamper Damper” Nutella and Marshmallows for the kids, and vegemite and butter for the grown ups.


BELL GORGE – SILENT GROVE CAMPSITE

Early morning start again to head to Bell Gorge.  It was not going to be a long drive but we wanted to stop off at Galvan’s Gorge on the way.  Only the kids (and 1 big kid, Darryl) jumped in here.  There was a swing rope which the kids loved jumping from.  Paige had no fear and was the first to jump (after Darryl had checked the water depth).  It took Sarah a number of attempts before she worked up the courage to jump in, then there was no stopping her.







The drive to Bell Gorge included a stop at Imintji Roadhouse which is now closed due to a rift between the managers of the store and the local aboriginal community, which of course required another Ranger photo







Once we were set up camp (again) we headed out to Bell Gorge.  Glad it wasn’t a long walk as it was getting very hot.  As with all the gorges we have seen it was also beautiful.  Brad has been practicing his artistic photography.

 We all had a quick dip at the top of the waterfall.  It wasn’t very deep but nice to cool off.


That night the boys cooked up a lovely campfire roast pork & roast chicken with vegies.  It was so good to have a roast dinner.  Topped off with apple sauce whipped up by Raelene (I washed the dishes lol).  



WINDJANA GORGE & TUNNEL CREEK

It was only a one night stay at Bell Gorge and the next morning was another early one to get to Windjana.  We had heard that there was no swimming at Windjana Gorge due to the large number of freshwater crocodiles.  You were able to go to the gorge but not enter the water, I was nervous just walking on the path along the gorge.  Brad made the girls pose in front of a large croc.  To say there were lots of crocs was un understatement.  They were everywhere!
   
 
We drove out to Tunnel Creek which was very dark tunnel with a creek running through it.  We all put on our headlamps and reef shoes for the walk all the way to the end.  Some sections had were sandy but others were just water right across the tunnel, sometimes to knee depth.

When we got to the end a couple asked if we saw the crocs in there, thankfully we hadn’t.  But of course, then we had to walk all the way back again.  The couple were just in front of us on the way back and shone their light to the side where there was 2 orange spots, which were croc eyes!  From there to the end I was pretty much attached to Brad and we moved fairly quickly back to the start.

That night we sat outside and watch Mama Mia with the De-Ross Fields.  The girls (including the mums) got up for a dance at the end.


GETTING OFF THE GIBB RIVER ROAD

The next morning we were heading to Broome and off the Gibb River Road.  While Brad enjoyed the experience of the Gibb (with the added satisfaction of no flat tyres), he was looking forward to getting off.  We were almost onto the gravel road when Brad made me drive!  I didn’t want to.  Could you imagine if in the last 200 meters we got a flat tyre when I was driving!?!  But he talked me into it anyway, but I didn’t do it for very long.  My first time towing the van was on the Gibb River Road!!

When we got off the gravel road we both pulled over and Raelene popped open a celebratory piccolo of Moet which we enjoyed while Brad and Darryl pumped up the tyres to asphalt road pressures.


















Well, we thought that was the end of the gravel, in another couple of kms, the gravel road seemed to be back lol.  However that was not to the standard to the rest of the gravel roads.  It was much better.

We continued our drive to Broome …..


NOTE FROM BRAD:
I was absolutely wrapped with the way the Ranger performed.  For a completely stock car straight off the showroom floor, it took everything the Kimberleys threw at it in its stride.  There were cars of all makes with various problems or breakages, but not a thing wrong with the Ranger.  Even the Highway Terrain tyres (that I was worried about) came through with flying colours.


Well done Ford! (and Bridgestone)

Monday, 24 August 2015

THE KIMBERLEY – GIBB RIVER ROAD – Part 1 – El Questro to Mitchell Falls

THE GIBB RIVER ROAD

Brad was very excited to be starting our Gibb River Road adventure. (which of course had to start with a photo of the Ranger at the road sign lol).



FIRST STOP – EL QUESTRO

It was a last minute change of plans and we decided to head to El Questro as we had heard some good things about it and our friends (the De-Ross Fields) were heading there too.  We set up camp and went for a swim in the river.  There was a number of things to do at El Questro:  4wd tracks, bushwalks/hiking, horse riding, swimming, hot springs and a bar with live music (which Brad and I snuck out to when the girls were in bed).

We indulged in all that was on offer.  The girls went on a kids horse ride and loved it.  So when Raelene asked if I was interested in doing the 2 hour sunrise ride I was keen to do it.  We both took our oldest girls with us for the ride.  I woke Abi up with the surprise of the horse ride and the look on her face was priceless.  She asked if she was dreaming.  Great morning spent with my big girl on horseback!  She was so good on the horse and definitely looked the part with denim on denim.


We explored the thermal springs at Zebedee Springs (Brad claimed the bikini clad French backpackers photo bombed his photo, somehow this keeps on happening) and floated around in the Pentecost River on tyre tubes and noodles.

Just prior to dusk, we set out 4wding to Branco’s lookout which has a spectacular view of the Pentecost River.  There were a couple of river crossing and steep mountain climbs.  Brad was grinning from ear to ear.

 

SECOND STOP – HOME VALLEY STATION

On the way to Home Valley Station was the Pentecost River Crossing.  Brad had been looking forward to this. Reports were that this is a deepish, fast flowing saltwater croc infested river.  While this was a wide river crossing, it was not as impressive as Brad had hoped, being only about 400 ml deep, and not a croc to be seen.

After the crossing is where the road conditions deteriorate. Corrugations spaced about 2 foot apart and at least 8 inches deep. Some people say to go fast enough to float over the corrugations, others say to do them really slowly.

Brad had the tyre pressures dropped down and did a combination of fast and slow trying to work out the best way for both car and van. Not sure we really worked out what worked best….it was rough anyway.




We arrived in one piece at HVS, for a 2 night stay. HVS was another ranch style stop.  Unfortunately the main pool was not working so the only relief was a smaller swimming pool that is normally set aside for the cabin guests. The five of us almost filled it! 

We only did one of the short walks here as there was no swimming at the gorges due to crocodiles.


On the second night the 5 girls (this included Lucia and Chelsea) organised a campfire and cooked their own dinner (can of spaghetti) and made some damper.  Fortunately for the parents, Darryl cooked up some fish.


THIRD STOP – KING EDWARD RIVER & MITCHELL FALLS

We had decided to try and get all the way to King Edward River in one day and then trek out to Mitchell Falls for a full day trip the following day.  So we started early in the morning as it was going to be a long day of driving and bad corrugations.

The road up to Mitchell Falls is the Kolumburu rd, and has a reputation for destroying cars and caravans (even more so than the Gibb River Rd).  When we stopped at the turnoff for a toilet break, a truck pulled in with a broken down Patrol 4WD.  Apparently it costs $5,700 to get towed out !!

Brad spoke to a few people and found out that the grader had been up recently, so hopefully, we would be OK………

We headed off and found that although there was some patches of bad corrugations, all in all the road was not too bad.

 I was determined to stop in at Drysdale Station and get one of their famous burgers for lunch.

And I wasn’t disappointed.
I also called mum and dad from the payphone which was located in a fridge!



We got to the King Edward River  campsite and found there was red dust all through the van.  It was a mess.  It seems that the vent for the ensuite was left open (maybe by me oops) and therefore the ensuite was covered in a fine sheet of red dust.  While I cleaned up, I sent the troops out to explore.  They came back and we all went swimming in a nice spot with a ladder into the river off the rocks.  It was a little bit cold but we all got in.  After we relaxed in the water, Brad calmly said “Now that you are all in, I just want to say, there is a crocodile there on the bank”.  I jumped out in .1 seconds and said I would take their photo, grabbed the camera, took the photo and then they all jumped out very quickly. It was just a little freshy.



MITCHELL FALLLS Day trip

We were up early and headed to Mitchell Falls.  We had been told by a number of travellers that the road was really rough (4 hours to do 80km), but lucky for us we were following the grader up the road for the first 35kms, however then it got messy.  The next 53kms were slow (thank god we left the van at King Edward River).

The walk to Mitchell Falls was a Class 5, 2.5km hike.  We had done a number of hikes longer than that, but this time we decided to arrange for a scenic helicopter flight back, due to a number of factors (being time restriction to get back to the KER before dark on the rough road and unfortunately Paige had been unwell for a few days and had a rough night of coughing).  We were hoping the flight was going to be a surprise for the girls, but you need to weigh in at the helicopter office prior, so that gave it away and the girls had worked out what was going on and they were so excited to be going on the helicopter.


The hike to the top of the falls was mostly shady which was great as it was so very hot!  Paige was a real trooper and kept going with little complaint (well no more than the other 2).  There were a few lookout points on the walk which were spectacular.




Then we hit the top, and that view was amazing.  It was open for swimming so we all jumped in for a swim to cool off as we were all roasting.  After we had been refreshed, we had a picnic which Brad had lugged up for us of salami, cheese and crackers.   Abi had also done a great job carrying 2ltrs of water in her bladder backpack.  Well done Abi.  Then we hung out at the falls until our flight booked at 2.30.



Paige begged to be the one in the front of the helicopter and she was not disappointed.  The grin on her face was from ear to ear and it has been her trip highlight.  Can’t say the same for Abi and Sarah who were both a bit scared.  Don’t know what they were scared of, Brad and I were on either side of them with no doors and butt cheeks hanging out LOL



 We made it back to our car and headed back to King Edward River campgrounds.   We picked up firewood on the way back and that night Brad and the girls cooked some marshmallow and nutella damper.

Wednesday, 12 August 2015

DALY WATERS & MATARANKA - 15th July


DALY WATERS & MATARANKA

Despite Brad and I having a little hangover, we got up early to race the grey nomads again to get a powered site at the Daly Waters Pub.  Brad was really looking forward to this stop.  And rightly so, it was a great spot.  The pub is so very quirky, staff were excellent and the place was set up well.


Again the girls nagged us about going for a swim so we gave in and let them work off some energy.

That afternoon we relaxed at the pub for happy hour and entertained and had booked in for the Beef n’ Barra set menu.  Good feed!  Absolutely recommend a stopover there.







As the next stop was only 150kms up the road, we took our time in the morning, and enjoyed breakfast rather than shovelling it down.  On the drive we stopped in at the Daly Waters Aerodome which was used in WWII (which is why the pub is there).  Brad gave the girls another history lesson.

We decided to stay at the National Park in Mataranka.  One set up we popped on our bathers and went to the Thermal Springs.  The water was lovely and warm.  Brad described it as Grey Nomad Stew, there was even a couple of mobility scooters there.  It was like a scene from the movie Cocoon  LOL

We headed back to camp and the girls happily played in the bush next to the van and then wrote in their diaries.