The Gibb River Road - Part Two

So after a quick one nighter at Drysdale Station which got down to almost zero degrees we continued south on the Gibb River Road. 

Out first stop was Barnett River Gorge which isn't one of the major gorges in the area but worth a look.

We didn't spend a lot of time here but from the end of the 15 minute walk there are views down a small gorge with a mountain range in the background. The Gorge is on Mt Barnett Station and you can camp here if you choose to.

Not far down the road however is the Barnett River Roadhouse which is also the gateway to Manning Gorge (all part of the station).

Manning Gorge is a great spot to camp as literally 100m from the camping area is the end of the gorge  and an awesome swimming hole with white sandy beaches (nowhere near the ocean). A lot of other places require a substantial walk to swimming holes which gets a bit much in the heat if you simply want to cool off without walking. This spot has it all though.

After a day relaxing the following day we decided to do the 1.5 hour walk to the top of the gorge where there was meant to be another great swimming hole and waterfalls.

The start of the walk is on the opposite side of the river, so you can swim or jump in the tinnie and pull yourself accross. 

The walk is mostly through grass land scattered with Boab trees.

Once at the other end you traverse down the rocks into the end part if the gorge which is stunning.

A further two hundred metres up the gorge and you reach the end where there is a pretty large and deep swimming hole with some pretty impressive falls (although not much water this time if year).

You can swim right under the falls and stand on the rocks, looking back down the gorge. Awesome spot!!

And climb to the top.

The view back down the gorge from the top of the falls.

Back at the camp site you can climb up the rocks to see a great view of the swimming hole and river.

The camping area is great too with plenty of private spots in the trees.

I never get sick of looking at the amazing shapes of the Boabs. 

All in all Manning Gorge is a great spot to camp, especially if you are restricted in how far you can walk or just hate walking (I don't recommend the Kimberley if your the later).

So after three nights at Manning we headed south again with our next camp being at Bell Gorge, although we had a quick stop at Galvans Gorge which is pretty much beside the road. Nice spot but not much here really. 

Heading south again. Road pretty good still.

Just before the turnoff the Bell Gorge you find Imintji Store which apart from small shops at some of the stations, is the only shop on the entire 700km road. It is also the only place for mechanical and tyre  repairs. Some stations advertise repairs but not one so far actually had a mechanic there or one willing to actually lend a hand. Don't expect the usually friendly people willing to help you at most the stations. For whatever reason they refuse to even lend you a spanner. Drysdale Station being the worst. 

There is an endless number of people stuck there waiting for tyres and other repairs. Most other travellers will lend a hand when they can which is good but if you are a mechanic and need work (the charge what you like kind) then you should get out here for the touring season. You will come back a wealthy man.

Imintji had great food and very friendly staff. 

Not far past the store we reached the turnoff to Bell Gorge and the closest camping area to the gorge being Silent Grove. As this area is now within the King Leopald Conservation Reserve it is a bit cheaper than the over priced stations. $11 per night per person (which is cheap around here).

We passed by the camping area and headed straight to the gorge which is only a 1km walk from the car park (10km from the camping area though). 

Another incredible gorge in its own right with a cascading waterfall plunging into a deep swimming hole.

A few hundred metres over the rocks and you reach the bottom of the falls. The gorge looks small in the photos but at the end if the gorges in the photo above it actually heads to the left and opens up into a much larger section with even bigger falls. There is a walk around to there but Kristy and I decided to swim/walk as far as we could which was to the top of a pretty large waterfall. Sorry couldn't take the camera.

Silent grove camping area below. It had good showers and flushing toilets which was nice.

The following day we continued south once again where we begin the climb up the King Leopald Range. 

Looking north east. You can just make out the road where the dust is, just to the left of the mountain.

You wind your way through the ranges which have some great scenery.

Next stop was Mount Hart Wilderness Lodge which was 100km round trip. Didn't really know what to expect of this place though.

Arriving at Mount Hart was a slightly odd experience as there seemed to be a few homesteads amongst trees and other buildings scattered throughout although there didn't seem to be anything around such as gorges or the usual attractions of the Kimberleys. As it is run by APT we wondered why on earth it was out here with no real attractions.

Once we walked into the reception area we were greeted by the most friendly and hospitable people we had met on the entire trip(and we have met some A holes). Julia an Brian gave us a coffee and some cookies and offered to show us a documentary about the place which they assured was extremely interesting. They weren't wrong.

Mount hart has an amazing history of one failed cattle station after the next. Many have tried and all failed to make a dollar as they could not manage to get the stock safely out of the ranges. Several attempts at building homesteads that mostly got washed away in the wet and they eventually settled on the current location. The last of the lease holders did mange to build some pretty good homesteads and after shipping truck loads of palms and other plants from Adelaide had created an oasis. Unfortunately he didn't make any money either and the whole venture sent him broke.

Anyway to cut a long story short, the pastoral lease ran up a year ago (2012) and the government took over the land as part of the conservation reserve and awarded APT the contract to run the homestead as a retreat. I didn't get any photos of it unfortunately as some days I just can't be bothered and just want to relax, however they clearly haven't spend any money there as it is pretty dilapilated and run down (no offence to the mangers who do the best they can with no budget). 

It is no wonder there was only 1 couple staying there as a room with a bed only (nothing fancy and still shared toilets and showers) was $220 per person per night. Haha who are they kidding!

Lucky for us they also have a camping area for $17 per person per night.

The one small attraction on the property was a tiny creek with an okay swimming hike. 2km road below to get there.

Although the place was relatively boring in general, the hosts well and truly made up for it. They let us use the facilities (bar, showers, sitting areas) of the homestead and we ended up having a great afternoon and night. Brians homemade pizzas were amazing. 

The only pics I took was of the sky and the camping area after we had packed up.

The following day we headed through the last of the ranges and down onto the flat plain that reaches all the way to Derby.

Our next stop was Windjana Gorge. I know, not another gorge, but this one is nothing like the others.

In the photo below you can see a black looking range which is actually an ancient 375 million year old Devonian reef system which is as high as 300m high is places. If what we had seen so far hadn't convinced us that the entire Kimberley used to be under the sea, this would do the job!

25km towards Fitzroy Crossing and you reach the gorge and the camping area.

The Lennard River cuts it way through the ancient reef and exits onto the plain right here at the camping area. The exit is said to be a channel from a large lagoon that was once on top of the reef. Walking into the gorge is like walking into a movie set (perhaps Lord of the rings meets Jurassic Park).

You walk up the river bead with the black walls surrounding you on both sides and the entire river bank is littered with crocodiles (although only freshies). Never seen anything like this before.

After one night we decide to walk to entire length (allowed section that is) of the gorge. Crocs everywhere.

This bird looks temporary!

Coffee and rest at the end.

The way back, even more crocs than earlier sunning themselves. At one point I counted over 80 Crocs (no mistake, 80) in one 50m stretch of the river.

The camping area is dwarfed by the cliffs.

A few late afternoon shots below. 

The next day we drive 20 odd Kms down the road to Tunnel Creek which is a creek that runs through a cave underneath the same reef system. We walked to the other end in complete darkness (apart from a torch). Another incredible place.

Check out these 3 Indiana Jones wanabees. Hahaha

After another night we packed up and drove the last featureless 100kms of the Gibb River road. We made it to Derby with no punctured tyres or any major issues with the vehicles. Go the Prados. We were lucky but also as prepared as you possibly could be which is a good start.

What an adventure! 

We saw endless people stuck out there in all sorts of crazy vehicles including lowered skylines and wicked vans with shredded tyres, snapped trailers, rollovers, broken CV's, and pretty much everything in between. The amount of Europeen tourists who just can't grasp the size and remoteness of Australia is incredable. I met a guy a couple of days ago who measured the distance between corrigations and calculated well over 1 million of them on the Gibb.

After lunch at Derby we pushed on an extra 220kms to Broome. What a site after 2 months in the bush. Cable Beach below!

We just couldn't wait to get onto the beach.