Broome - Gibb River Road Week 1 18 - 27 July

Our fishing charter was a huge success. We came home with 9 big fish to fillet and put into the freezer, or should I say Ali and Dave’s freezer. AOC fishing charters did a great job and we thoroughly recommend them. A great day was had by all even if there was a ‘Dick’ on board who swore the best fishing ever was at the Florida Keys in the US of A. Needless to say he hardly caught anything all day while all around him reeled them in. At one stage I thought our placid Stephen was going to push him overboard.

The next few days were spent gathering stores and packing for our journey along the Gibb River Road and beyond. At the last minute we decided to leave our good chairs behind and bought 2 pack away chairs – “pink” Maggie – which fitted into the back of the car more easily.

As this adventure took us 21 days and is quite a lengthy edition I am going to divide it up into 3 weeks. I am relying on Stephen’s great photos to tell the story about the places we visited and I will provide some insight into the people and events that took place which hopefully will make it a bit more interesting.

Day 1 - On Tuesday 21 July we set off with Anne driving to Derby where we stopped for lunch and filled up on fuel. We found a fuel pump behind the information centre which was selling diesel at 12c a litre cheaper than the BP or Shell. Stephen could not believe his luck. Had chicken sandwiches at the park where we found a condom dispenser hanging from the tree limb. Hmmm!!! Stephen took over the driving and we turned onto the Gibb River Road to Windjana Gorge, our first stop. There were lots of people in the camping ground but we managed to find a nice spot under a tree. Walked to the Gorge late in the day. There is no swimming at Windjana as there are lots of freshwater crocodiles and the water is quite murky. When we returned to camp a couple had setup their camp on the other side of “our” tree and they had decided to sleep under the stars on their camp stretchers. Unfortunately the stars do not muffle the sound of snoring!!

Day 2 – The camp started to stir at 5.30am. What the !!! Apparently they were all up to see the sunrise. Hope this isn’t going to be a daily event. Just as we were heading off to Tunnel Creek a huge gust of wind came through the camp and blew the canvas off a camper trailer exposing all the worldly possessions of the owners, who were not there. Stephen and a couple of others pegged down the canvas as best they could before we left. The road to Tunnel Creek wasn’t too bad and we arrived at 8.45am – told you we were up early. A number of people were already there including 2 young fellas from Zimbabwe who were ‘racing’ around Australia in a ute and a motorbike taking turns riding and driving. They initially started with 2 bikes but found the going to difficult so had sold one bike and bought the ute. They were taking all the back roads, Tanami, Gibb River etc. Tunnel Creek was really interesting. It was a hideout for Jindamara (Pigeon) a rogue aborigine in the early 1900’s who caused the landowners quite a bit of grief until finally cornered and gunned down. A bit of a legend at the time. It is an interesting underground walk through the tunnel often wading through water. On the way back to Windjana we were hailed down by two old new best friends, Janet and Rob. We had not seen them since we left Kununurra so stood in the middle of the road and chatted. At this point I should point out that we had decided not to bring any grog with us on this part of our trip. You may now pick yourselves up off the floor and continue reading. There were two reasons for this decision, the first was that space was an issue and the second was we felt we needed to ‘dry out’. Rob was aghast when Stephen told him this and promised to call in at Windjana on his way back to Derby with a refreshing ale for Stephen. Back at camp while having lunch we noticed some familiar faces nearby, our NBFs Sandra and Richard. So the rest of the day went a bit like this. Rob and Janet called in so Stephen had a beer or two with Rob while Janet and I chatted, spent dinner with Sandra and Richard while the boys drank more beer and I chatted with Sandra. All this time I am drinking water and getting extremely irritated at Stephen’s ‘drying out’ phase. I should also at this point introduce some new campers who took the space of the snorer from the night before. At this time we will call them Tyreman and his missus. He had spent the afternoon fixing a tyre that had a slow leak and needed plugging.

Day 3 – Up again at sparrow’s fart (bloody campers) and on the road by 8am. Passed the camel man for the 4th time and hit some roadwork for a couple of k’s. The scenery was quite mountainous and the road windy but not too bad. We stopped at Lennard Gorge for a look see and a 3km walk. Sounds good. It was very hot and the first opportunity to try out the recovered ankle. The path to the Gorge was quite rocky but we made good time and were treated to a wonderful view above the falls. After a bit of exploring we discovered some pink ribbons which we thought was the road back on this loop walk to the carpark. After 30 minutes walking through scrub and an ever diminishing path and Anne starting to suffer a ‘meltdown’ Stephen made the decision we should retrace our steps and go back to the Gorge. We had just about run out of water by the time we reach the Gorge again so Stephen made me wait in the shade while he went back to the carpark along the original track and got some more water and something to eat. Meanwhile in the shade I was settling down for a nana nap when others arrived. How embarrassing!! We finally made it back to the car and immediately turned on the air-conditioning. We continued on to Silent Grove where we had a cold shower and spent the night under another shady tree.

Day 4 – We drove out of the camping ground at 7.59am (a pattern is emerging I think). The road to Bells Gorge was very rocky with some water crossings but generally not too bad. A rocky walk to the Gorge was well rewarded with a great day swanning around for hours in the water, eating, reading books and basking in the sun. A very beautiful place. Returned to our camp at Silent Grove to dinner then we listened to Collingwood thump Carlton on the radio. We were stunned that we could pick up reception because we were definitely out in the middle of nowhere.

Day 5 – On the road at 7.27am. Hmmm!!! Our destination today was Mornington Wilderness Camp which is owned by the Australian Conservancy Society. It is 90kms off the Gibb River Road but well worth the detour. The road in was quite smooth and we made very good time arriving at around 10.30am. What a gem of a place, great camping ground, great facilities and a restaurant and bar. We booked into the restaurant for dinner then set up camp. Unfortunately we broke a tent pole in our rush to set up and spent the next hour fixing it with some help (a battery drill) from a couple of old blokes camped nearby. We soon realised we were camped next to Tyreman and his missus – Bruce and Sharon from Bendigo. After lunch we drove to Sir John Gorge, a challenging little 4x4 track. We could not believe our luck when we realised we were the only people there. It was magic, just the two of us in this remote and very beautiful setting. We decided it was an optional clothing opportunity!!! Try not to think too deeply about this as it could upset your day. We shared a table with our NBFs for dinner. A very pleasant evening spent with fine food, NBFs and yes, red wine.

Day 6 – Finally got to sleep in. We hired canoes at the office and set off to Dimond Gorge at around 9.30am. We paddled down the Fitzroy River for several kilometres where we pulled onto a beach for a lunch of biscuits and sardines, snack bars and some water. We slowly paddled back in the afternoon surrounded by the walls of the Gorge and wrapped in serenity. Shame we had to share the setting with about 6 other couples. The drive into Dimond Gorge was another 4x4 and Stephen is having lots of fun crossing creeks and going over rocks beds. After dinner we went to a talk by the ranger on the work being done in the park. Since the society has undertaken a reduction program on wild cattle and donkeys and a controlled burning program some species of birds and small land creatures that were endangered have dramatically increased in numbers. This truly is a magnificent place, the wildlife and the scenery takes your breath away.

Day 7 – After a noisy evening we were up very slowly. The camping area here is huge and you can just about camp anywhere, however an elderly couple had arrived late yesterday afternoon and had decided they wanted to set up their tent on the doorstep of the old blokes. The old blokes were none too happy, which was fair enough. Unfortunately the old blokes had decided to enact revenge on the new arrivals and spent the evening drinking, playing canasta and making snide comments about people invading others space. This was all well and good but we were also kept awake by these irate and somewhat inebriated gray haired nomads. We packed up our little tent and heading for Manning Gorge. We were about 17 kms from getting back onto the Gibb River Road driving what could only be described as a freeway surface when we hear ph, ph, ph, ph, ph, ph. A flat tyre, poop. Stephen got down and dirty and in 30 minutes we were once again on our way with every rock now looking like a grenade. This was not a good sign as the most difficult part of the journey will be over the next few days. Along the way we stopped at Adcocks Gorge and Galvins Gorge for a swim and lunch. Feeling cooled and refreshed we stopped at Mt Barnett Roadhouse where we luckily purchased a secondhand tyre. We set up camp around 4.30pm at Manning Gorge. A night by the fire with marshmallows before yet another early night.

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