Kununurra to Broome (via Gibb River Rd)

On our first day in Kununurra (Monday 18 June) we mainly caught up with jobs, rested, painted, planned our Gibb River Road assault (infamous dirt road through the Kimberleys), drove to lookouts and checked out the dam wall and agricultural areas.

On Tuesday we took a back road (Parry Creek Rd) to look at lower parts of the Ord River, including a good look at Parry Lagoons (which is part of a Ramsar wetland). Marlgu Billabong had a bird hide and we had never seen so many water birds in the one place – we all loved it. 

Marlgu Billabong at Parry Lagoons

A bird

Unfortunately a fire was in the process of burning across the floodplain, but we weren’t sure how far it spread after we left. We then went 10 km up the road to the port town of Wyndham and when we saw the huge estuary we felt like we had now crossed Australia from south to north. Wyndham has the most amazing and breathtaking lookout on a hill behind the town where you can see 5 large rivers from one place, including the Pentecost, Durak and Ord rivers, all meeting and draining out to sea.

The Big Croc at Wyndham

We then headed south and onto the Gibb River Road to camp at El Questro Wilderness Park for a couple of nights.

Start of the Gibb River Rd

On our first morning we headed out early (before the crowds) to Zebedee Springs to swim in warm thermal springs. 

Zebedee Springs

Later, Jim drove down a track to do the El Questro Gorge walk, and really got the Prado wet by driving through water nearly up to the top of the wheels – luckily the door seals didn’t leak (the bottom of the doors were well under water). 

Jim tried not to worry too much as the Prado went deeper and deeper. (Lucky it's the dry season!)

El Questro Gorge

El Questro Gorge

That afternoon we drove out as close as we could get to the El Questro fancy accommodation ($1.5K per night) but couldn’t see much. 

Chamberlain Gorge at El Questro

 We then took another slightly scary 4WD track up a steep and narrow hill top (Saddleback) to watch the sunset.

Saddleback Ridge

On Thursday we did the Emma Gorge walk. The walk itself was nothing really exciting, but the swimming hole at the top was magic! The water was freezing cold, but we climbed up some rocks to another small but warm thermal spring rock pool overlooking the waterfall and main swimming hole. It was pretty special. 

Emma Gorge (at El Questro)

 We then drove further west to camp for the night on the Pentecost River at Home Valley Station with absolutely fantastic views of a long and spectacular mountain range across the river – the photos don’t do them justice. It seems everybody camps by the river despite the salt water crocodiles that also live here.

Lunch Stop

Part of fantastic view from our Home Valley campsite

On Friday, we drove about 300 km on the Gibb River Road over some good and not so good road to reach Mt Barnett Road House, where we set up camp for 2 days near Manning Gorge. We did the walk to the gorge the next day where we all had a cold swim. Jim and Ned made it across the pool to sit behind the water fall. That night we had more damper on the campfire, which finished off a great day.

To start the walk to Manning Gorge, we had to swim across this creek

Manning Gorge and falls

Elsie and Monnie at Manning Gorge

When checking out the next day, Jim was asked again if he had a senior’s card. No doubt this is just a standard question in these parts, rather than any reflection of Jim’s looks. There are lots of old people out and about travelling around – even those with walking sticks attempt to rock-hop down gorges. We’re glad we are young enough to rock-hop quickly and safely. Anyway, we hit the road and stopped at Adcock Gorge.

When filling up the car later that day at Imitji Road house, we noticed some diesel dripping from underneath the car. While we were concerned about this (and had the option of waiting hours for a mechanic), we pressed on to Bells Gorge which is supposed to be one of the best in the Kimberleys. Unfortunately, 10 km before the gorge, the drip was worse, so we headed back to the main road (Gibb River Rd) and went as fast as we could to Derby that night, cutting short four additional days of sightseeing we had planned.

Luckily the leak slowed and we made the 200 km to Derby with no major problems – although some rocks yet again destroyed an electrical connection to the camper trailer. 

While it’s not ideal setting up camp in the dark, driving through this country as the sun is setting is pretty special.

Queen Victoria's Head (Napier Ranges)

Napier Ranges (about 140 km east of Derby)

 On Monday Jim set about trying to resolve the car and trailer problems while Claire helped the kids catch up on school work. To cut a long story short, the Prado had a broken fuel pipe into the tank, such that when Jim tried to top up the fuel tank in Derby, with Ned under the car to see if he could see a “small” leak, all the fuel going into the car’s inlet pipe gushed straight onto the ground, narrowly avoiding giving Ned a diesel hair wash. (It had been a while since he had a wash anyway.) The new part would take 4-5 days to get here from the east coast. Yes, despite all the Prados in the mines over here, three independent searches confirmed that there were no spares in WA. In doing the  rounds of the garages at Derby, Ned also experienced an intense immersion program in bush mechanic speak where every second word starts with "f".

Derby was a great place with helpful, friendly people and a few things to see as well. It was the first town in the Kimberleys and has Australia's largest tides. We learned of the terrible treatment of aborigines in the old Derby Jail and visited the fantastic Mowanjum Art and Cultural centre.

Derby Wharf. The last seagull we saw was at Lake Eyre!

Sunset at derby Wharf

Bronte wants a piece of the action in "striking the pose"

Boab Prison Tree outside Derby (est 1500 years old) - they go hollow naturally

Southern hemisphere's longest trough (at some stage) - 120 m long

Given we only had enough fuel remaining in the tank for about 400 km that had to last 5 days, we headed off to Broome on Tuesday to kill time there (and organised for the part to also be sent there). We found a great campsite with some views of the Town Beach from out outdoor lounge area (i.e. back of tent). Town Beach is on the east side of Broome whereas Cable Beach is on the west side.