Gibb River Road May 2014

Hi Lewis & Leanne,

We did the GRR last July and here's my thoughts.

We didn't spend any time in Kununurra so can't help there but as for the GRR goes our musts sees would be El Questro was excellent, Home Valley OK, Ellenbrae fantastic scones but OK camping, King Edward River/Mitchell Falls awesome, Mornigton Wilderness Camp fantastic, Charnley River good, Silent Grove camping OK, Bell Gorge beautiful, Windjana Gorge excellent, Broome nice but over run with grey nomads at that time of year (July).

We also made it to the Bungles and we loved it so if you have the time make sure you get down there and spent at least a couple of nights there.

All in all our Kimberley experience was fantastic and would go again in a heartbeat, GRR was a mix of good through to rough but the Kalumbarub Road was pretty rough except for the stretch that had just been graded, road out to Mitchell Falls was pretty rough too but worth it, we camped at King Edward River.

All up we spent 2 weeks on GRR which felt like the right amount of time for us with seeing a lot without feeling rushed.

Hope this helps and enjoy this beautiful part of Australia, it's a long way from everywhere but well worth the effort.

Cheers, Lloyd

Been to Kununurra twice...hope to go again...features for us were the zebra stone gallery, the Hoochery distillery, lake argyle, the impressive ancient geology (ripple stone everywhere) and the 'winter' weather - the Bungles are not too far away and the 5 rivers lookout up at Wyndham is impressive. As for the Gibb....Anne at Drysdale River Station has a fair bit of info on that site re travel in the Gibb RR area....links there can connect you to the regional tourism sites that cover that road's attractions.

Agree with other comments - we liked it so much a couple of years ago that we're going back again this year (missed the Mitchell Plateau last time, and regretted it ever since).
In addition to others' comments, we rated the camping and walks at Manning Gorge very highly, as well as Tunnel Ck which you can do from Windjana. I reckon a couple of weeks is the minimum for GRR, esp if you want to go up to Mitchell Falls.
Agree that if you are staying at Kununurra, the trip down to the Bungles is a must, plus going out to Wyndham (plus there's great swimming at a deep gorge on the way), and also spending time on Lake Argyle.

Hi Lewis and Leanne

This Gibb River Road trip is the best of the best in Australia.

The must do in Kununurra is the Triple J boat up the Ord to Lake Argyle and return by bus - or the other way round. We were lucky to get the run up which is the reverse, and not available all the time.

You can check My Blogs 2008 or through my profile for all the main places to see on the Gibb River Road and the side trip to Mitchell Falls and Kalumburu.

Purnululu is another must see.

Tips? Take you time and enjoy; 100 kilometres a day is plenty to travel if the road are mediocre, and it is usually less than that between stops anyway.

I am happy to answer further questions of anything you would like more details about.

Motherhen

We travelled west to east on the GRR in 2011.

Here's my blog entry: GB in a BT: Gibb River Road

In Derby/Broome see if you can get on the day trip doing the Horizontal Falls. Best thing we've ever done.Horizontal Falls

The "must sees" are all very personal as I wouldn't miss anything if I had time to see it. Try and work out what type of camper you are, will you stick to the main icons or get off the beaten track, are you a station stayer or prefer free camping, etc. You need to ensure you are self sufficient.

Road conditions will vary so don't speed, adjust your tyre pressures and enjoy the journey.

If you are considering staying at stations, my latest mail is Charnley River Station has closed this year. Hopefully that's not permanent as it's an amazing place.

Please feel free to visit our blog for some ideas, we will head up again this year, our 4th trip since 2011.

Enjoy!

Gibb River Road

Gibb River Road 2012

Also heading to the Kimberley/GRR mid May/June.

Have planned our trip using the bountiful information from Birgit's Kimberley Australia Travel Guide

You can obtain some information for free, but I paid the $27.50 or so for the downloadable PDF files to fully plan our trip and have reference at hand which I have produced in hard copy and loaded the PDF file onto a tablet we are taking with us.

Oh boy! Just 7 weeks to lift off!

Hi Lewis and Lee,

There is an excellent website here to help with your research, if you havent already seen it. Apart from what others have suggested (all places already mentioned are well worth going to and exploring), the Kununurra region has some additional places to see. Keep River NP is a little gem, and the Duncan Road circuit down to Halls Creek and back to Kununurra via the Bungles takes in some very nice gorges (Marella Gorge was the highlight for us). The JJJ cruise up the river from Kununurra is excellent. The Ord Irrigation scheme has had a chequered history but just taking a drive around the area shows the variety of crops grown.

We have a couple of blogs about our trip in 2008, starting here

Its an amazing part of the country, take your time if possible and have a great time.
If you are readers and/or into Australian history read "Kings in Grass Castles" by Mary Durack before you go to give you some idea of what has taken place in the pioneering days.

Lewis and Leanne


I am doing the GRR in May/June this year. My third time and looking forward to it.

A good site to research your trip is:

http://www.kimberleyaustralia.com/


Hope you have a great trip.


Tjilpi

Hi Lewis & Leanne!

Look for us too. There will be seven of us packed into our dark grey Land Cruiser pulling a camper trailer. We will be heading out of Kununurra onto the GRR in the last week of May and taking eleven days to get to Derby.

I guess you will be in the rig pictured in your post?

OzBadDude

There is a track called the Karunji Track that circumnavigates the Cockburn Range. It is only a short drive in from tythe start of the GRR.Well worth taking it in. We got a map and permission fom Emma Gorge. There may be a cost because it goes through El Questro property. WE had camped at El Questro and it was included in the fee. You can make it shprter by joining from Wyndham near the Diggers Rest place. It has some magnificent mountain views. We took all day and had the sun at our back all the time.

And we found Home Valley a better place to stay. Cheaper than El Questro and best of all not as crowded.

This trip was in 2010. Parts of the file "Australia" by Baz Lurhman, were made on the northern flats of the range. I was told that he stood on the rock in front of our car in the photo below and chose that place.

Phil