kimberleys
Submitted: Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 at 15:33
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I'm travelling to the Kimberleys along the
Gibb River Rd right through to
Kalumburu. I have been advised that my subaru outback will be ok for thr trip but have also seen some conflicting advise. Any comments would be welcome.
Reply By: Will - Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 at 21:01
Thursday, Apr 29, 2004 at 21:01
The problem is that the state of the road changes from season to season, from year to year. The Gibb should be ok provided you are not going at a time of the year when you will have to do serious river crossings, ie after the wet. During the dry season the Gibb should be ok - I've past a daewoo on it (yes it was a hire car)!
I took the kalumbaru last year during the dry and the corrugations were quite bad so i'd make sure your
suspension is in good order before heading off. Tyres also need to be good, and prepare for possible punctures if not.
All the best.
Will.
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Member - John- Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 00:06
Friday, Apr 30, 2004 at 00:06
You should be OK so long as you are careful and cautious in the rougher bits. The Pentacost
River crossing is rough and rocky and hopefully below the fording depth of your Suby. Some of the bulldust stretches just north of the
Kalumburu turnoff will be a bit challenging as you will have to keep up some momentum whilst flying nearly blind.
Note
check in advance that you can get the ULP fuel where you need it. If you have a hot turbo engine that runs on premium unleaded, then forget it there is no such fuel in boonies.
Your biggest risk will be the std "P rated" tyres on these cars. Their side walls will be easily shredded on sharp rocks if you have pressures wrong, are overloaded and speeding. You will need two spares for sure (as do all prudent fourby drivers in the
Kimberley). You will also have extreme difficulty getting replacement tyres in your size quickly but with luck somone will have stock in
Kununurra or
Broome.
If you can fit "AT/ LT" rated tyres that would be the smartest thing you could do, even if you put them away in the shed when you get
home and save them for your next big trip.
I personally reckon you can easily do the whole GRR and
Kalumburu Rd in a 1964 Holden ute during the dry season so long as you have your
suspension in top notch condition and the right tyres. You would have trouble in a 2004 ute because of very poor ground clearance.
Another solution is to rent a full size 4WD when you get
Kununurra, do a loop through to Kalumbaru and back and then carry on down the GNH in your Suby. Or take an off road bus tour and have nothing to worry about except getting on with all the wild
young backbackers on the bus with you!
JohnS
Derby, WA
AnswerID:
56656