Sunday, Jul 31, 2016 at 21:41
You must've gone to the same 4WD school as my husband with your theories on sending the wife and dog first...!!!
We tried to do the Savannah in July last year. The crossings were very shallow (the crocs would've had gravel rash on their bellies!) and very easy but this year there's been unseasonal rain all round so follow the number one rule...ask. The people at the caravan parks will have heard it all as customers book in, and then there are the fellow campers to chat with as
well...
Stop at the caravan park in
Borroloola (we liked it) and chat to people who've come from the other way. We met a bloke at King Ash Bay who warned us of the corrugations when he limped in with something-or-other busted on his boat trailer.
The NT side is reportedly worse than the Qld side and we never got to
test that one after coming a cropper and having to limp back to
Borroloola for repairs and then heading
home via tar.
Now we caught the road on a very bad time and were almost in a queue at the welder's
shop but I've since read of many many successful crossings since!
Just be aware of washouts, little gullies caused by fast flowing water. These can be deep enough to really crunch if you don't see them in time (not all have the little caution sign in them!) and they can stretch a fair way across the road.
The Gibb wasn't too bad for corrugations until you try for the Kulumburu road.
Don't be put off by the fact that you have a dog through the
Kimberley. We did it with our dog and we still saw a lot (a lot more than we would've seen if we'd stayed
home!) She was on the lead most of the time (crocs, snakes, etc etc!) and we live with a fear of ticks almost all year so she's dosed up. We found the
places that accepted dogs and planned our adventures around these. Yes, add the
Gibb River Road to your trip-it was great! There's a great book and map in the
exploroz shop and it was worth every cent.
The only crossing that scared the begeezes out of me for a bit (but I'm only a suburban chick!) was the Pentecost-yeh, we did it easy all 3 times but my imagination was on overtime!
We did the trip in a Kia Sorento (the version that had dual range) and a fairly rugged little
home made camper/trailer. Hint :
check your leaf springs are extra tough!
Robyn :)
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602999
Follow Up By: Oldun - Monday, Aug 01, 2016 at 14:23
Monday, Aug 01, 2016 at 14:23
Hi Robyn, very many thanks for the rely, extremely helpful and now looking forward to it more than ever; you cannot beat other people's recommendations, at least those who have done an sound like pretty much the same situation as ourselves. Someone did suggest taking the mother in law for the crossings but I prefer my chances with the crocs.
Take care, cheers Chris
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Follow Up By: Oldun - Thursday, Sep 22, 2016 at 11:15
Thursday, Sep 22, 2016 at 11:15
Hi Robyn,
Just a final follow up. We did the
Gibb River and
Savannah way, via
Lawn Hill Gorge. It was excellent, and no injuries or damage. I did have to tighten the wheel bearings of our trailer, which came as a surprise as I didn't realise they had any (not mechanically minded). Someone at a
camp noticed they needed doing and explained how to do it. The gorges were awesome and the Sennett on GBR was stunning. The river crossings were good, the Pentecost was dry and the Calvert okay (either side were ponds that looked line the one tat the croc comes out of in Crocodile Dundee, do we didn't hang around.
The GBR corrugations were bad, the
Savannah way okay and the 'road' down to
lawn Hill, from Hells
Gate was non-existent - it seemed at times were just driving across a plain, but actually it was quite driveable. All in all as mentioned, a great trip. We are now back in
Brisbane.
I just wanted to say thanks for the advice and tips, they were very helpful as you were pretty much in the same boat as us when you did it. It gave us a big confidence boost. Bring on
Cape York.
Cheers
Chris
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