Gibb River Road Sealing

Submitted: Saturday, Sep 11, 2021 at 09:26

ThreadID: 142549 Views:6336 Replies:2 FollowUps:7

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Allan B (Sunshine Coast)

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Proposal to seal parts of the Gibb River Road ...... (ABC report here)

I also found this report interesting...... Can't wait for them all to go back to Bali. LOL

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Allan

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Reply By: Candace S. - Saturday, Sep 11, 2021 at 14:43

Saturday, Sep 11, 2021 at 14:43

From the ABC article:

"The latest roadworks will seal the western and eastern ends of the "The Gibb", with small sections along the centre upgraded to allow safe overtaking and reduce flood damage in the wet season.

It will mean a third of the 660-kilometre track will be accessible in two-wheel drive vehicles."

Sounds like there will still be plenty of opportunities for everyone to bang up their 4WD. :)

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Follow Up By: Peter_n_Margaret - Saturday, Sep 11, 2021 at 16:41

Saturday, Sep 11, 2021 at 16:41

Most of the west and east ends mentioned have been bitumen for over a decade.
And NONE of the GRR is inaccessible to 2WD vehicles now.
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Peter
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Reply By: Member - Jim S1 - Saturday, Sep 11, 2021 at 16:58

Saturday, Sep 11, 2021 at 16:58

Even when we "did" the GRR in 2002, the road then was fine ........... bit corrugated, but drivable for most vehicles. Fairly long between fuel stops, but generally quite OK.
Glad we did it then, with just a few other campers in most places. Didn't even bother trying the Mitchell Falls road. Our travelling companions did, but were defeated by punctures.

Great trip back then, and probably great to do again ...... at the right time.

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Jim

"Sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits." A fisherman.

"No road is long with good company." Traditional

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Follow Up By: Member - nickb boab - Saturday, Sep 11, 2021 at 21:43

Saturday, Sep 11, 2021 at 21:43

Jim : you would be very disappointed ! Compared to those days , road has lost its charm .

Cheers Nick b

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Follow Up By: pmk03 - Sunday, Sep 12, 2021 at 18:50

Sunday, Sep 12, 2021 at 18:50

We first traveled it in 2004 & don’t remember it being overly difficult Even went to Mitchell Fall & on to Port Warrender.
That section was a little tougher
We even came across a couple of backpackers in a Hyundai
Might be worse now due to the amount of traffic
Paul
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Follow Up By: Member - McLaren3030 - Monday, Sep 13, 2021 at 08:50

Monday, Sep 13, 2021 at 08:50

Agree with PMK3 Paul, we did the GRR from East to West in 2004, including the Mitchell Falls area and Port Warrender. The last 2 kms down to Port Warrender took us over an hour as there were big washouts and deep ruts to contend with. When we got to the bottom we found a couple of Victorians camped down there.

One of the worst sections of road we have ever traveled on (apart from Port Warrender) was the entrance to El Questro. Even the Kalumburu Road was not as bad as the road into El Questro.

On that trip the GRR was more like a gravel highway, not too many corrugations, and not too many travellers either. We would have been there around June that year.

Macca.

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Follow Up By: pmk03 - Tuesday, Sep 14, 2021 at 14:19

Tuesday, Sep 14, 2021 at 14:19

How about that Macca ……
We were there in June too
May have crossed paths.
Yeah. I remember the washouts on the Port Warrender road. We actually turned back a couple of kms short as we were running out of light & all the camp gear was back at Mitchell Falls campground
Cheers
Paul

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