Kimberley Trip - some information
Submitted: Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 09:25
ThreadID:
27232
Views:
3041
Replies:
5
FollowUps:
9
This Thread has been Archived
Member - Landie
Hi
forum
We are working on a trip to the
Kimberley’s next year and unfortunately time is not plentiful.
My immediate question is; what is the quickest route to the region (say
Halls Creek) from
Sydney?
At this stage we plan on spending between 20 days in the
Kimberley’s and most likely not cover everything. We will focus more on the
Mitchell Plateau /
Kalumburu area and some of the
Gibb River Road giving ourselves time to have R & R rather than travelling everyday.
Thanks in advance
Landie
Reply By: Member - Beatit (QLD) - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 09:37
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 09:37
G'day Landie,
Just got back from our trip there, we spent a eek at
Kalumburu (McGowans was best). Camped at Drysdale
Homestead both in and out but did not do
Mitchell Plateau as there was no
water and a large fire (about a week of continuous burning) had totally blackened the place. We opted for a joy flight from Drysdale instead (very good). On that basis reckon you'l want 10 day just to do that part from the GRR.
I'm Brissie based and would travel differently, but my guess is via
Broken Hill to the central highway (Stuart I think) to Alice or
Katherine to take either the Tanami or bitumen to Kunnunnura.
Kind regards
AnswerID:
134452
Follow Up By: Member - Reto (Switz.) - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 23:33
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 23:33
Hi Beatit
How was your trip up north? Did you travelled into the
Gregory NP?
Cheers
Reto
FollowupID:
388593
Follow Up By: Member - Beatit (QLD) - Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 08:16
Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 08:16
G'day Reto,
No we didn't. We sort of had an invitation the visit Wave
Hill Station and it seemed like a good idea to travel throught
Gregory one way but the others kyboshed it. So
Gregory is relegated to a visit another time. Liked the look of the country though as we drove past its northern boundaries on the way to WA.
The trip was fantastic and even though 3 months sounds like a long time it certainly was not enough to see everything so I guess we'll have to plan further visits. Appart from some minor mechanical issues the 4 vehicles and trailers completed the trip. We had 4 tyre blow outs (3 on trailers and 1 on the car rear) which I reckon is not to bad out of 24 tyres. Plenty of top spots but
Kalumburu stands out as a great destination.
Thanks for asking.
Kind regards
FollowupID:
388618
Reply By: Peter 2 - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 09:54
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 09:54
we've gone
Sydney,
Broken hill,
Port Augusta,
Alice Springs, Tanami to Halls Crk a few times over the years, while it isn't the shortest route it is probably the quickest due to good bitumen roads except for the tanami, although there is a bit tarred these days and it is generally mostly
well graded.
With little kids we'd do it easily in a week, with just adults and a few driving you could do it a bit quicker.
AnswerID:
134455
Reply By: gramps - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 10:20
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 10:20
Landie,
Try Travelmate.com.au Concentrates on sealed roads since you'll need to save time travelling. I think your best route is around 4100ks via Dubbo,
Augathella,
Cloncurry, Three Ways, Dunmarra then
Halls Creek.
AnswerID:
134457
Follow Up By: kesh - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 14:18
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 14:18
Gramps, you didn't say so but did you mean Dubbo,
Bourke,
Cunnamulla,
Charleville to
Augathella?
This would be my choice for best transit. (then as you suggest)
kesh
FollowupID:
388531
Follow Up By: gramps - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 14:27
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 14:27
You're quite correct Kesh. I was just being a lazy old so-and-so and reading it directly from Travelmate :) It's a good run up through
Blackall,
Longreach,
Winton, etc. You can put the k's behind you pretty quickly if you're careful.
FollowupID:
388535
Follow Up By: Member - Duncan W (WA) - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 19:57
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 19:57
Travelmate.com.au is great there is a tab to creat a trip map also quickest route and quickest travel distance. I've checked it over the weekend and there was only 100m difference in there calculated distance and a Hema map distance.
Dunc.
FollowupID:
388565
Reply By: joc45 - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 13:09
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 13:09
Hi Landie,
Up on the Tanami would be the go, coming out at
Halls Creek.
If time is the limit, I'd still check out Mitchel Plateau, but miss
Kalumburu, as it's lots more of a pretty rough road.
I assume that you will come in from the eastern end, so check out the Purnululu NP (Bungles), about 2 hrs off the hwy on the way up from
Halls Creek. Also worth checking out is Old Mornington, an hour south of the GRR off Mt House.
Dimond Gorge there is quite speccy. A must-see is Bell's Gorge. Both these are a fair bit west of the
Kalumburu turnoff. Head further west, take in Windjana, then head south thru
Tunnel Creek to Fitzroy and Geike Gorge, then back to
Halls Creek and home. And Wolf
Creek crater south of Halls. All that sounds like 20 days.
That's a taste so you can really enjoy it on the next trip!!
Cheers, Gerry
AnswerID:
134473
Reply By: Bob of KAOS - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 20:33
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 20:33
Strewth,
another one who thinks a sheila called
Kimberley owns something (
Kimberley's what?). The most cursory glance at any map will reveal that the region is called 'The
Kimberley'.
The quickest way from the
Sydney's to the
Kimberley is along the Tanami. The southern end of the Tanami is just out of
Alice Springs. Syney to AS you have two main choices: Plenty Hwy or Stuart Hwy.
Whereis.com says to go via
Adelaide.
I'd go via the Plenty (Dubbo,
Cunnamulla,
Windorah,
Boulia)
AnswerID:
134529
Follow Up By: ChrisB - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 21:03
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 21:03
As you’re so correct in your grammar and spelling, where is ‘Syney’ then?
Anywhere near
Sydney?
FollowupID:
388583
Follow Up By: joc45 - Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 23:07
Thursday, Oct 13, 2005 at 23:07
I think it's spelt Syderney.....
FollowupID:
388591
Follow Up By: Bob of KAOS - Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 05:04
Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 05:04
Sorry Chris,
I meant Synney.
FollowupID:
388603
Follow Up By: Squizzy - Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 07:59
Friday, Oct 14, 2005 at 07:59
You are probably correct about the singular for
Kimberley, but as there is a lot of references to the East
Kimberley and the West
Kimberley people do tend to call it the Kimberleys.
But, then we shouldn't get hung up on the terminology of these
places, just get out there and enjoy them.
It is a wonderful area.
Geoff.
FollowupID:
388609