Gibb River Road

Hi Daniel

We did the Gibb River Road last June in a Patrol towing an off road camper trailer, we found the road to be in good condition but it will depend what time of year you are planning on doing it . The road itself was corrugated in parts and like a freeway in others, we met some people who were telling us their horror stories of blowing 4 tyres between ELQ and Mt Barnett but they also mentioned that they had done that part of the road in some ridiculous time. We just drove at our own pace and stopped when ever we wanted and never blew any tyres or had mechanical problems.
Also preparation plays a big part make sure you have good tyres and your vehicle and van are serviced before you leave as any breakdowns out that way will cost you a fortune.
If you are interested here are the places that we found really nice:
1/ Windjana Gorge is a must see it was breathtaking and you can get some really good photos of the Fresh water crocs there was hundreds of them you can also camp in the designated camp grounds i think from memory there was toilets and cold showers there is also an area for those wishing to use generators when camping, the only thing we found was it got really busy (again time of year) so we carried on up the road and stayed at a road side parking area called March Fly Glen not the greatest name but the view when you wake up in the morning was stunning.
2/ Mt Barnett Station be prepared to stay here for a few days and just relax it has the best swimming hole.
3/ Drysdale River Station it is the friendliest place on the GRR (in our opinion) and has the best bar and restaurant you have to try their famous burgers and you can also leave your van there and carry on up to Mitchell Falls.
4/ ELQ nice spot but over rated and over priced but saying that the Helicopter ride was stunning.

Just take your time and enjoy yourself and soak in the Kimberly life but remember once you have been you will want to go back.

Brother in law did it about 18 months ago. Jayco Eagle Off Road Camper.

Only problem was a broken fridge. All the shaking wrecked the coils I think.

We did it with an Obriens Off Road Trailer and it was no worries. It was around June 2004 and the road was good. Corrugated in places but there were a few caravans doing it as well.

Saw a few with tyre problems but most of them were Original Equipment tyres from Japan or Thialand.

Nice camp site at Ellen Brae Station which is west of Emily Gorge.

Tunnel Creek is worth a look as well while you are at Windjana Gorge

You will find the road is far from the horror it once was, though by Sept it will probably nt be at its best. As the previous poster said make sure you have good tyres, and take it easy. Run your tyre pressures at the lower end of your safe range, typically 26 to 28 psi. There are so many great sights to see. ELQ may well be overpriced, but there is a good reason, you will be amazed at so much water in so many gorges- do as many of the walks as you can, Zebbedee springs is lovely as are many others. Drysdale river homestead is great, as is the miner pool-we caught about 20 Sooty grunter there-only kep two though.

The best aboriginal art in Australia is in the Kimberly in my view, and I tried t see as much of it as I could. You will love the place.

Daniel,
Travelled the Gibb road in June with a Landcruiser and Trakmaster and had absolutly no problems, road is highly corrugated in places and dead smooth in others. My only reservation would be, are there decent shocks on the Jayco ?
Saw a couple of vans having a hard time of it by travelling slowly and shaking
themselves apart, keep the speed up on the corragations and its much easier on
both units. Bell George out of El Questro is with out a doubt one of the really great
sights in the Kimberleys.
Mike B

Hi Daniel,

I was on the Gibb River Road for two weeks last October. The road is generally pretty good but there are sections of heavy corrugations that will take their toll on the van in one way or another. It might only be something minor but no vehicle can take that amount of vibration without some sort of impact.

Things start to close around late October, early November for the wet season. Ellanbrae station had already closed when we were there and Drysdale was preparing to shut. It's also very hot at that time of year. When were you planning to be on the Gibb River Road?

Plenty of places to see and most have been mentioned already by others. My favourites were Tunnel Creek, Bell Gorge, Home Valley, El Questro, come to think of it, they were all favourites!!!! A little detour to Mornington Station is also worthwhile.

A definite requirement is the Gibb River Road guide available from the Derby Visitors Centre Derby Visitors Centre. For $4 it gives you lots of information about the various sights to see as well as good information on where to stay and what facilities are available. You can order online or you can phone them up and they will mail a copy out to you. Also the Hema Map of the Kimberleys is worthwhile.

regards,

Browser

Hi all,

Thanks for all your responses, they have been great and i am confident that i will be able to travel the road with out to much problem. I cant wait to head out there and start traveling. I have wanted to do so for some time now.

Thanks again!

Hi - I agree with everything said - I did the length of the GRR in June last year and it got a bit rough after the turnoff to Kalumburu and Mitchell falls/Drysdale River St to El Questro but otherwise not too bad at all. Was only in the car though - not towing anything. Keep the tyre pressures down as advised - I fitted new Desert Duelers before I left Adelaide - did 8,000 kms there and back with never a puncture or any damage to them at all
If you want to do the plane trip over the Mitchell falls from Drysdale River St make sure you book in advance. We went all the up there form the GRR to take a flight and they wouldn't put one on until they got a planeful or at least a decent party. We couldn't wait around just hoping so had to continue our journey to Darwin without the flight - very very disappointing. I 'phoned them to book a room in advance from a sat 'phone from Bell Gorge and they didn't mention booking a flight in advance so I didn't know about the requirement of numbers until we arrived - then it's too late! Why not have one price that makes allowance for 1 person or a planeful? Surely that would be the best way - just work out the average costs and GP over 12 months and divide by the average number of passengers. You could argue some would pay more than the reduced fare ea for a planeful but surely to disappoint some people like we were is really silly. Just my view

Enjoy
George

Hi Daniel,

We are considering buying a Jayco Eagle or Swan for an extended family trip. How have you found the Jayco pop top offroad rig ? Have you encountered any reliability problems ?

I am also Perth based and would be interested in your commetns as a Jayco pop top owner.

Cheers, Geoff

Hi Daniel,

We did the GRR in May/June last year. There was three in our group all towing offroad campertrailers. Generally the track condition was surprisingly good, in places excellent. The eastern end around the Cockburn Ranges towards El Questro is quite stony. We all travelled with reduced tyre pressures to soften the ride and impact with rocks etc but not so low that the side walls were left bulging and overly exposed. We had Cooper ST's that only had about 30% tread left, another vehicle had new Cooper STT's. The third was using standard road tyres and he was the only one to have tyre problems which consisted of 3 blowouts.

As for where you could take your Jayco, probably just about everywhere except Lennard Gorge which is notoriously rough even without a trailer. Access to Old Mornington was also a bit rough over the last 30 km's or so but still do-able with care.

We also went into Mitchell Falls and up to Kalumuru. From the GRR to Drysdale Station the road was excellent. Recommend a Kimberley burger from Drysdale and great camping at Miners Pool. North from Drysdale to Mitchell Falls T/O track deteriorated with alternately good and very bad patches. Still no problem taken with care. Great swimming and camping at King Edward River. There are a lot of differing opinions about taking trailers from KER to Mitchell Falls with some preferring to do Mitchell Falls as a daytrip and leave their CT behind. We took our CT's in and although it was slow going only the last 15km's or so of the track was really rough. The third member of our party (the same one with tyre problems) broke a shocky mount coming back out to the KER but it was no surprise to us as he drove this section very aggressively instead of just taking his time. Also, his CT was more light weight and not as robustly built as the other two on the trip. Therefore I recommend if you have any doubts about the Jayco, leave it a KER.

The track between KER T/O to Kalumburu was definitely the worst we encountered during our entire 8 week trip being corrugated, rough, washed out, lots of dips and clearly not as well maintained as the rest of the Mitchell Falls Rd. But again, still do-able. We saw a couple of off-road CV's at Honeymoon Bay so your Jayco should be okay. Having said all that, we didn't think much of Kalumburu or Honeymoon Bay and wouldn't go back in a hurry.

Highlights for us were:
- El Questro and hiring a tinny with electric outboard to cruise up Chamberlain Gorge, loved El Questro and Moonshine Gorges and lovely meal at restaurant too. Expensive yes but you go there knowing that and considering where you are and what you get, I think it was pretty reasonable. Put it this way, we didn't leave there thinking we got ripped off as we did some other places.
- Mitchell Falls hiking in, wonderful day picnicing and cooling off at the falls then 26 minute helicopter flight out to the mouth of the river, over Little Mitchell Falls, Surveyors Pool etc and back to camp. Absolutely awesome so recommend you spoil yourself if your budget will stretch.
- Manning Falls with great camping and swimming down behind the Mt Barnett roadhouse.
- Bell's Gorge well worth a look and beautiful reflections late afternoon.
- Windjana Gorge fantastic like entering another world almost. Set up your camper there and take a drive down to Tunnel Creek and don't forget your torches and wear shoes you don't mind getting wet.
- Bungle Bungles you didn't mention but if you're going that way you won't have any problems getting the Jayco in there. Heaps of CT's being taken in and access track really quite good although slow because it is quite winding and lots of dips.

Have a fantastic time. I can't wait to go back!

:o) Melissa