Gibb River /Kalumburu Road

Submitted: Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 at 08:38

ThreadID: 44439 Views:3090 Replies:5 FollowUps:1

This Thread has been Archived

Anne from Drysdale River Station

Hi All,

Just an update on the wet season and the little I know about the roads.
Well the north Kimberely had almost no wet for Dec / Jan / Feb then it poured down in March. Good thing it did or there would have been no water anywhere , it was SO dry.
The downside of late rain is of course makes the roads later opening. The rivers are falling but several are still to deep to cross. Main Roads have been able to inspect part of the Gibb River Road but the Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley ( who is responsible for the Kalumburu Road) is not able to get out there to inspect it yet. Therefore no one knows how deep the King Edward still is or what damage has been done to the road.
I don't know a date for it to all open, no one does yet.
I hate taking guesses as it depends on so many things including how long it takes to dry enough to put a heavy grader on it to fix any danger areas & how fast the rivers now drop.
If I was to take a GUESS I'd take a punt on about mid May to us anyway. Remember some bits may open before the lot is open ( ie GR Road before the Kalumburu Road) and it's impossible to give this info till it's been looked at so don't make plans on my guess.
Don't even think about sneaking up the closed road, I hear inspections have been taking place & people have already been fined for attempting it. Everyone is sick of the few who go round the closed road signs & stuff the road for everyone by getting bogged. They create ruts & bog holes which the water sits in & this then takes much longer to dry than the flat road surface, which in turn makes it longer before it can be opened for everyone.
Sorry if I missed answering posts about our area this wet season, I haven't been at home ( wish I had been) & haven't had internet part of the time.

cheers, Anne

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator Share

Reply By: Tony - Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 at 08:43

Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 at 08:43

Thanks Anne, great to hear your "voice" again.

AnswerID: 234162

Reply By: Willem - Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 at 08:50

Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 at 08:50

Thanks for that Anne. As always, a good report :-)

Now those who are heading that way this should have a better idea of when to time their travels.

So many people have absolutely no idea about just how mach rain falls in the Top End and Kimberley and what it takes to keep the lines of communication open.

People who drive around CLOSED ROAD barriers do so at their own peril. Here in SA its a $25,000 fine plus........

As you say, it then takes so much longer for the roads to dry out and opened for traffic.

Cheers

AnswerID: 234164

Follow Up By: hiab - Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 at 19:51

Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 at 19:51

too right, oenpelli had over a metre of rain in two days, katherine had one downpour of 500mm, when it rains here in the top end it really rains, still not a very good wet, the katherine river only got to 17 metres, this time last year we were flooded.

FollowupID: 495235

Reply By: Member RayJen Paj05 (NSW) - Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 at 19:09

Wednesday, Apr 18, 2007 at 19:09

Hi Anne, thanks for that info. Last year we planned to come say Hello but at the turnoff were down to our last spare. Wanted to get to Mitchell Falls too but made the best/wise decision I think. New BFGs at Kumanurra, too late to backtrack so had to come back to Sydney.

So maybe next year in the Dry as we plan to come back to Daly River.

Good to hear from you: all the best, Jenny & Ray

AnswerID: 234285