Kimberleys
Submitted: Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 09:07
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jjob222
Hello all, I have a question re the Kimberleys that I hope to have some feedback on. Firstly though some background. My wife and I will be beginning an around Oz tour in the next 18 months or so that at this stage looks like it will take aprox 2 - 3 years as it will be a working holiday. At present we have a small 14 ft viscount seabreeze which while gr8 for weekenders and even our last 10 month stint to the gulf, (albeit a bit cramped), we do not believe it will be suitable for a tour of this magnitude. We would much prefer to have something a bit more substantial in the size and comfort dept. During our journey however we intend to make a side trip into whatever areas of the Kimberleys that are accessable. Our two options are to buy a smaller heavyduty offroader like a supreme getaway, or a larger van say Jayco or Millard or the like and to leave this one behind whilst we do offroad exploring. Problem with this arrangement is that we would require an additional compliment of portable
camping equipment that we would be carrying for 2 - 3 years for a possible 4 week trip! My question therefore is how much of the
Kimberley region if any, would be accesable to us with a normal type caravan? Or does anyone have any other options that I may not have considered. Oh by the way my tow vehicle 06 Navara 3.0 TD, And I will be considerably limited in funds for the purchase, so dont even mention Bushtrackers or the like. Thanks in advance
John
Reply By: Notso - Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 09:17
Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 09:17
I depends on how you define the Kimberlys.
With a Supreme getaway there is no reason why you cant take it along the
Gibb River Road if you take it easy.
If you want to do
places like the
Mitchell Plateau then
camping gear would be necessary.
We baby sat a Cattle station outside
Fitzroy Crossing for 6 months over the wet season in 2004/5 heaps to see and do in the area.
AnswerID:
314652
Reply By: chisel - Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 12:11
Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 12:11
Consider just buying the portable gear when required and sell/giveaway/throwaway after the
camping bit.
Camping gear is pretty cheap these days if you only need it to last a short while.
AnswerID:
314664
Reply By: Boobook2 - Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 12:22
Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 12:22
Look at an offroad Goldstream. It won't go everywhere but it will certainly be ok for the Kimberleys inc
Mitchell Falls and Kalumbaru. Tougher than a Jayco. Get independant
suspension.
AnswerID:
314665
Reply By: Member - Graeme W (NSW) - Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 14:48
Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 14:48
Bungle Bungles is a no go for any kind of caravan. If you wanted to go there you would either need to tent it, take a tour or do a day trip. A day trip is not enough time to see everything in my opinion.
AnswerID:
314678
Follow Up By: Member - Mark H (VIC) - Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 15:15
Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 15:15
As Graham said but if you had an offroad camper you could get in, we even saw offroad Jayco campers in there. As Boobook above mentioned, a Goldstream would be good with the comforts of a van but freedom of a camper. They're surprisingly big inside.
Cheers,
Mark.
FollowupID:
580707
Follow Up By: Motherhen - Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 21:22
Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 21:22
We haven't got to Purululu yet, but i understand that they let camper trailers in but not caravans, and that if you take a caravan in they will make you take it straight out, regardless of brand or size.
Mh
FollowupID:
581132
Follow Up By: Member - Graeme W (NSW) - Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 23:40
Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 23:40
Motherhen, they will turn caravans around. A good offroad van, like you've got, would have no trouble with road conditions. I think they've taken a safety first approach. The biggest problem is most likely that the road is narrow and some supposed off road vans would struggle.
The Bungle Bungles is a magic place though and worth the visit.
FollowupID:
581162
Follow Up By: Member - Mark H (VIC) - Sunday, Jul 13, 2008 at 12:39
Sunday, Jul 13, 2008 at 12:39
With the road into the Bungle Bungles it's the sharp drops into gutters and creeks that would see long vans dragging their rears and probably getting stuck. The 50+km drive takes 2 to 3 hours and has hardly any straight bits, it's all up and down and around corners, corrugations etc.
Mark.
FollowupID:
581219
Reply By: wendys - Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 16:10
Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 16:10
We carried basic
camping gear on our 3 year round-oz trip, with off road van. Gave us flexibility to go
places where vans banned (Bungles), irresponsible (
Simpson Desert), or where we just didn't want the hassle of towing anything (OTL Track). It also allowed us to do a number of great short trips,
camping just for a few nights - like Googs Lake, Palm Valley/
Boggy Hole,
Steep Point etc. You don't need a lot of gear and some of it is used with van anyway - like outside table and chairs. We were in at the
Mitchell Plateau in 2007 (
camping) and I wouldn't consider taking even our solid off roader in there - the track was very corrugated, rocky. We were ok but it would be very interesting to hear how many vehicles and things being towed had damage and breakdowns through the 2007 season, in there. We heard that a number of off road vans were damaged but that was hearsay and I do not know its truth. Another factor is that the
King edward river crossing is often deep enough to be an issue for vans.
AnswerID:
314687
Reply By: Ken S - Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 17:03
Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 17:03
Just recently watched a dvd on towing the caravan to Cape
Yorke and back , apparently they have also taken the same van to
Mitchell Platue . Think the van was called Kedron , based in Queensland ,looks pretty tough .
AnswerID:
314692
Follow Up By: Motherhen - Friday, Jul 11, 2008 at 00:15
Friday, Jul 11, 2008 at 00:15
Yes, Kedron are one of the tougher off roaders, but darn near as dear as a Bushtracker. Saw a couple on the GRR, mostly Bushtrackers going all the way, but some ordinary off roaders like Coramal, the odd Trackmaster too, and a Supreme or two. A few other brands as
well out there. Even 2 large on road Jayco Heritages, which they left at Drysdale while they went further on.
Mh
FollowupID:
580827
Follow Up By: Motherhen - Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 21:32
Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 21:32
7 Bushtrackers and 1 Kedron went up to
Mitchell Falls the week we were there, but again i'll say that I wouldn't do it. Much easier to leave the van at the
King Edward River camp and have an easier drive. The last few kms is also a bit narrow, with not much scope for pulling of if you meet oncoming traffic, so towing a caravan may not endear you to other travellers you may meet on this stretch. Bushtrackers regularly go to
the tip at
Cape York, but jj is considering less robust and expensive vans that these types
Mh
FollowupID:
581139
Follow Up By: Motherhen - Monday, Jul 14, 2008 at 19:08
Monday, Jul 14, 2008 at 19:08
Sorry to all the "Trakkies" - i just noticed i had mis-typed Trankmaster.
Mh
FollowupID:
581427
Reply By: Oldsquizzy (Kununurra) - Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 23:29
Thursday, Jul 10, 2008 at 23:29
There is some that make it to the plateau and some that dont.
It's the luck of the draw. If you dont make it and need to be retrieved from the plateau you need very deeeeeeeeeep pockets.
AnswerID:
314756
Reply By: Motherhen - Friday, Jul 11, 2008 at 00:11
Friday, Jul 11, 2008 at 00:11
Some people leave the caravan in either
kununurra or
broome, and hire a 4wd camper and do a full loop -
gibb river road, and return via bitumen. Personally i have reservations about the risks taken hiring a vehicle should something go wrong - but there are lots of people out there choosing that way of doing it, and it just may be best for you jj.
Motherhen
(just spent 3 weeks out on the GRR
Mitchell Plateau and to
Kalumburu)
AnswerID:
314757
Follow Up By: Kroozer - Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 01:45
Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 01:45
Hi Motherhen, what was the condition of the Gibb road between
Derby and
Wyndham. I suppose it was pretty rough by now, will be doing it in about 3 weeks and hoping they might be doing another quick grade if its rough by now. Did you lose many tyres on the trip?
FollowupID:
580966
Follow Up By: Motherhen - Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 17:23
Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 17:23
Hi Kroozer - it was really good when we went through.
We got through mostly in June - before the July rush comes and carves it up again. The GRR itself was mostly good, and we met graders working in a couple of
places. Worst on GRR itself was Mt Barnett to
Kalumburu turnoff - but they may have graded that by now as
well. It was not bad - just a few patches where people has driven through when it was wet, and you could skirt around those. You'd met worse roads in any rural area.
In the region: Fairly corrugated from
King Edward River to
Mitchell Falls, but not big corrugations, and slowest was the stony road to
Kalumburu, even though it was mostly graded when we went (drove very slow on the last bit where it wasn't), and the grader has virtually done the lot when we returned.
El Questro road in a bit corrugated; just typical for a dirt road, and the grader was starting on it as we left. Took the van to
Kalumburu.
No tyre problems whatsoever.
Mh
FollowupID:
581053
Follow Up By: Motherhen - Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 21:28
Saturday, Jul 12, 2008 at 21:28
Image Could Not Be Found
How bad is this Kroozer? About the worst bit of GRR when we went through, and the tracks around as smooth as - - -
It is sure to get worse with the peak July traffic, but on the GRR itself, it was all less corrugated that the Shire road to our front
gate.
Mh
FollowupID:
581137