Gibb River Road - Itinerary

Suggest you might be better off substituting a couple of nights at Mornington Wilderness Camp instead of Charnley. The drive to and from Mornington is very speccy. From the camp base at Mornington, you can go canoeing down Dimond Gorge (hire canoe), go to Sir John Gorge and Cadjeput Waterhole. Charnely's gorges etc, for me, are not in the same class. Mornington also gives an insight into current conservation and research efforts in those parts.
Mitchell Plateau somewhere - suggest King Edward River, near junction of Kalumburu and Mitchell Plateau roads. Good place to camp - and can swim.
Home Valley - a must. Their "bush camp" on banks of Pentecost - unreal views. Depending on what drives etc are available at Home Valley when you get there, you might want to stay an extra night there and cut a night off ElQ - time allocated there seems too much.
Have you considered the side trip into the Bungles? They are really something special.
You are trying to cover ground in a couple of weeks that it takes many travellers a couple of months! We've had 3 Kimberley visits now, of 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 9 weeks, the most recent in 2007. There is so much to see and enjoy. But as a 'preview trip" you are on the right track. However, this does not allow much chill time. Best chill places, I think, are Mt Barnett, ElQ, Kununurra and Broome.

Very personal....
Delete 1 Charnley.
Manning Gorge to Mitchell Falls is a big day.Camp at King Edward River crossing.
Add another night at the Falls.
Reduce El questro.
Add Parry Lagoon.
Add 5 Rivers Lookout at Wyndham.
Take a boat trip from dam to dam on the Ord.
Camp on the lower Ord.

Cheers,
Peter
OKA196 Motorhome

Hi Colby - Ours was similar - and we had no real time plan so stopped and stayed where we wanted to and had relaxing time. Often 100 kms per day was enough (between the sights as well as enough driving). Time frame was around about as below:

We left from Derby, but went back down the highway to go to Fitzroy Crossing to see Geikie Gorge. This is very different to the Gibb River Road gorges, and the DEC run boat cruise to see it is relatively cheap. Seen at this stage because we weren't coming back this way but continuing on into the NT.

First night after Geikie Gorge bush camped. Next day Tunnel Creek and Windjana Gorge for one night, long walk start early morning, leaving after the walk early afternoon.

We skipped going to Lennard Gorge due to size of or rig (although others did get in with similar)

Silent Grove one night - started walk early in morning before too hot

Charnley - two nights

Called in to Adcock Gorge and Galvans Gorge during the day before stopping at -

Manning Gorge (Mt Barnett Roadhouse) two nights. The long walk to the Upper Manning Gorge and Falls is a good one.

Day trip into Barnett River Gorge - nothing special. Camping no longer permitted (although people were camped there).

Drysdale River Station (homestead camp) one night

King Edward River Camp (my favourite) - three nights. Day trip to Mitchell Falls. We left the caravan and were going to camp at the Plateau, but didn't need to - plenty of time to get back to KE River.

Kalumburu - McGowan Island - three nights

KE River camp again - one night just to enjoy it

Drysdale again - one night

Bush camped before El Questro to maximise time there.

El Questro - three nights with long days with so much to see

Wyndham - one night

We spent some time at Kununurra including trips; two nights Purnululu - caravan not permitted, one night Keep River NP in NT with caravan (was going to be two, but we had to return to Kununurra), TripleJ boat cruise up the Ord, overnight fishing trip to the Pentecost, and various drives around the area.

Duncan Road to Halls Creek, including Old Halls Creek and surrounds (camped at Negri River and Marella Gorge on the Duncan).

Halls Creek - one night before leaving via the Tanami, visiting Wolfe Creek Crater (can be a day trip from Halls Creek).

We were a total of nine weeks in the Kimberley, with a longer than originally planned stay at Kununurra. Original plan was to go to Purnululu from Halls Creek, but due to a delay in Kununurra we went from there, and it is a lovely drive.

Still working on 'My Blog' trip reports.

A fabulous trip.

Motherhen

Charnley is a nice quiet spot with some good gorges but not as spectacular as others.

Winjana can be seen in 1 day and tunnel creek the other day, staying at winjana camp ground both nights.

Manning to Mitchell falls is a long drive and not recommended. The camp ground at King edward river (i hate recommending it because it's becoming trashed due to overuse) would be a camp.

Please don't take a trailer on the road to Mitchell falls. Many do against advice but it rips up the road and makes the already bad corrugations worse. Take a tent with you. If people can't live without their mod-cons in their vans and campers then why are they going so remote?

The fruit and veg grown in Kununurra during the dry is fantastic. Stock up and feast.

There isn't a lot in Halls for tourists, believe me I'm living and working here now. The countryside around the place is good though.

Parry's lagoon at Wyndham is great as is the 5 rivers lookout. It's a nice friendly little place, Wyndham.

Barnesy

As others have indicated above I think you are allowing to much time at El Questro and you have missed out Wyndham & Lake Argyle.Wyndham Zoological Gardens and Crocodile Park has the best informed croc show that I have seen anywhere in Australia.

If you want to see the Bungles at it's best then it's worth getting up VERY early (like getting up at your camp site at first light) and go straight to Cathedral Chasm first before any other visitors and also avoiding the heat. The sun rise is on that side of the Bungles and the formations have enhanced colour first thing in the morning. After visiting Cathedral Chasm drive around to Echidna Chasm followed by any of the other sights in the area.

For best photos of the spectacular Echidna Chasm I would suggest you take a tripod as the camera settings in the subdued light may need slow exposure speed and you could get a bit of camera shake.

The Cockburn Circuit is a good trip from El Questro. When at Kununnurra go see the Ivanhoe Crossing.

After a while some gorges in the Kimberly tend to look a bit like the last one you stopped at. The Bungles is one place that I will definitely return to in the future.

.

Hi Colby,

There is so much to see and do in the Kimberley that its almost impossible to do it all in one trip. Have had 2 trips there and would go back again tomorrow except that there are other places yet to see. Have a look at our blogs of our Kimberely trip last year. The only places that you mention that we have not been areEl Questro, Manning Gorge and Charnley so cant comment on them.

My top spots would have to be King Edward River and the art sites there, Bungles, Mornington, and also the boabs that you see everywhere.. Lake Argyle and many others. Allow plenty of time for swimming. If you are able take a chopper flight at Mitchell Falls, and the flight out to the Horizontal waterfalls from Derby is very special if your budget allows.

Last year we found GRR to be in generally good condition, the Kalumaru Rd mostly OK but with some corrugated spots. Road into Mitchell falls is very corrugated, but by taking your time and driving to the conditions you should be OK.

Have you checked out www.kimberleyaustralia.com Its the best source of up to date info.

Enjoy your trip

Val

Nobody mentioned Barnett Gorge - one of the best. Mornington AWC also great but beware the canpsite is fairly shady and no genny's allowed.

Barnsey, We took out Bushtracker up there to the Plateau, including 900 mm fast water on the King Edward Crossing. The road (it is not a formed road and the graders just push the boulders around) has some bad corrugations, not created by camper trailers but by clowns trying to be macho and seeing how fast they can do the trip.

We spent five weeks on the Gibb and McGowans Island on the coast north of Kalumburu is a great spot with excellent fishing.Kalumburu has a very interesting history. used to be fully self reliant in terms of food etc - now everthying is imported.

Home Valley and El Questro are fine if you like up-market touristy places. The morning traffic coming out ElQuestro was like the Friday rush hour getting out of Perth.

B-T

Hi Colby,

We did trip in April/May 2008 from Broome to Kununurra via the Great Northern Hwy (detour to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel ck) then return to Broome via the G.R.R. Spectacular at the very least.

The Bungle Bungles are a must, only facilities are toilets in the camp grounds, take what you need with you, allow a couple of hours for the trip in and out each way, two night minimum recommended, watch out for tour coaches!

If you travel through Fitzroy Crossing a tour of Geikie Gorge is a must, nice caravan park,

Three or four nights at El Questro would be good to chill out with, cheap camping, good facilities and plenty to see,

Manning Gorge is a lovely place although fuel at the Mt Barnett r/house was the most expensive for the whole trip - 20 cents a ltr more than the big towns (diesel),

The various walks in the gorges and tracks require decent footwear, runners at the very least,

Lots of o/seas tourists in hire 4wd's/campers and no off-road experience and gear, don't be surprised if you have to help someone at some stage,

Lower your tyre pressures on both your vehicle and trailer when you hit the dirt roads, drive properly and you won't have any tyre worries.

It's a magic place up there, have a good trip.

Regards, Bill S.

Colby, as see by the enthusiastic replies that you are headed in the right direction.

I hope you can be flexible in your plan, and take it as it comes. We all enjoy different things and places, and talking to others along the way brings up to date ideas. Although i planned which gorges i would like to see, we left decisions like Kalumburu or not, or whether to take the van all the way to Mitchell Falls or leave it along the way at the KE River Camp, until we got close to there (the Mitchell Falls decision being made after talking to others at the lovely KE River camp). We had no real time frame, just a direction of travel, and a map showing all the gorges open for easy access.

Be prepared to stay longer (supplies and fresh water) as the past two years it has rained in May/June, and the roads are closed for a few days to avoid surface damage.

If i hurry, i may have my blogs on our tour ready by the time you go.

Mh

Colby - looks like a good trip coming up, Wouldn't waste 5 days at El Questro tho, they will just relieve of your money and put you in a paddock shoulder to shoulder with 300 others. Would definately stay 5 days at Home Valley instead and do all the El Questro stuff from there.
Would highly recommend going to Cape Levique if you've got time great camping spots at Middle Lagoon, Chile Creek and Kooljamon.

Dogbolter