Hello all,
My wife and I plan to do
Gibb River Road in September of this year, driving from
Derby to
Kununurra (and from there on to
Darwin). We have never done this kind of trek before and, understandably, we are facing a number of unknowns. Below is a list of questions we have. We would appreciate it if experienced
forum members reviewed them and give us their opinions.
The actual trip will start in
Perth and we plan to drive along the west coast to
Broome and then onto the
Gibb River Road. So the complete itinerary is from
Perth to
Darwin, one way.
1. Car type
We got a quote from Britz for their Bush Camper, which comes with all the kit we need:
camping gear, stove, very basic shower, kitchen utensils, recovery
tools and sat phone. Total price for this rental is AUD $6,268. Quite steep, but then again, we never thought this trip would be a cheap one anyway.
Alternatively we can also rent a Mitsubishi Pajero from Avis. That would cost us only AUS $2,913, but of course that is just for the car. Still the price difference is substantial.
Is it OK to do the
Gibb River Road in a Pajero, or do we real need the (truck-like) Britz Bush Camper? Given the distances we need to cover along the west coast, we would prefer to use something more comfortable like the Pajero.
2. What do we REALLY need for the
Gibb River Road?
Some people have told us we need at least two spare tyres, even though the Britz car as
well as the Avis car has only one.
Do we really need a sat phone for the GRR?
What kind of recovery gear is absolutely necessary? Air compressor? Tire kit? Shovel? Tow bar? ... We want to be safe, but do not want to do overdo it either.
3. Would it be possible to rent the kit for the GRR in
Broome and drop it off in
Darwin, i.e. a "one way rental"?
As 4WD newbies we are probably forgetting about numerous other things. Still the Internet is a great resource and we have already found some wonderful sites with excellent advice.
If readers of this
forum could chime in on our questions above, that would be awesome!
Best regards from Belgium