Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 22:48
Hi Barry
All good advice from wendys.
While conditions may vary and sometimes the road is good, like just after grading on opening and before the crazy tourists corrugate it again, but in reality parts will always be bad even while the graders are working.
This site is jut not working
well for me, so I cannot find a recent post where I gave similar advice to hereunder, as did others.
Assess it after talking to others who have just come in from it when you get to
Derby or
Kununurra. We met a man at a garage in
Derby with broken shockies on his 4wd. He’d left wife and tent somewhere in the middle and limped into
Derby for repairs. Bear in mind some will say as smooth as a baby’s and others will say worst road ever, but listen to them all and sort the wheat from the chaff. Come July the droves of tourists, many in hire vehicle driving much to fast and endangering other road users, make the road corrugated very quickly.
Have a
plan B. Be prepared to go tenting and enjoy this wonderful place for two or three weeks or so, taking in the
Mitchell Plateau and
Kalumburu. We took three and a half weeks from
Derby to
Kununurra. Doing a loop back via the bitumen only takes two or three days, but does give you the opportunity to spent two or three days at the must-see Purnululu where you can’t take your caravan anyway.
Geikie Gorge at
Fitzroy Crossing is very different to the other gorges and worth taking the DEC boat to see
the gorge – very good value. Then you have the choice of leaving your van at
Kununurra or
Derby.
If you take your caravan and have a
breakdown, be prepared to pay between $10,000 and $20,000 to be recovered. Is it worth the risk? Even if all goes
well, every corrugation is doing damage which will show up eventually – maybe while you are somewhere else remote.
Read a little about our wonderful three and a half weeks touring the best part of Australia in the travelogues for 2008 at
Travelogues Australia So Much to See. You can contact me further if you want any more detail.
My personal advice is not to risk your caravan;
camp out, and get into all the nooks and crannies while camping out.
Motherhen
AnswerID:
454411
Follow Up By: Member - Min (NSW) - Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 15:47
Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 15:47
Very
well said, Motherhen.
I have not travelled the Gibb since 2001 so I guess things have changed because we travelled in an XTrail with an on-road ct and did not see another setup similar to ours. We managed and did most of the side trips including
Mitchell (left the trailer at King Ed River),
Bell Gorge and Mornington. To do it in an on-road van would be foolish - it is a long way. The side trips can be particularly corrugated or just plain rocky and potholed.
From ten years experience we now know that our ct is just as capable as many off-roaders (and now we have a robust 4x4 tow vehicle) but an on-road van is a different matter.
I saw a caravan pull in to
Laura - he was heading to
Weipa - and all his cupboards and inside fittings were falling apart. He drilled and hammered them all night and set off the next day. We were heading to
Cooktown. In
Cooktown we heard about this same fellow pulling in with his shattered van a day after us. He must have turned around almost immediately.
People say it will be okay if you drive to the conditions but sometimes conditions cannot be travelled without damage. It's all a matter of judgement and, as Motherhen said, watch who is coming off, talk to them and aski them if they encountered any set-ups like yours.
But one way or the other, see the
Kimberley.
Min
FollowupID:
727962