When the Cat's Away…

Author: Mrs A

Well, sadly not every day can be adorned with beautiful birdlife and stunning scenery, one must clean up at some point. Today was that day…and we’re not quite there yet!

The first wash in our 2kg washing machine went on at 7am, and we pretty much chain washed (each wash is 36 minutes) until 4pm this afternoon….someone with more energy than I can do the maths on how many washes that worked out to be, but it was a lot, I can tell you! 

Mr A also spent the day turning our Landcruiser and two mountain bikes from red dusty dirty things to modes of transport we can safely use without turning ourselves red.

Yesterday afternoon we were very excited to see another ZoneRV pull into the caravan park – the first one we’ve seen on the road. So we spent the morning comparing notes with the lovely Vonda and Greg from country Victoria – who proceeded to help us fix up a couple of little issues we’d had after those hundreds of kilometres of corrugations. There’s bound to be something work loose – and we escaped lightly compared to many we’ve met. Again we are loving meeting people on the road who otherwise we would never cross paths with. Just lovely people. We are seeing a very different side of Australians – and they aren’t all grey either!

I note there has been a request or two to know where on the planet we are right now, so I have produced a map showing our route to date – we have gone from east to west, and now we see sunsets over the water instead of sun rises! 

Now preparing for roast potatoes and fresh barramundi on the BBQ with a pea purée…back to home cooking tonight. Mr A is selecting a wine from our ever depleting cellar….

We’ll be off line tomorrow as we are spending the night on a boat out at the horizontal falls – more adventures ahead! 

Author: Mr A

We absolutely loved our walk last night into the gorge – so it was up at dawn and in again – this time armed with bacon and egg wraps and a thermos of herbal tea. Very civilised. Even the crocs looked jealous. 

Then it was pack up the van (so easy!) and off to Derby. We were counting down to hitting the bitumen – first time for a couple of weeks – and mixed feelings about getting phone reception back. We knew there would be much to sort out after being offline for 10 days.  As it turned out, the world had pretty much carried on turning without us. Amazing really…

We rocked up at our caravan park in Derby and queued along the road outside to check in (it’s Australia’s last great wilderness, remember?) and got ourselves a lovely big site right near the front of the park. There’s more than two hundred sites here – so probably over 5/600 people. And they aren’t all grey….Catherine for instance is turning blond…not grey…she’s not amused as her gorgeous brunette hair lightens in the sun…I look on and smile…

We booked a table down on the wharf a 5 minute drive away and watched our first sunset over the ocean in Western Australia…finally it dawns that we have driven to across a continent. Feels pretty good. The lovely Mrs A chose the snapper and chips, and I went for the MASSIVE PORK RIBS! OMG – they were huge – so big I immediately lost 50% to my dinky wife and got in return a very small piece of fish. Not a good trade for me. This was our first BYO place since Sydney so we were excited to take our Saperavi from Gapsted Wines in the Victorian high country – a fabulous drop we think. 

With an enormous sunset flooding the sky all is again good with the world. 

Location: Silent Grove to Windjama Gorge

Distance: 136km

Time: 3 hrs 15 mins

Author: Mrs A

We left our crowded camp at 7am, eager to put the crowds behind us and get back on the road. It had been a sticky hot night and we hadn’t slept that well, despite retiring early.

Soon we were back on the Gibb, heading west towards our final destination, Windjama Gorge. There we found a great camp spot and unhitched. After some brunch, we jumped back in the car and drove to Tunnel Creek, about another 33km further along the road.

Tunnel Creek sees a 1km stretch of limestone hollowed out by the creek over thousands of years, making for an interesting underground walk, through water and surrounded by bats by torch light. It was certainly a novelty and an interesting hike, but rather busy with tour groups and families enjoying the ‘adventure’. 

We headed back to Windjama and headed off on a walk from camp. Much more spectacular. The gorge surrounding our campsite is spectacular – huge black pillars, quite unlike the red sandstone we have seen along the Gibb, and bringing forth thoughts of Mordor and Game of Thrones.

We hiked for about 6km in total, enjoying a real walk along real paths, rather than rock hopping. The Lennard River which flows through the gorge only during the wet season, is now a series of waterholes, teeming with fish and many freshwater crocodiles. It was not hard to see these crocs, they were everywhere!

The sun dropped low in the sky as we completed our walk, making for some great views and photographic opportunities, and then we headed back to the mobile apartment for hot showers and cocktails as the sun set. A lovely evening, fitting for the end of this leg of our trip – tomorrow we head back into civilisation and mobile reception – finally we can Google our burning questions and do some research for the next stage! We are also looking forward to getting things fixed (a few things that have rattled loose along the way) and removing the red dust from our possessions!

Distance driven: 147km

Time:  3.5 hours

Author: Mr A

We packed up this morning and tackled the 2 hour drive out of the Mornington Wilderness, reflecting on what a great experience it had been to stay there. A quick top up of diesel at the Imintji Road House, $2’s a litre (ouch – but cheaper than they last fill! Two apples and a pallett of strawberries were procured, as our first fresh veg we’ve seen for weeks), and we were soon pullling up at the Slient Grove campground. This was where we left the van and headed up the short track to Bell Gorge, a short walk/rock hop (Kimberley classic walking track) and a climb down to an amazing swimming hole complete with a perfect waterfall framing the view.

We are privileged to be in these wonderful places. I can’t help but always wonder for how long humans have been swimming here and feeling the same simple pleasure. The latest estimate would say from the last Ice Age, around 50,000 years. Have we changed that much over those years in how we feel about taking a plunge in such a beautiful place? 

Back at the van its a lovely shower in the en suite and a vodka, soda and fresh lime al fresco, with the left over garlic damper from last night. Dinner followed…how about this…a chicken jalfrezi with a “Kimberley Aloo”. Now you might not find that on your local curry house menu, but after 3 weeks down the Gibb and no access to fresh supplies one needs to improvise. So the only fresh veg left at this point was kumera, and the freezer had some frozen peas, so in a unusually inspired moment I suggested a variant on Bombay aloo (peas and potato in a curry sauce). Mrs A being the wonder cook that she is, excited on this grand design and there it was on the plate…awesome. A Chocksotne Shiraz from the Grampians stood up nicely to the power of the spices. Dessert will be the strawberries bought today and some dairy free ice cream from the freezer. Who could want for more?

Interjection from Mrs A: 

Kimberley Aloo Recipe (serves 2-3)

Kumera (sweet potatoes) x 2

1 tsp turmeric 

1 tsp garam masala

1tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp chilli powder (more to taste)

1 tsp cornflour

2 bay leaves (fresh, dried or frozen ok – we had frozen)

250 ml/1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

• Boil a pan of water and add potatoes. Cook for about 10 minutes
• Meanwhile mix up spices, stock and cornflour in a separate bowl
• Drain potatoes
• Add spice mix and peas
• Cook up, stirring regularly
• Once sauce thickened, serve.

Distance: 149km

Time: 3.5 hours

Author: Mrs A

We departed from Manning Gorge early and filled up the Landcruiser with $2.05 a litre diesel at the Mount Barnett Roadhouse as soon as they opened at 8am, plus topped up with water. Our intention for the day was to try to get into Mornington Wilderness Camp, but failing that, head to Silent Grove, near Bell Gorge. 

We had low hopes for Mornington, given we had originally booked for three nights and then changed our minds – the new dates being already fully booked. Everyone we spoke to along the Gibb told us it was constantly full and they had given up hope of getting in. Ironically, our punctured tyre and flight over Mitchell Falls rather than driving up had gained us a few days, and we called in to Mornington on the radio at the top of the road just one day past our original arrival. They looked up our records and it seems an error in communications on their part meant they still had our booking – we were in, and they were willing to shift our dates by one day to allow us the three nights we origianally paid for – great! 

We drove the 80km down to the camp elated, and enjoying the fabulous scenery, quite different from our standard Gibb-Kimberley views. Two hours and three or so river crossings later and we were checking in. The Mornington Wilderness Camp is owned and operated by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. They only allow 25 vehicles/50 people to stay here in total, meaning it is a pretty exclusive location.

We immediately signed up to a birdwatching walk tomorrow morning (meet at the office at 5.45am!) as they have several threatened species here, including the Gouldian Finch (which we failed to see at El Questro) and the Purple-Crowned Fairy Wren. The research they do here is groundbreaking – a few years ago they discovered a frog completely new to science.

A short walk along the creek close to our camp allowed us to see our first Buff Robin (also endangered), Crimson Finches and a Pheasant Coucal. We truly feel we are in the Kimberley now. After birdwatching in the morning, we plan to take our pack rafts onto the Fitzroy River down into Diamond Gorge, one of the key stunning attractions here. We’re really looking forward to that.

A couple of mobile apartment casualties today – we opened up the van to find one of our speakers had fallen off the wall – the screws which held it up having rattled undone – fortunately no damage and easily fixed. Less easily fixed is one of the rear caravan legs which seems to have cracked and will not come down – possibly a rock flying out of the rear wheels (other caravanners tell us it’s a fairly common occurrence) – makes for a squeaky caravan when moving around now.

Cooking roast chicken and sweet potatoes on the Weber BabyQ tonight accompanied by peas and broccoli. Should set us up for a good sleep and prepare us for the alarm clock in the morning!

From: Barnett River Gorge

To: Manning Gorge

Author: Mr A

All gorged out? No not yet. This was a cracker again today. After navigating out of last night’s camp without causing damage to the mobile apartment…phew…we turned our nose westwards again on the Gibb. The road is in better shape on this section. Some corrugations but nothing like what we experienced from El Questro to the Drysdale Sation turn off. No sharp “cut your tyres as soon as look as you” rocks…corrugations still but sandier. We think the grader might have come through as well. 

We pulled into Mount Barnett Road House and got our day pass for Manning gorge (’tis privately owned), thinking we wouldn’t camp here given it was a mere 3.4 on WikiCamps (our cut off point usually 3.5), but after a longish walk into the gorge and then a swim and a bake, we found our fresh water tap was not spewing forth the good stuff. We decided to try changing the filter, and got so far, then stuck. A kindly neighbouring van man helped us get it off (I can do it next time!) and still the fresh tap wasn’t working. Ah he said “that will be a fuse then”. Sure enough one of our fuses had been dislodged. So all sorted. People are so friendly and helpful on these camps. It’s a great atmosphere. So after a few beers together we ended up staying here the night (or long term parking as our neighbours termed it). 

But back to the gorge walk. It was a hot one – no, not the ‘backpackers-walking-in-their-bikinis-and-boots’ hot, the temperature, of course. A fantastic swimming hole awaited us, framed by a picture-perfect waterfall. It was simply wonderful. A feta cheese and beetroot wrap (sheep cheese of course, given madam’s dietary needs), and a lovely cup of herbal lemongrass and ginger tea and we were set. 


So dinner was another magnificent concoction from Mrs A, a gnocchi based dish with a chicken and chorizo in a tomato, ginger and garlic sauce. A Barossa Shiraz just kept it company nicely. Now we will take the rest of the bottle down to our neighbour’s campfire and exchange travel stories, and tips of how to live and love life on the road. 

Author: Mrs A

Distance: 92km

We left camp by 7.30am and almost immediately were crossing the Durak River – absolutely still and stunning in the early morning light. Apparently it is inhabited by crocodiles but unfortunately we didn’t spot any on our drive across. On the other side of the river, we were following the grader, a large truck smoothing the road. Such a shame he hadn’t done the piece of road that tore up our tyre yesterday afternoon, but that’s fate. Our first destination for the morning was Ellensbrae Station, a large cattle station which also offers camping, accomodation, scones with jam and cream (!!) and most importantly for us, a tyre repair service.

As we drove off the dusty Gibb River Road, it was like seeing an oasis. A building shrouded in borganvillia flowers among green grass and leafy, shady trees, and flocks of birds everywhere. We chatted to the tyre repairer who took a look at the tear in our Mickey Thompson Tyre (we thought were invincible!) and told us firstly, he had no spares to sell us that were the same size, and secondly, that he thought it was too big a tear to repair – his usual size being about 1cm wide, and this being about 4cm!

We retired to the veranda for scones, cream and jam (Mr A) and a ham and tomato toastie (me) while he took a closer look. Unfortunately he confirmed that the tear was unrepairable, and called ahead to the next cattle station, Drysdale, to see whether they had a tyre they could sell us. Fortunately they had, and put it aside for us. We farewelled Ellensbrae and set off for another 3.5 hours drive to the next station, their closest neighbour! 

It’s so interesting chatting to people in these parts. During the wet season (October to April) most of these cattle stations are completely cut off from the rest of the world, the Gibb River Road being completely impassable by multiple floods. Often the only person they would see would be the Australia Post delivery man who flies in via light aircraft and lands on their property once a week to deliver the mail and parcels – it sounds like they do a lot of online ordering to ensure he arrives regularly!

We drove on relatively sandy roads to Drysdale Station, but they were hard going, being extremely corrugated. Everyone gives you different advice – one couple we met suggested we should dive no faster than 55km/hr on these roads and we are sure to come to no grief…meanwhile the folks who tried to repair our tyre yesterday (and perhaps inadvertently made the tear worse…) told us they drive at 110km/hr! We took the slower option, which is perhaps bumpier, but ensured we arrived in one piece.

Arriving at Drysdale we again met up with a couple of other campers we had met before at El Questro, and had lunch at the bar – Mr A opting for the ‘biggest burger in the Kimberley’ – beef, tomato, egg, bacon, cheese, pineapple, beetroot and iceberg lettuce in a bun. And he managed it too!

We purchased our new spare tyre, not the same brand, but the right size at least, and should see us through if we had another issue, and also decided to book on a flight out to the Kimberley coast and over Mitchell Falls tomorrow morning. It’s expensive, but around a 2 hour flight with only two other passengers, we feel that $450 a head is worth it, and much less stressful than another 160km drive each way on corrugated roads to see the falls on foot. 

We are now showered (temporarily clean and not covered in orange dust!) and settled in for another early night – the sun sets early in these parts (by 5pm) and the dust makes your eyes sting – it’s not too hard to turn in by 9pm!

From: El Questro Station

To: Durack River Crossing

Distance: 135km

Author: Mr A

Forever to be known as “puncture Sunday” – yup – bound to happen to us – as it did to so many others we saw by the side of the road. More of that in a minute, first the positive things. Catherine spotted some Brolgas (large storks with red heads) and went to investiagate with camera, only to find a tree full of cockatiels as well! 
The bird life up here is stunning. Hardly any mammals though, which means limited road kill so we like that. 

After the first 50kms the alarm went off on the tyre pressure monitoring system (bought after the last puncture!) – this time it was a rear car tyre – our faithful Mickey Thomson’s had let us down – literally. 

The Gibb is a brutal road on tyres – full of corrugations and sharp stones – we had a massive rip in the tyre. So we set to work and got the spare off and the car jacked up and the dud tyre off. As I was trying to lift the new one on a couple of trucks pulled up and asked if we were OK. They helped lift on the new tyre and tried to repair the old one. Sadly it wouldn’t hold a bung – we tried 5. So we are going to try and get it repaired at a small cattle station tomorrow who have a specialist tyre repair guy. if we can’t…well lets face that when it comes. We now wish we had spent the extra money and got interchangeable tyres between the van and the car. Then we would have 3 spare tyres as we have 2 on the van. Never pays to scrimp in the tyre dept. 

So we pull up to camp and open the door of the van – its full of dust! Clouds of it everywhere. I then recall on the handover the guy from Zone RV saying something about vents that legally had to be put in for ventilation – but a lot of people block them off. Now I understand why. So we have taped them up now.  

After a clean up, a shower in the van, and a couple of beers the world seems a brighter place. 

We are seeing a few small issues in the van, like handles falling off and bedside lamps coming to bits, but it’s understandable given the punishment this road dishes out. We went round with a screwdriver and tightened all we could see. We both are sure we made the right decion to move up from a camper trailer though for this trip. We love the “pull up and pull open a beer” lifestyle that comes with minimum set up time. Then there’s more time for all the exploring type things. 

We are camped close to the Durack River, which looks so tempting to get the packrafts out and go for a paddle. However, reports say salties have been seen in the last few weeks, so we will give that a miss! It’s dark at 5.30, preceded by a beautiful sunset over the river (memory card not reinserted so use your imagination). 

Dinner tonight: a chicken madras with fresh veggies, accompied by a 2009 De Iuliis Shiraz from the Hunter. The wine cellar still looking strong despite concerted attempts at running it down. Will we make it last until the Margaret River? Such troubling questions haunt us…