Week 27: Gibb River Road WA (Kununurra - Drysdale River Station)

 Stats Overview

Km's Travelled: 799

Km's Hiked: 27

No. of Campsites: 4

The Adventures

We have finally made it onto the Gibb River Road and what an adventure it has been so far! The Gibb was number one on our bucket list of places to see on our trip and, from what we have seen so far, it has far exceeded our expectations! We are having great weather and are loving exploring this remote section of WA. We have also been pleasantly surprised at the good condition of the road. It is very corrugated in sections - we have had a few things come undone while driving, however, it is definitely not the worst road we have been on to date. Having said that, we have seen a few vehicles/vans on tow trucks this week, so we will breathe a little easier when we finally make it to Derby!

We started the week off at El Questro, which is a cattle station right at the start of the Gibb on the eastern end. We had an awesome couple of days there and really enjoyed getting out hiking to see some of their gorges. Our absolute favourite gorge was El Questro Gorge which had a really challenging hike - definitely the hardest we have ever done! It was only short (approx 5kms) but we had to continually climb up and over rocks so it forced us to use a lot of muscles we haven't been using on our other hikes. We also had to do a few creek crossings to get to the gorge with a very deep one that came up to my shoulders! By the time we got to the gorge we were completely drenched which made it a lot easier to get in for a swim. It's fair to say we could barely move the next day...or the day after that! 

After El Questro, we hit our first river crossings, having to cross both the Pentecost and the Durack Rivers. We were a little worried about the Pentecost as people had been getting stuck in it, however, they must have run the grader through it before we crossed, because we had a fairly easy ride across. The Durack was definitely a lot deeper (the water was above Bertie's tyres) but was shorter than the Pentecost. The last reports we had heard before leaving were that the Durack was sitting at a depth of 800mm, so we definitely had a restless sleep the night before we crossed! Once crossing we stopped in at Ellenbrae Station to reward ourselves with some of their famous scones. Last year they made over 22,000 scones for the tourist season, so it is definitely a place to stop if you want a sweet treat!

Our number one destination for this week, and the whole Gibb, was making the detour up to Mitchell Falls - which was well worth the extra fuel and rattling! We had the most amazing time this way exploring many waterfalls and rock art sites. The amount of rock art we saw in Mitchell River NP and around our campsite was insane. There is so much of it they don't even put signs up for it all. We stumbled upon a whole section of rock art while we were trying to get under a waterfall. If you want to see rock art the Kimberley is definitely the number one place you should go! While out looking for rock art we also had one of our scariest hiking encounters to date, when we were returning to the car and discovered 2 massive, wild bulls (one with huge horns) standing right near the path. They stared us down the whole way back to Bertie and it was so hard keeping calm and not sprinting back for safety! It was at that moment I was very thankful that I had grown up around cattle and knew a thing or two about their behaviour and how to try to keep yourself safe! Although, we both agreed it was an experience we hope we won't be repeating anytime soon!

After our little detour north, we will be continuing to head west and believe we should make it to Derby by this time next week. Hopefully we can drive ourselves there, rather than being carried out on a tow-truck!

Kodak Moments

Some one was very excited to finally hit the Gibb!!! - Gibb River Road

The beautiful Emma Gorge with the coldest water ever!! - El Questro

Trying to defrost in the sun after another icy swim, this time in Amalia Gorge - El Questro

The colours and scenery of the Kimberley is surreal. We are completely blown away by this part of Australia! - El Questro

We have had some adventurous hikes...the drop over the edge was a little unnerving! - Amalia Gorge

We were warned not to go near the temperamental donkey...so Will wasn't quite sure what to do when he approached! - El Questro

Just a little creek crossing! - El Questro Gorge

I slipped down these rocks on the way out much to the horror of onlookers! Will missed the whole thing but thought it explained why they were all giving him filthy looks! - El Questro Gorge hike

We got to climb up a waterfall which was a bit of fun! - El Questro Gorge

We absolutely loved El Questro Gorge! The hike in was worth it and the water wasn't completely freezing! - El Questro 

Managed to snap a picture of a flock of black cockatoos flying over head at sunset. - El Questro

We made it across the Pentecost, the first major river crossing for the Gibb. - Pentecost River

Lookout to the Cockburn Ranges, one of the prettiest sites we have seen! - Cockburn Ranges

The screwdriver and socket wrench have been getting a work out with all the corrugations!

Treating ourselves to scones and tea! - Ellenbrae Station

Words cannot even begin to describe how beautiful this site is! My top bucket list stop for the entire Gibb! - Mitchell Falls