Gibb River Road and Kununurra

After Derby it was onto the dirt and corrugations of the Gibb River Road. 700kms of reportedly one of the worst roads in Australia. This will be the 5th time we've driven this road, so we knew what to expect, even though we had heard reports that the road was in excellent condition.

These reports turned out to be accurate and most of the road was relatively smooth, however there were the mandatory sections where we had to go down to 10kms/hour to get through due to the corrugations. But overall, it was in good condition.

Silent Grove was our first stop and Bell Gorge. This camping area in the National Park was our first encounter of camping in a dust bowl. It wasn't very nice! The hike into Bell Gorge down to the main swimming hole at the bottom of the Falls turned out to be too much for my new hips, so we didn't venture down. I'm not sure if it was my hips or the blistering heat that made us turn back. We did enjoy a swim at the top of the Falls.

The top of the Falls

The pick of the places to stay was Charnley River Station where you camp on grass, even though this year was the driest for ages.

We drove to Grevillea Gorge and hiked down to the pool there for a swim. When we arrived there was a party of about 20 people with kids, but fortunately they left soon after we arrived and we had the place to ourselves for a cooling off dip. However the kids had stirred up the water and it was very murky.

While we were swimming in this pool, we noticed quite a large skinny coloured snake climbing up the rock wall away from the pool. He looked a bit scary. So when I felt his partner brush up and over my foot it didn't take me long to decide that swimming here in this muddy water wasn't such a smart idea.

You have to climb down this ladder to access the pool and back up to get out

The next day we rode our bikes 8 kms to the Donkey Holes. The ride there was quite ok despite the heat as it was mostly flat.

We were rewarded with three water holes, of which the third was the best. Crystal clear water which was flowing. You could easily see the bottom, which is good for checking to see if there are any other friends also enjoying a swim!

The ride back was also easy enough, but by that time it had warmed up to +30° so luckily there is lots of water at the camping area for a cold shower.

We visited Ascot Gorge on our way across the Gibb. We've never ventured into here before and were rewarded with a great swimming hole, but we'd left our cozzies in the van!

We stopped overnight at the free Gibb River Crossing camp and pulled into the number 1 spot. The rest of the camps were taken so we were really lucky. We've stayed here before, but never in the #1 spot as its always taken. So we were really lucky.

Camping at the Gibb River Crossing

One of our fellow campers told us about the local Aboriginal art. So we walked there in the morning to check it out. Unmarked on the map, this was quite a nice find

Then it was off to Ellenbrae Station for fresh baked scones with jam and cream. Of course you have to stop! Imagine such civilised things out here!

A small bit of paradise along the rough Gibb River Road. They sell over 7,000 scones every year! People are just desperate to spend money out here, all it takes is a good idea

Our next stop was Home Valley Station, where they shot the movie "Australia". We've been here before and camped on lush green grass and enjoyed their pool and dining facilities.

We thought we would try their "River Camp", which is a beautiful location. But again it was a dust bowl, and we had enough of that by this stage.

Camped by the Pentecost River at Home Valley Station. Don't let the picture fool you, on top of the ground is 50mm of fine dust which gets into everything

Sunset on the Cockburn Ranges is certainly a sight

So despite paying for two nights we ended up leaving after only one night. The dust had got to us and when we tried to move up the the main campgrounds at the homestead we just couldn't find an acceptable spot. It was so busy. So we headed back up the Cockburn Ranges to where there was some phone service, rang the kids, had a shower and headed off on the last 100kms of dirt to the tar.

We booked into the caravan park at Wyndham which reportedly had grass sites with slabs. This proved not to be 100% correct, but we did have a clean site that certainly was better than Home Valley Station.

The temperature just kept on increasing and seeing we had work to do, on came the air conditioner and we spent a few hours in the cool of the van completing the Wunda expenses etc.

I left my things outside the door, as you do, and they were in the sun a bit. As the temperature reached 45° by our thermometer, my new blue thongs just didn't make it!

These were both the same size, my new blue ones shrunk in the sun. Now I ask you, who makes thongs that can't handle the sun?

As they are only 5 months old, I rang Crocs and without any discussion they are sending me a brand new pair to Darwin. That's good, because they are very uncomfortable to wear! :)

Wyndham Wharf

It was then off to Kununurra where we arrived a day earlier than our booking at the caravan park. It was so busy there that they had to put us on a temporary site for that extra night. Everyone operating caravan parks out here are saying this year there are way more caravans on the road than ever before, many more than last year even. This is putting excessive demands on the caravan parks and each one has a different formula of how to handle the bookings, some of which can be a tad frustrating for us.

The Hoochery sounded good for lunch so we spent a lovely afternoon relaxing outside at a table, again in the dust.

We sampled their rum, but as I'm not a rum fan I tried their liqueurs. Not bad

The Pumphouse is an old favourite of ours, and our lunch there didn't disappoint

Zebra Rock Mine and Campsite

Just outside Kununurra a guy and his partner have started to mine Zebra Rock. He's lived in the area his whole life and has been searching for years to find the source of this amazing rock.  He eventually found it and has been mining since 2009.  He and his partner created a new camping area and only $10 a night per person.  He makes his money on his Lake Argyle cruises.  It's just across the border in the Northern Territory. We have been in Western Australia for 5 months, it's kind of sad to be leaving, but the Territory awaits!

Some samples of Zebra Rock

They also offer camping with a Sunset Cruise on Lake Argyle. This was the best sunset cruise we've done and way better than the ones offered at Lake Argyle Resort. All the beer, wine and champagne that you wish.

Cormorant birds with chicks. To get the chicks to leave the nest, the parents have to dismantle the nest. This could be used by humans!

The sunsets here are just off the dial