This trip we had decided to do something a little different, leave the van at Kununurra and hire a camper trailer so we could explore some of the more remote areas, in this instance a trip along the early stages of the Gibb River Road from the top end.
The Gibb River Road is an unsealed road of about 700 Km running from near Wyndham in the north to Derby at the southern end. It was originally constructed to take off thousands of cattle from the many large stations and transport them to the meatworks at Wyndham at one end, the export facility at Derby at the other end, or elsewhere.
Many off-road and semi off-road caravans make the 600 odd Km trip but our van is not suitable for that type of travel on the rough and very often corrugated road.
Those with Hema maps of the Kimberley will, no doubt, remember the cover photograph of the Pentecost River crossing with the Cockburn range in the background. One of my aims on this trip was to get a shot of the Patrol (and me) at that crossing.
We had taken a day trip once before down part of the Gibb to El Questro and had been impressed by the views of the Cockburn Range, the rivers and the surrounding country. This trip we planned to stay at El Questro for a few nights, then move on to Home Valley Station a little further down the road for another few nights, and then go to Drysdale River Station.
We arrived in Kununurra a couple of days early and used the time to re-stock our food supplies and buy a few extras for the different type of camping that we would be undertaking.
We have previously stayed at the Lakeside Caravan Park Kununurra and did so again, securing a very nice and quiet site on the lake. As usual, the bird life around the lake was prolific and I spent many hours chasing Kingfishers, Crimson Finches, Blue Winged Kookaburras and many other birds around the place. One evening I was becoming annoyed at the constant woofing of a dog, to then realise it was a pair of Barking Owls having a chat!
It was slightly daunting to realise that we wouldn't have the home comforts that we are very used to in our caravan - no aircon, no lounge, no fans, no microwave, no large fridge / freezer and, for Rob particularly, no shower and toilet.
I had set up the Patrol to support this extra trip, with the trusty Waeco fridge / freezer on its slide out, the dual battery system, boxes for additional food etc, some tinned food just in case, a box containing a range of recovery gear, a box of tools and a number of rechargeable camp lights, we were well prepared. I will be more than happy if I finish this trip without even opening the box with recovery gear.
We were due to pick up the camper trailer at 10 am and were there right on time. An inspection of the trailer found it was very sturdily put together and had, in fact been built precisely for the type of roads and tracks found around the Gibb River Road. It was dust proof, thanks to a clever method of sealing and was fitted with or contained absolutely everything we needed for the trip down to linen, cooking gear, items like a torch, batteries, matches, detergent and tea towels, table, chairs and whatever tools may be required.There is also a large dustproof storage area
It looks to be quite compact, but is very spacious when set up. This sized unit woul be ideal for a fanily with two or three kids. It weighs around 750Kg. Check out the maker ;
www.downundercampers.com.au
Hooked up and ready to go
A quick lesson on how to put the unit up, some time to pack our stuff away and we were on our way. It's highway from Kununurra to the Gibb River road turnoff (about 55 Km) and the Gibb is sealed through to the El Questro turnoff (about 33 Km) where it becomes a bit corrugated in parts with loose stones with a couple of creek crossings thrown in over the 16 or so Km.
We decided to take a private camp spot on the banks of the Pentecost River six or seven Km up from the El Questro township, far better that the general campground. It turned out to be a great choice.
Our private site was right on the river, isolated, well away from the track, quiet and very peaceful
You can see that the camper trailer, when set up, is quite spacious. The bed is in a raised section in the trailer, with storage underneath. There was another annexe that we could have used, but we were happy with the basic setup.
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Down river |
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Up river, including a small swimming hole at top |
Views of the bend in the Pentecost River from our campsite. We did not see a single person the entire time we were at the campsite.
The small "swimming hole" was an area where the river stones had been placed to dam a section, creating a small hole about the size of a spa. There were no holes in the vicinity that would hide a crocodile.
It really was an idyllic spot, nice just sitting and reading, listening to the never-ending sounds of the river and the large numbers of birds. There were a few animal pads through the tall grasses and a couple of times we had a startled wallaby walk right into the camp, only to charge off noisily into the surrounding scrub.
Our dinner was accompanied by a small insect-eating bat that came swooping by at regular intervals feeding off the insects that were attracted to our light.
Sleep came easily and we slept very soundly until about 4am when we were woken by the chilling sounds of dingoes howling quite close by. I have no fear of dingoes, they're only dogs after all, but Robyne was quite frightened at the time - I guess it's partly the dingoes bad press and partly the fact that it was a completely moonless night, also fear of the unknown.
I can imagine the consternation that would have been caused had this happened while we were camping with our grandchildren (as we do every January). I can just imagine Annalise and Krystal, Amy-Rose and Lauren rushing in to their parent's bed after the first eerie howls, it would have been hilarious. I'd also hazard a guess that my daughters Donna and Leanne would be a bit nervous as well !
I went out the next morning to see where the dingoes had been and found their tracks on the dirt track about 80 metres from our camp.
Dingo tracks, a fairly large dingo at that!
We were to have a visit from one or more dingoes ever night we stayed there
At breakfast the next morning we discovered that something had been eating our fruit. My guess is that it was a possum.
After a leisurely breakfast we checked out the brochure provided by El Questro and decided to explore many of their attractions, but that's another story.
Part 2 coming soon.
Regards
TJ
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