GRR - Bell, Galvan, Manning & Mt Barnett Gorge's -2018

We left Windjana and headed back to the Gibb River Road, not long after that the road became dirt but so far it was nothing to be worried about, both our vans are off road style and corrugations don't bother them provided you use some common sense, lower all tyre pressures on car and van and drive to the conditions. The biggest worry is the single vehicle's that are in a hurry and appear on the bends on the wrong side of the road. Each year there are multiple and single vehicle accidents involving fatalities mostly because of speed and inattention.

Bell Gorge was our 1st stop and we stayed here two nights, we all walked to the beautiful three level water fall at the Gorge with Dave and I venturing down to the lower level for a swim. The water was freezing but refreshing at the same time. The girls found a nice rock pool and were soaking in that, in reflection that would have been a lot easier.

 
Galvan Gorge is another pretty place to check out, years ago you could drive in close but that's no longer allowed so its a kilometre walk in which is very easy. The gorge is small but it ticks the boxes, its a beautiful swimming place, it has a waterfall, Boab tree's and some Aboriginal art. It also has some resident Merton Water Monitors.

A few hours relaxing and checking out the area it was time to leave, we headed off and within minutes we got a call from Dave that his car wouldn't come out of Park,before we had a chance to turn around we saw them coming down the road. Luckily there is a button that can be pushed to release the automatic lever so he was able to get underway. It needed looking at though when we could.

Manning Gorge was another must see for the new to the Gibb travellers, here it was packed and we were lucky to find a place where we could park both rigs. These camp area's are all controlled by the Parks and Wildlife service so there is a cost.

The next day Dave and Jo walked to the waterfall at the end of a reasonably long at times difficult walk climbing over rocks. We have done it before so choose to stay down at the large swimming area that needs to be crossed to venture on the walk. They have a aluminum punt there now attached to ropes that you can pull yourself across on, i snorkelled around looking for any lost treasures from previous visitors but found nothing. Last time we were here we took our Kayak and explored further up the river.

It made Dave and Jo's afternoon when two JB Scorpion Sting caravans arrived, no different to us when we see a Bushtracker though.

Mount Barnett was our next stop, here we walked what seemed like an eternity following a long gorge, Vickie and I decided to call it enough and return back to the car's, on the way back we came across some other travellers,we asked them if they see two people ahead, its Jo and Dave and to tell them we had turned back. Well the number of times we bumped into that group at different places was amazing, we would be minding our business and hear a call, Dave and Jo !! and there they were  .. it was so funny. I guess when your travelling the same direction you are going to keep meeting people you have seen before.

Derby, Windjana Gorge, Tunnel Creek 2018

We stayed at Derby at the Caravan Park for three nights, we have been here before but this was all new country for Jo and Dave. We checked out the old prison Boab tree and long water trough plus visited the jetty a couple of times to see the huge tides that occur up this way. A few locals and visitors were doing the same, some had crab nets in hoping to catch some mud crabs. We saw a few crawling on the muddy banks but they were safe as no one was venturing down there because of the big saltwater Crocs that frequent the area,

Leaving Derby we headed to the Gibb River Road with the plan on stopping at Windjana Gorge, but first Dave wanted to call in at the local 4wd shop in town. Here we got told we would have all sorts of problems taking our caravans up the Gibb River Road, never mind we have travelled it four times before, apparently the road was in terrible condition.

Getting to Windjana Gorge is mostly a bitumen road and it didn't take us long to arrive and set up camp. We had a chat with the volunteer camp host and then went for a walk down to the gorge. It is a very pretty place and no much different to when we were there last. The girls though found a new walk trail which took us along side the cliff and with sunset occurring it was a beautiful display of colours on the red rock.

The next day we drove to Tunnel Creek, the entrance to the Tunnel had changed since our last visit and there was many large rocks to clamber over before getting into it. Many years ago this place was the hide out for Jandamarra, a local Aboriginal leader who was wanted by the Police, he was known as Pigeon by the white settlers and was one of their trackers. He became a fugitive after he was forced to capture his own people, he evaded the Police for three years before eventually being tracked and killed at Tunnel Creek on the 1st April 1897 by another of his people.

The Tunnel is dark and torches are needed, plus there are sections that require wading through water, but it’s a relatively easy walk once you have got over the rocks at the entrance. We spent most of the morning just taking it all in, a very quiet place and easy to imagine what life must have been like back then.

We visited the ruins of the old Lillimooloora Police station, not a lot left standing except some corner walls,disappointingly someone has even stolen the plaque attached to the wall. How thoughtful of them.

80 mile and Broome

After leaving 80 Mile we stayed a night at a roadside camp and the next day drove into Broome, another place we have been many times before. We always choose to stay at the Broome Van Park as you come into town, its a family run park and Graham the owner always remembers us even though it may have been years since our last visit, though we think its our Number Plates he remembers more than us personally. 

We showed the Billy's around Broome and did the usual things, Dave managed to get his Awning repaired by a friendly Caravan repair guy which surprised me as things happen slowly in Broome time.

After a few days we had seen and had enough and it was time to move on to Derby 

Memorial statues to the early pearl diving industry

Broome Caravan Park

Each afternoon at the van park the Roo's and Ibis come to graze 

Vickie doing her thing at the Local Market, cant help herself 

You see some unusual vehicles / Campers on our travels

Broome Jetty

Queen Fish caught of the Broome Jetty

Sunset at Cable Beach

Cossack and 80 Mile Beach - May 2018

With the Billy's now joining us we could start heading North, but we didn't get far before making the decision to call into the Historic town site of Cossack, here we checked out the old buildings and spent some money at the cafe for Coffee and Cakes, i must add it was the dearest we have been charged but .. when in Rome etc ...

Our next stop was 80 Mile Beach, Vickie and I have stayed here a few times previously but having the Billy's with us who had not been here we had to visit again. It was nice to see the trees had recovered from the cyclone that almost demolished the area a few years ago. The sites are quite large and we all had plenty of space between other campers which is always a nice thing. We bumped into some friends from our Donnybrook years, Graham & Debbie so it was nice to have a chat and enjoy a cold beer whilst the 'fish magnet' Graham told us of the many fish they had caught whilst at 80 Mile.He certainly puts in the effort and is well rewarded with the fish he catches.

The regulars have some very interesting fishing buggy's they use, how comfortable does that look, laying back with a cold drink, protected from the sun and wind, waiting for the fish to take the bait. Life can be so hard -)

The Trip, May 2018 onwards.

I have learnt my lesson, if your going to have major work done on your vehicle before a trip, test drive the vehicle for a week or more before venturing off. I say this with the experience of CV problems soon after a suspension upgrade back in 2015 and recently fuel starvation problems after a recent engine remap. The latter involved us getting as far as Geraldton before having to leave our van at a mates place and return to Perth to have the problem sorted. I was told by Toyotune the pre-filter fuel hoses were getting hot and sucking in under power so for an easy fix it was suggested we just by pass the pre filter, not the ideal choice seeing as how we were going to be traveling in outback areas with possible dodgy fuel but apart from sourcing new better fuel lines, which we tried too but couldn’t locally, it was a fix that got us going and we have to just rely on the factory filter system and carry extra filters. 

[Much to my annoyance i found out later the problem was not the fuel hoses but the remap tune was too aggressive in its boost pressure.]

So away we go again, we travelled with Vickie’s sister Jo and her hubby Dave. They had their 200 series Landcruiser and a JB Scorpion Caravan, this would be a good test for their rig but 1st they were going to Ningaloo for a month and we were going to do our own thing and check out a few new places. With Dave towing an almost identical size and weight van i was keen to see the difference in fuel economy considering my 200 had a engine remap and dual speed torque converter lock up kit fitted. 

[Another dissapointment, Dave's stock 200 was getting better economy than our's by 2-3lts per hundred, mine was also blowing black smoke which it had never done previously]

Our 1st few nights after picking up our van at Geraldton was to stay at Coronation Beach, we had visited before but this was the first time we have stayed there and we enjoyed it. Tried some fishing but no luck. Gladstone was our next stop, I’m not a fan of flat tidal muddy ocean fronts, the jetty was in total disrepair and we couldn’t walk it so fishing there was out for us. Worramel Station was our next nights stay, Station Stays have not been on our list of things to do but this might change after our recent experience. Worramel has two nice artesian hot tubs which was nice to spend some time whilst watching the bird life. Today was also my 65th birthday and our daughter Caddie had made me a birthday box that comprised of a blow up birthday hat complete with candle, some poppers, huge marshmallows, a book and assorted items. It was hugely appreciated.

Coronation Beach

Instead of going to Ningaloo like we have done for the past 20+ years we thought we would visit and camp around at the Cape Range, we hadn’t thought about booking as we never know or like to be put into a time frame to be somewhere, but before we got to Exmouth we spent a night at Minilya and 5 nights at Warroora Station. It was similar to South Lefroy Bay with the Ningaloo Reef visible but further off shore, the beach was covered in sea weed and the camping areas not very large but we did still enjoy the change and I was able to snorkel around but again the underwater world wasn’t as nice as South Lefroy.

Track into Warroora Station was excellent

Our camp site was a bit squeezed but not as squeezed as the long term campers

Caretakers camp, to the North is Long term camps, to the South short term

Long Term, get to know your neighbours well, not our scene

Just out exploring the coastline

Vickie loves beach combing, looking for that elusive washed up treasure or shell

So after a week we headed into Exmouth where we attacked the bakery, we were very pleased to see the standard had increased hugely with the range of pies, so had the price but they were so good we ended up buying a dozen to put in the freezer. We also bumped into some old Western Angler Mates who were going to Wilderness Island with their Kayaks, the wind was holding up their trip so were stocking up on carbohydrates at the Bakery. Our time at Cape Range could only be 2 nights due to booking and that availability wasn’t for another few days so we booked into the caravan park for two nights and then a night at Yardie Creek van park before our allotted time was available at North Kurrajong, Cape Range.

We checked out Cape Range and were very impressed with the views, from memory it was a 10-16klm drive in but worth it.

So here we were set up in our pine copper logs camp space, it was actually quite spacious at 12x7 metres and we had no neighbour on one side but the other side we had two separate campers in cars with roof top tents that set up so close to us our van and their tents almost touched ... both campers were foreign and it wasn’t worth the hassle to suggest they move over further.

North Kurrajong Camp, Cape Range Nat Park

The rocky shoreline was covered in large red jelly fish, I tried snorkelling but it was like trying to escape through a million walking dead, I didn’t get stung but it was not an enjoyable experience. Fishing off the rocks was also a failure. One family who did get out on their tinny came back with two large painted crayfish and a golden trevally. 

We were starting to get itchy feet waiting for the Billy’s, where to go next we thought. Bullara Station was the place, another enjoyable station stay, we experienced Damper John’s famous damper (along with 30 + others) and later sat around the communal camp fire talking to other travellers. The outdoor showers and toilets were very quaint, they had been nicknamed the Lava Trees and with water supplied by a bore and heated with a donkey fire we had a good cleansing showers. 

Bullara Station, Damper John explaining his cooking method

Shearing shed Bullara Station

We were trying to keep the distance between us and the Billy’s reasonable, we had another few days to kill before they left Ningaloo. We stayed a night at a road side stop at Robe River, here caravans were packed in but we went further up the track and had a reasonable spot, certainly good enough for an over night. Our next two nights we spent at 40 mile south of Karratha, another popular spot with the nomads but unless you have a boat we didn’t see the attraction, had we camped in the opposite direction we would have had a beach to walk and explore but we went down towards the mangroves and beach walking was non existent. We were able to fill our water tanks for a $2 donation to the Gas Plant who in turn donated equal amounts to the RFDS which we thought was very admirable of them. 

With the Billy’s now only a day away we moved on just up the road the Miaree Pool, here we had a lovely camp site right on the Maitland River. Plenty of bird life around but the small birds are so difficult to get a decent photo either to fast or hiding behind leaves and branches. I was wishing I had not left my Sony SLR camera and zoom lens at home.

 The Billy’s rolled in the next day and because we had a lot to catch up on we decided to stay another night. 

From here the journey begins, It could take me a while for the next instalment, one finger typing after right hand surgery slows me down.