The Gibb River Road (6-700kms)? is an iconic, last frontier kind of road. A shortcut from Derby to Kununurra, that takes a lot more time than the main road. It is renowned for its scenery, ruggedness, remoteness and rough corrugations. We had been looking forward to this as on the map, it’s about the furtherest point from home and marks a change in direction, from constant travelling North to now heading East. ;-(
Unfortunately a couple of days before we headed off Ava came down with a nasty cough and high temperatures, so it was another trip to an Emergency Dept. to get her attended too before we headed out away from civilisation. She was found to have fluid behind her ears and a very red throat. So we headed off with a pile of drugs for her. Along the road we all managed to share her illness and none of us could run more than a couple of minutes without having coughing fits and struggling for oxygen!!! This meant we were a bit restricted in the walks and sights we could see.
One of the first things we noticed was the cost of everything. Our first 2 nights at a place called “Birdwood Downs” (Just out of Derby) cost $41/night for an unpowered dusty site. Although it did have the first bath in over 10 weeks. The kids really enjoyed cramming in it together. It made us realize how much they have all grown, because they don’t really fit anymore!!!
At Imintji we got 98 litres of fuel for only $243. ($2.365/litre) This was the cheapest we saw. The most expensive was $2.65/litre! They also advertised the “Best Coffee on The Gibb”. I probably should have checked the prices, but I had to fork out $17 for two coffees and one loaf of frozen bread. (and I’m assuming there must be some pretty average coffee on the Gibb, as it wasn’t the best we’ve ever had!)
Ellendale Station is said to have the “Best scones on the Gibb”. (and they were delicious!) but 5 scones with jam and cream cost $27.50!
Home Valley Station are happy to charge us a $20 surcharge/day if we want any power as well!
But………is it all worth it? Too right. It’s a great experience. The scenery is stunning, the stars at night are amazing, the grass is taller than the car, the cattle are taller than the car, the crocodiles are longer than the car, the corrugations are relentless on the car, the gorges are beautiful, the people are friendly, there are helicopters buzzing around, the trucks are almost 60 metres long, the graders have 2 semi trailers towed behind them with fuel, equipment, utes and sleeping quarters. Each station is unique have their own quirky features. We hiked, swam, fished, ate and relaxed our way.
Our car and caravan have survived and fared quite well. It’s a 14 year old caravan and it had a few minor dust leaks. A handful of screws came a bit loose on the caravan, one day we didn’t lock a sliding window properly and it opened a bit and let in some extra dust in.
But what we did see was cars driving towards us with driving lights hanging on by the wires, many rattly cars driving by, number plates fallen off, 1 car destroyed totally (no spare tyres left, ran out of oil and water leaks), 1 car with some oldies saying they were broken down but under control. Some people who camped next to us in Home Valley said that in 33 kms between El-Questro and Home Valley they saw 12 broken down vehicles. Mostly tyres and broken axles/springs. We even saw a helicopter towing a broken down/crashed helicopter.