Hello to all my followers! This will be another long one so please grab your drink of choice and settle on in, this is 4 weeks of goodness, some funny, some sad, some serious but all of it was an adventure, one not soon to forget, but I probably have forgotten some parts already haha.
This last 4 weeks from 8th May to the 6th June, I travelled 7465km from home to Kununurra and back again! And what a drive it was, as with most of my trips it certainly wasn’t without its hiccups but would it really make for good reading if there wasn’t some ‘oohhh shiiiit’ moments!? I had my Optus phone and a Telstra sim card in my tablet, so was covered for all situations with signal.
So lets rewind a few weeks before my trip, I have added a new addition to our travelling duo, we are now a family of 3 – Me (Bouncer) and my FJ (Mallow) and I now have Max, my Navara tray trailer with a roof top tent.
I decided for this trip I didn’t want to sleep in my swag on the ground, but to hire the type of thing I wanted – fully equipped trailer and a roof top tent was going to cost me close to $3k!!! plus all the excesses and bonds I would have had to put down. So I put it out to my FB friends to see if anyone was selling a simple set up and not going to break my bank!
*Insert awesome friend who owned Max* I went to have a look at Max about a month before I was due to drive out and fell in love! She was just what I was looking for and was just that little bit quirky so was perfect. I have posted a photo of her below.
So dad and I got to work on a couple of mods for her and making sure she was as ready as she could be for this trip! Thanks Dad! You are the best!! And to my Brother Sam for his help in making sure she was Gibb ready! Love you both!
In the lead up to the leave date I did my usual massive cook up of a few different meals so I wasn’t cooking from scratch every day! I made my Chilli, a chicken curry, a pasta and chow mein plus all the staples, 2 minute noodles, beans and skeddi in cans and snags. I literally made food like I was cooking for an army, but better to have more than not enough, plus I was taking a freezer this trip.
And the time was here, I stayed at my folks on Friday 7th May ready to drive out early on Saturday. My first stop was going to be Newman and that was approx 12 Hours away (plus towing speed). So I headed off at about 4.30AM with tears in my eyes as this was by far my biggest, longest and slightly daunting trip given I hadn’t even slept in Max yet! My bed wasn’t even made!! ha ha
So off I went, and less than 2 hours into my trip it was almost over, I was just at New Norcia when I spotted a massive roo on the side of the road, I watched him as he was clearly watching me…. until right at the last moment before I had passed him he jumped out to say HI!! Now I must say his people skills need some work as he didn’t time it right and ended up as my bumper sticker…. and man did he do some damage! I am sure I closed my eyes for that!!
I do remember being told not to slow down if you see a roo as they are more likely to go up and over your bonnet into your front window, so I basically plowed into him! 😦 He ended up hitting the passengers side of the front of my car, damaged my bull bar, my headlight, my fender, my flare and my passenger door! He was a big bloody fella and he scared the crap out of me! Less than 2 hours into my trip!!
So I did what anyone would do, kept driving, found somewhere to pull over safely, called my folks and burst into tears! I had never hit anything bigger than a 28 prior to this and given how big this trip was and I was going solo it threw me and my confidence so much! I did think someone doesnt want me doing this trip and that was so hard to think about. This was the 8th of May, which was mine and Michael’s anniversary, so I cursed him a little for sending me the worst gift ever! But I think what he did give me was the confidence to keep going.
I drove on to the next available pull off bay and checked her over carefully to make sure nothing major had happened to the body/chassis. I knew the brakes worked, I could turn both ways with the wheels and nothing was leaking etc. I must have looked a fright and a little frazzled with my duct tape in hand as I had a lovely truckie by the name of Shaun/Sean/Shawn come and check on me, apparently the guts down the side of the car gave away the accident haha He was so lovely and was nice to have someone care about me and he didn’t know me! thanks mate!
I was really lucky this trip to meet some amazing people! I met another Shaun on the drive into Newman who goes by ‘Shags’ we got chatting over the UHF and he stopped me in one of the pull off bays and helped open my passenger door for me which was amazing! He also have me one of his big truck straps to put around my trailer if the corrugations got too bad and my tailgate fell down! how lovely! I still have it and didn’t have to use it 🙂
He than became my chaperone into Newman as the sun was setting and we had like another 2 hours to go and my headlights weren’t working as well so he was letting me know when there was an animal close to the road, he was literally my knight in shining armour. I don’t know how I would have done it without him, I would love to buy him a beer or 6 if I saw him again. he even offered to look at my headlight to see if it was just a loose wire. Such an amazing bloke and the epitome of Aussie spirit! thank you! So if anyone knows a truckie called Shags please let me know!
So once I made it into Newman and thanked Shags for his amazing help I managed to find the ‘hotel’ I was staying at but had to park my car and trailer across the road as there was no trailer parking on the property, I just hoped it would all be there in the morning. Checked in with the folks, had a well needed shower and went to find food and a beer! I think by the time I got to the bar it was about 7.45 and I had dinner at about 8pm. then back to the room to crash out! and this was just day 1 hahaha
Day 2
Newman to Broome was the plan….. about 30mins out of Newman I believe I got caught in the wind between the truck in front of me and the truck passing me and had a stone thrown at the window, the force was so much that it sent glass flying at me, inside the car!! The glass inside and outside had blown, but the laminate was still in place. So I didn’t leave too early as I didn’t want to meet any more roos, but got sent a stone instead, so another pull off, and another teary call to my folks thinking someone really doesn’t want me to do this trip! I was so upset as I have done this trip, Perth to Broome so many times through the inland route and NEVER had any issues, so I really felt like the world was against me! 😦 So I taped it up and tried to get all the glass inside off the dash and me. We found a guy in Port Hedland who does windscreens and dad called him to see if he could have a look at it for me. So I made an impromptu stop to Port Hedland for the day/night which was nice as I felt like i was losing my confidence again and needed a breather to get myself set again. This was the first time I would sleep in Max and I was proud of setting her up and get sorted. Slept SO WELL 🙂
Turns out this fella knows my brother! Has done work with him and for him many years ago, Chapman isn’t a name many come across so he put 2+2 together. He was super lovely and so helpful – Hedland Mobile Windscreens – Anthony! He advised me to keep going, he can order me in a new screen but it wouldn’t be worth putting it in before heading to the Gibb, so I ordered the new screen and booked into the caravan park for the night.
Day 3
Port Hedland to Broome – finally.
So they say bad things come in 3’s… and this last leg I got my 3rd. about 100ks out of Sandfire Roadhouse I came up to a flock of small birds, about 30 of them and they weren’t quick enough to fly out off the middle of the road and I hit them going 100ks an hr and probably took out half of them 😦 I was so gutted but I didn’t know they weren’t going to be quick enough. When I stopped for fuel at Sandfire, I checked for carnage, and there was one left behind, sorry guys he didn’t make it. Said hi to the peacocks and was 300ks from Broome! So that was my 3, I was done 🙂
Broome was uneventful this time which is nice I stayed with my amazing friend Rachael and parked Max out the front, I was getting good at reversing her! I had dinner with my Broome friend now living in Perth, Jose, and we had dinner at the Arli Bar. The food was fantastic!! I was in Broome a day later than planned, but it was good as it gave me a chance to check my trip on the Gibb to see if anything else had opened. I was going to be missing a couple of my first stops as the road conditions were still bad to a few of the locations.
Day 5
Start the Gibb River Road
I packed everything back into my car, filled my water bottles said goodbye and headed off to Derby! The start of the Gibb River Road, Bouncer, Mallow and Max WOOHHOOO!!!!
When I filled up in Derby I asked the guy what the road was like, he said the inspectors come and see him daily and they said its great, he looked at my car and said “you have a Toyota, you will have no issues!” So one last call to mum and dad as I wasn’t sure of the signal availability and I was off! Gibb River Road Here-I-Come!
I had been advised that there was a couple of sections of bitumen roads in the early part of the trip…. and to wait till they were done before airing down. I didn’t quite know how many sections to go so when the dirt part seems to go on for a while I aired down to 25PSI in the front and 27 in the rear as that’s where all my weight was, duel tanks, drawers, food, water and the trailer – I had absolutely no issues with this pressure the entire trip.
I did air down a little early as there was still more bitumen after this section but it wasn’t too bad as my tyres were flat so i just chilled at about 70ks.
So I had worked out that the first couple of stops which should have been Tunnel Creek, Windjana Gorge and Bell Gorge were off the list for this trip as they were all still closed. So my first stop would be Imitji Campgrounds, approx 230ks along the Gibb. They were actually still closed but I had emailed them a few weeks earlier to see if I could just camp there anyway, pay obviously, but sneak in so as not to draw any crowds. The lady Leticia at the shop was super lovely and pointed me back to the camp grounds and to ask for the caretaker and see if he would let me stay. The place wasn’t ready for guests and the toilet/showers were cleaned but I didn’t care, just needed somewhere to park up.
The caretaker was such a lovely American man – John- who was so friendly, helpful and just down right lovely! These guys are lucky to have you! The afternoon was spent setting up and sorting out and then just chilling with a Movie. There was on car that showed up to use the toilets, who would have guessed we would have become friends from one quick chat. We would follow each other along the road to Kununurra stopping at separate places. Maddie and Travis are from Kalgoorlie and were doing the trip Derby to Kununurra same as me.
It was super eerie being all alone that night as there was literally NOONE else there and I could hear cows mooing and dogs barking! The cows and super noisy birds woke me! I slept very well and woke to the most amazing sunrise! Oh boy was it speccy! Such amazing colours and the clouds really made it epic.
After taking in the sunrise and making coffee and brekky I was onto the next stop, the road was really good, there was many workers around working on the road, grading and fixing the issues with the washouts from the heavy wet season.
The next stop on my trip was Manning Gorge/Mt Barnett Station which should have been my 3rd stop. I had heard dad talk about Mt Barnett so many times and I had the singlet that Michael had given me just after we met, from Mt Barnett. This is the gateway to Manning Gorge, for me by far the prettiest gorge I visited.
So after checking in at Mt Barnett and having no phone signal I used the free Telstra pay phone to call mum and dad to let them know I had made it and where I was. It was a fantastic service and one that was valuable to have given lack of phone service.
Only 7 ks down the dirt track was Manning Gorge, dad had mentioned that when they got to this stop on the Gibb River Challenge that they went down to the river fully clothed just to cool off! It was that close, just the end of the campsite! I stayed here 2 nights and it was fantastic. I found and awesome camp spot and set her up. Once I was set up it was definitely time for a swim, couple coldies and my towel and headed to the waters edge.
I met some amazing people down at the river, people who were happy to have me tag along in the walk to Manning Gorge the following morning. We all agreed to meet at the river at 7am to avoid the heat of the day. Wendy and John and I’m terrible with names but there was another couple with us too, sorry guys! It was an amazing walk, challenging if you are unfit like me! It took us about 1hr to get there, lots of rocks and some up/down sections, sturdy footwear was a MUST. Once we made it to the gorge it was ALL worth the walk! WOW what an amazing view, it was breath-taking! and something off a postcard.
I couldn’t get out of the water, pretty much stayed in the water the whole time as it was soooo beautiful, phones below don’t even do it justice! I tried to get close to the waterfall but the current and pressure from the water was so strong so I managed to get my hair wet, just, that was about it. It was picture perfect and such a lovely spot to be. Then it was the long hot walk back, with the promise of a swim at the very end, in the river.
I managed to run into Maddie and Travis again! It was so good, we had beers that arvo and i made my dinner and headed back. Was a lovely way to end the day! Met another solo traveller, a fella who was travelling the opposite to us, and was so bored as he hadn’t been able to make friends as easily as me, which as a shame as I met so many people along the way people who has made my trip so much better and so much more fun.
I stayed 2 days at Manning Gorge and then moved onto Mt Elizabeth Station. I was going to stop in at Gibb River Station but a lady at Mt Barnett had advised me it may not have been the best stop if I was by myself and I wasn’t game to try it out. So I did drive straight through.
So it was onwards to Mt Elizabeth Station, and honestly the road conditions this far had been so good. I mean they were not as flat as bitumen roads but there was very little corrugations if you went over 70 ks the scenery was beautiful, red dirt, green trees and lots of native weeds, as tall as a person!
The road into the station was actually the worst we had come across the trip so far, major corrugations, very soft sand and some doozy holes! John and Wendy were coming back out as I was coming in and mentioned that the gorge was closed at this station, and without the gorge there really wasn’t anything to see at this station. The lady managing the accommodation even advised, so I figured I would only do one night instead of my planned 2 nights as there really wasn’t anything to do. It was such pretty campgrounds, really pretty. They had the best amenities so far, the hugest shower and toilets and ALL brand new!
I was settling in to a movie when some new people arrived at the grounds. We made small talk and all hit it off! It was lovely to have someone to talk to. It was a younger couple – Brooke and Drew and Drew’s parents Lexy and Tony and they were waiting on another couple Clayton and Adriana 🙂 I was super lucky to have met them all as I felt like part of the crew within only a few hours.
They were all super proud that I was doing this trip alone and were happy for me to tag along for the trip across the Pentecost River. They had all booked a dinner at the station kitchen and I didn’t so I took great delight in cooking my own dinner again an making a fire, biggest fire pit and the smallest fire! But I made it all by myself and the help of another campers firewood haha
We all agreed we were only going to do the one night at Mt Elizabeth and then have scones at Ellenbrae and I was trying to convince them to stay one night so we could all cross the river together. Dad had mentioned he would have felt much safer if I could go across with others.
It worked! I convinced them to stay at Ellenbrae, another oasis in the middle of nowhere! It was super beautiful homestead! Green grass, chickens, birds and the best home-made scones with jam and cream and an amazing toasted sandwich and washed down with a fresh mango smoothie, I was hungry! It also came with Optus signal which meant I could also check in with the folks as the last stop didn’t have any.
We all checked in for one night in the unpowered sites and went to find a spot. We got a separate spot near the showers and had plenty of space for us all, even if it took Drew like an hour to reverse the camper trailer ha ha ha
Once all set up we all jumped in our cars with me as the leader this time to check out the watering hole at this stop. It was absolutely beautiful, Lexy and Tony stayed behind but the boys swam, we didn’t. The reflections from this stop were so amazing! The water was so still that it really did look like the scenery was replicated in the water.
We all took great delight in the hot showers nearby! After dinner we had a nice roaring fire, and drinks with Tony giving us some great stories and Drew passing around the port. We even had port drizzled fruit cake, yumm!
The following morning before we left us girls went to check out the water access right near where we camped, it was the river/creek but wasn’t flowing and didn’t look overly inviting, but we saw it 🙂
Then it was on to the Durack River crossing and then the Pentecost River crossing. The Durack was a good sized river and the first major river crossing of the trip so far, little creeks dotted the Gibb River Road but not alot of water flowing through then at great depth. Myself and Clay and Adri arrived first and Clay went to check the depth of the side of the crossing by wading in. I don’t think he got wet up to his knees at any point which was good. A few cars passed us by and they gave us a good idea.
Once the others had caught up, Adri had her drone in the air and we made our way across, no issues whatsoever which was great. And we were off again once everyone was safely across. Unfortunately her drone was slightly damaged and the footage isn’t usable. 😦
We all would have been staying at the Home Valley Station if it had been open, but its still yet to be confirmed. So we bypassed it and tootled on down to the Pentecost river.
WOW its huge! It genuinely goes on forever and its so wide! We were lucky that there wasn’t much water as in it wasn’t super deep. We watched a few cars go across and a couple go both ways. So we saw the line to take and knew it wasn’t going to be an issue even without a snorkel. I was super excited. I took a video of me driving across, I did the same for the Durack but this is such an iconic river crossing it just had to be videoed!
Once we had all crossed, got all the footage we needed of each other, we kept on driving. The roads were still good, and the ranges above us were just so beautiful!
So I videoed that too, as for a portion of the next couple of k’s we were heading straight for them! oh it’s amazing scenery which just has to be seen to be believed as it is just such magical landscape! Makes me so proud to be an Aussie, to be able to call this land home!
The next and final stop on the trip on the Gibb was El Questro Station. We were arriving at this stop 2 days early due to only doing one night at Mt Elizabeth and Ellenbrae.
The place was packed, people everywhere we were crossing our fingers we could even get a patch of grass for the early 2 nights. My booking for the 2 days was still there but I couldn’t have the same spot for the earlier 2 days, so I had to do unpowered for 2 nights and then move to powered for the final 2 nights. That was fine, and fun as the others were also unpowered so we all set up together. I was so glad they were not sick of me as it was so lovely having the company. When my unpowered nights were done, I lifted the legs on the trailer, hooked her back onto the car and slowly drove my tent to the next spot so I didn’t have to pack down and unpack, must have looked funny but was so much simpler for me! 🙂
On the first day we decided to go up to Saddleback Ridge to watch the sunset – I jumped into Clay and Adri’s car for this so I wasn’t in the car alone which was lovely! It was super steep windy road and 4WD mode was required to get up. Once we were at the top the views were spectacular, you could see for miles and the sun was touching so many ranges which just lit them up as it was setting. I cannot recall if it was the first or second day we went to swim in the river behind the restaurant? It was lovely, bloody cold but refreshing!
The second morning at ELQ we went to discover the Zebedee springs which are only open till midday then they close them for tour buses only. We managed to get in and have a couple of hours to relax before they moved us on! Wow such an amazing spot with bizarre toasty warm waters surrounded by Livistona and pandanus palms, which makes it look super tropical. I was lucky enough to visit this spot twice in this stay!
After the lazy soak at the springs it was onto the next stop! I was unable to take my car to ELQ Gorge as the river crossing part way in was quite deep and vehicles required a snorkel, which I don’t yet have so I parked poor Mallow at the parking spot before the river and once again jumped in with Clay and Adri. It was quite deep getting up to and past the door seals so yes poor Mallow may not have liked that.
The drive to the beginning of the walk was fairly uneventful after that, once parked up we all grabbed water and hats and put sunscreen on and started the walk to the Gorge, knowing their was a half way pool also. The walk was classed as blue, relatively easy with some sections of broken rock and riverbed which made it quite fun, try not to get your shoes wet! Once you reach the half way pool the track gets harder, the first part being getting/swimming across the pool to the rock on the other side and climbing up. Now for those who don’t know me personally, I am not fit and definitely know my limits to know I can still walk the following day.
So I decided the half way pool was just far enough for me 🙂 It was such a beautiful spot to stop so I swam around this little pool, watched the fishes, met people as they came back or headed up and just had a very lazy couple of hours until the team came back. When they came back I was on shore and Drew ended up being in the water and we were throwing the shoes and bags down so they didn’t get them wet. We had a good thing going, until Drew decided to grab more than he could handle and managed to drop Adri’s shoes in the water, poor thing had to walk back with wet shoes, slowly so she didn’t slip up on the rocks. Drew didn’t live that down for a while! I was glad I didn’t push myself as it was apparently a bit of a trek.
Then it was back to camp for some relax, a shower and a well earned drink. This was Tuesday night.
Wednesday I was due to move camp sites, so I had already scoped out my new spot and was just waiting on the campers to move on, everyone knows they need to be out by 10am so it was just a waiting game. Then they started to pack up, it was only that we were going off to Emma Gorge today and wanted to beat the heat of the day to do the trek. They were vacated about 9am and I slowly drove my tent over to set up, Drew helped me line up, but I actually had it pretty good! I banged all my tent pegs back in and set it up fully.
We were then off as a group to Emma Gorge, and was that worth the trek or what!? I got signal here, so I made a call to Mum to let her know where I was and what we were doing, it was generally a bit of a novelty to be able to use my phone as compared to texting on the tablet. now knowing my fitness levels I was optimistically cautious of the trek as it was of similar difficulty as El Questro Gorge. So we took off, it wasn’t too bad to start with, lots of rocks to step over and a little river crossing, which was always fun, as you had to try not to slip and fall in. I was taking photos along the way of the colours of the rocks, the look of the trees against the rock and how far we had come. The rocks got a bit bigger and you had to climb over them as compared to stepping over, but they were manageable, then it opened out to this magical rock pool. Looking like something out of a well photoshopped magazine we thought we had reached the half way mark. Turns out we were only a short, steep climb up rocks and in between trees from Emma Gorge. I was puffing like Thomas the Tank engine by the time we reached the top, and cheeks I’m sure as red as a tomato but we made it. Drew stayed back a bit to help Lexy and Tony but we all got there!
I needed to get in the water to cool down, probably not what the docs would recommend when your body temp is sky high but far out it felt good! The water was freezing!!!! Like ice literally but it calmed my face down and slowed my heart rate haha This gorge was beautiful, still with a flowing waterfall, which I managed to get under and slightly behind the water this time. It was amazing! It wasn’t water you could stay in and swim for ages as it was such a sheltered body of water it probably never really heated up, so was cold! A few of the guys, the young fellas and Clay managed to climb a small way up the waterfall wall and jump off.
Once we had all has a swim and a cool down it was back on for the clothes and boots and make our way back down to the bottom. I can’t say the walk back was any easier going downhill, but we all chatted away and before we knew it we were down on flat ground again.
Once back at the restaurant I called the folks again to let them know I had made it and headed to my car to get my wallet so I could get a very well deserved beer. However when getting back to the bar Tony was shouting the round, so lovely of him. Sitting down with an ice cold beer was the best feeling, they didn’t last long.
The plan was to then go to see another of the look outs when we got back home, but I was honestly absolutely knackered so I passed and Drew and Brooke headed off. I relished in the shower, and sitting down for a few hours. Brooke had booked us all into the restaurant at the property for dinner as it was their last night at ELQ, they headed to Kununurra the following day. I was very lucky to have found these guys, as I really did feel like part of the group and like we had known each other much longer than a couple days in the bush.
I showered and was early, so thought I would join in on happy hour at the bar before dinner. I was alone and sat and listened to the one man band, he was really good, played 5 nights a week I think. Whilst sitting alone, one of the couples i chatted with at ELQ Gorge half way spot asked if I wanted to join them at their table. I am super sorry but I don’t remember their names but they have had an epic trip too, with their own share of hiccups too. They gave me the names of some amazing sounding locations like ‘Lorella Springs Wilderness Park’ which I definitely want to visit, along with Daly Waters. So we hung out till it was time for me to go to dinner. When I got to the restaurant I was early. As the party arrived, I didn’t realise but they had all gone looking for me, as my phone didn’t work they couldn’t call me, but tried knocking on my trailer, asked my neighbour if they had seen me and tried calling me. Oops, I hadn’t told them I was heading to the bar and we hadn’t spoken about heading to dinner as a group. It was all good, I was ok and ready for dinner 🙂
The menu all looked amazing but the one dish I did want to try they were out of 😦 So I settled for a Barramundi fillet on burnt bark. Unusual setting on the bark but it was simply divine! The guys had the steaks and they were massive, a huge chunk of meat and they said they were yummy. It was a good last night in ElQ with my new friends.
After saying goodbye to them all Thursday morning I went to see if I could get any last minute helicopter flights and book dinner for the finish of thre Gibb River push bike ride. They all finished on Thursday and the station was putting on a big buffet dinner and the public could join in. At the bar I ended up running into Maddie and Travis who had arrived early too! So we booked our dinners for the night, I couldn’t get a flight so we decided to head straight to Zebedee Springs as they hadn’t been yet and only arrived that morning.
Maddie was too honest, I was advised by the neighbours I had the first powered night that they didn’t want to stay for the last night with all the bikers, had already paid for it and couldn’t get to reception to tell them they were leaving, so the site was vacant, and paid for. But Maddie went and made it official with reception, and they became my neighbours 🙂
There were lots of people at the springs but we managed to find a spot where we had a spot alone 🙂 Maddie had her GoPro and got some good shots of the scenery and us. Then we came back for lunch and chilled – had a well earned early shower and headed to the bar to chill before dinner.
Dinner was brilliant, most of the riders didn’t emerge till much later and the bar wasn’t busy till later so we managed to find a good seat at the picnic tables at the back. We certainly put away the drinks that night, 3 at a time were ordered and consumed very quickly, I think we ended up on the rums by the end of the night. We headed over to the one man band after a while as we had conflicting music, from the bar and live. Feeling a bit like a third wheel with the 2 love birds I let them dance haha. Once last drinks were finished it was bed time as I was moving on to Kununurra in the morning.
Final day of the Gibb River Road was from El Questro through to Kununurra. I said goodbye to Maddie and Trav, hooked up my trailer like a boss and headed off. I took a couple of videos of my surroundings while I was out and about as it is just spectacular! This was the final 100ks to go on the Gibb and was all bitumen from ElQ.
Once I got to the turn off to Kununurra, the Gibb River Road was complete. I mean I wasn’t expecting a ticket parade, or people with balloons but a nice big sign of ‘YOU MADE IT’ would have been great. I settled for the sign going back the other way with notice of sections open and next stops, not quite the same!
And the Gibb River Road had been conquered by Bouncer, Mallow and Max!! What an achievement! Now I know there were places unseen on this trip, but that just means I have to go back, which I will!! Who wants to come with me next time? Would be great to have a couple cars, suited to ‘off the grid’ camping.
Kununurra – Friday 21st May
Crossing over the Diversion Dam actually made me tear up, with my few hiccups to start with, feelings of being alone and a little fear on this trip, I had made it back to civilisation. I was so proud! I called Dad on the way over the dam wall…. I was so excited.
Nothing looked familiar yet, it had been 15 years, I had to assume some stuff had changed! I was going to be early but I drove straight over to the caravan park, drop off Max and settle on in.
The ladies at the front counter were amazing! I am so sorry I didn’t write down their names 😦 I was early but my bay was free which was fantastic. I am now so glad I asked but I had seen notice that the Kimberley Fine Dining Dinner was providing a bus service to get you there, but nothing to get you home. They put me onto the manager Bree – I cannot say enough amazing things about this lady!!!!! She is the nicest most genuine, fun, friendly person I have met running a camp site. She always had time for me during my stay and went out of her way to assist.
Bree ended up being not only our Taxi to the event, but also, thankfully halfway home that night too (we had started walking).
I love that I have a friendly nature, as I continued to make friends whilst in Kununurra. The Fine dining dinner was on Saturday and I made good friends with the lovely ladies who moved into the campsite behind me, to the point that one of the ladies did my dress up for me and then took photos of me for my folks and social media!
Yes I took a ball gown 1135ks on dirt roads and river crossings, to be able to attend the Black Tie Dinner. It was 100% worth it! It had a suitcase all of its own, with my make up and shoes 🙂 So it didn’t get opened whilst travelling until arriving in town.
I had an ensuite camp site which made getting ready for this so much easier, make up and hair in my own mirror – I had gotten my hair done at 7:15am as they were so booked solid that was all I could get! Amber is super lovely and she fitted me in! So I just had to stay in aircon or not do too much today to ensure the hair stayed good! It was so early even after she had finished so I headed to the Saturday markets, on every Saturday in dry season. It was here, wandering with possibly family, was Jessica Mauboy!!!!! I didn’t go and see her and say hi as she genuinely looked like she wanted to just blend in, not be in the spotlight this early. So I gawked and walked on by. I picked up a few little bits and bobs at the markets.
I caught up with A,C & D & B and wandered the markets again, I decided to try the Ivanhoe Cafe for an early lunch as people had mentioned it was good. I has lovely grassy grounds and a simple menu, but the Pulled Pork Burger got my attention and it didn’t disappoint! Washed it down with a ginger beer and was satisfied. Then it was back to the caravan park to chill for the afternoon as I didn’t want to get too hot and sweaty as my hair would go icky!
So before I knew it, it was time to get ready, hair was done but needed to shower and sort out my face! haha Make up in a small mirror in a small ensuite in the middle of the day was WARM!! So the door was kept open, my small fan was going full bore and I managed!
It was so warm getting into my dress, that I couldn’t do it up, so I stepped out of my ensuite and asked my lovely neighbour if she could do it up and then take a photo for me, so she did this whole photo shoot! haha she was so lovely! Bree was taking me to the event, so I headed to the front of the park to wait.
I had an absolute blast at the event! Met some amazing people, in the line I met Monica, when I asked if she would pretend she knows me so I could have a photo out the front of the MUSTER 21 sign at the entry, we are friends now! She’s a Perth girl and we got along so well at the event. We were greeted with drinks and canapes, they had an open bar with heaps of choice, beer, wine, spirits and softies.
I made friends, I made lots of friends! I had the people I already knew, and then the people at my assigned table and then I also spoke to people in the bar line, at the dance section, everywhere apparently! I had people coming up to me as I had spoken to their wife, friend or husband. It was fantastic! I just mingled the whole night! It was so much fun meeting new people, and being solo everyone was super friendly and wanted to know all about me and my trip. Jessica was incredible to watch, such an amazing voice and a stage presence! I would go and see her again! We were advised at the beginning of the night that there was to be no dancing, at all for the event. It didn’t work for long, as when Jess came on all you wanted to do was dance!
Everyone had such and amazing night, singing, dancing, eating drinking and just being merry! what an event! Thank you to everyone I met for helping to make the night amazing for me! I swapped numbers with a couple I met who live in Kalgoorlie and said I could come visit! I have so many people to visit now and its awesome!
I wasn’t even hung over the following day, I was high on life at the dinner!
I decided the morning was for conquering the Ivanhoe crossing! I had been here 15 years ago but didn’t have a car to cross it with, now I do! I crossed over, which was so much fun and you could feel the water pressure. Drove about half a k on the other side and cound’t do the corrugations so turned around and came back!
I had booked a sunset bbq river cruise for Sunday night, they came and picked me up at about 3pm and took us to the river to board the boat. I was by far the youngest person on the cruise and the only one by herself. I kept to the back of the boat but got chatting to and older couple who were very lovely, the wife loved taking photos of the scenery, her husband mentioned she has thousands of photos.
The sunset was amazing and with the river so still the reflections were amazing! Dinner was bbq fish – threadfin salmon and steak and salad, it was all so yummy, washed down with a couple of ginger beers. Once the sun had set we made our way back to the dock to catch the bus back to our accommodations. It was a beautiful way to have spent the evening.
Monday I had the day to myself, I chose to sleep in, have a lazy morning and then head out to the Sandalwood Factory and head to the Hoochery which is the rum distillery in WA and its amazing! I found a few little treasures in the sandalwood factory for both me and mum and dad. In the hoochery I found lots of good things, starting with 2 tasting paddles of 3 of rum and gin followed by the sliders and another cocktail. I purchased 5 bottles and had them all sent back to Perth so I didn’t have to worry about packing them in the car!
After the shopping day I headed back to the caravan park to chill out. I went for a swim at the pool, just to cool down 🙂
Tuesday morning I was due to be collected at 6:15am so I got up early, got dressed, made coffee, packed my bag and headed out front. I wasn’t the only one there waiting but they were headed to El Questro for a day trip. I was early and waited till 6.15… then 6.30… then 6.45…I called the office a couple times, no answer…then 7am… and was just about to walk towards reception to see if anyone had another contact, when the bus finally showed up at 7:10am. We were supposed to be flying out at 7am, so they were running behind schedule and I could have had time for brekky. So today was the Secluded Islands Long Table Lunch which due to covid was amended to a Lake Argyle cruise and island instead of Kalumbaru and a yacht. I was very much looking forward to the original trip but the replacement was good, not amazing but very good.
Once we got to the airport, we were all split into separate planes, I feel like we had the smallest plane but it was super cute! And due to covid we all had to still wear masks! 😦 We flew for about an hour over Kununurra looking at the world from air, it was amazing! Seeing the river and the ranges from the air was magical, so exciting! We landed at Argyle Diamond Mine airport and was given a ‘Welcome to Country’ from a member of the Miriwoong Gajerrong people. We then got into a bus and a Prado and headed to our lake boat.
We got bubbles, not enough, but bubbles on the boat and then headed out to our secluded island. I met heaps of the people on the boat which was great as we were all sitting next to each other on our long table lunch. Most of the cruise was all coupled up, pretty much except for me haha but that was ok as it meant I got to chat to everyone! Lunch was amazing! The food was exquisite, we ate some amazing Australian produce! I can’t remember the whole menu as there was some consumption of alcohol…. but it was incredible! We ate, swam and ate and drank! And one of the men may have consumed a bit too much and fell flat on his face into the sand…whooopppssss. We then got back onto the boat at the end of the afternoon and headed back towards the bus to get back to our accommodations.
Wednesday was Wyndham day, I slept in a bit, made brekky then extended my stay here. I had decided Monday that I didn’t want to move caravan parks, so cancelled the second spot and got my money back. then headed to Wyndham. I should have checked my fuel status before I left and realised how far away it was and that there was no petrol station there, whoops. So I made it a very short trip, the biggest thing on my list was to see the 5 rivers lookout. It didn’t disappoint! It was an amazing view, over the port and the rivers joining. To be honest I didn’t know which was which but it looked cool. I was going to check out the bakery that made the crocodile pies, but it wasn’t lunch time yet and I didn’t think I could eat a croc pie, the more I thought about it, the less I wanted it. So I stopped at the massive crocodile statue, and took my selfie 🙂 and made my way back to town crossing my fingers that the fuel would last! So I didn’t stop anywhere else on the way. I caught up with Maddie and Trav for dinner at the pub, I hadn’t been to the pub since I was 18, so was nice to check it out again. We had dinner and a few drinks, it was a great last catch up before they left Kunnas for the next leg of their trip!
Thursday I had booked in on an Argyle Lake cruise with a return trip on the Ord River. I was collected early in the morning and taken by bus to Lake Argyle with Lake Argyle Tours. We stopped on the way to see the old Lake Argyle Homestead, it was amazing, incredible to think it had been completely rebuilt from the bottom of the lake!!! Then it was on to the lake, once on the lake we were greeted by Tracy and her team. Tracy was amazing! She was so funny, witty, friendly and blunt! haha She was full of information and sarcasm and it made the trip so much fun! We saw Crocodiles!!!! On this trip I met Jaylee, we met on the bus as she was also travelling solo. We didn’t really chat until later in the day but we clicked! So we hung out over lunch and chatted on the bus ride.
I had chosen to take the JJJ Tour back on the Ord River and man did I learn lots! What an amazing trip, fast boat down the Ord with a lesson in how and why it came to be! Got to take some amazing photos, some more crocodiles, scenery, INCREDIBLE reflections of plants on the river.
We got the see the sunset over the river on the way home, it was dark by the time we boarded the bus back to our accommodation, another long but amazing day. Jaylee and I had swapped numbers before I finished the lake cruise as we were deciding to catch up on the Friday. We decided to hit a few touristy spots on the Friday, me with wheels!!
I picked Jaylee up at like 7am and we headed to the mini bungle bungles. Mirima National Park. It was really fun, very cool and makes you realise how unfit you are but the view was worth it! Then it was on to Molly Springs, ended up having the whole place to ourselves for about half an hour before anyone else showed up. It was so pretty and the waterfall was still flowing! So cold, but so lovely. Jaylee walked to the top but I just swam. It was so nice having the company for little trips like this. After Molly we headed to The Grotto, Jaylee had done it but I hadn’t so we went for the walk all the way to the bottom, what a hell of a walk! They have cut the steps out of the rocks, and added some, very gnarly but satisfying! We walked to the bottom but didn’t swim. It wasn’t flowing, so it wasn’t as appealing. So we headed out. We then headed back into town and I dropped Jaylee off to see friends, and I stopped into the butchers, they didn’t have crocodile kebabs, but they has burgers. I bought two and when I got home to Perth cooked them for my work crew to try croc! I was going to go to the pub for dinner by myself but I got some washing done, watched a movie, chilled by the pool and lost track of time so I cooked at home and got an earlyish night.
Saturday morning I got my hair done SUPER early again because Amber is amazing! Then went to get Jaylee again after brekky and putting on and out a load of washing and we went to discover the little shop I had been told about, just out of town. It was very cool with lots of little nick knacks and local products. It was called Curlew and is worth the visit, we both bought something. Then we went for a wander around the markets, so much fun!
Neither of us were feeling super fit, to be able to do Kelly’s knob to the top, so we stopped in at the half way mark…and got some photos! haha
Then it was back to my caravan park for lunch, then dropped Jaylee off to get ready for the Rodeo!!! We were super lucky as one of the guys from the caravan park had offered us a lift to the Rodeo so we didn’t have to drive! This was my last night in Kununurra! 😦 I was sad to be leaving.
I bought my first Ringers Western shirt this trip, to wear to the rodeo with my jeans, boots and Akubra. We found some seats in the stand and lined up to get our tickets for drinks as soon as it opens, and we were lucky we did as for the the next 2 or so hours the line for tickets was massive, I mean massive. It was fun but I think it needed work, the kids riding was cute, it felt a bit unorganised but I won’t bag it out. It was fun but we left early, no band due to covid.
I walked home…. we got the bus back into town and then I walked back to the caravan park. I didn’t know how else to get back, I msged Bree but she didn’t pick up. I was speedy and it was dark but I survived! 🙂 It was my last night, I was leaving Kununurra in the morning. I packed down my tent, hooked up my trailer and checked out at about midday and thanked the ladies at the reception for such an incredible stay, for always being so friendly, massive smiles whenever I stopped in the office and to Bree, for being so amazing friendly. I honestly felt like I had known her forever and I felt we got along so well. We loved being at this park and I was so glad I was here.
The trip home… after 3 weeks on the road I was heading home. My first stop after fuelling up, checking tyre pressure was the Bungle Bungle Caravan park. I wouldn’t have the time to actually visit the the Bungle Bungles this time, but next time I will. So I headed down the road, and pulled into the caravan park, glad I wasn’t going far as I was a bit over corrugations and they were pretty good heading in. I checked in and set up, in time for the amazing sunset after a few drinks when I settled in after setting up.
It was only one night and then I was on the road early again. Brekky, coffee and hooked the trailer back up. The next stop would be Halls Creek for fuel, just after Halls Creek there is a Laura River. I didn’t get a photo but it exists! Then onto Broome, only stayed for the one night and got in late arvo. It is great having the long range tank, as even towing I still get a great range, worked it out to be about 900ks to the tanks. I had kept the ks clocking over, one for the whole trip from Perth and one from when fuelling up in Derby to returning to Derby after the Gibb. I had done approx 2500ks from fuelling up in Derby to turning back towards Broome. Not a bad effort to have tackled this all by myself with my new found friends along the way.
After Broome I was stopping in Port Hedland to have my windscreen replaced. Now I can certainly give Hedland Mobile Windscreens a plug here!! Anthony was nothing short of awesome! What a great guy, turns out he knows my brother so we chatted about everything! He did a super job on replacing the windscreen and working around my solar panel which made it a little more fun. Apparently FJ windscreen suck at the best of times but we managed to save the top panel and saved some money which was great. I checked into the caravan park and set up and then just chilled out. I had the biggest grassed spot! It was fantastic!
Again Hedland was just an overnighter and I headed off about 8am and onto the next stop. I have to add that I have setting up and packing down of the Kumarina, and decided that perhaps Kumarina through to Perth was a bit of a push, and meant I would have to be leaving and arriving in prime roo time, so I added an extra stop in Mount Magnet. So first stop was Kumarina, I had been here for fuel and a pee stop before on one of my trips to Broome, but never stayed.
I decided after Hedland that I was going to be staying in accommodations instead of the tent due to long days driving. So I booked an ensuite room for Kumarina and managed to get an ensuite room at Mount Magnet too, not cheap not expensive. I met a lovely lady in Kumarina and we got chatting and arranged dinner plans at the bar/restaurant. I grabbed my export from the bar and ordered my schnitzel and sat down for a chat. They were a lovely couple and their friend and they were heading north. Early bed for me this night as I was knackered.
Got up in the morning, a little early but it wasn’t a long drive today to Mount Magnet, made a coffee and got going. The drive from Hedland to Perth is so pretty and so different the whole way, sometimes flat, heaps of trees, no trees, ranges and everything all together. Its so incredible, and then sometimes the road in front of you is so straight it looks like it goes on forever!!
Rolled into Mount Magnet just after Lunch which was nice. Managed to check in early, as the room was ready, but the reception was unattended and my phone didn’t work so I had to wait till she came back. I did ask what there was to do in town, not much so I decided to catch up on some rest and watch a bit of TV, I got the news which I hadn’t seen since I left and it felt like such a novelty! I did go to see the chemist which was on the map, but it appears that closed a long time ago. I had been bitten pretty bad in the last couple days and was scratching like mad! I had Stingose but that kinda only works for a time and makes your legs super white and looks like you have some crazy disease!
I decided to head to the pub for a drink before going across the road for dinner. The main pub doesn’t serve dinner but I figured it was worth a pint at the Mount Magnet Hotel. Dinner was simple again, schnitzel with pepper sauce. I ate pretty quickly and headed back to camp as I was over hearing stories of cars being broken into and windows damaged by local kids so needed to ensure my car was safe.
Slept like a log and woke early as always. This was to be my last day on the road after 4 weeks, it was bittersweet as it was freeeeeezing the closer I got to Perth and I already missed the Kimberley! It was a lovely drive, mixed with a few pull overs for big rigs heading north. I did try to find my roo on the side of the road coming home, but figured it had already been eaten or moved on by local council.
I managed to roll into mum and dads on the 4th of June at about 2.30pm and the trip was finished. I really hope you guys all enjoyed my tales and trip info for this incredible 4 week trip on the road. I loved my set up and was super glad I found Max! Thank you so much to the amazing people I met on this amazing journey, you all made it sweeter, more fun and such a joy for me for all the various reasons you joined me!
Huge shout out to my parents, I know we had a couple scary phone calls way too early in the morning and you were worried for me, but you guys raised a strong independent woman totally capable of these adventures, without you both I wouldn’t be able to do what I do and love it so much.
I had amazing gear on this trip! Some purchased a while ago, some for this trip! If anyone wants any info on anything you see in my photos let me know.
Apologies for the massive post but there was just so much to write, I hope everyone gets to the end!
Love Bouncer, Mallow & Max
Bouncer & Mallow Adventures 