Newsletter 8 2 September 2017, Derby Western Australia
The Gibb or Tired of Tyres
Well, we done the Gibb. The Gibb River Road is a dirt road that crosses north Western Australia, usually referred to in terms reserved for the Black Death. It is the terror of tyres, the devourer of Dunlops the biter of Bridgestones; it is indeed the Rue de Rubber (pun intended). It is corrugated from one end to the other and littered throughout with razor-sharp stones, many in the form of pyramids, or caltrops, scattered across the way. It is not the worst road we have driven, that is reserved for the road into the Bungle Bungles (yes, that is a real place), but the Gibb lives up to its reputation as a destroyer of tyres and vehicles. We passed a work party recovering wrecks from the side of the road.
Before crossing the WA border we had driven some 11,000 km without a puncture (let me put that in perspective, it is about 13,000 km from London to Darwin). Since crossing the border we have had three tyre changes. Before those with considerable 4WD experience say “too much pressure and too fast” let me assure you that the first two were a new horseshoe nail and a small brad nail (probably picked up in town) and the third was five pieces of wire and a stone that had got into the tread and then worked its way under the tread and was difficult to dig out before the tyre could be repaired.
The pressure at which to run tyres is a common theme over the communal happy hour canapes and wine of an evening in the camp grounds (I am not making this up we really do this some evenings). Normally for heavy corrugated roads I would drop the pressure by about 20% but on the Gibb those sharp stones are just waiting for the exposed sidewalls. Hence a balance must be found between protection from the corrugations, pot holes and round stones and the pointy ones; our answer, which seems to be working, is 10% reduction and even slower speeds. (PS we can do a tyre change in under 20 minutes from stop to go, for Dave W and Bill H we know it is not F1 times.)
As it parallels the bitumen Great Northern Highway, the question is asked why anyone would travel the Gibb, the answer is the gorges. It took us over a week to cover the 660 km of the Gibb not because of the road conditions but because we gorged ourselves on gorgeous gorges; massive clefts in the landscapes with waterfalls and the most beautiful and delightful swimming holes. Each day we would swim in a different pool, often having earned it via the hike into the gorge. They are all wonderful and each is different. We did this at the end of August which is late in the season so there were less people at the campsites and in the gorges. We ended up not doing the considerable detour up to the Mitchel Falls as the word on the road was that the falls had pretty much dried up by this end of the season.
Cath has become a real water nymph and spends hours swimming and floating, and whenever there is a waterfall she has to swim to it and under it. She is heading for the waterfall in the photo.
The other thing about the Gibb is no one mentions the amazing scenery. The road itself is worth doing just for the vitas and changes in country, also the scones at Ellenbrae station. After nine nights (we tend to work on nights rather than days) we had completed one of the key goals of our trip. Cath pointed out one of the most amazing things of the Gibb, every night we had flushing toilets and in many cases showers.
Before we got to the Gibb we put in a few km on the Northern Territory/Western Australian border. After leaving the Stuart Highway at Katherine we headed west and stayed at the Gregory National Park (only of value if you want to do lots of challenging 4WD tracks – as the car and trailer is our house for the foreseeable future we declined and just spent one night there. Then we settled into the Keep River National Park which had a massive stone outcrop in the middle of the camp area, some very pleasant walks and a ranger talk from a Ranger who is so passionate and knowledgeable about the area and the local native culture that it was easy to be caught up in his enthusiasm. Turns out he had been a Ranger at Kakadu some 4 years ago when we were there because we remembered some of the things he had told us then.
From Keep River we were able to slip into Kununurra for supplies (remembering the WA quarantine restrictions) before we headed off down the Duncan Road. This road winds across the NT/WA border from near Kununurra to Halls Creek in the south running down the back of the Bungle Bungles. It is about 500 km between fuel stops and is another road with mixed reputation. With the eternal caveat of “on the day we drove it” it was great, most of it was in good condition and the stretch that the road crew was rebuilding was like a highway and better than much of the bitumen we had done. We covered the distance much quicker than expected. It was talking to the road crew on the UHF (CB) that Cath became queen of the airwaves. She went from hesitant to chatting to grader drivers in no time and is now the radio operator as well as navigator.
After refuelling at Halls Creek we pumped up the tyres and headed up to the Bungle Bungles, it was when lowering the pressure for the 60 km road in that I found the horseshoe nail – although the tyre had not deflated. The road in (and out) was the worst we have done. I would rate it as a poor track but it is a ‘road’. Not so much the corrugations or holes of wash-aways which you expect but the rocks the size of house bricks scattered along the road, the natural stone coming out of the road, the blind crests with massive drop offs caused by wheel ruts and the general unmaintained, uncared for condition. But, it was worth it.
The Bungle Bungles are really ancient, massive, brightly striped beehive shaped, monoliths. One of the great natural wonders. We spent a couple of days walking the tracks. Not as much as we could have because this was the week of 40ish degrees; even the locals were commenting on the heat.
We took a photo of a long golden snake at the end of Whipsnake Gully and the person in the Rangers office assures us it is a Green Tree snake – which is not green and does not live in a tree.
If the road in and out of the Bungles is the worst road, which is the best? Answer: any road taking you somewhere new.
Back to Kununurra to restock, repair tyre and visit the Argyle dam and Ord River system one of the major engineering feats. Then the Gibb.
As for us? We are well, healthy, fit from all the walking and swimming and fresh air.
We have and are continuing to adapt to the life. Cath is getting used to driving with the windows open (closing them when passing another vehicle) rather than using the air-conditioning. We can get the camper trailer set up in less than 10 minutes, slightly longer for the full set up with awning. We are relaxed to the point that I am wearing shorts! We wash clothes when we can, we take our time doing things, We have had only the usual scratches and bumps from working around vehicles and the bush. We have given up watches and clocks and work by the sun and end most evenings by reclining our camp chairs and staring at the stars while eating chocolate and drinking wine.
Our biggest concerns seem to be (as you may have guessed) tyre pressure and the operation of the fridges –and checking to see what has vibrated loose on the corrugations.
I bought a newspaper a few weeks ago and decided nothing had changed and if the US and North Korea went to war someone would mention it. Otherwise we really don’t care about world politics, the economy (other than how it effects the superannuation) and which politician was caught with his hand in the till or, as appears to be a point of interest in Australia at the moment, which country he/she is from.
The next phase is yet to be planned in detail but may see us on the bitumen for a while, except for the special pampering side trip that we take in a few days that will involve float planes, jet boats and sleeping on pontoon accommodation. But, more of that in the next newsletter.
Our best to you all,
Don & Cath.