October O.K for The Gibb RR/Kimberly???

[Benduro]

Hi Swaggers,

We have timed long service leave with the final stages of our build and figure it to be a good time to move out of the rental (shed will house our 'stuff'), take our two kids out of day care and hit the road. Rent and Child Care coin can be put towards travel costs.
We had always planned to do the half lap: up the guts,across the Gibb, down the West Coast, across the Nullabor and check out the two SA peninsulas on the way home to Vic.
 
Unfortunately, the way the timing of our build has gone it means this opportunity now presents itself in late Sep' - mid/late Dec'.
The time of year is not ideal and may mean we need to change our rough plan.
 
We plan on leaving Vicco at end of Sept' and gun it to the Centre (can do Flinders etc at another time), with a plan to be in the Kimberly by mid October. Then cruise down the West Coast and be on the SA peninsulas around Christmas.

Has anyone travelled a similar route in Spring?
 
Would greatly appreciate any info', experience or advice.
 

[cetacean]

Hi Benduro,
                We had 6 months on the road a couple of years ago and just loved it as I'm sure you will !
     I think you're timing might be a little out though to do the top half of WA though, the Kimberley in mid Oct will be scorching. Way to hot for comfortable camping and you'll see the countyside at it's worst really with not much water around.
   Even the Pilbara can be very hot by mid October,especially inland.And sadly the Oct/Nov period along the West Coast is notoriously windy.
   Don't mean to rain on your parade, but

[cetacean]

Sorry Benduro,will finish my post !
....but we Oct/Nov the bottom half of WA would be a lot more user friendly

Cheers Darryl

[tk421]

You are getting close to Cyclone season in October as well.

That said we did GRR in early Sept, and it wasn't too bad, not much water at Mitchell Falls though.

[cetacean]

You are getting close to Cyclone season in October as well.

That said we did GRR in early Sept, and it wasn't too bad, not much water at Mitchell Falls though.

Big difference up between early Sept and Mid October  temperature wise though.
I've worked in Kununurra in October and have never been soooooo hot !

[Benduro]

Bugger!
Thanks for the informed replies.
We don't mind heat but with two youngens it may not be such a great idea. Also put extra strain on vehicle.

Will rethink our plans... Have leave but now unsure where to go???
Flinders, Nullabor, West Coast and back to the SA peninsulas? East Coast, Fraser etc (done the NSW Sth, Central and Nth coasts).
Any ideas would be much appreciated.

 

[cetacean]

What about starting at the Flinders, up to the Red Centre, and across the Great Central Road to WA. Then explore the Mid west and south west of WA , back across the Nullabor to the SA Pteninsula s and back home ?

[Benduro]

Thanks cetacean,

Could be a plan and will look into this route further.
Still shattered about missing the Kimberly, but hopefully the opportunity presents itself during a more appropriate season in the future.

 

[goodfa]

Hi benduro,

As a Broome resident I can inform you many people stil camp in October, myself included. however as said before you may not find it all that comfortableand you really would be missing out on seeing it at its best. there isn't really much point driving all this way not to enjoy yourself.
Enjoy your trip whichever was you go

[SteveandViv]

Yea, I agree with goodfa.

We also camp in October up here and generally head to Cape Leveque in October. That said it is very hot and even with us being on our 6th year here find it a pain to sleep. With kids that will be worse.

No cyclones though in October, the season can start in late December but even then not likely.

[Benduro]

Thanks again for the advice guys and we are still undecided!
Prob' won't get an opportunity for an extended break like this for another 10yrs so at this stage we are leaning towards the proper half lap including Darwin, Kakadu and Litchfield and then the Kimberly (GRR).
As long as there is still water about in the holes/rivers/gorges, we will be o.k  The Rapid is great at night as we can open up both ends for comfortable sleeping during hot nights.
Will be following the coast during Nov'/Dec' and be in SA (coast) for Jan'.
So we really only need to tough it out for a few weeks in October
Would love to see the area at it's best but at the same time would rather experience it than not at all.

[fuji]

We just went up to Darwin via Adeles Grove, Lorella Springs, Gregory Downs. I would head up there and spend some time. It will be hot driving especially up towards. Mt Isa but when you get to a nice shady camping spot in Adeles Grove with cool water, you won't regret it. I could easily spenpd a couple of weeks there. Plenty of water there as well. Lorella had minimal. Litchfield for another week wowuld be well spent. Plenty of water in the falls there as well. Enjoy
Wayne

[wakychapmans]

I must had a very special year then.

In 1991 (yeh ok... so it was a while ago), I cycled toured down the Gibb' in late October/early November. 23 days, from Kununurra to Broome.

I don't recall it being overly warm. But then, I was pretty acclimatised at that stage.

 

[2010banditsa]

Wa's coral coast, thats a bit milder, easy to access?

[Brett]

Other than the heat and humidity the water is drying up.  Some of the gorges will be empty or stagnant. I'm not one to drag my backside kilometers into a gorge to find it empty, need a cool wet light at the end of the tunnel.

But the roads will be great as we found out as our trip was Aug/Sept.

[Benduro]

Water holes being stagnant or dried up is probably the only reason for us having doubts at this stage.
I see that it has been a dry year and have been keeping an eye on the weather and temps are already into the high 30's.
Would prefer to see the Kimberly at, or close to, it's best and with delays to the shed build (to house all of our house stuff until build completion/trip return) we are now looking at end of the 1st week of October to start our journey.
 

[Redcherokee]

Typing this from Wyndham.  We made it to Broome via the highway, with grand intentions of coming back via the GRR.  After a guided trip via bus to Windjanna and Tunnel Creek (excellent btw), and noting the heat, the quality of the road, and how dry some gorges (eg Windjanna) were, we revised that to coming back via the highway and just ducking into the Bungle Bungles and then ElQuestro and Home Valley.

Made it to Bungle Bungle van park, and decided "far out, it is hot".  Only about 37 or 38, but little/no shade.  Other park visitors coming back and saying they cut their walks short due to the heat.   With a two hour drive each way plus walk needed to see anything, we decided to leave that for next trip.  At 6am, I could feel my skin burning. Got here, and decided we could not survive ElQuestro without air con, and for the prices asked we would be better off coming back when it was more enjoyable. The pool in Wyndham CP is nice, as are the trees.   

So planning on going to Kunnurra (didn't see everything on our way across) and then Zebra Mine. Turns out Zebra mine is closed for the season already.  It is not alone, as various places are starting to close up.  First of September all the Victorians start heading home for the bowls season, the tourist numbers drop and cafes etc reduce their hours, regular markets are no longer held, and heaps of other services reduce or stop operating. 

We knew there would be issues coming this late in the season.  A couple of weeks ago we had a great time at Kununurra, but you could see the tourist numbers were already dropping as waterside camp spots were easy to get.   Will be interesting to see what it is like tomorrow. The climate and facilities on the road across have changed more than I expected in such a short time.  Heck, we are even noticing changes in what the plants are doing (flowering/fruiting etc).

IMHO doing it in October would feel like an endurance event. You would also miss out on the opportunity to do lots of cool things, as they would simply be closed. You could brag that you did it, but would be reluctant to go through it again.   

Save it for later, and do something fun instead.


 

[Benduro]

Thanks for the info' Redcherokee... Certainly some food for thought there!
Yet again we are rethinking our route!