Gibb River Road - must dos?

[Jaycee]

Hi guys and girls,

My partner and I are leaving Darwin this Sunday, and we are planning to take the Gibb River Road to Derby, and from there we are heading to Exmouth to swim with the whale sharks.

We have two and a half weeks in total before we need to be in Exmouth, and we would appreciate any tips you might have for things to do, places to see and great campsites etc, on our way across.

We are fully self sufficient in a Nissan Patrol, and mostly enjoy bush camping over caravan parks. Any tips for nice secluded campsites would be appreciated.

We are also debating whether to do the Bungle Bungles. Are they worth the detour?

Many thanks,
John

[krisandkev]

Hint, don’t try to do it all.  It is a long way from Darwin to Exmouth and to do the Gibb justice you need longer.  The Bungle Bungle is defiantly a place to go, but you need a few days there to do it properly.  So maybe you just want to know some of the key places to visit on the Gibb?  Swimming with Whale Sharks is a brilliant trip, we did it last year.  We went with the ‘Three Islands’ company and if you get one of those little tourist books there is a 10% off coupon in it.   Kevin

[Jaycee]

Hint, don’t try to do it all.  It is a long way from Darwin to Exmouth and to do the Gibb justice you need longer.  The Bungle Bungle is defiantly a place to go, but you need a few days there to do it properly.  So maybe you just want to know some of the key places to visit on the Gibb?  Swimming with Whale Sharks is a brilliant trip, we did it last year.  We went with the ‘Three Islands’ company and if you get one of those little tourist books there is a 10% off coupon in it.   Kevin

Thanks Kevin. I agree we can't do it all in 2.5 weeks, so I'm hoping for suggestions on some of the best places so we can make the most of our time. We're on a working holiday, and have limitations on our time and money unfortunately!

We've already booked with Three Islands, so we will need to see whether we can get that discount. Thanks for the tip!

Cheers,
John

[fuji]

Where do I start. If you go to the Bungles, its a long way to get back to the GRR as the Bungles is closer to Halls Creek. Your option there is drive down to the Bungles and head straight along the bitumen to  Halls Ck, Fitzroy xing and Broome  and Exmouth. Head back to Broome , up to Derby and spend the rest of your time driving the GRR. You won't see much as time will be short. I suggest the following based on having driven and lived it for 5 weeks.
Windjana
Tunnel Creek
Bell Gorge
Mt Barnett
Mt Elizabeth
Home Valley.
Haven't been to ElQuestro$$$.
If you had time Mitchell Falls is brilliant.
My suggestion is forget Exmouth and head straight to Kununurra and hope onto the GRR. Even to do it quickly will chew your days up. When you get to Broome head back onto the Great Northern and stop in at the Bungles on the way home.
My 2 cents. Have a great trip.
Wayne

[krisandkev]

John, Three Rivers is one if not the best boat to go on.  If you have not paid you should still get the discount, if it is still in the book.  Hope there are heaps of Whale Sharks for you.   
Exmouth is a brilliant place, heaps of great snorkelling spots straight off the beach just south.  Don’t forget to have a meal at Pinocchio Restaurant, one of the best Italian Restaurants you will find!  Agree with Wayne's spots, but El Questro is well worth a stop, but you need a few days there to make it worthwhile, maybe next time.  Mitchell Falls is a fantastic spot, but you need 2 days for that trip, but well worth it. Mornington Wilderness Camp is also a fantastic spot; really need 2 days there to enjoy it.  Maybe don’t worry going to Derby, just head straight to Broome and get a few days in there.  There is a great free camping spot on the May River at the Derby end of the Gibb. It is mentioned on this site.  http://www.broomedirect.com.au/gibb_river_road.html  We got the directions from a book we had on free camping in the Kimberley.   Kevin

[Jaycee]

Where do I start. If you go to the Bungles, its a long way to get back to the GRR as the Bungles is closer to Halls Creek. Your option there is drive down to the Bungles and head straight along the bitumen to  Halls Ck, Fitzroy xing and Broome  and Exmouth. Head back to Broome , up to Derby and spend the rest of your time driving the GRR. You won't see much as time will be short. I suggest the following based on having driven and lived it for 5 weeks.
Windjana
Tunnel Creek
Bell Gorge
Mt Barnett
Mt Elizabeth
Home Valley.
Haven't been to ElQuestro$$$.
If you had time Mitchell Falls is brilliant.
My suggestion is forget Exmouth and head straight to Kununurra and hope onto the GRR. Even to do it quickly will chew your days up. When you get to Broome head back onto the Great Northern and stop in at the Bungles on the way home.
My 2 cents. Have a great trip.
Wayne

Thanks Wayne. That's very helpful. Just to clarify though, Darwin is not home and we won't be coming back this way ( at least not immediately). After swimming with the whale sharks in Exmouth (which is not negotiable,unless you want to explain it to my better half and think you can survive!) we have only a few days to get to Perth for a job interview. The 2.5 weeks is our time limit for getting from Darwin to Exmouth, one way.

It sounds like we may have to give the Bungles a miss this time, so I guess we need advice on the best places to see and stay on the GRR. Our first day will be a short one with an overnight at Edith Falls near Katherine.

To explain what we're doing and why our schedule is so tight - my partner is a nurse and she can easily get three month contracts in rural / remote australia, and those contracts include accommodation and a travel allowance. We are therefore limited to travelling to wherever she finds work, and fitting in as much as we can in between those contracts. We can't see everything, not at one time, but we're seeing more of Australia this way than most people our age (I'm 40, she's 39), and get to explore the towns where we work for three months quite well. Because of this unique situation, we focus on what we can fit in, rather than what we can't (we will get back to those places another time). We are happy to put in a few long days of driving in order to see something special, but don't want to over do it.

So far we have driven from Melbourne to Alice Springs, via  the Oodnadatta track and Dalhousie Springs, and spent four months in Alice exploring all the sights on our weekends. From there we took two months off and travelled east to Yeppoon, then down to Brisbane for a week and further south to Bermagui for a few weeks over New Years. Then back through Kosciosko NP, Alice Springs and up to Darwin for three months. Now we plan to explore WA as much as possible, although we don't know where we will be based for our next working leg....

Not conventional, i know! Maybe in 20 years we'll do it again in the more conventional grey nomad way.

Thanks to everyone for your advice.

Cheers,
John

[Jaycee]

John, Three Rivers is one if not the best boat to go on.  If you have not paid you should still get the discount, if it is still in the book.  Hope there are heaps of Whale Sharks for you.   
Exmouth is a brilliant place, heaps of great snorkelling spots straight off the beach just south.  Don’t forget to have a meal at Pinocchio Restaurant, one of the best Italian Restaurants you will find!  Agree with Wayne's spots, but El Questro is well worth a stop, but you need a few days there to make it worthwhile, maybe next time.  Mitchell Falls is a fantastic spot, but you need 2 days for that trip, but well worth it. Mornington Wilderness Camp is also a fantastic spot; really need 2 days there to enjoy it.  Maybe don’t worry going to Derby, just head straight to Broome and get a few days in there.  There is a great free camping spot on the May River at the Derby end of the Gibb. It is mentioned on this site.  http://www.broomedirect.com.au/gibb_river_road.html  We got the directions from a book we had on free camping in the Kimberley.   Kevin

Thanks Kevin. I hope there are Whale Sharks too. My partner has been planning this since we left home 8 months ago, so I hope it works out! Apparently we get to try again if we don't see any on the first day.

I'll look at the other places you mentioned. Thanks again.
John

[krisandkev]

This is one of the Three Island's boats.  Then one of the swims and then us camped at May River.  I wish we were back there now, in the Kimberley, then again, just to be back in WA, what a state  .   Kevin

[TOPNDR]

With only 2.5 weeks to play with my inclination would be Darwin to Bungles, spend 2 or 3 days in the Bungles. Then bitumen to Fitzroy Crossing and do Geikie Gorge. Then 43 km west of Fitzroy Crossing, turn north to Tunnel Ck (no camping) and Windjana Gorge (camping). Depending on how long you want to spend at Tunnel Ck,you could do it as you pass, or go to Windjana, set up camp, and return the next day. Windjana is quite popular so don't leave it to late to get there and stake your claim.

From Windjana head into Derby then Broome if you want.

By my reckoning, you'll use at least 10 days to do the above.

[Jaycee]

This is one of the Three Island's boats.  Then one of the swims and then us camped at May River.  I wish we were back there now, in the Kimberley, then again, just to be back in WA, what a state  .   Kevin

Thanks for sharing your pics. The Whale Shark's look spectacular! This will be my first visit to WA, and the last Aussie state to cross off my list, so to say I'm a little excited is quite the understatement!

Cheers,
John

[fuji]

Hi John
Thats not too bad going one way. You should get alot of it in. ElQuestro would be a good spot but we ran out of time. I love Home Valley but a bit exxy. Most other places is great for free or pay camping. The stations are the best. I like Drysdale which has modcons, bar etc. Windjana has parks camping but toilets were a bit on the nose. Don't forget to exploreTunnel Creek which has a resident freshie. To do it again I would drive to Cape Leveque and spend ten days (4 wasn't enough) and a few more days at Mitchells and then drive to Kalumbaru for a few days. 
Wayne