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- EASTERN SECTION OF THE GIBB RIVER ROAD.
Day 13 Silent Grove to Home Valley Station
It’s about 10 kilometres from the Silent Grove campground out to the Gibb River Road. Once back on the Gibb we passed the Isdell Range and continued north-east.
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- Windmill and tank.
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- Cattle yards.
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- Rangelands around Mt House.
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- Mount House Station.
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- Track into Manning Gorge.
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- Track to Manning Gorge.
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- Kapok Bush. Aboriginals bake the roots of small kapok bushes.
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- Bachelors Buttons.
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- Passengers.
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- Flannel Bush.
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- Swimming hole at Manning Gorge.
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- Usually at this time of the year Manning Falls would be only a trickle.
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- Manning Gorge Vixen.
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- Lucky to see the waterfall running at Manning Gorge.
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- It was hot
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- but the water temperature was decidedly cool.
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- The long walk in deters a lot of people but it is still a popular spot.
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- Too cold to swim in comfortably even though it was a hot day.
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- Manning Falls.
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- We were lucky enough to have Manning Gorge to ourselves.
All too soon it was time to return to the vehicle. It was a long walk back. The flies were friendly.
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- The track to/from Manning Gorge.
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- Grevillea
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- On the way in to Manning Gorge.
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- Walking in to Manning Gorge.
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- The track to/from Manning Gorge.
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- On the walk out of Manning Gorge.
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- On the walk out of Manning Gorge.
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- Wild hibiscus, an import from South Africa.
From Manning Gorge we continued generally east past Mt Barnett. The road follows a stock route from Mt Barnett to about where it crosses the Hann River at which point its course becomes more northerly.
The Gibb River after which the road is named does not actually cross it. The closest the road gets to to the river is a couple of kilometres before the Kalumburu Road intersection in the Gibb Range at which point is 1.7 kilometres distant.
We didn’t have time to drive the 267 kilometres to Kalumburu.
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- Directional signpost at the intersection of Gibb River Road and Kalumburu Road.
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- Map of the Kimberley.
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- At the intersection of Kalumburu and Gibb River roads.
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- Gibb River Road.
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- Another water crossing.
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- Plenty of water in this creek on the Gibb River Road.
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- On the Gibb River Road.
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- On the Gibb River Road.
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- Wandering cattle on the Gibb River Road.
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- Dingo
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- On the Gibb River Road road trains are restricted to ‘doubles’.
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- On the Gibb River Road.
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- On the Gibb River Road.
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- On the Gibb River Road.
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- No fences in the rangelands so wandering cattle were an ever present hazard.
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- Pentecost Range
We crested the Pentecost Range to be rewarded with magnificent views of the Pentecost River Valley and Cockburn Range. With concentration one could see Home Valley Station, our destination and planned stop for the night.
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- Pentecost River
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- Home Valley Station Campground.
Kimberley nightlife, outback style, as delivered by Home Valley Station.
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- Home Valley Station.
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- The bar at Home Valley Station.
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- The bar at Home Valley Station.
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- Kim at Home Valley Station.
Day 14 Home Valley Station to Parry Creek Farm
Home Valley Station overlooks the Bindoola Creek which flows into the Pentecost River. It is a working cattle station that, since 2006, has diversified into providing tourism services. At just over 14000 square kilometres it is the largest station in Western Australia and the fifth largest in Australia. It is larger in area than 40 sovereign nations of the world.
After we packed the camper trailer we followed a few station tracks down to the Pentecost River. There was no doubting we were in ‘croc country’.
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- At Pentecost River, Home Valley Station.
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- Pentecost River, Home Valley Station.
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- Pentecost River, Home Valley Station.
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- The iconic Pentecost River crossing.
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- Pentecost River crossing.
We were nearing the end of our adventure along the Gibb River Road but there was still the ‘jewels’ of Zebedee Springs and Emma Gorge (in El Questro Wilderness Park) to come.
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- On the track in to Zebedee Springs.
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- On the track into Zebedee Springs.
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- On the track in to Zebedee Springs.
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- Zebedee Siren.
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- Tammy enjoying herself in Zebedee Springs.
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- Tammy enjoying herself in Zebedee Springs.
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- Tammy enjoying herself in Zebedee Springs.
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- Zebedee Springs
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- Zebedee Springs – a Wonder of the Kimberley.
Emma Gorge Resort is 22 km from Zebedee Springs – both part of El Questro.
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- Cockburn Range
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- At Emma Gorge Resort.
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- Emma Gorge Resort
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- Tap inset in boab tree.
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- It works.
The walk to the swimming hole at the top of the gorge takes about 30 minutes.
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- On the way up to the swimming hole.
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- Kim at Emma Creek.
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- Clear water
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- Swimming holes all along the creek.
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- Emma Gorge swimming hole.
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- Mini waterfall even in the dry season.
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- Emma Gorge
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- Tammy is under a 65 metre drop waterfall.
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- Emma Gorge
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- Another swimming hole along the creek.
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- Another swimming hole along the creek.
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- Returning to the Resort.
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- Walking and swimming built up a hunger.
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- Aussie Tammy.
We drove out of Emma Gorge and turned left onto the Gibb for the last 25 kilometres of its length. It T junctions with the Great Northern Highway near Mount Harrison. The Highway runs a further 50 kilometres north to Wyndham giving it a total length from Perth of 3200 kilometres. It is the longest highway in Australia. Left to Wyndham, right to Kununurra. Just before Wyndham is The Grotto.
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- Information sign The Grotto.
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- Entrance to The Grotto.
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- The Grotto.
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- Descending to the pool.
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- Steep descent.
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- We didn’t swim.
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- The Grotto.
Leaving The Grotto it was a short drive to colourful, historic Wyndham – the hottest town in Australia. Wyndham is at the bottom of the Cambridge Gulf – the endpoint of five rivers (Durack, Pentecost, Ord, King, and Forrest).
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- Sublime example of Wyndham architecture.
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- Elevated to get air flow underneath.
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- In Wyndham.
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- Another example of Wyndham architecture.
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- Old Wyndham.
No visit to Wyndham is complete without a visit to Five Rivers Lookout at the top of the Bastion.
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- View from Five Rivers Lookout
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- Directional plaque at Five Rivers Lookout.
We preferred Parry Creek Farm for our overnight stop. It is in the Parry Lagoons Nature Reserve – 36,000 hectares of pristine wilderness that is a Wetland of International Importance. The Reserve is a feeding and breeding ground for many migratory waders. It is also a drought refuge for all of the Kimberley’s waterbirds.
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- Road into the Parry Lagoons campground.
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- Tammy laughing at Kim’s effort to remove a frog from the camper.