Coo-ee!

We’re as the crow flies, 270km North-West of Wyndham in an extremely remote part of the Kimberley’s. We have been driving all day and only stopped momentarily to get some more fuel and a Uunguu visitor pass from the Drysdale River Station. The pass will give us permission to access the restricted area of the Mitchell River National Park. We’ve heard from many experienced travellers who we’ve met along the way that the Mitchell Falls and Plateau provide one of the most gruelling 4WD adventures, but is definitely worth the effort as the scenery is superb. It’s a highly sought after attraction when exploring the Kimberley. But that, you have to see it to believe for yourselves!

And true to form, the road in was narrow, very rough, corrugated, windy with some steep inclines and large trees on either side. More like a death trap as it’s rarely maintained. The walking track to the falls also was a full day’s effort to clamber over rough country with many rocky cliffs and sheer drops. It was a challenge of epic proportions but I’m sure you’ll agree it’s magnificent. We’re only disappointed that our visit was nearing the end of the dry season and that only a small trickle of water was flowing over the falls.

We had been camped up in the national park for 3 days when we were alerted by park rangers that an adjacent fire was out of control and that we may need to evacuate. They had closed the walking track to Mitchell Falls and that we must stay at base camp until advised it would be safe to leave. We couldn’t believe our good fortune in that our timing was impeccable, had we been a day later or so our efforts would have been in vain and the allusive falls would have remained a mystery. Leaving though, again would prove difficult, as visibility from the smoke hazard would be an additional risk to contend with.

After a quick surveillance of the area by helicopter, the rangers were satisfied our access road was clear and that it would be safe enough to travel as the fire had subsided due to less wind. We were keen to make tracks as well as our supplies of food and water were getting low and with no internet services for at least 14 days, we were feeling a little isolated not being able to make contact with family or friends. Making our next stop at the Mt Barnett Roadhouse, a great opportunity to pick up some fresh fruit and veggies, home made sausage rolls, fuel and a camping spot for the night which included the entrance to Manning Gorge for a well deserved swim.

But like all remote holiday experiences the best ones are enjoyed with the people you meet along the way. Sharing a beautiful dinner with Andrew, Kath and Nick under the stars was a special treat and is definitely a highlight with an amazing fish curry, freshly baked chocolate cake, topped off with a glass of red for the adults. What could be more perfect and who would have thought possible given our location!

As we inch closer to wrapping up our Gibb River Road adventure, which has taken in many of the region’s natural wonders, over 20 long days and 19 awesome nights; our final stops include Bell’s Gorge and Windjana Gorge.

Access to Bell’s Gorge is via another 29km of dirt road and a walking trail for experienced bush walkers taking at least half a day to explore. But making it to Bell’s Gorge is definitely worth it as the site is picturesque and swimming very refreshing.

Windjana Gorge almost completes the journey and unlike the other areas we have explored along this track, it is most unusual. As the story goes, some 375 million years ago, this area was part of the Devonian Reef System. The walls of the gorge are over 100m high and carved out by the Lennard River over millions of years. Deep pools of freshwater remain and are teeming with fresh water crocodiles. We counted almost 90 freshies and there were probably many more that went unnoticed. There’s also an abundance of noisy Corellas, Fruit Bats and Marsh Flies of annoying proportions.

Our final destination is a landmark, 7km outside of Derby, a 1500 year old Boab Prison Tree. I’m elated that we’ve finished the Gibb River Road and that we can tick this one off the bucket list forever. It’s been an outback adventure that has tested our resilience to the maximum. As a way to shout out we made it I’m calling Coo-eee from my soap box and heading to Broome for a REAL HOLIDAY!!!!! 🤣