Waking up to bird song always makes for a pleasurable start to the day, well usually unless your trying to sleep in….(and some noisy little critter is chirping away about how pretty the sunrise is and that he made it through another night and how he so glad to be here in his little patch of bush)

So breakfast and on the road again, heading east through one of the most spectacular parts of the world- the Kimberleys. Boabs are coming thick and fast now along the route, and the plains are turning into the rock formations and ranges that the Kimberleys are famous for.

Spectacular in the dry but they really come alive in the wet with waterfalls everywhere and the lush green savannah. But now at this time of year (September) the waterfalls have generally dried up but the scenery going past the window remains timeless. We chat and reflect on how if you think about driving through the Kimberleys most people turn to the Gibb River Road.

The Gibb seems to be one of those rites of passage that everyone who ones a 4WD seems to be doing. For us we had done the Gibb back in 2007 before it became the mecca for every man dog 4×4 and “outback” caravan so stuck to the highway. Recently we hear more and more about how busy and crowded it is, how the campsites are all booked out so people are camping everywhere and how the places are becoming less and less isolated.

I think people sometimes forget about the other places and roads that exist through this area, leading to some stunning locations, but maybe I’ll tell you about them some other time. So being in Little Bus we stayed on the black top, prefering our memories of when we had the gorges to ourselves and making new memories as we cruise along.

Fitzroy Crossing

First new memory was Fitzroy Crossing, always a “fun” place to stop, and now there is so much activity in the town because the main bridge had been damaged in the cyclone and the government has thrown a lot of money at the town to rebuild it.

We were there just before 8 AM, the IGA was open, the whistling kites were circling overhead and all we really wanted was a loo and a little break. The IGA was brand new, being rebuilt after the cyclone and the only place we could find a loo was in the carpark but it didn’t get unlocked for another 30 minutes yet.

A local resident was walking from the “camp” next door. This camp was a series of dongers and structures that had been brought in for temporary accomodation for the local indigenous. We had been told by a this guy we could go in and use their toilets so we did, I think if he hadn’t told us we could, then we wouldn’t have gone in.

It was an experience, from the feet sticking out from where some guy was snoring in the cubicle next to mine, to where Jo walked past what she thought was the communal clothes pile in her toilets. But everyone was friendly, maybe we were the most exciting thing that had happened that morning so far?

The bridge being out meant we had a detour through the old Fitzroy River crossing, about 10km all up. It was good to see the old crossing still existed alongside the temporary floodway that they had put in. Even the Jabiru’s on the side of the road didn’t care as we drove over it, you can see the power of the water that had traversed this section piling up the trees along the river bank

After Fitzroy Crossing it was continuing east, planning on staying at Doon Doon Roadhouse for the night. The land was changing breakaways coming more often, we cruised on in to have a look at a campsite at Mary River Pool,(funnily enough its on the Mary River) a shaded spot with tall trees, heaps of room to camp and lots of curious cows. The cows up this way always remind me of Aliens, I think it’s because of their ears and eyes and faces, just something about them! We decided this would be a great place to stop on the return journey.

After this we carried on into Halls Creek, filled up with the most expensive fuel of the trip $2.59 per litre, then as usual got out of there and went on past the turn off to Purnululu (the Bungle Bungles), and the Savannah Nickel Mine (where I used to work). There are plenty of places to camp along here, but maybe on the way back or when we aren’t as pushed for time.

From here through to Kununurra is the best scenery of the Kimberleys section of the Savannah Highway, the combination of colours the banding of the rocks and the savannah grass make you feel like youre somewhere else in the world.

We cruised on through until we reached Doon Doon Roadhouse, We could have pushed on but stopping at the small attached caravan park, gave us a pleasant break, power meant airconditioning, the amenities were clean, pleasant and well maintained all for $35 a night, long hot showers and a cold beer went down well after 640 km. Worth a stop!

We had settled into the routine now so next morning it was within 15 minutes that we were escorted out of the campground by some rainbow bee-eaters, (they are colourful little characters, but flew away everytime I got the camera out), and headed for the border, We had intended a slower trip today into Kununurra, with some planned stops along the way including a side trip into Wyndham for a look see.

The Grotto

Our first stop was actually on the road into Wyndham, A place called the Grotto, A gorge easily accessed by a bitumen road just north of the Gibb River Road turnoff. (where everyone was taking selfies with the sign)

Smaller than the gorges that most people would have seen by now it is no less spectacular in its own right, with permanent water that is a popular swimming hole for the area. You park at the top of the grotto and walk down a series of “steps” to get to the water hole.

We had arrived early in the morning and the day was already warm but not searingly hot, so this was the best time to clamber down the stairs and enjoy the peace and quiet of the gorge which we had all to ourselves and yes we did go for a swim in the cold water. The only thing with the steps going down into the gorge is you have to climb up them again to get out! so BYO inner mountain goat!

The Grotto is a stop we would happily make again, and thoroughly recommend it, (just watch kids on those steps) for a full look at the gorge visit our youtube channel below, watch to the end to see the climb out and those “steps”!

Then into Wyndham which is a port town and like every other small town has a claim to fame. Not only is Wyndham the junction of 5 rivers, and the end of the Great Northern Highway (which we had now driven it’s entire length), but it happens to be the town in which a TV series Mystery Road had been filmed in for the ABC. (check it out)

A drive around around the old port is the most interesting part with some of the original buildings still existing including the original hospital.

Mini Bungle Bungles

But it was today that we were going to enter the NT so back onto the highway for the short drive into Kununuura, fuel, food and a drive around the town, for us the highlight is the Mirimar national park. For those that can’t get into the Purnululu NP this is sometimes known as the mini bungle bungles.

Its right in town, easily accessed and has short and long walking trails, well worth a look. The short nature walk at the picnic area is wheelchair accessible, the toilets clean and the information panels tell the story of the local flora/fauna. and the surrounding rocks stunning.

Lake Argyle

We still had a bit of time, so on our way to the border we drove the half hour into Lake Argyle, the source of the ord river irrigation scheme. The caravan park there was buzzing, as usual, due to the lake being perhaps the most well known location in the area, but its worth visiting in its own right not only due to its massive size but the surrounding scenery.

Lunch in the picnic site below the dam was a pleasant shady experience in the company of a bower bird that was hopping around looking for decorations for its bower, we enjoyed his antics for a while and then off to the border crossing.

After lunch it was drive back, to cross the border, then travel through time into the NT, a simple event, blink and you may have missed it. One second your in WA the next in the NT, Little bus knows this and automatically changes her clock forward so if you had blinked, you may have wondered where the time had gone.

Now the task was to find somewhere to sleep, for suddenly we were tired, was it the missing time? had we blinked for a little too long?, where would we stay?, what was about happen overnight? would we make it to our planned destination in the Keep River National Park? well I’ll guess you will have to join us next time to find out!