Thread: We are home from the Kimberley

We arrived home today after about 18KK from Avoca beach over to Carnarvon and back with our 92 RRC and 97 Campomatic. We originally were to come back via the Nullarbor buit gave it a miss after the weather reports.
Highlights-
No punctures on the BFG Longtrails
Fuel consumption about 16.5 L per 100Km at 105 real KMh.
Only car problems the upper tailgate catches and a water pump.
My LH back door will not open from the outside handle and the aircon fans do not work , but I think this was prior to the trip.
So I guess pretty boring.

To recap , we drove via Windorah, Bedourie, Boulia, across the Plenty to Alice, Tanami to Halls Creek, Bungle Bungles, Kununurra, GRR, Kalumburu Road, Mitchell falls, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing and Tunnel creek etc, Broome, Cape Leveque , horizontal waterfalls, Millstream Chichester, Karajini, Tom Price, Ningaloo, down to Carnarvion, then back via Mataranka, and Mt isa, Yepoon, and finally along the beach from Rainbow down to Tewantin.
What a great trip over three months.

Memories are the spectacular gorges and falls particularly Mitchell, and a small gorge on Mt Elizabeth Station, as well as Wynjana, Bell , Manning etc. ELQ is worth the visit despite the crowd scene. The snorkelling at Ningaloo is breathtaking.

We swam in Lake Argyll at the boat ramp only to find 2 weeks ago that there is a saltie hanging around there!!! It was amusing at Broome to find Cable beach closed because a saltie liked the surf. The open air theatre was amusing, as the landing planes' lights shone on the screen in the middle of the movie.
On this occasion The GRR was a pussy easily done in a soft roader , but the Kalumburu road and Mitchell Falls roads were bad and I understand still are. The guy at Drysdale Station makes his money mainly from broken suspensions. I recall talking to a guy with a new Paj at King Edward River and warning him only to be told that it was OK as his Paj was under warranty ( The day before an older Paj had broken all of the body to chassis mounts off). I also saw a Paj at ELQ with about 200Kg on the rack, 2 spares and 6 jerries. I wasn't quick enough to take a picture But it was a sight to see. They must be good cars. The Bungle Bungles entry road is also not too good but OK if taken sensibly.

The GRR will be all bitumin in ten years as they are currently/ doing/just done about 50K up to the Wynjana turnoff and beyond, so do it while it still a challenge. The number of vans is bad enough now!!

If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.
I will try to get time in the next couple of days to post some photos, after I try to clean off some of the dust.
Gee its great to sit in a lounge chair and watch TV, and use real china plates. It really makes you appreciate home.
Regards Philip A

Did you go in to Wolf Crater? If so what's the track like? We will be doing the Bungle Bungles but not the GRR and also doing a fly over. So I'm thinking we may not drive to Wolf Crater as we will probably see more from the air. __________________

I intended to , but just before the turnoff the banana tailgate started to pop open every 10Ks or so filling the car with dust each time. SO I decided that I didn't need another 240Km of that.

I spoke to someone AFAIR at the Bungle Bungles who had done it and said to me that the track was very corrugated and worse than the entry track to the Bungle Bungles, which you will soon find out to be pretty bad (unless it has been graded). Just take it slow and let your tyres down.
Regards Philip A