The only part of Gibb River Road I have done is part of the road from Derby to the turn off from Gibb River Road to Winjana George and Tunnel Creek (worth the diversion).

I was looking at this link which shows some of the Gibb River Road and the different types of RV used for the trip, if you have done it I would be interested in your views and what type of rig you did the road in?   See photo's on this link;

http://www.georgeday.com.au/travel-log/ 

See the covers over the vents on the Goldstream caravan, looks like one may be over the side boot entry also.  

The Gibb River Road is just another wide graded road that varies in condition depending on the grader, the traffic and the weather.
With care all sorts of vehicles make it safely.
Without patience and care, a lot get broken too, usually due to high speeds and high tyre pressures.

The roads to the Mitchell Falls and to Kalumburu are typically in poorer condition and get less grader attention although I was working at the Mission at Kalumburu a few years back and a tourist arrived in an EA Falcon and asked if he was in Wyndham :)

The GRR....

Cheers,

Peter

Thanks Peter,

I was wondering about the river/creek crossings and if the water level would flood the flooring of a campervan in particular ?

Best months to travel? (lowest water levels?).....

Hi  ..

I choose not to do dirt these days but I have driven the Patrol up to El Questro and found it rather corregated but OK with a bit of air out of the tyres.  We got there a bit late & they wouldn't let us walk up to Emma? Gorge so we sat in their lounge admired the view & drank their free coffee.

but ...  

Here is a web site that is worth looking at if you are at all interested in The Kimberlies.

http://www.kimberleyaustralia.com/contact.html 

It includes a fair bit about the Gibb River Road.

Vic41 wrote:

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Thanks Peter,

I was wondering about the river/creek crossings and if the water level would flood the flooring of a campervan in particular ?

Best months to travel? (lowest water levels?).....

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There are only 2 crossings left on the GRR that are not concrete.

The Pentercost is wide and slow but quite shallow.

The Durack can be deeper, but only in the early part of the dry season. After June there should be no issues, but earlier the better for the waterfalls etc.

Cheers,

Peter

Thanks for the feedback and link all, I did notice the road corrugations in Peters photo, par for the course on gravel roads unless they have been graded very recently.

Many doing the Windjana Gorge & Tunnel Creek bit leave their vans at the Derby CP and just take their tugs in, from memory and having done it about three times, did it once in a tug, once in a Coaster Bus and also a campervan.  Windjana had a basic ranger camp there last time I went with showers/toilet, but needed own drinking water and no fuel or supplies (we had to sell some backpackers a jerry can of fuel so they could leave there).  

I do recall a few V shaped very small creeks that may breach a caravan, but can't say for sure.  There is a 4WD tour that leaves from Derby Tourist Office and CP, not sure if that is still running.  Some drive in from the main highway from the other end, especially if they come from the Fitzroy Crossing end, I went in the Derby end and went out that way on two occasions.

bill12 wrote:

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I remember camping by the Pentecost, and a big croc camped just below the camp........But we did catch some nice Barras..... Bill

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You get a lot of freshies in Windjana Gorge, I walked up to one I thought was a car tyre, it was coiled up and just looked like a tyre tread, some biggies there.   They also say they are in tunnel creek but as long as you don't dangle your hands in the water you are ok, I never encountered any but that is not to say they are in there when you wade through (make sure you have a torch and sand shoes or similar).

On one occasion as I was entering tunnel creek I looked up and just above my head was a snake coiled up in a limestone pocket, no idea what type it was, I kept moving real quick.   

Hi, These are from my trip in 2007. Left the van at "Drysdale" and used the tent at Mitchell falls, Kalumburu & Mc Gowans. The Pentecost shot was about 6 weeks after being closed from flooding, got a small amount of water in the van. Travelled fom Kununarra, El Questro, Drysdale, Windjana, Tunnel Ck & Derby without any problems. The van shot is at the Kalumburu turn off.Lower speed and tyre pressure are the secret to rough road travel.

Regards MIke.

Thanks for the feeback Graeme and Mike.

Mike, your van looks like it has been raised a bit or is that normal height?  

I imagine if it has been lifted that would have helped in the water crossings?

Vic41 wrote:

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Thanks for the feeback Graeme and Mike.

Mike, your van looks like it has been raised a bit or is that normal height?  

I imagine if it has been lifted that would have helped in the water crossings?

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 Vic,

You are very obsevant! I'll have to remember that if I'm trying to pull a bit of wool---.

To increase the payload needed bigger brakes, needed bigger axle,needed a bigger chassis.

It is about 5" above standard height That model (Jayco Eagle )were pretty low slung anyhow.

Other than welding a false chassis under the original and new springs axle etc. It's fairly standard.

The GRR has a lot to offer as I'm sure your research has shown.

Mike.

Thanks for the info Mike, looks like it is meant for business (travel that is, LOL). !

Have done the Gibb in a Hilux and a couple of times with Landrover Defender. All trips were tent-based camping. The last couple of times, we had an offroad van that would have handled the Gibb and Mitchell/Kalumburu roads with no hassles. But we chose to leave it in storage at Kununurra because : in 2000 we were planning to do the Tablelands Track and van was not a good idea for that. In 2007, we were going into the Bungles and at that stage, vans were not allowed in there. From the Bungles, we continued west and did a circuit back via Gibb and parts north.
The Pentecost as actually a bit tidal at the Gibb crossing. It is broad with gradual approaches. The Durack is a bit steeper to get in and out of, and can be a bit deeper, but if the Gibb is open to traffic, shouldn't present any problems. The two water crossings we have found the most tricky, in those parts are the Fletcher Creek, on way into Bungles - after heavy rains; and the King Edward on the way into the Mitchell Plateau - it can be surprisingly deep and uneven.
We were at El Questro in 2007 when a couple of hired big motorhomes came in - the sort that are not supposed to be taken off the bitumen. The overseas travellers were quite proud that they'd driven them over the Gibb from Derby. They did have some trouble at ElQ with a rock stuck between the twin back wheels. (It was also a pity for them that my son was with us - and he was a manager with the hire company )

Under no circumstances go in or near the water at the Pentecost crossing. We camped at Home Valley, just downstream from it, and saw lots of big crocs sunning themselves on the mud at low tide!

Thanks for the feedback Wendy good info there. 

Camped near the banks of the Victoria river once, was very wary about stepping out for a pee in the middle of the night in case a crock or two had come ashore, was right back from the edge, but wasn't going to take any chances, LOL !

2012, GRR with 2010 GU Patrol and 16'6" Billabong GottaGo van.

Road from Kununurra to ElQuestro was being prepared for asphalt and I believe it IS now asphalted.  Pentecost crossing was no hassels - the water was very clear when we were there and no issues.  We too stayed at Home Valley Station - $16per person per night and if you wanted pwoer it was an extra $16 per night - up nearer the homestead.  You could camp down at the river camp ground for $16 per person per night - no power and cold showers only available.  The crossing was taken slowly due to rocky bottom.

The Durack was narrower than the Pentecost and about the same depth with the same rocky bottom.

Road - we found - was NOT as bad as we had been told to expect. Corrugations in the middle section (140km) and the deepest creek/river crossing (?Hahn River - or something starting with H) was near the Derby end but was very narrow.  No water got into the van at any stage and we had dropped the tyre pressures considerably to protect them from Punctures.

Enjoy the GIBB - we will go back and do it again.

Thanks Barb & Darryl,

We still remember Pemberton and the horizontal rain sweeping up the main street outside the coffee shop (which has since closed).

And of course our very enjoyable meal with you both and JRH & Irona at Dome Hillary's Boat Harbour....

Here's a pic of the Pentecost crossing in June 2011. there had been a late cyclone that year and the river crossings were a bit deeper than usual, with quite a few holes in the river-bed here.

Thanks Gerty, did you do it with your van in tow and if so how did it go?  How did you find the road in general then?

By the look of the leaning trees just forward of the 4WD with it's bonnet up and on the other side of the river, it must come up quite high when the river bursts it's banks, I assume the water level would be a lot higher in the wet season up north ?