Magnarc wrote:

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Hi All,

We are off end of June to do the West Coast. Going up to Katherine on to Kunanurra. Have'nt made up our minds yet whether to go Gibb River or not, then down to Broome, Perth and back on the Nullarbor. Would love to meet up with any Nomads on the same track.We have done the Darwin bit before but the West will be a new experience for us. We plan to do a lot of free camps along the way, so any advice from listers who have done this would be most appreciated.

Regards,

Magnarc. (Phil)

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 Hi Phil, you don't say what type of rig you have, some rigs are not suitable for the Gibb River road.  There are a lot of free camps in Camps 7 between Katherine and Broome, some good stuff in Cindy's The Grey Nomads Guide too. 

Don't rush and bypass some good spots along the way between Katherine and Broome, especially Lake Argyle, Gieke Gorge, Winjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek etc.   Also don't be put off by what you hear about Halls Creek (ok in daytime, safe in the CP at night but place full of interest and a trip to old halls creek a must, but get info first from Tourist Bureau), like the other towns, Kununurra and Fitzroy, go to the tourist bureau there and get info on the areas you are in and ahead of you.

Monkey Mia is fine, can stay there or in Denham and visit from there.  I didn't like Coral Bay (been there a couple of times, when road was unsealed and later), too packed with tourists, however the Mrs likes it, so each to their own.  Suggest have a read of Yeoeleven's blog, especially for the south west.

http://yeoeleven.blogspot.com.au/  Suggest start from the beginning and read it through....

Read these guides, particularly the bottom of this first one, Planning Your Trip;

http://www.westernaustralia.com/au/Pages/Welcome_to_Western_Australia.aspx 

This one from WA Main Roads  has good info and also shows Rest Areas and 24 hour stop overs, see;

https://www.mainroads.wa.gov.au/UsingRoads/TouringWAMaps/Pages/TouringWAMaps.aspx 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- Edited by Duh on Wednesday 10th of April 2013 03:13:55 AM

Don't miss the SW of WA. Follow the coast south of Perth, then head up to Norseman from Esperance, and hit the Nullarbor....

A very important consideration is the school holidays in NT and WA. During school hols the caravan parks and campgrounds will be full to capacity. You will need to book ahead for the 3 week WA hols. We tried to "hide" in Derby during that time, found it was absolutely packed, went out to Windjana Gorge, and the huge campgrounds there were also packed. We loved it anyway but I think we might have enjoyed it even more if it was less crowded.

Definitely not a rig you would use for The Gibb River Road, I met up with a chap with a double wheeler caravan at Turkey Creek (Warnum) who had busted his springs taking it over there, also a friend who had taken his A'van A'liner camper trailer and ruined it, especially inside.

Some leave their vans at Derby (CP) and just take their 4WD and tent for the experience.

I was talking to Magic Bob yesterday and he mentioned what a great place Barn Hill was, he has a large caravan like yours.  See;

 http://www.barnhill.com.au/ 

However he said he came across two caravans that had broken the A frames on their caravans due to the stresses on the dips and rises on the road in, this was caused by the pressure exerted by their WDH (Weight Distribution Hitches) which need to be unhitched if using them for that type of road.