The Gibb River Road: Derby to Bell Gorge

The drive from Broome to Derby was fairly unremarkable, but the dregs of the damage from either the wet season or the cyclone was apparent. The decision was made to stay at Birdwood Downs Station, not far out of town and a little way down the Gibb. We had heard that Derby isn’t the most desirable town to stay.

Derby

As we drove in we stopped at the Boab Prison Tree. It is said that when indigenous people were ripped from their homes by blackbirders recruiting workers for the pearling boats, that after walking in chains for hundreds of kilometres, the young indigenous men would be held at the Boab Prison Tree while waiting for boats. It is also protected under the Aboriginal Herritage Act, I believe for its connection to traditional/religious beliefs.

After having a look at the Prison Tree and learning a bit about it, we drove through Derby, just to see it. It actually is a pretty little town. Tiny town actually. With quite a lovely feel about it. It had a fresh green feel about it, with accents of a shimmery rusty-brown. I assume there’s a mineral in the water that colours the bottoms of trees and power poles etc. But it was a strange kind of beautiful.

Night 1: Birdwood Downs Station

We arrived at Birdwood Downs Station, the owners were lovely. There were peacocks and chicken roaming around. There was a communal campfire with a sausage sizzle if you didn’t want to cook your own dinner. After set up it was clear that our camp was a bit exhausted and we got an early night. Not before celebrating that we had in fact begun The Gibb River Road… even if we were still on the bitumen.

Off the Beaten Track

As we left Birdwood Downs we bought some of their rump steak for another Rendang and some sausages, before hitting The Gibb again at 9:30am. The landscape is a mixture of flat pastoral land and untamed bush, both which were dotted with boabs. Boabs are super cool. There’s something special about them. I wonder if I can have one in my back yard? If not, maybe a bonsai.

We passed the Lennard River Bridge and soon after left the bitumen and therefore let the tyres down. We weren’t sure what road conditions we were in for. As we passed through the Nappier Range, there was Queen Victoria. Head held high, gazing out to the south with her profile naturally adorning the northern wall of the gap the road passes through. Unmistakable.

There are some big trucks on these dusty roads. When the wind is low, the dust lingers for such a long time. Long enough to have to stop and wait around for a while before you can see where you’re going again. The road, so far, is an absolute dream. The smallest more insignificant corrugations that you are barely aware of. Which is why it was such a shame and a surprise when our Hulk Ragnarok Ooshie that sat proudly atop our CB radio aerial fell right off without warning.

The road began to deteriorate at the Mt Hart turn off, mildly. We could still maintain between 50 and 80km depending on the particular stretch of road. There was distinct black strokes embedded in the rock that often towered alongside the road, that was different to the rocks we’ve seen elsewhere. There were also little pockets of tropical forestry, like tiny little rainforests accenting the sometimes baron land. We were stopped by a group of ringers in motorbikes and horses mustering some cattle across the road, the kids thought that was cool.

Night 2-3: Silent Grove/Bell Gorge

As I’ve mentioned the Gibb River Road for me is a lot about chasing waterfalls. I’m excited to be spending the next two nights at Silent Grove; base camp for Bell Gorge. There were numerous creek crossings to get to the campground from the road. One of them longer and more shallow, one of them shorter and deeper. A great little introduction to adventure. The campground is large open spaces, with a meandering road and just the right number of trees to provide shade and shelter and still allow you to make the most of solar. There are no defined sites which I love, but was grateful for the place not being too busy. It continued to amaze me how many people are out in the middle of nowhere.

We decided not to do the gorge/falls on our first day and rather relax, make use of the hammock, play some cricket and make another mean rendang.

While relaxing, naturally, I was people watching. I watched the people I met while ‘checking in’ choose their campsite and set up. They were an older couple, very considered. Each decision discussed and well thought out. What I thought was incredibly and unnecessarily time consuming, but also nice to be able to do so without the usual arrival commentary – can we get out? What’s to eat? I’m doing the stabilisers and not the tyres today! When are we going to the waterfall…. And so on.

I watched two families over the road choose their spots and set up camp in a slightly chaotic, haphazard fashion. There were maybe 7 or 8 kids between the two families aged maybe 5 to 13. I get it. They did not ooze a sense of calm, but I admired their minimalist approach. And then there was a family with three kids. Two girls and a boy, around the ages of our kids. I enjoyed watching the mother. I felt she was demonstrating the emotions I felt when we arrived at Birdwood and everyone was tired. There was some issue with the kids’ bikes and who was using who’s with or without permission, then in the sorting out of it all, of course the mother was grossly unfair. I watched this women bend at the knees and waist to form a half squat, calmly cradle her head in her hands, before standing upright, looking to the sky, moving her hands on her hips and sighing quietly to herself (but I was paying too close attention), ‘I’m so sick of this.’ Leon and I talked about how it would make a great Bluey episode.

Perhaps if we had been as considered as our older neighbours we would have thought to check if our chosen space had a campfire… it did not. Which is always frustrating.

We woke on Wednesday morning ready to venture to the falls. We chucked as he heard the woman shrieking ‘Michael! Michael! There’s a spider!’ Michael didn’t seem to think a spider this size warranted the drama. I was pretty sure they went to the gorge yesterday so went to have a bit of a chat about the difficulty of the walk and the necessity of proper shoes… is it like Karijini and they’d be better off left at camp or on the car? Michael and his family were living in Derby. His wife was a teacher doing remote service and receiving a pretty attractive package for doing so, and he was completing an apprenticeship after leaving the defence force and their family being based in Darwin. Michael said we’d be fine in thongs to get there, then you’ll take them off.

Leon has continued to surprise me with his extroverted behaviour that is so far from his usual way of operating. He joined me to chat with Michael, then I learnt that he’s also chatted to the older couple (Caz and Simon) and met an additional couple (Pete and Lynette from Chapel Hill) at the campground while looking for kindling. He also met Terry who came and had a chat about our camper and wanted to check it out. Leon’s social life on the road is quite possibly the thing that’s amazed me the most. So contrary to how he operates home.

We set off for the falls which is a short drive and then a walk in. A rocky but flat walk and not very long. When we arrived it was beautiful, but we were at the top of the falls. The water was a crystal clear creek full of rocks, some submerged, some exposed, flowing towards what sounded like a significant waterfall. We had a peak over the edge and a bit of a look around before deciding that the climb to the bottom of the walls was worth it, and we began to cross the river. This took some patience and thoughtfulness to find an appropriate point to cross. Not too deep, not too fast flowing, rocks that aren’t too slippery, and that is still fairly direct! It was a balance of a bit deep and a bit slippery and flowing fast enough… but it was totally doable. Malachi made it across. I went second and stopped half way for Leon to pass Teddy to me so we could get him across. And then Joey. He needed considerable time to mentally prepare for the challenge ahead. He was deadset against getting any scrap of his clothing wet. I breathed. It was a time. Eventually, when he had made his mind up that he was in fact going to join us, he made it over as nimble as could be. First obstacle done.

On the other side of the river a lady looked at us and said… I think your kids will need their shoes on to get down there. It’s a tough track and at the bottom the rocks are extremely slippery. As I think I’ve said before, you need to be careful whose advice you take. I smiled at this lady and simply said, ‘our kids are pretty adept, and more often then not have more control in bare feet.’

We made our way down the steepish track to the bottom of the waterfall which was very straight forward and all kids did completely independently and did not heighten my nerves at all. The waterfall was grand. Water thundering down a giant five tiered staircase, landing in a large deep plunge pool boarded by tall rock walls with the red and black that I’m learning is indicative of the Kimberley. The water is not the gemstone green of Karijini, but rather the crystal clear of natural springs and streams.

Malachi and Leon were quick to get in and eventually found a doable route to the bottom of the falls. The current was strong! Joey and Teddy and I explored the rock walls and Joey pushed his comfort zone and climbed out onto a ledge to sit. He was so proud of himself when he conquered the feat, as he had returned from his endeavour multiple times overwhelmed by fear.

After some obligatory rock baking, Joey showed Malachi and Leon his shelf that jutted out over the water at the same time and Pete and Lynette floated past below and let us know that people were jumping off it yesterday (as well as much much higher). How could we leave without trying that ourselves! Leon checked the water depth to be sure and both he and Malachi had a few jumps.

Back at the top of the falls things had got busy with the arrival of a tour group. One of the old men pointed out a pretty cool monitor at the top of the falls that the kids were interested in. As we were leaving we ran into the family I’d been watching yesterday afternoon and the mother, who’s name I now know is Jane, asked our boys if they’ll be playing more cricket this afternoon as her son would love to join in. We joked that he could as long as we could roast marshmallows on their fire. And so a deal was done.

The walk home from the gorge and Leon had powered off ahead with Joey and Malachi, and I was bringing up the tail (a long way behind) with tired Ted. Sometimes I’m behind with someone who’s tired, sometimes I’m lagging behind with someone who wants to show me the beautiful qualities of every stone, leaf and lizard. There are even times where I’m behind with someone throwing a tantrum. The point is, I’m often behind with someone. Today it bothered me more than usual. Teddy was tired. He’d put his slides in the backpack which Leon was carrying. He had decided that not only was he tired, he couldn’t possibly walk another step without his slides. And of course, no matter how loudly I yelled ‘Leon!’ He did not hear me. Frustratingly I had also put my thongs in the backpack. I knew I would be fine without thongs… what I didn’t know is that piggybacking someone on this rocky floor would not be so great without my thongs.

Leon eventually realised he didn’t know where we were and waited. Teddy was reunited with his slides, and I decided to take the lead for the remaining hundred meters or so of the walk.
When we arrived back at camp the families with Michael, who were on an over nighter from Derby for the weekend, had left. So, we took the opportunity, hitched up leaving the camper erected, and moved spots (this one had a big fire pit!). This also meant we were prepared for an early departure tomorrow morning.

Jade’s family joined us and our families had dinner and marshmallows around the fire. Rob (Jade’s husband) also met Simon collecting firewood, so Simon and Caz also joined us at the fire. It was a fun time. Jade and Rob are from Melbourne and have been here about 15 years, but are originally from England. Interestingly, our three kids and their three kids have the exact same birth years and are getting along so incredibly well. I told Jade that I felt connected when I was watching her family yesterday afternoon, she and Rob said they thought we were super fancy with our table cloth and paper towel on an occy strap… I’m sure they’ll learn in time!