19th August Derby 315 kms today 6,611 kms to date

We had a small brekky at the Roadhouse before setting off.  They were expecting 28 guests today from Rio Tinto which was setting up a new mine site in the area and was going through the consultation process with local Aboriginals.  The GRR wasn’t too bad with well defined wheel tracks to follow with only occasional short sandy sections.  When ever we crossed a stony section Colin was apprehensive about another puncture, but it wasn’t a problem today.

We stopped at Imintji roadhouse for a break and it was even better set up than the Mt Barnett RH.  The roadhouses along the GRR are owned by the local aboriginal communities but run by managers who try and make them special in their own way.  Imintji RH had freshly baked apple pie on offer when we arrived.  I put a proposal to Alan that we give Windjana Gorge a miss and head for Derby instead.  Alan didn’t take much persuasion to agree.  We both had had enough of the vagaries of dirt road riding and the Leopold Downs Road to Fitzroy Crossing did not appeal!  I discovered later that one of my runners had fallen off my bike onto the road.  That made hiking into the Windjana Gorge an impossibility as I could only walk a few yards in my Motocross riding boots.

Leaving the Kimberley on the way to Derby

We moved out of the relative flat terrain of the mid-GRR into the King Leopold  Ranges and long flat topped ridges appeared along the road. We wound through the gullies and hills as we crossed these ranges, which was quite different from the other end of the GRR.  On one stretch we saw what looked like a rider on a motorcycle stopped by the side of the road.  But as we approached closer it was actually and man walking along pulling a trolley loaded with his stuff and apparently doing the GRR on foot!

We had our lunch beside the Lennard River which has the only bridge on the GRR.  Alan is shown carrying his trusty nest of pans and camp stove that had produced gallons of boiling water for our freeze dried food packs and cups of tea along the way.

After we left the Lennard River we found ourselves on a wide bitumen road 58 kms before we expected it.  So I flagged down a 4WD to ask if the bitumen went all the way to Derby.  The driver said yes but there was a couple of short sections of dirt.  It turned out there were two 10 km long sections of dirt, some of which was being graded.  Car drivers have their brains in neutral on these roads. Later on a huge steer ran out in front of Alan who only just missed him. They normally just lope across the road and are easy to see and negotiate but this one decided to be different. At least he didn't decide to turn around and run back as Emus tend to do.

Finally we reached the end of the GRR.  Our dirt riding adventure started with the Tanami and ended with the GRR – 1,700 kms of road that varied around every corner and over every hill.  We couldn’t relax for more than a few minutes but we did it!

We made it down the Gibb River Road at last

We arrived in Derby at 3 pm.  We had stayed there in 2010 on our lap of Australia and we found the same camp ground the West Kimberley Lodge.  Alan thinks we are in the same cabin.  It has a great kitchen and BBQ area and we cooked up a storm to end the day.  As we approached Derby the sky darkened to the south and it looked like it might rain.  It turned out to be a grass fire alongside the road.  It possibly could be a controlled burn, but there was plenty of smoke across the road.

While Alan unpacked, I went off to find a pair of runners to replace the one that fell off my bike.  I found a pair of  white Dunlop Volleys that fitted the bill much to Alan’s disgust.  I used to wear Volleys playing basketball in Belfast as they have tremendous grip on the court surface.  White runners with black socks looks so cool!!