Mount Barnett Roadhouse and Manning Gorge 16-17 September 2013

Well we said a fond farewell to El Questro and headed off onto the Gibb River Road proper i.e. dirt, on our way west to Mount Barnett and the Manning Gorge. The first 50 or so kilometres were on a detour side road as they are doing some major road works on the Gibb, maybe sealing it towards Home Station. Seems to be spoiling things a little by taking out some of the adventure and challenge, but I suppose I mustn't grumble.

The traditional crossing of the Pentacost River was a little on the dry side

Some water holes remain, but the road was not deep enough to wet a lizard's belly

It is surprising how many bitumen sections there are along the Gibb. Most of the floodways and several steep inclines and descents are sealed, presumably to minimize the amount of damage done by road trains and 4x4s and therefore the amount of maintenance required. The colour changes constantly too. Mostly it is a deep terracotta red, but instantly it will change to white, grey, yellow, brown, black or even mauve. The bits of dirt, gravel, dust, sand, rocks, dust, ruts, pot holes and even more dust, while far from being the worst road in Oz, are quite demanding and require a lot of concentration if you are keep everything shiny side up. Glad we didn't let anyone talk us out of doing it!
Did I mention the dust? The bloody stuff is everywhere and on everything. The truck is slowly filling up to become a mobile sand dune, and every time you even get close to it, you come away with a new red patch on clothes, skin or hair.






Once again we were treated to another example of some people's insanity. Yep, another MAMIL (if you aren't familiar with the acronym it stands for Middle Aged Man In Lycra) peddling his pannier bag and solar panel festooned mountain bike along the rock strewn side of the Gibb towards Kununurra in his best black lycra. Why, oh why do they insist on doing this type of thing? Surely there are quicker less painful forms of suicide. Unfortunately we didn't get any photographic evidence of this Darwinian loser as we were both too stunned to think of grabbing the camera before we had left him in a cloud of dust behind us.
Arrived at Mount Barnett Roadhouse, and bumped into a family who had camped next to us at El Questro for a day. This was a first for us as most people we have met have been going the other direction (or maybe they just told us they were....).



The roadhouse itself was a real surprise as it had a mini supermarket with a bit of everything from frozen seafood to camping gear, so we added a few bits of fresh veggies and a bottle of cordial to the larder, had a burger for lunch and then headed out to the campground at Manning Gorge. Well, the campground turned out to be a long rock hop from the gorge, but whatever. Caught up with our new besties after dinner and sacrificed a few more fermented grapes at the alter of good company. A good night was had by all. Might even see them again in Derby, as the grandparents run the fish and chippery there.

Next morning it was off on the rock hopping adventure to the gorge. I'm sure it was twice as far as advertised, but eventually we did make it, and it was spectacular.

This guy was about a metre long

Had a very long swim, then grudgingly made our way back to camp to pack up and set off for the next stop. This was supposed to be Mornington Wilderness Camp, but according to the people at Mount Bartlett, the road was still closed due to recent fires. Just have to wait and see.