Thanks John, couldn't have come at a better time, madly planning our trip up North and down the West Coast. These will come in handy
JRH said
04:12 PM Apr 9, 2009
Ma wrote:
Thanks John, couldn't have come at a better time, madly planning our trip up North and down the West Coast. These will come in handy
Only too happy to help if I can. I am certain you will have a great trip, we did similar in 2004, Perth-Adelaide-Darwin-Perth and we had an absolute ball.
One word of warning, if you go into Wyndham please, please do not take the caravan up to the five rivers lookout, the road is extremely steep, narrow and windy, going up would be a huge pull but coming down and you could find the van in front of the vehicle. If it was me I would stop at Kununurra and go to Wyndham on a day trip. If you like a tipple now and again then the Hoochery in Kununurra is the place to go, it is all cane spirit but oh so beautiful.
Make sure you call into the Daly Waters Pub in the Northern Territory it is well worth a visit but he does pack you into the van park like sardines. When we were there I had a van East/West in front of me and one East/West at back, it took 3 attempts to get out the following morning, had to go forward and then reverse 3 times before we could make it out.
Hope the trip lives up to your expectations.
John
Cruising Granny said
05:51 PM Apr 9, 2009
And the Grotto is wonderful after the wet season. It's between Kununurra and Wyndham. It's a little walk, with minimum difficulty, and steps have been carved into the rocks to get you down to the water hole and creek below the waterfall. It only runs in the wet season, but the water hole has water for much of the year. I wouldn't even think about taking a van to Wyndham and parking it there for even the shortest of time, in the name of security. There's a free camp at Mary's Pool between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. It's beautiful and gets busy. There are toilets, no showers. It's part of a cattle station, but a fence separates you from the bull/s. The river crossing is a concrete ford, and the water may not be running over it by May or June. The birdlife is amazing. It's quite sheltered and shady. Enjoy. Chris
-- Edited by Cruising Granny on Thursday 9th of April 2009 05:52:40 PM
Ma said
05:57 PM Apr 9, 2009
Thanks Chris, all information and advice greatly received. Am looking forward to this trip sooooooooooo much, wish it was May already............LOL. I've really caught the bug.
dave06 said
06:06 PM Apr 9, 2009
I'm saying absolutely nothing Ma!, you've got it all in front of you to explore for your own surprise, there is plenty to see, drop into a pub, any pub, and ask a local what is around the place and where you can set up the rig. works for us all the time
John I hope you washed your hands after you came out of that other forum!!
JRH said
06:15 PM Apr 9, 2009
dave06 wrote:John I hope you washed your hands after you came out of that other forum!!
Only ever go there for a little look, can't get out quick enough as a rule but the free maps bit caught my eye and thought it was worth a mention, and yes as soon as I had left I got out the hand sanitiser, can't afford to be contaminated in any way.
John
dave06 said
06:47 PM Apr 9, 2009
thank goodness for that, must have been close though,
I've looked at a couple others and hell all they do is argue and bitch amongst themselves, then theres always the local expert on everything, thats the only reason I'm still in this one
but yep the map is quite good, but if you want really good detailed maps on anywhere at all take a look here, you can "poke in" a destination and it will give you travel times as well as distance and what you can find there, I use it all the time just to daydream
http://maps.google.com/
drongo & wendy said
10:48 AM Apr 10, 2009
G,DAY Just like John i have found this post very intersting as Wendy and I will be heading from Perth to Darwin arround early june and any imfo is going into the grey store area.Our main set back will be 2 wheel push only.Love dirt road but going to have to let reason over take lack of thought .
gawd i want to get going now geez Wendy pack the van
JRH said
12:53 PM Apr 10, 2009
dave06 wrote:
thank goodness for that, must have been close though,
I've looked at a couple others and hell all they do is argue and bitch amongst themselves, then theres always the local expert on everything, thats the only reason I'm still in this one
Ah!!! but don't you just love them, they are so up themselves.
Cruising Granny said
06:25 PM Apr 10, 2009
All the best and safe travels Drongo and Wendy.
Just bear in mind that's the busiest time of the year from Jurien Bay to Kununurra. Many parks don't take bookings and it's first in best dressed. You could try phoning ahead day by day, and be sure to get there by 4pm, or the site is gone.
School holidays adds extra pressure. Broome has lost a couple of van parks, but there are 3 good overflow areas at that time of the year.
The southerners all head north at that time of the year, and most of the parks are squeezy from 1st June to 30th Sept.
You'll be ok as long a you plan ahead a little. The road is excellent all the way to Darwin.
If you don't have a strong vehicle don't take on the Gibb River Road. 4WD is recommended, if only for the strength and ground clearance.
I'm getting "home" sick. I just love WA and the way of life, even though I'm a South Aussie originally.
Sorry all you South Aussies, but 11 years in the west grew on me.
Safe and happy travel wherever you go. Cheers Chris
Spotted this on another forum and thought members could be interested.
<http://rac.com.au/Travel/Driving-holidays/Free-WA-driving-maps.aspx>
John
Only too happy to help if I can. I am certain you will have a great trip, we did similar in 2004, Perth-Adelaide-Darwin-Perth and we had an absolute ball.
One word of warning, if you go into Wyndham please, please do not take the caravan up to the five rivers lookout, the road is extremely steep, narrow and windy, going up would be a huge pull but coming down and you could find the van in front of the vehicle. If it was me I would stop at Kununurra and go to Wyndham on a day trip. If you like a tipple now and again then the Hoochery in Kununurra is the place to go, it is all cane spirit but oh so beautiful.
Make sure you call into the Daly Waters Pub in the Northern Territory it is well worth a visit but he does pack you into the van park like sardines. When we were there I had a van East/West in front of me and one East/West at back, it took 3 attempts to get out the following morning, had to go forward and then reverse 3 times before we could make it out.
Hope the trip lives up to your expectations.
John
I wouldn't even think about taking a van to Wyndham and parking it there for even the shortest of time, in the name of security.
There's a free camp at Mary's Pool between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. It's beautiful and gets busy. There are toilets, no showers. It's part of a cattle station, but a fence separates you from the bull/s. The river crossing is a concrete ford, and the water may not be running over it by May or June. The birdlife is amazing. It's quite sheltered and shady.
Enjoy. Chris
-- Edited by Cruising Granny on Thursday 9th of April 2009 05:52:40 PM
Thanks Chris, all information and advice greatly received. Am looking forward to this trip sooooooooooo much, wish it was May already............LOL. I've really caught the bug.
Only ever go there for a little look, can't get out quick enough as a rule but the free maps bit caught my eye and thought it was worth a mention, and yes as soon as I had left I got out the hand sanitiser, can't afford to be contaminated in any way.
John
G,DAY
Just like John i have found this post very intersting as Wendy and I will be heading from Perth to Darwin arround early june and any imfo is going into the grey store area.Our main set back will be 2 wheel push only.Love dirt road but going to have to let reason over take lack of thought .
gawd i want to get going now geez Wendy pack the van