The Karunjie Track.... a favourite!

We shot back into Kununurra the next day, returning to the same caravan park we had been in two nights ago only to find that Matt and Deb had been put in our exact spot, and ironically, we’d been put next to them.  Sheesh, just as well we liked them!!!!!

Matt and Deb were doing what we had mainly already done,  getting stuck into major jobs in Kununurra.  Given we were planning to be out along the Gibb River Road (GRR) for a long time, we were trying to stock up to within an inch of the vehicle’s capability.  Glenn also spent some time checking over Slim and the camper, as well as fixing the charging lead on the camper. 

The next morning we headed out of Kununurra in our new ‘convoy’, Matt, Deb and the kids in their Hilux and Camprite, us in Slim and our Camprite.  We had been talking to Matt and Deb about their trip, and found out that they had lined up a gig with a magazine, Camper Trailer Touring, to submit stories of their trip.  They were playing ‘journo’s and pro photographers’, except it wasn’t playing.  They had a requirement to take certain number of pics of certain types, travelling, camp setup, etc.  This meant that they were on the lookout for some great angles.  As soon as we turned onto the Gibb, the Cockburn Ranges, our favourite in Australia, provided a great backdrop.

There were quite a lot of roadworks going on during the first 15+kms along the Gibb where they appear to be putting in a lot of bitumen.  As we discovered, it looks like they are making an all weather road access to El Questro.  The little roadwork diversions were pretty rough, and we definitely had to lower the tyres not long into the dirt. 

An early stop to let the tyres down

 

We had planned to do the Karunjie Track, which is a little diversion off the Gibb around the back of the Cockburn ranges.  We drove straight to the Pentacost River, to where the Karunjie Track starts, just before the river crossing.

Matt and Deb let us go first, so Amy started wandering down the track.  She was all a little bit too laxidazy when we hit a big patch of soft sand, resulting in us ‘bogging’ pretty easily.  No great concern, but was amusing for Matt & Deb’s kids.  They had never seen anyone get bogged!! (Oh great, we will be remembered for bogging in a little sand blip!).  It didn’t take too much to get out, but not before Matt rattled off a couple of pictures of us there.

After that, the track was fairly easy, but as we had remembered it, extremely picturesque.  The Cockburn Ranges look even better from the back (northern side), and the rest of the country side is pretty rugged.  There were a few 4WD sections to negotiate, and Matt earned his keep running around in the heat getting shots of the two cars at all different angles.

Not a welcoming sign...

The tow bar was dragging down this steep drop

The Cockburn Range looks even better off the Gibb River Rd

Hundreds of birds finding respite from the heat of the day

Love the boab trees!!

This area was used for a number of scenes in Baz Lumans ‘Australia’ movie, and we could easily see why.  The floodplain we drove through was a stark difference to the rest of the drive, and given how dry and cracked the soil was, it made it look even more barren.  We remembered the hype in the area last time we passed through as the movie was to be filmed in the following months.  We specifically remember that the stampeding cattle scene was going to be done there.  Would have been fun to see.

The 'moonscape' on a section of the Karunjie Track

 

Last time through the area, we had stayed at a station called Diggers Rest, but given the Wyndham races were on that day, it was shut given all the station hands were enjoying the races.  We found a camp beside the ‘Prison Boab Tree’.  This boab is a huge (14.7 metre circumference), hollow based tree that was used to house captured aboriginals whilst they were being walked into Wyndham for sentencing.

Prison Boab Tree

Inside the tree - apparently up to 30 prisoners would be held here

The next morning, we drove in to check out Diggers Rest.  It was the same owners from last time, and we also saw the lady who runs the horse trail rides, Helen, who showed us around last time.  Five years ago, we had stayed on an extra couple of days and helped them erect 80(ish) hiking tents for the movie crew to use.  This was hot and long work, but they were very grateful.  We sat around having a chat and looked at a few of the photo’s around the walls.  When it came to possibly staying there, we found the prices a little steep, and decided to move on, happy we had dropped in to say hi.

We travelled only a couple of km’s past the boab tree, and decided to drop into a camp spot we had visited last trip, on the banks of the King River.  Matt and Deb were happy to park up as well, this time for a couple of days.  It was a free camp, we had wood, and we were by ourselves.  Paradise!!!  We did have to keep an eye out for whether there were any croc visitors cruising up the tidal King River.

A couple of days of sitting around, chatting, having coffee’s, eating the cake Matt cooked in the camp oven, and a couple of jobs on the car was all well worth it, and a highlight to finish off this section of the trip.