Gibb River Road - Manning Gorge

On Saturday the 20^th June we travelled to Derby. The plan was to put the van in storage at the van park we were staying in ($5 per night) and go onto the Gibb River Road (Gibb) all the way to Mitchell Falls seeing gorges and falls on the way up and back. We didn’t want to spend more than about seven nights in the tent so our idea was to come back and pick up the van for the extra comfort and return to the Gibb and keep it at Windjana Gorge for a further three days.

We happened to have our site next door to people we met at Lake Argyle, two couples from Tasmania. They had just spent a night on the Gibb at Bell Gorge and also saw Windjana. In speaking to them we decided to not bother coming back and picking up the van and taking it back to Windjana. They recommended we could just do the lot in seven days in the tent and we would save a heap of kilometres and fuel and wear and tear on the van. We had already done the eastern end of the Gibb, El Questro etc.

So on the Monday the van went into storage and we hit the Gibb. The road was surprisingly good but caution was still required.

We arrived at Barnett Roadhouse, paid our camping fees and went on to Manning Gorge Campground. Set up camp and then went down to the river for a swim. It was a beautiful swimming hole. The quickest way to the gorge is to go across the water. For that purpose there is a tinny on a pully system so you can pull yourself across.

The next morning we took the walk to Manning Gorge. It was absolutely beautiful.

 

 The water was crystal clear.

There was even some rock art.