Gibb River Road (Bell’s Gorge) and Derby (21 - 27 Jun)

Our drive to Bell’s Gorge involved our first stream crossing which was both exciting and a novelty for us. Upon arrival, Justin noticed that the spare wheel mounted on the back of the car was missing and our initial thought was that it must have bounced off from the bumpy road. Justin decided to backtrack along the road for an hour based on how much fuel we could spare and remaining daylight we had for the mission. He returned to camp with no success, having flagged down oncoming motorists none of whom had encountered a lost wheel. Although it had crossed our mind that the wheel may have been taken, we had dismissed the thought until several campers came up with the same theory given there was no damage to the car, caravan or tread of the bracket for the wheel. Although we will never know what happened, it is somewhat disheartening to think it may have been someone from the camping community.

Not wanting to risk the Gibb River Road unprepared, Justin spent some time calling around to replace the non-standard wheel. In the end, Tyrepower in Derby was able to get the wheel the following Tuesday (in four days) and Norweld would courier us a replacement bracket without charge (as they have never had their brackets just fall off). Fortunately, Justin had sufficient buffer days for contingencies such that the 4-day wait for the wheel would not impact our itinerary. With the orders placed, we decided to visit Bell’s Gorge in the morning before heading back to Derby to wait for our deliveries.

Back in Derby, we chose to stay at the Dunbara Burru Caravan Park which offered the security of locked gates at night. The telephone number for the local police and warning signs were plastered around the camp ground reminding us to lock up, place valuables out of sight and sleep with our keys next to our pillows. I was, therefore, initially a little nervous about using the camp toilets at night but, over time, the apprehension disappeared and the town grew on me. It is so unfortunate that Derby’s reputation precedes it and wholly unfair that people make sweeping statements about its crimes when, in reality, they are mostly opportunistic.

Now back to our wheel situation – it didn’t show up on Tuesday as scheduled. After making numerous calls, Paul from Tyrepower found out that it had already been invoiced by Bridgestone on the day of our order, but still had not been despatched from Perth. This meant that the wheel would not arrive until Friday (a week after our order placement) based on current courier delivery times. Not a surprise to those who know Justin, he immediately went about re-working our itinerary as the buffer he had allowed would not accommodate the week that we have now lost. We finally agreed to sacrifice the 4-day return trip to Mitchell Falls given fellow travellers had warned us about the rugged road conditions. Also, I wasn’t sure I wanted to pay for the alternate option of a scenic flight as I’d seen more than my fair share of waterfalls by this stage.

During our week in Derby, we stayed at four different sites (with the last night spent in the parking lot) as the caravan park had a high turnover of campers who used it as a base for their Horizontal Falls tour, or who were there to stock up prior to, or after completing, the Gibb River Road. One other camper also had the unfortunate privilege of a parking lot site waiting for an ambulance to take him to hospital for an injured back. Over this period, we home-schooled Millie and watched television (Back to the Future and Anne with an ‘E’) in the caravan for the first time.

When Friday finally came, we waited, all packed and hitched-up, outside Tyrepower before they opened at 8am. As we waited for our delivery, the sight of two caravans pull up with ripped tyres strapped onto them lent validation to our decision not to attempt the Gibb River Road without a spare wheel. Fortunately, our order eventually showed up at 11am and I was spared the unenviable task of peeling Justin off the ceiling. After thanking Paul with a token gift for going above and beyond to get us back on the road, we departed Derby for Manning Gorge but did not arrive until after sunset – breaking our own cardinal rule in an attempt to make up for lost time.