Grand views and a fast, hot start: Kununurra to Fish Hole
Day 1 Kununurra to Fish Hole (4km past El Questro turnoff)
"Well it looks like it is going to happen!" said Will yesterday with a slight look of justifiable trepidation as he stepped off the plane at Kununurra airport.
Shortly after Will, John also disembarked from the plane and we staggered into action to collect our bikes, assemble them, buy a few supplies and prepare to begin riding the following day.
I'd driven to Kununurra from Canberra with the bikes and gear in the previous two weeks, so was reasonably accustomed to the hot, dry air and brilliant sunshine.
Through a somewhat convoluted set of travel arrangements prior to today, John, Will and I along with our bikes, camping gear and two weeks of supplies had ended up in Kununurra with a plan to ride the Gibb River Road from east to west and so end up in Derby about 700 km away.
From Derby we'd bus or drive to Broome from where we'd get back to Canberra on the other side of the continent by various means.
This first day of riding, though hot and slightly hampered by our lack of fitness and very heavily laden bikes, was relatively straightforward being mostly on sealed, and generally flat road.
The countryside here in the east Kimberley is a feast for the eyes.
I'll leave it to the photos below to show the day's highlights.
The stats were:
88 kms 4hr 50mins Av 18.2 km/hr Max 43 km/hr
Thanks to a colleague, Mitch Firth who lives in the district managing sandalwood plantations, we were able to store our bikes and equipment near Kununurra for a few days. This hire ute then got us from Mitch's place to Kununurra airport from where we began cycling. John's knots ensured the precious load stayed put.We used a similar hire vehicle at the conclusion of the riding on the Gibb River Road to get us and the bikes from Derby to Broome.It was about now that John quipped, "How about we just drive the bikes to Broome?"Courageously we resisted temptation, unloaded the bikes and handed the ute over to the hire company at Kununurra airport. Then we started riding toward Derby. Little did we know what we were in for...
Ready to roll. The official start of the ride.From left to right: Graham John Will aka 'The Brothers Gibb' At Kununurra airport and about to head to the Gibb River Road. This is the cleanest and keenest we will be for the next ten days.
We chatted to the owners of this home on wheels. They spend the whole year doing a circuit of Australia visiting their children.Taken in roadside rest area a few kilometres before the Gibb River Road's eastern end.
John and Will. A first rest stop a few kms from the beginning of the Gibb River Road.We were already starting to feel the heat and the affects of not having cycled for a few weeks.
First view of the impressive Cockburn Range.John heads down a straight on the the Great Northern Highway toward the intersection of the Gibb Road.The Gibb River Road will take us near the bluff in the middle distance by later in the day.
The start of the Gibb River Road at the eastern end near its intersection with the Great Northern Highway.Mt Barnett will be our next shop and service centre. It also has a phone.When the distance between shops is 400 plus kilometres, the food for tour has to be planned fairly carefully. The store at Mt Barnett has a reasonable stock of basic supplies, but we left Kununurra with enough food for 14 days cycling which should easily get us to Derby. We are are not relying on the two shops between Kununurra and Derby.Have I packed enough coffee is the question?
We saw surprisingly few wild mammals. There were quite a few cattle, a few roos and dingoes. Birdlife was the most impressive fauna on the Gibb River Road. The sound and sight of birds along the roadside was almost continuous.Cattle wander freely over vast areas. Rarely did we see fences.
This was an understatement. The corrugations were bad as well :)The road surface from the El Questro turnoff (where this sign was) was exceptionally rough. It was barely rideable and kept our speed to less than 10 km/hr at times.
The challenge was to find a line to ride through this teeth rattling set of corrugations. We were to face many, many kilometres of similar surfaces over the next 600 km.I am not sure what the pink ribbon tagged stake was for. There were many identical ones along the roadside so perhaps they were markers for road grading.
Fish Hole at sunset. This was the first of several beautiful water side camping sites we were lucky to find on this cycle-tour along the Gibb River Road.
The moon was phenomenally bright. Viewed through the tent inner.A chorus of dingo howls was triggered as the moon rose. A musical welcome to the Kimberley.
