Gibb River Road, WA

The Carson River Track provides a week’s worth of challenging and difficult rock crawling and boulder hopping, soft sand and mud, and some winching and towing with some serious water crossings thrown in. Along the way you’ll also be educated on Aboriginal culture, including plant and foraging knowledge, local history, rock art sites, and rare scenery.

In the Kimberley region of Western Australia, this 4WD track is in a very isolated section of the Balanggarra Indigenous Protected Area. Oombulgurri is the Balanggarra name for a large part of this area. The track starts at Home Valley Station on the Gibb River Road, winds northward along the western side of Joseph Bonaparte Gulf (but inland), then turns westerly and finishes at Kalumburu.

We travelled with four other couples from the south of Perth,  plus an Aboriginal Balanggarra tour leader. The distance is not huge, about 450km, but the degree of difficulty is quite high with the track last bulldozed in the 1980s. The trip took us ten days, but it can be done in a shorter amount of time.

Daily river crossings are all part of the adventure

FIRST CASUALTIES

The afternoon of the first day saw our first casualties, two flat tyres with damage to a wheel rim. The driver did a few quick wheel swaps though, and we were on the way again. After a number of tricky  rock creeks with extremely sharp corners, we were way behind schedule and darkness was falling, so our tour leader took us up a hill to a site which was fairly level and away from the mosquitoes, saying no one would use the track at night. Just as we had set up camp and started cooking dinner, we heard the throb of diesel engines. Two car loads of young  Aboriginal Balanggara men drove past, heading off for a weekend of camping and fishing themselves, waving and laughing their heads off at our camping spot!

By lunchtime the next day we had reached the Durack River crossing, which is about 200m wide. The water was down, but every rainy season the rushing waters rearrange the rocks and boulders  and deposit very loose, deep sand on the banks. Being the first group of the season, we were the first to go over this year’s fresh and soft sandy banks, and to navigate the new arrangement of boulders. It was very difficult. Our 200 Series bumped, crunched, and lurched its way across, being spotted every inch of the way by the tour leader. This was incredibly nerve-wracking, especially as we were imagining that the next bang was going to destroy something important. The mighty Maxtrax saved the day though, and was used as a ramp to ride off a rock that I hung up on. But we crossed safely, as did everyone else. That night we camped on a high cliff above the Durack River with a magnificent view, and well away from any crocs.

A Maxtrax roadway ensured safe passage out of some of the more trickier river crossings

Over the next two days we encountered probably the most difficult sections of track. There was a very long descent, full of boulders and rocks, that required a spotter to help you wind your way down. Willowglen Challenge, eat your heart out! We camped at the base of a rock platform that overlooked pools and the Forrest River. The  next morning was a very steep climb, complete with many steps and loose rocks that just went up, and up, and up, until we eventually got to the top of a ridge and discovered it was just as steep and rocky down the other side. I drove down, Sue walked. Just so she could take good photos, of course. The walk down was very difficult though, and perhaps it would have been easier in the car. Then we came to a big day of teamwork as another river crossing lay ahead of us. The water was shallow with easy rocky shelves, until the exit. This was a really steep, long, sandy bank with extremely deep soft sand. This would need momentum. Unfortunately there was no space for a run up. After many trial and errors, we made a Maxtrax roadway  using every single Maxtrax, then sent the Ford Ranger with front and rear lockers up. It just made it. The rest went one by one, barrelling up the sand bank as far as possible, then digging out the wheels and towing it to the top by the Ford Ranger. Sounds simple, but it all took quite a few hours. One Maxtrax was permanently lost in the deep soft sand, so remember to tie ribbons to them beforehand!

Every day had challenging sections. Deep sand tracks wound through scrubby trees, both of which are the enemy of trailers. If you decide to do this trip, take a tent or swags or sleep on mats in the open (the weather in the dry season will be fine and there are almost no mosquitoes), and leave your trailer in Wyndham or Kununurra.

The brand new Ford Ranger was towing a brand new MDC camper trailer. The highly modified Ranger performed brilliantly when not towing its trailer. The MDC performed well and was robust enough, but it also caused many difficulties. From the Ranger not having enough grunt to pull it up steep rock gullies, to needing towing help (the tour leader’s old 100 Series ended up towing the trailer for about half of the trip), to getting snagged on scrubby trees and shrubs, and the Ranger and trailer had to be towed through many sandy stretches that all the other vehicles had gotten through with minimal difficulties.

A roof-top tent and large storage drawers installed in this ute proved a god-send

Two couples had a HiLux each with king cabs. Both these cars were farm utes, with cage and canvas canopies over their trays. Our friend Laurie had modified his cage so that it was hinged and lifted up, and in the tray back he had installed a rooftop tent. As you could get into the tent from the tray back, it was much easier than the normal ladder arrangement. There was enough room under the tent for large storage drawers, too.

Damage to vehicles was nothing too serious. Five flat tyres, all on the same HiLux, which was probably due to not having LT offroad tyres. The Toyota aluminium sidesteps on the two HiLuxes were trashed. Our 200 Series had dents on the rear left panel and shredded mud flaps, and our ‘tree hugger’ (tree trunk protector) got shredded. A stock standard 4WD would probably not be suitable, but a slightly raised vehicle such as ours, with some protection bar sidesteps, and of course bash plates, would get you through. In terms of recovery gear we took a pretty complete range of items, including tyre levers, and everything got used - although not necessarily by us. Our winch did get used for the first time outside of practice though!

The least reliable vehicle on the trip belonged to our trip leader.  The night before, he borrowed an old 100 Series vehicle from the Balanggara community. He spent the evening before the trip unsuccessfully trying to install a radio. The major problem was a broken engine mount, but that didn’t stop him from heading off into the wilds of Oombulgurri. Repairs were simply made en-route. He even ferried a couple who decided the trip would be too rough for their Pajero.

Enjoying a well-deserved rest after a hard day on the tracks

STOCKING UP

When it comes to self-sufficiency you need food and water for the entirety of the trip, plus afterwards. The shop at Kalumburu is very small. It has fuel, but its supplies are extremely limited as it’s there to serve the local community, not the tourists. Kalumburu is still a long way to Kununurra or Derby, and we visited Mitchell Falls for a couple of days on the return. Kalumburu campground has clean water for refills. Our car has a  60L water tank, plus we brought a number of 10L boxed waters from a supermarket.

Our trip leader was Colin Morgan, Balanggarra man, elder, land custodian, and also proprietor of Wundargoodie Aboriginal Tours. Colin told us many interesting stories along the way, about plants and their uses, the landscape, and family stories of living in the country as a child.

As the track goes through Balanggarra Indigenous Protected Area, effectively making it private land, you can only travel with a Balanggarra person or with their permission. As of 2017, there are at least two Aboriginal Balanggara tour companies offering services. We went with Just Over The Hills, run by Ron and Coralie Morgan, and our tour leader was Colin Morgan. Cliff Country Tours also offer similar tours. If you have your own group, you can probably get your own tour on a date to suit from both these companies.

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Written: Fri 01 June 2018
Printed: June, 2018
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