​Day 2 on the GRR - and loving it! 15 July 2017

This is the Gibb River. We crossed it to travel a little way along the Kalumburu road.

Around midday, we turned off the road and headed north to Kalumburu after talking to an older couple who were heading to Honeymoon beach for a second visit. I must point out that one of the traps in the outback is conflicting road condition reports. Like film reviews, it's all a matter of perspective, experience, expectation, and .... je ne sais quoi. Knowing this and despite very mixed reports, we still thought it was worth having a go. It was and wasn't!

Not a good omen! It's not our but .....

We got 6Km up the road and decided that it was way too rough given the return trip would be close to 600Km. So with the health of our valiant big beast and travel pod foremost in our minds, we did a U-turn and recrossed the Gibb River! back to the GRR.

This feisty beast was not happy with us coming too close to his patch. He looked like he was going to charge the van so we drove on.

We passed a big cattle muster west of Mt Barnett with helicopters, trucks, ringers and horses all part of the action which was fascinating to watch. There are a number of humongous cattle stations out here but the most you see are signs and occasional wandering cattle.

Not another water crossing!

It's very tranquil out here - once you stop bouncing around on the road!

Just trying to imagine what it must be like in the wet! We really must come back.

The road for most of its 600 odd Km is a series of creek and river crossings, watery and dry, interspersed with stretches of dips and gravel/rock. Many of the steeper sections of road over the many Jump-ups along the way are sealed which gave the ears and bones some relief. You don't realise how noisy it can be out there in the middle of nowhere, but you have to keep alert for possible problems. At one point I, the ears of this team, called a halt when I heard a noise which I thought may have been a tyre/wheel issue. Thankfully it just turned out to be a stone or bit of grit in the brakes. But it was lovely and reassuring to have another car stop and offer assistance (the driver was a former NRMA guy. Brilliant!). It was interesting to observe road etiquette, or the lack of it, along a road where travellers should be keeping an eye out for each other (you never know when you'll need a hand). We stopped many times, as you do to take in the view, and about 50% of the passing vehicles stopped or slowed to ask if we were ok which was most reassuring. But it was a little concerning that the rest just sped on past without checking this old couple by the side of the road! The law of the jungle I guess!

Steep parts of the road were sealed - how silent everything seemed on those stretches.

A dip? you don't say. The road was a series on dips .... and an endless raft of corrugations. Surprisingly there were a few road signs along the way.

We were delighted to see other caravans on the road - so many people had camped trailers.

We pulled up in another private gravel pit to assess our wounds, clean up any 'debris de tour', and enjoy another night under the stars.

We had a raging fire that night. It was comforting and suited our sense of romance.