Gibb River Road: Broome to Kununurra - Apollo

Eight nights and 1,196 kilometres from Broome to Kununurra in a four-wheel drive camper, along the Gibb River Road through the Kimberley.

The Gibb is an old cattle route of red dirt, some six hundred kilometres of it between Derby and the Great Northern Highway, and the gorges strung along it are the reason to drive it rather than the sealed road to the south.

Derby comes first on the mudflats, where the tidal range is among the largest in the world, then Bandilngan at Windjana Gorge, cut through an ancient limestone reef with freshwater crocodiles in the pools. Dulundi and Dalmanyi follow at Silent Grove and Bell Gorge, where a waterfall drops into a tiered pool, then Mount Barnett for Manning Gorge, Drysdale River Station and Ellenbrae. Balanggarra Home Valley and El Questro come last, both working stations with gorges and swimming holes of their own, before Kununurra.

The camper and the day-by-day plan come from Apollo, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Nine days for 1,196 kilometres of dirt is a committed schedule and the Gibb is the reason the four-wheel drive matters: corrugations, river crossings and sharp rock, with punctures a normal outcome rather than bad luck. The road is open in the dry season only, roughly May to October, and closes with the first rains. Fuel is available at a handful of stations along it and should be taken at each. Most of the gorge walks involve rock-hopping, and the swimming is the reward for them.