Uniquely isolated and uncompromisingly rugged, the Gibb River Road in Western Australia is now a rite of passage for adventurers – and a perfect challenge for the Mazda BT-50.

Iconic Australian cattle tracks are experiencing something of a renaissance lately. The Gibb River Road in Western Australia’s expansive Kimberley region is worthy of any four-wheel-driver’s bucket list. Once solely a passage for pastoralists and their stock, the ‘Gibb’ stretches 660km from the Kununurra-Wyndham junction to Derby on the rugged West Australian coast. The journey is either a 2,400km trek from Western Australia’s capital, Perth, or a 900km drive from Darwin in the Northern Territory. We chose the latter route in Mazda’s recently updated BT-50 XTR and GT four-wheel-drive utes.

 

Lake Argyle

As the journey began, we passed Australia’s largest man-made lake, Lake Argyle. With a surface area of 1,000 square kilometres, Argyle (named after the Argyle Downs cattle station it flooded in 1971) forms part of the massive Ord River Irrigation scheme.

 

El Questo/Drysdale River

Despite its immense size, Argyle is dwarfed by nearby cattle station El Questro Wilderness Park. This million-acre property gives tourists the chance to explore life on a working outback cattle station, or simply enjoy its picturesque gorges and dramatic ridge-top views.

 

Home Valley Station

The 3.5 million-acre Home Valley Station offers resort-style accommodation and camping facilities. As a sequined blanket of stars began to reveal itself, the rich ochre hues of the soaring Cockburn Range at our camp’s eastern end faded against a darkening, infinite sky.

 

Cockburns

From Home Valley Station, the Gibb River Road begins in earnest. Many tourists turn back at this point for the comfort of the asphalt highway further south, bypassing the towering ranges, leafy gorges and eon-old caves. But the rewards are worth the risk.

 

Fuel

Of course indigenous communities do still inhabit the Kimberley region, and at the scarce fuel stops along the Gibb River Road we found talented but camera-shy locals selling patiently composed artwork to passers-by.

 

Manning Gorge

Our new friends told us of a campsite nearby with a fresh-water swimming hole, giving detailed instructions for a hike to nearby Manning Gorge. The crystal-clear lagoon is worth the sweltering two-hour trek, and punctuates the flat, arid landscape like a storybook oasis.

 

Kimberley Camping

As we drove further along the Kimberley Plateau we made the decision to set up camp at the Silent Grove Campground, an ideal base from which to explore nearby gorges and to discover the reason for the Gibb River Road’s existence.

 

Glenroy Meatworks

South of the main road we came across the abandoned Glenroy Meatworks. Little remains today, but the heat of the landscape here, and the obvious absence of water, speak of the hardships workers and cattle alike must have faced.

 

Adcock Gorge

Adcock Gorge is one of the few gorges accessible by vehicle in these parts. Large boulders and rough creek crossings mean progress is slow going; the BT-50’s low-range gearing and generous ground clearance proved vital to intricately navigating the narrow path.

 

Windjana Gorge/Bandingan Rock

With its dozing crocs and sacred Bandingan Rock, Windjana Gorge juts proudly from the surrounding sand and scrub. The Lennard River cuts a 3.5km swathe through the 360-million year-old seabed of the gorge, exposing ageless fossils in the eroded rock.

 

Tunnel Creek

We spent a few hours beneath the smooth boulders of Tunnel Creek, admiring the cave paintings. The torch light illuminates the myriad nooks and caverns we’re sure sheltered Bunuba Jandamarra, a tribal leader who was forced to flee during early European settlement disputes over land ownership.

 

 

End/Derby

If time had allowed, we’d have continued to explore Western Australia’s Kimberley Region. Compared to what’s on offer in these parts, the Gibb River Road is but a taste-test. When we do return, it’ll be in a BT-50 - a bucket list car for that bucket list trip, wherever that may be.