Perth to Broome July 2015

[El Poids Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close El Poids]

Hey guys, I've got two weeks of leave coming up next month (20 JUL - 02 AUG) and I plan on heading up to Broome with my missus and (maybe) my four legged fiend. I had orginally hoped to do the Gibb River Road but I think I'll have to leave that for another time. My plans are in the early stages so far and are motivated by this stubby holder>


I got it last year when I visited the Roebuck roadhouse and thought it made a great to do list of places to visit in the Kimberly.
The full list is Pardoo, Sandfire, Eighty Mile Beach, Roebuck, Broome, Willare, Fitzroy Crossing, Kununurra, Lake Argyle, Turkey Creek, Doon Doon, Mt Barnett, Ellenbrae, Cape Leveque, Port Smith, Wyndham, Halls Creek, Drysdale River and Derby.

The simple plan is to visit as many places on the list as I can in two weeks, and have fun while doing it of course.

My main questions are, what route do people generally take when heading from Perth to Broome?
So far I'm tossing up between coast and inland. Coast, Perth> Carnavon> Pt Hedland> Broome OR Inland, Perth> Cue> Pt Hedland> Broome. Both ways are going to take about 2.5 days and cover about 1400-1500kms.

And what are the essential bits of kit that I simply MUST have for a trip to the Kimberly? I have heard that a snorkel is a necessity due to high amounts of bulldust?

Also has anyone traveled the Kimberly with a dog? If so how did you find it and was it hard finding dog friendly camping?

Any help or advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

That's an extremely ambitious excursion if you want to visit all those watering holes given you're going to spend 5 days just covering the Perth to Broome leg and return. And, you want to have a drink at each location? Inland route saves you 300km one way.

Make sure you're dog has good tick protection. Most of the van parks are pet friendly including a few of those in Broome. Keep him away from waterways where crocs frequent and don't let him mix with the camp dogs.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

P.S. Turkey Creek (Warmun) is a dry community on one side of the highway.

[Just*Managing Member Find all posts View Profile Close Just*Managing]

you should also keep in mind that is Grey Nomad time and lots of caravan parks and accommodation will be fully booked out.
We did a trip similar to this, for us it was way too much driving which meant less to to appreciate the magic of the place.

[sunchaser Member Find all posts View Profile Close sunchaser]

Hey there el poids,
Sounds like your gonna have some fun!
I reckon it's always good to go one way up to Broome ( say the inland coast and see Karijinni) then go home down the coast and see coral bay etc.
never needed a snorkel, just give your filter a clean out from time to time.
I'm heading up to cape leveque early july for a couple of weeks fishing but will be gone by the time you go through. Take one of the mud crabbing/spear making tours up there it's pretty cool.
you will be alot better off if you can leave your best friend with someone while you go or you'll miss all the best bits. Like any national park or even cape leveque dont allow dogs ( even though every community has them everywhere).
And you might have to miss a couple of watering holes at ellenbrae, mt Barnett and Drysdale as they are on the Gibb.
Gave fun Sunchaser

[sunchaser Member Find all posts View Profile Close sunchaser]

Hey there el poids,
Sounds like your gonna have some fun!
I reckon it's always good to go one way up to Broome ( say the inland coast and see Karijinni) then go home down the coast and see coral bay etc.
never needed a snorkel, just give your filter a clean out from time to time.
I'm heading up to cape leveque early july for a couple of weeks fishing but will be gone by the time you go through. Take one of the mud crabbing/spear making tours up there it's pretty cool.
you will be alot better off if you can leave your best friend with someone while you go or you'll miss all the best bits. Like any national park or even cape leveque dont allow dogs ( even though every community has them everywhere).
And you might have to miss a couple of watering holes at ellenbrae, mt Barnett and Drysdale as they are on the Gibb.
Have fun
Sunchaser

[El Poids Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close El Poids]

Hey guys thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

I realise as I wrote down the list that I should have specified I wasn't planning on hitting them all this trip haha, much to much driving.The goal is to knock all the destinations off the stubby holder by the end of next year. I don't plan on drinking at every single one (I think I set a bad impression with the stubby holder haha).

So far my plans are Broome, Derby, Cape Leveque, Fitzroy Crossing and Eighty Mile Beach.

I'm going to take your advice Sunchaser and take the inland road up and enjoy Cue and Karinjini on the way through, and drive back via the coast and enjoy coral bay and the like.

I didn't take into account the tourists/ grey nomads but hopefully accomodation shouldn't be too much of an issue as my missus is from Broome originally and has family and friends all over the Kimberly. This also means my dog can camp out in Broome while we go exploring.

Thanks again guys.

[awwricecracker Member Find all posts View Profile Close awwricecracker]

Inland road definately.. avoid the nomads, i have done it plenty of times. My recommendation on fuel stops is
Perth - Capricorn
Capricorn - South Hedland
South Hedland - Broome

If you want grog, bring it from home, if you want more, buy it from hedland. You can get from Broome/Derby but not all the time if restrictions are on. Forget it at Fitzroy Crossing, only light beer available take away.

For the bits around here, I would recommend going from Derby to Bell Gorge for a night, then day trip down to Windjana Gorge & Tunnel Creek and end up at Fitzroy. It's a reasonably big day, but in my opinion staying at Windjana isn't that great as you're 20min walk from the actual gorge. (Have to leave the dog at home to do that though)

I've found going to capricorn (~1200kms) and eating at the bar and grill is an excellent stop for the first night, if you book 24 hours in advance the price is much cheaper (last time was $80/night for an ensuite room compared to $170). If you are camping, maybe try stretch it to mount robinson, that's nice to wake up to.