Taking a Darwin to Broome road trip is on the bucket list of many Australian backpackers (and Aussie locals alike). Visiting the Kimberley region that stretches from the Western Australian border through to the coastal town of Broome is like stepping a thousand years back in time.

This post is a part of my Outback Road trip series. 

You can take in the breathtaking natural scenery, rich brooding landscapes, and plentiful iconic wildlife.

A Kimberley road trip is a taste of Australia at its most untamed. You can explore the narrow rock passages winding through the Bungle Bungles, spot crocodiles sunning on the banks of Windjana Gorge, and discover the gorgeous swimming holes of El Questro Station and Katherine.

See also: 

• Things to do in Darwin city while waiting for your tour
• 9 Things to Do in Broome, Western Australia between Tours

While beautiful, a Darwin to Broome Road Trip takes you through some of the most unforgiving, deep pockets of the Australian outback. Being unprepared or blasè in this part of the world can lead to serious consequences. No vacation is worth your life.

I knew that as a solo traveler, someone who hasn’t done much camping, and someone without survival knowledge, I needed a guide. So I booked myself onto an adventure tour to explore the Kimberly region and beyond in style.

Except, it wasn’t actually in style. It was rustic as you can get.

Darwin to Broome Road trip: Kimberley Tours Review

I’ll walk you through each day of the adventure tour of the Australian outback.

There will be tips and personal stories throughout, but each day will have a summary at the top for all my skimmers out there.

Also, before you book, make sure you read up on how to get this tour for up to 20% off the full price.

Kimberley Tour Day 1: Darwin to Katherine

Accommodation
Camping (with facilities)

Darwin to Broome Road Trip Included Activities
Katherine Gorge and Nitmiluk National Park

The total driving time today is around 4 hours. The total walking distance is approximately two kilometers.

Meals Included
Lunch / Dinner

Day one started off nice and early, just across the street from my hostel in Darwin.

The pick-up was around 7am, but I had hurt my back a few days before the tour left, so I hardly slept a wink the night before. I was one of the very first people there. I stood on the side of the road even before the bus arrived and slowly, other travelers began appearing.

“Are you going on the Kimberley road trip?”
“Yes.”

Each new person who arrived seemed to ask the same question. We stood, awkwardly holding onto our backpacks, until a rumble in the distance signaled the arrival of the bus. It was more like a truck/bus combo with large wheels and a detached cabin, but we called it the bus during the trip, so I’ll call it the bus now, too.

Sleepily, we loaded our baggage into the back of the bus. There was a small closet with a door at the rear with shelving. A few of the men in the group asserted themselves early on as strong and helpful and volunteered themselves to do the actual arranging and packing.

See also: 

• Broome to Perth Road Trip: Karijini, Exmouth, Monkey Mia
• 3 days in Perth Itinerary: Rottnest Island, Fremantle Prison, the Pinnacles

I, exhausted with a sore back and still ever the feminist, happily accepted the help and handed off my large backpack to them.

Walking around the front of the bus to board, I introduced myself to a few of the women standing there. My ears were still clogged with sleep and I misheard one’s accent, asking her if she was English.

“Scottish, actually.”

What a faux pas.

I climbed to the back of the bus and sat on the back bench near the right window.

As is typical in any sort of group situation, this became my unofficial assigned spot for the rest of the Darwin to Broome road trip. It was nice because the back bench was meant for five people, but there were only three of us.

It was also a little bit raised, so the suspension was a bit better and didn’t feel as bouncy the rest of the ride.

Although it was altogether too early, Simmo, our trusted Kiwi tour guide, gave us a great introduction to Darwin and its history as we left the city behind us for the Kimberley tour of a lifetime.

Next, we stopped in Katherine, Northern Territory for groceries and supplies.

Quick tip: if you go on a Darwin to Broome road trip, whenever your tour guide stops for groceries, BUY YOURSELF TREATS.

A lot of my tourmates used the opportunity to purchase wine coolers, cans of beer, and the like for the trip.

I’m not a big drinker, so I bought a 12-pack of Coke and some candy. The only food the trip provides you with is the main meals and water. For any snacks or drinks, you need to purchase them yourself. When we stopped in Katherine, I was kind of thinking that I didn’t want to spend the money on anything extra (everything is at a premium in the Northern Territory) and would be fine without it.

See also: 

• How to Get the Best Quokka Selfie on Rottnest Island
• Best Things To Do In Fremantle, Western Australia

I was so wrong and I’m glad I came to my senses before it was too late. That nightly can of Coke with dinner was the only thing I felt like living for some days. Honestly. My lifeblood.

After the morning stop, we went on two hikes and a swim. The first was to a swimming hole nestled in between some large rocks. Edith Falls in Nitmiluk National Park.

I remember making better friends with the girls on my bus while floating in the water, which was delightfully chilly on such a boiling day. We talked about who was hopping off the tour in Broome and who was taking it all the way down to Perth. I was nervous about taking a trip where I didn’t know anyone else, but by the end of the first swim, we were all besties.

Back to the bus, a quick lunch of wraps and sandwiches, then onto Katherine Gorge for another (difficult! steep!) hike. The views of the water down below were more than worth it.

See also: 

• Day Trip to Rottnest Island: Itinerary, Tips, Quokka Selfies
• Perth to Adelaide Road Trip: Across the Nullarbor Plain in 10 Days

Sweaty, dusty, and disgusting — we headed to our private campsite on the edge of Nitmiluk National Park. There were permanent tents that looked a bit like small log cabins. There were bunk beds built into the sides (really just wooden slabs stacked up) with a small padded mattress on each level. There was enough room for four people in each enclosure, but our group was small enough that we only did two people to a bunk.

Fran and I, my beautiful English rose whose support and encouragement I couldn’t have made it through Darwin to Broome road trip without, buddied up and spent the night in our little cabin called “Athens.”

We got to have warm showers this evening which was great.

There were flushing toilets, too.

While brushing my teeth, I met a woman in her 60s from the UK. She had fallen on a hike in the area and broken her arm, got Royal Flying Doctored out of the national park, and came back a day later to finish the tour after she got stitched up.

See also: 

• 12 Free Things To Do in Adelaide, South Australia
• Adelaide to Kangaroo Island Tour: Highlights & Recommendations

It kind of scared me, realizing that I might actually have to use the mandatory travel insurance I purchased to come on this Kimberley adventure tour. But I realized if she could be tenacious enough to push through a major injury because she “paid a bloody fortune to be here,” then so could I. But I still hoped I wouldn’t have to.

Kimberley Tour Day 2: Katherine to Lake Argyle

Accommodation
Camping (with facilities)

Darwin to Broome Road Trip Included Activities
Lake Argyle

The total driving time today is around 7.5 hours. The total walking distance is around one kilometer.

Meals Included
Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

We woke for a quick breakfast, then were on our way. Leaving civilization farther and farther behind. I had a Vodaphone sim card at the time and was one of the first to lose service, while those with Optus and Telstra hung on just a bit longer. It was a great opportunity to unplug for the most part, but I was sad about losing out on my Duolingo streak.

We headed west down the Victoria Highway towards the Western Australia border. About halfway through the trip, we stopped at a roadhouse in the small town of Timber Creek. There was a caravan park out the back where plenty of holidaymakers (mostly Australian) had stopped over for a few days.

See also: 

• Things To Do in Coober Pedy, South Australia
• Cairns, Australia” href=”https://www.shesatripblog.com/the-best-time-to-visit-cairns-australia/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>The Best Time to Visit Cairns, Australia

Fran and I used the bathroom and after buying a drink, were hanging around the front of the building waiting for the rest of the group to be ready to go.

“Do you girls want to see a crocodile?”

A random woman appeared out of nowhere. Fran and I exchanged a glance. Did we? We had yet to see one.

“It’s only a freshie, so not too big. Still cool,” said the woman, motioning for us to follow her. She meant a freshwater crocodile, which is notably smaller and less cranky than its saltwater relatives. So we followed her.

We walked down behind the roadhouse and through the caravans, farther and farther from the group and people who would be able to hear us if we screamed for help. Down, down towards the river and the alleged crocodile. We walked just far enough that I actually started to wonder if I was walking into a trap before the woman suddenly stopped.

“See, he’s right there.”

Sure enough, there was a small crocodile partially submerged in the river. He had his little mouth open and appeared to be sunning himself.

“Nice,” Fran said. How long were we supposed to stand there?

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool,” said the woman, placing her hands on her hips.

“Okay, well, we’ve got to go. Thanks!” I said, motioning for Fran to get the heck out of there.

As we walked back to the bus and were one of the last ones on, we joked about it being kind of a dumb idea to follow a random stranger down to the river to see a crocodile. But surely in a country like Australia, nothing bad would happen, right?

Wrong. 

“Hey, do you mind if I put on a true crime podcast?” Our guide Simmo said as we settled back into our seats. “It’s kind of gruesome, so I always check before I put it on. But it took place in this area, so it’s kind of a cool way to pass the time on the drive.”

Everyone cheered! So Simmo pressed play.

“Not long ago at a roadhouse along the Victoria Highway, the Kimberley Killer began stalking his first victims,” the podcast began.

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• What to do in Cairns when it’s raining
• What to Pack for Cairns, Australia to Find Nemo

Fran, sitting one row in front of me slowly turned to make eye contact. Is that where we just were?

Gulp.

It was.

Turns out, in June 1987 a German tourist named Josef Schwab stalked and murdered five people in the Top End region of the Northern Territory and the Kimberley region of Western Australia before dying in a shootout with local police. It was such an out-of-character experience for the people of the region, that it was sensationalized in the media. He is known as “The Kimberley Killer.” His motive for the killings still remains unknown.

The nature of the crimes was so gruesome that the entire bus was silent along the drive to the Western Australia border. The state has strict biosecurity laws, so we all got out to eat lunch just before the border checkpoint. We needed to consume all our fruits and vegetables as they were not allowed across.

There were some informational signs at the rest stop, one of which was covered in stickers from the fruit people ate in a rush before crossing.

I wasn’t the only one who kept looking over my shoulder at every noise, stressed that a gunman was going to pop out and get me. Some of my tourmates teased me and the other American in the group that we should be well used to the constant threat of being shot by now.

But I couldn’t get the Kimberley Killer out of my head. His motives and crimes became a running topic of conversation for the rest of the trip. Without any cell service, the group spent hours trying to crack the case.

Why had he done what he did? Could the same happen to us, all these years later? We even started calling our tour group on the road trip from Darwin to Broome  “The Kimberley Killers” as a macabre ode to the man taking up so much of our mind space.

After lunch, we crossed into the state of Western Australia and arrived at Lake Argyle.

It’s Australia’s 2nd largest man-made freshwater reservoir. It’s also home to about 30,000 freshwater crocodiles.

After setting up camp, we had some free time to explore the resort. This place had great individual toilet/shower combos, which I used after swimming in the amazing infinity pool that looks out over the lake.

It’s one of those moments where you really feel like you stepped into an influencer’s Instagram feed.

After the swim, Simmo drove us all down to the lake for a sunset cruise.

Quick tip: pull about $250 in cash at an ATM before you start your Darwin to Broome road trip.

The sunset cruise was an optional activity, so there was an extra cost, but we all chose to go for it. From what I remember, we had to pay cash. There was an ATM in the office at the time, but it’s best to have some ahead just in case. Go while you are in town.

It was a great cruise, our guides were young Aussie guys from New South Wales that come up and work in the area seasonally. Very bloke-y. You learn about the history and ecology of the area and even get to go for a lil swim.

Don’t be scared of the crocs! The freshies are quite shy and stayed pretty far away from us. At least, from what I could see. They might have been under my legs the whole time, lurking in the murky water, idk.

Right at sunset, the boat moored on a small island and we all got off to have a drink and watch the glowing orb dip below the horizon. The tour guides played Follow The Sun by indigenous artist Xavier Rudd.

Follow, follow the sun
And which way the wind blows
When this day is done
Breath, breath in the air
Set your intentions
Dream with care
Tomorrow is a new day for everyone
A brand new moon, brand new sun
So follow, follow the sun

Core memory made.

Back at the campsite, it was my first real night camping in an Australian swag. A sort of canvas sleeping bag with a small mattress inside. Except it was so hot that night, I just slept on top of it and hoped no bugs bit me or snakes slithered by.

I wondered if the Kimberley killer was lurking somewhere nearby to put me out of my misery.

Kimberley Tour Day 3: Lake Argyle to Purnululu National Park via Kunnanurra

Accommodation
Camping (drop toilets – no showers or running water)

Darwin to Broome Road Trip Included Activities
Shopping in Kunnanurra, sandalwood store, distillery tour.

Total driving today is around 5.5 hours. The total walking distance is approximately five kilometers.

Meals Included
Breakfast /Lunch /Dinner

I woke up the next morning somehow still alive, but very sweaty. My bad back wasn’t getting better as quickly as I hoped, so when I tried to stand from a night on the floor, I kind of felt like my spine snapped in a few places.

I do remember it could have been worse, though, as one of the other girls on the trip started her period that morning. I silently thanked God my cycle was synched up to NOT be happening on the trip, although I did have worse things waiting for me around the corner (namely a nasty bout of mononucleosis / glandular fever once I got to Perth…love this for me).

After a quick stop in the sleepy town of Kunnanurra to restock on groceries (seriously, if you haven’t bought yourself a lil treat to enjoy in the middle of nowhere by now, you’re kidding yourself), we were off again.

We drove further west into Purnululu National Park, which is home to the iconic Bungle Bungle mountain range. Along the way, we stopped at a sandalwood factory, as well as a distillery called the “Hoochery,” which I thought was pretty funny. Growing up, whenever I wore shorts a little too short, my friends would call me a “hoochie mama.” The name did check out once I saw the painting inside.

When we got to our campsite, I realized how remote everything was. No showers, no cell service, and just a drop toilet.

Although because it was getting warmer outside as the north of the Australian continent moved towards summer,  it smelled pretty bad in there. Fran and I made a pact that if we needed to go in the middle of the night, we would just wake each other up. You know, for safety cause there might be a killer on the loose.

We didn’t end up doing that, though. I think we just individually slinked away to pee in the bushes.

It started raining as we arrived at the campsite and continued to rain off and on for the rest of the evening. For a little bit of shelter, Fran and I (as well as a couple of others) decided to set up tents because they had small rain covers on them. We were thankful for this because, in the middle of the night, it started pouring so hard that I thought we would float away.

Some of the guys traveling were still roughing it, though and only sleeping in swags. In the morning, we saw they had just pulled their bedrolls under the belly of the truck to stay dry. I thought that was pretty smart.

By now, most of us were settling into the routine of preparing meals as a group. Simmo didn’t assign groups of daily roles, we all just pitched in. Fran and I mostly helped prepare the salads or clean dishes after dinner, while a few of the guys helped Simmo set up the cooking area and get the gas going.

Kimberley Tour: Day 4 Purnululu National Park

Accommodation
Camping (drop toilets – no showers or running water)

Darwin to Broome Road Trip Included Activities
Cathedral Gorge Walk (Bungle Bungle) and Echidna Chasm Walk. Optional helicopter tour for a fee.

The total driving time today is around 1 hour. The total walking distance is approximately 5 kilometers.

Meals Included
Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

This day started with a sunrise breakfast. We were up in the dark and on the bus, driving a bit away from the campsite for the best view of the rising rays.

But I was too exhausted to enjoy it. I was waterlogged, sleep deprived, and not hungry at all. While everyone was cooking, I snuck back onto the bus. I plugged in my headphones, put on some rain sounds (which, strangely enough, were still soothing and not triggering after the night before), and konked out.

I think I slept for almost an hour. Since I didn’t eat breakfast, it was no big deal that I wasn’t around to set it up or clean up after.

It was a nice reminder that even on a group trip, you are still on vacation. You can set your own pace and sit out on things you don’t want to do.

But my new friends Fran and Hannah did wonder where I went and came looking for me. I appreciated it because you can never be too careful in the outback. I might have been dead in a ditch somewhere. But really, I was sound asleep on the bus. When they found me, they took a few photos so everyone knew I was okay.

That nap changed the entire trajectory of the day.

Suddenly, I started feeling like myself again. After breakfast, we went on a massive hike through the Bungle Bungles ranges. It’s definitely one of the highlights of a Darwin to Broome road trip, but it was hard for me. I think we were walking along a dried river bed because it was very sandy and slow going.

Fran saved my life because I was feeling stressed about always being out the back of the group. The slowest walker. The caboose.

“No rush,” she would tell me, in her delightedly smooth Yorkshire accent. Which sounded more like “New rusch,” to my American ears. Years later, I still whisper it to myself, in her voice, when I’m feeling too slow or not so great.

There’s no rush, Emily. Go at your own pace.

We walked in a big loop, checking out areas of the Bungle Bungles range known as The Window, Cathedral Gorge, and the Dome Walk. I hadn’t broken in my new hiking boots very well, so I had horrible blisters by the halfway mark.

Luckily, one of my new friends had some special band-aids in his bag. He and his wife (the woman from Scotland I thought was English on the first day) were so lovely and waited for me to take off my shoes, fix myself up, and get redressed before continuing on the hike.

Fran and I learned they worked as detectives back home in the UK and desperately wanted some tips on how to be an effective spy.

Rule number one: Distance is cover.

The farther you are from your target, the safer you are. Always stay back, so they don’t catch on to being surveilled. Fran and I took this to heart immediately. We had some suspicions about a romance blossoming on tour, so we stayed back to watch it unfold.

After the hike, we set up lunch near an airstrip. A few of my new friends decided to pay extra for a helicopter tour of the Bungle Bungles while the rest of us ate. My budget didn’t allow for it, so I just imagined what they might look like from above. It was a nice time to just talk and rest.

We were all becoming great friends by this point in the trip. Australians, Americans, Germans, Fins, and more. All learning about each other’s homes and cultures. And a well-oiled machine when setting up and tearing down meal times. I was so impressed with everyone’s work ethic.

After lunch, it was back to more hiking. The activity level on this Darwin to Broome road trip is about a million times higher than anything I would ever actually do in my daily life. It was still early days and I felt like my legs were going to fall off. By this point, my blisters had burst, so even the special band-aids I put on were not really helping much.

I did a walk called “Mini Palms” with the crew, which was a nice there-and-back hike over rocks deep into a chasm. There was a small river to wade through, and as you might have guessed, lots of palm trees.

On the third hike of the day, there were some picnic tables at the head of the trail. I asked Simmo if I could stay behind, and he confirmed that “it’s your vacation, do what you want.” So I sat there for about an hour while everyone else was hiking. I watched some Netflix that I had downloaded on my phone back in Darwin and enjoyed the alone time.

Since it was still daytime, I didn’t have to be afraid about the Kimberley Killer coming to get me. I could just relax without feeling like I needed to be helping out at camp or talking to someone. It was heaven.

Back at camp that night, I was feeling disgusting after a long day of hiking. I begged Simmo to set up a jerry-rigged shower. Bless him, he actually did it. He put a hose in a tree and called it a day.

I was able to rinse off the grime of a long day (and pose for some photos for Fran who I made come with me and hold a flashlight cause I was scared of being alone in the woods….hello, Kimberley Killer?) and settle in for a relaxing (kind of) night’s sleep

Kimberley Tour: Day 5 Purnululu National Park to El Questro Station

Accommodation
Camping (with facilities)

Darwin to Broome Road Trip Included Activities
El Questro Station, Carr Boyd and Durack Ranges, Warnum (Turkey Creek).

The total driving time today is around 5 hours. The total walking distance is approximately one kilometer.

Meals Included
Breakfast/ Lunch /Dinner

The next day of our Darwin to Broome road trip took us to El Questro Station, a wilderness park founded in 1991. We stopped at Emma Gorge and scrambled over large rocks to get to the swimming hole at the end.

By this point in the tour, most of the girls and I had moved well past the “Where are you from?” “What do you like to do for fun?” parts of the getting-to-know-you conversations. When we weren’t discussing the Kimberley Killer’s crimes in great detail, we started guessing games to pass the time. No one had had cell service for days, so we had to be crafty with the questions we asked. We could only choose categories in which we definitely knew the answer.

I asked Fran how many state capitals she could name. More than I thought for an English rose, very impressive. I chased down my Scottish friend and asked about presidents. Fran made me name as many British prime ministers as I could. Not many. I knew more about the queen’s corgis than any real political figures.

We discussed boy dramas and heartbreaks. “Did you know I once spent 500 euros visiting a boy, after he specifically invited me to come, then he ghosted me when I got there?”

Fran gasped. I wasn’t sure if she had slipped off one of the boulders we were scrambling over or not, so I paused to check on her. No, she just gasped at the rudeness of that man. His audacity.

I’ve told enough people about him over the years that about 50 folks will probably roundhouse kick him if they ever run into him in public.

When we finally got to the swimming hole at the end of Emma Gorge, there was a small freshwater crocodile chilling in the water. Seeing that little man was one of the best parts of the Kimberley tour. Unphased at this point by crocodiles or near-death experiences, I got in and splashed around with him for a little while.

What’s travel insurance for, right?

The scramble back down the gorge to the bar was much easier. El Questro is quite a fancy resort. The bar, though completely outside on a patio, still had big wicker chairs and large ceiling fans. I got a glass of Coke from the bar, with a little slice of lime. It tasted like it had crack in it, just like in the good old days.

I think there were other places on the station grounds where it was more of a hotel-type of vibe, but we were still swag camping. One of the more bourgeois Kimberley tours for seniors camped near us, but they had permanent tents.

The bathrooms at the camp were pretty nice, too.  They had smaller private pods near our campsite that I took a depression shower in after dinner cause I was nearing my emotional breaking point, and larger communal ones a bit of a farther walk away.

Fran and I pitched our tent and continued our spy training that evening because we stayed awake a lot longer than we were supposed to. The romance we had been keeping an eye on blossomed that evening, unbeknownst to pretty much everyone else on the tour. But, that leads us to our second bit of advice from our friends in law enforcement.

We practiced this one a lot on our Kimberley tour.

Rule number two: Be careful who you trust.

I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, collected some intel (not really, just walked clear across the campsite terrified for my life cause the Kimberley Killer nabbed two of his victims not too far away), and saw this photo on the wall. Honestly, what a bargain.

Kimberley Tour Day 6: El Questro Station

Accommodation
Camping (with facilities)

Darwin to Broome Road Trip Included Activities
El Questro Gorge, Zebedee Springs

The total driving time today is around 45 minutes. The total walking distance is up to seven kilometers.

Meals Included
Breakfast/ Lunch / Dinner

This was one of my favorite days on the entire Darwin to Broome road trip because of how chilled out it was. After a quick breakfast, we drove over to nearby Zebedee Springs.

Zebedee Springs is a natural thermal spring found in El Questro Wilderness Park in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. With no active volcano activity in Australia, Zebedee Springs is fed via a fault line from a permanent supply of water deep within the Earth, giving it a constant water temperature of 28-32 degrees Celsius all year round. Large, green Livistona and Pandanus palms brush the clear waters here, with spectacular 1800 million-year-old cliff faces and scree slopes (known as ‘King Leopold Sandstone’) surrounding the springs.

It felt like soaking in a hot bath and was a very relaxing way to start the morning. Simmo told us there were snakes in the water after we left, but I didn’t see any. To this day, I still don’t know if he was joking or not. We had lunch, then headed to El Questro Gorge to do another rock scramble hike.

About halfway to the end of the gorge, there was a plunge pool with a few larger boulders. If you wanted to go all the way to the end, you had to take off your shoes (and anything you didn’t want to get soaking wet) and put them in your backpack. Next, you had to swim across the pool, holding everything above your head as you went. When you got to the end, there was a large boulder to climb over before continuing on.

About half of our group chose to go on that adventure, and the other half did not. Fran and I stayed back to swim in the pool and sun ourselves on one of the large boulders. We chatted with a retired Dutch couple who had been together for decades about the secrets to a long and happy marriage. They were so sweet to each other, we knew we needed to get some advice. “Compromise,” the husband told us. I think that was code for “always let your wife get her way,” which I can 100% get behind.

I also remember how comfy and casual travelers get with each other in the middle of nowhere, especially when they think they’ll never see you again. An older French couple, not on our tour, but on the same hike, passed by and the man dropped his pants to cross the plunge pool all without breaking eye contact with me. Pretty bold.

The evening after the hike was so relaxing. We sat around at the tables at the El Questro restaurant, eating ice cream and drinking sodas, talking about our home countries and funny stories from childhood. A father and son from Switerzland quickly became a favorite of Fran and me, simply because of how cool and mysterious they both seemed. The dad had been wearing the same t-shirt and cargo pants every single day. Very efficient.

Drifting off to bed that evening, I had no idea what was in store for me tomorrow on our Darwin to Broome road trip.

Kimberley Tour Day 7: Gibb River Road and Mount Barnett

Accommodation
Camping (with facilities)

Included Activities
Fording rivers and weaving through gorges, travel by 4WD along the wild Gibb River Road – a 600-kilometer stretch that winds right through the heart of the Kimberley.

The total driving time today is around 5 hours. The total walking distance is approximately two kilometers.

Meals Included
Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

I have to laugh when looking back at my travel journal from this day. Simply put, I labeled it as a “shit show.”

After breakfast in the morning, we were meant to get kind of an early start on our journey. Yet we soon discovered that the battery on our bus was completely dead. Had somebody left the lights on? Had we charged one too many iPhones? Who knows.

What we did know was that there was a mechanics shop at El Questro, but it wasn’t open just yet. After about two hours of waiting, we had been cleared to be on our way. It wasn’t too much of a wait because the station had a general store and bathrooms, so just like the evening before, most of us enjoyed a few snacks and chats to pass the time.

After we blew a few kisses to the lovely mechanics at El Questro for fixing up our bus and saving our vacation, we headed off along the Gibb River Road to Manning Gorge.

Trained to sleep in cars since I was a baby, I started dozing off as soon as we pulled out onto the road, tuning out whatever interesting and helpful commentary Simmo was providing.

I think it was the gasps that woke me up. Through sleepy eyes, I peered out the window and saw … a cow corpse? Wait, was that another one? Oh, there were dozens, strewn out across the road.

Wait, why were there so many dead cows?

I rubbed my eyes as my brain struggled to catch up to what I was seeing. An 18-wheeler had crashed. One that was carrying a full load of livestock. It had turned over on its side and the cows had been thrown, quite violently by the looks of it, out onto the road. Some were even pinned under the trailer.

Simmo slowed, confirmed the driver was okay (it had happened hours ago and others were already there helping him) and we were on our way.

RIP COWS.

I was now wide awake as we drove on towards Manning Gorge, I couldn’t help but wonder why that truck had crashed, and crashed so violently, too. Sure, the road was really bumpy, but we hadn’t seen too many other cars along the way.

Actually, the road was so bumpy that about an hour after the cow incident, we heard a loud crash.

One of the flaps on the back of the bus had popped open after a particularly bad bump and a few of our chairs had flown out. Simmo stopped the bus and hopped out to retrieve the lost chairs only to discover that we had a flat tire, too.

given that we had spent the entire morning waiting around for our dead battery to be fixed, a flat tire was laughable, but easy enough to deal with. It was so lucky that the events happened the way they did. It was upsetting to think about if the battery had died in the middle of nowhere.

The team sprang to action and some of the guys helped Simmo change the tire (we had a spare with us, thank goodness), while the rest of us set up our lunch station on the side of the road. After eating, I walked around the side of the bus to talk with Simmo as he cooked his lunch. He had some special dietary requirements, so he couldn’t eat a lot of the same things the rest of us did. He was transferring his food from the hot pan to a plate when I arrived and handed the skillet to me.

“Can you put this in the water for me?”

I took it, planning to go back over to the dishwashing bucket, but the handle of the skillet must have been broken. When I took it from him, the handle was too hot to comfortably hold. I immediately (and stupidly!) let go of the hot handle, but instead of dropping it to the ground, my brain decided it would be a good idea to transfer it to my other hand first before doing so.

Touching the bottom of a pan straight off the stove is a 0/10 experience. I nearly burned the fingerprints off all my fingers on my left hand. I was trying not to cry, but as Simmo got me some ice I cracked a little bit. It was nearly 100 degrees outside and my fingers were stinging so badly that I considered just chopping them off.

Luckily, Hannah from Germany was also a doctor and had a great first aid kit with her. She had some burn cream and bandages and got me all patched up before we headed off to our next stop on our Darwin to Broome road trip.

We arrived at a local aboriginal community to learn more about the history of the area. A very kind woman came out and spoke about striking the balance between traditional living and modernity, as well as the stereotypes and institutional problems that those in the area must overcome. While listening, two dogs came over to where we were sitting. I started petting them, as one does.

And the smaller one bit me. The cherry on top of a marvelous day.

By the time we got to our campsite at Manning Gorge, a few of my tour mates were feeling pretty restless and decided to go down to the nearby river for a quick swim before dinner. I was exhausted, burned, and bitten, so I decided to skip out on this and go for a long depression shower instead.

About two minutes in, the generators to the bathroom turned off, so the water was cold and it was dark.

Loved that for me.

Kimberley Tour Day 8: Manning Gorge

Accommodation
Camping (with facilities)

Darwin to Broome Road Trip Included Activities
Galvans Gorge, Manning Gorge

The total driving time today is around 1 hour. The total walking distance is approximately six kilometers.

Meals Included
Breakfast/ Lunch/ Dinner

Luckily for my mental health, the Manning Gorge campsite was one of the best on the entire Kimberley tour. We slept around a large Boab Tree. It was so dark and peaceful that when laying in your swag and looking up at the stars, you could see the blur of the Milky Way.

In the morning, we started off with a long hike of Manning Gorge. To get to the trail, we had to put everything that we wanted to stay dry in a barrel on a pulley line. You could pull it across the river as you swam, then get redressed on the overside.

I felt a bit like Indiana Jones. It was a fun way to start the adventure. Yet that morning, I was so tired and just couldn’t shake how lethargic I felt. Had I slept well? Yes. Had I eaten a big breakfast? Yes. I’d already had an entire bottle of water and been to the bathroom. What was wrong?

Well, as Fran and I fell farther and farther behind the rest of the pack as we climbed hill after hill toward the swimming hole (it’s no rush, though), I felt worse and worse.

It turns out when you go from walking 4,000 steps a day in your usual life to nearly 30,000 on this hiking-heavy Kimberley tour, you have to go to the bathroom a lot more than you might at home.

So, I found myself a little spot off the trail and took care of business. Fran and I’s trauma bond had completely cemented itself by this point.

Up the hill and down the hill, over and over until we finally got to the river. The water was jade green and very cold, which felt amazing after such a hard hike to get there. I stripped off and jumped in feeling proud of myself for two big reasons.

     1) I didn’t give a second thought to wearing a bikini.

It took me years to get comfortable enough with myself to not worry about my weight or body shape in front of strangers. Here I was, at a swimming hole in the middle of nowhere Western Australia after a hard hike, stripping down and jumping in without a second thought. That was big for me.

      2) I also didn’t give a second thought to any creepy crawlies that could be in the water waiting for me.

I’m sure they were in there. I just didn’t care.

While floating on my back, some of my tourmates began discussing the Kimberley Killer again. He had stalked some of his victims down to a water hole before murdering them.

“Gosh, could you imagine swimming here and someone just appeared up over the ridge with a gun?” I said to no one in particular.

“No, I don’t actually,” said a man from the Australian state of Victoria. “I don’t often live my life under the threat of gun violence. It’s not my reality.”

I’ve thought about what he said a lot over the years. Because as an American, it could be my reality at any moment.

Then, it was time to head to our next hike. But first, we needed to stop by the camp for lunch. Some of the most adventurous members of the group went with Simmo to swim and boulder their way down the river toward camp. The rest of us needed to come back the way we came.

Up the gorge, down the gorge. It felt ever longer on the way back. I walked with my English law enforcement friend, and the Swiss dad. He said in Switzerland, it’s very normal to go hiking all the time as a family. I figured as much, given the topography there. He laughed that I was complaining and told me a story about how he and his wife used to encourage their children to finish a hard hike.

“There is an ice cream stand on the top of the hill,” he said. The children would immediately perk up and begin running. Suddenly, they had plenty of energy again. Only when they got to the top, there wasn’t one.

“Oh, it was actually on the next hill,” he clarified. The kids never caught on that they were never going to get any ice cream. My legs were shaking and I was exhausted, so he told me, “don’t worry Emily. The ice cream is just over the hill.”

He’s lucky, though because after lunch we had to get gas for the bus. And guess what was for sale at the petrol station? Ice cream. The best one I’ve ever had.

Then it was off to another hike. Our days were so full of movement and it was the sportiest I’ve ever felt in my entire life. We swam in a river and lounged on its banks. I saw some Aboriginal rock paintings that had been there for thousands of years. That felt very special.

After a short hike back to the bus, we realized that one of our tourmates had left his phone on the side of the road. It was getting dark, so he sprinted off back to retrieve it. While he was gone, the rest of us gathered some firewood for that evening’s campfire.

And when I say the rest of us, I mostly mean everyone else while I kind of just wandered around and tried to look busy. My back was getting better, but my hand still hurt from the burns.

Back at camp, the fire burning and dinner cooking, I headed off to take a shower. What I didn’t realize was that as soon as I headed off, dinner was served. When I got back 20 minutes later, starving, most of it was already eaten.

Luckily, the only other American on the bus took pity on me. He had already eaten a steak and a half, but he gave me the half that was left, right off his plate so I could have something.

It was such an act of kindness and I was so tired and hungry at this point, that I actually cried about it. A grown woman crying over steak.

Kimberley Tour Day 9: Windjana Gorge and Bell Gorge

Accommodation
Camping (with facilities)

Darwin to Broome Road Trip Included Activities
Windjana Gorge, Bell Gorge, Tunnel Creek exploration walk

The total driving time today is around 4.5 hours. The total walking distance is approximately four to six kilometers.

Meals Included
Breakfast/ Lunch /Dinner

I was getting tired by this point in the trip. I can tell because I have fewer pictures and the notes in my travel are short.

Here’s what we did:

We drove to a short hike to a swimming hole in the morning. I did the hike, but chose not to swim because I was still sleepy and didn’t feel like getting wet. We saw a little rock wallaby hopping nearby, which thought was pretty cute.

Next, we had lunch and drove farther to Tunnel Creek, a cave system with bats and crocodiles. I remember seeing two French girls having lunch in the parking lot and being very impressed that they decided to come to such a wild and wooly part of the country on their own. Could never be me. I think tanking one of the Kimberley tours is the only safe, easy way to really see the region.

The hike up to the cave was pretty normal, as was the entrance where two freshwater crocodiles were relaxing in the sand. Simmo said the further into the cave we went, the darker it would get. We would also need to wade through water. I just didn’t feel like dealing with any of that, so I sat out in the front of the cave with the crocs. I named them Bert and Ernie.

After about ten minutes, the older Dutch gentleman who had been married forever came back out of the cave to get me.

“Come on,” he said. “If you go through this small dark bit, you can see the bats. There is no water and it’s bright on the other side.”

I appreciated that, so I went with him and he was right. It was cool to see the bats and I felt brave for walking through a little bit of darkness.

Then it was back to camp.

We camped near Windjana Gorge, so Simmo instructed us to go and watch the sunset in the canyon. In the wet season, the area floods, so the crocodiles can move about more freely. But during the dry season, the lakes shrink to puddles and the crocs get trapped. There were maybe five dozen freshies in this small lake inside the gorge.

As the sun set, more and more bats came out and swirled along the top of the water. The crocs, starving since they’d been in there for months, rocketed themselves out of the water to try and catch their dinner. A few of them succeeded.

We stumbled back to camp where Simmo, probably enjoying the alone time since all of us had been down at the lake, had dinner ready.

One day left.

Kimberley Tour Day 10: Napier Range to Broome

Accommodation
Hostel in Broome (booked on own if not continuing to Perth)

Darwin to Broome Road Trip Included Activities
Tour of Broome, Cable Beach

The total driving time today is around 4 hours. The total walking distance is approximately four kilometers. Any onward travel must be booked for the following day after the tour finishes.

Meals Included
Breakfast, Lunch

Good light in Broome and I’ll be there soon
I know exactly what I’m a gonna do
Sit on the beach and stare at the moon
Haven’t you heard? There’s good light in Broome

Neil Murray

I remember the exact moment we got close enough to Broome for my cell service to kick back in. It happened at nearly the same time for everyone on the bus.

Ping. Buzz.

Oh, hey civilization. I missed you!

The last day of the tour had a lot of driving as we finished up the final kilometers into Broome. Along the way, we stopped at the Boab Prison Tree in Derby. It’s alleged that the tree was used in the 1890s as a lockup for Indigenous Australian prisoners on their way to Derby for sentencing. It was a very sobering reminder of the recent and ongoing mistreatment of Australia’s first nations people.

Simmo took us into Broome proper next and drove us around, giving us the lay of the land. We got off the bus for a short bit to become familiar with our home for the next few days. When he picked us up, he took us down to Cable Beach for a photo shoot on the red rocks.

The contrast of red and blue is still clear as day in my mind. I’ve never seen an ocean that pretty.

After we settled back into our hostel (my first real bed in days!), we went for a swim in the pool and got ready for dinner.

I remember shaving my legs in the shower and never have I ever felt so clean and fancy.

Dinner was a blast. The man from Victoria wrote a couple of great poems about our time together, which he read out to Simmo after we gave him his tip.

I felt really sentimental about this era of the trip coming to a close. I really liked these people.

Final thoughts on a Darwin to Broome road trip

The tour runs a little differently these days. When I went, there was an option to book from Darwin to Perth. Now, the trip is sold in two separate legs, it looks like with Broome in the middle.

You might still be able to book it all the way, but you will need to speak to the travel agent just to make sure.

Simmo was our guide from Darwin to Broome. We had three nights in Broome, then got a new guide for the rest of the trip down to Perth. The combination of the group also changed in Broome. Some of our friends left us. New ones joined.

The trip pushed me to my limits. But I’m so glad I did it. I learned that I’m a lot stronger and braver than I think.

And I can do anything I set my mind to.

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Emily Kammerlohr

Emily’s all over the place. She’s an expert on working holidays, studying abroad, and turning your #GapYear into a #GapLife. Learn how here.