Willis's Walkabouts Rather Older Picture Galleries

These are a selection of rather older galleries that have not yet been updated, but why miss out on them completely just because they are not quite as shiny as the new ones?
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Gibb Road Gorges

Information and Photo Gallery

Our Gibb Road Gorges trip is one of our easiest pack-carrying trips in the Kimberley. It consists of a series of short walks of from one to four days. Even with such short walks, we leave the 4WD tourists behind and visit some of the most beautiful gorges in the region. We visit such an incredible variety of places that we have split the gallery into three parts.

Click the photos to see enlarged versions. Click your back button to return to this page. Hold your mouse pointer on the photos to see captions.

The End

We return to the main road where we visit the Upper Isdell Gorge, Manning Gorge and/or Barnett Gorge.

Upper Isdell

Although the Upper Isdell is a beautiful gorge only five km from the main road, there is no 4WD track which goes there so it is virtually unknown. The photos here were taken in 1999 and 2003 at about the same time of year. 1999 was exceptionally wet. 2003 was exceptionally dry. This shows just how much conditions can vary from year to year

All the 1999 photos on this page are courtesy of Daan Stegeman, one of the clients on that trip.

The walk in from the road to the first good campsite is fairly flat and should take less than two hours. In 2003, we spent two nights here and did a day walk down the gorge. How much time we spend here depends in the interests and wishes of the group.

The photos below show two views of a small waterfall just below the camp site. In 1999 it was flowing well; in 2003 there was just a tiny trickle.

Our campsites on both trips were on sandy areas just above the falls. The people in the photo at right below are sitting in the area shown covered in water in the 1999 photo at left.

The walk through the gorge takes us past a wide variety of scenery: trees in flower, flat rock ledges, sandy beaches, small cascades and huge pools. We take our time so we can appreciate everything the area has to offer.

The area is so nice that some groups might want to spend an extra day here rather than visiting one of the smaller gorges.

There's always time for a swim or a rest.

The pool at left below is the one where the person is swimming above. The painting is a detail from a nearby Aboriginal art site.

We'll leave the group standing around the campfire waiting for the after dinner cup of tea.

Manning Gorge
Manning is one of the most popular gorges on the Gibb River Road. Most people follow an easy marked track up to the falls and back. The two photos of Manning Falls below were taken 16 years apart. Not much has changed.

There are usually a fair number of people at the falls, but you can easily escape the crowds by going upstream or down. The photos below show Manning Creek immediately upstream and immediately downstream of the falls.

Following Manning Creek down the gorge is much more interesting than following the track. On our trips, you have three options, follow the track, a somewhat strenuous walk along the gorge or a leisurely float downstream. In 2003, two of our group chose to float while the photographer (Russell Willis) chose to scramble along taking photos, some of which are shown below.

If you can't see the people on airbeds in the photo above right, try clicking it for a larger view. You get a better idea from the pictures below.

The float through Manning Gorge is warmer than the one through Lennard Gorge. There are also more places where you get out and walk for a short distance as shown at left below.

The Manning campground, shown at right below, is nice enough but often fairly crowded. Our groups have a choice of staying here or continuing on to a more secluded spot.

Barnett Gorge

This is the final gorge in this area. There is no official campground, but a short walk from the vehicle means that we can have a secluded camp if we want one.

As at Manning, we have our choice of following a marked track up and back or following the gorge. The photo below left was taken from the track, the one at right from along the river.

Following the river instead of the track brings you to more good swimming holes (the track gives you good views but stays off the river most of the way) and a number of Aboriginal art sites.

We may visit all of the gorges shown on these pages or we may miss some and spend more time in the others. The choice belongs to you.

Many thanks to Daan Stegeman for the use of his photos of Sir John, Dimond and the Upper Isdell.

Click here to see a gallery of photos from the first part of our Gibb Road Gorges trip.

Click here to see a gallery of photos from the middle part of our Gibb Road Gorges trip.

Click here to see a PDF file of the detailed notes that describe this trip.

Click here to return to the main Gibb River Road Gorges page.

The Derby Tourism Association web site has a wealth of information about the area. We particularly recommend their maps page, Gibb River Road page, Fitzroy River page and Gorges and National Parks page.
Click here to visit their site.

There is far more to see than these few photos can show. Why not join us and experience the best that the Gibb River Road has to offer.

Our Gibb Road Gorges trip is one of our easiest pack-carrying trips in the Kimberley. It consists of a series of short walks of from one to four days. Even with such short walks, we leave the 4WD tourists behind and visit some of the most beautiful gorges in the region. We visit such an incredible variety of places that we have split the gallery into three parts. Click the photos to see enlarged versions. Click your back button to return to this page. Hold your mouse pointer on the photos to see captions.

The End We return to the main road where we visit the Upper Isdell Gorge, Manning Gorge and/or Barnett Gorge. Upper Isdell Although the Upper Isdell is a beautiful gorge only five km from the main road, there is no 4WD track which goes there so it is virtually unknown. The photos here were taken in 1999 and 2003 at about the same time of year. 1999 was exceptionally wet. 2003 was exceptionally dry. This shows just how much conditions can vary from year to year All the 1999 photos on this page are courtesy of Daan Stegeman, one of the clients on that trip.
The walk in from the road to the first good campsite is fairly flat and should take less than two hours. In 2003, we spent two nights here and did a day walk down the gorge. How much time we spend here depends in the interests and wishes of the group.
The photos below show two views of a small waterfall just below the camp site. In 1999 it was flowing well; in 2003 there was just a tiny trickle.

Our campsites on both trips were on sandy areas just above the falls. The people in the photo at right below are sitting in the area shown covered in water in the 1999 photo at left.

The walk through the gorge takes us past a wide variety of scenery: trees in flower, flat rock ledges, sandy beaches, small cascades and huge pools. We take our time so we can appreciate everything the area has to offer. The area is so nice that some groups might want to spend an extra day here rather than visiting one of the smaller gorges.


There's always time for a swim or a rest.

The pool at left below is the one where the person is swimming above. The painting is a detail from a nearby Aboriginal art site.

We'll leave the group standing around the campfire waiting for the after dinner cup of tea.
Manning Gorge Manning is one of the most popular gorges on the Gibb River Road. Most people follow an easy marked track up to the falls and back. The two photos of Manning Falls below were taken 16 years apart. Not much has changed.

There are usually a fair number of people at the falls, but you can easily escape the crowds by going upstream or down. The photos below show Manning Creek immediately upstream and immediately downstream of the falls.

Following Manning Creek down the gorge is much more interesting than following the track. On our trips, you have three options, follow the track, a somewhat strenuous walk along the gorge or a leisurely float downstream. In 2003, two of our group chose to float while the photographer (Russell Willis) chose to scramble along taking photos, some of which are shown below.

If you can't see the people on airbeds in the photo above right, try clicking it for a larger view. You get a better idea from the pictures below.

The float through Manning Gorge is warmer than the one through Lennard Gorge. There are also more places where you get out and walk for a short distance as shown at left below. The Manning campground, shown at right below, is nice enough but often fairly crowded. Our groups have a choice of staying here or continuing on to a more secluded spot.


Barnett Gorge
This is the final gorge in this area. There is no official campground, but a short walk from the vehicle means that we can have a secluded camp if we want one. As at Manning, we have our choice of following a marked track up and back or following the gorge. The photo below left was taken from the track, the one at right from along the river.