The hilux has a problem that appeared on the way out of Bell Gorge. There’s an intermittent grinding noise and I have to turn the steering wheel off centre to drive straight. It feels like the issue lies in the front end and, not wanting it to develop into something serious that would have us stranded, I jacked her up at the Windjana Gorge camping area and took the front wheels off to make a diagnosis. I couldn’t find anything wrong so I put it all back together hoping the problem will reveal itself later in a gentle way. We still had maybe around 100km of bad corrugations to endure before we’d reach the bitumen then a further 75km to Derby where we can get a diagnosis and repair. We’ll take a punt and see if we make it.
Windjana Gorge is notable for all the fresh water crocs that reside there. It’s one of the best spots to see them. The gorge itself and the walk through is also pretty good.
Tunnel Creek is great. Walking through the tunnel from one side of the Napier Ranges to the other is a unique experience. It’s completely dark in the tunnel and you get to wade through water and negotiate obstacles via torch light. At the far end of the tunnel there’s some aboriginal rock art and a huge fig tree.
Categories: Western Australia
outbackjoe 
Hope the Hilux problem is not too expensive Joe . Wow — note you seem to now use a roof top tent — and the verdict? Guess easy to camp virtually anywhere balanced against the nuisance of climbing in and out ??
That road into Windjana was pretty awful when we ran it 2 years ago – the Gibb river was mostly very good with minimal corrugations – timing I guess
Love your pictures , like revisiting
Been roof top tenting since the beginning. It’s great. Comfy, quick set up, no bedding to prep, clear of the sand and bugs and crocs, don’t need a clear area to deploy it, can set it up amongst a boulder field or in the scrub provided the car is roughly level. Climbing in and out is easy. Not being able to move car is bit annoying but we got dome tent if we want to set up shop and use the vehicle. A few days on the air mattress in the dome tent quickly makes us appreciate how warm and comfy the roof topper is.
Cv joint? Or hubs?
You should keep a record of all the mechanical issues you see up there. I compiled a list of things I’d seen and my boat trailer related mishaps once in my blog. Fixing things with ratchet straps and wire are half the fun.
https://ramblingsofanextrememan.wordpress.com/2016/03/02/top-end-tales-of-woe/
https://ramblingsofanextrememan.wordpress.com/2016/08/17/ramblings-of-a-boat-trailer-that-owns-a-broken-man/
Ended up being broken leaf spring. After market spring, not oem. I see you’ve had similar fun times with the leaf springs on your boat trailer. Trailers and caravans and aftermarket stuff seem to suffer the most. It’s incredible really how reliable cars are, they’ve got the design, mass production and quality control down to a fine art. Most brands anyway.