There are simpler places to take a D-MAX or an MU-X. An unevenly paved driveway, for example. Bunnings. Or your uncle’s mate Brian’s place (he’s moving his fridge).
But with a vehicle this capable, easy isn’t always the point. We’ve come to the Kimberley, the legendary wilderness playground in Australia’s deep northwest. A place where horizons bleed orange, the roads are less roads than suggestions, and you’re more likely to find a king brown in your letterbox than a whitegoods catalogue.
“It’s a very, very special place – perhaps the ultimate dream destination for I-Venture Club (IVC),” says Matt Taylor, one of the program’s lead trainers. Isuzu UTE Australia’s unique 4WD training and owner experience program is designed to help customers unlock the best of the Australian lifestyle.
“This is the most remote, and the longest, trip in the 11-year history of IVC, and it needed to be to do the Kimberley justice. The Kimberley is twice the size of Victoria, or about three times as big as England.
It takes time to immerse, often literally, a dozen IVC customers and six motoring journalists in the paradise’s river systems, gorges, and hot springs. Not to mention icons such as Branco’s Lookout and the Gibb River Road.”
“It’s incredible,” says Matt. “All you need is a four-wheel drive with good clearance and low range.
Luckily we had a pretty good one up our sleeve.”
The Odyssey Begins
It took Odysseus over a decade to travel just over 1000km home from Troy, albeit with several interruptions. The intrepid IVC crew who signed up for this latter-day epic were a little more efficient. The media contingent arrived by air, but for many I-Venture Club participants, the adventure began long before Kununurra, with road trips spanning thousands of kilometres from all corners of the country.
Each was a veteran of at least one previous IVC adventure, with the vehicles on hand demonstrating the strength of IUA’s catalogue. Customers piloted a range of new and old 4WD D-MAX and MU-X, while the media stable included the latest D-MAX BLADE, D-MAX X-RIDER, and MU-X X-TERRAIN.
The esprit de corps was immediate.
“We met everybody and had a fabulous breakfast,” says Jenine Buchanan-Hughes, who attended the trip – her debut multi-day IVC event – alongside husband Andy. “And then within half an hour we were doing our first ever water crossing, which was terrifying!”
IVC trips are a little like this: filled with camaraderie and overcoming challenges, with each elevating the enjoyment of the other. The Kimberley adventure was the same, only more so. The itinerary read like a highlights reel.
Day 1 encompassed the long, curved concrete causeway of the Ivanhoe Crossing – Jenine and Andy’s triumphant baptism – as well as Secret Springs and home base, the lush, safari-style glamping set-up of El Questro station’s sumptuous Emma Gorge Resort, via Gibb River Road.
Day 2 took in Moochalabra rock art, the famous Boab prison tree at King River, Pentecost Crossing (one of several rivers where saltwater crocodiles are more than an afterthought), and Home Valley Station. Day 3 changed it up with a Chamberlain Gorge Cruise, then an El Questro Gorge Walk, Explosion Gorge, and Branco’s Lookout. Finally, Day 4 took participants along a spectacular private station 4WD track that culminated at a secluded waterfall and swimming hole, before the journey back to Kununurra.
“Just shy of 900km all up, and more than 500 of them off-road,” says Taylor. “And not a single puncture in any of our 48 tyres!”
Desert Sessions
This is proper Outback country. Ancient ranges. Enormous skies. Crocodile Dundee-style locals to tell you what is, and isn’t, a knife. Its 4WD tracks demand mechanical sympathy and good judgement, and it helps to have someone on the radio to help you along a particular line.
The real fun is discovering what your D-MAX or MU-X can do when the bitumen finally runs out.
For Jenine, the learning curve was steep. “There were parts where Matt said, ‘Oh, this track is way worse than it was a month ago when we did the recce!’ So it was kind of like, ‘Ah… right. Okay.’”
While some sections took longer than planned, any anxiety behind the wheel soon dissipated. “You quickly became confident that your car knew what to do, and the guides were always there,” she says.
The central idea of IVC is to expose owners to situations they’d otherwise approach with understandable caution, then give them the knowledge and support to work through them. And the Kimberley is a world-class classroom.
Branco’s Crossing, for example, is IVC 101: slow, rocky and technical, but, says Taylor, “really very picturesque – a perfect example of a reward for having a go.”
The group is running a little behind schedule, so the pace picks up. Everyone is confident, but Taylor is pushing the pace – he wants them at the top of Branco’s Lookout at least half an hour before sunset. From the top, the Kimberley changes colour as the sun drops, and a full moon rises over the ridgeline.
“You’re in the middle of nowhere, in the centre of the universe,” says Taylor.
Eyes without a face
By the time the convoy starts back, darkness has arrived. Which means another Chamberlain River crossing – this time with the headlights illuminating the water, and the convoy alert for telltale reflections.
“It was a super cool, super eerie experience,” says Taylor. “Everyone’s scanning for a pair of orange lights peeking above the surface somewhere.”
Crocodile eyes, naturally. The official advice is simple: if you stop, for any reason, don’t get out. “Stay where you are,” laughs Taylor.
Jenine says that, apart from the potential for livestock wandering onto the roads after dark, the nighttime crossing was her most unnerving moment of the trip. Even so, by then, something had already changed. On day one, water had been terrifying. By the end, it was simply another obstacle to negotiate.
“The first river crossing was scary,” she laughs. “But afterwards I realised it was actually alright. I didn’t get nearly as freaked out after that. It was amazing.”
Which is designed to be the most useful souvenir from any I-Venture Club trip. Not that the bespoke sticker from each IVC outing isn’t cool. Or an El Questro stubby holder, or even the memories of each evening’s war stories back at base. Confidence.
It’s not as simple as a Bunnings run, and paved driveways are few and far between. But for a convoy of D-MAXs and MU-Xs, an IVC odyssey to the heart of the Kimberley is more than a holiday. It’s the beginning of an epic off-road education.
Want to be part of the next adventure? Discover upcoming I-Venture Club experiences and see more of Australia's landscapes alongside fellow Isuzu D-MAX & MU-X owners by visiting the I-Venture Club page.
