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Published: October 13th 2012
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Days on the Road = 85 Days (12 Weeks & 1 Day)
22nd September 2012 Well we are all packed up again for a long drive from Broome to Fitzroy Crossing. Still no rain just beautiful blue skies and hot weather which will only get hotter as we travel further north and now inland of Western Australia.
There was not much to look at in the way of scenery as we travelled to Fitzroy Crossing, however, we do come across these one lane bridges which we found to be quite funny considering this is a major highway heading north. We figured out that upon approaching if another vehicle is heading in the opposite direction that the first vehicle to arrive and indicate first should be the first to cross.
We also stopped for a pit-stop mid-way through our trip at the Willare Bridge Roadhouse which is a typical outback roadhouse with fuel at the front and accommodation and bar at the rear. Just so different to see and I just loved the signs showing us how many kilometres there were between here and other destinations, how far we have travelled!
We arrive at the Fitzroy River Lodge in the early afternoon, setup our van then went for a
drive around this very small town to see what it had to offer, plus find the hospital that we will have to visit to get my youngest stitches out. We then go for a swim in the lodge’s swimming pool which was nice to cool off in.
The lodge is located on the edge of the Fitzroy River and is set amongst fifty acres of natural bush with shady trees and landscaped gardens and it is certainly a place to stop if you are feeling weary along your travels. The Fitzroy River is one of the largest rivers in Australia and during the wet season can rise 26m above the old concrete crossing with flow rates of 30,000 cubic metres per second. In actual fact, the last major flooding in this area was only back in 2011 where the hut out at Geikie Gorge National Park was covered in water with only the tip of the roof showing.
We are only here for a couple of nights so we have decided to venture out to Geikie Gorge National Park the next day.
23rd September 2012 Today we headed out to Geikie Gorge
National Park to view the different stone and reef formations alongside the Fitzroy River which is currently quite dried up due to the season. We decided to do the Jarrambayah reef walk along the gorge wall which was going to take approximately 2 hours to complete, however, we were advised that the first part would be hard going as it was soft sand and they weren't wrong there. Even though we had arrived in the morning and brought plenty of water the temperature quickly rose especially whilst we were in the gorge with the rocks holding the heat in. It was tough going and the girls really struggled and my youngest had to be carried the majority of the way back. We didn't enjoy the walk because of the searing temperature and when we got back to the car the temperature was recording 40oC which meant that the temperature in the gorge was so much higher.
We then figured out that as we are actually in the north eastern area of Western Australia, the sun was rising earlier in the morning than we thought, which would mean that even if we went out to the gorge at 9am the
sun was actually in the 11am position. This would only be a problem until we reach Northern Territory where we will then set our clocks forward by 1.5 hours. So we have now decided to take this in mind and ensure that if we need to do any walks we will need to get up super early and complete prior to the full heat of the day arriving. It was not a nice lesson to learn and we felt particularly bad for the kids.
After this experience we then had to put our youngest through getting her stitches out at the hospital (third hospital visit whilst being on the road), luckily they didn't hurt coming out and her scar has healed really well.
We also visited the oldest established inn in the Kimberley region which dates back to 1897, The Crossing Inn. The Inn which is located on the banks of the Fitzroy River continually supports the wellbeing of the local indigenous population and one of these was by sponsoring the local youths to paint the outside walls of the inn which was inspired by the local high school winning the 2000 Olympic Art Competition. The paintings were
amazing.
Tomorrow we are heading towards Kununurra with an overnight stop in a free camp off the main highway.
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