With a drive of just short of 300k’s in front of us, we were out of bed just after 6:00am and ready to leave just before 8:00am. As we have said before, it is still difficult seeing the sun in the sky at 6:00am when we are only half way through winter. Today there was not a cloud in the sky but the wind was exceptionally strong.
Since leaving home in May, we have had little benefit from tailwinds, today would be different.
There is only one fuel outlet in Halls Creek and the cost of diesel was reasonable. We had to add every last drop of fuel to the car knowing that there were no further fuel stops between Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. A head wind would have been disastrous but today we were in luck with the wind coming generally from the east.
We had tried to book a caravan park in Fitzroy Crossing but were told that it was “first in best dressed”. We were also told we should arrive by midday if we wanted a powered site.
With close to 300k’s to drive and three and a half hours to arrive there by midday, we knew we would need to hurry. With the assistance of the tail wind, we were able to travel at a speed just over 90kph without impacting on overall fuel consumption. In fact, until we turned north for the final part of the trip, our average was under 15 litres per 100k’s.
The scenery continues to be amazing. There are termite mounds everywhere that are entirely different to those seen in the Northern Territory and the eastern parts of Western Australia. These termite mounds are not tall, they are just wide and look like oversized animal droppings.
One of our group arrived early at the caravan park and was able to secure four adjacent sites. To make it even better, all of the sites were large and easy to access.
After lunch we replenished our refrigerator at a great local IGA (they had everything) and had a very quick look at a very small town. This town has a very large indigenous population and is also a dry town. You are only able to purchase alcohol to drink in bar, there is no takeaway available.
We had an early happy hour and then we all went to the resort bar lounge and took the opportunity to use a voucher given to us for barramundi and chips for $30 for two serves. Whilst waiting for the meal, we did have the opportunity to enjoy several drinks.
We were back in the caravan just after 7:00pm and spent the remainder of the evening reading and watching television.