Broome to Fitzroy Crossing

Felt really sad to be leaving Broome, but excited about my new adventure across the very hot northern part of Australia, into the Northern Territory and finally to Queensland.

Stopped at Willare Roadhouse for a cold drink but didn’t fill up with petrol there (had about three quarters of a tank left after filling up in Broome).  Car seemed to be using more fuel than usual, maybe because of the aircon, the heat or accelerated Granny speed I was travelling at!  There wasn’t a lot of traffic apart from a few road-trains and some caravans.

I pulled over and stopped on the side of the road to take a photo of the Erskine Ranges and straight away, the car behind me pulled alongside and the lady passenger asked if I was OK.  That’s a very heartening thing that often happens on these isolated roads – and you feel as though people actually care!

The scenery changed from green trees to charred looking trees where fire had ravaged them, then close to Fitzroy Crossing, it was very much of a desert, prone to flooding, though there’s no water in the rivers or creeks at the moment.  It must look amazing when the floods happen and some of the signs indicate an extremely high water level from past floods.

Booked a ‘Gecko’ Room at the historic Crossing Inn (see website at https://www.crossinginn.com.au/) which has a colourful history. Unfortunately no views of any water in the mighty Fitzroy River at the moment!

My room was up high on stilts, and after the drive and carrying too many bags, I was eager to leap into the shower so imagine the disappointment when no water came out of either tap!

The bar-tender in the outside bar was very sympathetic and told me that the water only gets pumped up a couple of times a day!

I enjoyed a nice meal in the restaurant at the Crossing Inn and although there were people sitting outside eating I decided to stay inside in the air conditioning.

The next morning I had a look around the small town – there was a big IGA Supermarket and shops but they weren’t open so I decided to have a coffee at Jalangurru Mayi Cafe which has fabulous healthy food and highly commendable coffee. They also have art works by local artists and some clothing and handcrafts.

After my coffee, I was ready for the drive on to Warmun.

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