Fitzroy Crossing to Halls Creek

There are a few trials to endure in Outback Australia and Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek are pretty remote! Last night, having just watched on TV the abnormally high temperatures in the UK, I went to bed with the aircon on full blast. I woke up at 2.00 am absolutely freezing. I searched for an extra blanket and put on some tights and a T-shirt over my nightie. I remembered that I had put the aircon on in the first place to cover up the noise of a water pump that went on and off all night.

Another issue was that their wi-fi was non-existent, so I had to drive to the Fitzroy River Hotel to use theirs. This hotel proved to be better all round than the Crossings Hotel, but it had been fully booked when I was planning my trip.

The Crossings Hotel dates back to 1873, when it was established as a trading post. It claims to be the oldest licensed venue in the Kimberley. Its big plus is that the rooms are right on the banks of the “Mighty” Fitzroy River. I sat out on my veranda for more than an hour in the evening, watching the bird life come and go and some aboriginal kids playing football on the opposite bank. As I was leaving this morning, I was lucky enough to see a pair of graceful brolgas stepping around the caravan park, not at all afraid of me.

When I arrived at Halls Creek, I had no accommodation booked: huge mistake!! I had thought to drive around town checking out places first. I was just parked under a tree in the Kimberley Hotel pondering what to do as I ate a sandwich. A kind and pleasant woman who was just walking past turned out to be the manager. When I told her my plight, she took pity on me and found me some “emergency accommodation” and arranged for it to be cleaned while I had a swim in the pool. Phew! A man at the other hotel in town just said “Welcome to the Kimberley in July”. Very funny. The problem everywhere is lack of staff: the rooms exist but there is no-one to clean them.

View from my veranda.

Looking in the opposite direction last night.

Brolgas.