We enjoyed our few days in Broome but it was time to move on. We packed up, cleaned up, and popped into town to get a few supplies before heading off. We planned to drive towards Fitzroy Crossing although we wouldn’t camp there. (Fitzroy Crossing is a remote town in the Kimberley with mostly indigenous residents.)
We had a change of scenery on this part of the trip as we drove the Savannah Way. This is a very remote part of Australia that traverses the Kimberley, with national parks and gorges. The purpose of this trip is to drive to Darwin; on previous trips it was to see as much of the country as we could. So we did not head onto the legendary Gibb River Road nor visit the amazing Bungle Bungles as we have enjoyed them before.
After filling up with fuel at the Willare Roadhouse, we did make a point of stopping to look at a very old Boab Tree on the way. I don’t know how old it is. We have seen the Boab Prison Tree in Derby that is apparently 1,500 years old! (https://flannerysfootprints.com/2021/06/20/derbys-dark-past/)
Boab Tree
Willare Roadhouse
We stopped in Fitzroy Crossing for fuel. This is not a town that exudes safety! There are bars on all the shop windows, and you have to hand over your driving license before getting fuel. I’m always happy to drive out of Fitzroy Crossing.
We arrived at Ellendale Rest Area about 90kms further on, around 3pm. This is where we planned to camp for the night. However, there wasn’t a lot of shade and, as it was still 40 degrees, we decided we might as well keep going. One of our very favourite free camps on our last big trip was Ngumban Clifftop. We both remembered the spectacular view of the sunset from the top of the cliff. We thought we could get there just in time for sunset this time. And we did – just. Unbelievably, there was no-one else there so we had the pick of the spots. (We have found most caravan parks and free camps empty because it is still technically the wet season and cyclone season). We didn’t have to wait long for the most spectacular sunset. The colours were stunning and the sky stayed colourful for more than an hour. We had dinner under the most amazing sky.
Of course, the next morning we woke to sunrise on the other side of the cliff.
Sunrise
We were up and gone early the next morning with an idea of camping at Turkey Creek Roadhouse, now called Warmun Roadhouse. We shared the driving and enjoyed the scenery – the Savannah, with its scattering of termite mounds, many taller than me, and the sudden rise of the Kimberley and Bungle Bungle Ranges.
Since leaving Broome we had had no phone reception and very little radio reception. I felt like giving a big sigh of relief not hearing about all the world’s problems, although we were reminded of them every time we stopped for fuel.
In fact, as we drove into Warmun Roadhouse, the fuel gauge was just teetering on red. John reminded me that last time we came to this roadhouse, they had no fuel. Low and behold, our worst fears were realised when we were told that, once again, they had no fuel! It was 97kms to the next roadhouse- Doon Doon – but we were told we could enter a nearby aboriginal community and they would allow us to buy fuel from them. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the turnoff to the community. With only enough fuel left for 60kms, it was lucky we had 10 litres in a Jerry can for emergencies!
We made it to Doon Doon Roadhouse by the skin of our teeth. We had decided to camp here but John mentioned it wasn’t that far to Kununurra so, after fuelling up, we kept going. So much for our agreement not to drive more than about three hours each day. By the time we arrived in Kununurra, we had driven over 1,000kms in two days, 3,000kms since leaving home.
We booked a powered site at Ivanhoe Caravan Park which was very green and shady. John talked ME into having a swim. Then it was nice to have a long shower and check our phone messages, though not so nice watching the SBS News on TV.
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