Here we are, the final leg of the WA trip. It all hinges on whether we can get across Fitzroy Crossing or not. If we can, then it’s on to Kununurra, before we head to the NT.
Fitzroy Crossing is the only way across to the Northern Territory side of Western Australia and has been battling floods and storms lately. Up until a fortnight ago the crossing was shut, so we were nervous the road would hold up!
Monday, Jul 24th – (Day 109)
FITZROY CROSSING: Here we go, judgement day! Today was the day we finally tackled Fitzroy Crossing. If we weren’t able to cross, then we’d be heading back down the WA coast the way we came up.
But first we had to pack up and grab some fuel before our long 4.5 hour drive. Along the way we come across another roadhouse so opted to fill up with diesel while we still had a chance, plus got ourselves a bucket of chips for lunch.
Then it was back on the road. The second half of the drive was pretty rough with the remnants of the floods. There was plenty of dust and dirt roads, plus roadworks being done, so the journey ended up taking over 5 hours in the end with the stoppages.
We finally got to Fitzroy Crossing around 3pm or so and after finding the detour to the new makeshift bridge, we finally crossed! Our trip was back on track!
It was a rough old road, but it got us across the river. It was hard to imagine this was under water only a fortnight ago, now we were driving across.
Finding the caravan park was a tough ask and we had to ask someone. This is a park where you didn’t need to book and we were considering staying two nights, but decided on just the one night when we realised it was a very average park. Plus it cost us $57, what an absolute rip off!
We didn’t even unhook the car, we left it hooked up so we could take off early in the morning. Then we had a rest and played some games, made ourselves some tea and some lunch for tomorrow, then settled in for the night.
Tomorrow we have a 7 hour drive, the drive we had been dreading for a while now. So we had an early night.
Tuesday, Jul 25th – (Day 110)
KUNUNARRA: Time for a 6h40m drive, the one we’d been dreading for a while. We were still tired from yesterdays long drive, so having to do it again was a little annoying. But it beats staying in Fitzroy Crossing for another night!
Given we were still hitched up to the car and didn’t unpack much for this stop, we were able to pack up and be ready to go shortly after 9am. Before leaving, we fueled up and then hit the road.
There was a major headwind today and it made us chew through our fuel a bit quicker than normal. Added to that was a lot of red lights and stoppages from where they’re doing roadworks, cleaning up from the damage the flood did.
About halfway we stopped in Halls Creek for some more fuel, then ate our lunch which was some potato salad and a makeshift burrito. We also got some snacks from the IGA.
Not stopping at Halls Creek was a good idea as it was a pretty desolate place. It’s basically one street and there were plenty of unsavoury types getting around. We were glad to be back on the road to be honest.
This next part of the journey dragged. We gave up on the Alexander X book as it, like the trip today, was dragging on and going nowhere. We opted to listen to some podcasts, as well as the Similitude Of A Dream album which kept us entertained the rest of the way.
We arrived in to Kununarra around 5:30pm when it was dark. The office was shut but had left us our key, so we unfortunately had to find our spot and set up in the dark. It was made extra hard with tons of insects drawn to the lights, so we had to do it in nearly pitch black.
Rather than cook tea with bugs everywhere, we opted to go to Gulliver’s Tavern for tea instead. We got ourselves a homemade lasagna and some drinks, then came back to the caravan and finished packing up.
Wednesday, Jul 26th – (Day 111)
Two long days of travelling actually takes it out of you, so today we planned to do nothing but chill out and catch up on some work. Adam was struggling a bit from all the dirt and dust as well, which was not ideal.
The day was spent sitting around at the caravan, plus we also played a few games of Ticket To Ride against each other.
After lunch we went for a walk around the area to check it out, but we were still pretty tired so just came back to the caravan and continued resting.
We started tea pretty early, around 5ish or so, so as not to have to deal with the bugs when it got dark.
Not much else happened for the rest of the night, other than the finale of The Bear. We were now fully up to date and what a great show it was.
Thursday, Jul 27th – (Day 112)
We had no plans today other than to just relax at the caravan park, plus a little walk to the supermarket later in the arvo.
Being a hot dusty place with not much to do, it was a good chance to rest after some log days driving in the car. We played our soccer and Zelda games, had some lunch and then did some reading.
Then after lunch we went for a walk into town. There wasn’t much there, it was basically just a couple of streets with a Coles, Toy World and a few cafes.
The rest of the day was spent doing basically what we had been doing the rest of the day. We also saw our first ever crocodile in the wild which was a pretty cool experience.
Friday, Jul 28th – (Day 113)
Today was almost a repeat of yesterday. More playing games, reading and relaxing in the warmth.
This time we went for a walk to the supermarket later in the evening to avoid the hot sun and we stocked up on some ingredients to make lunch and tea for the next couple of days.
We were crossing the NT border tomorrow and couldn’t take fruits and veggies across, so we had to make some makeshift food out of what we had left.
On the walk to the supermarket we called back home and had a good chat, Damian was in town so it was good to speak to everyone again. We also learnt Ned and Peta were in Katherine, our stop for tomorrow, so that was a big coincidence.
Tonight was the Carlton vs Collingwood game which we listened to on the radio. It was a good buzz, because as we walked around the park, a heap of other people had the game blaring on the radio too. Carlton ended up winning in a huge upset, which made it all the better.
And that was the end of our short stay in Kununurra. It wasn’t the most exciting place, but it was a good place to recharge our batteries.
