Day 32 - Saturday 4 August - Whole lot of not much

Day 32

Saturday

4 August

Completed book 5, Sanctuary by Judy Nunn. This was an interesting and topical read on the plight of refugees, set in a fictitious town north of Geraldton. 

Began book 6, Island Home by Tim Winton. 

Fitzroy Crossing – Halls Creek – Leycester Rest Area 

After our early night, we were awake with the sparrows, but it was cool outside the blankets, so we were quite happy to stay in the warm. I read my book finally completing it and once I had finished it was 7.30am and a reasonable time to get out. We kept busy to stay warm and we were on our way just after 8am. We bought fuel at the lodge and handed in the mobile we had found, before turning onto the highway once again and heading towards Halls Creek. 

The sun was up and the flat, farming land stretched out before us. In the distance were ranges that seem to pop up out of nothing. We passed cattle attached to the pastoral leases of the area, great flocks of birds of prey feasting on recent road kill, including two dead steer at the same point of the road, but on either side and one appeared to have been flayed, with chunks of meat being carved from its back and two different types of termite mounds; fat and skinny. 

Road signs pointed out the many aboriginal communities, darting off into desolate, barren areas. We past a couple of rest areas, checking them out for possible stays on our return. I worked busily on choosing photos from last year, July now done. 

20km from Halls Creek, we passed the Tanami Road, if you choose to follow this you end up in Alice Springs, it also takes you to Wolfe Creek and the crater. I am sure this would be an interesting stop, if you had the vehicle to manage it. 

At 11, we reached Halls Creek. We found a place for vans to park and got out to have a look around. There wasn’t much to it. A few shops fronted the highway and that was about it. Paul took the opportunity to ring Jaden and wish him a happy birthday for Monday, using the Telstra phone for the first time this trip, iinet has surprisingly been in range up until Fitzroy. We seem to have much better Optus coverage here on the West Coast. We then did a very quick shop at the expensive IGA and bought rolls at the bakery, 6 for $7.20! 

We wandered back to the car, the butcher’s sign making us raise our eyebrows on the way. We stopped for more fuel and then high tailed it out of Halls Creek, opting to stop at a roadside camp, rather than at the caravan park in town. 

The 100km drive on to Leycester Rest was hot and dry. This country was quite different to what we had seen on the way up. It was far lumpier and the vegetation was parched. The hills looked as if they were wearing a spinifex jumper and when we encountered a burnt area, it was as if the jumper had been stripped leaving the bare earthly bones of black rock. 

It is easy to see here why the Aboriginal’s rely so heavily on dots in their paintings, the small spinifex tufts are like little balls on the landscape and I am sure from above look just like dots. 

While the landscape was very dry, it was very pretty, all the muted colours melding together like a watercolour painting. Paul has a number of paintings completed by some aboriginal students at home and we could really see their inspiration in this landscape. 

An hour out of Hall Creek, we reached Leycester Rest, a very large spot off the Great Northern Highway. We found a piece of bitumen to call home and set up for the evening. Paul took the car off and on to reset the tie downs and I made lunch. 

As we ate, I did a check of the distance on to the Bungle Bungles caravan park, 10km! Guess it will be a short journey tomorrow. We read for a short while, before deciding to check the place out. We walked down the road, to the Ord River Crossing. This was once the highway and Paul remembers crossing the river behind a road train, when it was in flood. The river today was bone dry. 

We wandered through the camp and passed the other vans set up for the night. I was looking for a boab tree that might feature in some star shots tonight, but unfortunately there were none to be found, however I did find a few others that took my interest.

We made our way back to the van opened the windows to allow the steaming heat to escape and proceeded to sit under the gazebo at some concrete picnic tables and read. It was much cooler here than in the van. 

The afternoon disappeared quite rapidly, with plenty of vans entering the rest. In the end, our peace was broken by another motorhome couple who joined us at the picnic table and proceeded to chat. They were from Sale and seemed nice enough and they certainly weren’t going anywhere, drinks and chips in hand. We spoke until the sun went down and it became dark. We eventually had to make our excuses and get dinner on, otherwise I think they would have stayed there all night.

We cooked up an easy meal and ate, before I gathered up the camera gear and went in search of a decent spot to take some night photos. I had trouble determining the right settings and nothing looked right in the camera. 

In the end, we returned to the van and I took a quick look at the results, but wasn’t happy. Oh well, maybe tomorrow. I joined Paul in bed, continuing to read Tim Winton’s book, I’d be finished tomorrow at this rate. I am finding it a fascinating read, as it takes in his thoughts on Australian’s connection to land and talks about a number of places we have spent time in. I am particularly enjoying how he weaves autobiographical stories of adventures as a child and teen, with views of others who have seen the importance of our landscape and how we interact with it and what is valued. Hmm something to ponder in any case.