Day 44 - Thursday 16 August - On to Roebuck Plains

Day 44

Thursday

16 August

Fitzroy Crossing – Roebuck Plains 

While we went to bed with the fan going, we woke cold, shivering and in need of the quilt. I guess that is the desert for you in the winter. As we didn’t have a great distance to cover today, there was no need for a rush this morning. I was happy to lay in bed and read until 8.30am, however Paul was up and getting breakfast sorted before then. When he went off for his shower, I pulled myself from the warm covers and cleaned up. 

After breakfast, I had my shower and when I returned, Paul had the van ready to leave. I finished off the jobs I needed to do and then we pulled away from our camping spot and drove into town to get fuel, finally on the road for 9.30am. 

We passed the road sign, 350km to Broome and only 150km to our rest stop at Boab tree, not much of a journey ahead of us today. The road from Fitzroy on, is far greener and more heavily vegetated from here on. The further we pushed on the more boabs we began to see. 

I entertained myself, going through the October 17 photos, but stopped before the end, keen to just watch the scenery float by. We eventually made it to the Boab Rest area, at 11am. There were plenty of people doing the same. We found a place to pull up and then Paul set about sorting the straps on the car. With that done, we went to check out the big Boab that stands in the middle of the rest stop. 

Boughs of many branches reach out and invite you to come in and have a look. The tree has been used by many to leave their carved mark, which is kind of a shame. The tree was hollow inside and while I didn’t get in, you could feel the temp drop on the inside. We walked a lap and returned to the van. We wished a crazy European girl the best, as she straddled her bicycle to continue her journey on to Darwin. Nutter!

We had a quick snack and then decided it was best to move on, than sit in the sun twiddling our thumbs. We re-joined the Northern Highway and 60km later we had reached the t junction, Derby right, or Broome left. Left it was. 

We passed numerous cows, some by the road, others corralled near watering holes. Willare Roadhouse was up next and then a number of one lane bridges passing over large water courses, most with water in them, including the Fitzroy River. 

The final run into the Roebuck Plains road house, was a bumpy one. There were plenty of signs out warning of rough road and it was, throwing us about all over the place. It had me pulling faces every time we traversed a patchy section.

Just before 2pm, we reached our destination, fuelled up the van and booked in for two nights. We were given a drive-thru and proceeded to pull straight in, unhitch, set up and make lunch. Food, just what we needed.

We did a wander of the park, checking out the facilities. They have a nice tropical looking pool, almost as cool as the infinity pool in Argyle. The park isn’t huge, so we were back at the van in a few minutes. In the end, we locked up and went across to the bar for a drink in a cool spot and to use the free wifi. 

We entertained ourselves with the tv and the net, so much to catch up on, Paul more so than me, as he hasn’t had access on Optus, where as all my things are attached to the Telstra mobile. It was while I was staring out the window, watching people come and go, that I recognised a face. I left Paul to it and wandered outside to accost Shauna, my school’s AIEO, seems she is up for the Broome Cup on Saturday. We had a brief chat, before she had to continue on to Broome. 

I returned to Paul and the electronics, but shortly after we returned to the van, happy to hang out and watch the other caravaner’s enter. I was well entertained watching a husband and wife trying to get their van in, took them ages and a heated discussion, but they made it in the end. 

I was in need of a stretch and walk, so we did a lap of the park to keep ourselves amused. We stopped to talk to one of the campers, before making our way back and getting into dinner. We had a bug invasion and I felt like I was playing Frogger. It was a bit of a joke really, we ended up picking them out of our omelettes as well. 

We spent the evening doing very little. Paul was engrossed in his book and I took the opportunity to clean up my Lightroom catalogue, riveting stuff. Before too long we were ready to don the ear plugs and head to bed, sending me into a foggy underwater world, but at least the sounds of the road trains were drowned out enough to sleep.