DiNo's Travels Around Australia - 2014/2015/16/17: Day 80

On a beautiful sunny day, max 29 degrees, we headed off from Halls Creek to Fitzroy Crossing, 293km away. The road was excellent and it was a pleasant drive through the sweeping plains between the two towns. We came across only one serious range in the trip and it was unique because of the two different rocks comprising the range. One was grey/black and the other the customary red. Maybe the black was an old reef system, where the calcium carbonate allows water to ingress and provide an excellent medium for algae to exist. Anyway the Mimbi Caves are there (90km east of Fitzroy Crossing) but because we had the anchor in tow, the road was gravel and there was no marker to say how far in the caves were, we decided to give the caves a miss.

Fitzroy Crossing is just that, a small town on the Fitzroy River where the highway crosses the river. One can only imagine what the river is like when in full flood. All the creeks and rivers we crossed, other than the Fitzroy, were as dry as chips. The town is famous for the nearby Geikie Gorge and we will see that tomorrow.

The Caravan Park where we are staying is excellent, with sweeping green lawns as you enter the property and the services and facilities here are great too. It is a welcome change from the previous two days of red dust we have dealt with.

We had a most unusual experience today. We stopped for a cuppa this morning and met a botanist from UQ. He was in raptures because on the side of the parking area he had seen a very rare tree, what he described as a t-hong tree. His excitement was infectious particularly as the tree was in flower. It had one long red flower about a foot long. We were happy to get a shot of the tree for the record.