FITZROY CROSSING a surprise

It was difficult to want to leave Broome, but with time marching on we knew it had to be done. Waving goodbye to all the caravaners that were still there we set out quite early to get a good start to Fitzroy Crossing. It wasnt too long before the scenery started to show a definite change and more and more of the termite/ant hills appeared. 

Ant/Termite city

 The land is smothered in them. Some very large and some very small and tiny. Also the bush in the Kimberly seems much more green and "bushy". At times it seems that one could be in a tropical type place rather than the aussie bush. But probably the most noticeable thing was the ammount and size of the Boab trees. Some of them are HUGE. They are just starting to get some green leaves although at some spots they still had no foliage at all. We spoke to a young aboriginal girl who said the seed pods (inside contents) are edible and the kids like to eat them. (I did give them a go in Kununurra at a later time and must admit they almost taste like lumps of milk powder). 

Very old boab

Of course there were more wildflowers to snap and will continue to collect them for wildflowers no 2 blog.  Arriving in Fitzroy was a bit of an eye opener as there are large groups of indigenous folk sitting around under trees everywhere. We now realize this is the way for them and all of the towns to follow were the same. So far no problems though. Did not see alcohol in these groups and it just seems that this is their way of socializing and communicating with each other.  
After driving around and carefully examining each caravan park it was a definite and unanimous decision to stay at the lodge resort. The park itself is very shady with rolling green lawns very well kept. The best thing was they had a fabulous pool which for some reason was ICE cold. It almost felt refrigerated!
We booked straight into a guided tour but when we arrived at Geike Gorge we were too late for the boat so the poor tour guide had to refund everyone their money. I felt a bit sorry for him but the bus was not well airconditioned anyway and although we had seen a few sights it was not what I would call a great tour. One good thing though was the STICK insect we met along the way at the gorge..........

Can you believe this fellow? He was over 30 cms long and nearly tripped John over

He did however shout us all a cold drink at the pub to say sorry so all in all it was not a complete waste. We also got to see the actual crossing bridge and the old post office and police station (which we revisited the next day to take photos).
So after an icy swim and a feed we settled in for the night very grateful we had bought the air con. The first evening was in the high 30s and second night was 41 degrees.
We booked a gorge ride for the next morning and Geike Gorge is very scenic but will let the photos do the talking.

Waiting for the boat

Lizzy's first in line

Geike Gorge

Lots of green

Some of the rock formation

Very pretty colors

One of the inhabitants

Guess who

The boat driver assured us there were only the fresh water (harmless) variety of crocodiles but that the salties were just a bit further up river. No chances were taken though and I was on the lookout constantly.

Can you see the bats?

Fitzroy was a bit surprising as we enjoyed it much more than we thought we would.  With quite a bit to see and very friendly people its one of those places you think doesnt have much but once you begin to scratch the surface you realize you could probably spend a lot more time  delving into the history of it all.  The old hospital/flying Dr , police station and post office are all part of the old townsite. 

Old post office

Old hospital site memorial

The boabs accross from the police station

There are boabs accross from the police station where the criminals were chained to. It was a little eerie to look at those boabs knowing there had been people chained to them.

The visitor centre was a great source of information (as are all visitor centres). They had a separate section that was an aboriginal art gallery full of paintings, boomerangs and some small rocks. Very reasonably priced but very interesting just to admire and appreciate. 
The local supermarket had burned down recently and was operating from the rec centre. The upside of that was that a new shopping centre is currently under construction. (Due to open in 2-3 months) Currently there is not any real shopping one can do except just the food supplies.
There is also a lot of money being poured into new housing and there is a section of lovely new houses almost ready for moving in.

New house almost ready

Well, thats about it from Fitzroy so will say see ya for now. Take care everyone. Thanks to everyone who has sent in a comment. Its really good to hear from you.

Catching up on some homework

Lots of love
Sonia John n Lizzy xxx