Lap Around Australia..Kununurra to Broome

Kununurra to Broome

We knew we had a big day of driving ahead of us. We were on a mission to get to Broome. Getting away from our campsite in Kununurra early, we were at Doon Doon Roadhouse on the Great Northern Highway quite early. The road is pretty good, although there are a few narrow one lane bridges along the way and you have to keep an watchful eye out for stock wandering across the road.

We didn't stop at Doon Doon. We kept driving on to Warmun (Turkey Creek) and had a re-fueling stop here. It was still only mid morning and we thought we could make it to Halls Creek in the early afternoon. Which indeed we did. We really didn't want to stay in Halls Creek overnight as we'd heard tales of trouble there (theft, drinking etc) but to be fair, the town didn't look too bad. There was even a rather nice café attached to the Information Centre where we had lunch. Best beef burgers!

Barb went in to the Information Centre to enquire about possible free-camping options between Halls creek and Fitzroy Crossing. The very helpful lady there gave me the names of two possible rest stops. Mary Pool or Ngumpan Cliffs. The first was about 180 Km west of Fitzroy crossing and the other about 100 K west of FC. Both had no power or water or showers but both had long drop toilets.

We chose to stay at Mary Pool as it offered shade, whereas the other was on a cliff and more exposed. When we pulled in we parked up beside another van and before we set up camp we went over to introduce ourselves and ask if it was OK to park right there or were we too close. Michelle and David couldn't have been nicer. "Bring your chairs over and join us for a cuppa" they said. We did and ended up chatting with them until sunset! They were lovely people who were heading in the opposite direction to us and so we were able to share tips and suggestions for places to stay and "must dos" on our journeys.

It was pretty quiet in our camp. We realised in the morning that we weren't in the main section which was a bit further on and contained the loo. Next door to us was a young American/Filippina girl called Jen (early 30s) who was camped by herself in her sedan car on her way to Broome. She was sleeping in the car and so the next morning we invited her over to share breakfast and make her a cuppa. She was a stunningly gorgeous girl! She even looked magnificent after a night sleeping in her car in the middle of nowhere. We hope she stays safe on her trip.

As we were driving towards Fitzroy crossing we started to head towards some pretty large bushfires. There were huge palls of black smoke and there had been fire right up to the roadside. As we approached the cliffs the fire was very close. Glad we didn't stay there! Although if there was no fires the views were pretty amazing. We stopped very briefly in Fitroy Crossing to re-fuel and kept driving towards Broome. We got to Willare Bridge not far past the turn-off to Derby. The fuel price here was horrifically expensive and it didn't look too salubrious as a place to stay, so we kept going until we reached Broome's Gateway Caravan Park which is about 30 Km outside Broome. It was a cheap (ish) and pleasant place to stay as Broome was very very busy in the lead up to the Broome cup and Rodeo.

We liked this campsite, even though Barb got a bit of a fright when she went to do the washing and opened the washing machine lid to find a snake curled up under the rim of the bowl. Yikes! A harmless python the park owner said. Barb wasn't taking any chances. She left the washing until we got to Broome.