June 1, 2014.
Loaded the slideon and hooked the boat on the back and headed back to the Broome Markets this morning. Carol managed to purchase yet another pair of earrings! How many ears has she got any way?
Today is our last day with the Hannans. We are heading towards Derby from where we do the Gibb River Road while they are heading south to catch up with Hanno's brother David who will be doing the Kimberly with them over the next couple of months. It feels really strange to be parting company as not only have we been travelling with them since Perlubie but each time we've been in this part of Australia over the years we have travelled with them. Still we need to get home and catch up with our future grandchild in Pt Lincoln. Our next big trip with them is in October when we are travelling to Nepal together.
Still it's a very sad feeling to be heading in the opposite direction to them. We'll miss them.

After partying company we headed out east towards Derby. Passed through several small fires that were obviously part of a burning off program. The country is quite interesting with heavy scrub in parts, flood plains, termite mounds and for the first time this trip we passed through some Boab trees country. A couple of the rivers we crossed were quite spectacular although admiring them from the single lane bridges can be an interesting exercise. We had hoped to free camp on the Fitzroy River tonight but the track into the camping areas was covered with low branches that act as a significant obstacle for our 3.5m high rig. As it turned out we landed on our feet because the Willare Roadhouse has an excellent camping area that includes a pool, so our first night on our own was spent enjoying a quiet drink and swim in the pool. All good!