97kms (plus 48kms sightseeing) / 1 ¼ hrs

The Lake (Ellendale) - Fitzroy Crossing - Geikie Gorge - Fitzroy Crossing

We left The Lake (Ellendale) at 7:00am this morning for our short drive to Fitzroy Crossing. We arrived at 8:15am and checked into the Fitzroy River Lodge. It's a beautiful caravan park right on the Fitzroy River and the sites are really big and shady. You could fit 2 vans on our site!

The kids had a bike/scooter ride and then we were trying to get them ready so we could go out and Bronte did a runner. In the end, the camp host was in her buggy so she gave Rog a lift to collect Bronte and then she gave Roger and the two kids a ride around. We then drove around Fitzroy Crossing, nothing to see just an Australian Outback town. We then drove to Geikie Gorge and went on a one hour barge trip at 11am. It was really relaxing and Josh was helping our guide AJ find all the freshwater croc's in the water. We also saw lot's of birds (egrets, herons etc). The sheer limestone cliff faces are spectacular. The oxidized grey coloured stone blends into the white "polished" stone from the flood waters and somehow the red oxide from the Kimberley soil also makes an appearance having leached its way through the rock.

It was a pretty gorge and a nice way to see it (as it was 30 degrees today and very hot). Our guide was very entertaining and talked the whole time about the area, plants, animals and some aboriginal stories - he was great.

The gorge floods every year without fail and the amount of water that rushes through in the wet season could fill the Sydney Harbour basin every 8 hours!! They have marks at the muster hut of where the water has peaked in the floods. In 2009 it was 2m above the hut itself - so 17 Metres above the standard river level!!

We then drove back over the old Fitzroy Crossing (which is a single river crossing) the kids loved as it was so low they could see straight into the water).

Had a lazy afternoon at the caravan, while the kids rode and did craft. Then we went to the swimming pool for the afternoon and it was very refreshing.

Drove back into town to refuel and then had pies and vegetables for dinner (which silly me forgot that the gas wasn't on so cooked the pies for about 45 mins and when I checked on them realised the gas wasn't on - obviously when I lit the oven it was with the gas left in the pipes!)

I started reading my first novel for the holiday last night and now I don't want to put it down (thanks Chooky & Hayley for the book).