As we continue our trip through the Kimberley we pass through the town of Halls Creek which was holding it's annual rodeo so the town was a buzz, the poor tiny bakery seemed to be struggling ... no pies and it was only 11am!
We had always planned on a free camp or farm stay out of town as we had a tour booked the next morning closer to Fitzroy Crossing. We settled on Lawarra station a working cattle station that allowed campers to pull up for $20, there was even a hot shower and flushing toilets! The kids were even more excited when they spotted that one of the other campers had kids bikes!! The station owner and workers were off to the Halls Creek Rodeo and the family that had stayed the night before were in charge of feeding the animals, now they had 3 extra helpers. The kids quickly made friends with the 2 girls, 8 and 6yrs and off on their bikes they went. They helped with collecting the chook eggs, and feeding the piglets and pigs and at the end of the night toasted more marshmellows around the fire.
The next morning we packed up again and headed towards Fitzroy Crossing firstly stopping for a guided tour of the Mimbi Caves.
The Mimbi caves belong to the Gooniyandi people and in particular a family who were the traditional owners of the land and the families that stem from that ancestry.
The local guide, Ronnie is a great story teller and tells us of the marroowa, the blue tongue lizard that created the hills and surrounding landscape as it was swept away by a great flood.
We were welcomed to the land by a traditional smoking ceremony and guided through the valley and to the enterance to the caves. Hard hats and head torches were donned and with Zoe on my back off we went.
The caves are limstone that were formed as part of the underwater reef during the Devonian geological time about 350-400 million years ago, give or take a few. Archaeologists also revealed that Aboriginal people have inhabited this area for at least 47,000 years ago. Due to the limestone, a large variety of fossils have been discovered here. But it is the caves themselves where we spot a few micro bats and the rock art that tells the story of the marroowa and the story of how the emu lost it's wings to fly that hold the magic. A morning tea around the fire with damper and Ronnie strumming the guitar singing country songs finished the tour perfectly ... for the men. Rose the accompanying guide took us female folk to a woman only part of the caves where up until the early-mid 1900s women would come to this sacred place and birth in the pools and caves. The evidence of camp fires in the caves date back thousands of years. Rose's great grandmother and grandmother was born in the caves along with many of her aunties and kin. No longer used as a sacred sight after pastoral owners slaughtered a group of men who were accused of stealing cattle the birthing cave was forever contaminated. It was such a privilege to be able to visit such an important site.
Our next stop was a stay at Fitzroy Crossing and a trip to Geikie Gorge on the mighty Fitzroy river. The bridge crossing into town and over the river is a clear indication of how big this river is and how awesome it must be in the wet. No wonder that had to pick up the town and move it after it flooded and a new bridge built in the 1970s 3km upstream from the original bridge has made the town more accessible during the wet.
A tour of the Geikie gorge saw rock formations that reminded us of Gaudi's work in Spain and for the kids, more crocodiles!!