Wed 17th July my Dads Birthday. We left at 7.45am on way to Halls Creek and to see the China Wall. We couldn't find it and pushed on to have a look at Marys River Free Camp where Chris and Roger have stayed a number of times before. It was too early for lunch so only emptied our toilets and eventually stopped at the Ngumban Cliff Lookout Rest Area for lunch 96km SE of Fitzroy Crossing. A beautiful spot with really good amenities and a great view.

We arrived in Fitzroy Crossing with 18lts of fuel left at 2.15pm. I left Glenn to fill up and I headed over to the visitors centre to find out about the Geikie Gorge boat cruise. We decided the 9.30am was going to be the best for us and as you couldn't prebook it was going to be an early start again, no sleeping in while you are on the go! We have just clicked over 10,000km!!!

The free camp we were planning on staying at was 48km north of Fitzroy Crossing plus 11km of gravel. It was called RAAF Boab Rest Area and we believe it was used by the air force during the war to service an airstrip. The gravel road in was terrible. When we eventually pulled up and went into the back of the van there was stuff everywhere. Luckily only one glass broken! Glenn notices that we had lost a baring cover off the van so he and I drove back to see if we could find it, on luck. The area was a haven for boab trees and there was a large pool of water surrounded by a nice rock formation. I managed to get a good sunset photo of a boab tree too.

The following morning Chris, Glenn and I headed back to Fitzroy Crossing and out to Geikie Gorge for the 1 hour boat trip. It was a nice clear morning and the water was smooth. The rock formations were great and the very obvious high water mark was a highlight. We saw a number of fresh water crocodiles the smaller relative to the much bigger salty. After the cruise we went to the new IGA to do pick up a small supply of shopping. The new shop is alongside a concrete slab, all that remains of the original shop that was destroyed in the 2011 floods. When we were at the waiting area to board the cruise the shade hut had different dates and water levels. The 2011 flood was 2metres higher than the hut itself. It's just so hard to believe! We returned to our camp to have a quick lunch and back up to hit the road again.

At afternoon tea time we pulled into a rest area to have a quick drink and there was another huge boab this time hollow, similar to the one we are hoping to see in Derby, the Prison Boab.

Signing off for now, Virginia and Glenn xx