Dalingunaya Backpackers Fitzroy Crossing

We set off from Kununurra in high spirits with great expectations of a 'real' outback experience ahead. The feeling of being on your own in the middle of nowhere is initially incredible. We were literally in the middle of nowhere. To our south as we travelled was the Great Sandy Desert which stretches pretty much to the South coast with little or no settlement anywhere along the way. The repetitive landscape of endless ochre dust, Spinifex, gums and boabs is about as ...

Another day, another couple of hundred kilometres. Lisa and Rhiannon were sharing the driving; two hours on, two hours off. The change of shift would usually signal a move for me either into or out of the middle position. Significantly harder and higher than the other two, this seat propelled you closer to the ceiling of the van, which for some inexplicable reason is made from sandpaper. Since Lisa and Rhiannon spent almost equal ...

Sometimes, the best pit stops on a trip are unplanned. That was certainly the case for The Amazon and I when we pulled up in the ****-end-of-nowhere town of Fitzroy Crossing to be treated like bonafide celebrities.
The Crossing Inn in Fitzroy is the oldest pub in the Kimberley. Booze is essentially banned throughout the region due to problem drinking among the aboriginal communities, with The Crossing being the welcome exception to ...

Our next stop down the Great Northern Highway was Fitzroy Crossing. The town sits on the Fitzroy, one of the Kimberly rivers significant for pastoralists which flow mightily during the wet but are reduced to intermittent creeks and waterholes in the dry. Government surveyor Alexander Forrest effectively opened the area to pastoralists after exploring it in 1879. It was Forrest's ...

... We actually found that the days seemed to be quite long and we were going to bed earlier.  Everyone on the campsite seemed to get up pretty early and that was the best time for exercising – we played golf at 6.30 am and by 8.30 it was really getting hot!

As we started the trip we saw more 'wild' wildlife than we have in the past – lots of kangaroos and wallabies bopping around luckily not on the road.  There are a lot of wandering cows ...

... stations and a quite poor information centre. It is, however small an important staging post between Broome and Darwin, being one of the only places to cross the Fizroy River, Tth pld crossing was subject to flooding so the township has been moved about a kilometre down stream and a high level bridge has been built. very little is left of the old settlemeny apart from the old Post Office and the pub. There used to be a supermarket which was burned down earlier in the month to ...

... in the water, which added a new dimension to them. We also saw a few lazy crocs again!
After the boat ride, we ambled down the river on a two hour hike, which was gorgeous because we saw a lot of the wildflowers that are in bloom now, and the walk winded through tall, shady trees and over sandy banks.
Other than Geikie Gorge, there's not much else to do in Fitzroy so we didn't stay long.

... we arrived. The town area is pretty drab and depressing with not much happening and the only movement being that of the Indigenous population just walking around. Having said that, Fitzroy Crossing is home to a number of aboriginal communities and is a great spot to base yourself in order to visit the famous surrounding gorges.

We awoke very early the next morning and drove around 20km out of town to the Geikie Gorge for an 8am river tour ...

... through Tunnel Creek and, fortunately, did not encounter the 2 fresh water crocodiles that live there. We did see some crocodiles at the other end of the tunnel, however.

Slept for the first time just under the stars in my swag. The stars looked amazing and a Swiss girl pointed out the Southern Cross and Scorpio.

... br>This was my first encounter with crocs in the wild and I was terrified! We didn't see any in Tunnel Creek but apparently they were there lurking in the dark. If I'd known there's no way I'd have been in there!

We did a boat trip to Geike Gorge too which was also great. More crocs!