Australia day 40 – Wyndham to Spring Creek camping ground , WA

Now, what was it I was saying about frogs?  This morning we find a little green one sitting on the engine manifold when we open up to check the oil and water (which we now do every day), and he doesn’t want to budge!  Wyndham is about 55km north of the Savannah Way along the Great Northern Highway and as we retrace our route to contiinue our journey west towards Halls Creek.  We stop to make a detour to the Grotto 2km down a dirt track. Here is a deep pool set in a gorge and accessed by 142 steps leading down from a sandstone pavement.  In the wet a large waterfall cascades into it, but today the river bed is dry and only a few drips of water are tickling into the pool.  It’s a lovely cool spot and it is supposed to be safe to swim here, but we are not about to risk it, particularly as the debris on the surface doesn’t make it seem that inviting. 


 

Further on we turn off down the Gibb River Road – the iconic 4wd outback challenge which links Wyndham with Derby on the west coast.  We drive about a kilometre before turning back, just so we can say we’ve been on the Gibb River Road.  Perhaps some day we’ll come back in a 4wd with all the gear and do this route!   There is, of course, the option to take an adventure tour if you have a few $1000 dollars to spare, or if that doesn’t appeal there is, incredibly, an hop-on hop-off bus on this remotest of tracks, which runs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays!  Which rather seems to destroy the romance.

 

There are two roadhouses on the next 150km stretch, at Doon Doon and Turkey Creek, and we stop at both to top up with petrol and for Andy can collect his free coffee.  There is a ‘Revive and Survive’ scheme throughout Australia to encourage drivers to stop and rest at regular intervals and the enticement is a cup of free coffee.  So why not, particularly as Andy is a caffeine junky?   The Turkey Creek Road House aka Warmun is on the edge of an Aboriginal settlement which can’t be visted without permission.  This is quite a common arrangement and is intended to protect the privacy of the indigenous communities.

 

We invested in a book of free camp grounds before we left Wyndham and tonight we are going to give one a try.  We have ear-marked a site just south of Turkey Creek but as luck would have it there is a major highway upgrade programme underway which involves constructing new bridges across many of the creeks that cross the highway and the site has been a casualty of this programme.  As has the next one and we are beginning to wonder if we are going to find anything.  But there are a surprising number of stopping places along this road providing basic facilities such as picnic tables, bqs and pit toilets and we eventually stop at Spring Creek.  At first site it appears to be a rather unattractive lay-by, but at the far end it turns down into a small shady area by the creek- perfect!  A few other people think so too;  there are four other campers here making this little site quite full! 

 

 

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