Day 23 Halls Creek

Considering we had no real idea where we pulled off of the road last night, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised when I woke to find us surrounded by a herd of about 30 cattle. The big Brahman Grey type. The rest of the family woke in a panic when I opened the van door to get a photo and the entire herd jumped up and stampeded away into the sunrise. So much for sneaking up on them!
I calculated that we didn’t have too far to go this morning so I was happy for everyone to pile back under the covers for another hour of well deserved sleep, after the long day yesterday. We finally hit the road at about 7am and arrived at the end of the Tanami, and into Halls Creek, by about 8:30. We’re all glad to have tackled the track but we’re all even happier knowing we don’t need to return the way we came. Once is more than sufficient and it will take a while for my joints to recover from the constant jarring and shaking. It’s been a tough couple of days and the boys haven’t complained or made our lives difficult in any way so to reward them, we headed for The Kimberley Hotel for breakfast. They got stuck into pancakes with berries and ice-cream while Jacqui and I rejoiced in bacon and eggs that someone else had cooked. It was money well spent after a Spartan 2-and-a-bit days.
Once breakfast was over, we headed to the Halls Creek information centre where I met Mark; the local knowledge-bank. He was a great help and spent a load of time sharing his knowledge of the town, the surrounding attractions and even his knowledge of the locals. Sadly, it turns out that a massive fire raged through the Kimberley’s on the same weekend we left Sydney and Purnululu National Park, or The Bungle Bungles, is closed. The fire completely destroyed all the park facilities including signage and water pipes and was so severe, the locals doubt it will be able to opened for next years tourist season. Mark obviously saw our disappointment and came up with a list of local attractions he assures us will make the trip worthwhile.
After settling in to the local caravan park, restocking our supplies and sharing the joy of home schooling with the boys, we headed back to The Kimberley Hotel before calling it a day.
Cheers,
Jorg