Day 24 Halls Creek

The sun has no respect for travellers and with no daylight saving in WA, I was woken by blazing sunshine 4:30am. It gave us plenty of time to get set up for the day of adventure we’d planned after getting back to the camper-van last night.
We’d come to terms with the closure of The Bungle Bungles and decided to test ourselves out by tackling the untamed turtles of the remote Sawtooth Gorge. I didn’t initially tell Jacqui that the waterhole at the gorge also
contained a couple of freshwater crocks. The locals are adamant these particular crocks are as tame as they get so I figured we’d deal with it if we saw them.
The track leading out to Sawtooth was more corrugated than the Tanami but had the added benefit of holes into which you could lose a Volkswagen and very sadly, the countryside was almost completely decimated by the recent fires. We could see the hills for miles into the distance totally blackened.
The track took us past Old Halls Creek and we stopped in to see what was left of the old town. All we saw was a bunch of old tombstones and a sign declaring the freehold for the local caravan park was up for sale. I’m not sure if the owner was an optimist because he originally bought it, or because he thought someone else would buy it. We saw everything in town without the need to turn off the engine and then got back onto the bizarrely named Duncan Hwy to continue our search for Sawtooth Gorge. A further 20km of teeth loosening Hwy and we found a genuine oasis. We crossed the first creek we’ve seen since leaving Sydney that actually contained water and only 100m further we came upon Palm Springs. Rather a grand name for a country billabong but never-the-less, it was a beautiful spot. Another 5km along and we found the turnoff we were looking for. We managed to get some genuine 4 wheel driving in where I managed to un-nerve Jacqui much to the amusement of the boys before arriving at the gorge. It’s a beautiful spot but sadly, with this being the driest part of the year just before the wet begins, there was only one water hole. It was reasonably large and Jacqui was certain there would be a crock in there. Needless to say, there was no swimming. We had a good day and it would be wonderful to see this part of the country during the rainy season.
Tomorrow, we’re off to Fitzroy Crossing hoping to explore a few more gorges and the famous Tunnel Creek.
Cheers,
Jorg