Day 58

Old Crossing

Day 58 Fitzroy Crossing

Old crossing

Well we certainly filled in our day today, it was full of action and adventure. We started the day after breakfast by making a run out to Geikie Gorge. We went out via the old road river crossing which was down a dirt track beside the resort here. The original town was here and was

Flood Heights

moved west when they built

Ranger under flood levels

the new bridge. The crossing is quite dramatic with a very steep ramp down to the river then a steep ramp out. We did this crossing and then drove out to the National Park. The setup there is great. They have this tall rotunda where you all gather to organise the boat trips. They take 60 people in a boat and if they get more than that they join a second boat and if that fills they can join a third, in all 180 people. For us there was only 15 so not so squeezy. The rotunda is the only solid building there. The toilets and Ranger accommodation is taken away at the end of the season for a very good reason, it floods there every

Giekie Gorge

Giekie Gorge

year and they have markers for each flood as to how high it got and they have one at the top that says it was 2m under water one year!

The volunteer ranger organises the tour group and leads them down to the boat, a short walk and then down to the jetty where we boarded our boat. A Ranger then takes us on a 1 hour tour of the river through the gorge. Giekie Gorge is named by the surveyor who went through the area who was a big geology fan and named it after some famous geologist who has never been there and the locals want to change it to its original name. The Ranger said the weather was getting hotter and the crocodiles were starting to nest

Fairy Martin nests

Trip return

My special ride

Croc on a rock

so there were not so many to see but we did manage to see a couple of very large ones resting in the water and on a rock. The water was very clear and it was easy to see the large numbers of fish around, including the odd Barramundi in the snags. The gorge is not as impressive in height as I was expecting. It is a fossilised reef from the Devonian Period and has all the dramatic shape of a weathered reef with birds - Fairy Martins – who migrate here each year to nest under the overhangs. The sandy sections could be seen to be dug over as crocodiles started to establish nests ready for eggs.

We returned to the jetty and the volunteer ranger had arranged a special ride for me back to the car in his all wheel drive vehicle which was lovely. On the way back we spoke about the crocs and he said that on the way back if we went down the 2^nd or 3^rd turnoff to the left, there was a billabong that was full of crocodiles so that is where we headed off to. We took Trude down the first turn off (2^nd)

Trude at the Billabong

Me at Pioneer Pub

and there was no water, then down the next and there was the billabong, but it was a way off and difficult for me to cross so we just looked from a distance. We could not see any and I could not convince Maureen to walk over, it was about 41 in the shade at this time. We hit the road and wanted to go to the old pub, The Pioneer. It had a history of drunks and bad behaviour but and sorted that out, so we drove there. We were very surprised as when we hit the road we had come down, it was all burnt out. There had been

Local fire sign

Trude coming back out of the fire

a fire there whilst we had been away! We got to the pub but it was too early to get a drink so we got a picture of me at the bar and went back to the old crossing. We wanted to go back to the old crossing to stage a picture of Trude going down the crossing. I dropped Maureen off at the Northern end and went down and up the other side. The problem was that there was a fire going, it did not look too bad from the other side but

Maureen at old river crossing

Trude to the rescue

when Trude went up the Southern exit we were surrounded by flames, we were in the middle of the fire! Someone had lit the bush up and we had driven into it. A quick turn around and back Trude and I went! Over the crossing with Maureen taking pictures, going slow down!

Back on the other side we watched the fire race through with fire trucks and police vehicles racing past saying they were closing the road. Another pair of travellers with 1 small truck ( they tow a 5 ^th wheeler but were out sight seeing) had parked off to the side and decided to leave. He got going alright but decided to slow up as he got near the road and down he went into the sand. I said to Maureen we would wait for him to get out before we took off and he did a good job but with a 2 wheel drive and no weight on the back he was going nowhere fast except down. Trude swung into action. We got out one of Gavin’s tie down straps from his last job and connected up to his truck and we had him out lickety split. Trude to the rescue! His wife was very relieved as she had visions of being stuck all night. Having played super hero, we waved them fondly goodbye and hit the road.

Trude on new crossing

Fire at the campsite

Croc on the beach

We went back through town and over the new crossing where we got pictures of us crossing and got back to the park in time to see flames all around the park. There had been fires lit to try and stop the other fire from spreading and the nearby

Roos escaping fire

historical homestead was either under threat or had been burnt down depending on who you spoke to. We wandered up to the pool and watched the flames spread along the edge of the park. The little wallabies were all in flight and about 2 dozen went through doing 50kmh – flat out, across the grassed areas and towards Fitzroy River. We stayed in the pool where we could watch the flames under to buildings ( they are all on stilts for when the river floods ) and stayed there until the sun went down. After that we wandered back to Girt and had tea. The day was not over yet, not by a long shot. We went up to the bar and

Fire around camp

Sunset under the buildings from the pool

Maureen in pool

Maureen at Bingo

joined in the Bingo night. There were a load of teachers there as they had been evacuated from the fire and were out having fun. Great night but we did not win anything. Tomorrow we hit the road again.

Giekie Gorge

Giekie Gorge

Giekie Gorge

Giekie Gorge

River Monitor on the prowl for eggs

Croc in the water

Giekie Gorge

Face on cliff

Croc on a rock

Fresh water Pandanas