Monday 11th July: Fitzroy Crossing - Halls' Creek.
So much driving!!!! I can snooze for an hour and on waking up the scenery is identical to what it was earlier. Many huge camper-trailers were on the road for the school holidays. Peter and I had a dream of joining the Grey nomads but now that I've seen the vast distances, I've gone right off the idea and will stay with the AAT Kings tour. It sure ain'T the Gold Coast out here.
Stopped at the Yip ill Indigenous School but of course it was no fun without the youngsters. Gracie did her best to describe the scene to us, but she was very shy. The school caters for 90 children from pre-school to Year 10.
We drove into Hall's Creek which has now shrunk because of the closure of the mines because of diminished demand of Chinese. Lunch was served at our hotel which was built on stilts to allow for the seasonal flooding of the Fitzroy River. The features we visited were the excellent Visitor's Centre and the IGA.  There was a splendid bronze commemorating a pioneering hero they called Russian Jack. He carried all his worldly goods in a wheelbarrow. When his friend fell ill, he tipped his meager possessions out of the barrow and wheeled his friend many miles seeking medical help.
The rest of the afternoon was scheduled for a swim and cocktails in the hotel pool but the temperature had dropped so much that we were more interested in a log fire and hot soup.