Wed, 13th July, 2022 Bush camp in Oscar Range near Fitzroy Crossing to The Lodge Van Park, Old Halls Creek, WA

7am 11 degrees - put the heater on so we were comfortable for breakfast.

Back to the Great Northern Highway and continued eastward with a clear blue sky.

Into Fitzroy Crossing to top up the diesel ($2.589/L).

Across the Fitzroy River on the one lane bridge - must be a weir under the bridge as upstream is full of water and downstream is sandy.

Very windy across the flats. A few impressive hills with rocky escarpments as we near Ngumpan where the turn off to Galeru Gorge is on Mt Pierce Station but that isn’t mentioned any more as it is all about Mimbi Caves here. There is a tour by the ‘locals’ for $90 each through the caves.

Around Ngumpan Cliff.

Further along up a slow rise to a rest area up on the top of the ridge for a cuppa with a lovely view. Very windy up here.

Continued on. Lots of boulders appear near Lambo Station.

Pulled into a parking bay for lunch watching the travellers zoom east and west with the vans and camper trailers. Only a couple of road trains so far.

Into Halls Creek which we explored in 2018 when we were doing the desert runs. Topped up with diesel again at a 24hr card place ($259.9/L). Wonder if the price will come down again as the oil prices have dropped.

Onto the dirt Duncan Highway through the rugged hills and down to Old Halls Creek. Across Halls Creek.

Turned off at the old township with the caged remains of the telegraph station. Up to The Lodge with its grand entrance.

Met Ross who was an ‘interesting’ chap ($10/vehicle/night which is very reasonable). Ray came and met us and we parked beside them on the tiered levels of the van park. Dropped off the camper so we can go exploring without it.

Very basic as it has been left for a few years - it was closed in 2018 when we were here. There is bore water but no power as someone abused the use of the big generator by running his air conditioner all the time! There are toilets and cold showers but as we are self-contained we don’t worry about any of those things. Robert and Robyn are here too who have been travelling with Ray and Carol so it is nice to catch up with them as it has been many years since we met them in Mosquito Creek.

The Old Halls Creek Cemetery is at the rear of the van park so I went and checked it out as there is a new sign and information about the RFDS. We didn’t see this in 2018. So many young lives lost in those days.

This place certainly has potential if you are retired and wanted a project as nobody wants to stay in town with all the thefts etc. The chap who owns the place allows you to camp here and have access to his mining leases which is great but obviously they have been well worked over. The ‘lodge’ was mining accommodation and there is still a lot of machinery about.

There is a dam below us that needs a good clean out and a small pool to aerate the water above - there is even a diving board! There is another dam further over and the creek not far from that.

Joined the others for drinks and lots of chat. Ross had said to take a photo at sunset of the new RFDS sign - came out well.

Going to be cool tomorrow morning - 7 degrees!