Through the East Kimberleys to Halls Creek
and onto Broome through the West Kimberleys
Sorry to leave Kununurra (August 11) being a destination worthy of more attention. One thing we did not have was a great deal of flexibility with changing our itinerary. Covid uncertainty inspired my decision to pre book all our accommodation, which turned out to be very wise move, as our WA G2G Border Pass being accepted required details of pre booked accommodation. Be that as it may, a circumstance was soon to arise causing some itinerary reshuffling.
Our next scheduled overnight stopover was Halls Creek, a shorter 350 Km scenic drive through the East Kimberley ranges. The area around Halls Creek is known for a couple of historical hallmarks, gold mining and the Wolfe Creek meteorite crater, the second largest in the world of which aerial shots were used in the filming of 'Wolf Creek'. Gold was found in the Halls Creek area, the first find in WA, in 1885. Between 1885-87 10,000 prospectors 'migrated' to the goldfields and Halls Creek township was established. Mining on a large scale was short lived due to the expense of transporting materials the long distances from the south and the subsequent gold discovery at Coolgardie. In 1954, the township was re established 15 Kms west on more forgiving terrain and to be closer to the airport.
It was here that some minor re scheduling was required, the only such hic-up we encountered. I had made a habit of filling up at most intermediate stops when stopping for rest etc. As stated, the leg to Halls Creek was the shortest of the trip and having a spare 25lts of fuel onboard decided not to worry with refuelling. Upon our arrival at the 'servo' at Halls Creek, we were informed that the town had run dry of ULP! The delivery from Wyndham was estimated for 4.00pm the next day. The next fuel stop from Halls Creek was Fitzroy Crossing, 290 Kms away. My 25lts would leave us short as the load on the car had us averaging 12.5 lts/100 Kms. No choice but to stay an extra night. This meant we would miss our first of 5 nights in Broome which we were not happy about. We were booked for 2 nights at Karratha, our next destination from Broome, so after a few phone calls cancelled the affected night at Broome and extended a night and cancelled a night at Karratha. All good!
The cancellation at Karratha gave me a $190 credit at any Discovery Park good for 2 yrs which had the extra night at Halls Creek costing $70 plus meals. The bonus with the meals was the excellent restaurant at the motel which you would not expect to find at such a location.
