13^rd July: Fitzroy Crossing

It was raining all night – not heavily just drizzling consistently.It was 3.00pm before the skycleared which was great because we went for a boat ride on Geike Gorge. The Fitzroy River slices through the 2 kilometre thick, 350 million year old Devonian limestone reef for about 5 kilometres. I do actually remember this gorge but we could not work out where we camped except that it was right over the river. We could see why it was so dusty- the fine alluvial dust brought down in so many floods. They have markers on the gazebo about 20 metres above the river. They range from floor height to 2 metres over the top of the building – a tall octogonal with a high peaked roof. That is a lot of water!!

I was glad it had rained – no dust! But we clambered on board the “boat” - an open punt. Our guide was good and the one new piece of information that I didn't know was the presence of the sword fish in virually its remaining habitat. Nasty looking thing with a great boney sword with sharp protrusions along each side. Glen tells me that they use it for spearing food in muddy water by shaking their head from side to side! We also saw the pink colouring of the brine shrimp and its close relative the coral shrimp in the limestone as well as the nesting marlings. But the great limestone cliffs of the gorge are still standing solidily along the gorge – black at the top as the limestone is oxidised and white where the flood waters reach amd abrade away the oxidised layer. Sometimes the slip-off slope of the meander is quite wide and sandy and in order places the river is eating away under the cliff. It was great to revisit!

We also found the Old Fitzroy Crossing. I hadn't remembered it but Glen did. The “bridge” ran below the sand level and the bridge was single span concrete. You approached it down narrow alleys in the sand which I guess would have to be cleared everytime it floods. That's why they built bridges like this. All the debris could go over the top without damage.

Wecame home to find Larry and Gail there beside us. We are leaving early tomorrow as the road to Windjana Gorge is rough and wet (we will go there from Derby) and sthere is nothing else to do here. They'll catch up with us in Derby.

Glen had an encounter last night with two guys wandering through the park at midnight trying to steal stuff. This park has no fences and I heard one woman complain that someone had tried to steal the mirrors on the car. Very possible! We leave nothing unlocked except our tables and chairs. Apparently, there has been a problem in a number of parks especially with alcohol walking off!