Day 37: Fitzroy River Crossing to Birdwood Downs (via Geike Gorge)

 Last night at Fitzroy River Lodge was largely peaceful and trouble free. We did hear a police siren up at the main bar/restaurant area at around midnight but were well away from there.

This morning we decided to have a look at Geike Gorge which is close to Fitzroy Crossing and is where the Fitzroy River carved its path through limestone to form the gorge. It was seriously flooded in 2023, which led to the curtailment of river cruises that used to operate from there. Apparently the river is no longer navigable.

The white area of the gorge wall shows the flood level, as flood waters eroded the dark weathered stone above it

Only a short self guided walk remains from the car park. It is unclear where any boat trips may have started from as all of the infrastructure was destroyed in the 2023 flood. Nevertheless the sheer size of this river is impressive.

The width of this river is astounding

As we progressed a long the river bank there were a few explanatory signs highlighting the flora of this area. We did find another interesting plant.

Green Bird Flower

The seed pods are claimed to have been used as babies rattles

One surprising thing was to find a passionfruit vine, clearly identified as an invader from South America, and has adapted to this area. The passionfruit were tiny, yellow, but tasted like passionfruit.

There is still a lot of water in the gorge area of the river, but it quickly widens out downstream to wide floodplains, with a minor flow passing through.

The track took us back through some weathered limestone cliffs on our side of the river heading towards the car park.

It was time to move on as we still have almost 300 km to get to our destination at Birdwood Downs Station near Derby.

Birdwood Downs is on the Gibb River Road about 17 km out of Derby. We eventually got there at 1.30 pm.

Entrance to Birdwood Downs

Once registered with the office we were sent off to find a site of our choosing. You have to be fully self contained to stay here, but they do have showers and toilets.

We finally found a spot that we were happy with and set up camp. They also have laundry facilities so it was a good opportunity to get some laundry done.

As the evening closes in we get to see some of the permanent residents, guinea fowl, chooks, peacocks, including an albino.

We can hear the cows in the distance, but it is a peaceful spot. There have been a number of arrivals during the afternoon, but they have so much space there is plenty of room.

The "Office" is pretty professional with a good booking system, a variety of merchandise. a license to sell alcohol, and a fridge full of beef from their property available for sale. One way to promote it is a hamburger night held a few times a week. We have signed up for tomorrow night, at $18 a burger it sounds like a worthwhile experience to try their product and meet some fellow travellers.

Tomorrow we will look around Derby and the surrounding area.