We traveled approximately 200 Km; arriving at Victoria River Road House in the mid afternoon. We had liked the look of the Roadhouse location on our previous trip when we stayed at Timber Creek. The Road House is quite reasonable at $25/night for a powered site. Quite a large area for caravans with most people stopping for only a single night to break up the trip. The sites are quite uneven with limited shade. The amenity blocks are basic and poorly maintained. Only 1 Star for these ones! We booked in for a couple of nights so we could explore a bit of the Gregory National Park.
We got setup and found the shadiest spot we could to try and keep cool. Rans and I went to the Roadhouse for a beer but it wasn't the best quality either. Enjoyed a quiet night with lovely sunset & sunrise.
Saturday we got an early start so we could complete the Escarpment Walk before it got too hot. Was a really good walk with outstanding views from the top of the Escarpment. Well signed but lots of climbing and steps. Not recommended for anyone with knee problems! Had a great view of the Victoria River and our campground from the top. Could see almost 360 degrees from a couple of lookouts. Lots of Kestrels and Hawks in the area. Was a unique experience to be able to look down on them at times as they flew around the escarpment. We enjoyed a break and snack near the top before heading back down. Just as much work going down and quite jarring on the old knees. Stephen was suffering by the end of the walk but we all made it down without incident. This is a great walk and it was disappointing to see that very few people experienced it. We don't think anyone else did it the day we completed it.
We returned to the caravan park to have some lunch before heading out sightseeing again. We took a fairly rough 4WD track down to the Old Victoria River Crossing. Surprisingly little water in a huge river bed as a result of a dry Wet Season. Would be something to see when it is really flowing.
Our last stop was at the Victoria River access/boat ramp. Again we were impressed by the size and dryness of the river bed. Would love to see during the wet season! We spent the late afternoon relaxing and trying to keep as cool as possible. Weather is still very hot at 37-38 degrees.
Sunday we had a bit of a lazy morning so as to not leave Victoria River too early. We were heading for a free camp near the Northern Territory/Western Australia Border and didn't want to be there in the heat of the day. We stopped in Timber Creek around noon to top up our Diesel. We also took advantage of Telstra Mobile coverage to make some phone calls and Internet catch up. We stopped along the way for a quick lunch before arriving at Saddle Creek campground mid afternoon. This is a beautiful free camp with lovely views of escarpment. We were lucky we showed up when we did as is a popular spot and filled up quickly after we arrived. Would have been up to 20 other caravan/campers there. Unfortunately, the toilet block was disgusting. No stars for this one! Even the male campers were complaining about them. We met two lovely couples from NSW that we enjoyed happy hour with. Bob & Lynn from McMasters Beach and Brian & Carol from Gunnedah. They had both come from the Wingham area near Harrington originally. Had a great visit with them and hope we catch up with them again along the road.
The night was very hot and we had to get by with our 12 volt fan. Had a fairly early night as we planned an early start for Lake Argyle in the morning.
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