Sad to leave Larrawa Station so soon but we both wanted to get through Fitzroy Crossing and on to Broome as soon as possible. As with Halls Creek we didn’t want to stop to refuel but on approaching the town we decided that things looked calm enough to pull in and top up the tank. It’s always wise to keep you r tank topped up in this part of the country because fuel stops are few and far between and you can’t always be guaranteed that they will have fuel anyway.
We pulled into a ‘pre-pay’ fuel depot, which are un-manned, serve yourself machines. You swipe your card and enter a pre-paid amount that is reserved and fill your tanks. The difference between how much you reserve and how much you actually fill up with is refunded after seven days. I can’t begin to say how much I hate these machines!!! And from a technology perspective… there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON that they need to hold your balance for seven days!!! It is yet another fuel company scam that benefits them not you. Having said that… they’re usually a bit cheaper than service stations so at least you get a small discount (after you get your balance back seven days later).
We got through Fitzroy Crossing without incident and so were relieved that we were not one of the unlucky travellers to be pelted with rocks or have somebody attempt to hijack your car while you’re filling it… We get the feeling that these incidents are not as frequent as some make it out to be but still, they happen and thankfully not to us.
The most notable thing about the drive to Willare Bridge Roadhouse, our next destination, was the Giant Boab Tree rest stop. Out of nowhere, beside the road, a giant boab tree appears of to one side. It is huge!
Once you reach Larke Argyle, heading west, the boab trees become much more prevalent along the highway. Most have the classic fat bottle shape, some have multiple trunks and some, like this one, are ancient with multiple fat, gnarled trunks and a broad umbrella canopy. At this time of year they are mostly devoid of leaves and many have large nuts suspended at the tips of the limbs.
The boab trees are the very definition of grandeur no matter what size. They are the African elephant of the plant kindgom and are a stately tree that also seem a bit out of place in the in a such a dry landscape (notwithstanding that the wet season was on it’s way). They are a tree that make you smile when you see them because they’re just so different and each one seems to have a personality all its own.
It was a 375km tow from Larrawa Station and approaching Willare Bridge Roadhouse was a bit of a relief. We felt as though we were entering a new phase of the trip. Behind us was the top-end and we were entering the west coast leg of our odyssey.
Willare Bridge Roadhouse was a great stop with a circle style van park at the back where the vans back onto the edge of the cirlce like bicycle spokes with plenty of space to stay hitched. The inner area was a large ‘green grass’ area backing on one side onto the roadhouse and pool. There was a nice beeze and it was a wonderful sensation to set the chairs up behind the van and sit on the well maintained grass for a change instead of red dirt or gravel.
It was a simple, easy and pleasant way to spend the afternoon. Our neighbouring van invited us to join them for afternoon drinks, which we did and thoroughly enjoyed before adjourning for another roadhouse dinner. In a major turnaround, Rob had a salt’n’pepper squid salad and Jo went for a ‘herbed’ chicken schnitty (which wasn’t overly herbed). The squid salad was superb though with wonderfully fresh salad.
Willare Bridge Roadhouse was another one of those roadhouses where you could happily spend more than one night if you were just looking to chill out and slow down. But… onwards to Broome!