Canning Stock Route Day 19 - Billiluna to Halls Creek

Day 19 - Monday 21st July
Start - Billiluna
Stop - Halls Creek

Everyone woke early and packed up the quickest I've ever seen. Finally, everyone has it together now that its the final day. So with an 8.25am start the 4 vehicles, 8 adults and 5 kids moved off on gravel roads where we managed to travel at 60km/hr (we had all inflated tyres a little after leaving dune country yesterday).

I had been told by Eric Gard to make sure we stopped at Stretch Lagoon, that we'd find hot showers and new tourist facilities. We found the lagoon and it was magnificent if you didn't look too closely at the sawn off cattle trotters and pieces of offal lying around. It was still very much an aboriginal camp and didn't have the impression that any work had been done to make it into a welcoming facility for travellers of the stock route. We wandered around on what we knew was private property feeling a little uncomfortable. Later in Billiluna we were told that yes indeed Stretch Lagoon was in the planning stages to become an eco-tourist resort but it wasn't happening this season, although I was presented with a colour brochure all about it.

In Billiluna we spent time meeting Anne and Tom in the store, Bill in the office who was interested in setting up advertising on ExplorOz for the community but was in his last month in the job.

So, after purchasing about $50 worth of chips, drinks and iceblocks our convoy departed Billiluna and headed into Wolfe Creek Crater and reached Halls Creek at 4.30pm for our final night together before everyone went their separate ways.

With showers and resting the priority no one was up to cooking so the boys were sent into town to find some takeaway. They returned with enormous burgers which went down well with the beer.

It was the strangest night - sleeping under lights in a caravan park on grass hearing arguments being shouted around the town after 19 days of bush camping in the quiet of the desert under the light of the moon and stars.

The ExplorOz Team continued to Broome and spent another 20 days travelling through to Exmouth and then into the Kennedy Range before returning to Perth in mid August.