Thursday 7th June 2012 - Split Rock - Archer River Roadhouse

We got up early and had a quick breakie before taking off to explore the Aboriginal Art at Split Rock. The sunrise over the rocky hills was beautiful.

Split Rock

There were three sites with Aboriginal paintings within an easy walking distance from the car park.

The sites were Split Rock, Flying Fox and the Tall Spirits. Each site had different paintings which were quite easily identifiable. It was a lovely start to the morning.

The Echidna at the Split Rock Art Site

Pictures of women at the Flying Fox Art Site

A tall spirit at the Tall Spirit Art Site

We then took off northwards. We stopped at Hann River Roadhouse and had a chat to 2 Victorian families heading back southwards. They told us a few of the fuel prices so we decided to top up the tanks at Hann River at only $1.75/l! There was a friendly emu there who enjoyed our apple cores almost before we were ready to give them to him!

We continued on and made our way to Coen which is commonly referred to as the 'Capital of the Cape.' We bought some food there and topped up the fuel tanks again. 

There is a hotel in town called, 'The Exchange,' which for a long time now has been known as the 'Sexchange Hotel.' It is so iconic that they changed their sign out the front and everyone calls it, 'The Sexchange.'

We drove just out of town to a place called, 'The Bend,' where we stopped under some shady trees by the river for lunch. Whilst we were there Thomas and Charlotte spotted a small python in the river. 

After lunch we drove on and camped at Archer River Roadhouse. They had this big open grassed area where we camped for the night. We got there before the rush. There was around 30 cars camped for the night! Most were heading south. A few cars had mechanical issues which were serious however there was a mechanic also camping there who helped out. Thank god it wasn't us in trouble!

There was a river flowing down from the camp area and across the road. We went for a dip which was refreshing after a long day in the car. The water was only knee deep and we were assured that no crocs were present. I as usual was not totally convinced but as we were not the only ones in the water I felt sort of safe!

The Archer River

The kids played with some other children before dinner and then we had a relaxing night planning the next step in our adventure. I also enjoyed a hot shower whilst it was available!