Mary Pool is the most well known and popular, free camp site in the Kimberley, WA. There are a lot of Mary River frontage camp sites and this river stops flowing during the dry season and then becomes Mary Pool. This year there was no pool, just a wide dry stony basin so we camped out in the open area away from the crowds and the pool bank and enjoyed views into the bush and of a lovely old ghost gum.

You find Mary Pool rest area, 180 E of Fitzroy Crossing or 108 km W of Halls Creek.  There is lots of room to park big rigs and a small city of caravaners, motor homers and fifth wheeling travelers congregate here for an allowed 24 hour rest on the journey through the Kimberly between Kununurra and Broome.

These free camp sites are the most incredibly friendly places and an evening stroll with the dog is a friendly say hello to the neighbours journey and can end up in a progressive dinner and one evening by the Mary Pool resulted in a smorgasbord meal with everyone bringing their food and adding it to the shared camp fire side tables.   Five million stars, party, dinning at its best. Of course if you want privacy, maybe Mary Pool is not for you.

The area abounds with bird life, Reg and I counted six pairs of the most beautiful bird we have ever seen, the rainbow bee eater, in the ghost gum in front of us and Corella abound at the water’s edge and there is a small bird that makes it's home close to the camps, in holes in the side of the Mary Pool banks.

Last year there was a crocodile stranded in the Mary Pool and Indigo caught a tick in her top knot hair and that’s why we had her ears and top knot trimmed off for the Kimberly crossing this year so I would see any ticks instantly if she picked one up. 

Mary Pool is on my list of must stop over at, great free camp sites and even I with my fussiness, will use the new, excellent public toilets provided.  There are many of these new self composting and odorless toilets being placed at free camp sites, they are on an elevated platform, large rooms that allow wheel chair access and they are a far cry from the smelly, open drop boxes of the old style ‘out back dunny’ and they even flush.

You do need to take your own fresh drinking water into any of these free camp sites and swimming in Mary Pool or any natural waterway in the Kimberley, is not recommended, due to the possible presence of crocodiles.

Mary Pool is site no 637 in the Western Australia, section of Camps Australia Wide 5.

The photos are of Reg setting up our Eco-Tourer caravan, it takes less than a minute to complete.  We love our caravan.

 

  Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author

  Images of Australia in the Paintings and Writing of Artist Author

 Kathy Shell  Artist – Kathryn Shell  AuthorKathryn Shell is a published non-fiction and fiction author currently working on an Australian Novel.
Feel welcome to reproduce the words in the above blog post provided you copy it in its entirety including this section with all its active links.  The images may not be copied without permission of the artist, author. You can purchase prints from the art of Kathy Shell
You are most welcome to link to this page.Thank you.