Eighty Mile Beach, Western Australia

Being from Melbourne, from the East Coast of Australia I'd always heard about the 80 mile beach in WA.  Of course, a lot of people from the East coast have also heard of this beach with Caravan Park.  We didn't travel up this way to miss this I said to Daniel may have wanted to stay another night at Cape Kenaurdren.  Okay, deciding that to keep the peace was probably the right thing to do we made our way to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park.........to say that we were not disappointed in the least.  We met some people who'd been staying here
for 3 weeks and some for 2 months at a time from the East Coast! 

Still got to try fishing

Our heads just stretched an easy 180 degrees from North to South with all to see but beach so wide, so blue, so profound holding a whole cart of seacreatures beneath.  Weather ideal for the vacationer catching the solemn gold bars of suns last blasts.  More shell fishing on the shore
delighted the eyes.  

Dinner that night was the catch from Cape Kenaurdren, that huge Cod.  Daniel had filleted him finely serving up 2 huge serves with salad that I had provided. For such a fish we could not believe that there were no bones, simply delish.

Cape Keraudren, Western Australia

Moving on we drove to Cape Keraudren, weather still inclement.  Arriving at the Rangers door we paid to stay 2 nights.  There were 3 camp areas and we decided on the one where the boat ramp was.  Parked overlooking the inlet Daniel was excited as we were going to have our first outdoor camp fire since setting out from Melbourne. There was no power so we had to rely on our own source.  One could stay here for up to a maximum of 3 months.  We were told that shortly there would be about 70 vans descend making camp here at this site alone. In the meantime, this place was extraordinary.

Striking blue sea even under clouds!

Taking in most of the 4 wheel drive tracks took us to some fabulous spots, viewing kangaroos, bulls grazing, mangroves and lagoons with warning about croc sightings, but there weren't any really!  Back on base it was the perfect opportunity to inspect the coral reef as the tide had gone out some one and half kilometres exposing this huge 7 metre rock in the middle of the beach!  With marine shoes on we headed out to the rock.  On the way, the tide out had exposed marvellous reefs holding myriads of marine life from tiny roaming sea urchins, octopus, mud crabs, fish, beautiful clusters of corals exposed.  Arriving at the rock we ventured the whole way around it.  Daniel excited as it was a brim with oysters! Not prepared we'd be back tomorrow on the tide out to collect them for dinner.  Our venture around the rock exposed marine pools again harbouring an exotic array of marine life.

Making our way out to the rock after tide out along the reef

That night, as promised, Daniel had a fire by an almost full moon going.  The heat was a welcome source of comfort in front of which we sat for about 3 hours before calling it a night. Deciding to stay another night we took the opportunity to head to the other side of the Cape for investigation.  We found another camp site, remarkable too.

We having Oysters for dinner tonight!

Waking the following morning the tide was in, the lagoon now full, the rock now totally submerged being lapped by the water.  A couple of hours later as the tide went out the rock now exposed we crossed the reef to the rock for the night's dinner.  Daniel with tools in hand gathered the oysters, testing some as he went!  I preferred to venture around the rock sitting on the reef to visit the marine pools to view what other forms of life lay within.  The height of the rock was about 7 metres once the tide exposed it and it was gone once the tide came in.  This was an unbelievable natural phenomenon to have witnessed.

Oh yes! A beer by the fire....

Another fire for the evening, a sunset, tide flowing back filling the lagoon, this time a full moon against a deep saphire sky, Oysters Kilpatrick and a bottle of Red, all in a day's work! Time to get some rest! 

Our last day Daniel had to drop a line to see his luck.  In his first ten minutes he pulls out this huge fish, some sort of Cod, dark grey in colour with black dots pulling it in launching into the bucket which wasn't big enough to hold him.  I said I had to go back for the camera to get this picture while he returned fishing.  As I came down the boat ramp I saw the fish trying to exit the bucket so I picked up my footpace to put him back in but lost my footing and fell over the side of the on a sand bank and red rock with the camera up in the air, binoculars around my neck laying horizontally on my stomach!  Quickly collected myself off the ground laughing my head off as I grappled putting the fish back into the bucket.

......and then some music by the fire!

 We headed to the other side of the Cape for a final look.  Another camp site with another beach. This one you could swim at becuase there was just so much sand.  It was afternoon, the tide out. Seriously the water had left the beach by about 3 kilometres! More exploring, walking the velvety sands, through hundreds of sandcrabs clambering out of sight into holes before us.  Rock pools holding all sorts of fish that didn't get out with the tide, exposing an array of magical shells adorned on the bed for me to collect.  That night one more fire with one more full moon, an early night for an early stat tomorrow.

Daniel's prize Cod catch!

Now this is a fish!

Small marine octopus

The Rock, the sea on the other side after tide out

Tide out exposes rock pools

Coral Clam closing on Daniel waking him

Back to the beach from the rock as tide comes in

Collecting free water for a donation to the Royal Flying
Doctor Service at Pardoo Roadhouse

Now...time to open the oysters

Sunset by the camp fire

Heyleigh wants some warmth too!

More rock pools

Sandy Cape Beach, the other side of the Cape with tide out

More shell hunting

Dusk, full moon, caravan in the middle of nowhere...that's home!



Port Hedland, Western Australia.

The weather decided for us that it was better to travel further north than it was for sightseeing.  With van in tow we set off from Karijini and Tom Price for Port Hedland.  As we left this region we noticed the landscape change,a great expanse of ranges to the left covered the horizon at which one point we drove through the middle of a gorge separated by the highway.

Wharf at the Port

Arriving at Port Hedland we booked ourselves in for one night at the Caravan Park on the beach front.  With van down we headed back into town for some stock.  Back at the van it was time to clean up.  Floor had to be washed and some order was required on the inside and out.  Duty done with Daniel decideing to stay another night.      




Another Export Container docking into port

    
Next day we headed off for some sight seeing.  About 14,000 people live in Port Hedland with about 9,000 in South Hedland which is really about 5 ks back and more residential.  In Port Hedland itself the obvious work was the movement of iron ore being transported from various mines in the Pilbarra region to the shipping wharves for transport overseas.  Rio Tinto also had a mineral salt deposit here.  

Anywhere you went it was just a red colour.  The pavements were red, the houses were red, roofs red, roads red, even public areas were all made from iron ore and consequently red. A room to rent in a house could cost anywhere from $400 a week to $550 depending on size and if it had any windows! The duplex on the corner with no particular view but a short distance from the beach was for sale for a paltry price of $2,000,000.  Sites at the caravan park for workers would range from bungalows at $500 per week.  One night's accommodation here in the van cost $50,which was the most we'd paid to date anywhere so far.  Port Hedland was worth seeing but there are nicer places around.





And what might I be bid for this magnificent parcel?.......ah   $2,000.0000!

Time to refuel before heading off

Karijini National Park, Western Australia

Percolated coffee at Karijini Eco Retreat...nice!

Today the weather was a tad overcast, but that was good for walking through the gorges.  We set out after breakfast into town to post some postcards before hitting the highway to Karijini National Park.  The drive was about 60 ks from base.  The scenery was magnificent.  Everywhere you looked the hills, mountains, ranges were amazing. I swear that the ranges looked like huge chunks of chocolate blocks broken away, laying layer upon layer or huge shards sitting aimlessly on each other speckled with splinters of peppermint through them...or they reminded me of chocolate cakes, muffins taken out of the oven and the big crack opens up on top.  I couldn't help but think of the song 'MacArthur's Park', sung by Richard Harris.  The greenery in the landscape reminded me of the green icing!  I think the diet we're on is affecting our mental status! We're going without sweets until we get into Melbourne!

Nice table!

We visited the Eco Retreat, stopping for a real percolated long black coffee that we made ourselves in the plungers provided.  We needed it for the long drives to stay awake.  Further on
we came across Weona Gorge, Hancock Gorge, Oxley lookout.  There were a couple of platforms here where the junction of the gorges met. The height dizzying, the layers of rock formation truly spectacular.  A bite of lunch before we headed to Mt Bruce (the highest peak in WA) to view the open cut Iron Ore mine......from a distance though.  Here the mine has 2 diesels engine trains at 9000 horsepower pulling a 2 kilometre length of train, nine times a day with 200,000tonnes a day.

Now my turn!

On our return we visited Mt Nameless (2nd highest peak in WA) this time it was 4WD track to the tip of the mountain which overlooked another open cut mine to one side and Tom Price town to the other.  The drive was awesome, however it must be said that there was one point in the car that Daniel was criticising me so much that I had to hand the car over to him to take us to the top!  Even after all that in a day we still went into town and played an hour of tennis under lights before heading back for barbecued whole fish in Thai green sauce!  A big thankyou to Carol and Michael for suggesting we make this visit. One you just can't miss!






  






Waeno Gorge

Someone else took this shot for us!

Nice ledge

This is how Australia looks from the other side of the world!

Walkway through the gorge to the junction

No Daniel, I'm not going to take my shoes off!

It's so high I can't even look down!

This is an authentic Aboriginal insect

'Someone left my cake out in the rain...all the sweet green icing flowing down!

Returning from shift at Rio Tinto!

Daniel is also trying his best to get a job at Rio!

No Marysia...you can't drive my car now!

At the top of Mt Nameless

Now if that wasn't enough....tennis under lights!



Tom Price, Western Australia.

Approaching inland ranges

We were now headed inland into Tom Price on our way through to Karijini National Park, the second in WA.  Weather was warm, clear on leaving Ningaloo and Exmouth.  We were to travel about 360k's today before stopping at a free night stop.  Here we met another couple from Wauchope, NSW. Lyn and Lance were headed to Exmouth having left Tom Price that day.  Since the decision was made that we would stay, they did too.  We chatted for about an hour about our trips so far, families and past trips they'd done.  It was a lovely evening.  For some reason we found it difficult to get to sleep that night, so we got up to play Scrabble until we decided that our brains were now totally dead since we were coming up with words like 'play','rest','sum'! 



Oh don't mind us ...we're just crossing!



Next morning after breakfast we said our goodbyes,exchanged email addresses before continuing onto Tom Price Tourist Park.  The scenery inland was beginning to change, the landscape colours too.  Even though there had been little rain throughout the Pilbara region it was quite beautiful, lush with lots of small green shrubs,that looked like cotton balls dotted all over the place. Medium sized gums and hilltops that were stretching further inland. Where the sun shone the ground looked like this rich glazed chocolate with hazelnuts (rocks) through it, or like dark caramel toffee, or even like chocolate crackles!

Just don't push me over the ledge!

We set up, realised we had coverage so caught up with the emails and finally was able to get a call to Melissa back home.  It was great to hear from her and know that their engagement plans were under control and things were being prepared relatively well.  After a quick lunch Daniel and I got into the car to head out to Hamersley Gorge, the furthest Gorge at Karijini.  It was around 2.30pm now, the weather a little cooler.  We had our walking gear on as we made our way down into the Gorge.  A beautiful sight of blasted red coloured escarpments with green trees dotted along the ridges.  The water was freezing yet flowing over huge boulders from a spa above through the canyon.  A few photos a walk back to the top before heading back.

Hamersley Gorge



I hate flies!

The spa

Wild flowers, by Daniel.....(inspired by Leigh)

The colours of Australia