Wednesday 30 July. Drove only
100 KM today to Barn Hill station. On the road we spoke to several
people who told us that we had to go there. 10KM of a very sandy road
to get there but the corrugations were not too bad. The caravan park
is not the best we have seen but it's charm is the location and the
people. Most come here for the fishing. We have an unpowered site
overlooking the ocean. That night they had a BBQ, bring everything
yourself and a music man who was very entertaining.
There is not a lot of fish
being caught apart from those who go a fair bit out with a boat. On
Sunday nights they have a three course meal and an aboriginal band
playing. By now we teamed up with a few people and had a good night.
To start off we booked for a week but have extended this another week.
Towards the end of the first week we had a few days of strong wind.
There is a lot of exposed red soil here and the dust goes through
everything.
Our view from the bus. Sunset at BarnHill Pat. Leigh. Rita. Albert. Willem. Susan and Brian. Last night
at Barn Hill
Susan has been involved with knitting group. Every afternoon a one
hour social and she started knitting small squares to make in to a
rug. Also Sunday market day and Susan started massaging feet. She had
a few customers and this paid for one week camping fees. She also
donated money from this to the Royal Flying Doctor.
Susan's newest gadget is a washing machine. A fully automatic one
would not fit in the bus, but now she can do the washing without
going to a laundromat. We also had our names put on the bus. The model
Hino we have is called royal saloon. Now it states underneath this.
Licensees Albert and Susan.
We had a few social get togethers with the neighbours even a "rijsttafel"
prepared by Willem.
From here we had a view over the ocean.
Beach at Barn Hill.
We even saw some whales from the comfort of our
chairs.
After two weeks at Barn Hill time to move on. It is very windy. 150 KM
west and we stop at 80 Mile Beach. The caravan park is enormous and
all the powered sites are taken. We don't need it but others are and
are placed in a queue. As soon as a spot is available it is filled
again. 80 Mile beach is in the middle of a 700 KM stretch where there
is nothing to see or do. The only nice scenery is the shoreline and
this is only accessible in a few places. We only stayed one night. The
sunset here is the best we have seen so far. There was also a talent
night. Anybody who can perform could come to the microphone.
There was someone at Barn Hill who makes stickers. The model Hino we
have is Rainbow Royal Saloon. Susan found it appropriate to add the
rest. We carry enough alcohol to justify the name.
13 August. Cape Keraudren.
Another 10 KM of unsealed road. The facilities are very basic but a
beautiful spot. Only $7.50 a night and plenty of space. I even tried
some fishing here , the first time in 20 or so years, but I just fed
them. Met a few people we met before along the road.
Cape Keraudren.
16 August. Only 80 KM
further down the road and a rest area. The Grey River. There is plenty
of water in the river and a very popular camping spot. Here we met
people we camped with in Banka Banka and Barn Hill. Susan did the
washing with her new washing machine. The water for it came out of the
river.
19 August Port Hedland.
Susan had not been able to shop for two weeks and filled two trolley's
at Woolworths. Also put 120 litres of diesel in at a very reasonable
$1.90 instead of $ 2.27.
We also saw a poor excuse for the "staircase to the moon" This only
happens when extreme low tide and full moon coincides when there is a
large amount of mudflats exposed. The reflection of the moon on the
mudflats gives the impression of a ladder goes all the way to the
moon. When we heard about it the moon was already shrinking but still
got an idea of what it would be like on a good day.
22 August. On the way to Newman. Here they have the largest open cut
iron ore mine in the world. It took two days to get there. The place
is a typical mining town. One small shopping centre and a lot of
demountable housing and 50 % of the cars are work vehicles.
The mine tour was interesting but because we arrived on a Saturday we
had to wait two days before we could do the tour. We spend this time
besides the water supply lake.
This dump truck is small compared to the ones they
use now. There were 60 Citroen 2CV in the car park of the Newman
information centre
There were 60 Citroen 2CV
cars in town. They came from all over the world and had just completed
the Cannington stock route. This is 3000KM of the roughest road and
they had no trouble even where big 4 wheel drives got stuck. It is
funny to see those cars wherever you go in a small mining town.
26 August.
Karijini National Park. The landscape is hilly but over the last few
million years rain has carved some deep gorges and the most
spectacular ones in Australia are here. Dales Gorge is easily
accessible with a normal car. But the best ones are 60 KM over very
rough roads.
Dales Gorge. Karijini National
Park
Some very interesting rock formations
29 August. Tom Price. The First day with rain. This is the first day
we had rain since we went on holiday. It pelted down at times.
Hopefully it will make the wildflowers make ever more beautiful.
Planned to take an organised tour through Karijini but not much fun
when it is raining. Paraburdoo and Exmouth are next on the list.
Landscape east of Karijini.
Paraburdoo is a small mining
town which took us two minutes to go through. From Tom Price to
Exmouth we stayed at two rest areas beside a dry river bed. In the wet
season it would have been a few metres under water.
31 August. Exmouth. Buildings are shooting up everywhere. In a few
years it will be like Broome. We did some shopping. Bought drinking
water for the first time. The water that comes out of the tap is
undrinkable. Too much salt. This will be the case all the way till
Geraldton.
The wild flours are getting more diverse. It was on the news that this
year will be the best for a long time as far as the wild flours are
concerned.
This grows beside the road or in the field as far as you can see.
Not all flowers have a nice
background. Campsite in
National Park.
We booked in at the Cape
Range National park. This is a marine park. The water is a bit too
cold for me to snorkel but I can see the turtles from the bus. The
camping sites are well spread out. It is still a bit too windy and the
biggest tree here is about 1.5 metre. But no more rain. As you can see
blue skies. I did snorkel, who can resist a sea like this. The coral
starts 20M from the beach and the variety of fish is fantastic. The
water was a bit cold but not too bad. The coral was not spectacular
but this probably is because it is so close to the beach. The variety
of fish equals that of the great barrier Reef. All day in the sun
played havoc with my delicate skin and I am now red as a freshly
cooked crab. The skin is all little blisters and itches. In a few days
it will all come off again.
We stay here for a week before we head towards Carnarvon.
Turquoise Bay. Ningaloo Marine
Park. Susan in the shade. I am red in several places
