Day 48 Saturday 30th July

Day 48 Saturday 30th July

This morning we were all busy with jobs. The boys worked on the vehicles giving them an oil change. Once this had been completed Rob headed off to do some stocking up of food and drinks as on Monday we will be arriving in Coral Bay and the shopping there is a bit limited. I did some washing which caused a bit of a flood in the van and meant Rob and Paul  had another little job to do, fixing the drainage of the van. I also did some cooking of slices and a cake. Later in the afternoon we all went to the FeNACLNG festival that was held at a large sports ground. It was very much like our Royal Adelaide Show with showbags, rides, amusements, car, camping, caravan displays, food vans, entertainment on a stage etc . etc.  Unlike most agricultural shows the entrance was completely free because it was sponsored by the big mining companies including Rio Tinto, Woodside etc. The word FeNaCLNG are the chemical symbols for iron (Fe), NaCL is salt and NG is natural gas which are the 3 main exports out of Karratha and it's surrounding areas. This was the 44 year of the festival. I think most of the population of Karratha was there. We had a good look around and listened to the WA police pipe band. They were pretty good. We stayed for dinner and then headed back to our caravans. 

Day 47 Friday 29th July

Day 47  Friday 29th July

Lyn and Steve decided to take their time and wander to Coral Bay, stopping along the way several times and relax so they left around 10am this morning. Heather, Paul, Rob and I decided to stay in Karratha a  couple more nights so we could go to the FeNaCLNG festival which is on this weekend. After Lyn and Steve had left we headed out towards Point Sampson which was about 50 kms from Karratha. We called into Wickham first and took some photos at the mining display, which included a huge mining truck and a train engine. We drove along the beach at Pt Walcott and the boys tried their luck at fishing but the tides weren't right. We saw the Rio Tinto trains lined up  with carriges full of iron ore ready for the Cape Lambert loading facility. From here we drove on down to Point Sampson and checked out the beaches, the marina and stopped for lunch. The boys had another try at fishing on a causeway but had no luck. On the return trip we visited the restored heritage town of Cossack. It was once a bustling, pearling town in the 1870s and later a port but was deserted in the early 1900s. The buildings have all  been restored and we were lucky enough to be in the town when the Annual Pilbara Art Exhibition was being held in one of the old buildings. We enjoyed looking at the old buildings and the art before returning to Karratha.

Day 46 Thursday 28th July

Day 46 Thursday 28th July

We all decided to drive into the centre of Karratha and check out the main shopping mall, this morning. Karratha has grown so much over the past 16 years. It has a few high rise buildings and a very large modern, shopping mall. There are many new housing developments all around us and this seems the trend here despite the downturn in the mining industry. After lunch we all drove out to the Woodside North West Shelf project(natural gas) area's visitors centre. Rob and I had been here many years ago and really enjoyed it. We were the only people in the centre to start with and were well and truly looked after by the lovely young woman looking after the centre. It was free and we were treated to a 15 minute video explaining the development of the natural gas industry here and also about how the gas is mined off shored, treated and sent either overseas in ships or down to Perth via a pipeline. We were given i-pads which we could hold up to the windows and point in different directions over the huge plant and the ipad would tell you all about that particular part of the plant. There were many other displays that we enjoyed too but the best part was when we were offered food..... There had been a seminar in the complex and there was a whole lot of food left over. The young woman offered it to us rather than throw it out. Despite having lunch we all managed to put away wraps, cheeses and biscuits, fruit, cheesecakes etc. We were really happy when some other people arrived at the visitor centre to eat some of the food! After this we drove down to the end of the Burrup Peninsula and Paul tried a bit of fishing but lost his lures in the rocks. We all drove to Deep Gorge where we went for a short walk to see some Aboriginal paintings on the rocks. We also drove to Dampier to see the famous statue of Red Dog and also the Port and Rio-Tinto port operations. 

Day 45 Wednesday 27th July

Day 45 Wednesday 27th July

We had another wondeful day again today, experiencing the magnificent natural wonders of our country. We left Karratha early for a day trip in the Millstream-Chichester National Park. The road in was pretty good and bituminised for the first 90 kms  before it turned to dirt. The road also followed a couple of the iron-ore railway lines and we saw numerous, long trains heading in both directions. The full ones heading to the ports and the empty ones heading back to the Hammersley Range.  Our first stop was the picturesque Python Pool, a beautiful,  clear pool surrounded by enormous, straight red and black rockwalls. We were tempted to have a swim but the water was a little on the cool side. We continued on another 30 or so kilometres to Deep Reach Pool, situated on the Fortescue River. Rob and I remembered camping here with Jasmine, next to the river 16 years ago. I was very impressed with all the improvements that have been made in the park, with many more amenities and designated camping areas. (You can’t camp next to the river anymore, though.) We again were tempted to swim but none of us did although we met another SA couple who were going to have a swim. Special steps with a rail, down to the river had been built to make it safe and easy. From here we drove to Millstream Homestead. We stopped here and had lunch and then explored the Homestead and surrounds. The first settlers came in the 1860s and the homestead was built in the 1920s. It was a cattle station but the homestead had the luxury of having a water supply all year round from the Millstream spring which is  huge aquifer and now supplies watèr to many areas and is constantly monitored. The homestead also had palms, a vegie garden, a tennis court and also a stunning pool all year round. We went for a short walk through the beautiful wetlands surrounding the homestead. The water in the pools and streams was crystal clear and we could see the bottom of all the pools. Water-lillies and small fish were everwhere.  From here we drove to a lookout and then took a senic route out of the park before heading back to Karratha.  

Day 44 Tuesday 26th July

Day 44 Tuesday 26th July

We left Pt Hedland reasonably early and made our way to Roebourne. We travelled through some very flat country, still mainly cattle stations in this area. We crossed  quite a few creeks and rivers and the landscape was quite green but the red dirt also was still with us. We visited the Tourist information centre at Roebourne which was located in the old jail and had a museum in the old cells. The staff at the Information Centre told us about the roads into Millstream National Park so we could make some decisions about what we would do. Heather, Lyn and myself visited the museum while the boys chatted. We decided to continue onto Karratha and stay there for the next 3 nights and do a day trip into Millstream rather than take the caravans over the dirt roads again. We settled into a lovely park at Karratha and did some washing and shopping. Lyn went for a run and the boys helped a lovely lady change and fix her tyre. Unfortunately, Steve broke a filling chewing on a Mintie and had to visit a dentist to get it fixed so his afternoon was not so pleasant. 

Day 43 Monday 25th July (Steve's Birthday)

Day 43 Monday 25th July (Steve's Birthday)

We left Pardoo station and headed for Pt Hedland to do some stocking up of groceries. We arrived around 11am and decided to stay the night here in an over-flow caravan park next to the local race course. We didn't have power,amenities or hook up water but it was a nice spot and the local council was only charging $10. We were happy because we have our own showers and toilets in the vans. We had a special  morning tea with a beautiful orange poppy seed cake made by Lyn, for Steve’s birthday. We then all headed out to do our shopping. After lunch we did a little drive around Pt Hedland and noticed more than 24 ships waiting to come into port. We also saw several very long trains with carriges filled with iron ore. Pt Hedland has really grown since our last trip here in 2000. There are some very fancy, modern homes built over-looking the ocean in a new housing development and new shops etc. The older parts of the town still have the &red stained& buildings from the iron ore dust. Back at the vans in the early evening, we got together to work out where we were heading tomorrow. 

Day 42 Sunday 24th July

Day 42 Sunday 24th July

We all decided to head down to the Pardoo Creek a little earlier to do some more fishing. The tide was still quite a way out so we could see the exposed mud flaps in the creek bed. We walked around on this, collecting fishing rigs that had broken off and were stuck in the mud. I believe the boys found one that they had lost the previous day. As the tide started to come in we started fishing. We were joined by a friendly pelican who thought he was going to get an easy feed. The fish weren't really biting all that much and only Paul and Steve were successful at catching any fish of any consequence. The pelican would follow the caught fish in on the line and try to take it as it was landed. It was very cheeky. We fished for about 4 hours and then headed back to the station. We all had a quiet afternoon reading and relaxing and then went to the station kitchen/restaurant for a wonderful  birthday dinner for Steve. They put on a dinner every night and we all  thoroughly enjoyed it. Lyn and Steve had a large serve of WA prawns and the rest of us had roast (lamb and beef) and vegies. We finished up back at our van having nightcaps and watching Masterchef.

Day 41 Saturday 23rd July

Day 41 Saturday 23rd July

We left  80 Mile Beach around 8 am and headed for our next stop, Pardoo Station which was only 150  kms down the road. We checked in at 10am and set up on our sites. Pardoo station is still a working cattle station but has a nice caravan park attached. It has a store, restaurant, pool and nice &station-like& amenities. After coffee we headed for Pardoo Creek to try some fishhing. We were there for about 3 hours with Heather/Paul hooking and  bringing in the biggest fish for the morning. Steve caught a nice size fish too. All in all we ended up with 3 sizeable eating fish and a few little ones that had to be thrown back. I didn't fish but read and watched the action. It was a lovely warm, calm day. Rob, unfortunately once again was unsuccessful at catching any fish and  we all let him know. He said, on this trip he has been fishing for 9 hours  for no fish..... We are feeling sorry for him. We returned back to our vans for lunch and then relaxed. We watched a bit of footy but Rob was not able to get the Crows game on the TV so had to watch it on his phone. To make matters worse for him, they lost. During the afternoon, more and more cattle were being brought into the cattle yards next to the caravan park and by he evening there were cattle everywhere. Cattle dust and the distinctive smell of the cattle and their droppings pervaded the air. They were to be loaded and sent off in the morning. 

Day 40 Friday 22nd July

Day 40 Friday 22nd July

We enjoyed another day of fishing on the 80 Mile Beach. Lyn, Steve, Rob, Paul and myself headed down, driving along the beach to our favourite spot. Heather opted to stay back at the van and did some baking. We weren't really that successful, once again getting lots of bites and feeding the sneaky fish. I caught a skate and was excited about that, letting it go once we'd taken a photo. Lyn, Steve and Paul all caught undersize fish that had to be returned. Poor Rob didn't catch anything....and didn’t we let him know. We enjoyed the hours we spent on the beach and came back for a late lunch. We all had little jobs to do in the afternoon. Later, we all got together for happy hour and to plan the next few days of our trip. We continue to enjoy beautiful weather with temperatures in the low 30s while back home it is freezing.

Day 39 Thursday 21 July

Day 39 Thursday 21 July

We all did little jobs around the vans this morning waiting for the time when the tides would be perfect for fishing. Heather was extremely brave and asked me to shave her hair (on the longest setting). Well I have to say, it looked pretty good and she wore the shorter cut with style. Rob, Paul and Steve were hoping to catch lots of fish. Heather and I went along to enjoy the beautiful beach and perfect weather. We drove a few kilometres along the beach to &the spot&. The boys enjoyed feeding the fish for awhile and finally Steve caught a small fish that he had to return to the ocean. The score after 2 & 1/2 hours was Steve 3 fish (2 returned to the ocean), Paul 2 fish and Rob 0 fish but we all had fun. We drove back to the vans for some late lunch. After a lazy afternoon we headed down to the beach to watch the sunset with quite a few other people from the Caravan Park. 

Day 38 Wednesday 20th July

Day 38 Wednesday 20th July

Today we didn't have to travel too far to get to 80 Mile Beach. We checked in to the busy caravan park for the next 3 nights around 11 am. As we drove in, you could see the beautiful beach and gorgeous turquoise coloured sea. It was close to high tide. After setting up and having lunch, Lyn and Steve arrived and joined us. Heather and I went to a market that was set up on a lovely grassy area. The proceeds of the market went to the Royal Flying Doctors. I only bought 3 second hand novels as I am enjoying having the time to do so much more reading.  We headed down to beach because Paul and Rob wanted to have a go at fishing. We drove along the beach for several kms before the boys found &the spot&. The tide was quickly retreating so Heather and I enjoyed picking up some of the beautiful and unusual shells found in this area. The boys had no luck with their fishing but said they would return tomorrow. We went back to the vans for happy hour. 

Day 37 Tuesday 19th July

Day 37 Tuesday 19th July

Today we were up early, leaving the Derby Caravan Park around 7.45am. to head to the Airport where we were flying out to see the Horizontal Falls. By the time we had gone through all the safety procedures there were 4 × 14 seat sea planes linedup on the tarmac. The flight to the Horizontal Falls  pontoons and houseboat took about 30 minutes. The scenery as we crossed the huge mud flaps and coastline was just stunning. Landing on the calm water in Talbot Bay was very exciting. We pulled up next to the pontoons and were off-loaded, along with the passengers from the other planes. Other passengers who had stayed overnight were lined up ready for the return trip to Derby. We were given a few brief bits of essential information and then were able to help ourselves to tea,coffee, cool drinks and fruit, on the top level of the shaded pontoons.  Following this, one of the young crew that work at the pontoon station started to feed the numerous sharks who live in this area and know when they are on a good thing. Rob swam in shark cage and got some good photos. The sharks are only fed a small amount as they still need to hunt in the wild. The Horizontal Falls station is closed for 4 months during the wet season and the sharks need to be able to feed themselves. We then went for our first trip on the 900hp boat through the Horizontal Falls. We sped through the rough water of the first fall several times  and checked out the narrower(7.4mt) second fall. The water was rushing through this one and it was too dangerous for the boat to go through. Back to the pontoons for  a lovely morning tea and then we headed back out in the boat up Cyclone Creek. The creek is named like this because it is a safe haven for boats during the wet season. The houseboats and pontoons are put up here during the wet season and are quite safe. In this area the great sandstone of the Kimberleys meet the beautiful blue waters of the bay and creek. We loved the scenery and it was a quiet, beautiful trip. Back to the pontoon for a delicious barramundi lunch. Rob and I had also booked a helicopter flight over the Falls and Cyclone Creek. Rob volunteered for us to be split up as there were only 3 passenger seats on the chopper. I scored the front seat next to the pilot. There were no doors just openings. It was fabulous, amazing and a fantastic way to see the Horizontal Falls, Kimberleys and Cyclone Creek from the sky but up vey close. After our chopper trips and lunch we headed out once more in the boat, this time to go through both of the falls. Again a sensational experience. The  falls exist because of the huge tides in this area, trying to rush in and out of two extremely small openings and are a rarity in the world. Once back we headed off in our seaplane for Derby. Our pilot flew us over some of the barramundi farms and also magnificent thousand island, Buccaneer Archipelago. Truly, this was a very memorable experience. Once safely back at Derby airport we picked up our car and van and immediately started driving to the freecamp, where Heather, Paul, Steve and Lyn had stayed and extra night waiting for us to catch up. Despite some traffic holdups due to roadworks, we made it to their camp around 7pm. 

Day 36 Monday 18th July

Day 36 Monday 18th July

Today we parted ways with Heather, Paul, Lyn and Steve. We were going to go north, up to Derby to do our trip out to the Horizontal Falls and the others were heading south slowly so we could catch up with them in a couple of days. I had booked into a hairdresser in Broome and my appointment was in the morning. While I was having my hair done, Rob was busy filling up the vehicle and shopping. Perfect timing, my hair was finished and Rob had completed the shopping. We headed off to Derby and was there by about 3.30PM. We heard from the others and they had made it to  Stanley freecamp and were hoping to do some fishing. We headed down to the jetty to watch the huge tides that Derby is famous for, along with the huge boab trees, including one which was so big it was once used as a jail lock-up. 

Map

Finally updated the map, click on the map tab to see where we have been. (or click here)

Day 35 Sunday 17th July

Day 35 Sunday 17th July

We did some washing early in the morning before heading out to the Courthouse Markets in Broome. These were much bigger than the markets we visited on Thursday night so I was in my element. I bought a few little things while Rob sat under a tree in the shade. From here we went back down to CableBeach and drove along the beach. Back at the van by lunchtime, Heather and Paul had arrived back from Beagle Bay. Both the boys cleaned the vehicles and later in the afternoon we headed to the pool for a dip. Back at the vans, we started to prepare for dinner. Heather and Paul had brought back a blue salmon(about 3 kilos ) for tea. They had been given the fish from an Aboriginal woman at Beagle Bay. We are looking forward to dinner.

Day 34 Saturday 16th July

Day 34 Saturday 16th July

Heather and Paul were off early this morning, heading north along the Cape Leveque Road to catch up with friends at Beagle Bay. I had a late start staying in bed for a while and reading. Rob and I drove out to the deep water port to check out what was happening there. Yesterday a large cruise ship was in port, today it was a livestock ship. Apparently 10,000 cattle could be loaded onto the ship but it was going to be a long, slow process. The jetty could only cope with each road train with one trailer on it. The trailers only held 50 head of cattle. You could see 3 trucks on the jetty at one time, one waiting to  come back, one loading and the other waiting to load. From here we drove along a dirt road that followed the coastline. It was very beautiful along  Reddell Beach which was named after a sea capatin who was murdered here in a mutiny in 1899. The track took us to the Gantheame Point lighthouse and also the spot where at low tide, you can see dinosaur footprints in the rocks. We walked out to the rocks and saw the cement replica of the footprints as the tide was not low enough. After lunch, we caught up with Lyn and Steve and visited the Japanese and Chinese cemetery. We were going to go to the museum too but to the boys relief it was closed! We did a bit of shopping but again most of the shops had closed early in the afternoon. Heather and Paul were invited to stay at Beagle Bay with their friends so we had a quiet night, watching the footy. 

Day 33 Friday 15th July

Day 33 Friday 15th July

We had a quiet day in Broome today with a beautiful finish. The boys (Paul and Rob) did little fix up jobs around the caravans and also replenished the gas and caught up with Steve. Lyn was out running. Heather and I did some washing and reading. I used the caravan oven for the first time and made a healthy slice. All worked well.  Rob had decided he would like a polo shirt like Paul had bought the day before so we went back to the shop in the late afternoon. They had sold out. The cruise ship had managed to get into the port today and the tourists from the ship had cleared everything out. I was a bit luckier as the little shop that had some boab tree with pearls drop earnings that I liked, still had them so I bought them. We headed down to Cable Beach around 4 pm and met Lyn and Steve there. I went out in the kayak for a little while and then we all enjoyed nibbles and drinks watching the magnificent sunset. This was followed by a BBQ tea on the beach. We used Rob’s little bbq and put it on the back of  Paul's vehicle. It was lovely. 

Day 32 Thursday 14th July

Day 32 Thursday 14th July

We spent a lazy day around Broome doing a little shopping and checking out the town centre. Both Rob and Paul bought some souvenir shirts and Heather and I checked out the pearls and clothes shops. A large cruise ship was due in today so many of the shops were stocked up. Unfortunately, due to the tides and the wind the ship was unable to dock and so will be coming in tomorrow. (Good for us, as it would have been extremely busy with all the extra people.) After lunch Heather, Paul and Rob went for a swim in the magnificent pool in our caravan park. Later we drove along the beach at the famous Cable beach. It was very busy but we decided to return tomorrow for drinks and dinner on fhe the beach. From here we went to the Broome markets on a reserve near the Town Beach. We caught up with Lyn and Steve here and enjoyed some lovely market food for dinner.