Relaxing in Point Samson

Historic town of Cossack

Margueritas at Sunset

Day 93

It’s a little overcast this morning and windy so we just chill out and read books (quite a novelty for us as we are usually on the move all the time.) Alan goes for a bike ride and then Nick and Alan and I go for a drive to Cossack, an old settlement not far away with several ruined buildings which we wander around. Relaxing afternoon and then Wendy had made a roast dinner for us which we thoroughly enjoyed. As we don’t have an oven or any other modern appliances we can’t make a roast in our camper so it was our first roast meal of the trip!

Karratha to Point Samson

Day 90
Thursday
Catch up day today so not much to report. I caught up on about 10days of the blog and Alan was busy with repairers!! Fridge is now waiting for a part and probably because of long weekend here won’t be fixed till at least Tuesday. We buy and esky to get us through the weekend and buy ice so we don’t stock up on much food till after Tue. Alan has decided to get a mesh stone guard made for the trailer as we will be going on some rough roads over the next few weeks and we don’t want another broken rear windscreen. Also the gas struts which help with opening and closing the trailer need replacing so they are getting made as well. A little more Hamilton Stimulus money into the community of Karratha. Not that it needs it tho as it is a very busy town with the LNG pipeline and Rio Tinto mining operations and our caravan park chocker block with workers in either vans or villas. Rental accom. must be in very short supply here. We decide to stay here till Sat. And then move on to Samson Point nearby till Tuesday.
Day 91
Friday
We get a phone call from Wendy and Nick who are arriving in Karratha about 9am and want to meet us for coffee. They have had trouble with the wiring in their van so after catching up with all their news (we haven’t seen them since they had tyre trouble near Monkey Mia turn off, almost 3 weeks ago !) Alan and Nick go to the Industrial area, which Al is very familiar with, and get the van sorted out. Wendy and I go to the “Panel beaters” and have a look at the shops and a girlie afternoon. Wendy and Nick decide to head out to Point Samson and will meet us there tomorrow. Al and I take a drive out to Dampier and look at the excellent display of the development and workings of the North West Shelf Liquid Natural Gas. Unfortunately we would like to have done a tour of Rio Tinto mine but for some reason the tours are not running at the moment. A bit of a later night with a party at a van nearby but luckily the cp managers are true to their 10pm curfew and the revellers are moved on. Crikey we must be getting old!! Ha-ha!!
Day 92
Saturday
Pack up and make the drive to Point Samson about 45 minutes away. It is a very small village but with a new (2 years old) CP recommended by Al’s friend Chilla and it really is in a lovely spot right on the water and so clean. We set up camp and take a bike ride around the town and decide on a swim. Water is not as clear as further down on the Coral Coast but nice and warm. Alan thinks we might get the fishing rods out tomorrow and maybe even the crab pots as there are a few people fishing off the wharf. Watch this space there may be some fishy stories tomorrow night!! Marguerita Sunset drinks with Wendy and Nick before dinner and a quiet night. !!

Cleaning off our fake Pilbara tans in Karratha

Day 89
No rain and perfect clear blue sky...gotta love this place!! Packed up and decide on one last swim in Python Pool before the 2 hour drive to Karratha. The water was glorious and I do a couple of lengths of the pool (very casually I might add!!) Wednesday is normally my swimming day at home with the girls so I can at least tell them I have done my laps!! Arrive in Karratha and go to the fridge repairer and guess what???The fridge works perfectly for him!! We leave it with him for the day and check into the Pilbara CP and spend the rest of the day cleaning!!! This is the pattern of our trip up in this part of the country. I will never complain about a bit of dust on the windowsill at home ever again!! 5 loads of washing later and a cleaner trailer home and we go shopping and pick up the fridge...which is still working perfectly ?????!!!!!! Back at the CP and it starts playing up...whew!!! So we are going to stay here tomorrow and hopefully get it sorted out. There is little chance of getting it fixed between here and Kununurra or Wyndham or possibly Darwin and we will be going to more remote places for the next 6 weeks so really want to make sure we have it working properly.

Snake Creek and Python Pool.... but hopefully no real reptiles!!

Python Pool

Fortescue River

Old machinery and Sturt desert pea in flower at the old Millstream Station homestead

Al barbqueing our dinner

Day 88
Woke to an overcast morning and our early morning wakeup call was the sound of a "Wicked" campervan with backpackers arriving at the camp spot for brekkie. We packed up and got away and happy to get to a loo and fuel stop at Auski roadhouse only 17km away. We stocked up on ice for our fridge and with fresh food getting down is becoming a beer fridge, which is very important..... The road to Millstream nat. Park is mostly gravel and the inevitable red dirt and we wonder what the inside of the trailer will look like. We arrive about 12 and have a look around the old homestead and camp ground and after chatting to the camp hosts we decide to check out the other camp ground at Crossing Pool and where we have lunch. The pool is a river pool and with the overcast day is not so inviting for a swim so we decide to head to Python Pool in the north of the park and hope to stay at the campground there tonight. It’s an hour’s drive from here and on a mostly gravel road but no dramas and we arrive about 4pm and set up camp in the Snake Creek campground and we are the only campers! Nearby is Python pool and we head there for a swim and try and get rid of our Pilbara fake tans!! It doesn’t matter how much you clean hands/feet and whatever else it has a tinge of red!! The spring fed pool is gorgeous and not too cold and we enjoy our “evening bath” in this little piece of heaven between the surrounding Spinifex and mulga hills and sheer red cliff faces. Dinner back at the camp and although a couple of other campers arrive it is very peaceful and not too cold. It is a bit cloudy and hope we don’t get rain overnight as it will make the 20km drive out of here to the main northern highway a bit slippery.

Karijini.. Favourite park in OZ!!

Day 87
Our early morning wake up call is the eerie sound of a pack of dingoes howling nearby....We pack up camp and do the rest of the gorge walks finishing at Fortescue Falls, a lovely way to end a visit to in my opinion "The most spectacular inland Nat Park in OZ". While my first pool of the day in Knox Gorge at 9am was ...mmmm....COLD...no freezing, the next few got incressingly warmer as the sun moved overhead and while some earlier pools were just a jump in gasp and squeal and back out again, the others were just glorious. Favourites being Circular pool and fern pool . The day of course was not all about swimming, the colours and rock formations of the sheer cliffs in the gorges was breathtaking and it's hard to imagine as you drive through the dusty spinifex and shrub hills that something so incredible hides in between. As we walk along the bottom of the fern covered gorge floors hopping across rocks in the the streams you can imagine you are in a "Lost City". As we have now seen all the gorges and it's getting late we reluctantly decide to leave this magnificent park.The Dales campground is filling up fast we decide to try and make a roadside free camp tonight on our way north to Millstream nat. park. About 20km before the Auski roadhouse we pull up to a nice spot with about 5 other vehicles, the only drawback is no loo’s!!! but we are able to have a fire which has been rare so far on the trip.

Karijini Nat. Park

Joffre Gorge

Mt. Bruce...the one that got away :(

Marrandoo mine

Day 86
We decide to climb the summit of Mt Bruce, the 2nd highest mt. In W.A. and leave early to get the best views. It is a 6 hour climb and we get 2/3 way up and the cliffs get a bit steep and the track is almost nonexistent. We reluctantly head back down and as neither of us like giving up but we just think it is not worth the risk. We do see some lovely views tho of the vast landscape and the huge working mine nearby. We decide to drive to the Visitor Centre at the eastern end of the park so we can get some info on the other gorge walks to be done. We are surprised to see a familiar car and van and realised it was a family John and Lucy and their kids Isobel and Will from Brizzie whom we first met and were camped beside at Coffin Bay in S.A. a couple of months ago and who are travelling around oz as well. We enjoyed catching up on where they had been and if we don’t see them again on the road hope to see them at home and compare around OZ stories. We drove back to our camp and decide to do a couple of gorge walks this afternoon and maybe go to the other campground tomorrow night. It is about a 50 km drive between the east and west of the camp on a dusty and corrugated road so much better to save a couple of rough drives. I have decided to swim at a rock pool in every gorge we go to...no matter how cold the water!! Alan thinks I am crazy but he does venture in to one with me. It is so hard to describe each gorge but they are incredibly all so different and only hope the many photos do them justice.

Bloody Waeco fridge or should I say Wacko fridge!!

Day 85
The fridge is doing weird things and little lights flashing so we turn it off and will just use it as an esky replenishing it with ice. It’s working like a dream!! Inland we go and the landscape changes dramatically from the Spinifex and mulga plains to the unusual shaped hills of many different colours of green with slashes of red cliffs in varying shades of burnt orange stripes. We arrive in karijini and decide to stay at the western part of the park at the Eco camp ground. There is quite a few campers and a couple of Adventure tour buses here but it is very spread out so a nice change from the busier Coral Coast. There is also a cafe here and we can stock up on ice so will stay a couple of nights.

Baked Beans on the Menu for the next week!!

Bed Tea in the Hamilton Hilton

Sunrise and our camp site over Onslow Bay

Day 84
We luckily find the Waeco fridge repairer and he checks it over and has a couple of options. The part he thinks will fix it will need to be sent here from ?????? And it may or may not get here by tomorrow and if not it will be next week. Option 2...there is a repairer in Karratha and we can get the part sent there and have it repaired there next week. We want to go out to Karijini Nat. Park for a few days so decide to take the chance that it may work on 12v power and if not we can buy ice to help it along. Decision made and we stock up on some provisions but not too much as we have no way to keep stuff cold. I think there will be a LOT of baked beans and tinned tuna on the menu this week!! On the way out of town we do however get some nice fresh fish, prawns and scallops at the Kaillis seafood shed and hope that the ice will keep them cool. We decided to get to Onslow on the coast for the night even though there would be a bit of backtracking. We were not disappointed and we pulled up to a little cp and got a site right on the small sheltered little bay. It was a lovely clear night and all worries were pushed to the back of our minds as we sipped a lovely red overlooking the water with thousands of stars to light up the sky.

Busy Exmouth.... and Yardie Creek Stn.

Day 83
The delightful sound of some bongo playing backpackers into the wee hours of the morning have given us a pretty good reason to move on this morning. We head for Exmouth and hopefully can stay in the Cape Range Nat. Park. Exmouth is busier than Coral Bay and we are craving a more peaceful place but are very disappointed when the visitor info tells us that Cape Range Camping grounds are all full L we decide to stay at Yardie Creek Station nearby and will drive in to the park for a day. You can of course get there at the gates early next morning and just wait till and if a camping spot becomes available but with the max. Time you can camp in the park 28 days it is just luck to get a nice spot. We are welcomed at Yardie creek by the “locals”, some of the many caravanner’s from South of western Oz that spend the winter in the north, much the same as the Victorians spending winter in QLD. We do get into the Nat Park for a lovely swim and snorkel off the beach at Turquoise bay and enjoy a lovely swim in the incredible clear blue water. Back at camp we get news from home of the horrendous gale force winds and are a bit worried for the girls, but they appear to have all under control. It’s very hard being so far away at times like this. To add to that worry, our fridge is playing up again and it looks like a rain storm is brewing so we decide to pack up early in the morning and go back to Exmouth to get the fridge checked.

Whale Shark swim in Coral bay..Trip Highlight!!

Fantastic day out swimming with Whale sharks

Day 82
We have booked our tour on a smaller boat and there are only 9 of us plus crew. It’s such a beautiful day and we cruise off to the north in search of the whale sharks. There are 2 other boats and they have a spotter plane which gives them the location of the whale sharks and then we go to that location. We are given our instructions on getting in and out of the water quickly and there are only allowed to be 10 people in the water with the whale sharks at one time so each boat takes their turn and we are in the water for about 5 minutes. We are lucky today and get to swim with these lovely creatures 3 times and hope I get some good photos with my underwater camera. We are about 3 metres away from them and just swim beside them in amazement. With a small boat we have to start heading back to Coral Bay after lunch but feel very privileged to have experienced swimming with these enormous creatures. Throughout the day we see Manta Ray, Turtles, Dolphins, a dugong, sea snake, reef sharks and a humpback whale from a distance. I reckon it’s almost equivalent to seeing the “big 5” in Africa! After a snorkel on the outer reef where we do see coral and more colourful fish, we arrive back at Coral Bay in time to see another gorgeous sunset.

Glorious..but crowded Coral Bay

A remote beach near Coral Bay except for "The Mermaid" Haha!!

Day 81
Everything spick and span and we drive a couple of hundred km to Coral Bay. The place is swarming with tourists and we can understand why with the crystal clear bay and lots snorkelling just off the beach. We decide we will book on a whale shark tour for tomorrow if we can find accom. The Peoples Park was full so we went with the other park which was almost full but luckily we got a good site. Went for a drive in the afternoon to a more remote snorkelling beach and enjoyed the lovely clean water and swimming with lots of beautiful colourful fish. Not much coral this close to the beach but will see lots tomorrow. Went to the pub for sunset drinks and were just amazed at the crowded beer gardens. After being in the remote national parks for several days it is a bit of a shock to the system

Cleaning in Carnarvon

The now disused Satellite dish at Carnarvon

Day 80

We can’t pack up till we know what time the windscreen will get done so I use the time to catch up on e mails and bills and the blog. We find out the windscreen won’t be finished till this afternoon so we decide to stay here till tomorrow and finish cleaning everything. It’s unbelievable the places that bulldust has settled. Alan decides to buy a car vacuum cleaner and I have to admit it really is nice to see someone else doing the housework...and he looks so cute in his apron!!

Mt. Augustus at Sunrise Al at "Boot Camp"

Transport drum across the river

Old Mt. Augustus Station Homestead

Day 79

We awoke to a beautiful clear morning and Alan got some lovely pics of “The Rock” before we leave for Carnarvon. The fridge seems to have fixed itself thank god; we think maybe it got a bit of bulldust up its nostrils!! It’s a 500km drive back to Carnarvon today and mostly on dusty gravel roads. We decide to head to the Meekatharra road as it may be a better road but we decide to cover everything in the back of the car with a tarp just to keep some of the dust off the inside of the car. A couple of stops to break the long day. We stop at a “boot camp” along the road, a tree with all sorts of old boots and shoes tied to the branches, a novel interruption to an otherwise long road trip for some bored travellers out this way. We also cross a river (dry bed) with a 44 gallon drum and a pulley system to move things back and forth across the river when it is in flood.

We had a fabulous time out at these outback National Parks and recommend them to anyone who doesn't mind a bit of bulldust!! Well worth the trip. We arrive in Carnarvon and back to the same C.P. site we left 6 days ago. Just as well we covered the back of the car because when we opened the back door a mountain of bulldust poured out!! Lots of washing and another clean up ready to get a new windscreen and then head north tomorrow.

We climbed to the top of Mt. Augustus!!

The gully track to the summit
Views to the south west from the summit trail

On top of the Mountain!!

Day 78
Through the night the fridge a start playing up and by early morning has turned into a freezer. Alan tries to fix it and we leave camp not knowing whether we will have to defrost when we get back this afternoon!! There is a new cook who has started at the station kitchen so we may have to test her out tonight!! The clouds have cleared and the sky is blue as we head off to the beginning of the Summit walk. We leave the start of the trail at 8am for the 12km hike not sure what to expect but have plenty of water and food. There are 2 options for the first 3km, and easier trail (grade 4) or the harder gully trail (grade 5) which we decide to tackle. It takes us 2 hours of climbing up huge boulders but in the early morning it is not too hot and we make it to the summit trail happy with our achievement. It takes another hour to reach the top and while not easy is a little gentler climb. At the top we meet Dave who is our next door neighbour at the camp and we enjoy our lunch and a sit down. The views are spectacular and well worth the climb but after half an hour we decide we had better try and get down!! It is getting warm and we decide to walk the summit trail all the way down to see the different track. Not sure if our legs are very tired but the climb down is harder than we thought as there are loose stones and you have to be careful with every step. We make it back to the trail start in 5 and half hours and we are very glad to have achieved it and be back in the car very weary but satisfied. A shower and a cool drink are enjoyed in the shade of the lovely gum trees back at our camp while we plan our drive back to Carnarvon tomorrow.

Burringurrah or Mt. Augustus a Bloody Big Rock!

Mt. Augustus...the Worlds Largest Rock

Kotka Gorge

Two old fellas

Cattle grazing land

Edney's Lookout

Day 77

It is overcast again this morning but the “Rock” has a beautiful deep crimson and purple colour and just wonder what colour it would take on in sunlight. Mt. Augustus is the world’s largest rock and at more than twice the size of Ayers Rock and millions of years older though relatively new on the tourist route compared to Uluru and apparently not long ago the visitors out here per year could be measured at a few hundred now there are thousands. According to Aboriginal law they call this place Burringurrah believing it to be a boy who escaped the rigours of manhood initiation and was speared in his leg and hit with a mulgurrah or fighting stick and collapsed and died lying on his belly with his leg bent up beside his body. Great story and until someone can come up with something better, that’ll do me. We have decided to drive around the rock and do just the shorter walks and tackle the Summit, 6 hour walk tomorrow. First is Edney’s lookout which according to above folklore is the spear stump in Burringurrah’s leg, and a 6km return stroll up to a some lovely views over the surrounding plains. A couple of little walks and some aboriginal art before going back to camp for lunch checking. In the afternoon we head out to the Kotka Gorge and a short but beautiful 2km walk. Alan makes a nice fire and we have a barbq for dinner after a customary beer in the station bar and a chat with a few of the other campers.

Broken Rear windscreen?? We don't need glass do we??

Have you ever seen a sadder face????That looks much better. Gives the Pajero a more rugged look!!

Day 76
We wake early and go to see the sunrise at one of the gorges but unfortunately we have the first overcast morning for quite a while, we luckily get a couple of nice pics before the cloud moves in. A quick brekkie before we do the summit walk which is about 45 mins return and gives spectacular views of the surrounding area and our camp far below. Gordon is cleaning up around the camp when we return and we find out that he and wife are a couple of CALM Volunteer of which there are 8000 in W.A., Vic and S.A. They have been here 6 weeks and just go wherever and whenever they want to where there is a vacancy. Suppose it’s a nice way to meet people and see all the parks when you are retired and they just have to keep the camp area neat and tidy and give information on the park to visitors. We leave here heading for Mt. Augustus Nat. Park on a very dusty road. Now the blog is getting a bit boring at this stage and we decide to hot it up a bit so about 100kms from Mt. Augustus we hear and almighty bang and look back to see our back windscreen shattered with a large hole. We knew it was a possibility but Al hoped the bicycle cover may have stopped the stones from shooting up from the camper. After trying the beer carton repair (they don’t make the cardboard as sturdy or as big as they used to) we opted for a tarp taped with silver tape. We press on to Mt. Augustus a bit noisier so we just turn the iPod volume up a bit, finally arriving about 4pm after 5 hours driving and not seeing another vehicle. It is a lovely oasis with a large grassy campground and only 3 other campers. The lovely friendly aboriginal girl who checked us in kindly got the windscreen repairers from Carnarvon on the phone and after Alan chatting to them we arranged to get a new one ordered but we will have to wait till Monday to get it fixed.....back in Carnarvon! We hadn’t planned on going back to Carnarvon....or staying here till Sunday but we can do probably all of the walks here and it is such a nice camp spot. We have been lucky to be in nice places when we have had our little mishaps on the road up to date. As we set up camp we also notice a lot of dust has leaked into all the kitchen cupboards so I decide this is a good time to Spring clean!! A couple of beers in the rustic station bar and all our days worries are pushed to the back of our minds.

Kennedy Ranges Nat. Park

Honeycomb gorge

Kennedy Ranges at sunrise

Alan christening his fire

Swimming at Rocky Pool...No Crocs in here Al????

Day 75

Got an early start and headed east first to Rocky Pool where I just can’t resist a swim in the waterhole. Alan assures me there are no crocs and I am a bit sceptical but jump in regardless. It is really warm and the only drawback is that it is a bit muddy looking so I just splash around near the edge, no serious laps! The road is really good bitumen and we arrive at Gascoyne Junction about 11am. It is a small community of the essential dwellings, first and foremost the pub and fuel station then a small school and Gov. Building and houses. It services all the surrounding stations and is a stop between Carnarvon and Meekatharra. We fuel up at $1.55 a litre of diesel and just hope that the people living out here are making the profit. It’s about a 50km drive to Kennedy Ranges Nat. Park, an eroded plateau 75km long and up to 25km wide which runs north to south. We arrive at the Temple Gorge camp ground, which is the only place to camp in the park and there is only 2 other campers, one who are the “Camp Hosts” Evelyn and Gordon and which is advertised on a whiteboard....we are not sure we have ever seen this before and wonder just what they do all day with very few campers here??? We set up camp and having collected firewood for a campfire tonight, we decide we will christen Alan’s fire washing machine inner which we have been carrying since Wendy and Nick gave it to Al for his birthday back in March! We decide to do 2 of the 5 walks you can do in the park. The southern and eastern sides of the range have eroded to form spectacular cliffs that rise 100metres and are dissected by steep sided canyons. These gorges would be absolutely spectacular after the rainy season with evidence of waterfalls and rock pools. The colours of the rocks and cliffs are beautiful in the late afternoon sun with eerie shadows and a peacefulness that you feel like you are in a very special place. Back at camp our fire is lovely and we enjoy the peaceful evening.

To Market to Market........

Some of the 4000 sheep ready for market

Day 74

We wake to the sound of sheep baa-ing and Alan says the sheep truck has arrived to take 4000 head to market!! He insists they need a bit of help so goes over to the sheep yards about 100 metres away and gives his expert assistance. I leave him to it and enjoy my bed tea....what???? Well I’d just get in the way!!! Anyway, I’ll leave it to the experts!! He returns with lots of photos and stories and says I wouldn’t have been any good anyway as there were lots of cute tiny lambs that were bleating for their mums and he was worried we may have ended up with a couple of the little fellas in our back seat!! We head back to Carnarvon and decide we will stay here at the Wintersun C.P. 1 night and regroup before heading west to Kennedy Range and Mt. Augustus National Parks tomorrow. Till then, we catch up on washing clothes and cars and restocking the larder and water, fuel etc.

MOTHERS DAY

Entry to Quobba Station

The Blowholes

Fun Boxing on Mothers Day!!??

Day 72
Happy mother’s day to all you mums out there. Hope you had a fantastic day. Remembering also of all our mum’s who are not here. We have no phone service but know our gorgeous girls will be thinking of us. Alan decides instead of brekkie in bed we will do and hour boxing session in the sand on this lovely peaceful morning. What a beaut idea I say and jump out of bed and get the boxing gloves on. Only one condition ....I get to throw the first punch!!!! All jokes aside tho we have a great session and the first time we have had a chance to get the gloves out. I am quite exhausted after an hour but have just enough energy to cook our brekkie......!! We reluctantly pack up and leave this memorable spot and as we are leaving we notice an honesty box for camping fees.....wait for it $1 per person per night!!! Alan says do they have a senior’s discount???!!! We arrive in Carnarvon about 10:30 and have a coffee while we decide whether we will stay here or head on. A visit to the info bureau and we get some information on a couple of national parks west of here. We decide we will head north and stay at Quobba station for a couple of days before we come back to Carnarvon and the National Parks. The working sheep station which has 15,000 head has opened its gates to campers, backpackers and also has some Luxury Eco Accommodation which was featured on “Getaway” a while ago. It is a 90km drive passing “Blowholes” and another HMAS Sydney memorial cairn. We find a spot to camp and while it is beachfront, has sand dunes and no sea view from where we are camped. No swimming at this beach and with the almost deafening roar of the ocean, I am going to heed warnings. The sunset as usual is spectacular and this unique place where the unusual breed of sheep, a no wool meat breed which originated from Spain and with excellent breeding qualities and able to withstand the harsh conditions, graze just near our camp. The sea noise is as almost as loud as living next to Mascot airport but amazingly we drift off to sleep without a care in the world.