Broome

I am heading off tomorrow after six days in Broome, and this morning I bought a few supplies and then went to the laundromat to do my washing only to find that it is closed on Sundays.  It opens early during the week so I will have go their before I leave tomorrow.

It is quite close to the doggie beach where I am staying, so I have been taking Oscar for a walk most days.  You can certainly tell you are in the tropics when you walk along the footpath and smell the perfume of the frangipanis which are in flower at the moment.  I love all the colourful tropical plants.  There are also lots of palm trees and quite a few bottle trees in peoples front yards.

I went for a wander along Streeter's Jetty which was used by the pearling fleets back in the 1920's.  A good portion of it has fallen down, but the remaining jetty is now heritage listed and currently being restored.  I also went for a drive to see the main port jetty which is where the cruise ships come in, but it is off limits to the public.

View from headland overlooking doggie beach.
 

Broome Council  - looks like a resort.

Streeter's Jetty.

Main pier where cruise ships berth.

Doggie beach.

Oscar very wind blown on the beach.

Bottle tree.

Frangipani.

Don't know what this is but very colourful.

Broome

I did so much walking today that I now have blisters.

I got to the Toyota dealership at 7.30am this morning and dropped the van off for its service then walked about a kilometre to the vet where I had booked Oscar in to have his annual immunisations.  All was well until the vet looked into Oscar's mouth and found that his gums were swollen and infected because his teeth were badly in need of a clean.   Next thing he was being prepped so that his teeth could be cleaned under general anaesthetic and I was told to return in the afternoon.

I spent the next few hours walking, walking and more walking.  I think I know the inside of every shop in Broome.  It is very touristy and very expensive.  The only money I spent was on my breakfast - a chocolate milkshake and a yummy pizza rope from Brumbys which I ate whilst sitting on a seat in the main street.  I was tempted to go for a scenic drive on the back of a trike (a motorbike with three wheels).   It looked like lots of fun, but it was a $100, and knowing that Oscar's vet bill and the van service was going to put a serious dent in my finances I decided to give it a miss.

The weather has been much better the last couple of days.  The humidity has dropped which makes it a lot easier to sleep at night.  Tomorrow I think I will head down to Cable beach and have a wander around, maybe buy some fish and chips and sit on the sea wall and watch the comings and goings.  On Sunday I will be busy with my super paperwork and on Monday I will be heading off again.  Where to?  I've yet to decide.  I will make that decision when I get behind the wheel on Monday morning.



 

Broome

After spending two nights at the Goldwire Rest Area I arrived in Broome yesterday afternoon.

Broome is not very dog friendly as none of the caravan parks allow pets, but it has worked in my favour because an area has been put aside by the council for people with pets only. It is close to everything with nice grassy areas to camp on for $35 per night which is a lot cheaper than the caravan parks.

The weather is very unseasonal at the moment with periods of rain and high humidity - 99% today.  Phew!  Luckily for me I was in the Pilbara last week and not this week, because over the past few days they have had several inches of rain and most of the roads are now closed due to severe flooding.  Unheard of at this time of the year as it is supposed to be the 'dry season'.

I have booked four nights here in Broome but will probably stay two more nights until the 30th June so that I can attend to necessary end of financial year paperwork for my super fund.

I think it will be another restless night tonight.  The rain has stopped but the humidity makes it so hard to sleep.  Even the locals are complaining.  

Pardoo Roadhouse to Stanley Rest Area - 249km

I left Pardoo Roadhouse yesterday morning and headed for 80 mile beach which is ten kilometres off the highway along a dirt road.  The road was very rough and badly corrugated after recent heavy rains, so after driving a short distance I decided to turn around and head back onto the highway.  I think the exhaust may have come loose after an earlier trip along a corrugated road, so I didn't want to make it worse.  I will get the Toyota people to check it out when I have it serviced next Friday in Broome.

I carried on along the highway, topped up with fuel at the Sandfire Roadhouse as the next service was nearly 300km away, and stopped for the night at the Stanley Rest Area.

I will stay here at the Stanley Rest Area again tonight, and tomorrow I will head for the Goldwire Rest Area which is only about 90km further along the highway.  I will probably stay there for two nights and then decide where to head to next.  Looking at the map it is approx 190km to Broome from Goldwire Rest Area.

Pardoo Roadhouse

Well, I've woken up to another very windy but lovely sunny day.   I have decided to move on to the next stop where ever that may be.

There is a plentiful supply of bore water here so yesterday I decided to wash the van.  What a job!!  I couldn't believe how dirty it was.  There was even a dead bird wedged in between the cabin roof and the van.  I couldn't get it as clean as I would like, because all the dead insects stick like glue and I couldn't reach a couple of spots, but it is looking a lot cleaner than it was.

I was tempted to fill up my water tanks but decided not to.  All the tap fittings and water pipes here are badly corroded and eaten away so  I suspect the bore water has a high mineral content.  It could play havoc with the hot water service and fittings in my van so I will wait until I reach Broome.

Pardoo Roadhouse

I have decided to stay here at Pardoo for another night.  I was going to move on to the next free camp, but it is so windy today I think it best to stay put.  The wind feels like it is almost gale force.  The van is rocking and rolling, so I can imagine what it would be like trying to drive along the highway - not much fun and hard work trying to stay on the road.

Port Hedland to Des Streckfuss Rest Area - 126km

Catch up time again.

Sunday 16^th June  -  Port Hedland to Des Streckfuss Rest Area  -  126km

The turn off to Marble Bar is about 50km East of Port Hedland along the Great Northern Highway.   I never rush to get moving, so left Port Hedland about lunch time and headed for the Des Streckfuss rest area to stay for the night before heading into Marble Bar the next morning.  I can never understand why some people rush off early in the morning when, like me, they are not traveling to any set timetable.   There are stray animals and wildlife all along the highway and it is not wise to travel too early or late in the afternoon.  The highway is littered with dead cattle and kangaroos - most of them probably the result of being hit by road trains.

The first 70 kilometres heading towards Marble Bar is flat uninteresting scrub land, then the rugged brown and green hills of the Pilbara start to appear on the horizon as you travel further inland.  The highway crosses several rivers along the way and there are flood markers all along the road, and in some parts the road is actually built on the river bed, so in the wet season it would be impossible to get through.   In a few places there were pools of water lapping at the edge of the bitumen, probably the result of very heavy unseasonal rains which fell a couple of weeks ago. 

Monday 17^th June  -  Des Streckfuss Rest Area to Marble Bar  (79km) then return to Grey River Rest Area on Great Northern Highway  -  268km all up.

Marble Bar is a very small town with just a few houses, a police station and a few other government agencies as well as a roadhouse which is also the post office, bank, general store and petrol station.  After looking around I drove about 4km out of town to a very pretty spot called Chinaman’s Pool, which is an expanse of water at the bottom of a gorge.  There were water birds everywhere including a pelican, and the trees were full of cockatoos.   It was a lovely oasis in the middle of nowhere.  I stayed for about an hour and had lunch then made the 80 km trip back to the Des Streckfuss Rest Area where I was going to stay again for the night before heading back out on to the highway the following day, but when I arrived there was a group of aborigines who had settled in to have a few drinks, so I decided the wisest thing to do would be to head back out on to the highway and drive to the next rest stop which is  the Grey River Rest Area.  It is very pretty on the edge of the river, so I decided to have a break for a couple of days before heading off again.

I have the van booked in for service at Broome on the 28^th June, so I am not in any rush to move on.  Broome is about five to six hundred kilometres away and at this time of year everywhere is usually booked out, but apparently there are overflow areas set aside in a few areas, so hopefully I won’t have any problem finding somewhere to stop for a few days.

Tuesday 18^th June

It is a bit coolish with light rain on and off today, so a good reason to stay put and have a rest before heading off again.  The forecast is for sunny weather again tomorrow.

Wednesday 19th June  -  Grey River Rest Area to Pardoo Roadhouse  -  75km

I was filling up with fuel at the Roadhouse earlier today when I made the snap decision to stay here for the night.  It is only $15 per night and because of the cloudy weather the past couple of days I thought it would be a good idea to plug into power overnight and top up the batteries.  It is quite a nice little spot in behind the Roadhouse with several grassy caravan sites.  They even have a couple of washing machines, so I decided to strip my bed and do a couple of loads of washing.  I had intended to do my washing in Port Hedland, but surprisingly they don't have any laundromats, so it was good to be able to catch up with it here.

Des Streckfuss Rest Area:

Approaching Marble Bar:

Government Buildings in Marble Bar.  Built 120 years ago:

Marble Bar Gym:

Main street, Marble Bar:

Chinaman's Pool:

De Grey River rest area:

Parked behind Pardoo Roadhouse:

Tom Price to Port Hedland - 430km

I've been out of phone range again, so the following is catch up:

Thursday 13^th June:  Tom Price to Munjina Gorge  -  140km

After a fretful night worrying about Oscar I went on the Rio Tinto Hamersly mine tour this morning.  Normally I can put Oscar in a kennel and not think about him, but when I saw the kennel/pound, I felt really anxious.  It was a basic open tin shed with about six runs, in a paddock out in the middle of nowhere.   There were two other dogs as well as Oscar, but without anyone around to keep an eye on them overnight I was concerned.   When I picked him up the next day it took several hours for him to settle down, and the first thing he did was drink water like there was no tomorrow, so he was obviously too stressed to have a drink while he was there.

I enjoyed the Rio Tinto tour, and the tour guide was very knowledgable with lots of impressive facts and figures.  It was interesting watching the giant trucks emerge from the mine with their loads of oar then returning down the hill again to get another load.   There are about six open pits, but we only saw one which was about half a kilometre deep.   The ore is shipped to the coast four times per day by train which is two and half kilometres long and pulled by four huge locomotives.  Each train load is worth about three million dollars.  Rio Tinto pay royalties to Gina Hancock for the Tom Price mine because she owns the land.  She receives royalties from several other mines in the Pilbara as well.  

After picking up Oscar I had lunch at King’s Lake,  a man made lake on the outskirts of Tom Price, then I headed for Munjina Gorge for the night.  On the way I had to pull off the highway three times to make way for mining equipment being transported to Tom Price.

I have been on the road for four months now and seen some beautiful places, especially when travelling around the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, but the Pilbara would have to come top of the list.  The scenery is just breathtaking and I'm so thankful that I have had the opportunity to experience this unique area.

Mount Unknown - Taken from Tom Price caravan park:

Rio Tinto Mine - one of the six pits.

 

 Kings Park, Tom Price:

One of the many wide loads being transported to the mines:

Munjina Gorge where I camped for the night:

Friday 14th June:  Munjina Gorge to Port Hedland  -  290km

I arrived at Port Hedland about 2.00pm and drove straight to the Information Centre which was near where the tankers arrive into the harbour.  I sat and watched the tugs pulling the tankers in for a while before heading out to the Port Hedland Golf Club which is used as the overflow when the caravan parks are full.  Port Hedland is such a busy place, and with road trains and mining trucks everywhere I was feeling really uptight and glad to get off the road.

I will catch up with washing, etc tomorrow before having a look around, and hopefully avoid the road trains.   I'm staying at the Golf Club for two nights and then on Sunday I will head for Marble Bar.  I will be out of phone range again for several days so not sure when I will add to my blog.

Port Hedland Shipping harbour:

Point Quobba to Tom Price - 784km

After several days with out phone signal it was nice to arrive in Tom Price today.  I have been making notes as follows: 

Point Quobba to Lake MacLeod rest area  -  170km

Sunday 9^th June.  As I journey North the scenery is ever changing.  The soil is changing colour to a deep orange/red the further North I go, and just after the Exeter turn off the landscape was dotted with termite nests – some about 2 meters high. 

Lake Macleod rest area to Barradale rest area  -  189kmMonday 10^th June.  

I passed the Tropic of Capricorn today, and and arrived at the Barradale rest area at lunch time.  I spent the afternoon sitting in the shade and there was not a fly to be seen.  Amazing! 

Barradale rest area to  Beasley River rest area  -  240km

Tuesday 11^th June.  Today I headed North for the Nanutarra Roadhouse to fill up ($1.90 per litre - ouch!!)  before turning off the main highway and heading towards Tom Price.    The road is bitumen all the way now and it was a fantastic drive to my overnight stop at the Beasley River rest area.   The scenery heading into the Pilbara is spectacular, dramatically changing from flat, dry bushland to red rocky hills covered in green tufted grassy looking plants.  From afar they look magnificent, but close up the plants are very deceiving.  Instead of being soft and grassy the tufts are like sharp needles.

  

Beasley River rest area to Tom Price  -  185km

I had a good run into Tom Price.  I saw my first dingo today.  I saw it in time to slow down, and it sauntered across the road in front of me.  There is obviously plenty to feed on because it was in very good condition with lovely shiny coat - not like the dingos I have seen on TV.  Tom Price is like a little oasis in the desert.  Lush green lawns everywhere which was very unexpected.  I'm staying the night in a caravan park because I have booked to go on the Rio Tinto mine tour tomorrow morning.  I'm dropping Oscar off at a kennel at 4 pm this afternoon and will pick him up at lunch time tomorrow after the tour is finished.   I don't know who will be feeling more traumatised - Oscar or me.  Will write some more tomorrow before I leave Tom Price. 

 

Point Quobba

I have spent the past few days out of phone range, parked amongst the sand dunes, enjoying this spectacular location about 80km North of Carnarvon.

It covers a huge area and is a popular tourist spot because of the many blow holes along the cliffs.  There are lots of people camped in amongst the dunes – some of them stay for weeks at a time.  There is a lovely white sandy beach where people can swim, snorkel or fish.  I spent my time taking long walks in the morning and relaxing in the shade in the afternoon.

It is so good to get away from the colder weather as I head North.  It’s shorts and tee shirt weather from now on with clear blue skys and warm days.  The temperature these past few days has been about 25 degrees through the day dropping down to about 13 at night.

The turn off to Point Quobba is about 25km out of Carnarvon, so I have returned to Carnarvon this morning to make a few phone calls, catch up with emails and pay a couple of bills.  I'm not sure when I will be in phone range again, so thought it best to grab the opportunity while I can.  I'm heading to Port Hedland via Tom Price and I'm not sure if there will be an opportunity to top up with water, so I will fill my tanks before I leave. 

It has been a lovely few days apart from the first night when Oscar dug up some old fish heads.  Before I realised what he was doing he had eaten some and was rolling over them.  The stench was terrible.  I had to pick him up and take him down to the beach and thoroughly wash him, which was not very easy in the dark.  I managed to dispose of the fish under a heap of sand well out of reach, but four days later his breath still smells of dead fish.

I'm looking forward to heading off again.   The countryside is so different to that of the East coast.  I haven't seen a gum tree since before I reached Denham and as far as the eye can see there is just dry scrubland.   It is easy to see how people could become disorientated and lost out here if they ventured off the main highway.  It is very unforgiving territory.

View from lookout on way to Carnarvon.  You can just see the ocean in the distance.

 Blow hole:

Camped in amongst the sand dunes:

Beach on other side of sand dunes:

Sunset from top of sand dune.

Campsite from top of sand dune.

Geraldton to Overlander Road House - 476 km

Since leaving Geraldton I have been travelling slowly North and have just returned from Denham which is a 130km trip there and back from the  Overlander Roadhouse which is situated on the highway at the turnoff to Denham.  I have been free camping since I left Geraldton and last night I camped at Whalebone Bay which is about 20km out of Denham.  The drive to Denham is quite unique.  As far as the eye can see in every direction there are no trees to be seen - just native bushland the entire way.

I have been in contact with Chris and unfortunately she has decided not to continue our journey together.  She is still concerned about her van so she has decided to head back home.  Her son is going to travel with her to Melbourne then she is going to drive back up to Townsville from Melbourne.   The East coast is not as isolated as the West coast, so if she breaks down help will be close at hand.

I am parked at the roadhouse having lunch and catching up on phone calls before heading off again.  It will probably be a few days before I am in phone range again.

Lighthouse - Geraldton:

Overnight stop at Galena Bridge (Murchison River)

Denham

Scenery along road to Denham:

 

Overnight stop - Whalebone Bay: