27th – 28th Aug - Exmouth

We arrived in Exmouth late morning after a really good run from Barradale.  The park we moved into was full so they placed us in an overflow area which was quite comfortable.  We are finding almost everywhere we go at the moment the parks are full.  Apart from tourists such as we are there are still southern residents who are staying long term in the warmer weather and those who had moved as far as Broome for the winter are now on their way back home.

 Exmouth is an extremely interesting town.  Originally established as a Australian / USA Naval radio tracking base in grazing country it later developed as a fishing industry support town and now its major attraction is tourism.  Supporting the Naval Radio Base is a RAAF base which appears mostly to be a sleeper although there were two Orion submarine tracker aircraft sitting on the tarmac.  The peninsula on which Exmouth is placed is bordered on the west by Ningaloo Reef and on the east by Exmouth Gulf.  Both have crystal clear waters and white sands / coral grit.  The western side of the peninsula is home to the Cape Range National Park. 

A small section of radio antennas making up the Naval Radio Base.
Photo is taken from adjoining beach in Exmouth Gulf.

 The coast around the cape is almost totally accessible to the public apart from one short stretch around the Naval Base.  The beaches are a mixture of white sand and light coloured pebbles.  There are short lengths of beach at the point where surfers had opportunity to pick up a wave but most of the ocean front coast is protected by Ningaloo Reef.  This reef offers divers & snorkelers many opportunities.  Reef viewing boats operate from several points.  In May to July the famous Whale Sharks swim through these waters and attract many diver tourists but while we were here we saw whales, turtles and dolphins swimming quite close to shore. 

The surf beach at the point from the lighthouse.

The lighthouse

Inner beach near town looking toward the point.

We spent a great day exploring Cape Range National Park.  This is a coastal park bordered by a range of hills approximately 200 metres high, (high for this area).  There were some great views over beaches bordering clear blue seas.  The water in every case was calm due to the bordering reef.  One could see the surf hitting the reef about 300 metres from shore but this resulted in some beautiful peaceful lagoons inside the reef.

One of many such beaches.  The water colour is accurate. 
Note the surf on the outer reef in background.

We were looking for a shady tree but they were all taken.

There was also a bird hide looking through mangroves over a small lagoon viewing migratory shore birds.  For us we did not visit this site at a suitable time for the best viewing.

A few klms along the road and we came to Turquoise Bay.  Two small coral cays about 500 metres wide greeted us and scores of people were enjoying swimming and snorkelling.  The water really was turquoise and the beach glary white.  It certainly was a popular place.

One side of Turquoise Bay.

Side 2 of TB.  Scores of people were snorkeling here.

In the nearby carpark the neighbours were partying. 
Theres always a galah somewhere.

Then in contrast we reached Yardie Creek.  Here was a small narrow gorge through which Yardie Creek ran down to a lagoon closed off from the sea by a sand bar.  It was not a long gorge but it was in total contrast to the surrounding landscape.  A boat trip was available however we chose the walk which took us up one side of the valley where we could look back toward the sea.  The walls of the gorge were a deep red ochre colour with areas of white stain through the seams.  The colour of the walls together with the green of the shrubs with the white sand and blue sea in the background certainly was a picture to remember.

Yardie Creek Gorge.

The upper gorge.

Looking south down the gorge.

The moth of Yardie Creek sanded over.

The actual range ran parallel to the coast at about 200 metres high. It was more a range of hills than a mountain range. The rock formation was unique in that it often appeared like a man made retaining wall in structure.

Cape Range.

Cape Range is a really special place.  Apart from the birds mentioned previously we saw kangaroos and emus.

Our stay in Exmouth was short but wonderful.  This is really a place that everyone should see.

25th – 27th Aug Coral Coast North

Having left Point Samson it was almost immediately that we re-entered the mining world of the Pilbara.  Driving east to Roebourne on the North West Coastal Highway and then turning south there was this continuous passing of utes & 4WDs decked out in the mining safety colours.  We were heading to Karratha which is one of the major towns in this mining area.  Ian’s work over the last ten years of employment had kept him constantly in contact with the company’s operations in the Pilbara and other WA industrial areas and here he wanted to compare the actual picture of the area to the mental picture he had built up over many years.

It was only about 45 klms from Point Samson to Karratha and there were many mine sites visible as we travelled this short distance.  We had not realised how close to the coast actual mining took place.  In Karratha there was quite a large industrial area which supports industry but even bigger was the industrial estate being developed by the government group Landcorp.  The town itself was very much of the style of a mining township with the local govt offices, the mining company offices and the shopping Centre taking up the centre.  Then in some of the other businesses including preschools and schools, medical centres etc formed the next radius followed by accommodation and community buildings in the next circle.  Mining companies really do seem to cover all necessities when the design and build a supporting township.  Having said that they still seem to be a sterile environment with only limited ownership by the residents.

 Not far out of this small central area however was a very large housing estate in several stages of completion.  Here again we heard that houses were being rented out for thousands of dollars per week.  To construct these builders were being employed on a fly in fly out basis as there were insufficient tradespeople available.  This growth needs to be seen to be believed.

We moved on to Dampier on the coast just 20 klms away.  This is a most beautiful area with the Dampier Archipelego surrounding the port.  The water was that turquoise colour again and there was a special little boat harbour filled with both commercial boats and pleasure craft.  At the end of the point wharfs again loaded very large bulk ore tankers while many more lay waiting offshore.  Extremely long ore trains freight the ore almost to the pier. 

Salt pans in foreground - part of very long ore train in background.

Picture of contrasts - pleasure& work boats,
salt piles and mining plant fronted by God's garden

Sam's Island - an original inhabitant of Dampier.

Contrasts in shipping - Dampier.

There were a few houses as well as hotels, bowls clubs, sailing clubs etc and this appeared to be the recreation area as well as the port.  On the next point adjacent but inaccessible to visitors was the bulk gas facility where LNG is shipped.  We were only there a short time but it was an eye opener for us.

Small gas facility along highway.

 Back on the road and heading south we travelled most of the day and stopped to camp up about 3:00pm at a roadside reststop called Barradale on the Yannarie River.  This is real bush camping but with reasonable environmental facilities.  There was some 40 plus vans and motorhomes parked up for the night.  Definitely not a lonely site.  The mix of van parks, camping grounds and roadside stops certainly gives us an all round taste of vanning life.

Wild flowers abound along the highway.

 Next stop - Exmouth!

22nd – 24th Aug. Port Hedland – Point Samson

Well south we went.  We took a short look around Port Hedland.  Ian had many business communications with the mining areas of Central West Australia and he really wanted to absorb a mind picture of many of these towns.

Port Hedland is a real boom mining town.  The streets were full of white utes with yellow safety stripes indicating vehicles fitted out for use in mining sites.  While the growth of this town has certainly exploded the local council certainly has set out to ensure that the town still looks attractive with many parks and playgrounds.

One of many accomodation blocks for mining staff.

A stockpile reclaimer which loads ore onto the conveyors onto ships.

An ore tanker waiting to be loaded.  There were many more anchored offshore.

There are many examples oflocal council attempts to beautify a mining town.

In a busy industrial town there are some quiet gardens.

Then having a short look around and then refuelling we continued our journey south.  Initially we continued to see many mining vehicles including large road trains but slowly we moved out of the close mining area to find lesser heavy vehicle movements.

Another mining road train delivering from one of many mines.

 That night we stopped by the roadside in a camp at West Peawah River.  There were about ten other vans / tents here by nightfall.  The amazing thing about this stop was that when we went to speak to people in the van next to ours we found that they came from the very next street to ours at home in Bli Bli.  We have common friends in one of our neighbours Bob & Barbara Poole.  How small a world this is, that we should meet our neighbours when we were directly across the other side of this great nation.

 And then we moved on to Point Samson, a small holiday village in the midst of mining activity mid way between Port Hedland and Karratha.   We stopped at one of the best equipped van parks we have ever visited.  This small town of about 350 people is an attractive fishing village which has a history as a port going back to the late eighteen hundreds.  We walked around the town and had change left out of one hour.

Honeymoon Bay, Point Samson.

Min Beach Gardens Point Samson

Landscape Gardens - memorial to historic wharf, Point Samson.

 Then we explored a closeby village of Cossack.  Cossack was the original port for the gold mining area or Roebourne before the tidal problems caused the port to be moved to Point Samson.  Recently the local people with some funding from two governments have restored a lot of old buildings in Cossack.  Most of the original buildings were destroyed  after a cyclone hit in 1898 but a few buildings remained and now have been restored.  One can walk around the town and small placards advise where buildings originally stood even if they no longer remain.  Some photos here will give a sense of the work that has been completed by such a small community.

Historic Cossack Court House

Historic General Store.  Only building to withstand cyclone in 1998.

Restored historic Customs & Bond Store - Cossack

Just to the south of Point Samson is the iron ore ship loading facility of Camp Lambert.  From the point we could see four ships loading ore while six others waited out to see.  Giant ore reclaimers worked picking up the ore from stockpiles and loading it on to conveyors which took the ore out along the pier to the ship loader.  This is only one of many ship loading facilities along this coast.

Ships loading at nearby Cape Lambert.

 There is a large population of mining employees working here.  A neighbour in the park told me that renting a four bedroom home here in Point Samson costs between $1500 and $2500 per week.  Any takers?

 We have used this top as a bit of a rest stop and a catch up on cleaning etc.  Tomorrow we head off again through more mining areas as we head south.

19th – 21st Aug. - South from Broome.

The Kimberley’s were always our planned destination in this long awaited journey.  Originally we had planned just to come here and then to return home by the same path.  So many plans have changed since then and even now we only look a couple of days ahead now.  Leaving Broome we counted this as the start of our journey home. It may take a couple of months but a start it is.

 The country continually changes as we move around this great nation.  Once we head south the great flat plains continue but for a while the trees disappear to reveal vast grasslands.  Cattle stations make up most of the pastoral and farming activities in this corner of Australia.

Traffic is not heavy and we meet oncoming vehicles about every four to five minutes.  We are surprised s to how few trucks we meet considering that there are no rail lines to the Kimberleys.  When we set out we had not finally decided on our destination .  We arrived at the turnoff for the first option (Barnhill Station) before 9:30am so decided this was far too early to be making a stop.  We travelled on another 200 klms to Sandfire Roadhouse (first fuel stop after Broome) where we stopped for fuel.  There were two distillate bowsers here but one was taken up by a drilling contractor who was filling up a large tank so he could refuel his rigs on site.  The line up of caravans at the other bowser was as long as the fleet of trucks demonstrating on the streets or Canberra this week.  Quite a sight.

 Then we headed off toward the coast and set up camp at Eighty Mile Beach, a beautiful white sand beach in as remote a spot as any in Oz.  Here a Caravan Park had been established on cattle station property and thousands of vans pass through this place every year.  This stop for us (two nights) was a most relaxing time.  A short 40 metre walk and we were on the beach and for Alice this meant collecting hundreds of seashells of all different varieties and sizes.

A different meaning to "drive down to the beach".

Hundreds of klms from town but 260 camp sites full.

 As we have found so often in this journey these remote places often cut us off in communications.  Here the tv and phone only just came into range and only at night.  We had a great rest here and have some pleasant memories.

One of the main activities at this camp.

The outgoing tide forms its own sculpture in the fine sand.

And as always the day ends.

 From Eighty Mile Beach we moved to Cape Keraudren, a shire council reserve about 130 klms further south.  (From Ian)

Alice picks up the story here:-

Every now and then we find ourselves in a breathtakingly beautiful place. Here the winds sing a song to join the choir of seagulls. The turquoise or coral blue water is just stunning as it makes its way into Cape Keraudren to echo full tide.  Tiny birds flutter among the small green shrubs which line the red rugged cliffs. These form a green border along with the white flowers, on the pretty blue bay. This bay is quickly changing as waves are now gently starting to bounce of the red rocks. It is gentle place.

Cape Keraudren - view from our camp site.

A call from nature and off the visit the pit loo was really quite different.   As I approached the little white building a large thick tail was half way out of loo2. It was a mummy roo having a drink from the flush bucket. Returning with my camera she stood up and I caught a peek of a tiny Joey popping his nose out to look at this somewhat surprised visitor to her toilet. My next dilemma was how to get into the toilet…?  Thinking for a moment (urged on by nature) I decided to speak to the roo and told her to come off the ramp  which she did. Good roo. ! Whew.

Now is this the mens or the womens?

Once back to the van I needed a coffee I turned to the sink and discovered Mummy roo was very clever. She followed me into the van. Ian awoke in a sudden start half asleep he was trying to figure out how to assist mummy roo out. Alice however wanted a photo first. After all such bush visitors are on the list of a little unusual. But since she had a baby in her pouch I’m sure our van looked wonderful retreat from the hot sun and maybe she would get a free lunch.

Uninvited visitor.

Feeling totally relaxed I know to get great photos I will need to leave my comfy chair. Neighbors told us whales were frolicking in the bay earlier this morning. I wonder what we will see on our walk.

Packing a small backpack and water, we headed for the beautiful horizon. A beautiful cliff scene lay before us. We suddenly felt the urge to get adventurous. And decided to follow a obvious roo trail towards the cliffs A dead end but lovely photo shot, Mummy roo has a nice view too.

God's garden by the sea!

The perfect fishing spot.  We met couples who have been here for over 3 months.

Backtracking we rejoined the path and once over the hill a majestic blue Indian ocean lay in our sights. This oh course was bordered by God’s garden with light and dark pinks mingled among variances of sage and dark green foliage dotted with pretty yellow pin head flowers all back by red ochre rocks Ian felt they were probably a ancient laver flow , they were very unusual with lots of holes.  Somewhat different a path, but by now we were happy we didn’t take the advice of the ranger to 4wd with our van to find a camp spot. The camp spots were amazing million $ views not bad for 20 bucks.

 We wandered for what seemed a long time stopping to enjoy a blowhole and turtles bouncing on the glistening ocean.  We sat down and ate our snacks watching the distant sand cliffs of 80mile beach and softly bouncing waves roll in and out over the sand. We met a camper packing up. He had been here 3 months. It would be easy to forget there really was a sad world outside the beauty and stillness of this place.

And as always the day ended, and God saw that it was good!

 Once back in camp we rounded our day by another short stroll and then a wonderful crimson red sunset over the ocean and bay. What a lovely day. Tomorrow - where?  Who knows where but it should be south. 

17th August - The Horizontal Waterfalls

We have enjoyed some amazing experiences during this journey but few if any would surpass our journey to the Talbot Bay.  This was something that we have desired to do since well before we left home and we were not to be disappointed.

North of Broome is some of the most amazing wilderness coastline in the world.  Time and funds limited us from seeing all of this but many small cruisers are available to take tourists in and out of the many bays and gulfs that make up the coast line from Broome to Wyndham. 

In particular Talbot Bay (just north of King Sound in which Derby is situated) was one of the bays that have been highlighted in documentaries filmed by the late Malcolm Douglas and also David Attenborough and I am sure many others.  The tides in this area are reported to be the second highest in the world behind an area in Nova Scotia.  In Talbot Bay they can reach 13 metres but average out at ten metres so an enormous amount of water moves in and out of this bay twice per day.  The mountainous terrain that borders these bays act like fingers of a hand reaching out and separating the water into narrow coves.  In two of these fingers are situated narrow but very deep breaks or openings.  The larger of the two is 23 metres wide and 45 metres deep.  The other is narrower at 7 metres wide.  As the tides rise and fall the water rushes into and then out of these gaps to fill the small coves between the fingers.  In the larger of these gaps the water movement at its peak reaches over one million litres per second.  That is the equivalent of one thousand tonnes per second.  The narrowness of these gaps restricts the natural flow so the water builds up on one side of the gap producing a difference in water height which can reach 5 metres.  Hence David Attenborough gave these phenomena the name “The Horizontal Waterfalls”.

Our journey commenced with an early morning (5:30am) pick up from our accommodation and a one hour flight by float plane from Broome across the Dampier Peninsula and King Sound to Talbot Bay.  It was just after sunrise as we flew across these areas so while the views from the plane were spectacular the photos we took were quite dark. 



Our float plane for the trip.

Our early morning view.

Then as we approached the bay the pilot began to circle the bay and we were treated to an aerial view of the spectacle we had come to see.  Our excitement grew as we viewed this rush of water and looked forward in anticipation for the closer view to come.

As we saw it first.

The plane landed on the bay, (another novelty for us) and then taxied to a pontoon anchored adjacent to the falls.  Here a young crew were waiting to greet us and load us aboard a fast rigid inflatable boat to get that view we had come to see.  And man was it a fast boat.  For those interested in boats this 10 seat boat was powered by 2 x 300 HP outboard motors.  There was no time to lose according to our hosts as we had to see the water flowing at its peak.

600HP boat we rode.

Onboard we sat astride cushioned seats each with its own handle bar and within an instant we were at full speed.  The first gap we came to was the wider of the two and the boat nosed right up to the fall and then just sat there as if it was all a bit too hard.  Whirlpools were forming and moving around on both sides of us.  Then the skipper backed off and gave us a briefing on this amazing spectacle.  Then we heard the command “Hold on!!” and away we went headed for the first fall and bounced through the gap at amazing speed into the next bay.  Across this bay we went heading for the second gap.  Again we nosed up to this formidable rush of water.  The boat was bouncing from side to side and any photos we were taking were with one hand only.  We do admit to being a little concerned but the adrenalin rush was overcoming this somewhat.  Then again the skipper backed off and pulled away to the side.  He explained that crossing this gap at this point was a very risky act and there had been an average of 12 incidents a year where people had to be rescued.  At 7 metres wide and the boat over 2 metres wide it was a wise move to back off.  Later on at low tide we would have the chance to traverse the area and into the final pool.

Thrill seeking Kimberley style.

Whichever way you look at it there is a lot of water.

Back to the pontoon for breakfast and a chance to share our excitement with all around.  After breakfast we had a chance to swim in a shark proof cage moored to the pontoon.  A cool breeze persuaded most of us to pass on this.  But to add spice the crew began to feed the fish and sharks that came up to the boat.  I must admit that I have forgotten the breed of shark that made up the bulk of the fish but they were not man eaters apart from one Bull Shark which did not make its appearance on the day we were there.  There was also a Queensland Groper that hid away below the pontoon until enticed out with a tasty morsel.

The Pontoon.

Scratching the nose of the sharks

After breakfast we boarded the boat again and revisited the second gap.  This time we rode right through – still bouncing around but not as rough as would have been before.  Then we explored the rest of Talbot Bay.  The boat crew actually spend eight months of the year living in the bay.  They have purchased an old pontoon from a pearling company and have set it up in Cyclone Creek, a sheltered area named because it is used as a shelter from cyclones.  Here they have trained some various varieties of fish to come for food.  We visited this pontoon not to see the dwelling as much as to see these “pets”.  Here they have trained one species to allow themselves to be picked up and to eat from a human hand.  They actually appear quite comfortable to be picked up.  They definitely love the food.

Revisiting the gap.  Note the high tide mark on the rock walls.

The crew's shack.  They live here for eight months each year.

Hand feeding the pets.

Moving on to explore more of the bay we passed a large salty that calls this space his home also.  Then back to the main pontoon for the flight home.

More a neighbour than a pet.

All the scenery is good.

The flight back to Broome took us over the beautiful Buccaneer Archipelago (over 1000 islands in this group), across Cape Leveque at the top of the Dampier Peninsula, over Willie Creek pearl farm and down the coast to Broome.  We came back into land over Cable Beach so we gained another view from a different aspect.

Buccaneer Archipeligo - over 1000 islands.

Cape Leveque on Dampier Peninsula.

Coming in to land.  The lights on the dash read "Low Fuel"!

This was trip to remember.  The Kimberleys is a true wilderness.  We had seen a spectacle possibly unique in the world and it left a great impression.