Aug 2007

Due to a miscalculation in my itinerary plans, we have a bit of extra time before we get to our last booked destination – Broome. We decide to head to South Hedland to get a spot in a caravan park there. On the way we were crossed a road train which whipped up so much wind it blew off the cover to the front window to the van. The cover is so badly damaged there is no way it can be repaired, so will have to get it fixed at the next major destination – probably Broome or Darwin.

Port Hedland is not the most glamorous town in the North West but we managed to do a bit of exploring none the less. Iron ore exporting is what drives this town and it comes down from the iron ore mines in Newman some 400 Km to the south courtesy of some of the world’s longest trains. Even if you’re not interested in trains, it is an awesome sight to see 160 plus ore carriages being pulled along by 4 powerful diesel electric locomotives.

We were in town at the right time to see the Stairway To The Moon. This is a phenomenon whereby the rising moon is reflected off many pools of water on the tidal flats of the ocean creating a stairway effect. It is only possible to see when the tide is out (and it goes out a long way up here), and it’s a couple of days after a full moon. It is a stunning sight and we extend our stay from 2 to 3 nights just so we can see it again. We only thought this was possible to view in Broome, but knew we would be up there too late so this is an unexpected bonus. If you have time, google Stairway To The Moon to see what I’m talking about. Port Hedland is very windy whilst we are here and having temperatures in the mid to high 30’s means we are giving the air conditioner in the van a good workout!

After a shortish drive (155 K’s) we arrive at Auskii Roadhouse which is officially known as Munjina – this the where the turn off to Wittenoom is on the Gt Northern Hwy. Despite it’s spartan layout, it’s quite a good facility and much to our surprise, has no worries about water. We use the opportunity give the van and the car a well earned wash. It was good to finally out get all salt from the storm at Dongara all those weeks ago.

We returned to Dales Gorge and explored the parts we didn’t get to a couple of days ago. What a truly magic place this is. After walking down the very steep climb to the bottom we head for Circular Pool which is fed by a spring oozing from the rocks. Despite it being 34 degrees at the top of the gorge, it’s about 10 degrees cooler and stop to have lunch by the falls fed by Circular Pool.

We then head back along to gorge to Fortescue Falls where we went the other day and had a swim the pool. The water is quite cold (approx 12 degrees) and takes a bit of getting used to seeing it’s so hot here – glad we didn’t come here in the Summer!

To finish the day off we had our tea in the open air camp kitchen back at the roadhouse and was treated to a total eclipse of the moon which lasted about 90 minutes. We were lucky to be away from the light pollution of the city as we had a very clear view of it and was another one of those special moments. It’s day’s like this that justifies doing this trip.

We have been told by other travellers that Nanutarra Roadhouse is the second most expensive roadhouse in WA. Unleaded petrol was $1.56 per litre which is a lot less than I expected, but food and drink in the roadhouse was a bit on the pricey side. However at $20 a night for a powered caravan site, it was well worth it.

Off to Tom Price today which is one of the major iron ore mining towns in the Pilbara. It is a 353 Kilometre journey today and there is nothing until we reach Paraburdoo which is still 274 kilometres away. Once we head east the changes in the landscape are amazing. We are coming into the western parts of the Hamersley Range where a lot of WA’s mineral wealth is to be found, but it is an arid landscape despite the amount of flora. We eventually pull into Paraburdoo for some lunch before continuing onto Tom Price. The reason for staying at Tom Price is that it is a good base for exploring the western portions of Karijini National Park. However, the gravel roads to this part of the park are so rough we have to turn back approx 10 Kilometres short of our destination which is a major disappointment. We head over to Dales Gorge which is at the eastern end of the park where we climbed into the gorge which is on average 100 metres deep, and swim in the crystal clear pools which more than makes up for the earlier disappointment.

There is more to this part of the park to explore and leave this for our next leg in the journey as it’s closer. We travel almost 100 Km back to Tom Price.

For an area so heavily promoted by the State Government as a major tourist destination, it is disappointing to see a lack of spending in basic infrastructure such as bitumising roads to improve accessibility. Not everyone has access to a 4WD.

We are heading inland to the Pilbara mining town of Tom Price but because of the distance involved are having an overnight stay at Nanutarra Roadhouse, which is where the North West Coastal Hwy crosses the Ashburton River. We are doing this to break up the journey as it’s 634 Kilometres from Exmouth to Tom Price which is a bit far for us pulling a van at 90 Km/h.

It’s time we moved on again and this time it’s to the northern end of Ningaloo Reef at Exmouth. Exmouth has a bit of history to it having only been a town since 1967, but it is best known for bearing the brunt of Cyclone Vance in 1999 where the strongest wind gust has been recorded.(267 Km/h). You can read more about it here .

Exmouth has no wet or dry season – it’s lovely and sunny every day of the year unless a cyclone decides to drop some rain. There is a naval base just north of town and is home to the VLF transmitting station which is used to communicate to submarines around the world – being a radio enthusiast (and ham radio operator) this was a must see for me.

Along the spine of the North West Cape is the Cape Range National Park. We walked along the Yardie Creek Gorge and later in the day went swimming and snorkeling in the pristine waters shielded by the Ningaloo Reef. We also walked into the Mandu Mandu Gorge which was quite breathtaking. We know that as we head further north there will be more gorges to look at so this will give us a taste of things to come.

We spent a couple of evenings watching the sun set from the Vlamingh Lighthouse lookout – simply stunning. The best part of all was that we could see humpback whales swimming and frolicking in the waters off the cape. What a wonderful way to finish a day! We wish we could spend another day here but are grateful for the time we’ve had here. If you ever find yourself in the North West of WA Exmouth is a place worth checking out.

We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn the way to Coral Bay so we’ve finally made it to the tropics.

We are treated to days in the high 20’s and mild evenings and we know we have finally put the wintery weather of the south behind us. Coral Bay is very touristy and the cost of things here reflect that.

The main attraction here is the Ningaloo Reef which is how this place is promoted by Tourism Commission. We went on a 2 hour cruise on a glass bottom boat plus I did some snorkeling. The coral whilst it was stunning it all it’s shapes and sizes was a dull brown in colour, not all the colours of the rainbow as you see in the tourist brochures. Why do they do this? All it does is disappoint you when you get there. Besides that, it was wonderful none the less and the fish are very friendly as you swim them. I also spotted a

We were also treated to some of the most stunning sunsets we’ve seen to date, which is the prefect way to finish the day there.

The weather was pleasant and mostly sunny, but for most of the week we were here, it was very windy. We also felt we overstayed our welcome here as Carnarvon is not the most attractive place on the WA coast. There are things to do and places to see, but we could have done it in four days. There is also a vibe you get in this place which reminds me a lot of the more drab suburbs of Perth such as Balga or Langford (those of you who live in Perth will know what we’re referring to). Added to that, the caravan park we stayed at was like being in a retirement village. It was geared towards the 100's of retirees that head up from the southern parts of WA at this time of year. There were endless bowls tournaments, bingo nights etc and it made us feel quite out of place and made us want to head out of town even more.

A couple of weeks ago Carnarvon had a lot of rain in a short space of time, which made the NW Coastal Hwy to the south of town impassable. There were detours in place so we managed to navigate our way around.

The Gascoyne river was interesting to see (if you could) as most of it runs underground except when a cyclone has dumped a lot of rain in it’s catchment area, and then it quite a large torrent. There were places where we could walk of the river bed and the banks of the river are 200-300 metres wide and up to 7 metres deep. One such place was called Rocky Pool which is 55 Kilometres to the NE of town. This is a permanent waterhole on the river and was part of the mail run serviced by Charles Kingsford-Smith between Carnarvon and Mt Augustus. Here it felt like we were in a billabong that bush poets over the years have written of, and felt we were in a very special part of this country.

Another special place we discovered was the blowholes which is on Point Quobba 75 Kilometres to the North. We have seen some spectacular coastline on the south coast of WA near Albany, but this was something else. The sheer force of the blowhole (and there are a few of them here) was defending at times – terrifying but strangely magnetic at the same time. We also did a bit of beachcombing as well and made a good addition to Denise’s shell collection, as well as watching all the teeming marine life in the rock pools. Well worth the 49 Kilometres off the NW coastal Hwy if you’re going past Carnarvon.

As I said at the beginning, great to be out of here and next stop is one of the major tourist destinations in WA – Coral Bay and the Ningaloo Reef.

For the first time on this trip, Denise takes control of towing the caravan. She says it’s a little nerve racking but passes with flying colours. On the way to Denham, we call into Hamelin Pool which is at the southern extent of Shark Bay. Here is a collection of unique organisms called Stromatolites – the oldest known form of life on earth and one of the reasons for Shark Bay’s World Heritage listing. You can read more about here .

We only have 3 days here but the highlight for us was our visit to Monkey Mia where Denise was selected to feed one of the dolphins.

We also visit places such as shell beach but our main focus here is to relax and enjoy the pristine waters and environment, plus a spot of shell collecting which there are no shortage in this part of the world! On our last evening there, we take a bottle of wine, some nibbles, and watch the most stunning sunset we’ve seen together.

We reluctantly have to leave this paradise for a week’s stay in Carnarvon.

What a contrast to Dongara. Beautiful clear sunny days, but the nights are chilly <brrr>

We visited the seahorse sanctuary which is run by a couple of Marine Biologist who breed seahorses. You can visit their web site here .

We also visited Rainbow Jungle which is a place for breeding Australian birds.

You can visit them online here . It’s highly recommended if you’re in Kalbarri.

There are some stunning landscapes in Kalbarri – the coastline to the south of town but still in the National Park,

and the Murchison Gorge to the east. Simply stunning!

We explored the gorges of the National Park the last day we were there (7th Aug) and it was the only rainy day we had there. There was quite a bit of rain and it made the gravel roads very muddy and half the park ended up in the wheel arches of the car! It looked like we had been in the outback for a couple of years!

Kalbarri has been a wonderful stop and we'd like to stay a bit longer, but Denham in the Shark Bay area is calling

We may have left the city, but we can't seem to escape the weather (not far North enough yet!). A strong frontal storm blew through on Monday 30th, and with us only being about 200m from the beach, copped the brunt of it. A lesson we learnt at the park in Perth was to bring in the awning in during high winds. In fact, we never put it out the whole time we were here. We did a bit of exploring namely to Greenough (pronounced Gren-uff) and the mouth of the Greenough River. A lot of the trees don't seem to get much break from the wind as they are all leaning over.

We also spent a day at Geraldton but found it to be an unremarkable place. We did go to see the Pinnacles (in the Nambumg National Park) which is a major tourist attraction, and lots of tour companies do day trips here from Perth.

Despite the weather, we really enjoyed our stay here.