Out of the Pilbara and into the Kimberley

Mon 17 June – Drove out to Karratha for diesel and continued out on a detour to Cape Lambert and our camp at Point Samson.  We stopped at Wickham to buy wine, but casks are not allowed in this area, so we ended up with 6 bottles. The camp was full of retired oldies, but it had a nice beach and a swimming pool which we made good use of. Early in the evening we watched the full moon rise over the ocean. The effect is called the “staircase to the moon”.

Tues 18 June – We left the camp and hoped to drive to an overlook of the ships loading iron ore. All we found was a security gate (NO ENTRY) and no view.  Back down the cape for a couple of kms to the historic town of Cossack. We had booked a night at Settlers Beach and met the host at 11:00am to fill in a permit, as we were in an aboriginal reserve. The town of Cossack was fascinating with many of the original buildings including a huge court house, now long since abandoned. There were only two permits issued for Settlers Beach. Our camp was right on the beach which was beautiful stretched for miles. In the distance we could see the iron ore ships waiting for their turn to go to the docks and load. At low tide in the evening we joined the other couple for a walk out onto the beach to get the view of the “staircase to the moon”. It was a better view than last night but still not quite living up to expectations.

Wed 19 June – We will be isolated for the next 7 days, so we picked up a few things going thru Wickham, tried to get water but failed, and drove 150kms to the Yule River, another great overnight free camp in the gum trees. A very hot day. The temperatures are now around 30C during the day. We joined two other couples for a great camp fire.

Thurs 20 June – This was our longest drive this year, made even longer by having to go 52kms off track to top up on fuel. We turned south and inland down the Great Northern Highway as we are doing a 700km detour down into the Karijini National Park. We stopped for the night at the Auski Roadhouse. There were many road trains heading north to Port Hedland full of iron ore. Truck plus 4 trailers. At one stage a road train showered us with gravel. We now have a crack in our windscreen! Will try and get thru this year’s trip before getting it fixed. Windscreens for “Andy” could be a bit hard to source in this part of Aussie! The Roadhouse is another base for the mine workers, transported to and from the mine sites in buses. In the evening it started to rain.

Fri 21 June – We had a bit more rain in the night and it was much cooler. Only bore water available, so we filled our buckets (washing and dishes only) and drove 88kms into the Karijini National Park. We had booked 3 nights there. After the Auski Roadhouse the country changed from flat scrub to rugged red rock hills reminding us of the red rocks and buttes of Utah. We were surprised by the amount of water on the road and were told by the hosts that they had had 40mm of rain overnight.

 We walked down to look at the Fortescue Falls accessed by a long steel staircase into the Dale Gorge. The pools in the gorge were very muddy. Hopefully this will clear before we leave.

Sat 22 June – A much warmer morning with breakfast outside. We checked the weather forecast and found that it is on the improve. We decided to delay our long walk down into the Dale Gorge until tomorrow. We walked the rim of the gorge to the Circular Pool, also fairly discoloured.

Sun 23 June – Left for our walk around 11:00am setting off along the rim track in the opposite direction from yesterday. Access down into the gorge was via a steep but well formed track with a steel ladder at one stage. We walked up to Circular Pool which had cleared and was very lovely. Back down the gorge. 

A great walk over slabs of rock and thru some shallow pools. The red rocks above were spectacular. Back at Fortescue Falls we walked the short track to the Fern Pool. The whole day was a great walk of 6.5kms making the trip into the National Park worth the drive.

Mon 24 June – Back on the road out of the park, passed Auski Roadhouse and on to a beautiful roadside stop for the night. We were away from the road overlooking the gum trees and bush. About 10 vans in for the night.

Tues 25 June – We followed a road train for most of our drive to Port Hedland. Fortunately, they travel at about the same speed as us. They would be a bugger to pass! We shopped before driving to the Council sponsored free RV park beside the local race course. There were about 60 vans in for the night. Great for the local business.

Wed 26 June – We biked thru the residential areas and along the waterfront to the port. This is the biggest iron ore exporting port. We counted 22 ships out on the horizon waiting their turn to come into the wharves and load. The noise of the iron ore loading and the huge trains bringing the ore was quite loud especially at night. Just before we locked our bikes and went to the Esplanade Hotel for lunch, Val’s bike got a puncture. Several “bindies” (hard little thorns) in the front tyre. The lunch was great with beers, out in the garden. Back to the puncture! We wheeled the bikes to a nearby Beaurepaires and managed to inflate it as much as we dared and rode fast until it was flat again. Fortunately, we were only a couple of 100 meters from a service station and repeated the process and managed to get all the way back to “Andy”.

Thurs 27 June – Headed out of Port Hedland to South Hedland where we managed to buy a tube. We are off to Broome, 600kms north east and will take 3 days for the trip. Only a short drive of 150kms today. Had to stop at a railway crossing for an iron ore train. 4 engines and 208 wagons. It took some time to pass!! The Pardoo Roadhouse was great as we needed to do a huge laundry and it even had a small cooling swimming pool. I fitted the tube and gave the bottom half of “Andy” a rough wash.

Fri 28 June – A longer drive today (242kms) over very flat country. In the cyclone/wet season this road floods, isolating Broome. It was the hottest day yet (35C) and calm so we kept driving to our overnight stop at a rest area. At sunset we joined a group where one guy playing a guitar. He was a good guitarist but he managed to butcher every song, even “Pub With No Beer” which I thought that would be impossible!

Sat 29 June – A strong head wind for most of our drive to Broome. We had booked a camp and got the last site. We will be here for at least 3 nights. After swapping our gas bottle we eventually pulled into the camp on a nice shady site. Many of the campers here are grey nomads escaping the cold winter in Perth. We walked thru the camp which is situated on Town Beach. Looks good for a swim when the tide is in.

Sun 30 June – It is now quite hot in the night and the fan I installed last year over our bed may come into play shortly. We have decided to stay 4 nights here so extended our booking. I climbed onto our roof, cleaned the solar panel, reinstalled a vent seal and checked the TV aerial. Broome is on a peninsular with Town Beach on one side and Cable Beach on the other. Unusually, the peninsula is cut in half by the airport.

 We drove across to Cable Beach as we had booked a camel ride this afternoon. Eventually the camels arrived in a long line and we were allocated a camel by the camel master. Our camel was called Spartacus. The camels all kneeled and we mounted up one at a time. They warn you that as the camel stands you get thrown forward. They were not kidding!! The motion of the camels walking is very unusual and takes some getting used to. Eventually you relax and go with the motion. The front camel is lead and the other 13 camels, all tied together, follow. The only slight down side is that cars are allowed on this beach and it slightly spoils the experience. Young men run beside the camels and use your camera to take pictures. All in all, a great experience but only a oncer!

Mon 1 July – We biked into town before it got too hot but forgot our bike lock so could not leave the bikes anywhere. We will have to return later. Back at camp we walked to the Town Beach and had a couple of good swims. The water was great but there are huge tides here and the swimming is only good 2 hours either side of high tide.

 Back in the shade of our site during the heat of the day and then back on our bikes at around 4:00pm for the short ride to town (with our bike lock this time.) Broome was established around the pearl trade. Originally mainly Asians were brave enough to dive for the pearls. The Asian influence is still reflected in the town. The pearls are now all cultivated and there are several shops selling expensive examples of pearl jewellery. Because many Perth oldies winter-over here and there are cruise ships visits, there are quite a lot of tourist shops. We stopped off at a boutique brewery for a beer on the way back.

Tues 2 July – Laundry and cleaning this morning and then we drove Cable Beach. The tide was in and we enjoyed several swims in the clear cooler water. This beach is very popular and even has permanent life guards. By lunch time we were “cooked” and sat in the shade. This will be the last time we see the sea until we get to Darwin. We are leaving tomorrow and will be at least 7 days before we pass any towns, so we had a shop-up on our way back to camp for this trip N/E and inland.