Friday 12th October: Carnarvon – Monkey Mia 365km Kath lead

Bacon and eggs for breakfast – a treat! We travelled south for an hour from Carnarvon stopping at White Bluff Lookout with 360 degree panoramic views before crossing the 26^th Parallel. We turned off at Overlander Roadhouse to head up the Peron Peninsula. With the cooler climate, wildflowers were again on display. We stopped in at Shell Beach made up of billions of tiny cockle shells. Although unusual it was still very picturesque especially with the turquoise water lapping the shore. Continuing on we called in at Goulet Bluff Lookout followed by Eagle Bluff Lookout. Magnificent bluffs, overlooking the bay where the water was so clear we could see a ray gliding along the sea floor while further out we could see the dark blue water where the seagrass was growing. Continuing north we crossed the 26^th Parallel again and a little further on stopped at Denham for our latest lunch yet. Crossed over to the eastern side of the peninsula and arrived at our destination of Monkey Mia (Eastern Bluff) to a full campsite so ended up setting up in the campground carpark. Monkey Mia is a tourist resort and charge accordingly. Situated ½ way up the peninsula facing east towards the mainland about 30km away and north up Shark Bay into the Indian Ocean.

 

Thursday 11th October: Coral Bay – Carnarvon 372km Warwick lead

We awoke this morning to dew covering everything! Leaving Coral Bay we headed slightly inland and crossed the Tropic of Capricorn at, unbelievably, exactly 5,0000km since starting our trip. 80km after leaving Coral Bay we met up with the North West Coastal Highway and continued on until we were 25km north of Carnarvon where we turned back north along the coast passing Lake McLeod and the Dampier fear Salt Mine. Covering 2,072 sq km it is only separated from the sea by sand dunes. There is no of drowning in this lake as it was totally dry. Even in the wet it would barely be ½ meter deep. A little further on we drove up to a lighthouse where we had expansive views of the surrounding countryside, coast line and blowholes. Drove down to the blowholes and they were quite something; the noise sounded like a train coming through and they reached quite a height. The spray drift caused small pockets of sea water to collect in the surrounding rocks and with so much sun and so little rain the water evaporated leaving behind salt crystals around the edges. A little further north we stopped for lunch at the HMAS Sydney II memorial. On 19^th November 1941 the HMAS Sydney II intercepted the German Raider Kormoran. In the ensuring battle both ships were sunk with the Kormoran suffering 80 fatalities while all 645 on board the Sydney were lost. This was Australia’s worst maritime loss of the Second World War. Turning around we got into Carnarvon mid-afternoon, booked into the camp and while Wendy & I visited the Gascoyne Aboriginal Heritage and Cultural Centre Russell & Kath toured the town. After the Heritage Centre we drove down to the historic One Mile Jetty and Heritage Precinct. Walking out to the end of the jetty “Coffee Pot” the little locomotive that runs down the jetty was coming towards us and who should it be carrying but Russell & Kath. Getting back off the jetty we climbed the old water tower offering expansive views of the jetty, the old railway yards, the mouth of the Gascoyne River and Carnarvon itself. Carnarvon is situated at the only point of the coastline where the central desert reaches to the sea. It also produces 70% of WA’s winter vegetable requirements, (obviously they don’t eat a lot of winter veges in WA) and 30,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables every year from its plantations. We meet back at camp at 5:00 for the inevitable supermarket shopping. With enough supplies for 4 days we headed back to camp for nibbles and dinner. The climate is certainly changing and with the evening temperate dropping to only 22 degrees we had to don sweat shirts. L

 

Wednesday 10th October: Exmouth – Coral Bay 202km Russell lead

Leaving Exmouth we retraced yesterday’s sightseeing trip past the lighthouse and continued on down the western coastline through the Cape Range National Park, an airforce defence area and pastoral stations (although what the sheep & goats ate, I have no idea) all overlooking the Ningaloo Reef. Ranges to the left of us, reef to the right of us. The ranges are still quite barren and very dry, the reef, on the other hand, beautiful turquoise and brilliant white sand. Today promised to be our first real day of 4 wheeling starting with a creek crossing at the south end of the park at Yardie Creek. We checked at the information centre and there wasn’t going to be a problem with the tide – “no worries, the tide doesn’t affect the creek”. Got there, had a look and……… disappointment. The darn creek hadn’t seen any water for months! We saw a 4x4 airing up after having crossed from the opposite side but decided we’d try without airing down. 45lb pressure and a heavy wallowing brick and we still made it across with ease. Not so for a guy towing a caravan, who had even aired down, going the opposite way, chugging along only making it ¾ of the way across before burying himself - momentum is your friend. Luckily for him someone over the other side winched him through. The track after that was very narrow and varied from corrugated, rough to loose sand. Great stuff and I was driving! Although we did get up to a maximum of 60kph, we generally cruised at 45-50 as both our bodies and the trucks couldn’t stand any more. Thankfully we don’t own the trucks. Talk about shake, rattle and roll. 150km latter, we made it into Coral Bay, a very small, picturesque, popular (school holidays) seaside town. We found all sorts of things on the floor and R&K lost all the screws from one side of their step which was left hanging. Still, not the 1^st time we have had to undertake some running repairs. We set up camp and had a bit of a look around, settling down to a hand of cards before going down the road for pizza, wine and cheesecake and an early night.

 

Tuesday 9th October: Exmouth 58km Wendy lead

A sleep in! After a very leisurely start to the day we drove a short distance north passing by the Harold E Holt Naval Communication Station and on up to Bundegi Beach for a swim. Although it was only mid-morning the temperature was 38 degrees in the shade. The beach and the swim was lovely and refreshing. We drove over to the western side for a look at Vlamingh Lighthouse. This lighthouse was built in 1912 after the SS Mildura founded on the North West Cape. All supplies to build the lighthouse had to come up from Fremantle. The lighthouse keeper’s wife recorded that it was 2 years before she saw another white woman and the supply ships could be as much as twelve months apart. Heading back we drove up the North West Cape and could view the wreck of the SS Mildura just off shore. In 1960, at the peak of the cold war, the US needed to be able to communicate with their submarines so with the approval and co-operation of the Australian Government established the US Naval Communication Station (now Harold E Holt Naval Communication Station). There are 13 towers at the station, the highest of which is the 3^rd tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. It was realised at the time of building the station that the personnel manning the station would need support services and accommodation so Exmouth was built and both the station and Exmouth were opened in 1963 – a good year according to Wendy. We were picked up at camp at 4:30 and taken to the marina where we boarded a vessel for the Sunset Whale Watching Tour. We were fortunate to see and photograph all the classic moves; blowing, leaping, breaching and diving so their tail fins is above the water. We got back to camp around 7:30 for yet another lovely dinner before retiring early.

 

Monday 8th October: Nanutarra Roadhouse – Exmouth 300km Kath lead

The flat flood plains have now given away to some low hills which helps break the monotony. 70km south of Nanutarra we turned off and headed up to Exmouth on the eastern side of the peninsula calling in at various places along the way. A couple of WW2 memorial sites; Potshot Memorial and Krait Memorial which I remember reading the story of eons ago. We turned inland up the Shothole Canyan Road for a look before getting into Exmouth, booking into the camp and having lunch – a very early day. We went into the town centre where Wendy & I found an internet site while Russell & Kath found the local beach and had a swim. Back at camp, Wendy & I had a swim in the pool before having dinner and catching an outdoor movie in the camp. Another few rounds of Crib, which Wendy has become quite adapt at and it was into bed.

 

Sunday 7th October: Port Samson – Nanutarra Roadhouse 394km Warwick lead

Leaving Port Samson we drove alongside a small bush fire the short distance to Karratha to refuel and restock the larder. Then it was on out to Dampier where we had lunch on the waterfront before continuing on up the Burrup Peninsula for a quick look. Saw a large gas plant stuck on top of a desolate hill and tried to find some aboriginal cave drawings with no luck. Leaving the area we decided to put in a few miles and bypass Onslow ending up in Nanutarra Roadhouse for the night.

 

Saturday 6th October: Millstream NP – Point Samson 183km Kath lead

It’s my birthday and what a wonderful start to the day waking to a beautiful dawn, sun filtering through the trees and cool enough to make it very pleasant. No wind on the water so the reflection from the trees on the opposite bank was magnificent. After breakfast we backtracked 35km through the park before taking the road leading to the east of Karratha. In the space of an hour we saw 5 or 6 trains, some heading north fully laden and others south back into the interior empty.  Then a little further along we saw another heading south with one passing over the top of it heading west. Turning east off the road 20km south of the junction with the North West Coastal Highway onto a little used road we re-joined the highway at Roebourne, an old historical town with many of its stone building restored. We had a quick look around and a drive up to a lookout before continuing on to Cossak on the coast. Cossak had been a port town but was finally abandoned in favour of Point Sanson in 1950 due to problems of continual silting of the harbour. The old stone buildings have been preserved as part of the national heritage. We had lunch on the old wharf while watching several people fish. After lunch we continued up the peninsular to the small and very pretty township of Sanson. Nearby, Cape Lambert has a huge port facility for shipping out the iron ore; we managed to count 7 ships out at sea waiting to come in with another 3 docked at the wharf. We set up camp then crossed the road onto the beach and had a very enjoyably refreshing swim in the warm Indian Ocean. Had a nice glass of sparkly in celebration of my birthday before dinner.