WA is earning so much money for Australia - the minerals being exported from here are staggering. The starting wage for “operators” (drivers of the dump trucks etc) in the Newman mine is $100,000 plus benefits. Everywhere you look there are signs for staff wanted - but not all with the high wages. Try and get a haircut in this area without waiting till next week!
We took the rough road back to the coast (over 300km) and some of it was very rough and the caravan changed from white to red so it was nice to find the bitumen again just before Karratha.
We stayed a night at TOM PRICE, which is the town owned by the mining company, and viewed the iron ore mine from the top of Mt Nameless.
From there Hamersley Gorge was our last gorge to visit in the Karijini NP with rock formations quite different to any of the other gorges. These rocks had been twisted into large curves instead of broken into bricks as some of the others had.
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| So much red dirt but it washes off |
On our way back to Karratha we stayed overnight at MILLSTREAM CHICHESTER NP but were quite disappointed and thought only the Python Pool was worth seeing although other people have enjoyed it.
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| Python Pool, Millstream Chichester NP |
We met up with Pat and Ken at KARRATHA for a night before they headed south while we visited Point Samson for 3 nights. It’s a small pretty seaside village.
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| This two-way road is a little narrow if we meet someone like us |
Also checked out Dampier where the North West Shelf Venture has it’s base. It’s another huge export industry in this area exporting LNG (liquid natural gas) to Asia and Europe. The gas fields are 135km to the northwest out in the Indian Ocean.
The size of the venture is mind blowing and too big for my website.
Now we start heading south but didn’t get far as we both got a slight tummy bug so we called into a gorgeous free camp, MAIREE POOL, and stayed for 2 nights. This is on the Maitland River and is lovely for swimming with no fear of crocodiles.
Unfortunately our second night was Saturday and we were too close to Karratha. This lovely camp is also a favourite Saturday night venue for the local “kids” so we didn’t get a lot of sleep.
After another couple of days on the road we arrived at EXMOUTH. Our frig is not working properly so luckily we met up with Glenys and Des and they are looking after our frozen food for us.
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| A fossilised .... shell? |
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| A great place to snorkel but watch the current at Cape Range |
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A day at the beach, Cape Range
While staying in the Exmouth area we drove to Cape Range National Park which is at the north end of the Ningaloo Reef. This reef creates an amazing area for snorkelling, diving and swimming. The turquoise colour of the sea, the coral and all kinds of fish are just beautiful. |
Also saw some whales from the Lighthouse lookout.
We then stayed at CORAL BAY, further south along the reef, and just loved it. Coral Bay is solely a small tourist town with a couple of caravan parks, motel, backpackers and a few shops. Everything is expensive, with our sea front unpowered caravan site costing $30 per night but it was worth staying the 4 nights.
Swimming was just great and the coral and fish were just off the shore.
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| At Coral Bay the boat can 'park' at the beach to board guests |
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| A beach we visited and snorkelled on our quad bike tour |
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| Who are these "big kids?" |
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| Snorkelling time |
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| A lovely beach for snorkelling |
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| John looking for a mantaray |
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| A mantaray with small fish following it |
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| Mantaray |
We did a boat cruise where we snorkelled with a Mantaray, seemingly hundreds of fish, some big snapper, some tiny coloured fish, just amazing. We also did a Quad bike ride along the sand dunes just for fun.
Now we’re in CARNARVON where we’re hoping to get our frig fixed. Why do things break down??
We walked the now disused 1 mile wharf which is being restored.
And had a feed of the biggest juiciest prawns caught just that morning. The Bourgainvillia love this area and the colours are stunning. But the area is very dry although bananas and other tropical fruit and veges are grown here with the water being drawn up from under the dry Gascoyne River bed.
September 2006
Leaving Carnarvon the first 200km south was quite boring with only a few feral goats and some emu amongst the barren landscape. We then turned west for 130km to explore Shark Bay and stayed at DENHAM. This drive was much more interesting. We called at Shell Beach which is exactly what it says with millions of snow white small shells which are quarried and used as building blocks and also for roading.
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| The small shells of Shell Beach |
Stromatolites are also found in Shark Bay, only one of two places in the world where these can be found. These are “living rocks” which were the first forms of life. The cyanobacteria that build them first appeared on earth 3.5 billion years ago and they gradually released more and more oxygen into the atmosphere which led the way for air breathing life forms to evolve.
From Denham we drove 25km to Monkey Mia (My-a) early next day to see the wild dolphins come in to the beach to be fed a fish or two.
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| A select few are chosen to feed the wild dolphins |
It is a controlled feeding with 5 dolphins lining up for their daily ration, not too much as the rangers do not want to interfere with their natural feeding habits. And only a few people are given the opportunity to actually feed the dolphins which is understandable as there are quite a lot of spectators. There were many more dolphins in the bay but only 5 are “game” enough to come in so close to the shore.
For our drive to KALBARRI there was a strong head wind so that upped the diesel consumption and only a few wildflowers to be seen. It was while driving to Kalbarri we heard of the tragic death of Steve Irwin. After visiting his zoo and learning a little more about his love of nature we had huge respect for him.
Kalbarri is a pretty seaside town with a National Park, a fantastic parrot breeding park and a scrumptious seafood ‘restaurant’ the likes of which we have never seen - very basic with rolls of toilet paper for serviettes but the food was superb and very reasonable.
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| The Z Bend at Kalbarri NP |
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| Colourful rock at Kalbarri |
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| Yellow (for a change) dirt road |
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| Kalbarri National Park |
On to GERALDTON where we are staying for at least a couple of weeks getting our frig fixed. We need a new cooling system and it takes 10 days for one to come from Melbourne so we’re having an enforced stay which is rather nice as we’ve been on the move for 18 months now and it’s nice not to be moving on all the time. We could have had it sent to Perth but we have faith in the company here and as it’s our second cooling unit to be installed we want it done right.
Geraldton, on the Batavia Coast, population 25,000, is a clean tidy, windy coastal town with a great museum, great beaches, a lot of history and the gorgeous Abrolhos Islands. But sadly they have claimed many ships in the early years.
This is the first year ever without rain for the wheat farms and it was quite depressing driving through what should have been lush fields of wheat.
Crayfish is another industry here but the season is November to June and we’re here in September - bad timing!
Iron ore is now being mined about 100km inland and pearl farming is also creating an industry and we were so lucky to be able to spend a night in the ABROLHOS ISLANDS on a pearl farm.
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A wife or mother looking to sea for her
loved one returning on the HMAS Sydney |
Geraldton is a progressive town.
Off the coast of Geraldton in 1941 the HMAS Sydney was lost without trace with the loss of 645 lives after a battle with the German ship Kormoran which was also lost although many of her crew survived. I didn’t realise how close the 2nd World War was to Australia or how many lives were lost on the mainland or close by.
Jas & Penny said when we get to Geraldton we must get in touch with Pia whom they had met when they crewed together on a delivery (super yacht) voyage Singapore to Sydney. “She’s a great girl”, they said.
Pia said she would take us out to the Abrolhos Islands for the weekend. “Just bring your bedding and a bit of food - sleep in tin sheds” - not much info from Pia.
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| Pia's jet boat |
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| Murray's boat |
On the Saturday morning it was pretty windy, the islands are about 70km out into the Indian Ocean and we’d never met Pia and didn’t know what type of boat she had so I was a bit nervous. However, all was well, not a runabout in sight! On the way she picked up a large box of prawns from her family’s fisheries --- yummy.
Pia could really throw her boat around and we had a fantastic 2 days. She was more or less brought up on the Abrolhos.
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| Coronation Island - the island we stayed on |
The Abrolhos Islands are a group of 122 low lying coral islands in the beautiful crystal clear waters with reefs, coral and plenty of marine life. The islands are used only by crayfishermen and pearl farmers. There is no public accommodation so we were very privileged to have this weekend as very few people get out here let alone stay here. Pia and Murray were great hosts even though they were busy just starting to harvest their pearls which was an added interest for us.
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| Taking out the pearl and reseeding the oyster |
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| Preparing the oyster for taking out the oyster and reseeding |
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| A pearl farm |
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| Murray and Pia preparing the oysters |
Pia took us fishing. 4 Groper, 1 Coral Trout and 1 Chinese Cod. All yummy, especially Coral Trout. The (big) snapper I caught was too small although it would have been very legal in NZ.
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| Pia helping John land a fish |
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| 4 Balchin Groper, a coral trout and a Chinese cod |
On Sunday the boat trip from Coronation Island to Rat Island where the air strip is was quite rough and a half hour trip turned into over an hour. Thankfully Pia was picking up another staff member so she hadn’t had to make the trip just for us.
The flight back to Geraldton was great with our lady owner pilot taking us for a scenic tour plus we saw
several whales breaching.
An amazing two days! Thank you, Pia and Murray and also Jas and Pen for the intro!
When we left our caravan overnight to have the frig fixed we did a 380km round trip inland and saw some lovely wildflowers - the highlight being the "wreath flower" so called because it looks like a wreath but also because it grew when early explorer’s bones were found and subsequently buried and the action of disturbing the soil creates germination.
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| Wreath flower |
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| A wreath flower |
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| Inside the Geraldton cathedral |
We stayed in a cabin in DONGERA and although it was very nice I couldn’t wait to get back to our home - our caravan.
Our next stop was the WESTERN FLORA CP where the host took us on a two and a half hour wildflowers walk around the park. So now we know why plants are the colour they are, why they flower and what creature pollinates them. He made it so interesting.
Because of the lack of rain this year it has not been a good wildflower season but we have seen a lot of different flowers and fields of yellow and purple and I’ve not been disappointed.
While at JURIEN BAY we visited the Pinnacles.
These are limestone rock formations left standing when the land around has eroded away. We thought it was just great to drive around the slalom course set out by the National Parks and be able to view all the different shapes and colours standing up in the sandy area.
The drive to NEW NORCIA through wheat and canola fields was very picturesque with many wildflowers on the sides of the road. It was great to see tall trees again and the lovely gum trees - didn’t realise how much we’d missed them.
New Norcia is a town totally owned by the Benedictine Monks. A lot of the buildings, which include several beautiful chapels, are now Heritage listed. It began in 1846 when a Spanish monk established the monastory, farmed the area and created a school for local children.
A fascinating place well worth a visit with free camping on the oval for self contained vehicles. We had a "Happy Hour" with Eddie and Di, whom we’d met in Geraldton, and a Margaret and John who were parked next to us! (It was easy to remember their names)
We stayed a night at TOM PRICE, which is the town owned by the mining company, and viewed the iron ore mine from the top of Mt Nameless.
The drive to NEW NORCIA through wheat and canola fields was very picturesque with many wildflowers on the sides of the road. It was great to see tall trees again and the lovely gum trees - didn’t realise how much we’d missed them.
A fascinating place well worth a visit with free camping on the oval for self contained vehicles. We had a "Happy Hour" with Eddie and Di, whom we’d met in Geraldton, and a Margaret and John who were parked next to us! (It was easy to remember their names)
