Monday, 1st September 2014 - Cape Keraudren, WA … Day 458 of our ‘Around OZ Trip’
Once again, a very nice day. Bacon and eggs this morning as we missed out yesterday. Cooked to perfection by Geoff on the fire pig.
We chatted to the lady in the caravan next door and she and her hubby have been here 3 months. It’s a long time to be in one place, especially being 153 kms from the nearest town. I suppose it would be ok if you had a car but a long way when you only have a scooter. She came over to tell us about a Jabiru (large bird) on the sand who had caught a large fish and was trying to kill it and swallow it so we looked through the monocular and watched his/her antics for a while.
We fiddled around for the morning and expected Pete and Lee and their 5th Wheeler to turn up but they were a no show. We had met them the day before when they had come down in their ute on a reconnoiter of the area. They turned up in their ute in the afternoon and we found out that they were camped in the first camping area. The reason for this is that when they were packing up this morning and went to leave the caravan park they didn’t have the hitch locked on correctly and when they went to pull away it came out and crunched down on the tail gate and punched a hole in the fibreglass of the 5th Wheeler as well. So now they have a destroyed tail gate and the fibreglass to fix up as well. They said they still wanted to come down here to the cape but didn’t want to travel on more dirt road than they needed to so camped in the first site they found. Shame as we would liked them as company.
I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up my journal and getting Geoff to check it etc. By 4pm those pesky sand flies were out and about so on with the bug spray and bug candles. Paradise always has a downside and the B sand flies are the downside here. Wyn … you wouldn’t like them!
Dinner cooked on the fire pig again followed later by a mug of hot chocolate enjoyed in front of the fire until it was time to head in. Tonight there are only two RV’s here.
Tuesday, 2nd September 2014 - Cape Keraudren
The tide was out when we got up so it was shower and head out to walk to the reef. It looked like sand from the motorhome but the first half was neither sand nor reef but a combination of both so I had to use Geoff to steady myself in parts. After we had crossed a couple of rivulets it became sand and much easier going for me. As we got to within 100 metres of the reef the ground became rocky so I left Geoff to do the last bit alone. The reef was, by now, high and dry and Geoff said there was not much evidence of any life, apart from a few small oysters, as it dries out to much … and this was only a neap tide. The reef towered above him, he said and we soon had to turn
By the time we were back at camp we had done a 2.5 km round trip and it was time for brekky and a cuppa.
The journal then got sent off but there was a geographical error which I though we had fixed. Soon told by Wyn that I was ‘dumb’! Yep … I will agree to that when it comes to geography … that is a subject that I am really shocking on! Did anyone else, apart from Sue, find the DELIBERATE mistake?
Geoff then fired up the fire pig and we cooked up some rice, egg, bacon and beef in readiness of fried rice for tonight’s dinner. Soon done and now we only need to throw it all in together tonight for an easy tea.
Whilst we were doing this we heard whump, whump, whump in the distance but couldn’t see anything for a while. The noise preceded, by quite some time, a couple of Chinook helicopters traveling low, southwards. We suspect they might have come from the Curtin Airbase outside of Derby and heading to Perth. Magnificent looking machines and we watched them until they disappeared from sight but the whump, whump, whump stayed with us for a little while.
After lunch we hopped onto the scooter and went round to Sandy Beach camp site to catch up with Lee and Peter. This area was, once again, chocablock. Why would you camp there when there were better spots available? We had a cuppa and bikkie with them and then Peter went off fishing. Good luck (but he didn’t get any).
Back to our camp where we have been joined by another ‘off road’ motorhome so now there are three of us.
Another beautiful sunset … pity about the sand flies!
Wednesday, 3rd September 2014 - Cape Keraudren
We saw that there was a hairdresser up at the boat ramp camp site when we went passed yesterday so after a shower and brekky we hopped onto the scooter and went up to partake of her skills. $20 each, a good price plus we ended up with a cuppa and gingernut and chatting for the rest of the morning. Her name was Jay and hubby was Paul and they were ex Kiwis and now from south of Perth. They had only been on the road for a couple of weeks so it was all new to them. We were joined by a couple of ex Poms from Bolton, Brian and Eileen who had, especially Brian, very strong accents and we had to really concentrate on what they were saying. Both nice couples and it was nice to socialise for a while. Back to camp for some lunch.
In the afternoon Geoff put the scooter back on the rack and we started to pack up what we could. Made some fish cakes and then precooked the spuds for chips later. We then just fiddled around and then went outside to relax and enjoy the view for one last time. As it was windy today it kept those pesky sand-flies at bay.
Thursday, 3th September 2014 - Indee Station, south of Port Hedland
We finished our packing up, said our goodbyes and were soon on our way. We stopped at De Greys River for morning tea and to have a look at the area. A nice area to stop but we were getting very low on vittles' so continued on towards Port Hedland. We are now back in termite mound country and these were in the shape of a Chinese Coolie hat, kinda like a round pyramid with a cone at the top. There were a whole heap of them all sporting hard hats, presumably from the miners working around this area.
As we came into Port Hedland we were stopped at a train crossing as a humongous freight train laden with iron ore made its was past. Geoff counted them and it was pulled by two diesel locomotives then 120 wagons, then another two locos pulling another 139 wagons. These freight trains are some of the longest in the world.
Port Hedland is a massive industrial city and port. The Port is one of the world’s largest in tonnage terms, with over 70 million tonnes of product worth more than $3 billion shipped each year. http://www.visitporthedland.com/
The next rest area was pretty ordinary and not a nice place to stop overnight. It was on the junction to the inland route and the coastal route and we had to make up our minds which way to go. Inland was Karijini National Park and down the coast was Dampier and the memorial to Red Dog, made famous by the Aussie movie of the same name. I wanted to go to both places but we didn’t want to backtrack. Karijini won so we took the inland road. As it was getting late we decided to see what the 9km of dirt road into Indee Station was like. Unfortunately, it was rough but once committed there was nowhere to turn round so we drove slowly on. When we got there we were very disappointed as it was very tatty looking and didn’t give a very good first impression. But what it lacked in ambience it made up with good old fashioned hospitality. Happy hour was at 5.30 up at the homestead where we got to meet all of the other campers, only about ten of us, plus some volunteers and the owners with the hosts supplied nibblies. There was a lot of historic memorabilia that Geoff got his nose in.
We were too tiddly to cook so we had chunky soup again for tea.
Friday, 5th September 2014 - Indee Station
Up before 7am, shower, cuppa and then to the neighbours car. We were going with an old mining engineer/bush man on a tagalong tour to see what was going on in this mining region. There was no charge, just a donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. As the roads were too rough for the motorhome and too sandy and dusty for the scooter we were stuffed until Glenda and Neil from Caloundra, our neighbours, offered to take me in their 4WD. Geoff got to go with Pagy, our guide, and he was able to soak up a heap more information by doing that.
On the tour 2 hour tour we learnt all about the mining and infrastructure of The Pilbara. A bit of a desolate region but very interesting when you hear all the tales from the horse’s mouth, so to speak. In WA, there are three main iron ore producers, one of which is BHP/Billiton, one is owned by Gina Reinhart which is called Hancock Mining and the other called FMG short for Fortescue Metal Group owned by Andrew Forrest. The mines are three or four hundred kilometres from the port at Port Hedland so to get the iron ore to the ships for export, each company builds its own rail line as they won’t share and, apparently, hate each other. So through Indee Station there are three separate companies owning their own rail lines and their trains which all run parallel to each other. The trains can be up to 3 kilometres long and can have 260 odd wagons pulled by 5 diesel locos. It is an amazing sight to see and, when you think about the infrastructure involved in just getting the material to port, it is obvious there’s a lot of money out there. These trains are so heavy they have to have stronger rail lines than normal passenger trains and the bridges that cross huge creeks/rivers (mostly dry in winter) have to be extremely strong. They even have their own communication towers which are about 40 kms apart and ‘god knows’ how high and which are also cyclone proof. Geoff says that one strange/interesting point is all the rail lines and wagons are made outside of Australia so the iron that we export gets made into things that come back to help more iron go overseas. Apparently, the ore is very high grade here and 65% of the ore is made into steel. We, of course, have been based in Qld where it also has a massive mining industry but mostly into coal. Geoff says “One day Australia will sink below the planet’s surface because they are undermining the land and there will be big sink holes everywhere”. We were very lucky as ‘Pagy’ now lives down at
When we got back to the station we decided to stay another day to make the bouncy dirt road journey worthwhile. I went up to the homestead to pay for another nights accommodation and came back with a bag od fresh home grown tomatoes, nice. We caught up on emails etc. and then Neil and Glenda asked us if we wanted to go our with them to Red Rock in their 4WD. Yes please. Red Rock was … well … a red rock. A large red rock, to be sure, and like a very mini Uluru (Ayres Rock) with Aboriginal etchings (one of a man who appears to have a very large appendage) and a couple of pretty r0ck pools. It was quite interesting. Close by was a memorial for an air crash of a Viscount passenger plane that crashed close by on the 31st December 1968 killing the 4 crew and the 22 passengers. The memorial had been moved from the original site to preserve it as the crash site was now in the mining area. It was very hot out in the sun, 35º and no shade, so we didn’t linger.
When we got back to camp we had an early dinner of Blue Grenadier fish and salad before heading over to the homestead for Happy Hour again. This time they nearly had a full house which they said was unusual for September as things start to slow down.
I think ‘Pagy’ said he might do one more tour tomorrow for the couple of families that have come in.
We were very tired so wanted to go to bed reasonably early but eventually, after 10pm, I had to ask the new campers near us to tone down the noise so we could get to sleep. I don’t think they realised how noisy they were as they were right under our bedroom window.
Saturday, 6th September 2014 - Albert Tognolini Lookout and Rest Area
To conserve our good water we had a nice shower and shampoo at the Indee facilities. They use bore water but it was plentiful, hot and good pressure. We left around 9am and Geoff decided to take a different route out on the non homestead road. He used the wide, graded railway construction camp road where we could got a speed of up to 60 kph instead of the bone jarring 20 kph we got on the one we took on the way in. Once again on the Great Northern Highway we could see Red Rock to the side in the distance.
We stopped for morning tea at the Bea Bea rest area which was roomy, shady but with a lot of litter around. Why, why, why? Especially when there were a lot of rubbish bins provided! A bit further up we stopped on a side dirt road as we saw a dead tree and needed to top up our firewood supplies. Firewood type trees seem to be quite scarce in a lot of The Pilbara area so you grab it when you can. Whenever you pull into a rest area that allows fires you fine the dead timber has been picked clean. As I helped Geoff stack it in the sack I noticed there were quite a lot of wild flowers out. I think they are called Mulla Mulla!
All around here is loose red rock which Geoff thought might be magnetite so he got out his magnets … yep … a lot of it is, indeed, a type of iron ore and quite hard to remove from the magnet! Fascinating.
We sat outside for most of the afternoon just admiring the view until I went inside to update my journal and Geoff sharpened his little chainsaw. Later I went up into the bathroom and saw two pieces of grey plastic and a screw in the basin. These were from the mirror which must have been slowly vibrating loose over the last week of dirt roads. When Geoff checked the mirror it was very close to crashing down. What damage and a mess that would have made. That’s why these corrugated roads are not so good! Geoff has now put in longer and more sturdier screws.
After dinner Geoff lit a fire in the fire pit already there and we sat outside and enjoyed some Greek yoghurt, a hot chocolate whilst we checked our the constellations. It was almost a full moon so it was a bright night and very balmy. Nice.
Sunday, 7th September 2014 - Karijini National Park
Now we have proof!
Three overseas backpacker types came in at dusk last night and pitched tents and I said to Geoff “I wonder where they are going to go to the loo as there are no toilets here”. When they left in the morning Geoff went over to check and there in their camp site, for all to see, was a load of turds and messy toilet paper! They hadn’t even tried to hide it! Luckily we had bought a ‘pick up grabber’ from Bunnings when we were in last so Geoff picked it all up paper and burnt it. I wish we had got their rego number as I would have gone on the Grey Nomad Facebook site and ‘named and shamed’! Geoff also said one of them must have had the runs … dirty pigs!
We were on the road before 9am (wow) and made or way for the 60 kms trip to Karijini National Park. Our first stop was the visitor centre which was small but very informative, especially info on the Pebblemound Mouse which lives in little mounds of pebbles sometimes with up to eight other mice. I would love to see one as they are now only found in the Pilbara region.
We paid for three nights, $40 as a concession, but I came out of there with a bangle that I really liked featuring the lovely Boab trees … I couldn’t resist. On to the Dales Gorge campground to get allocated a site by the camp host and settled in. We didn’t do much more for the rest of the day as we will leave everything for the next couple of days.
Monday, 8th September 2014 - Karijini National Park
Quite an enjoyable day today. Geoff made a sign to leave with the camp hosts to see if we could cadge a lift over to Weano Gorge tomorrow as it is 50 km of dirt road which is too far for the scooter. We then hopped on the scooter and headed off to the start of the walks close by at the Dales Gorge. The first walk was to the lookout towering above Circular Pool. It was quite a dramatic pool in a roughly circular shape at the end of the gorge surrounded by rugged brown to red sheer vertical cliffs. There were people swimming way down below but the track down was classified a 5 which was way out of my capabilities these days.
We then walked on to the next lookout where three gorges blended into one and which was also very scenic. From here we wandered along the rim a little ways appreciating the views, and ever watchful for those Pebblemound Mouse mounds, until making our way back to the scooter and driving to the track leading to the lookout above the Fortescue Falls. The walk to the lookout was short and sweet and we could see people also swimming in the pools at the falls. Apparently the first part of the walk down is a bit of a rock scramble but then the walk is pretty stable and only takes about 10 minutes to get down. We thought we would take a picnic lunch down tomorrow if we do not manage to get a lift to the Weano Gorge area. There were seats at the lookout and we got chatting to the people sitting there. One lady, Gwen, was waiting for her hubby to come back from the strenuous walk to Circular Pool. They were staying at the Karijini Eco Retreat, about 50 kms away, and she was dying for a cuppa. We said to come round for a cuppa when he, Simon, came back, if they were so inclined. Back to camp for lunch.
Geoff starting stitching his panorama photos together and I started altering my new shorts I had bought from $7 from Best and Less that were 6 sizes too big. Whilst we were occupied in these tasks Gwen and Simon turned up so it was on with the kettle and a pot of tea made served with bikkies and we nattered away. Simon was a geologist and worked in the gas and oil industry. We chatted on many topics and another pot of tea was made and they left about 4pm after inviting us to come and stay on their 5 acre property at Denmark near Albany, way down south WA. It’s amazing the friends you make on a chance meeting.
Geoff then went off to the camp host station to see if we had managed to get a lift but they were closed so he will check in the morning. He then finished his photos and I finished the alterations and both tasks came out well.
Tuesday, 9th September 2014 - Karijini National Park
Another good day! It was cooler when we got up which meant the fridge behaved itself overnight. We were up reasonably early, showered and eaten and then went down to see the camp host to see if we had managed to procure a lift to the Weano Gorge area. Nope, but the camp host told us that there was only about 15 kms of dirt road now which was pretty good so we may have a look at the road tomorrow on our way out and see what it is like.
Time to make up a picnic lunch, Geoff wore his bathers and I wore my board shorts and it was on the scooter back to Fortescue Falls. From the top you could see glimpses of the track leading down and we started our descent to
On arrival at the falls there was a sign to the Fern Pool further upstream and it looked like an easier track. The Fern Pool was an absolute delight with a short drop waterfall that free fell into the pool from a rock ledge above. Quite a few people were swimming (six) in the pool and on enquiring as to the temperature was told it was fine. We don’t know whether it was our arrival at the swimming ladder that emptied the pool of people but for the next ten minutes we had it all to ourselves. Unfortunately Geoff’s lung capacity issue could have been overcome if he had managed to carry his noodle down with him. As he could not touch the bottom to rest he only stayed in for a few minutes. Me, being the cork that I am, stayed in longer and it was quite warm in the middle of the pool where the sun was beating down on it. Hanging around the ladder to the pool were heaps of fish which Geoff estimated were about, on average, 15 cm.
After our swim we fed them Cheds (cheesy crackers) which they fought over and made the water boil.
All around us were magnificent gnarled Eucalypts and trees that sent their roots down the exposed rock faces which were covered in ferns on the shady sides. I suppose that’s why it is called Fern Pool. The colours of the gorge, once again, stood out against the blue and cloudless sky, like many areas we have seen in The Pilbara.
We then made our way back to Fortescue Falls where we continued to take a load of photos and ate lunch on one of the many terraces of red rock.
We are definitely giving Karijini National Park the ‘thumbs up’. We were starting to get ‘gorged out’. You know, like seeing too many castles and cathedrals in Europe or temples in Asia, however, Karijini has a nice variety of pleasing places that, with only a small amount of effort, you can get to enjoy. The climb back up to the rim was handled to suit the participants! I went first and climbed about 12 tall rock steps (oh I wish I had longer legs) and Geoff would rest and then catch me up to be able to rest again. I plodded slowly upwards as I seem to manage ‘up’ much better with my nerve/balance problem even though I get puffed, of course. Geoff manages both ‘up’ and ‘down’ fine but runs out of puff really easily these days on the ‘ups’. I wouldn’t be able to do any of these unstable and scramble tracks at all if it wasn’t for my trusty hiking pole.
We utilised the nice seat up the top whilst we got our breaths back and then it was back on the scooter and back to camp for a nice perked coffee with caramel flavouring.
The afternoon was spent with Geoff, as always, stitching his panorama photos together and, no doubt, some will appear on Google Earth and definitely feature in my journal. I read, caught up with my journal and was, generally, SLACK!
Wednesday, 10th September 2014 - 2 kms before Paraburdoo
We had some noisy neighbours last night who put in their radio on really loud at midnight which woke me up. Grrrr!
We headed out of Karijini East and drove along the highway to the entrance to Karijini West. The first 24 kms was sealed road then there was about 2 kms of graded dirt road then it disintegrated into rough, corrugated and loose gravel which was no good for us at all and still 15 kms to go. By this time we had reached the Karijini Eco Retreat turn off so we went up and asked about road conditions. It didn’t sound like it got any better further on so we decided we would have to give the Weano Gorge area a miss. The girl at the Eco Retreat said we were welcome to walk to the Joffre Gorge from reception and that it
When we got back to the motorhome Geoff unloaded the scooter and headed off up the gravel road to see what the conditions were like. He went about 3 kms before deciding the 1) Maz wouldn’t like it on the back and 2) There was still another 12 kms before the gorges started. Thinking of the trip back made up his mind to turn back. On the way back he met another Fiat motorhome also trying to make the trip to Oxer Lookout and Geoff told them the road would just rattle them to pieces but they carried on. (We met them again in Tom Price & they said the had also turned back)
Back at the retreat we treated ourselves to an ice cream and chatted to three young Asian/Australians who had run their car off the road back a few kms and which we had seen on the way in. A tow truck was on the way from the town of Tom Price and they were not sure the truck could take three passengers. We said we could take two to Tom Price but they decided to ring the truck company and found that three passengers was fine so they decided to stay together.
Back on the main road we were, once again, travelling through Wild West country. If it wasn’t for the Australian vegetation instead of cacti you would swear you were approaching Monument Valley in Arizona.
When we arrived at Tom Price we were surprised at how green it was as there were lush green lawns everywhere. Geoff said he had read that they had an abundance of underground bore water. It was also a very tidy town especially as it was a mining town. We took the opportunity to get some money from the ATM and then got the bank to change some of it into coins as we seem to be always running out of change. We also topped up on food and fuel and then it was time to find an overnight camp for the night.
The first overnight rest area was a place called RIP Lookout. What a strange name! When we got there it was an open area on top of a hill with no shade at all. What was interesting was a wall of individual large rocks that were covered in memorial messages for lost loved ones. I expect one person originally put a memorial there and then it grew and grew from many of the travelers who passed by.
The second overnight rest area we came to looked lovely and shady but the track leading in had a steep dip to it which meant we might have scraped our bum and made it hard to get back out. There were no other RV’s camped there so maybe they had looked at it and decided it was a bit too iffy. Shame! We eventually found a side road about 2 kms out of Paraburdoo which led down to a derelict speedway complex. Although the grounds were unattractive with rusty old steel all around the backdrop of the mountain range in the distance with the rays of the setting sun accentuating their ruggedness certainly made up for it.
Thursday, 11th September 2014 - Beasley River Rest Area
DISASTER - It started ok after a very quiet night. We were on the road before 9 am and pottering along nicely, thank you. We drove through Paraburdoo, another green oasis with the added bonus of cattle wandering through the town centre … we’ve not seen that before.
Then disaster struck as we heard clack, clack, clack. Another tyre gone, this time shredded not blown. Not only was the tyre stuffed but the shreds had taken out the exhaust of the diesel heater, punched a hole in the waste water pipe and a piece of steel band had imbedded itself in the underside of the under floor area. Luckily, all things that Geoff can fix himself. A big beefy guy on a Harley Davidson, nickname of Hamburger) stopped to give us a
I soon got the fan working and locked myself in (just in case) and wondered when he would return. Best case scenario … Geoff gets to the tyre place and they do them straight away and he gets a lift straight back. Worst case scenario … there are no suitable tyres in town and they have to come from Tom Price or further afield with Geoff having to wait for them. Hooray … best case scenario won out and Geoff was back by 4.20 pm. How quick was that. A guy from Paraburdoo called Dave saw Geoff waiting on the side of the road and stopped. He told Geoff it was getting late to get a lift as all travellers would be settled for the night and mine workers would be coming into town to finish and not going our way. He decided to drive Geoff the 66 kms to drop him off then he had to drive all the way back. Certainly going well above the call of duty. As they got talking he told Geoff he used to work as a ranger for Qld Parks and Wildlife in Airlie Beach which got them onto the subject of feral goats and dogs which also led the Blue Heeler Sophie, from the true book called ‘Sophie, dog overboard’. He was one of the rangers who eventually caught Sophie on St Bees 6 months later. He said that dog was so close to being shot it wasn’t funny. They had a call over the radio at the last minute saying not to shoot it if it was a Blue Healer. Great book, if you feel like a good read. (Geoff has it in EBook format if you want a copy!)
The two new tyres were not quite the right size being 10 mm less in width but beggars can’t be choosers and would certainly get us out of trouble. You take what you can out here! When we get to Exmouth we will buy another couple of correct tyres and also try to get another rim so we have two spares, especially as we have six wheels. It was a quick job to put the wheel back on as both the jacks were still in place and we made our way the 32 kms to the Beasley River rest area which was roomy and shady.
By now we were both emotionally drained and Geoff was physically drained so it was a quick dinner (luckily it was a crockpot meal) and an early night.
Friday, 12th September 2014 - Barradale Rest Area
When Geoff got up he swapped over the spare for the new tyre (which was taking up room in the motorhome) and stowed the spare away underneath. He then let some air out of the tyres as he had noticed they had gone up an extra 5 psi from the heat. Whilst he was doing this I showered and packed everything away. When he came in for his shower the water turned a muddy red. There is no way you can keep clean whilst in the Pilbara, especially your feet and legs and you get a thin film of red dust over everything.
We were soon on our way but now we were paranoid with every little suspicious noise! Geoff pulled over once to check everything was ok, which it was, but later an over sized truck carrying mining machinery passed us coming the other way and we soon had a chip in the windscreen, even though Geoff had come to a crawl. Bugga. When we stopped for morning tea Geoff cleaned it off and put a patch over it to keep it clean.
A quick stop for fuel at Manutarra Roadhouse with diesel at $1.93 a litre and one dim sim costing $2.50. Fuel we got but, at that price, the fast food stayed where it was. Just a few kms past the roadhouse the road became an emergency airstrip for the Royal Flying Doctor Service which we have seen once before in the NT.
Now for a bit of useless information … a butterscotch lolly, when sucked and not crunched, will last me 12 kms &
We got to Barradale rest area at 1.30 and had some lunch and then Geoff fixed the chip in the windscreen with an epoxy windscreen repair kit he bought a while ago. It does a good job and you can hardly see where the chip was! Geoff then had to put the repair in direct sunlight to cure but this was impossible as the crack was just under the luton peak and was always shaded by the peak. When he checked it, well … it had gone off anyway because of the heat of the day. We found a little shadier spot and settled in for the night.
Saturday, 13th September 2014 - Exmouth
Geoff cooked scrambled egg and smoked salmon for breakfast … how decadent!
On the road by 9am with 200 kms to go to Exmouth. We were now in the Gascoyne region and the land had turned into just scrubland, kms and kms of it, until nearly at Exmouth when the bush, with small trees started to return.
We got into Exmouth around 11.30, parked up and had a quick look around the small town centre and bought a few things. One thing I did manage to buy, at last, was a new measuring jug. The one I like is the Oxo brand with the slanted inside showing the increments. The handle had broken on my old one and I had been looking for a new one for the last couple of months.
We then found a nice shady spot to make up some lunch and to give the motorhome a very quick spruce up, especially the fl0or which was filthy from the Pilbara and Gascoyne red bulldust. After that we made our way to our next house sit where we met Heather, Peter, Baci and Jama, the last two being two large and very laid back German Shorthaired Pointers. Pete cut down a couple of branches overhanging the driveway so we could put 2AB2 in the shade. Power was soon on and we were settled in with an invite to dinner that night.
Late afternoon we joined them for drinks and nibbles and then had a lovely spicy BBQ chicken and salad (free range chicken which seems to be ok if I don’t eat too much of it). Heather works for the police in the admin department and Pete is a tugboat skipper who works 4 weeks on and 4 weeks off. We sat laughing and chatting until 11.30 as we had so much in common. They used to run a charter boat company doing whale shark and humpback whale tours on catamarans and Pete also flies microlights and he said he would take Geoff up for a fly. We talked about sailing and the intricacies of marine toilets (boaties will know exactly what I am talking about). Late to bed, of course.
Sunday, 14th September 2014 - Exmouth
After a very slow start to the day and also after bacon and eggs we ended up being quite industrious. I did two really large loads of red dirty washing and Geoff cleaned out the pre air cleaner on the scooter which was caked with Pilbara red dust. He was glad he had got round to that job and, hopefully, we won’t be going on so many dirt roads from now on. He also cleaned out the front of the cab and vacuumed the carpets and then popped into town on the scooter as we had lost our entry mat and Geoff thinks he left it where we had lunch and a quick clean up yesterday. Gone, never mind as it was only a cheap one. Geoff also asked when the rego was due on the motorhome and when we checked it was due the next day! Good job we checked and it was soon paid.
Later we went down to the main house and met the three chooks … The Spice Girls … Nutmeg, Ginger and Sumac. Found out how much to feed the woofs and when and then we took them for a short walk as that is all they need as they are both getting a bit long in the tooth.
Easy tea and watched the news in Heather and Pete’s little B&B.
Monday, 15th September 2014 - Exmouth
Up reasonably early and just fiddled around for a while and then Baci, the male dog, came in looking for his nibbles. He can just about make it inside as I think he can get a bit stiff. Jama (as in PJ’s), the female, just sleeps her life away until her tea and quick short walk in the evenings.
Soon we were on the scooter and buzzing around town getting quotes for tyres from the Bridgestone outlet and Tyrepower. We popped into the Asian Food Mart and bought a few things, picked up the mail, went to the hardware store, checked in with the people who are going to do our road worthy, went to IGA and Brumby’s. That alone took all morning so it was back to the house for a late lunch and to open the mail. My new glasses have
Later we went foraging in the overgrown veggie patch and came away with a bowl full of sweet red tomatoes which, once washed, lasted less than an hour. Then it was time to let The Spice Girls out for a scratch around, feed the woofs and then take them for a walk without Heather and Pete.
Geoff then went off into town to pick up some fish and chips as we felt like treating ourselves.
Tuesday, 16th September 2014 - Exmouth, WA … Day 473 of our ‘Around Oz’ trip
I decided to do a heap more washing so stripped the bed of everything , grabbed the towels and stuff that I had been soaking. I washed my lovely quilt in wool wash on delicate and it has washed up well. The socks I had soaking & washed three times still looked dirty from the Pilbara red dust so I will buy some new ones.
Peter came looking for Geoff to ask if he wanted to go up for a trike flight … bloody oath!
So … from Geoff’s mouth … “When we got to the airstrip and Peter opened up the hangar there were about 15 trikes of various styles including amphibious. Pete had a conventional trike and we were soon airborne and heading up the peninsular. We detoured to fly over Pete’s house and the motorhome at about 800 feet and then tracked towards the marina then continuing up the coast over the beach and sandbanks. Pete brought the trike down to , what I can only describe as quite an experience, as the altitude disappeared and we seemed to be skimming only a few feet off the Earth’s surface. Regaining some altitude, after some nail biting flying, we flew towards the very low frequency antennas that control communications with Australia’s submarine fleet. We then turned for home and scared an Emu that had gone down to the beach for a paddle and he took off across the dunes and gave us a dirty look when he thought he had gained safety. Peter pointed out some fish movement and I saw sharks tearing through the shallows leaving a sandy wake behind them, which looked quite strange. As we approached the marina again Pete also pointed out a dark shadow which we circled and saw was a calf Humpback Whale with its mother deeper below the surface. After that it was time to return and I had a good chat with the flying instructor and the airstrip mechanic. It was great to talk sport aviation again after all of these years. It must be over 10 years since my flying days in Bright!
Back to me … Whilst he was having all of this fun I was back at the motorhome cleaning and washing so I do not have much to report.
Later we fed the woofs and then took them for their afternoon walk.
Wednesday, 17th to Saturday, 20th September 2014 - Exmouth
As we are now house/pet sitting I won’t do a day to day journal as a lot of the things we do will just be repetitive mundane normal house sitting chores. I will only add things that are of interest.
Wednesday … Heather and Peter left around 9am and later, we went and had a look around the marina complex. It shows a lot of potential and the marina is up and running but a lot of the surrounding houses are still being built so it is a bit of a dust bowl at present. Most of the houses are built with steel frames to withstand cyclones which was quite interesting. Cyclones are an ever present threat during the summer months up here. At one stage we stopped to walk across the pedestrian bridge across the canal. On top of this bridge was a large Osprey nest nestled … not much shelter from the elements up there! (Found out later that there were 2 Osprey chicks in the nest).
Pulled out our mattress as we wanted to have a go at cleaning of the detergent yellow water mark from last year (looks like pee but it’s not … honest). Once we cleaned the mark we then had to do the rest of the mattress top as it just showed how dirty the rest of the mattress was. Left it out to dry which will probably take a few days.
Thursday … The mattress is still wet. Geoff fixed the damage to the underfloor area where the shredded tyre had hit it. He fixed it with a round of sheet metal and it is stronger than before. Baci, the male dog, has become our shadow.
Friday … Geoff has now fixed up the mudflap with the straightened bracket he picked up today. He also managed to fix the diesel heater so a lot of his jobs are being crossed off. Moo rang and we had a good natter! I cleaned out the cupboards and drawers which were putrid from the Pilbara red dust.
Saturday … At last the mattress is dry and back in the motorhome. Geoff finished off fixing the underfloor damage but that was really it for the day.
Sunday, 21st September 2014 - Exmouth
We were up early to see to the woofs and chooks, pack a picnic lunch and head off to the Cape Range National Park the other side of the peninsular. We left about 8.30 as it was about a 90 minute drive to Yardie Creek where Heather and Pete had treated us to the boat trip there. Our first stop was the Viamingh Head Lighthouse lookout where there was a 360º spectacular view of the coastline, aqua water and the Ningaloo Reef which starts here and stretches 260 kms to the south and is one of the largest fringing reefs in the world.
It is the only large reef that comes close to shore, in many instances within 5 to 10 metres. Unfortunately for us the whale shark season finished in July as we would have loved to get up close and personal with these magnificent creatures. What we did see where heaps of Humpback Whales and their calves breaching and blowing just outside the reef. A long way away for a decent photo, of course. We met a couple from Hervey Bay here and, like us, had seen a lot of whales in our time. They also told us that they were ‘gorged out’ so I am glad it is not just us that has had enough of holes in the ground!
From the lighthouse we drove on to the Visitors Centre, looking at the boat ramp and fishing beach area on the way. The Visitors Centre had a display and info on the reef and the usual ‘made in China’ souvenirs for sale which we managed to avoid buying. Then it was on to Yardie Creek to catch the 11am boat tour. The tour was for an hour and cost $30 concession which Heather and Peter had paid for. Well … what can we say about the tour without hurting their feelings. It definitely wasn’t the Grand Canyon, Katherine Gorge or even Geikie Gorge but it did have some wildlife to make the commentary worthwhile. We saw Black Footed Rock Wallabies which are only found In a few
Time for lunch so we ended up at Osprey Bay to eat whilst enjoying the scenery. It was then onto Turqoise Bay which is the area’s most popular snorkeling beach. Too windy for us (chill factor) plus we didn’t have a complete set of snorkeling gear . Geoff really needs flippers these day to help him along with his breathing so we might have to buy some.
Before we headed back to the house we drove up to Bundegi Beach which is on the north tip just above Exmouth to have a look. All that is there, basically, is a boat ramp/dock, albeit quite a fancy one. Also near here is the Harold Holt Naval Facility whose main feature seems to be for communications to Australian and USA submarines via 300 metre plus towers using low frequency radio waves. There are twelve towers with the tallest being 387 metres high. Alas, no tours around this facility! We were back at the house by 3pm and being greeted by Baci and even Jarma who had left her day bed to come and greet us.
Monday, 22nd September 2014 - Exmouth
Geoff took the motorhome in today to get the three new tyres fitted. We haven’t had any phone calls about the ones we have for sale … bumma. Apart from that we just fiddled around for the day.
Tuesday, 23rd September 2014 - Exmouth
Geoff took the motorhome in for its roadworthy this morning, left it there and came back on the scooter. Later he got a call asking him to return and we thought the worst, that they had found something wrong. Nope … it was just things like engine number and tare weight etc. to finalise the paperwork. Phew! A cost of $157.95 which was $60 odd dollars more than Darwin last year but we were both ‘Happy Chappies’ when you think we had that extra bill of over $660 for work on the hand brake last year. So, later, we popped into town to get the paper work sent off to Qld Transport.
Early evening we went out again to Gracie’s Tavern at Caldilacs for their pizza and trivia night. $20 for a reasonable sized pizza that came with a pint of beer or cider (cider for us) and the pizza was great with a lovely crisp crust. The trivia was enjoyable but a bit slow paced for us but Geoff did win a voucher for a pizza for another night. Half a pizza each with salad will do us just fine. All in all, it was an enjoyable night out but if we go again we will try to team up with another couple as four brains are better then two. At one stage we were in the lead but that didn’t last long. Don’t think we got many questions right in the sports round. Four out of ten, I think!
Geoff stayed in the motorhome overnight now that the mattress was dry and the bed remade. Jarma, the female dog, kept coming in to me and waking me up. A couple of times she needed to go out but the other times I think it was just for company as I think she is missing Heather and Peter a tad.
Well Wednesday was just routine with Geoff just doing a few more chores (he can always find things to do) including securing the spare tyre (no wheel rim) up underneath the motorhome again. The only thing I did was to order some clothes online to reach me in Australind as clothing stores are far and few between up here. Everyone I have spoken to in Exmouth orders their clothes and shoes online!
Thursday, 25th September 2014 - Exmouth
We played at being tourists again today. We drove to the north of Exmouth to have a look at the wreck ‘SS Mildura’ which is located at North West Cape. The Mildura was wrecked during a cyclone in June 1907 (And here was I thinking we would be safe from cyclones during the winter months … how wrong was I? … but a very unusual circumstance) and was a 1,394–ton steamship carrying a cargo of bullocks, bound for Fremantle from Cambridge Gulf when she was wrecked. The crew got ashore safely but many of the cattle were lost. Most of the remains were salvaged and used for renovations to ‘Yardie Creek Homestead’ and what remained of the wreck was then used for bombing practice in World War II. The master of the Mildura was found guilty of neglect and had his certificate suspended for three months. Although the wreck is plainly visible offshore, it is not a recommended dive site.
From the car park we had a good view of the Harold Holt Naval Facility antennas but they are hard to see in a photo so you will have to look carefully. We looked and think that Tower Zero at 387 metres is in the middle.
Back to Exmouth and watch out for the ever present Emus crossing the road into town. You know you are in remote areas when there are native animals frequenting the town centre. We stopped to fill up the Jeep but we found no petrol cap key. Heather had taken it with her by mistake as she had just given us the spare keys. So we will have to fill it when she gets back and only do one more short trip in it.
Friday 27th to 30th September 2014 - Exmouth
These days were just filled with us doing house sitting chores, looking after the woofits and chooks, going into town for supplies and little things in and around the motorhome with nothing much to report. Geoff says it is nice to just lay back and have a base for a while, plus there are cherry tomatoes to be picked and eaten everyday and eggs to collect and als0 eat when and if required. So what did happen over these days that may be of interest …….
There was an earth tremor at South Hedland Saturday morning but I didn’t feel a thing … too far away!
A bee keeper came round to see Peter and we scored some pure honey!
We had a rodent in the motorhome as he had chewed one of my, still wrapped, cereal bars. Geoff went out and bought a ‘clever mouse trap’ that just catches the critter in case it is a native animal or lizard. Caught him overnight and was it a mouse so it met its demise. Poor thing … as it was cute. Apparently Exmouth has a mouse problem, not a plague, at the moment.
We also went back to the Gracie’s Tavern for the trivia night and to get the pizza he won, which was huge! Geoff won another pizza in one of the rounds so by the time we leave here we will be ‘pizza-ed’ out.
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