Toward Marble Bar

The fishermen were up early to cast a line in the surf but unfortunately the tide was out so they came back early and empty handed. We had breakfast and a tidy up before we left Eighty Mile Beach at around eight-thirty and headed south towards Port Hedland, We decided to pull into the Des Strekfuss Rest Area 74 kilometres north of Marble Bar at lunchtime to allow ourselves time tomorrow to give Marble Bar a thorough going over. We read through the upcoming attractions on the rest of our journey before settling in for a cold beer and a chat.

The outback sky at night

Eighty Mile Beach

We departed Broome at around eight and began our journey south. We stopped at the Sandfire Roadhouse to refuel and have lunch. It was bedlam with queues of vehicles waiting to refuel. We found out later that this weekend is a long weekend for Port Hedland so every man and his dog has headed north. We, on the other hand, headed south to Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park. It is packed for the same reason so we are on an unpowered site for the night. Very strong wind today made the going tough but we got into camp around one-thirty, enough time for Jenny and Bob to go surf fishing while I had a shower and caught up on my logs.

No fish for tea

Willies Creek Tour

Up early again to be ready to be picked up at ten to eight by our all day bus trip. This trip did a tour of the town’s points of interest before returning to the Pearl Lugers Museum in Broome for a great morning tea and a presentation about the pearling industry in Broome. Very informative, well worth the money. After lunch we were taken out to Willie Creek Pearl Farm for a guided tour on the production of cultured pearls. This included checkin oysters for pearls, a boat trip to show how the long lines are set up and light refreshments before the obligatory showroom spiel. Another well done and entertaining tour. Back home at around five so it was a long day.

Pearls of little wisdom

Rest Day

Lay in day today – we’ve been hitting the road around eight in the morning so it means early rises to get going, so today we had a lay in then went to replenish food and medical supplies (Jenny still has a croaky throat) Back to the camp to sit in the shade because its in the mid thirties today so we’re not inclined to run around. All very restful.