Category: Road trip 2019

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.

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.

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.

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.

Some days I just don’t know how we do it. Visited the local shops in Derby and had coffee and cake before setting out on the arduous journey to the Nillibubbica Rest Area – a whole 118 kilometres for the day. We decided we’d stop here so we will only have a short run into Broome in the morning. It’s 35 degrees with little shade other than that provided by our vehicles – a bit dry and dusty. Just sitting back and listening to good old rock and roll and dreaming of a cool drink😓
So far we have clocked up 5247 kilometres and used around 700 litres of fuel and we’ve had 12 free camps out of 16 days, not that you would know by the smell emanating from our camp.

We braved the 12 kilometres of corrugations back to the main highway before heading south to Derby. A largely uneventful trip we arrived in town around lunchtime and checked into the Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park (posh sounding name) where we had lunch before indulging in our first hot, cool, clean shower since leaving Katherine. Bliss – it doesn’t take much to keep me happy 😃. Did some minor repairs on Jenny’s chair then sat back to enjoy some leisure time.

Very short run today down to Fitzroy Crossing for a bit of lunch and a seat in the cool on the lawns of the Information Centre. Refuelled and decided to go to the old Boab Quarry rather than spend two nights accommodation at Derby. We got there very early (around 1.30) and it was stinking hot, no shade at all. Our fridges misbehaved because we had done such a short run and it was so hot. Both the fridges and I were unhappy ☹️ Nightfall bought relief with cooler temperatures and the odd bull roaming through the camp. Early to bed then off to Derby in the morning.

We left at eight fifteen to head south towards Halls Creek where we stopped for morning tea before heading out to the Walls of China, a striking rock formation just out of town on the Duncan Road. We came back in to Halls Creek and refuelled and then headed south to Mary’s Pool Rest Area, stopping along the way for lunch. Arrived in camp at one-thirty for an early stop. Quite hot at the moment 34ºC. The last few days have been in the mid to high thirties. We made our plans for tomorrow then everyone sat back for an afternoon siesta.

We had the usual dilemma about what time to leave camp this morning because we are so close to the border and we then have to turn our clocks back a further one and a half hours. we ended up leaving at 10.00 am as this meant we could dawdle to Kununurra and still be there by 10.30 am despite being some 130 kms away. We had our vehicles checked at the quarantine station before heading towards Kununurra and turning before the Main Street to visit the Miriam National Park to have morning tea and have a stroll through the rock formations of Hidden Valley which have a similar form to the Bungles but not nearly as colourful. From there we continued on to the shopping mall to do our restocking after having what little fruit and veg we had left being taken at the quarantine station, checked the camping store out and bought fuel and a new fuel container for the Willie’s vehicle. We had lunch at the Kununurra dam weir then went on to Mullock Free Camp having travelled some five and a half hours. This is where the changed clocks had the greatest effect as we were caught out trying to cook in the dark when the sun set at five fifteen, as opposed quarter to seven the night before. Never mind, we survived.