|
|
||
18-Jun-2007 |
         
|
Tuesday - 24th August Left Broome and headed south for 80 Mile Beach. Just got round the corner from the Roebuck Roadhouse and had my first tyre failure, back tyre of the cruiser. Changed over to spare and went back to Broome for repair. Tyre was shot and required replacement. Looks like a rock had fractured the casing, probably picked it up on the trip to Bell Gorge. Set off from Broome after lunch and overnighted at the Simpson rest stop. Had barbequed perch that I caught on the charter for tea. Very nice. Wednesday - 25th August Arrived at 80 Mile Beach after a 10k of fairly corrugated gravel road. Booked into park and caught up with some friends. Wind into our campsite was pretty bad. We went collecting sea-shells along the beach. There are masses of them, but all the big ones are washed up after cyclones and are quickly picked up by east-coast shell collectors. Still we got a nice collection. Tried a bit of fishing off the beach, but the winds and currents were so severe that most of the time the hook ended up closer to the beach than we were. Thursday - 26th August Winds much calmer and very pleasant on the beach. We set off down south on the beach for a few k to look for more shells. Had to pull a fellow 4WDer out of the sand after he got bogged. First time I had used the snatch strap. It worked fine. Found a huge patch of oyster, fairly small, but delicious. Judy went off searching for shells while I had an oyster feast. I checked up and down the beach with binoculars and there wasn’t a soul on the beach for miles. Decided to go "au naturel" (must have been the oysters). Walked down to the water (about 200 metres) with my bathers over my shoulder, Judy snarled "Put your pants on". That was the end of my naturist period. Still it was comfortable, if breezy, while it lasted. Got a stack more shells, and a little sun-burnt. Friday - 27th August Left 80 Mile Beach and headed for Karratha. Lots of roadkill on the way, cattle and roos. Only roadkill I've collected so far is butterflies, hope the luck holds out. We didn't quite make Karratha as we diverted to Samson Point. There was no room at the caravan park so we backed track down the road a little and camped in a car park beside the Pope's Nose Creek. Threw a line in the water and almost immediately caught a Trevally. It was quickly filleted, grilled and eaten for tea. Tried a bit more fishing without any luck. Saturday - 28th August Got up early and tried a bit more fishing, but no luck so went into Samson Point for a look around then back to Roebourne for a tour of the old jail, and a fill of the water tanks at the visitor centre, before heading south a few k to Cleaverville. What a great place. It's about 23k from Roebourne including a 13k unmade section that is very corrugated. But the result is worth it. There are a series of camping spots just above the high water mark with spectacular views across the water to the islands. No facilities of any kind but fishing, swimming, snorkelling and coral viewing for only $6 a van per day. Vast numbers of oysters on the rocks and I’ve been pigging myself out. Jude and I tried a bit of fishing but no luck. Sunday - 29th August Up early and down for a bit more fishing. No luck again. I got a bit wet retrieving a snagged lure but it was all good fun. Came back for breakfast and a shower. We went for a walk along the beach over ancient reefs stuffed with fossilised shells and coral. We collected a few interesting stones for Adam’s aquariums. Tried a bit more fishing, no luck. Went back to eating oysters. Spent much of the afternoon sitting around reading. Lovely. Monday - 30th August Raging winds overnight and in the morning as we packed up to leave. Headed out along the badly corrugated road to meet the grader coming in. Bugger. Drove into Karratha for some banking, some shopping and to clean up the rig. I recommend the car wash at the end of Morse Crt. in Karratha. The bays are big enough for a caravan and the proprietor even supplied me with a platform to clean the top. The rig has never looked so clean. Can't say much for the toilet dump facilities, the manager at the local tip, where I was directed, told me to find an effluent pond that looked open and dump it in there. Yuk, I’ll wait till I get to a caravan park. Headed on south with a brisk tail wind for a change heading for Exmouth. Very rugged desert countryside contrasted with the abundance of wildflowers. Overnighted at the Barradale rest area. Another lovely sunset and moonrise almost simultaneously. Had a nice scotch and a delightful pate our friends had bought back from France for us. Then, a dinner of grilled coral trout (which I caught in Broome) and potato wedges.
This site was last updated 18-06-07 |
