Eighty Mile Beach

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ighty Mile Beach is a beautiful pristine white sand beach stretching for miles as far as the eye can see in both directions. Conveniently located between Broome and Port Hedland, few campers and caravaners pass it by without at least a one night stay.

A red sandy track 10 miles long leads you from Highway One to what has become a highly successful commercial business on a working cattle station. Hidden from the beach by a stabilised sand-dune one would not suspect such an operation from the beach.

A large section of the park had already been closed due to the seasonal drop in visitor numbers but there were still many campers present. This site was clearly designed to take large numbers, including bus tours. The camp kitchen and fenced lawn area was similar to those at other large tourist locations such Uluru and Katherine Gorge. Other evidence included the ability to hire quad bikes allowing people to travel further along the beach.

People were friendly and the sun set beautifully. The camp site was clean and well organised but we enjoyed the more intimate feel of Barn Hill Station so we only stayed one night.

In the evening we noticed the late arrival of two very large and strange looking caravans. Closer investigation and a chat revealed these were mobile dongas (sleeping quarters) enroute to a new exploration site somewhere north. There were four small rooms to each caravan each with its own a/c. The second roof suggested that they were headed for a very hot location.

While on the road we received a radio warning from a road train that there was ridge capping on the road ahead. We kept our eyes peeled and pulled over when we saw it. Joan ran out to pull the sheets off the road, only to discover how hot metal can get in 40C sun. Our good deed done we continued. Further down the road we noticed another sheet pulled off on the other side. Clearly someone was going to arrive with a lighter load.

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