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Rocky Hill Top
Caroline things the loose rock here is from blasting, I don't but need to find outDAY 195
I got out of bed at 5am for a pee, and as we had camped at De Grey camp area, (615) Camps 5 Western Australia page 341, we knew there were no toilets at all, so you have to be brave and “GO BUSH” when you need to go, last night we were rolling around laughing because we had just left the Taylor Wellington Caravan, to go to bed, Kirsty said she needed to go bush, and wandered off with the shovel.
So, I got up out of the trailer and found the first available tree, which is one of the best things about being a bloke, although there are many other good things about being a bloke.
I looked up in to the dark sky, in full stream, and saw the ¼ crescent moon, which is upside down here in the Southern Hemisphere, though the Australians will argue the Northern Hemisphere’s night sky is upside down, just to the right hand side of the crescent moon was what I think was a planet, so grabbing our binoculars I tried my best to see what it was but to no avail as I could not
Road to Marble Bar
These are quite small roads keep the Binoculars steady enough, I climbed back in to bed and said to Caroline that there was a celestial event, she grunted and opened up the mosquito flap acknowledged this and then went back to sleep.
I rolled around the sleeping bag for 10 minutes then got out back out of bed as I was in the wide awake club, and I knew there would be no chance of getting back to sleep, so dressed, in T shirt, shorts and flip flops I went out for a stroll down to the rivers edge, to get some photo’s.
The first thing on my mind when I woke was should we go back to Marble Bar? A town that has the record for being consistently the hottest place in Australia and a town that has incredible deposits of Jasper, Marble Bar had also been mentioned to us by Helen Sheridan when we were staying at Woodstock. It was niggling me, so I discussed it with Caroline and the decision was made, we would turn back 25 kilometres to the Marble Bar turn off, the only way in on bitumen. Then there is a 200 kilometre drive in.
Wandering
Road to Marble Bar
Beware of Road Trains back up the hill I saw Kirsty and Andrew, and grabbed the shovel and a roll of karsie paper and wandered off in to the bushes, as it was my turn to “Go Bush”.
When I got back they were laughing about all the people here going in to the bushes for that call of nature, and if people are walking over old “holes that have been filled in” and tread on them it would be like stepping on a mine, especially in Flip Flops.
Caroline had been chatting to the caravan people next door to us, picking up some tips on crocodiles and places that will definitely have them. They also tell her that crocodiles have been reported in the De Grey River, I think that perhaps from now on we need to have this on our mind that just because there is no sign, it does not mean to say that you are perfectly safe from them.
We had driven with Andrew and Kirsty from when we left the Truman family back at Karrijini National Park, heading for Broome, but passed Port Hedland and stopped 83K’s outside at this great little free camp site, this
Here's one
They come flying around the corner, and supposed to signal there arrival on Channel 8 UHF would be our very last chance on this trip to visit Marble Bar as once we get to Broome, there are no roads down to Marble Bar, it is virtually in the middle of nowhere.
We have had great fun on the UHF talking to them, and messing about (with fake Russian accents as Boris and Tatiana), it is nice to have someone else to talk to other than each other.
After a very light breakfast we were ready to go, us backwards for 200K’s and onwards to Broome for Kirsty and Andrew, after kisses and hugs we were off, promising to see each other in 2 days in Broome.
We were off, back on our own again, the day was lovely and warm, and I just wanted to go back and take a picture of a dead bullock that I had seen the day before, and as luck would have it was 20 Meters before our turn off. I don’t really want to take photos of dead things; I just wanted to show you what it is like here and what kind of things we see when we are on the road.
As we turned
right at the junction there were a couple of interesting signs, one advised you about driving in to such remote locations without preparation, and the other was advising you to switch your UHF radio to channel 8, to be in communication with the road trains, as they were back to being monstrous in size, and on these small roads were quite a hazard especially travelling through Coongans Gorge, they would swipe you easily into the kitty litter.
The scenery heading up North in Western Australia is amazing so lush and green, (After the rains) in contrast with the amazing red colour of the Rocks and dirt there are more rivers with water in them, however we are told that they will get less as we go further north.
The road was quiet, we couldn’t even get a radio Station so we put the Ipod on, and listened to Some Rolf Harris for a bit of fun. We pull into a rest area and get talking to a couple who are from Caboolture in Queensland, they tell us that there has been a severe downfall of rain and the area is flooded, we knew none of this and tell
them that we cannot get radio, they tell us to switch to AM and you can get ABC. Which we did and we find out more about what is happening on the Sunshine Coast.
I think we saw only 5 Road trains on the whole journey and probably 2 cars, we see lots of cows standing on the side of the road, there was one waiting to cross, we were not sure if it was going to play chicken with us and walk across at the last minute, the last thing we need is a set of cow horns as a souvenir on the bonnet of the truck, there is a lot of burnt scrub on the flat surface surrounding us, then we get to the gorges and we are surrounded by mounds of rock. We arrive in Marble Bar at around 11.00 am.
Someone had said that Marble Bar was a one-horse town, and as we drove in this was confirmed, though the Police Station and the County registrars building were lovely there wasn’t much else.
We drove to Chinaman’s pool where we parked and had a walk, it is a really pretty area, I fed
the horses with some carrots we had in the truck and they seemed sort of grateful.
Marble Bar got its name, from early pioneers who mistook the rock for Marble and not Jasper, if they had identified it correctly then it may have been called Jasper Bar.
Someone had recommended that we go to see the rocks, and to make sure we “wetted them “ as the colours were to be absolutely stunning, we parked the truck and walked down to the waters edge, confident that we were still not in Crocodile territory, taking my boots off I waded across the water, the bottom was so slippy that my feet just slid off the rocks and I was going in, I managed to put my hand in to my pocket and get my camera out just in the nick of time before I was soaked, and as I joyously held my camera out of the water, saw Caroline wading in.
We eventually both made it to our vantage point, though some of us were wetter than others and got some brilliant pictures, a couple who were wetting the rocks asked us if we could take pictures of
Caroline
In the Water at Marble Bar,just about to take some photographs them. We said yes as long as they could do the same for us. The colours of the rocks were stunning and you can only fully appreciate this when they are wet.
We find out that the lady we took the pictures of was singing in the pub in Marble Bar tonight, they said we should come along, but we declined as we have already decided to finish the marble sights and start heading back toward Port Headland and onto Broome.
We head up towards Comet Gold mine, Ken said that this was a must see. When we get there the place looks deserted, but a note on the door said that he was in the rock shed and to sound the siren and then he would come up.
I sounded the siren, because the shop was shut and a sign from Lyndon said to do so, however I knew that he was probably on his way as I saw a truck at the bottom of the hill, but I had to sound the siren anyway. I apologised when he appeared, but he said “That’s ok everybody does the same, they all want to sound the siren.”
Amazing
The early pioneers thought this was Marble, but it is Jasper We look around the artefacts in this shop/museum and we speak to Lyndon the shop Manager, he is very interesting and tells us some facts about the area and the rocks. We ask him allsorts of questions.
Lyndon asks which way were heading, we told him Port Headland and then Broome, he asks why we are not taking the dirt track, we look surprised and said which dirt track? Showing us on the map there is a turning for Bamboo Creek and up to a couple of stations, which will lead you through the bush and 192 kilometres further up the main highway.
We discuss the road conditions, he says it will be fine, we won’t have to drop the tyre pressures as he travels that road at 110km’s per hour at 48 psi and often. So another thing for Andy and I to think about, it will save some mileage but what about the conditions and after being told about the Newman to Marble Bar Road we are not certain what we should believe.
We ask him which for information on fuel here, as we need to top up. He sort of advises us but
says that he should be impartial to where we should go. We finish looking, and as we sign the visitors book we see the Truman family have also signed it, we head off, he tells us that we can pick up some Jasper from a little site on the way out, this is the only place that you are allowed to pick up the rock, otherwise heavy fines are imposed on you ($10,000).
We pull in at the petrol station, we see that it is $1.65 per litre, but we only need half a tank, however as Andy pulls out the nozzle and sticks it in the tank, a young girls comes out of the petrol station and says “there is a phone call for you!” Andy and I look at each other amazed and she said “have you just been up to the mine?” we said yes, so she asked us to ring Lyndon back.
Andy talks to Lyndon on the telephone and he asks if we can phone him back and tell him the condition of the road as it now becomes obvious that he has not driven on it for a good few months. If
we weren’t worried before, we were now.
We filled up and headed off, and further down the bitumen we found the track. We turned in and both agreed that we would see what the first few kilometres is like and if either of us were not happy we would turn round and take the bitumen.
A few kilometres in Andy drops the tyre pressure from 45 to 30, we just need to be sure, so he takes the track at a reasonable speed, not the 110km’s an hour that Lyndon travels (ok if you have a company van I guess!).
It was a fantastic road, all different types of terrain, gravel, sand rock, river crossings except that most river crossings were dry, there was one that had a small shallow puddle to drive through. On the other side we see someone tucked into the bushes, bush camping. It looked a very pleasant location.
However, our plan now is to head to Eighty Mile Beach, we want to see this before getting into Broome, it is a must see, another oasis in the desert apparently.
We come to a junction and are not sure of the
route, I check my map and the mud map that Lyndon gave me and work it out based on the location of the gaps in the gorges, I cannot even use the railway as a gauge as this is not even shown on the map! Anyway, I work it out and then tell Andy to drive straight on.
The road is fabulous; we get to the other end no problem at all. Andy re inflates the tyres it is getting late and the sun is starting to get cool, we have 52 kilometres to Eighty Mile Beach.
It will be dark when we get there, the sun is already setting, it seems to be getting a little bit earlier again.
We arrive at Eighty Mile Beach, there is no free camping here, as it is a Station and there is only one way to access the beach and that is to camp here. The office is still open and I manage to get us booked in, however before giving me the site number I ask on the off chance “Is the Truman family here”, she checks her register and says “yes, they are on site 121, I
Shortcut Home
We decided on the shortcut, through the outback 130's to the Bitumin will book you in close by.” I thank her, pay, and take the map.
I jump back in the truck laughing “The Trueys are here!” We are both surprised that they were still here, we thought they may have moved on by now.
The trouble is that we are now looking for our site in the dark, this is not recommended
We set the trailer up in the dark, then set about making something to eat, we had a piece of steak that needed eating up, so we rustled up a quick steak sandwich and a cup of tea and we were set.
After something to eat, it was time to get a shower, and drop in to the Trumens Caravan to say hello, Jodie and Kahlia were in but the boys were cleaning some fish and would be back soon. We had our shower and sat down and the whole of the Truman clan came to sit with us.
They invited us over to watch a movie and tonight’s showing on their computer was Sweeny Todd with Jonny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter. It was a great movie and when finished we retired to
Shortcut Home
These was a water crossing,the only one bed exhausted.
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