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Yesterday's morning tea stop
by a dry river bed and beautiful white gums After a pleasant couple of days at Carnarvon where we met some very nice 'neighbours', we left there yesterday morning, still trying to decide whether we'd go to Tom Price and Karijini National Park or straight north. We saw the sign to Karratha and that decided us. Yesterday's trip was through outback country - the usual red dirt, grey-green scrub with the occasional beautiful white trunked, weeping gum.
Our overnight stop was at Nanutarra Roadhouse, which had a very large area beside it with powered sites with water available too. It was very popular and by evening it was full of motor homes, caravans, tents and fifth wheelers. There was also the sleeping accomodation which look like they've made rooms in containers and most of those seemed full too. It was very social with everyone sitting outside at night - no TV, computer, radio or phone reception - but we were a bit anti and sat inside with a DVD and air conditioning getting cool as it was very hot!
Today the drive into the Pilbara was very interesting - still outback country but the 'grass' was green and of round tufts, there were quite a few small mountains
and still the red red soil. There are quite a few wildflowers coming out and some wattle. There was some mining in a distance as this area is known for mining, and a big gas pipe is being laid so a few camps set up for workers.
We arrived at Karratha and are in a very nice caravan park with the lovely white gums planted beside each site. We went driving to look at the town which is very similar to those in a mining type area, and ended up in a little shopping centre - it was air condiitoned and it is HOT! The Staircase to the Moon occurs 8th, 9th, and 10th July, when the full moon shines on low tide, making it look like stairs on the water towards the moon. It is popular in Broome, which is still several hundred kilometres away but we've found that it's also good to see at Dampier which is just south of here, and Cossack, just north. We'll stay here two nights and see if we can see it at Dampier and then have booked in to Point Samson after that and we may then catch it at Cossack.
Today's morning tea stop
Fabulous reflections and dozens of cockatoos in the trees across the water It is school holidays in Western Australia and caravan parks are getting full early. We have booked from here to Port Hedland and then we'll have to decide where we'll stay after that. I saw a pretty mauve cone flower - some native - growing at the side of the road, and just on the footpath around the caravan park there is Sturt's desert pea growing wild ... a little of each is now in a jar on our table. There are many birds - we've seen a lot of wedge-tailed eagles, kites, galahs and today a flock of swift flying yellow birds - we didn't know if they were budgerigars or something else. Right now a flock of corellas are making a terrible din not far from us.
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Lynette
non-member comment
may I use your photo for teaching?
Hi Val and Doug, This is a wonderful photo of Sturt's Desert pea and I would love to have your permission and a digital copy of it to use in my teaching files at UNE. Please get back to me about it soon, Merry Christmas and a happy New Year, Lynette McLean, Genetics lecturer, UNE Armidale, 2351 work Phone: 6773 5118