20 To Port Hedland and beyond 12 Sept


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Oceania » Australia » Western Australia » Karratha
September 11th 2011
Published: September 12th 2011
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Barn HillBarn HillBarn Hill

Hard to find
On Sunday night at Barn Hill, the Station owners put on a roast dinner. 3 courses for $15 – yes we know sounds like old peoples tucker! Roast beef it was with lots of gravy, preceded by soup and followed by icecream. Included was a concert by an aboriginal family from down the road. Sort of because there were only two of them, so they rounded up a couple of white fellas and we had a band! Funny thing was, the black fellas played the electric guitars and the white fellas played the didgeridoos.

We then proceeded down the coast to the Eighty Mile Camp which is on Eighty Mile Beach. Only good for fishing and shell collecting. Swimming is discouraged. After we arrived, the wind got up very strongly from the SE and it wasn’t pleasant. Tried fishing, but no luck. Only one caught that day, a 40lb Mullaway by Paul, our neighbour. He gave us a couple of fillets which we had for our dinner – very nice fish.

After 2 nights we moved on to Cape Keraudren which is the southern end of Eighty Mile Beach. Bush camp, though we were in the scrub instead, right
Sunday DinnerSunday DinnerSunday Dinner

At Barn Hill with Paul & Christine
on the edge of the beach. Great views, but the continuing wind spoiled things. Pattie collected some more shells.

Next day headed to Port Hedland, but ran into a highway closure for bush fires. We waited for over 4 hours to get through. The traffic backup must have been huge because the only way round on a sealed road was via Alice Springs and Adelaide. After we got through we were stopped by an iron ore train with 4 engines and 236 wagons. PH is a “brown town” because of the dust and wind. Full of road trains, 4WDs and people wearing protective clothing. Has one Woolworths, one chemist and not much else. Still windy and gritty dusty.

Two nights there were more than enough, though dinner at the Port Hedland Yacht Club one night was quite good. Good eateries are so rare, they even list the airport café as a place to “dine”.

We’re now in Karijini National Park, famous for its gorges and ancient rocks. The strata exposed in the gorges are just amazing as there are hundreds of very thin layers laid down over millions of years. Bright and deep red due to the
Sunday dinner 2Sunday dinner 2Sunday dinner 2

The band after dinner
iron content. The park is almost surrounded by iron ore mining. Newman (BHP Billiton) is just to the east and Tom Price (Rio Tinto) is just to the west. Two of the biggest mines in the world.

Spring is on the way after a “good” wet season so we are coming into wildflower season now and the colourful flowers are looking good.


Scroll down past the ads, etc for lots more photos.

PandD
12 September 2011



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Another sunsetAnother sunset
Another sunset

At 80 Mile Beach Camp Ground
Cape KeraudrenCape Keraudren
Cape Keraudren

Beach front camp site
Outside Port HedlandOutside Port Hedland
Outside Port Hedland

Fire across the road
PH FirePH Fire
PH Fire

The queue behind us.
PH FirePH Fire
PH Fire

Fire getting close
PH FirePH Fire
PH Fire

Past the fire at last
Karijini Nat ParkKarijini Nat Park
Karijini Nat Park

Some of the flowers are great.
Dales GorgeDales Gorge
Dales Gorge

Us on the edge
Dales Gorge floorDales Gorge floor
Dales Gorge floor

The strata are amazing
KarijiniKarijini
Karijini

Flowers on the cliff face
Fortesque FallsFortesque Falls
Fortesque Falls

In Karijini NP
Fish feedingFish feeding
Fish feeding

In the Fern Pool, Karijini
More flowersMore flowers
More flowers

Karijini NP flowers are becoming quite common - best year in the last 15 !


14th September 2011

Great trip!
We are really enjoying following your travels. Pleased to see you are making the most of the caravan. Sounds like the wildflowers will be awesome this year. Can't believe it is a whole year since we were over with Crumps.

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