The Pilbara Coast

Since leaving the renowned national parks of the Pilbara we have been exploring its coastline. On Tuesday morning it was rock rambling near Karatha in search of aboriginal rock art. We found many fine examples but that wasn’t surprising as the site has many thousand engravings. After lunch we traveled an hour up the road to Point Samson where we spent a rest day and a couple of nights. Adrian got the rods out for the first time and caught us our supper.

We then traveled to Port Hedland where we had planned to stay for a couple of days but after lunch and a quick look around we decided to keep moving and arrived at Eighty Mile Beach just on sunset. The brochures said that this was a good place for shell collecting. Joy was in her element; she found some in the half dark and was up at the crack of dawn in search of more. It was lucky we had to be out of the park by 10am or she would have walked the whole 80 miles.

We arrived in Broome yesterday and went to the movies at the world’s oldest continually operating garden cinema last night. We sat in the front row of deck chairs under a starry night sky. Just as the film was getting to an exciting bit, fireworks from a nearby carnival started. The movie was paused until the fireworks crescendo.

We’ve decided we need a holiday, so we booked in for 5 nights.

The Big Red Pilbara

We don’t think there is soil in the Pilbara region, just red rocks, red powdery dust and a bit of iron ore. Our first excursion after arriving in Tom Price on Wednesday was a trip to a mountain lookout and to Hamersley Gorge. This involved traveling about 140k on dirt roads. In fact we had to watch a 20 minute video on dirt driving to get a permit to drive on a Rio Tinto road to get there.

When we returned we spent a further hour or so cleaning off the thin layer of red dust that coated everything inside the van. But the trip was worth it to get to see some of the superb scenery the Pilbara has to offer. We also got to see one of the iron ore trains and waited for the 3 locos and 320 carriages to pass by. It measured about 2.5k and took about 4 minutes to pass. Down the track it stopped in front of another coming back up the line and we witnessed a crewchangeover. On Friday we did a mine tour and learned that they send on average 4 train loads of ore per day.

After two nights at Tom Price we traveled to nearby Karijini National Park and spent 2 days exploring many gorges, waterfalls and rock pools. We even swam in one of the pools and showered under the warm waters of a waterfall. On Sunday we hit the dirt again and traveled to Millstream National Park, 180k down the railway road. We met a ranger at the gate and he suggested we go for a swim in one of the river pools. The waters were lovely and warm, a nicerelaxing activity before cleaning out the day’s dust.

We arrived in Karatha today. After a couple of hours of cleaning we decided to go out for a meal. We have been driving around in the dark for the last hour and finally found a restaurant called McDonalds! At least they have free WIFI internet.

Monster of the Deep

Dah dmp … Dah dmp … Dah dmp … dah dah dah dah dah dah dah. The theme to jaws was sounding in our ears and we were about to come face to face with a monster of the deep. In fact this shark was even bigger than the great white and it was coming straight for us. And we were glad because we had traveled many hours across rough seas for our chance to swim with the plankton eating whale shark.

Our whale shark was estimated at 7-8 metres long and was accompanied by a flotilla of smaller fish. It swam along gracefully while we panted and puffed to keep up with it for our turn in the water. It was a regimented operation: slide off the back of the boat; follow the swim leader; get out of the way of the shark as he swims toward you; turn and swim like hell to keep up with the whale shark; huddle up while the boat comes to collect you; back on the boat and repeat the process.

On our way out to the shark zone we practiced the

process with a guided snorkel over the Ningaloo Reef and a chance to view the corals and many multi-coloured fish. Whilst the swim with the whale shark was the highlight of our 5 days at Coral Bay, snorkeling off the beach also provided some memorable moments. (Today’s photos are provided by the professional photographer who accompanied us on the shark trip).

Along the Coral Coast

Since leaving Perth on Saturday we have been traveling along the Coral Coast region of WA. Most has been long stretches of various types of scrub but every few hours there will be a scenic highlight like the sunset at Cervantes or spectacular pinnacles in a nearby desert landscape or the beautiful blue sea at Geraldton.

Monday it was the stark white shell beach and stromalites of Hamelin Pool and the brilliant green and blue of Shark Bay. More scrub and then the tranquil waters of Monkey Mia. It was then time to don the shorts and Tee shirts for a walk along the beach and a sunset sail across the bay.

It was an early rise on Tuesday to paddle with the famous dolphins and then another cruise in search of sea animals. We sighted the noses of several dugongs and sea turtles as well as an exhibition by pod of dolphins.

Wednesday we were on the road again with more scrub and then a scenic lookout at a low range that turned the vast scrub into a scene of beauty. More long stretches of road before finding the banana plantations and market gardens of Carnarvon where we stayed the night. A volunteer driver for the coffee pot train that runs along Carnarvon’s one-mile jetty bragged that we were less than 1000km from Perth. We walked the half of the jetty that was open and caught the train back.

After Carnarvon it was a few hours drive to Coral Bay. On the way we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and later the scrub was interspersed with massive termite mounds. Coral Bay is set on the edge of Ningaloo Reef: just a short swim to the coral and reef fish

Doing Hard Time in Perth

We arrived in Perth on Monday evening after a brief sojourn in Busselton. The stop off in Busselton was to walk the longest wooden piled jetty in the southern hemisphere. It was blocked at the 200 metre mark so we could only look out over the last kilometer.

Perth was all hard time. Firstly it was the Fremantle prison, which was built by and for convicts but continued operating until 1991. Then it was Perth city where we ended up in the old gaol in the museum complex and finally it was Rottness Island where the heritage buildings were built by and for aboriginal prisoners in the late 19^th century and also for a boy’s reformatory. A hard time the lot of it!

Of course on our way to jail we did manage to sight a few other interesting things like: what remains of the Batavia at the maritime museum in Fremantle, a gold pour at the Perth Mint, quokkas on Rottness Island, and a walk in Kings Park.

Stay tuned for travels to Monkey Mia (where we are now) and beyond

From Waves to the Land of Giants

After leaving Kalgoorlie we traveled through Coolgardie and onto the Wheat Belt. The belt was bordered by the Rabbit Proof Fence where the sign claimed it as the longest man made structure. This was interesting because a few days earlier when we crossed the dog fence on the Nullarbor it also claimed the record as the longest man made structure. Has anyone got a Guinness Book of World Records?

Our first night on the Wheat Belt was spent at Wave Rock. We spent the morning exploring the rock and nearby ‘Humps’ where a cave with indigenous paintings (mostly hands) can be found. Then it was on to the coast. About half way we encountered a sign advising we were entering a Wave Zone. This had us perplexed as we were far from Wave Rock and still farther from the coast. Some time further on the mystery was solved with another sign advising ‘People around here wave to say hello’! The next sign read ‘Wave Safely’.

At Albany we learned the difference between English and Flemmish brickwork on an historic walking tour of WA’s first settlement (actually it was an outpost of New South Wales at the time). We toured Whale World the site of the last whaling station in Australia and viewedspectacular coastal scenery.

Then it was a few days spent in the Land of Giants, firstly visiting the Red Tingles in Walpole and then the Karri in Pemberton. We climbed the Glouster Tree where an old fire spotting tower is located 60 metres up a Karri, went on a tram ride through the forest and a tourist drive to inspect more giant trees. Joy climbed half way up the Bicentenial Tree another even larger fire spotting tower 75 metres up another Karri tree while Adrian remained earthbound suffering from his earlier effort. Friday night we feasted on marron a local freshwater crayfish washed down with a local shiraz. Very nice.

In the morning it was not so nice, we could barely make in down the 3 steps from the van as our legs were not functioning. We traveled on to Margaret River and decided we would do some sight seeing that did not involve walking or climbing. Took a scenic drive to Cape Leeuwin where the Southern and Indian oceans meet (also the location of a light house). Masochistic Joy bought tickets for the lighthouse tour: “We’ll just do the tour and not go up the lighthouse”. The tour was of the lighthouse! 176 steps up, 176 down: painful!

Sunday was a day of decadence: wine tasting, cheese tasting and chocolate tasting. Adrian could still barely walk but Joy insisted on visiting one of the region’s limestone caves: 500 steps down, 500 up.

We are now in Perth but more on that another day.