Impressions of Broome

Firstly, it is jam packed with people and cars. Finding my way around is difficult as so much has changed since I was last here. If you want a coffee in town, there is a long wait and it’s hard to find a seat. I chatted to a woman who has lived here for some years. Her husband was transferred here as a bank manager and they never wanted to leave.

I did my shopping in Coles and headed back to Cable Beach. I had forgotten the way and wasted some petrol driving around in circles! I thought I knew the place!

Another big change is the area in front of the Sunset Bar, where people used to love driving their cars down onto the beach. It is now a huge construction site. What on earth are they building? No-one seems to know. There was some terribly rowdy music emanating from the bar, so I retreated into the extensive grounds of Cable Beach Club itself. These are as lovely as ever:

A coach-load of tourists was just arriving at the hotel and were receiving a welcome drink of bubbly, only to be told they had half an hour before being taken out to dinner. It’s all go on these tours!

On my way back to Beaches of Broome, I stopped off for my own glass at The Wharfe:

As dusk fell, I saw all the camels returning across the road.

More info on the construction work:

https://cablebeachredevelopment.com.au/

EMBeach to Broome

My cabin was at the very far end of the caravan park, far away from any wi-fi connection. On checkout, I was told you could stand next to the big rock just outside the shop and get reception. I wish they had told me that at the beginning! Also, the TV was too far away from things to get a signal. So, I went to bed early and slept for about 11 hours. I must have needed a rest!

Next morning, I was woken at 7.30 by the arrival of a road train delivering bricks. I made breakfast and sat outside in the sun. (It was too cold inside). I had to ward off a persistent little bird who wanted to eat my porridge. There was also a friendly Spinifex pigeon:

Here he is sitting on my fence. Behind him, at the next cabin, is a well-travelled MG (more about this car later down the road):

I had been advised by a man from one of the caravans to leave as late as possible near checkout time of 10.00 am, in order to avoid clouds of dust on the gravel road. It was a relief to reach the bitumen  of the Gt Northern Highway without incident, but the first thing I saw was the little white MG with a flat tyre. When I met them again later, they said it was caused by something sharp on the last of cattle grids on the gravel road.

I made a quick stop at Stanley, a “24 hour Stopping Place”, one of two on this stretch of road, with shady trees and toilets. After this, not needing any more fuel, I pressed on to Broome, with a brief lunch stop at Roebuck Bay Roadhouse. A car pulled up next to me: it was the white MG.

This car has been everywhere: Egypt, Africa and more! The owners told me it was 57 years old!

It was lovely to checkin at Beaches of Broome. This is an up-market backpackers, where I had booked a private room; it has a great location, minutes from Cable Beach and two doors away from The Wharfe Restaurant. Later I enjoyed a barramundi curry and a glass of prosecco to celebrate my arrival:

Hedland to Eighty Mile Beach

Getting out of Port Hedland is always tricky. There were the usual roadworks and diversions to contend with. The long straight roads north are extremely boring with no-one to talk to. Occasionally there is something interesting on the radio. I listened to an interview with Peter Greste, which was excellent, especially as I had recently seen the film based on his life as a journalist on hazardous assignments: The Correspondent.

Stopping for fuel at Pardoo, I saw this caravan with a mural all over it:

The way into Eighty Mile Beach is via 10 km of gravel. My Prius is not built for off-road driving and I was quite nervous after a bad skid on a trip to Dryandra a few years ago. I stuck to a careful 40 km per hour, even though there were two caravans behind me wanting to go faster.

All was well. I checked in and went to explore the beach:

Lots of shells, which you are encouraged not to collect nowadays:

The favourite activity here is fishing. This man had just caught a giant threadfin salmon:

For myself, I enjoyed a beer and contemplated my car covered in dust from the gravel road:

Karratha to Port Hedland

It was about a 3-hour drive, so I set off quite late in anticipation. There was quite a lot of traffic, but we lost much of it at the turn-off for Coral Bay. I might call in there on the way back.

At Port Hedland I drove down to the waters edge to watch the big container ships going into the port:

As I had my lunch I talked to a Canadian girl who told me she had been working in port administration for 2 years.

I drove back along the road to the turn-off for Cooke Point Holiday Park, where I had booked a small cabin. The location is not brilliant, right near the entrance with lots of coming and going. But I enjoyed a Little Creatures as the sun went down and walked to the far end of the park:

The dunes are full of these bird flowers, which I remembered from my last visit.

Nanutarra to Exmouth

I made an early start and was on their road by 7.30 am. Actually it was so cold there was no point in hanging about. It was lovely to have the road to myself for the first hour as I drove along with the sun over my right shoulder. Then all the road trains started thundering along: they are allowed to travel at 100 kph.

My plan was to have breakfast at Fortescue Roadhouse, which was 1.5 hours down the road. When I got there it was all fenced off and boarded up. What a disappointment! I pulled off the road in a lay-by just afterwards and drank some coffee from my flask. This was my view over the spinifex grass:

This is the area where ironstone is everywhere. You pick up a pebble and it is twice as heavy as you would expect. It’s the black layer of iron ore running through it:

I arrived in Dampier at 11.00 am. At the Mermaid Hotel, they had finished serving breakfast and lunch would start in half an hour. So I sat down in their large open air dining room and concocted lunch from my own supplies, including a box of salad from Nanutarra. There was a beautiful view over the bay:

I had come to Dampier in order to visit the Burrup Peninsula. I wanted to see the ancient petroglyphs, the ancient rock carvings which have been in the news lately. It is claimed that the pollution from Woodside’s Northwest Shelf operations is affecting the carvings. I drove down the road to Hearson’s Cove and sat in the shade enjoying the cool breeze for a while. It was really the wrong time of day to go exploring among the rocks. Suddenly a bus arrived and I thought they were on a tour of the petroglyphs. It turned out it was a group of Woodside workers out for a picnic, so I asked them where to go.

I followed the sign to where a special walkway has been constructed to enable viewing of the petroglyphs:

The interpretive boards were full of information, but it was the wrong time of day to linger (mad dogs and Englishmen…)

This is one of Woodside’s LNG plants just across the road:

There are many more in the area. The debate is still going on, since Woodside has just been given the go-ahead to extend the life of its project till the 2070’s.

Geraldton to Carnarvon

I had breakfast in the Ocean Centre Hotel: a fairly modest meal of poached eggs on toast. For some reason, every French door was wide open and it was far too cold at that hour of the morning. I quickly left and went in search of a warmer spot for a coffee. A new French patisserie has opened on the main street. I was tempted by a cinnamon twist:

It came with some very strong coffee that nearly blew my head off!

On the road north, not so many heavy trucks today being a Saturday. They have been replaced by Grey Nomads with their caravans and boats in tow. It’s a long straight road, with plenty of passing spots, but I was not in a hurry and a slower speed is more economical on fuel.

I stopped at Billabong for lunch, consisting of some raw cauliflower and cheese from my fridge: quite a nice combination and the patisserie had not sold any plain bread. Billabong was a really busy spot with so many caravans coming and going.

When I reached Carnarvon, I drove straight to check in at the Hospitality Inn. I wanted to have a walk along the Fascine to work up an appetite for dinner. I had never noticed before, but there is a monument to all the lives lost when the HMAS Sydney went down.

The monument consists of a plaque for every man who died, all in alphabetical order regardless of rank. The vessel was lost at sea in 1941 after a battle with the German raider HSK Kormoran. This is considered Australia’s worst naval disaster.

I went in search of any Butterworths, but there were none. Amongst the men on board was a chaplain, a schoolmaster, many stokers and bandsmen, a cook, a canteen manager and a few officers.

One of Carnarvon’s attractions is a seafood buffet at the Gateway Hotel. It used to be only on Friday nights, but now it’s on Saturdays as well. Here are pics of the first and second courses (and I restrained myself):

There was plenty of food, but very few customers. Perhaps they were put off by the $45 charge: it has gone up a lot since I was last here!

Perth to Geraldton

I’m starting my favourite road trip today: Perth to Broome. I got off to a slow start. The traffic going out of the city on the Gt Eastern Highway towards Midland was pretty heavy, and no better when we joined the Gt Northern Highway. Too many road trains and oversized loads!  Still, it was nice to see the signs for Hwy 1, on which you can travel all the way round Australia if you want.

Going north, there were many showers of rain, one after another, some extremely heavy. My car got a good clean at least. I stopped for a quick lunch at Regans Ford and stretched my legs eating a sandwich as I walked around the carpark. It’s always a pleasure to get the first sight of the sea approaching Geraldton, and even better to walk on the beach on arrival:

My hotel is the white building, top left.

Octopus.

Replica of the Batavia longboat which was wrecked off the Abrolhos Islands in 1629.

It turned into a lovely sunny late afternoon as I walked on the foreshore as far as the museum. Then it was time to pick up a take-away Mee Goreng from the Noodle Bar across the road, followed by an early night.