Port Hedland to Broome

I was away early this morning. Port Hedland to Broome was going to be a long and tiring day on the road. Leaving town, there was just one hold-up in the form of a level crossing for long iron ore trains coming and going to the port. I was lucky enough to see the end of such a train, so my wait was only a minute or two.

My first stop was at Pardoo Roadhouse, which had been badly damaged in the cyclone early this year. It is still closed, but some repairs have begun:

I had to stop at Sandfire Roadhouse for fuel. My Prius takes Premium  (95 or 97) and there was only one pump dispensing this. It was hard to find as there was a big queue of cars and caravans fighting for space. I had to get out and check for the right pump and then elbow my way to get to it.

At 2.30 pm my hotel tried to ring to tell me my room was ready, but I was stopped for a nap at a rest area in the middle of nowhere with no phone service. It was a pleasure to finally arrive in Broome and find my way to the Bali Hai (my home for four nights):

They told me I had been given an up-grade. I’m not sure why!

I’ve always loved these lampshades.

Point Samson to Port Hedland

The TV issue was solved late in the day, when an electrician was called from Karratha. He was an ultra cheerful black African with a jolly face and he had the problem sorted by 6.00pm. Apparently all the rain that fell in the last 24 hours had damaged the main receiver in the office and caused a short circuit. So, TV news and a nature programme about migrating shore birds was again on the cards. The wi-fi was still awful, but I managed that by going over to The Cove Caravan Park and sitting outside their office. The signal remembered me from before!

The weather forecast continued to look dicey up ahead, with bands of rain coming in from the sea; but I’ve been lucky so far. Outside Karratha there had been some flooding over the road at one point, but that was all. There was plenty of stagnant water beside the road most of today, but no hold-ups and clear blue skies all the way.

It was a short day to Port Hedland so I was in no rush. Keeping the speed low also makes my fuel go further. I stopped for a coffee break at Whim Creek. The hotel is closed and boarded up, but I have good memories of camping there, once with the Nats Club and once with JL. What a pity it’s in such a bad state, but this area is cyclone prone so it would be an expensive job to restore it to its former glory:

Driving into Port Hedland was not easy. The traffic was heavy, with big trucks coming in all directions and roads entering the main highway every couple of minutes. You need all your wits about you to negotiate this part of the trip.

I was glad to remember the turn-off to Cooke Point so that I could find my way to the Caravan Park, now owned by Discovery Parks. I had been obliged to book a 2-bedroom cabin since that was the only thing available. Port Hedland is full to bursting at the moment.

After a much-needed siesta, I went for a walk along the inlet and took a few pics:

A few people were fishing and a couple were even snorkelling. It was a lovely evening.

Onslow to Point Samson

I set off quite late, in order to let all the grey nomads and their caravans get away first. Just out of town, I pulled over to have a closer look at the ponds created by Onslow Salt on both sides of the road.

The shallow ponds are filled with seawater which gradually evaporates in the hot sun, leaving industrial grade salt behind. This is stockpiled and eventually transported to Japan and Korea.

It was a good day for driving. I stopped for lunch at Fortescue Roadhouse:

This is the view looking North.

At Point Samson, I found that my booking was at possibly the worst of the places to stay: Point Samson Resort. It’s very small and dead; hardly anybody is around, the wi-fi is slow and the TV is not working!

I went for a walk down to Honeymoon Cove, where there are some interesting rock formations:

I also found some nice wildflowers:

Sturts Desert Pea.

Beach Morning Glory.

Exmouth to Onslow

There are long stretches of road off the North West Coastal Highway to actually reach the coast itself at Exmouth and Onslow, but it’s worth it to find better places to stay than at a roadhouse. At Exmouth, it’s always interesting to chat to other travellers going north or south and hear about their experiences.

The rain held off and there were only high level clouds and sunny patches on my way north. I stopped early on to take a better picture of a termite mound:

These mounds are everywhere, dotted across the landscape on the Exmouth road.

The journey to Onslow was uneventful. As soon as I arrived, I wanted to stretch my legs with a decent walk after doing zero kms the day before. There was no sunset over the sea; I walked the length of the boardwalk, built in commemoration of a policeman, Ian Blair, who lived in Onslow for many years. From the boardwalk, there is a view of the jetty which serves Onslow Salt (one of JL’s most successful civil engineering projects). Salt is transported along the jetty by a conveyor belt to the waiting cargo ship at the end:

One of my favourite plants on this coast is the Green Birdflower:

I plucked one, to demonstrate the “bird”:


The “mountains” of salt can be seen in the distance:

Shipments of salt began in 2001. It is now owned by the Japanese company, Mitsui.


From the beach at the end of the boardwalk:


All along the boardwalk are informative plaques like this one:


At the Onslow end is a war memorial. This is a bench with soldiers’ hats in bronze:

Carnarvon to Exmouth

At Minilya Roadhouse this morning, I paid $6 for a Flat White. That’s the limit: I’ll be making my own coffee from now on! Things do get expensive in the outback, but enough’s enough.

Today has been grey and wet: totally unexpected for this part of Australia. We come up here for sunshine! The long straight road is boring, and Sunday’s radio consists of sport.

I pulled off the road in a downpour and just went to sleep for half an hour. Now I’m installed at Ningaloo Lodge in Exmouth, a superior Backpacker’s with private rooms and an extremely well-appointed kitchen. So I’m going to concoct myself a dinner of fried rice so that I don’t have to go out in the rain.

Later…

In the kitchen/dining room, I had an interesting conversation with a couple who have just finished a week’s volunteering on a boat, taking visitors out to swim with the whale sharks. The woman prepared lunches and the man was in the water helping the customers to follow the sharks. He described how he towed two kids on tyres and a shark swam right past them.

It has rained and rained since I got to Exmouth. I haven’t been out as I have no wet weather gear with me. That was for the Camino, and it’s supposed to be the dry season up here!

Geraldton to Carnarvon

Today was a much better day for driving. It was sunny all day. Being Saturday, there were fewer large trucks with multiple trailers on the road; but there were plenty of caravans and many more boats being towed than last year. What a hassle, towing a boat, and very costly in petrol I imagine. Thank goodness for my economical Prius!

After getting to Carnarvon in the late afternoon, I checked in at the Gateway Motel, had a beer and immediately set off to walk on the Fascine and out over the walkway to Whitlock Island:

Some Indigenous kids were swimming, but there was quite a cool wind blowing.

The boardwalk boards were in a bad state in places: the water can be seen below.

Some history of the Fascine area:

The Gateway Hotel was running its usual Seafood Buffet. There were fewer guests, maybe because the price has gone up and there are now more alternatives in Carnarvon. When I was first here, I couldn’t even find a F and C shop!

Perth to Geraldton

Leaving Perth in the rain, I was looking forward to better weather driving North: not the case! It rained on and off all the way for the 4.5 hour journey. At first, there were a series of roadworks on the Tonkin Highway. It was a real dog’s breakfast! It was unclear which lane you were supposed to be in to go straight ahead, as often the off-ramp was being used, with the arrows on the road surface crossed out with a big cross. In the heavy rain, this cross was hard to see. I am not coming back this way!

Later, another hazard had been introduced since I came this way a year ago. Rumble strips had been installed in the centre of the road, and it was unclear to me whether overtaking was allowed if it meant driving over these. Observing other drivers, the consensus seemed to be that you could (provided that the white line underneath the rumble strip permitted this). On a wet road, it was hard to fathom all this out. I drove all the way at a much slower speed than I normally do. I didn’t reach Geraldton till 4.30 pm when I was happy to use the free drink voucher customarily provided.

I was keen to go for a walk on the foreshore to get some sea air,  even though it was starting to get dark:

Octopus on a lamp post!

A red sunset soon followed:


I had secured a booking, earlier in the week by phone, for the top restaurant in town (supposedly): the Salt Dish, but it had to be at 5.45 pm. It is only open for dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings, so I was lucky to be passing through Geraldton on the right day. There were a lot of young staff, rather inexperienced, I thought and the place will have to work hard to maintain its reputation.

Seafood chowder.

Twice cooked pork belly.