Geraldton to Perth

When I threw back the curtains at the Ocean Central Hotel, there was a rainbow over the harbour which boded well for the day. White cockatoos were making a row outside. They seem to have migrated here from Perth in search of warmer weather.

As soon as I left town, the torrential rain started up again and the heavy showers stayed with me all day. There were no floods across the road, but the spray from oncoming vehicles made for poor visibility. Driving was tiring in those conditions. I was in no mood to stop in the wildflower area between Western Flora and Badgingarra. 

When I finally got home, I discovered that C had not only done some shopping for me for essential supplies, but had also cleaned out my fridge and thrown out everything past its sell-by date! 

Now I just need a rest after all that driving! I also need to acclimatise to the COLD nights  in Perth after being in the Kimberley. But it has been a fantastic holiday: I’ve done lots and seen lots. Back to my knitting now!

Carnarvon to Geraldton

It rained and rained all day, at times very heavily: cats and dogs, you might say. There was a lot of water on the road. The verges were soft and waterlogged so it was risky to pull off. The Prius does not have high clearance, so I was nervous about driving through puddles. In this part of the world, the road fell away into a big chasm a few months ago! I didn’t want to get bogged or worse still swept away. At the worst point, I stopped to see what other cars would do. One simply drove through on the wrong side of the road so I followed him.

When there was a break in the downpour, I stopped for a late lunch at the Galena Bridge rest area. I took a photo of the old bridge to gauge the height of the river. I thought I had taken the same photo on the way up, but not so:

There were lots of caravans in the rest area, sheltering from the storm. If they stay there all night, who knows how high the river will be in the morning?

Carnarvon

I woke up this morning to the sound of pouring rain outside. I haven’t had any rain for my entire holiday! How lucky is that? I’m hoping that it will wash off all the dead flies attached to the front of my car. The rain front is forecast to follow me all the way back to Perth.

I arrived in Carnarvon at lunchtime yesterday. In the afternoon I walked out along the tramway jetty to Whitlock Island. There was a stiff breeze:

The Gateway is a pretty cheap and basic motel, but it is famous for its Friday night seafood buffet. I was in luck with the day, for once: I dined in style! I wish they would do something about the wine list, though. The clientele was 75% Chinese, which is always a good sign. They were obviously regulars, as two long tables were set out for them, one inside and one outside. The boss (in black on the left) was going around removing all the discarded shells as they ate their way through piles of crustaceans:







This is the best chilli sauce. I discovered it when Gools and Tommo served it on the Gibb River Road, so I was delighted to find it again here.

More seafood and dessert.

Glass bottom boat

On an aeroplane you dread sitting next to little kids. Let me tell you, it’s ten times worse on a small boat! I was looking forward to my glass bottom boat trip, since the wind from the north had foiled by snorkel attempts from the shore. On the boat, we had an experienced guide who had lots to tell us: but the 3-year old liked to scream and shout and interrupt, whilst the 18-month twins just liked to scream. I could have thrown the lot of them into the sea!

Here is what I saw anyway:

I was just having an outdoor shower to wash off the sand, when I heard someone calling my name. It was the receptionist from my hairdresser in Perth: small world!

PS. Later, I watched the guys from a fishing charter dealing with their catch: Red Emperor, Trevally, Tomato Cod:

Point Samson, Onslow, Coral Bay

Before leaving Point Samson, I had a walk around looking for alternative places to stay (for next time!) since the wi-fi in The Cove was useless and the Telstra signal was also pretty weak. In the past, we stayed here:

and here:



Point Samson also has a few too many sandflies (and Onslow is even worse in this regard), so it’s best not to linger too long in any one place!

Nevertheless, I find the landforms of Samson fascinating:

The pics above were taken just outside the town.



One of my missions in Onslow was to see this Shell collection. It has been in the news lately, because the Shire of Ashburton has just bought it for $200,000 from the lifetime collector and put it on display in the town. Sod’s Law and I was in Onslow on a Tuesday!



An evening walk at sunset: a few more sandflies got me!

On to Coral Bay, a favourite spot of mine, and I was pleased to secure a last minute booking for 2 nights at the RAC Ningaloo Reef Resort. I was pretty tired after the drive, especially as there were roadworks all along the road south from Exmouth with a 60 kph speed limit. I had a beer at sunset outside my unit and felt recovered:

At 7.10 pm I managed to catch the red moon:

Onslow

By special request from JL, who worked here as a civil engineer and set up Onslow Salt.

This is a selection of ancient machines currently on display in a jumble outside the museum:

On the way out of town, I stopped by one of the solar salt ponds. The stock piles of industrial salt are brilliant white on the horizon as they await transportation along the jetty by conveyor belt,  for loading onto ships to Japan.





The salt forms slowly on the edge of the seawater ponds and blows about in the breeze. It tastes salty and slightly sweet as well.

The following info is copied from the Mitsui website:

In 2006, Mitsui acquired the Onslow salt field. This site is located 530 kilometres north of Shark Bay and began shipment of salt in 2001.

Salt (sodium chloride) is an industrial chemical extracted from the sea by solar evaporation, and is a fundamental product in chemical and food-related applications. Traditionally used as a preservative in the food manufacturing industry, salt is also the key raw material for chlor-alkali factories that produce caustic soda (sodium hydroxide), chlorine and soda ash.

Mitsui's two salt farms produce some of the highest quality solar marine salt (sea salt) in the world. Our fields are also ideally located to export bulk shipments to Asian markets.

Mitsui is committed to running sustainable, profitable and environmentally responsible salt fields. Our goal is to be a reliable and competitive supplier of salt to the Asian market well into the future.

Port Hedland to Point Samson

In Port Hedland I stayed at the Hospitality Motel, in the same part of town as Cooke Point, but not so far out. It has seen better days, but has a really good view over the sea towards the port. On a Sunday night, lots of ships had twinkling lights as they waited to enter for loading next day. In the morning, I took a panorama shot and photos looking both ways.

Leaving town, I stopped at a viewing platform to watch a mile-long iron ore train returning empty to the mine:

They are so long that they need another engine in the middle.

I planned a fairly short day’s driving after yesterday’s marathon six hours plus from Broome. I took my time to Point Samson, stopping to sightsee at Roebourne and Cossack.

The old Roebourne Gaol, all fenced off and not open to visitors on Mondays.

The Customs House has an enormous storage shed. Cossack is now a deserted historic town, under development as a tourist destination.

Last Tango in Broome

For the first time on this trip, I’ve been in Broome at the weekend. Time to visit the Courthouse Markets! They seem to get better and bigger every year. Parking is just about impossible, but fortunately I had my secret weapon: JL’s disability sticker.

I always look for Hidden Valley soap, see above. It scents my wardrobe for a year before I put it in the shower.

Then I discovered a clothing stall, selling designs just made for the Broome climate:

A little treat for myself was in order. The clothes are made in Indonesia, so I was forced to buy Extra Large:

I had one last thing to do before leaving Broome. The artist who began her career in Mandurah now has a shop up here, near to Matso’s brewery. Her name is Emma Blythe and her shop is Black Stump Gallery. She was there with her husband. Most of the customers seemed to be locals popping in to say hello. She has curated interesting work and artifacts by other artists. I liked these examples of weaving from Arnhem Land:

Cygnet Bay

It’s all about the pearls!

The Australian Southsea pearl is grown in the world’s largest mother of pearl oyster, Pinctada Maxima. This oyster species thrives and grows along the tropical and subtropical the coast of W.A.  Nowhere else in the world can you find this species in such abundance and size. This natural abundance and the quality of its nacre (the material that the pearl and the inside of the shell is made of ) gave rise to 2 industries the first being the mother of pearl industry which was about selling shell and the second being the cultured pearl industry,  the art of growing pearls.

A visit to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm was the last thing I did on Cape Leveque. Bilingurr Transit picked me up from Kooljaman at 10.00 am and dropped me at Cygnet Bay 20 minutes later. I did the pearl tour, had a swim in their pool and then had lunch.

The tour was fascinating. It told you everything you ever wanted to know about pearls and made you long to acquire some there and then ( even though I have some lovely ones at home!) This little girl was lucky enough to be chosen to remove the pearl from the demonstration oyster. No-one knew the size or value of it beforehand. It turned out to be worth $90,  so of course her parents just had to buy it for her since her middle name was Pearl.

The shell had to be forced open first, by inserting a peg or wedge into it, and then the oyster and its meat was revealed.

The pearl was placed back in the shell
for a photograph.

It was a "beehive" shape because of its rings.

History.

The large pearl shells were originally worn by Bardi men for ceremonies. The shells were used to cover their private parts in ceremonies. They also carved patterns into the mother-of-pearl shell. This was their form of rock art, since the local sandstone was not suitable. They filled in the grooves with red and yellow ochre.

Early white settlers saw a use for mother-of- pearl: buttons, and later knife handles. Then there was a need for divers to retrieve the oysters from the sea. The first divers suits weighed 80 kilos. Most of the world’s buttons came from Broome pearl shell. Occasionally they found small pearls: one I n every 10,000 shells opened!

In Japan, Mikimoto discovered the art of growing cultured pearls, using the smaller Akoya Pearl. A tiny seed was introduced into the oyster, which then began producing nacre to cover up the unwanted intrusion.

When plastic was invented, the bottom fell out of the pearl button industry. At Kuri Bay, they started making cultured pearls. In 1960, the first pearls were produced at Cygnet Bay: the first Australian pearl farm.

Cygnet Bay's infinity pool.

Lunch: spicy gyoza, plus a celebratory glass
of bubbly. (No alcohol on sale at Kooljaman).

Back in Broome, I just had to visit the Cygnet Bay Shop, where I spent a happy hour being tempted. The largest pearl they ever produced was on display:

This perfect pearl was valued at a million dollars,
but of course they didn't want to sell it.

The comparative size of the Australian Pinctada Maxima
and the Japanese Pinctada Fucata.

Black Tahitian pearls

The Full Moon Goddess, guiding fishermen to
a good catch.

Various designs on mother-of-pearl shells.