Before leaving Broome we took some photos of the view from the caravan park and were fortunate enough to have an Australian Navy vessel anchored offshore.
Our caravan park was the only one of the four in town that actually had water views. The expensive ones at Cable Beach are back about 200m from the beach so no water to see. And to think they were paying $50 / night to stay there!
Heading out along the highway again the road again stretches out in front with changing vegetation as we travel along. Mulga scrub and then flat grasslands before again finding bushy scrub. Cattle can be seen on the various properties and we comment on having not seen any emus since the Stuart Highway.
We take advantage of another rest stop by late morning as the day has again become quite warm and we are in no hurry. We choose some shade and make ourselves comfortable for the rest of the day. Another few campers come in and we share a conversation with Leslie and her dog Lucy who loves to chase a ball. Leslie comes from the northern suburbs of Sydney and lives in her motorhome and travels quite happily by herself. She had been as far north as Derby and was now on her return trip to stay with relatives down in Perth. It was her 68th birthday today (as she informed us) so we wished her ‘happy birthday’ as the only non-relatives to do so.
Packed up and off down the highway again we decided to call into Eighty Mile Beach which is only 9km off the highway. Well what a dirt road. Poor Destiny behind must have had her teeth shake cause I know mine did. We had thought we might stay overnight there however it was only a small park behind the sand dunes and was $30 for an unpowered site so decided to have our lunch and walk on the beach before heading off again.
Eighty Mile Beach
The beach is covered in shells with a large proportion of cockle shells and many other varieties. So many windchimes could be made from those shells but there is only so much I can collect along the way. We spent a pleasant couple of hours browsing on the beach and did collect some pretty shells that might find their way into something before too long. Leslie and Lucy were also there and we chatted again before we both headed back towards the highway. Seemed the outgoing side of the road was not as bad as the incoming as it wasn’t as rough going back (thank goodness).
landscape along the highway south
We planned to spend the next couple of nights at Pardoo Roadhouse just 43km from the station where Anne and Jim were staying. They were going into Port Headland on Wed for business so we weren’t going to arrive at the station before then. The caravan park was grassed and green (sprinklers go 24/7 so no wonder). There is obviously a good water supply. We enjoyed a quiet stopover at the roadhouse and then headed out on Wed to travel the 30km down the highway before turning off for the station.
The road (dirt) was well maintained and not as corrugated as the beach road had been (phew). It was great to catch up with Anne and Jim again and they took us (with our 2wd restrictions) to some of the pretty spots on the 500,000 acre property. The creeks are tidal and sitting at the beach for our cuppa, we watched in amazement as the tide came in so quickly. There are areas where (with 4wd) you can walk out at low tide to some rocky headlands. By gee watching that water you would have to be aware of when the tide was turning so that you could outrun the water coming in. They tried their hand at fishing as the tide came in and Anne landed 4 small whiting. They were to be our entrée that night for dinner.
We drove around to a freshwater soak just 200m from the salty tidal creek. There were birds in abundance and we lost count of the Brolgas we saw. Anne was able to point out a pair of Sea Eagles that have a nest near the waterway and we could see them sitting on guard in a dead tree close by.
birds and cattle at the freshwater soak on Pardoo Station
By this time the tide had turned and we were able to watch the water rushing out of the creek as the 7m high tide fell to just over 1m in a reasonably short space of time. Not sure that you could paddle your canoe against it, you would need to go the direction of the water and it would be a fast trip.
Dinner that night was to be our fish entrée followed by roast lamb (cooked in the camp oven) with baked vegies then followed by chocolate upside down pudding with custard. All under a starry sky, and four friends having a wonderful evening. What a life!!
Had another fishing outing on Friday and even Lawrie caught a fish. We again had fresh fish as an entrée for dinner that night. All in all a great stay at Pardoo Station (if a little expensive).Arrived Port Hedland on Saturday mid-morning and did the necessary shopping to refill the cupboards and fridge before driving down to the Port to have lunch and check out all the ships in for loading of Iron Ore. We are sitting here now whilst I complete this blog entry and upload before heading out along the highway again to another free stop for tonight.
driving forward.....looking back
No comments:
Post a Comment