12 July – RAIN!!!! Yes we had rain today for the first time
since we left Vic 45 days ago & it’s cold! Left Broome for Barn Hill
station about 100km south with a lovely beachside setting. When the rain
stopped we had a pre-dinner stroll along the beach – more beautiful white sand,
rocks & red cliffs.
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| Cool Barn Hill beach |
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| Barn Hill Beach |
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| Barn Hill Bowls |
13 July – woke to a wet tent after a rainy night. Checked
out the little market at the caravan park (quaint) then took another stroll
down to the beach. Then a walk to the top of Barn Hill – a ten metre high hill
but could see for miles in every direction as it’s very flat here.
We then drove to Port Smith & went for a walk along the
beach below the white cliffs. The contrast between the white cliffs & sand,
the blue water & black rocks in the water was great. Many interesting
shells & patterns in the rocks along the beach. The sun re-appeared in the
arvo.
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| Port Smith Beach |
14 July – started the day watching the tide come in over the
sand flats – a 9.6 metre tide over gently sloping sand moves very quickly &
often strands fisherman on sand bars or rises to where they had parked.
Fascinating to watch the speed it rose. Anne then naturally jumped in for a
swim??
Next stop – Eighty Mile Beach & a drive along the
enormous stretch of sand covered with sea shells. Again the tide is huge &
people were walking 100’s of metres from the high tide mark out on the sand
bars. The water would be well over their heads in a few hours. Yet another
beautiful sunset over the water.
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| Port Smith - low tide |
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| Port Smith - high tide (Anne standing in water) |
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| Suby on 80 mile beach |
15 July – the drive from Broome to Port Hedland has been
through pretty harsh country – flat, dry tall grass, scrappy little shrubs
struggling to survive – these interspersed with sections of burnt scrub &
then patches of bright yellow wattle to break the monotony – at least the
beaches & camping grounds were good.
We headed east towards Marble Bar – Australia’s hottest town
& featuring a Jasper (not marble) Bar across the river (Anne was keen , I
was luke warm). More harsh country before reaching the hills approaching the
town. The hills are still harsh but colourful – orange, yellow, shades of red,
purple, black all contrasting the green trees & spinifex. Did a quick
“heritage walk” around the town. A bit of a mish-mash of old & new spread
over a wide area with a fascinating history. Dinner at the Ironclad Hotel.
16 July –A visit to Comet gold mine & museum then off to
Glen Herring Gorge followed by Marble Bar Pool (the coloured rocks at the bar
were stunning (red, yellow, blue, black etc) & Chinaman’s Pool which had
masses of birds including a plague of corella’s. Turns out it was worth the 300km detour – one
to Anne. Stopped at a free camp beside the Coongan River at Doolena Gorge for
the night – stunning again.
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| Entry to Marble Bar |
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| Marble (Jasper) Bar Pool |
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| Doolena Gorge |
17 July – off to Port Hedland, one of the busiest ports in
Australia with up to 45 ships moored offshore waiting to be loaded with iron
ore, salt, copper, aluminium & other resources. Has to wait for a train at
the crossing – 248 carriages & 4 locomotives, it took over 5 minutes to
pass – yes we are in mining territory. Further evidence is the number of 4
trailer road trains – Anne counted 98 wheels.
Had a stroll around the port area & older part of town
before taking a tour of the BHP port facility. What a massive facility just to
facilitate the transfer of the iron ore from the trains to the ships. Huge
machinery is used. Each individual train carriage holds more than an entire 4
trailer road train & each train has 248 carriages – that’s a lot of ore,
mostly headed for China. Started to rain as we set up camp.
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