2 – 12 July 2023

The last few weeks have been a little out of sorts for us. We changed our plans and ended up at places we thought we wouldn’t. It is all apart of the trip though, being flexible and spontaneous is something we don’t stress or worry about too much. Now where were we, ah yes, Broome.

Well we left Broome and drove south to 80 Mile Beach. We stopped at the exclusive Sandfire fuel station and were pleased to see the price was still a reasonable 232.8c/lt and the line of traffic relatively small. After fueling up, we made the last push to 80 Mile Beach caravan park. We visited this stretch of amazing coastline back in April 2012 and my how it has changed. The beach itself hasn’t changed. It is wide and sandy and the waters a beautiful blue. The powers that be do not advise swimming in the water due to the risk of getting stung by Irukandji jellyfish and the sharks/crocodiles that patrol the water. The fishing was non existent by everyone on the beach so we weren’t alone in that futile exercise. The caravan park however, was not like we remembered it. We were given probably the shadiest site in the park for our 10 day stay. Unfortunately, shade and solar power do not mix on unpowered sites. The shade made it dark and cold and just not very pleasant. The fact it was also school holidays meant the sites were jammed packed with families and travelers alike. We did try to change sites but were met with “we are fully booked” which was not very helpful. After only 4 nights we decided to leave and go somewhere a little sunnier and less crowded, so we quickly decided to return to Cape Keraudren 100km further south.

Lyn & Rowan (Pete’s mum & dad) were pleasantly surprised when we unexpectedly turned up at their caravan door for morning tea. We had planned to all meet up in a couple of weeks somewhere else, but we brought this forward. It was such a great decision as the sun was up, the water swimmable, fishing better and we had so much more room to move. We explored fishing at firewood creek with our new tour guides (Lyn & Rowan). We also showed them where to catch garfish and how to fillet them. We ended up staying 6 nights. Back on the road we went into Port Headland to get fuel, food and water. Headland has made an amazing effort to attract caravaners and visitors with the amenities they provide. This includes a free camp where you can stay for 3 nights. We took a drive out to the port and saw 2 tug boats bringing a massive ship into the port. The foreshore area was nice and green and also had spots to fish on the jetties. The houses were all various shades of orange/brown, covered in minerals from the mine and port operations. We have never visited Port Headland before, but decided we would make an effort to return on our next trip up to this part of the world. Our last drive for the day was to our overnight stay at the Whim Creek Hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel itself is closed at the moment, needing some serious repairs but they are very happy for campers to stop by and stay the night. You can tell it would have been a quirky hotel in it’s day. Hopefully it’s up and running some time soon (the owners plan to have it going again in the next year) and we can stop for a beer and meal. Now we find ourselves back on track heading to Cleaverville, just north of Karratha for the next 3 weeks. We are looking forward to some quality time with Lyn & Rowan and (hopefully) some good fishing and swimming weather.

There is a question that I have been meaning to ask and hopefully someone has an answer for me. Pete and I have noticed for quite a few months now (probably since just north of Geraldton) all of the burnt / abandoned / lost cars on the sides of the road. Now, we have a theory…There are many cars out there that are just not happy to live where they live. Maybe it is too hot or maybe their drivers don’t treat them very well. Maybe they want to have an adventure of their own so off they go, driving them self all over the place, ending up in a new home. The poor cars eventually run out of fuel and just die, generally in some bush just off the road. Now, how they get burnt, smashed up and trashed, I’m not sure. Maybe the other solo cars that drive past are jealous and they have a roadside rumble but maybe you have better theory…