26 Jun 10 – Karijini National Park

By Lou: I was really looking forward to visiting Karijini as many people had sung its praises. The campground was clean and simple but was on flat ground with scattered vegetation, whereas I had expected it to be in a lush gorge with sides looming up around us. That disappointment aside, the next morning we headed off for our first walk, Dales Gorge, and it was one of the most interesting walks I’ve ever done.
Sam and I braved the icy waters at Circular Pool purely because exiting swimmers assured us the waterfall on the other side was nice and warm. After lots of squeals and laughs we continued the walk along the gorge bottom working the leg muscles up and over rocks and through shallow water crossings. When we reached Fortescue Falls all three of us had a quick dip. Back into dry clothes again and it was a short walk to Fern Pool where we stripped off for a third swim. Each swim was progressively warmer, peaking at what felt like 10 degrees. We then climbed to the rim of the gorge and walked back along the top to the car. It took us about 3 ½ hours and was wonderful. The afternoon was relaxing and we even managed to achieve a few productive hours of school.

On Day 2 we thought we’d try the afternoon for a walk to get better sunlight for photo opportunities. The Weano Gorge walk turned out to be quite a treat. After a certain point we had to strip down to our swimmers and shoes and set our backpacks aside. With only camera held high, we alternately swam and rock climbed further into the Gorge. I had intended to wade through the deep bits but lost my footing on the slippery rocks so ended up swimming it. It was very different to anything we had done before and although Sam was nearly blue from the cold at the end we were delighted we had done it. There are no photos of Craig because he wouldn’t trust me holding the camera in the water.

For Day 3 we decided on a lay day. Craig caught up on some blog while Sam and I did some schooling. We are about 2 weeks behind still but will hopefully catch up before ‘school holidays’ end.

We have been setting the alarm for 6:30am and have been rewarded with wonderful sunrises as witnessed by Craig behind the camera lens and me from a warm bed.

By Craig: What Lou said! Beautiful and scenic as gorges are I was, at the end of it all, a little gorged out. I did enjoy the walks and the swim, chest deep in freeeeeeeezing water and the quiet open space and surrounds of Dales Gorge camping area. Great sun & moon rises with the light at sunset not bad either.








By Sam: I got a chance to make Bannana Delights and build Wookie huts

22 Jun 10 – Tom Price

By Lou: I loved the view from the top of Mt Nameless. Was great to look down on the town as a 2.5km long train carrying iron ore snaked its way out of town.




















The tour of the mine was pretty boring. I was more entertained by the ménage-a-trois going on in the bus seat in front of us and the chipmunk sitting next to me.

At the only caravan park in town (you could tell from the tariff and the price of an LPG refill) Samuel was delighted to find we were allocated the site next to the family of 6 he had met at our last campsite. Play time! On the other side of the family of 6 was a couple in a campervan with a 4 month old (at a guess). In the evening after they’d put their baby to bed I noticed they were conversing happily over dinner and a bottle of red. Hah! I thought. How things are going to change for you. Just look at your neighbours…parents desperate to get their “me time” and in bed by 8:30pm from exhaustion!

We were also within cooee of Pat and Sonja. Apparently Sam reported to them that his dad told him not to ask Pat to get his telescope out again but that was okay because he was bored of looking at the moon anyway. Back to Discretion 101 class for Sam.

By Craig: Setting up camp at Tom Price was supervised by a Galah or two, no not us, of the feathered type. Tom Price, the name as you might guess is the name of a person. In fact the short of a long story is that a surveyor working for an American company researching the Pilbara region for mining purposes was awarded posthumously with the honour of having the town named after him. Apparently Tom well into his 70’s was advised that in recognition of his services and dedication the company heads where to make him an executive of the company. Tom returned to his office after being advised of the promotion and promptly passed away. Pity but thankfully his name wasn’t Bartholomew Humperdinck.
A tour of the Tom Price open cut mine gave us a chance to get up close to some of the operation although we didn’t get the inside look at the pit we passed vehicles which had tyres greater in diameter than the height of the bus. For most of the tour we were in a bus (bloody Work Place Health & Safety) but they did let us out at one spot to stretch the legs a take a couple of photos. One thing the whole place had in common was everything was red with iron ore dust.



The other attraction Tom Price offers is Mt Nameless. Just a mountain with a half decent view of the town and surrounding area however Mt Nameless has a 4wd access road and yes you guessed it, I couldn’t wait to get to the top. Not at all a difficult ascent to the top with a better view of the mine than the one received on the tour. The decent was a little more fun in the loose stony gravel but all worth while including the knowledge that we had been to the highest 4wd vehicular access point in WA.

21 Jun 10 – Millstream Chichester National Park

By Lou: Miraculously we managed to time our 2 day visit to Millstream-Chichester National Park to meet up with Steve and Chris who we had first met on the Oodnadatta Track in April. They saved us a spot at a great campsite near the homestead. We shared a roast dinner and enjoyed catching up on each other’s travels and car repairs since we last parted.

We enjoyed a 4 hour walk through wetlands which are hard to imagine exist based on the arid entry to the park. Along the way we had a dip in the chilly river at Crossing Pool amongst the catfish and borrowed the ranger’s canoe for a paddle upstream.

It was nice to catch up with Pat and Sonja (neighbours from Point Samson) again and we had another shot at the telescope. This time there were no caravan park lights brightening the sky.

By Craig: We had arranged to meet up with a couple, Steve and Chris, whom we had met and travelled with on the Oodnadatta Track. It was a chance to swap tales and spend time catching up.
They had had their fair share of difficulties as they had broken the chasis of the Ford Ranger whilst in the Bungle Bungles so we had lots to chat about.
I got the sense that any difficulties of the past had long disappeared as they canoed in crossing Pool.

The dirt road into Millstream-Chichester National Park travelled through an area which resembled a waste rock site from an old mine. The large, square, chunky rocks made for a strangely interesting landscape and a picturesque introduction to the area.





We enjoyed walks and a visit to Hamersley Gorge before moving on toward Tom Price and Karijini National Park.

19 Jun 10 – Point Samson, Karratha

By Lou: The Pilbara region is beautiful and we only scratched the surface. Karratha is a bustling mining town with lots of shops which was good for a few purchases. However upon advice from several people we stayed at a new caravan park about 40km away in Point Samson. Glad we did as although it was choc-o-block the amenities were wonderful – clean, big shower cubicles and hot water! The laundry was a war zone according to Craig, after witnessing near fisticuffs over washing machines. Sam loved the TV room and Craig and I loved the corresponding child-free time. “Be back before dark”, we instructed at 7.30am. The only kids he came across were a bunch of 5 girls at the playground and within minutes of meeting, Sam was back at camp, arms crossed and brow creased. “Girls suck”, he declares. “Get used to it, Sam”, says his father.

One good thing about being packed into Caravan Alley is that it encourages talking to your neighbours. We met Pat and Sonja and enjoyed a few chats. Pat set up his telescope one night and invited Sam and us to look at the moon. It was awesome! The moon is definitely made of cheese and it’s amazing how quickly it moves out of scope. As part of his working life Pat worked on “The Dish” as immortalised in one of our favourite movies “The Dish”. During a stint in the USA they toured and home schooled their two sons so in addition to Sonja being a former school teacher, they could sympathise with our school-on-the-road adventure.

It was only a 5 minute walk to Honeymoon Cove which was good for a dip and fossick around the rockpools. The rock formations were awesome. “Gee, there must have been a fair size downward pressure to cause those patterns” says geologist Craig. We found out later they were caused by the collision of continents! Go Craig.

The weather was the nicest we had experienced for a long while, warm enough to be in a t-shirt in the evening. I was so happy. A shower then a beer and nibbles in the setting sun before starting dinner. I really am a simple woman. (Please note there will be no further updates on my ‘get trim and fit’ resolution declared in Carnarvon.)

We spoiled ourselves and went to dinner at the nearby tavern on our last night and enjoyed some seafood meals. When a week later we realised we had forgotten our 9th wedding anniversary, we retrospectively nominated that as our celebration dinner.

By Craig: Like many places we venture to, it was recommended that we stay in Point Samson instead of Karratha and thank goodness we did. Karratha a mining town, over priced and packed with white vehicles with orange lights on poles but not much else. I guess living there gives you easy access to the mining areas and places like Point Samson, the Harding River and the reef on your doorstep.
I had an opportunity to put the tinny in the water and although it sounds like ‘the fish that got away’ story I managed to hook onto a Barra. As I grabbed for the rod it had almost bent in two, there was a shake of the head and my first Barra was gone well before I could set the hook. It was definitely an exciting moment unfortunately no photo and no fish but it was worth every moment of the 2 hours or so I spent on the water that afternoon.
I didn’t expect much at Roebourne and there wasn’t much to see except for an old post office building and a tour of the old prison.
Roebourne is predominately an Aboriginal town and set in vast contrast to Karratha but still worth a visit.
A drive to Dampier; a port for the mining and gas industry.

Our visit found us learning about ‘Red Dog’ the Pilbara wanderer. Apparently the dog wandered from one home to another and was quite the celebrity, enough so the town made a monument to the dog.



Another point of interest was the gas plant on the Burrup Peninsular. While out on our day trip we went to Hearson’s Cove, as we arrived we marvelled at the piles of iron ore rocks which appeared to be waste heaps.






















Never one to miss an opportunity the local sand hills were a good 4wd break from the black seal.


A day trip to the nearby historic town of Cossack found remenant buildings of yesteryear.
Back at the caravan park the ever socialite Sam had invited himself over to the next door neighbour who had set up his telescope. Well, two can play at that and I’m not missing out so upon an invite over I went for a look. The moon has a curious appeal to it when looking at in any way but up close it is a spectacular sight.

15 Jun 10 - Barradale

By Lou: Barradale was one of the more miserable stopovers at a roadside stop. It was raining when we arrived and had to set up, continued all through the night, and worst of all was raining as we had to pack up. Everything was wet and covered in red mud. Dinner was tinned tuna and cheese on biscuits then we settled in to watch “Alvin and the Chipmunks” on DVD. Craig and I went to bed dreaming of a you-beaut Kedron off road caravan. Only need to scrape up $95,000. Let’s see, that makes $95,000 left to save...



By Craig: The photo says it all, roadside stop with a toilet sounds like a place for an overnight stay. Wet! Wet! Wet!

14 Jun 10 – Ningaloo, Coral Bay & Exmouth

By Craig - Referred to Ningaloo Station by Wedge Island and Kalgoorlie contacts we were ready for the beach break, camping on the beach, fishing and a chance to get the boat in the water, Yeehah!
Getting there was a trip to remember, corrugations that shook the vehicle to its core. At times we couldn’t speak, we lost a centre cap off a wheel and my eyesight became blurred, although the sunset on the way in blew us away.
As we have done so many times we arrived late and not knowing what to expect or how far from the station camp was we weren’t surprised when darkness fell and we hadn’t arrived.
We pulled in to where we thought the camp site was and our neighbour shed some light (literally) on the site numbers and there it was No.38. Beauty - set up camp time, beer and bed.
Camp all set up all there was to do was relax, fish and do some schooling 'beach style'.

Yeh right the station owner forgot to tell us about the potential extra high tides and the site they had given was just on the other side of a low sandbank. OK we did ask for a site on the beach to make it easier to get the boat in but I’m sure I didn’t ask for a site in the water.
Tide was one thing. The wind causing a tidal surge was another. So in came the tide and as the water encroached on our camp site and started to surge in waves higher and higher we continued building a wall around the front of the cruiser and at one point I can remember standing in front of the cruiser with a hand on the bonnet and standing knee deep in water.
Sam took advantage of the moment and played with the boogie board and on a couple of occasions a chap paddled by in his canoe to check out the fuss.









One thing that comes to mind are the people that just appeared from out of nowhere, with shovels to lend a hand. Just as quick they were off to save the caravan around the corner. Thanks to you all, cheers.


All in all we won the day but we were reminded of the power of the ocean and its beauty as a rainbow shone through in a distant storm and the seagulls struggled against the wind.
We did get to meet the neighbours and have a couple of beers but only after we had packed up and moved out as the tide was to be even higher the next day and we weren’t taking any chances.




One other curious feature of the area was the termites, more the point the mounds. Wow, why would such a tiny ant need such a tall house? The view I guess LOL.

We spent a total of 1 hour in Exmouth and in fairness to the town we only saw a coffee shop and a toilet. The sky was dark and heavy rain was predicted and we wanted sunshine, head north we agreed and we were on the road for Point Samson. Our decision was a good one as we experienced some flash flooding just out of exmouth but we found sunshine the further we headed north.


By Lou: This was our first experience with a Port-a-loo which we had to hire as a requirement of camping beachside on the private property of Ningaloo Station. What revolting contraptions! I would much rather head deep into the sand dunes and dig a deep hole. Instead we had to erect a shower tent over the porta-loo next to our camper, in 40 knot winds. Then we all contributed to the container over 4 days…what a stench when you opened the trap door! We are terrible marksmen and most sessions needed a wipe of the bowl. And then we just had to bury it in a hole at the back of the sand dunes anyway!

After being on look-for-the-missing-hubcap duty for the 32km of road we suspected shook it off, our day trip to Coral Bay was like a pleasant Sunday drive. It is not a very big town but was packed with holiday makers – many of whom were probably booked in to go swimming with the whale sharks which visit for a few months at this time of year. I had thought it might be fun to do that too but it would have cost a lot for all 3 of us to do it and our budget had taken a hit with the vehicle’s steering rack replacement. Besides, the weather was ordinary. It also struck me that we have become very blasé about natural and man made wonders as we have seen so many in 5 months...oldest cave…highest mountain…biggest open cut mine…Tidy Town entrant 1998… Some of the unplanned outings or discoveries have actually been the cheapest and most enjoyable.