Western Australia Diary

22-6-2013 Saturday
This morning Dave happened to notice that the registration plate is missing off our boat trailer! We thought maybe it got stuck in the gluggy mud yesterday but when Dave looked back through our photos, he found any photos that showed the back of the trailer, didn't have the plate on, until he got to the Normanton (Qld) ones! Wow that means it's been missing some time after that, and that was a while ago! How observant are we!! And we haven't been pulled up by police.

After refuelling we drove 227 kms west across the NT/WA border, to the town of Lake Argyle WA) and Lake Argyle Resort and Caravan Park for 3 nights. As we crossed the border we had to stop for a quarantine check. We'd used up all our fresh fruit and veges as we knew we couldn't take them across. We didn't have anything that was prohibited except for a jar of honey, which we knew about and thought we'd have to give up - and we did. The inspector looked through Casa and the boat but it was all fairly quick, but then we do have honest faces(?) Apparently there's a disease (or a disease causing substance) that the honey can contain and you can't keep it unless you have a certificate that states it's been heat treated to the authority's specifications.

We saw many boab trees along the road and most of them didn't seem to have many leaves. Without leaves the branches look quite eerie as they're very crooked and gnarled, something that you see in scary movies, or nightmares. After about 15 kms from Timber Creek we turned off and drove up a 3.5 km dirt road to see Gregory's Tree (a large boab tree) - an Aboriginal sacred site and a registered heritage site. Augustus Gregory was one of the early explorers and his North Australia Expedition arrival and departure dates (between October 1885 and July 1856) were carved into the big boab tree, which also had no leaves. We would've visited the smaller Keep National Park but all the roads were dirt which we weren't keen on, especially as we were to soon cross the border and didn't want a heap of dirt on our vehicles.

We are now in the East Kimberley Region. Lake Argyle was formed by the damming of the Ord River in 1971. This magnificent lake, Australia's largest body of fresh water, acts as a reservoir for the irrigation scheme in Kununurra and provides spectacular views from the lookouts and cruise boats. The lake is classed as an inland sea covering over 1000 square kilometres, and is an awesome sight with many bays, islands, creeks and waterfalls. Its water volume is 18 times that of Sydney Harbour and in the 2011 floods, it was 40 times! The water is beautiful, a lovely dark blue, surrounded by high red rocky landscape.

After setting up at our camp site, we drove (without the boat) a short way down the road to check out the boat ramp. The road down to the ramp is gravel and steepish. The ramp at the bottom is also dirt, no concrete, and leads in to the water with stones - good, no mud! We got talking to a tour boat driver who saw our mhome and said we shouldn't attempt to bring it down any further than where we had parked (which was about halfway up the hill). He said he'd seen quite a few bigger vehicles like ours come down with a boat, and then have to be towed back up. The bus that brings the passengers here from the park for the bus tour, stops at the spot where we're parked, so it can turn around - it doesn't go further for the same reason. When we drove back up the steep gravel road, Casa's wheels did slip here and there so that confirmed that we'd have a problem if the boat was on the back too.

We then drove a short way to the high dam wall and drove across - stunning views on both sides!

23-6-2013 Sunday
Got the scooter out and rode a few kms down the road to the Argyle Downs Homestead Museum - the former home of the pastoral and pioneering Durack Family of the 1880's. The first Durack family moved here to start a new life, after the potato famine in Ireland. The stone house was moved for posterity, stone by stone, from its original position in an area that would be under water when the Ord River was dammed. In fact, Lake Argyle covered nearly the whole property owned by the Durack family, but not all of it - their property actually extended further than the edges of the lake. It was truly huge! One of the Durack descendants was Kimberley Durack, a man with great vision who was behind the Lake Argyle development, so it is probably safe to assume the Kimberley Region was named after him. The headstones of some of the family have been moved here too, and sit in the front well manicured yard. Inside the house, interesting old memorabilia and photos grace every room, along with folders of family individuals' history and their achievements.

Outside, in a corner garden, lives a Great Bowerbird - (Patsy) a male, constantly refurbishing his bower (not a nest) to attract a mate. He is a great collector, gathering coloured things (often white) to decorate his bower on the ground. If the female is impressed, a nest is then made elsewhere for the eggs - can't upset the batchelor pad! In the same garden were some Double-Barred Finches and some other plainer ones. A large flock of Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos flew across and landed in the trees nearby. This was the largest group we'd seen and up until now, we have only seen them sporadically. These cockatoos are extremely hard to approach. A flock can be disturbed along the roadsides as they forage on the ground - as happened to us in Darwin. The spectacular flash of red on the tail of the male can be easily observed when this occurs - otherwise it doesn't show.

We then rode to 2 separate lookouts and then over the dam wall, down a fairly steep winding bitumen road to a lovely shaded picnic area alongside the Ord River. There is a small boat ramp on this side. This is the opposite side of the dam wall and Lake Argyle, and is the downward stretch of the Ord River, and from here it's named Lake Kununurra. On this side of the wall, down at water level, is a hydro electric installation which provides electricity for Kununurra, Wyndham, the Argyle Diamond Mine and this resort. All these points had their own stunning views. We saw a couple buses loaded with tourists, who'd been driven here the 70 kms from Kununurra, and were going to be loaded onto several cruise boats on the Ord River side, to enjoy a sightseeing tour from the water, back to Kununurra.

When we got back we walked around the caravan park, one side of which looks out over Bamboo Cove (an offshoot of the lake), where we saw a few houseboats and a yacht. Caravans and tents that are happy to have no power, are camped along this edge. On this same side is the park's swimming pool, which has a fabulous view of the lake and surrounding mountains in the distance - a wonderful place to sit with a drink and just enjoy! We've noticed it has been getting cooler thankfully, but still haven't had to put a doona or even a sheet on at night. There's been no rain since we've been away (over 2 months now) except for a few light sprinkles on a couple of nights. I suppose that's not out of the ordinary - they have a whole wet season which lasts for a long time. For dinner we had a lovely roast dinner at the resort - Sunday night is roast night.

24-6-2013 Monday
We had a fairly lazy morning, and went on a sunset cruise on Lake Argyle for the afternoon (from 2.15 til 6pm). It was truly pleasurable with afternoon tea, and drinks and nibblies later, closer to the sunset time. At this point the guests could go for a swim off the back of the boat but we didn't. The sunset wasn't as spectacular as the one we'd experienced at Kakadu but was still enjoyable. There are approximately 70-90 islands in the middle of the lake, depending on the water level and time of year. We saw a few freshwater crocodiles lazing on the rocky edges of the islands, several pelicans and 1 Jabiru. The driver took us to where there were some walleroos living on one of the islands and he threw food to them, and later into the water to attract the fish, that quickly came to fight over it. The driver told us he lives in Qld, on Russell Island, and used to drive the barges - small world.

From one point on the lake the driver pointed out in the distance, the location of the Argyle Diamond Mine where the very rare and very expensive Pink Diamond was discovered. Prospecting and mining have been important to the development of the region and in 1979, diamonds were discovered near Lake Argyle. The mine produces approximately 38 million carats of diamonds per year - one third of the world's annual production, making Argyle the largest diamond mine in the world. Zebra Rock (which I'd never heard of) is an unusual interesting rock - the only known deposits in the world have been discovered here. It's markings can be striped dark and cream, which gives it the zebra like appearance. The rock can also have spots instead of stripes. Geologists have investigated Zebra Rock without producing any valid explanation of its origin.

25-6-2013 Tuesday
We drove 70 kms north and then west to the town of Kununurra (WA) and Kimberleyland Holiday Park for 3 nights. Kununurra is a local aboriginal word meaning 'meeting of big waters'. There is a boat ramp right right next door to the park where we can get on to lake Kununurra. After booking in and we were lucky to get in as it's quite busy, we did a big grocery shop down the road and I'm surprised at how happy I was to buy fresh fruit and veges after not having any for quite a few days. We let them run out a few days before we crossed the NT/WA border as we weren't allowed to take any across, and then we were at Lake Argyle where there were no shops. So fresh veges tonight instead of canned - doesn't take much to excite me!

This evening after dinner, we walked a couple hundred metres down the road to the Ibis Hotel to have a drink with Winston and Maris (Dave did training with Winston when they were 16-17 years old in Telecom - PMG at that stage). They're on an 11 day bus trip (having flown from Townsville) and we all just happened to be here on the same night.

26-6-2013 Wednesday
We had an early start this morning, being picked up at 6.30am to go to the airport for our 2 hour plane flight with Kimberley Air Tours. It was a little 6 seater Cessna aircraft and we felt a little like sardines in there but the young pilot was very competent and we felt quite safe. We really enjoyed it and it was worth every cent. We opted for the early morning flight as the winds are not likely to have got up yet, which is rather important with such a small aircraft. Our flight took us over Lake Argyle, Farming Land, the Argyle Diamond Mine, and the Bungle Bungles in the world heritage listed Purnululu National Park. The Bungle Bungles were something we wanted to see but it wasn't going to be easy for us with our vehicles, so seeing them from the air was a good solution. The beehive domes rising 200 metres above the plain, are composed of layers of sandstone, and have been slowly eroded away by wind and rain over the last 20 million years. Their interesting and unusual black and orange striped appearance is due to varying higher and lower clay contents, causing different levels of moisture in the sandstone.

In 1996, the Ord River Hydro Power Station at Lake Argyle was commissioned and now provides clean and renewable energy to Kununurra, Wyndham and the Argyle Diamond Mine. Two thirds of the power produced is utilised by the Diamond Mine. Kununurra was established in 1961 as a service centre for the Ord River Irrigation Project. Water is continually released from Lake Argyle into Lake Kununurra which provides water for irrigation of 14,000 hectares of farmland. The main crops grown here are Indian Sandalwood (which accounts for 40% of the crops because it fetches a great price), mangoes, chia seeds, citrus fruits and melons.

When we got back we got the scooter out and rode 15 kms to the Hoochery Distillery - Western Australia's oldest legal 'still'. For those readers who may not know, the words 'hooche' (and 'moonshine') are slang for illegally made alcohol, and the apparatus used to make it is a 'still'. Hooche is probably more an American term which makes sense when we found out that the guy who started it is an American. We had a tour of the operation which was quite small in comparison to other distilleries we've seen, but quite an efficient one. A variety of rum products are produced such as Ord River Rum, Cane Royale Liqueur and the one I like best after a tasting (so had to buy a bottle) was Aquardiente Verde - a green Australian Ouzo.

From there, we drove to Mirima National Park, about 2 kms from town. We took a couple short walking trails, dotted periodically with small boards detailing the different plants and their uses for bush tucker, tools, and the like. The rocks are vividly coloured with red and black layers, the result of a billion years of natural mountain building. The formations actually put us in mind of the Bungle Bungles on a smaller scale. Next was Kelly's Knob lookout which provides views of the town and the Ord Valey. We saw a plaque on a rock up there, in memory of 3 young ladies (20yrs old) who died in a helicopter crash in 2008, flying over the Bungle Bungles! We would've been worried if we'd seen this plaque before we went on our plane flight.

27-6-2013 Thursday
We put the boat in the water this morning, into Lily Lagoon, which leads out into Lake Kununurra. There's a great public boat ramp right next to the park we're in, so Dave took Casa and the trailer back into the park instead of leaving it on the street. We put some pots in as a sign said there was red claw here but we didn't see any sign of them. We motored our way out the winding area marked with red and green buoys, into the larger lake - larger since it (the Ord River) was dammed. We trawled for barramundi with lures but didn't get anything which again, didn't matter as it was just so nice being out there. Did I say I love fishing for barra as you use a lure, not real (live or dead) stinky bait? - and then you don't have to touch it, bait your hook or store it back in the freezer somewhere!

We drove down the lake a bit to within a 100 metres of the Diversion Dam built back in 1963 to divert water for irrigation to the agricultural areas. We have a resident gecko that lives in our boat, and has done since we left home over 2 months ago. On seeing him in there today, Dave says he's really grown which isn't surprising as there's been plenty of insects and bugs for him to eat. We've nicknamed him 'Sam Gecko' - those who used to work for Telstra might see the joke here. We saw some pelicans, cormorants, darters, jacanas and 1 white egret, trying to hide behind long thin green river grass - not camouflaged at all! Dave asked me to drive Casa and the trailer out of the park and down to the ramp while he did some things in the boat, and I wasn't even stressed about it! It was a fairly easy drive to do.

Dave and I have been wearing our crocs (shoes) around a lot of the time and today we noticed when we took them off, that we have, not only a tan line where the front goes across the top of our feet, but that we have 'tan spots' on the top of our feet! where the 2 rows of 4 holes were punched out in each shoe. We've got some zebra rocks and now we have leopard feet! Ha Ha!

28-6-2013 Friday
After fuelling up this morning, we drove 260 kms west and then south along the Great Northern Highway, to a free camping spot Leycesters Rest - Ord River, 63 kms south of Turkey Creek for 1 night. It's obviously a popular spot with quite a few caravans and other campers here. We do find this where there is a toilet at the rest stop - a lot of free spots don't have toilets. We thought this was a quite a lovely spot. On the way we stopped at the Warnum (Turkey Creek) Roadhouse for a bite to eat, and checked it out for a night stopover but we didn't really like the look of the place. To buy fuel here, you have to go in and pay up front, fuel up and if you've paid more, such as on a credit card, then a credit is done onto the card - obviously a place where drive off fuel theft is a high risk.

As we drove we viewed the stunning Carr Boyd Ranges on the eastern side of the highway (with Lake Argyle on the other side of these ranges), and on the western side of the highway were the O'Donnell Ranges. The beautiful and eerie boab trees still dotted the landscape along with more termite mounds of the wide rounded type but these have an appearance a bit different to others we've seen. Some rounded ones we've seen had sides that looked like melted chocolate flowing down hill and then frozen - I thought the 'mud' (made by the termites) could've started to flow a little with heavy rain, and then dried that way. These ones we've seen now have the flowing appearance but they have been obviously made like that - with scalloped pieces on the sides, putting me in mind of roof tiles that overlap each other, so the rain couldn't have done that.

29-6-2013 Saturday
We drove 100 kms south to the town of Halls Creek (WA) and Halls Creek Caravan Park for 1 night. After setting up camp we got the scooter out and rode to the Visitor Centre for information on the sites. Outside there were some statues. One was of a man pushing another man in a wheelbarrow. The title was 'Russian Jack' and the story goes that back in the 1850's during the mining period, a Russian man pushed his injured mate 300 kms! for help in a home-made wheelbarrow, over terrain/ track that wasn't as well defined as it would be today - a true story of friendship and persistence! The second statue was a tribute to a local Aborigine, Jack Jugari.

The only site of interest that was close enough to suit us, on the scooter, on a short dirt road was the China Wall. After walking a little way from the car park we saw it, a wonderful sight - a white vertical quartz vein protruding up to 6 metres from the surrounding surface. The quartz is hard and remains resistant to weathering. Its length is a mystery as the formation is visible from air at several locations, on route to the Bungle Bungles. The white is coloured in places by orange/red which looks like the surrounding rock/dirt has stained it during the rainfall. The wall looked like it'd been built by people with rock blocks on top of each other, and it did look like part of the Great Wall of China - no wonder the name. I thought that maybe over time, the earth and red rock on each side of the wall was eroded and washed away, just leaving the white wall, as it was harder and more erosion resistant. Further down there was a billabong with interesting rock formations around it. We saw evidence of wallabies and even hoof prints (maybe cattle or wild horses).

At the Visitor Centre we picked up a brochure about alcohol restrictions in Halls Creek. It states that "you cannot purchase takeaway alcohol above 2.7% alcohol volume in Halls Creek - this means that you cannot purchase full strength and mid strength alcohol to takeaway". Mmmmmmm... We had intended to buy some wine and maybe a bottle of rum (takeaway - even the beer Dave buys is 3.5%) - oh well, next stop, maybe... Apparently in an effort to address some of the alcohol related harm occurring in Halls Creek, members of the community lobbied for a restriction on the sale of takeaway alcohol (implemented in May 2009). A fellow traveller told us this town had a reputation for being the worst in the WA for alcohol and drug abuse. In Kununurra Dave went in to buy a bottle of scotch and some wine but he was only able to buy the scotch as that was their alcohol rules. Funny, we were just outside in the visitor centre's grounds (in Halls Creek), looking at some statues, when we noticed a young Aboriginal girl (looked like a teenager) staggering along with a large bottle of coke(?) that was nearly empty - more than just coke(?)

30-6-2013 Sunday
We drove 190 kms west towards the town of Fitroy Crossing, when we stopped at a rest spot to change over drivers. We noticed there were a few vans a bit further up, and well away from the road. It was a free camping overnight stop with a nice view of a low level escarpment and the road down below, so we decided to stop for the night - Ngumpan Cliff Lookout (WA) for 1 night. The escarpment consists of red and yellow rock with lots of spiky spinifex dotted around - they spike your legs if you walk too close.

It was quite cool last night and for the first time we had to shut all the windows and hatches, and pull up the sheet (not doona yet). Today it's quite cool and nice, 10 degrees cooler than it has been (low 20's), and a few raindrops appeared on the windscreen while driving but didn't come to anything, not even needing to use the wipers.

1-7-2013 Monday
We drove 90 kms west to the town of Fitzroy Crossing and Fitzroy River Lodge for 2 nights. It's a large spacious pleasant place. We got the scooter out and rode a short way into the town's Visitor Centre, where we spoke to a lovely and very helpful Aboriginal lady (appeared full-blooded), who arranged a trip we wanted to do in the next few days. This trip includes meals and she needed to record if we had any dietary requirements (allergies, etc). We said no, and I added "no witchety grubs" and she laughed along with us, saying she wouldn't eat those either. Dave was a little shocked that I'd said that. She seemed well educated so I thought/hoped she'd take it as a joke as it was intended, and luckily she did. We'd had a bit of general conversation with her about our trip and at the end she gave us a calendar with lovely scenic photos of the Kimberleys, and said it was nice to meet nice people like us which we said we felt the same about her. She finished off saying to enjoy our trip and "....the land belongs to all of us" - which was nice to hear from an indigenous person.

We then rode 20 kms to Geikie Gorge and did the short 800 metre walk around some interesting rock-like formations. The gorge along the Fitzroy River and these rock formations we walked around, are actually a limestone reef that living marine organisms started to build 350 million years ago (the Devonian period), when this was a vast tropical sea that covered most of the Kimberley region. Over the next 50 million years the reef building organisms kept pace with the changes in sea level and subsidence of the ocean floor. They established an extensive barrier reef that is nearly 2 kms in depth. Further movement of the Earth's crust culminated in uplifting of the Kimberley region and the retreat of the sea, leaving the reef high and dry.

Instead of marine lifeforms the reef now supports a sparse vegetation of grasses and shrubs. Monsoonal floodwaters regularly flood the area in the wet season. There is a gazebo building displaying information boards of the area, and this gazebo, with a high pointed roof, gets flooded often, a couple times higher than roof level. Boat cruises up the gorge are conducted a few times during the day but we didn't do one this time.

2-7-2013 Tuesday
It's quite windy and cool today, even had to use the doona last night - quite welcome after the last couple months of hot weather. Rode the scooter to the Crossing Inn Hotel which sits on its original site on the banks of the mighty Fitzroy River, and is the oldest established hotel in the entire Kimberley's region - has been welcoming travellers and locals since 1897. There is camping and other accommodation out the back and a gallery of nice, original Aboriginal art. A few steps off to the side of the hotel we could view a small stretch of the river with a lot of exposed sand mounds. In the car park 2 older Aboriginal men approached us, selling boab nuts - one painted and a smaller one engraved. We've been admiring those we've seen for sale in the towns. They looked very good so we bought both of them - both men said they'd done the work (we hoped they hadn't just pinched them from the art gallery).

All the time we were outside we kept seeing this white taxi drive in, drop off 4 Aboriginal people and speed off, only to return in a short while with 4 more. Obviously there's no public transport out here so they taxi it in to the hotel for their drinks and then back home later. There are 3 different taxi posts for 3 different destinations. We often see signs on the way into towns for the direction to the different Aboriginal communities. We decided to go in for a drink. The front door is locked and you have to be let in, a sign on the inside of the door saying that if you'd been in and gone back out, you'd be breathalised coming back in (how we don't know). The place was full of Aboriginal people except for us, 2 other white guys and the 2 bar attendants - and 1 of them was a young Irish lady and the guy a New Zealander. We keep seeing Irish people in the pubs wherever we go.

Many signs up behind the bar warn of bad or drunken behaviour not being tolerated and one of the words, along with no spitting, fighting, etc, was no 'humbugging' of which we hadn't heard. It was explained to us that humbugging meant going around bothering people and bumming money here and there for drinks, or even walking around and maybe finishing off someone's small bit of drink left in a glass, and causing an incident. We felt quite safe in there, with everybody just sitting orderly having their drinks or in the next room, playing pool. They all come to the hotel because the takeaway alcohol rules are the same here as Halls Creek - nothing over 2.7% alcohol. Inside you can drink full strength beer and spirits but that is limiting because if they get drunk and disorderly they can be barred from the hotel - all in an effort to control the level of drinking and alcohol related problems. The cost of alcohol is very high though with a can of beer being $6.70 and a takeaway carton being $80! We felt it sad if this is these people's total existence and enjoyment in life, but then we don't know that.

Off then to the Old Concrete Crossing which was down a steep one lane concrete road, over a one lane bridge and back up the other side. This bridge wouldn't take long to go under in the start of the wet season. The map showed there is also an old townsite, police station and original post office closeby, but we didn't see any signage to this effect and the buildings we did see, didn't appear to be inviting tourists, so didn't stop. We motored back to the park and enjoy a relaxing afternoon.

3-7-2013 Wednesday
We drove 90 kms west to a free camping spot, Ellendale Rest Area for 1 night. We arrived fairly early, about 11am, which was unusual for us, but luckily we did - it started filling up not long after. We got a spot where we could sit outside in the shade, with a view of the trees where no-one could drive or park in front of our view. The rest area has a toilet (which is always popular) but a worker at another free spot, told us about this one the other day (which is why we thought we'd try it), saying it'd just been resurfaced with a hard surface and was great, which is also more popular than a dirt surface. We used the rest of the day to catch up on some tourism reading for the next few stops.

4-7-2013 Thursday
We drove 172 kms west and then north to the town of Derby (WA) and Kimberley Entrance Caravan Park for 4 nights. After booking in, we drove to the local butcher shop to see if they had anything I wanted and had lunch at the cafe next door. Then on to the supermarket for a grocery shop and the Visitor Centre (that's all, except for the fun of putting all the groceries away which can be a challenge in the mhome).

Derby is situated on King Sound, 220 kms north east of Broome, and was the first town settled in the Kimberley. This place has the highest tidal variation (between low and high tide) in Australia, reaching up to 11 metres! The lady in the reception says it has reached up to 12 metres! We thought Darwin's tidal variation was big with it being 6 metres.

The Boab tree has become an icon in Derby with no shortage of them, ranging from the very young to the very old. Because the tree is a protected species in this Shire, they are located in some unusual places and roads have been diverted around them. We certainly saw plenty of them on the way here, and one of the main streets here is a divided road, with boabs lined down the middle on manicured grassy lawn. I love them - they seem to have such character, and a Boab Festival is held annually. Our site in the caravan park is beside (and under) quite a large old one, about which I was really pleased (the only downside being birds sit in the tree and poo on Casa).

5-7-2013 Friday
Got the scooter out and rode a few kms away to the Wharfinger Museum - had to get the key from the Visitor Centre and a gold coin donation was all that was expected. They are very trusting, not taking a deposit for the key or even taking down name and address details. The museum was originally the "Wharfinger's" House - a Wharfinger is a person who owns or has control of the Wharf. The house is a fine example of the prefabricated wooden housing of the late 1920's and 30's well adapted for living in a tropical climate without the benefits of air-conditioning. There are 3 sections - shipping, communication and aviation. Dave of course, spent the most time in the communication section.

Across the road was the Wool Export Shed which was part of the original port facilities. The big shed was not open for viewing and seems to be empty with nothing really to see. In the grounds, outside the shed, were some rail machinery that would've taken goods from the wharf to the town. The semi-circular jetty/wharf was just a bit further down the road. You can drive right around the jetty and people were fishing and putting in crab pots over the side. The crab pots here are different to ours, with a bottom sides and totally open at the top - they are the only ones legal in WA, so can't use ours. With this type, you have to be pulling them up constantly, otherwise the crabs and fish, would just swim in, eat the bait and swim back out. We watched as a young guy put his in and pulled it up 5 mins later complete with a crab. There was a takeaway fish n chip shop there too with lovely smells wafting onto the jetty.

Driving back we stopped to take a photo of this huge Boab tree outside the fishing and tackle shop. This tree is so big it looks like 4 fused together. At the BP Colac fuel station, exists the friendliest trees in the west. A Boab and a Snappy Gum have enfolded themselves together and have interlocking canopies. The trunk lower down does look like the 2 trees have fused together as they grew, and these are 2 totally different species of tree, so the big Boab could've been 4 smaller ones that just grew up and fused together.

We were picked up by a small bus at 2.15 pm to catch our flight to the Horizontal Waterfalls, an overnight stay. Our plane was a 14 seater seaplane which at least was a bit bigger than the last one (6 seater), and had 2 engines, not 1. After 30 minutes we approached our stop and all of a sudden, I thought we were in trouble because the plane seemed to make a couple of steep turns, almost appeared as if it was going to crash into a rocky wall ahead, turned and drove down low through a winding area with rocky sides and water below (it was like we were in a boat), and then finally landed on the water and taxied up to the pontoon. When we stopped the young pilot (probably in his 30's-40's - young to us) turned around to us with a mischievous look on his face, obviously expecting to see some wide eyed blood-drained faces - he was lucky he didn't have any sick bags to deal with. It was quite a bit of fun, after you got over the scary bit. We shouldn't have been surprised as he seemed quite the joker, making some comical comments earlier even before we got on the plane.

We were on the structure where we were going to stay overnight - on the side of which was written 'Horizontal Hotel'.... We were shown to our air-conditioned rooms (small but modern with a double bed and a window with a nice view of the water and rocky outcrops) to leave our bags, and then came back out to get ready for our boat trip. The 'hotel' and the pontoon with several boats tied up to it, are all connected together, and anchored in the middle of the water, Talbot Bay. We donned lifejackets and hopped on the very fast, modern luxury speed boat. The young driver took us all around the area and then through the Horizontal Waterfalls - a phenomenon created by hude tides in the area (at times can be over 11 metres between low and high tide), where the massive tidal water movement rushes through two small gaps in high cliffs to form a horizontal waterfall. It was really exhilarating. He got us to move around to get a turn at the front seats while he drove through a few more times but unfortunately we didn't get a turn. As the boat went through the gap it bounced over the white water, rushing through the opening - exciting!

When we got back to the pontoon, another young fellow (all the people running this show were young. like in their 20's) did the feeding of several lemon sharks and a very large groper, called George. These were free to swim underneath the pontoons and grab the pieces of raw fish thrown into them. People who wanted to, could hop into adjoining enclosed cages (safe from the sharks) and view them underwater with snorkels while they were swimming around and being fed. We were given afternoon nibblies to be had with our BYO alcohol and later, a lovely barramundi and assorted salads dinner was served with desserts following.

6-7-2013 Saturday
We were up for a 6-6.15 am (very early for me!) breakfast followed up with one last trip out in the boat to the horizontal waterfalls. They were a bit of a let down this morning, as there wasn't that build up of white water rush yet, and going through them wasn't as exciting, but that wasn't to take away from the excitement of the whole trip - it had been great. When we got back the next 2 plane loads of guests were flying in, and our ride home. Our home trip took 45 minutes going a different route over the Buccanneer Archipelago, gorgeous views from the air.

The bus returned us home by about 9 am. After doing some washing (can do any day as little rain) and other necessities, we rode the scooter to the Boab Prison Tree. The tree is believed to be about 1500 years old and was used as a staging point for prisoners being walked into Derby in the early days. The Prison Tree is a registered Aboriginal Site. It seems many Aboriginals were taken prisoner for 1 reason or another and inhumanely shackled with chains around their wrists and neck, and then also locked on to fixed metal rings in the floor (in the case of the Old Derby Gaol - below). Aborigines were kidnapped by people called 'blackbirders' in the 1890's, and taken away for work on the pearl lugging boats off Broome, never to be seen by their families again - so many injustices.

Nearby is Myall's Bore and Cattle Trough. The first bore at this location was dug in 1910/11 and replaced the original well, sunk by Alfred Mayall in the early 1890's. The bore water was directed into the 120 metres long cattle trough which was built around 1917. The trough could handle 500 bullocks at one time. As the flow of the bore water started to drop off, water was then pumped into the trough by a windmill. It appears this trough is still in use although we didn't see any cattle closeby. Our last stop was the Old Derby Gaol, located next door to the current Police Station. Another unjust crime the Aborigines were jailed for was fair exchange being misconstrued as stolen property. They would be given things, white man's things in fair exchange for work done or the like, but later arrested, when found to be in possession of white man's things, it being assumed they'd stolen them. The Gaol is a registered National and State Heritage Site.

On the way home we stopped at the BWS liquor shop to buy some wine. As I was looking at the wine shelves the shop worker told me no alcohol was for sale today except mid strength beer. He said it was a directive from the police because there was some trouble in the town last night.

7-7-2013 Sunday
We drove a short way down to the boat ramp which is quite a good one, not too steep, and put the boat in. The tides rise quickly and drop quickly. There was at least a couple of feet (more than half a metre) of dry ramp from the back wheel of the mhome to the water's edge when we first stopped to launch the boat. By the time the boat was off the trailer, which wouldn't have been more than 5-10 minutes, the water was lapping up past the back wheel! The tide really rushes along. We borrowed 3 crab pots from the caravan park owners - they loan them out all the time to their customers. These pots are different to ours, with an open top so you can't leave them down for very long as the crabs, etc, will eat your bait and walk away! Both the types of pots we have are illegal to use in WA, and we heard later that the Fisheries Dept people will confiscate them if they came across us out in the water, even though we weren't actually using them.

We saw a crocodile heading for the place where we'd dropped a pot but he submerged when we drove back towards him.  We ended up with 2 'green' muddies, they call them (with a nice light colour green to their shell) which we don't get in Qld, and when we cooked and ate them later, we noticed the shell on their claws is a lot easier to crack than ours - was a nice entree.  We tried our luck with lures and drifted along but no bites. The water was a very muddy brown colour, same as our Brisbane river used to be years ago. Only stayed out a couple hours as we didn't want to get caught with the dropping tide and not be able to retrieve the boat. A Transport inspector was at the ramp when we got back.  He was checking all the boats coming back in for the compulsory lifejackets, flares, etc. 

While Dave was getting Casa and trailer (with me on the pontoon, holding the boat), I noticed the inspector was giving a fine to the guys with a small dinghy in front of us. When we got the boat out of the water, Dave showed his boat licence, got the lifejackets, etc out but he couldn't find the flares. We've never had to use them and Dave knows he had them, as he had to replace them a little while ago as they do go out of date. So he thinks they could've been stolen (probably when moored at night over on Stradbroke Island), even though they were under the seat. He could've fined us but didn't, maybe because everything else was in order so gave us the benefit of the doubt (and we have honest faces...). He chose just to give us a warning only, which was great (fine being about $160) and told us where we could buy flares in Derby or Broome, where we're going next. I said to him that it was good that he'd done this check (even though we could've been fined), so we could buy some more. He chatted to us for a while and was very helpful with information about boat ramps and fishing spots in Broome and Port Headland (he was from Broome). He also gave us some information papers, including legal limits of fish and crabs in WA, which was good as some of this, we didn't have.

Went to BWS on the way home, to try and buy our wine (which we couldn't buy yesterday) but it was closed, even though Woolworths, its partner next door, was open.

8-7-2013 Monday
Drove 116 kms south and then west to a free overnight place, Nillibubbica Rest Area (WA), 71 kms east of the town of Roebuck Plains. We're booked into a caravan park at Broome from tomorrow, Tuesday, as they couldn't fit us in tonight, and the other 4 parks I rang were all booked. It's often harder to fit us in because we're a bigger mhome plus the boat on the back too. It's school holidays at present, and all the states are on hols together for this week, except Qld (who've already gone back), so it's probably busy in most places particularly for this week. Our stop here is a nice one and seems quite popular, with a lot coming in, and we've noticed people are here for the night already around lunch time (which is when we came in today). If you come in later in the day it's sometimes hard to get a spot.

We've seen a few fire warning signs on the roadside on our drives, but one we've seen and thought was quite good, is "We like our lizards frilled, not grilled".

9-7-2013 Tuesday
We drove 102 kms west to the town of Broome (WA) on the west coast, and the Broome Caravan Park for 4 nights. We hopped on the scooter and rode to check out which boat ramps were suitable for us. The water was very inviting but a guy there said they saw a crocodile swimming past not long ago - oooohh! Then to a business Red Dirt Marine, to buy some compulsory flares for the boat. Continued on to Gantheaume Point where there are some dinosaur prints set in the sandstone rocks, but they're not visible until a very low tide which wasn't when we were there. The rock formations were very interesting though, had a swirling effect in them like many years of water erosion.

In the distance we saw Cable Beach with beautiful white sand and cars with boats and trailers on the beach. If you're small enough you can launch the boat from the beach - not us. There were some nice big boats and yachts moored out in the beautiful, clear, light, turquoise coloured water, but don't think we'll be swimming here either (crocs). Drove back to the shopping centre for an early nice Asian noodle dinner before buying some wine and heading off back to the park.

On the way here we saw an elderly couple running along the roadway, just by themselves, with no baggage. We had seen them near the town of Victoria River in the Northern Territory too, and have now realised they must be running for some cause. We noticed what would be their support vehicles parked on the side of the road each time we'd seen the couple. We'll have to investigate their cause.....

10-7-2013 Wednesday
A bit about Broome - William Dampier was the first European to visit this shore in 1688 and Roebuck Bay was named after his ship, H.M.S. Roebuck. However, it wasn't until the 21st Nov 1883, almost 200 years later, that Broome was gazetted as a town and named in honour of the then Governor of Western Australia, Sir Frederick Napier Broome. The discovery of the 'Pinctada maxima', the largest pearl shell in the world (about 1 foot or 30 cm in diameter), in the waters off Roebuck Bay, led to the establishment of Broome's pearling industry. The initial discovery however, occurred when it was noticed that local Aborigines wore these beautiful pearly shells on their bodies. They got the Aborigines to show them where to find them on a beach, and things went from there.

Now I, maybe like a lot of other people, thought that the pearling industry was to do with pearls, that are made into jewellery, but it wasn't, at that time. The pearling industry started after the 1850's, diving for the Mother of Pearl shell for the products that could be made using this pretty pearly shell, including ornaments, inlaying, even cutlery, and especially buttons. In the first decade of the 20th century, Broome produced 80% of the world's Mother of Pearl shell which was largely used to produce buttons. The development of the plastic button in the 1950's sealed the fate of the Mother of Pearl shell industry. If pearls were found after opening the shell up, they were put into a secure purpose made box for the pearling master (owner), but this part of the business was incidental and a bonus. The industry was revitalised however in the late 1950's with the advent of the cultured pearl, and by the 1970's, Broome was producing 60-70% of the world's large cultured pearls. The shell is still used in products where the pearling effect is wanted, such as lipsticks and metallic finish paints on cars - that was a surprise to me.

There is a cultured pearl farm here in Broome but we are not going to visit it. Apparently, it takes about 2 years to produce the cultured pearl after a 'seed' is carefully placed inside the live pearl shell and placed in the water in a specially designed frame. We've been told the 'seed' consists of a small piece of mussel shell, but obviously in the sea, it occurs naturally, probably with some other material, like a grain of sand. If the seed is rejected by the pearl shell, a pearl may still be made but it is then called a keshi pearl, and is always an unusual shape, not nice and round. These are also made into necklaces, etc, - I like these better than the round ones.

While pearling was prosperous for the pearling master, it was often fatal for the many divers who were subject to the 'bends', drowning, shark attack and cyclones. Here is where kidnapped Aborigines were taken in chains to dive for this shell. Some time later Japanese people came over as they had skills in this area. We had a 1 hour tour by a young comical Irishman, in the musuem of the business called Pearl Luggers. He was very interesting and quite entertaining. A 'lugger' was the name given to the boat used for the pearl shell diving. The museum had on display the diving equipment used which took a long time to put on, and with the heavy shoes and weights needed to weigh the diver down enough to stay on the bottom, he ended up weighing about 200 kilos! The tour guide took us through all the aspects of the diving process. The Japanese people were the best divers and apparently would only train other Japanese people (they were the best paid). Others who were willing to work on these luggers were Malaysian, Chinese, Filipino and Koepangars (natives of Kupang in Timor, Indonesia, but was the Dutch East Indies at that time) - apparently there weren't too many European people willing to do it.

Afterward we were given a 'pearl meat' tasting, which was the muscle of the Mother of Pearl shell, cut up into very small pieces, and marinated with something that tasted like sweet chilli sauce. This white meat seemed pretty bland, except for the sauce, and it was toughish - it was very different to the soft yellow oyster flesh we are used to, even though the shell shape is similar (and a lot smaller). This pearl meat sells for $120 per kilo here, and $480 per kilo overseas in Asia! It is thought to be a male aphrodisiac there........ There were information boards outside and 2 luggers (boats) but they were only for viewing, not climbing on. They were a lot smaller than I thought would've been used.

Afterwards we had a walk around the lovely area which was named Chinatown and had lunch at the Roebuck Bay Hotel before riding home. There are midgies here so we've got the mosquito coils going mainly in the late afternoon and evening.

11-7-2013 Thursday
Today we visited the Broome Historical Museum which mainly detailed the history of the pearling industry. There were other displays including Broome's WWII Air Raids in 1942 that sunk many of the pearling luggers; the Aboriginal People and their way of life on the Dampier Peninsula; Law and Order - policing being very harsh over 100 years ago; Communications equipment and the 'Hello Girls' who operated the main switchboard until automation in 1982; the Multi-Cultural Inhabitants and the cultural influences they introduced- a couple of beautiful, intricately carved pearl shells with Japanese scenes were on display. Outside displays included early machinery and the Dornier (plane) engines retrieved from Roebuck Bay. In the grounds were two other buildings, the Sailmaker's Shed which wasn't open to view, and the Rae Val Annexe with more historical information on the area and a wonderful McDaniel Shell Collection, comprising 4 display cabinets of many varied and colourful shells from here and abroad. Mrs McDaniel's collection was even viewed by Queen Elizabeth II.

The museum building was built in the late 1890's and became a general store as well as selling all the requirements for the pearl luggers, and purchasing pearls and pearl shell from other fleets. From 1910-1979 it became Customs House and in 1981, the museum was opened.

Rode to Roebuck Bay just down the road to view the gorgeous turquoise water and white sandy beach. It was inviting and people were swimming but there still could be crocodiles not far away, so not this little black duck! Nearby was the Pioneer Cemetery with a small number of gravestones. We bought an EPIRB (emergency device) for the boat and a couple of the crab pots that are legal to use here in WA.

12-7-2013 Friday
We put the boat in the beautiful turquoise water (Roebuck Bay) today and drove around a bit, out into the Indian Ocean.  I said to Dave that that we've never driven the boat in the Indian Ocean before, and then Dave said we've never driven the boat in any ocean!  We've always just been in Moreton Bay, which is sheltered by all the islands between it and the Pacific Ocean.  It's a fishing paradise here, we've been told by the guy in the next caravan site to us.  He comes up here from Perth every year for the fishing.  We wet a line and I caught a smallish trevally and it gave me a little fight, which I enjoyed, and then we let him go - Dave said he doesn't think they're worth eating at that size.  You just have to be spot on with the tides as they come in and out very quickly and can get up to 11 or more metres in the difference between low and high.  Retrieving the boat can be a problem if you haven't been watchful.  A lot of people go to a beach launch place on Cable Beach but you have to have a 4WD of course, so that's no good for us.

We didn't stay out too long though, came back in on high tide but even then, the tide was starting to go out while I was holding the boat at the ramp while Dave got Casa.  With the water rushing out underneath the boat and a little breeze, the boat started to go sideways a bit, toward the adjacent boat ramp.  Luckily a couple guys on the shore came over to help, and there was a small fishing charter boat in the next boat ramp waiting for their car and trailer, so they helped too.  That's when one of them said the tide was starting to go out, which I hadn't realised (as it was just supposed to be the high tide mark time), and said the boat would be better another couple feet down further into the water, so it wouldn't get stuck on the concrete ramp. 

This all happened at the last, so quickly and just as Dave was coming with the trailer.  Before that, I'd been holding the boat ok for a little while, trying to keep it in the shallows so it wouldn't get away from me.  With the breeze and the rushing out tide, Dave had to have a few tries to drive the boat on to the trailer.  Finally we got it on well enough but had to let the winch rope out quite a bit down to the boat, which was only on the first roller down at the end of the trailer.  Then Dave wound it on manually, with much hard work and sweating. The boat ramps are not far away from the Port facilities, where there were a couple large boats which looked like some sort of dredging boats. Off home and rest for the rest of the day.

13-7-2013 Saturday
We drove 210 kms south west from Broome today, to a free camping spot Stanley Rest Area (WA) for 1 night. We stopped on the way, about 20 minutes drive out of Broome, at the 12 Mile Bird Park which only opened on the 21st April this year. It was great! It is set in natural bush surrounds and there are hundreds of beautiful, colourful birds, mostly Australian natives with some from overseas, including 2 big Macaw Parrots and 1 Golden Pheasant from China - it had flowing golden feathers on top of its head (like long blonde hair on a girl) which then joined up with black and yellow striped feathers down the back of its neck, that put us in mind of a traditional Egyptian's headress at the back. Its body was a rust/orange colour on the front and a dark bluey colour on the back, with a long mostly black speckled tail - gorgeous!

We spent about 2 hours wandering around the many cages and multi-coloured birds, some of them looked like rainbows, like the small Gouldian Finch, now endangered as its habitat is slowly disappearing. There were 2 beautiful black swans, with one of them cooling off in a child's blue shell, plastic pool full of water. Later the other swan decided it was its turn and hopped in the pool, pushing the other one out with a bit of noisy objection. Many varied coloured Rosellas, and other types of parrots sat on perches in different cages, side by side, and we found out that not only are there Red-Tailed Black Cockatoos, but also Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos and White-Tailed Black Cockatoos. Near the entrance a black cockatoo (red-tailed) on its own in a cage, put on a show for us as we passed, bobbing its head up and down, turning in circles and hanging upside down on the cage wire. Further in I saw another one on its own in a cage, doing the same thing as I came close, and the young lady at the front greeting customers, told me this second one was actually the father of the first one - like father, like son - comedy in their genes.

Quails wandered around on the ground of cages with other birds above. There were different types of Pidgeons, one large dark one looked like it had a permanent wave done at the hairdresser, with lots of curly feathers just on its back. Other birds include Red-Collard and Rainbow Lorikeets, varied types of Finches, Owls, Galahs, Major Mitchell and Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Stone Bush Curlews (with eerie looking eyes that look more like people's), Long Beaked Corellas (with special long thin top beak for digging out their seeds), and different types of ducks. 2 of these Corellas were in one cage, digging a big hole along side the adjoining cage wire, busily chucking out big bits of dirt and unwanted small stones, with their beaks. It's a good job the wire goes down deeper into the ground than just ground level. It was really enjoyable looking at all this beautiful birdlife, some just sitting there quietly, and some making quite a bit of noise and being playful - of course, these were the parrots. We've seen Sulphur Crested Parrots at home, prancing along comically on electrical wires and even swinging on them in full circles - we concluded that these were the adolescent ones.

14-7-2013 Sunday
We drove 161 kms south-west to Eighty Mile Beach (WA) and the Eighty Mile Beach Caravan Park for 2 nights, after fuelling up at the Sandfire Roadhouse - got to make sure we keep an eye on the distances and the fuel in the tank, as fuel opportunities aren't as frequent as some places. The caravan park is actually located on Eighty Mile Beach, and is 10 kms of dirt road from the main road. We don't normally go on dirt roads if we can help it but we felt this beach was worth a look. The road wasn't too bad, all red dirt (which most of the dirt roads are up here), just a bit of corrugation and not as bad as another we'd been on (at Winton) but it still shook us about a bit.

It's a lovely spot though so it was worth it. They didn't have any powered sights left so we're on an unpowered one but it's grassy and big, and we have the showers which is the main thing. It was a good thing we weren't here a few weeks ago as they had quite a lot of rain and you could see where the dirt roads around the sites had been quite boggy in places. We've had beautiful travelling weather most of the time for which we are greatful. Washing was due and the machines were only $2 for a wash which is the cheapest I've seen - if I get them for $3 I think I'm lucky! It surprised me a bit as there'd be quite a few people who would come here for a few weeks at a time, and it's a bit of a captive audience - you can't really go anywhere else to do your laundry. After having said that we have seen vans that have their own washing machines - that'd be handy - I'll have to think about that........

15-7-2013 Monday
Had a relaxing day today, slept in and late breakfast. Spoke to a lady who is here for 6 months. They come here every year to get away from the cold in Perth. The fishing is good and she makes a lot of things (animals, people) out of the shells off the beach. They have a market here at the caravan park every Sunday so she sells some of them for a bit of extra cash. I hadn't been to the beach yet so I did today, and spent about an hour picking up different sorts of interesting shells - there's millions of them, and the tide brings more in each day. Apparently you've got to get out there as soon as you can after the tide has brought them if you want to compete with the serious shell shoppers. You can drive cars on the beach as there's a hard compacted area of shells and sand underneath. You can also hire beach buggies and ride up and down the beach - there's plenty of it - 80 miles worth. I even saw a young lady sunbaking on the beach with a beach buggy alongside her. The tide goes out a long way and many people just walk from the park and fish off the beach.

We walked to the beach with everyone else to see the lovely red sunset over the beautiful blue shade of the Indian Ocean. Because the tide goes out such a long way there is a lot of wet sand, and the last of the sun's rays shining on the sand created a staircase effect up to the sun. This is interesting because it has been advertised in the tourism magazines about the "Staircase to the Moon" which occurs on the full moon for 3 days each month, and can be viewed from several places down the coast, due to the same reason. It truly is a beautiful popular spot with a large number of powered and unpowered sites, and people line up at the caravan park early in the morning to get in - no reservations are taken. A wonderful thing was that there weren't any midgees, sandflies, mosquitoes or even flies - very surprising as we thought there had to be a downside to such a great spot - oh yes, the 10 kms of red dirt road but still worth it. There aren't any shops close by so you make sure you bring your own stuff or you can buy from the reception, which has assorted fresh produce and some frozen stuff like bread, some meat and vegies, as well as groceries on the shelf.

16-7-2013 Tuesday
Back along the 10 kms of red dirt road to the highway and then 93 kms south-west to Pardoo Roadhouse and Caravan Park (WA), 153 kms north of Port Hedland, for 1 night. We were here early as it wasn't far to go today, so Dave took the opportunity to rotate 4 of the tyres - the ones on the front (drive wheels) were getting a bit worn.

17-7-2013 Wednesday
We drove 151 kms south to the town of Port Hedland (WA) and Cooke Point Holiday Park for 4 nights. We have left the Kimberleys and are now in the Pilbara region. On the way in we saw big salt piles (Dampier Salt), giant white piles, seemingly quite out of place against the darker industrial surrounds. Nearby are water ponds that we thought would probably be the drying ponds, leaving the residual salt. After we booked in at the park, we dropped the boat off and drove down to the main shopping centre to stock up on provisions.

Port Hedland is renowned for its massive resource industry, long trains, big ships and salt piles. It has one of the busiest ports in Australia. In addition to being the world's largest bulk commodity export, Port Hedland has become an increasingly popular port of call for cruise ships. The major shift in the town took place in the 1960's with the development of iron ore deposits throughout the Pilbara region. Major expansion of the town took place in 1965 with the population exploding from a mere 1,200 people. Today the population stands at around 18,000. The port handled 100,000 tonnes of cargo in that year alone. Today the port is one of the world's largest in tonnage terms with over 158 million tonnes of product worth billions shipped each year.

18-7-2013 Thursday
Today we rode to Marrapikurinya Park on the waters edge ín the historic West End, where the best views of industry in motion in the harbour can be found. Port Hedland is one of the world's largest and busiest working harbours. Operations on this scale are often on a city's outskirts, invisible as well as inaccessible, but here, the coming and going of ships from dusk to dawn are part of daily life and that is one of the unique qualities of this remote town. In Port Headland, anyone coming to the centre of town has a ringside seat for some of the greatest industrial drama in the Pilbara. There were several large ships in port and we could see many out on the horizon, waiting their turn to come in to unload and/or load up.

The park had a playground and was a pleasant place to sit and have something to eat while you viewed the ships in port. We walked a short way down to the boat ramp which appears to be ok for us. We viewed some modern art made out of the 6 wooden pylons recovered from the first jetty built at the port. A metal sculpture sat nearby, titled A Motorbike's Revenge, with the figure of a man built from motorbike parts (the body trunk being a Yamaha fuel tank, its hair being folded bike chain), riding a human figure on his hands and knees - clever. We rode up to Koombana Lookout under the Port Hedland Water Tower, and enjoyed the view out over the Indian Ocean.

While we outside the Post Office a guy, a student asked if we were tourists and if we would do him a big favour, by being in a photo with him, some other students and a couple other tourists they'd rounded up - it was for some assignment. I was about to post a letter and they also asked if they could do that, so they could include that in another photo. On the way back we stopped at the outdoors Don Rhodes Mining Museum, with historic mining and transport equipment, and a monument to the town's Torres Strait Islander residents. From December to March Hedland's beaches become home to hundreds of Flatback Turtles as they nest and their younglings hatch - that would've been wonderful to see but of course we are too late.

19-7-2013 Friday
It was quite windy today. We rode back into the town centre to view the Dalgety House Museum which was closed yesterday when we tried to see it. The house used to be the home and business premises of the Manager of Dalgety's when the town first started growing. The museum chronicled the early beginnings, rapid growth and ensuing logistical problems of the town due to the discovery of minerals.

On the main road down to the town centre and the port, sits the business premises of BHP Billiton, with lovely manicured lawns on either side of the main entrance. On one side of the entrance were these wonderful life-sized animal figures, made out of scrap steel. They were great. There were 2 dogs, 2 sheep, a goose, a pig, a horse, a bull and a cow. The pig had a shovel head as its bottom jaw and the cow even had a metal udder with teats. The bodies' frames were made of thin steel so you could see through the bodies, and inside were some metal objects that you could think were meant to be organs. You could see that some of the metal bits were tools or old machine parts.

While we were out today, we bought a 20 litre fuel container (bright yellow) and strapped it to the back of the scooter (to fill with diesel as a 'just in case' for the mhome). When we were getting ready to leave the side of the road after viewing the steel animals, I noticed a vehicle with workmen in visibility vests, driving slowly past in the opposite direction, and I thought, particularly looking at us with a smile. It wasn't until a short time later that I twigged that it could've looked like we had a large container of spare fuel on the back of our small, only 125 cc scooter, for long distance travelling - that is funny! (It only takes about $6 to fill the scooter tank and we've had it up to a speedy 80 kms with both of us on it! Phew!)

We rode to Redbank Bridge where a viewers' area has been made for photographic opportunities. Here you can see the iron ore trains, that can be up to 3.7 kms long, and travel right under the bridge. These trains transport the ore from the mines at Mount Whaleback in Newman, up to 1,000 kms away, to the port for shipping. There are about 8 or so trains a day. Even though we sat and waited for about half an hour in the wind, we didn't see one to photograph. We also had a spectacular view of the Rio Tinto Dampier Salt Mine and the towering white stockpiles. A large tractor type vehicle, like you see at normal mine sites, was loading the salt onto road trains, all dwarfed by the stockpiles. The road trains then drove under the bridge where we were standing and I could taste the salt on my lips after they passed, carried on the breeze.

The operational area of this salt mine covers just over 9,000 hectares. The production process begins with seawater from the Indian Ocean.  Powerful pumps with a total capacity of 1640 cubic metres per minute transfer the seawater into a nine-pond concentration system.  Salinity is increased through each step of the system. Gravity causes the seawater to flow through the initial concentration ponds after which pumps transfer the brine into the final concentration pond.  The saturation of the original seawater has increased from 17 to 90 per cent. After several other steps including washing and allowing it to drain for up to 6 weeks, the salt is ready for transport.

20-7-2013 Saturday
It was very windy today so we weren't keen to go outdoors much. Around lunchtime we ventured out down to the Pretty Pool Creek that runs behind us, and is fed by the ocean waters. Mangroves line the creek and cars drive down along the sandy banks to put crab pots in and probably a fishing line. The caravan park is on a peninsula and is the only structure on it. We were able to walk up over the dune to the other side and the Indian Ocean. There was plenty of sand to walk on and we started picking up some more shells, as if we didn't have enough from the other day! There was nowhere near the concentration of shells here that were on Eighty Mile Beach though- that really was a collector's paradise. Back up the dune and the park.

21-7-2013 Sunday
We drove 206 kms south and then north for a short way up a peninsula, to a town called Point Samson (WA) and The Cove Holiday Village for 2 nights. When we rang this morning, they said they didn't have a normal spot for us that was big enough, but did have room up the back next to a rental house that's not occupied at the moment. It was a bit of a tight squeeze driving up around a shed but Dave managed it ok. We're up higher than the normal sites, and have a lovely view of the ocean as this park is situated right on the coastline - we feel we have the best spot in the park! There is even an upmarket toilet at the house that we can use - one built for access when you're outside in the yard. The showers are a little further away.

We walked to the tavern just across the road for dinner. Our meals were nice except that they'd obviously sat for a bit before being brought out - they weren't hot.

22-7-2013 Monday
We rode the scooter to Cape Lambert Port to see the long loading facility, 2.7 kms across the water onto the bulk carriers. We couldn't see this loading facility from the outside and we weren't allowed through the gates so it was a waste of a trip. We ended up being able to see it in the distance, from a coastal viewing point just down the road from our caravan park! On to the town of Wickham and the shopping centre to see if they had an OPSM - the left lense of my glasses has come loose from the frame. We were told there wasn't one there but there is one in Karratha, where we're going tomorrow. The lense fell out 3 times in the car park as I was trying to put the glasses on, through the helmet visor opening so I gave up - this action over the last 3 months has almost certainly contributed to its looseness. So no more riding on the scooter (ie wearing the helmet) til it's fixed, and that meant keeping my helmet on til we got back to Casa.

We rode up to the Tank Hill Lookout which gave us a not quite 360 degree view out over the Wickham town. On to the Cossack Heritage Town. This place seemed quite interesting so we'll have to come back tomorrow to view it better, when we're on our way to the next stop. The town of Cossack was home to the North West's first pearling industry, but due to the over fishing of the Cossack pearling grounds the pearling fleet moved further north to later become established in Broome. This move, coupled with the building of a jetty at Point Samson in 1904 to accommodate larger ships, contributed to the decline of the town. By WWII there were only a handful of people left in the town and by 1950 it was abandoned altogether.

23-7-2013 Tuesday
We drove 60 kms south down the peninsula and then west to the town of Karratha (WA) and the Pilbara Holiday Park for 1 night. On the way we went back to the Cossack Heritage Town that we had to cut short yesterday. A few buildings still stand but many of them, the wooden ones, were destroyed in cyclones years ago. One story told of a Chinese fellow who owned a general store and stacked up sugar bags around it to keep the rising water at bay. Later he was surprised to see the sugar had disappeared and concluded that someone must have stolen it! He was probably wondering why they left the bags! Ha Ha! Buildings that were still standing because they were built of stone, included the Courthouse, Police Barracks and Lockup, Post Office and Telegraph Building, and Schoolhouse.

Next we drove a short way to the town of Roebourne and the Roebourne Old Gaol Museum. The gaol was in operation from 1884-1924. Today it is home to the Visitor Centre and Museum, and the Roebourne Arts and Craft Group. The Whithnell family were the first settlers of Roebourne. On display was a replica of the Emma Withnell Whale Bone Chair made by her husband John, in the 1860's. It is a wonderful looking item with the base of it being a whalebone vertebrae. (The original seat has been stored elsewhere.)

Onward then to the Karratha where we found an OPSM to do a temporary fix on my loose glasses lense, and stock up on a few supplies.

24-7-2013 Wednesday
Drove 19 kms west to the town of Dampier (WA) and Dampier Transit Caravan Park for 2 nights. On the way we drove northward up the Burrup Peninsula to the North West Shelf Visitor Centre and Lookout. Representing an investment of $27 billion, the North West Shelf Project is Australia's largest oil and gas development and currently accounts for more than 40% of Australia's oil and gas production. The Project is a joint venture between six major international companies - BHP Billiton Petroleum P/L, BP Developments Aust. P/L, Chevron Aust. P/L, Japan Aust LNG (MIMI) P/L, Shell Development (Aust) P/L, and Woodside Energy (Ltd). The Project is one of the world's largest liqueified natural gas (LNG) producers, supplying oil and gas to Australian and international markets from huge offshore gas and condensate fields in the Carnarvon Basin, off the north-west coast of Australia. The principal oil and gas fields in the North West Shelf area are located approximately 125 kms north-west of Karratha, in water depths ranging between 125 and 151 metres, covering a total area of 3,134 square kms.

I'd never comprehended before, the extent of the mining in Western Australia - including iron ore, magnesium, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, domestic gas, condensate and sea salt. Dave says that's why Australia survived the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) - because of our mining industry, not because of any policitician's skill or policy, although they like to take the credit for it. The mining industry has provided thousands of jobs. Wherever we've been lately on the west coast, there is a sea of visibility (orange or yellow) shirts, on people driving in work cars, in shops, in pubs, in the supermarket and on the clotheslines at the caravan parks. The caravan parks are a popular place for workers to live, being a cheaper option than renting houses.

On the edge of town is the Red Dog Memorial, dedicated to a red kelpie, one of the best known and loved travellers in the North West. Red Dog has been the subject of numerous books, songs and even a movie - funny enough, the movie was on the other night, before I'd even heard about him (died 1979). A range of merchandise, including books, t-shirts, hats, key rings and toys is available at the visitor centres in the nearby towns.

The town of Dampier was named after the English explorer William Dampier who explored the North West Coast in 1699 (quite a few years before Captain Cook was credited with discovering Australia in 1770). The Port of Dampier was developed in 1963 when Hamersley Iron entered into an agreement with the state government to develop an iron ore mine at the town of Tom Price, and a port in the Burrup Archipelago which would allow the company to export its iron ore to world markets. Dampier now houses port facilities for Dampier Salt, Pilbara Iron and Woodside Energy.

Late this afternoon we rode the scooter to the boat ramp to check its suitability for us and then to the William Dampier Lookout. The main reason we went out this late though, was to drive to Hearson's Cove to see the Staircase to the Moon. This natural phenomenon occurs when the full moon rises over the exposed mudflats at extremely low tide, creating the optical illusion of a staircase (which is the moon's light rays on the wet mudflats) reaching up to the moon. When the moon is full the high tides are very high and the low tides are very low. The gravitational forces of the moon and the sun both contribute to the tides. The staircase occurs 3 nights each month from March to October. It can only be viewed in certain towns from Broome down to Onslow but doesn't happen any further south than that.

We arrived at Hearson's Cove about 6pm but the moon didn't start rising until after 7.30pm so we had a bit of a wait, but we weren't alone. In fact when we arrived, there were plenty of vehicles already there, with drinks and nibblies - that would've been a good idea. Plenty of vehicles arrived after us too - the beach was pretty full. It was exciting to watch the staircase develop and cameras were going off everywhere constantly. We watched it for a while and then decided to head off - it was dark and getting pretty cold. I was going to cook dinner when we got home but decided a takeaway was in order, with the late hour. We were glad to get home as it was cold but the main reasons were that we don't like riding the scooter in the dark, when the road is busy or on roads with a high speed limit. Tonight fitted into all those categories, but this was a special occasion.

We'd been told that this caravan park is close to the loading rail line to the port, and the noise can be heard in the park. We were a bit curious about this and accepted it as part of our travel experience. We could hear it but it was just a constant low-level noise, not loud, and there were no screeches or loud horns like you hear when trains approach crossings, so there really was no disruption to our enjoyment of the place or sleep at all.

25-7-2013 Thursday
Rest day today which was nice, especially as it was very windy - chance to do some minor needed jobs. I went for a walk down the road and took some photos of the boats in the port. I noticed on the side of the road, as we've been noticing for a while on our drives now, the plant of the beautiful Sturt Desert Pea, named after Charles Sturt the English explorer. The flower is South Australia's state flower. It grows randomly at the edge of the road which implies it is a very hardy plant, not congruent with the pretty flower. The gorgeous orange (like the nail polish I use) bloom has an elongated shape with a very dark centre, that appears black or the colour of eggplant. It is such an interesting looking plant and its colour stands out amongst the surrounding greens and browns on the side of the road.

It was mentioned at the North West Shelf Visitor Centre the other day - about the surrounding terrain of large red/brown rocky hills. They are all fairly the same - made up of similarly sized pieces of rock and it looks like the hills are the by-product of human intervention, such as mining or quarrying, but that isn't the case. It is natural, just a normal result of erosion (that's good - finally something for which we humans aren't responsible!).

26-7-2013 Friday
We left the park this morning and decided to put the boat into the water here at Dampier, as their boat ramps were good and they were sheltered. As Dave was backing down the boat ramp, I was walking down the concrete path alongside the ramp as I usually do, so I can tell him when to stop before Casa's wheels touch the water's edge. All of a sudden I found myself flat on my back, and felt and heard my sunglasses fly off the top of my head onto the rocks alongside - I didn't know what'd happened! The concrete was very slippery all of a sudden which I hadn't expected as the boat ramp wasn't slippery at the same level. I gave myself an involuntary chiropractic adjustment - for free! I tried to stand up but couldn't, slipping all over the place - would've looked good on candid camera. Dave wasn't happy that he'd missed it. So I had to take my shoes off and crawl across the slippery patch to the boat ramp. Amazingly I wasn't hurt except for my pride (although tomorrow morning after a night's sleep, remains to be seen), and I now had a muddy shirt and shorts that weren't ready for a wash til now. Also amazingly, my sunglasses, which I thought were gone, were perched on top of one of the rocks, with very little damage, and I was easily able to retrieve them - very lucky!

We put our 2 legal-in-WA pots in but did no good, while we did a bit of fishing. We caught several small fish which we'll have for breakfast tomorrow. We had a resident seagull that sat in the water near us waiting for any tid bits we might throw away. He appeared to be a young one, making warning noises at any gull that came close - we were 'his' people'. We only stayed out 2 and a half hours so we could get the boat back out of the water on the high tide and hopefully beat the others back in, while the place wasn't too busy - there were many cars and trailers at the ramp and it's not even the weekend. The wind was starting to get up as well and we heard it was going get a bit wild later. When we got back to the ramp the tide was well up and we were able to just float the boat onto the trailer - easiest retrieval we've done.

Not far from the boat ramp is an island called Tidepole Island, known locally as Sam's Island. Pilbara resident Sam Ostojich visited the island and fell in love with it. From 1966 when he could, Sam lived and worked on the island and began constructing his castle, which can still be seen on the island today. Sam passed away in 2005 and he is buried on the island with his pet cat Tiger.

It was about 12.30pm and we still had a way to go. We had to drive a good way back to Karratha for the turn off, so we fuelled up there before setting off. We then drove 356 kms south west to a free camping spot at Barradale Rest Area (WA) for 1 night, about 70 kms south west of Nanutarra Roadhouse. We arrived about 5.20 pm which was a long day for us - we were glad to set up and relax. The sky was grey and it started to rain but it didn't keep up for long. Just a short time before we arrived at our stop it had stopped. There was a plaque at this rest area stating it used to be Barradale roadhouse. It probably closed due to being flooded too often - there is a bridge over a river closeby and the national highway alongside the rest area, is built high up, which we've noticed along the highway in other areas that are prone to flooding.

27-7-2013 Saturday
We drove 205 kms west and then north up to a town called Exmouth (WA) and the Exmouth Cape Holiday Park (Big 4) for 3 nights. The terrain along the way was mostly flat, red dirt with lots of spinifex and a little bit mundane. Breaking up the monotony for a little while, the road cut through a series of long ridges, like ripples on an otherwise flat ocean. We had 205 kms to drive and had about the same amount of kms in the fuel tank, after Dave added the contents of the emergency jerry can we bought recently - cutting it a little fine. There aren't too many fuel places along the way so you have to fuel up when you can at the roadhouses, placed every few hundred kms along the highway. At one roadhouse where we stopped for the night and luckily didn't need fuel, we heard customers being told they were out of diesel - what could you do then, if you couldn't make it to the next roadhouse? That was what prompted Dave to buy our emergency jerry can. Luckily, we made it into Exmouth and the fuelling station - we think Casa was probably running on the fumes.

28-7-2013 Sunday
Exmouth - In 1967, Exmouth, situated on the North West Cape, was established as a support town for the Harold E. Holt Naval Communication Station. a joint Australian and U.S.A. Government venture. Despite being hard hit by Tropical Cyclone Vance in March 1999, Exmouth was soon back in business and better than ever. The town is also now in the record books. A record wind gust speed for the Australian mainland, of 267 kms per hour, was recorded at the Learmonth Meteorological Office. Exmouth has year round perfect weather with no 'wet season'.

Cape Range National Park and Ningaloo Marine Park are collectively known as the parks of the Coral Coast. Together, they support a range of unique wildlife habitats from existing ocean reef, to ancient reef, rugged limestone gorges and cave systems. Ningaloo Marine Park stretches along 260 kms of coastline from Coral Bay to Exmouth. The reef system and surrounding waters are home to 220 recorded species of coral and 500 species of temperate and tropical fish. Every year from April to July, following the mass spawning of coral, the world's biggest species of fish congregates here - the mighty whale sharks. These massive filter feeders can grow up to 12 metres long. Ningaloo Reef is one of the few places they appear regularly in large numbers.

After doing a few odd jobs this morning we rode the scooter down to the marina around lunch time, to check out the boat ramp. There are 2 of them and they look good, not steep, and sheltered as the ramps are in the marina where all the displacement boats are moored, some quite expensive. Big rock walls have been built right around to form the marina. The whole area looks fairly modern and new, probably only a few years old. We had a nice lunch at Nemo's Cafe which is part of the Exmouth Game Fishing Club right on the harbour, so we had a lovely view as well. As we left the marina we saw new houses built closeby and land for many more.

29-7-2013 Monday
This morning we scootered 17 kms north along the North West Cape peninsula to Vlaming Head Lighthouse, up a steep road and fantastic views over Ningaloo Marine Park. We saw a few splashes out in the water of hump back whales breaching. We presume they were hump backs as we couldn't really see them properly in the distance. These whales migrate from the cold south to the Kimberley area from July to October, to have their calves and fatten up before migrating back south. A bit further down the road, is the Juarbai Turtle Centre, an open gazebo with information panels about the large turtles that leave the water along this coast, to dig a hole in the sand to lay their eggs from Oct-Jan. The hatchlings emerge from Jan-April, hurriedly scrambling down the beach to the water, trying to dodge the predators. There are native predators like seagulls but introduced ones like foxes, have been targeted with a baiting program, and baits are constantly laid over a good part of the cape. We are told that people with dogs shouldn't let them roam freely or they could eat one of these baits.

Coming back into town we stopped at the fresh seafood shop but the fresh fish catch hadn't arrived yet, and it was after 1pm - oh well, have to be satisfied with some prawns! Dave dropped me back at the park as I'd had enough travelling on the scooter, and he continued on 14 kms south to Shothole Canyon Road and then on to a dirt road - lucky I didn't go! The views in the Canyon were spectacular, but the road was a mess. The road basically followed the creek line through the gorges and at times it was badly washed out. Where the many washouts had occurred, the road consisted of stones, between the size of tennis balls up to coconut sized. Our poor scooter took a bit of a beating.

30-7-2013 Tuesday FANTASTIC DAY!!!
We left the park this morning and put the boat in at the Exmouth marina - a couple of very good boat ramps that are designed so that you don't have to worry about low and high tide times. You can launch and retrieve at any time. We motored out a little way and started fishing. We started catching fish straight away - it was great! Like the old joke says, we had to hide while we were baiting our hooks so the fish couldn't see! They weren't really big fish but it was lots of fun catching them, one after another, several feeds worth. While we were fishing, Dave kept looking further out to sea, watching for the whales that we were told could be seen out here. All of a sudden he saw some body splashing and blow hole spraying!

We finished fishing and decide to drive a little way out towards the action. After a little bit we stopped the motor and waited and amazingly, we saw 2 whale bodies swimming towards us. Soon these 2 hump back whales were close to us and started swimming around our boat! We weren't sure if they were parent and child or 2 adults. They both looked big - possibly one could've been a juvenile, but now grown nearly big enough, ready for its migration back down south next month. For the next 10-15 minutes they would swim up and down, surface and expel air out their blow holes, all the while keeping an eye on us - checking us out! It was so exciting and we just couldn't believe out luck. We had both our cameras with us and were clicking away madly taking heaps of photos. After a while they lost interest in us and swam off. Neither of us has seen this spectacle before in our lives - we feel just so lucky and privileged. We also saved ourselves about $400 each which is around what it costs to go on one of these charter boats, specially to see the whales. We both feel if we died now, we would die happy people.

After getting the boat back out of the water, we drove a little way til we could pull of the road so Dave could clean and fillet the fish. There were so many it took him about an hour - fresh fish for dinner. We then drove 151 kms south to the coast town of Coral Bay (WA) and the Bayview Caravan Park for 2 nights. The caravan park didn't have room for us but sent us to their 'overflow' area across the road, at the back of the Ningaloo Backpackers Club. It's a nice grassed area, non-powered but a lovely spot so we're hoping we'll be able to stay here tomorrow night as well, but have to find out tomorrow. We are able to use the park's facilities, showers, etc. We have now left the Pilbara region and entered the Gascoyne region.

31-7-2013 Wednesday
We drove 235 kms south to the town of Carnarvon (WA) and the Norwesta Caravan Park for 3 nights. During our drive we noticed lots of small beautiful white wild flowers alongside the sides of the highway. I remember when I was here on a bus trip in 1988 (a bit further down near Monkey Mia), there were even more of these wildflowers and so much more colourful.

Before we left Coral Bay we drove down to the boat ramps which were very good, although we didn't put the boat in today. Alongside the boat ramps are a couple pontoons where the snorkelling and whale watching boats pick up their customers. They don't have to travel far to the nearby Ningaloo Reef which we could see from the land. The water is a beautiful light green colour and so clear - you could sit and look at it all day. You could just go snorkelling off the beach as the reef is not far.

1-8-2013 Thursday
Carnarvon, population of over 9,000, is the commercial centre for the rich Gascoyne district, the lifeblood being the fertile river delta on the Gascoyne River, where a vast array of fruit and vegetables are grown. The 176 plantations extend for 16 kms along the banks of the 764 kms long Gascoyne River, growing bananas, mangoes, beans, tomatoes, melons, grapes, citrus and tropical fruits. Carnarvon supplies 70% of WA's winter vegetable requirements. All these crops are grown with the aid of water pumped out of the sand of the river. When we crossed the bridge going over the wide river on the way into the town yesterday, we saw very little water, just a lot of sand, but apparently the river flows underneath and that's where they extract the water from the sand. Other industries important to the district are wool production, prawn and scallop processing and solar salt extraction.

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, an Australian aviator (born in Hamilton, Brisbane) earned global fame in 1928, when he made the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia. Before he was famous, in 1924 he and a friend, formed the Gascoyne Transport Company here in Carnarvon, a trucking business which replaced the transport of the time which was camels. After 2 successful years, they accepted a good price for the business which funded their love of flying, and the rest is history. An article on the internet states Kingsford Smith featured on an Australian $20 dollar note although that must've been some time ago as John Flynn, who established the Royal Flying Doctor Service, features on the current one.

We rode the scooter to the local boat ramp which is a very good one like the last couple we've used here in WA. Onward to the town centre and the visitor centre to see if there's anything they could tell us to see that we didn't already know. Walking around the streets we noticed how nice this town is, well laid out and at the end of the main street lies the town beach, a nice stretch of the Gascoyne River, a lovely waterfront with walking paths and places to sit, picnic and enjoy the scenery. We then rode to the Heritage Precinct which encompassed a few things - the Coffee Pot Train, One Mile Jetty, the Railway and Shearers Museum, and the Lighthouse Keepers Cottage Museum. One Mile Jetty is the longest in the North West of Western Australia and was constructed in 1897 to accommodate ships that brought supplies and passengers from Perth and allowed the export of livestock and wool from the region. For a small fee you can walk the out on the jetty or catch the quaint Coffee Pot train which consists of a small engine and 2 open box carriages, travelling at a brisk walking pace. (I think the 'coffee pot' name originated from the engine being so small.) The jetty is renowned for its great fishing, enabling access to fishing in deep water without having to use a boat. When we arrived on the train several people were there fishing and catching some nice fish.

The Railway and Shearers Museum was very good, managed by the non-profit community body, the Carnarvon Heritage Group. They also run the jetty facilities and the tramway, which is an additional rail system that ran 2.5 kms from the Heritage Precinct to the town bridge. Trains used to transport goods back and forth between the ships at the jetty and the goods yard in the town via this tramway. Inside the museum, was a memorial to the HMAS Sydney II, sunk by the German Raider, the HSK Kormoran, off the shores of Carnarvon in 1941. All 645 lives on the Sydney were lost. Of the 400 crew of the German boat, 319 made it to land in their lifeboats - I wonder what sort of reception they received!

Outside there were lots of farming, construction machinery and rail related memorabilia, and you could climb up the steps to the top of a disused gravity-fed water tank - which fed the steam train engine as well as the steam ships. This lookout gave a nice 360 degree view. By the time we were ready to view the lighthouse keepers cottage museum it had closed for the day so we'll do that one tomorrow.

2-8-2013 Friday
We rode back to the Heritage Precinct this morning to view the Lighthouse Keepers Cottage Museum that we missed out on yesterday. The cottage was built in 1897 to house the lighthouse keeper and his family. It was home for many families, the last leaving in 1980. The cottage has been restored - 2 bedrooms, a living room, kitchen and laundry, all restored with many items of interest, some of which I remember from my childhood. Another point of interest in the grounds is the concrete dome in the front of the cottage. This dome covers an underground water storage tank (14 feet/4.5 metres deep) complete with working pump, that interestingly worked with water being brought up on a metal chain system, not in little cups or vessels as you'd expect . Water was obtained from the cottage roof or carted from town in times of shortage. This pump used to be carried on the wagons in the early years, and dropped on the wells along the stock routes inland.

I supposed I should mention the lighthouse itself, which isn't very remarkable. The original high timber frame that supported the original lighthouse was the victim of termites, with the lighthouse top (which is what you would recognise as a regular lighthouse shape) sitting in the grounds of the museum. The current working lighthouse looks like a water tank on a high metal frame - after careful scrutiny of this structure, we realised it was actually the 'lighthouse', not a water tank, and you could see the stationary light flash on and off every so often. Other than that, you wouldn't even notice it, which is probably why there was no mention of it in the information papers put out by the Heritage Group.

On leaving we rode to the local fresh seafood to buy some lovely prawns for dinner, took them back home to
the fridge, and continued on to the road where the HMAS Sydney II Memorial Drive was constructed in 2001. This avenue of 645 plaques and palms along the road, identifies the individual loss of life from this tragic battle. A memorial service is held every November 19th at Quobba Station (about 82 kms north of Carnarvon) where there is a memorial cairn erected. This was one of the landing sites of the German life boats with survivors aboard.

Next we rode to the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum which celebrates the little known history of the role Carnarvon played in the manned space program and in the Australian communications industry. Dominating the Carnarvon skyline is a huge communication satellite dish, part of the OTC (Overseas Telecommunications Commission) Satellite Earth Station built in conjunction with NASA, in 1966. Although no longer used the dish still stands as a reminder of days gone by when Carnarvon participated in the space race and helped put man on the moon in 1969. Support was also provided for NASA's Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs. It was from here that Australia also received its first satellite television broadcast from London. The station closed after assisting in tracking Halley's Comet in 1987. The site is being upgraded by local community groups which recently resulted in the official opening of the museum in June 2012, by astronaut Dr Buzz Aldrin (the second man to set foot on the moon in 1969, after Neil Armstrong). At the nearby satellite dish we climbed the stairs to the viewing platform, about halfway up the structure, underneath the (30 metre in diameter) dish. From here we had a terrific panoramic view of the town, plantations and surrounding countryside.

Our last stop was the Chinaman's Pool, a permanent pool and swimming spot. Shady river gums and a nature reserve attract a variety of birds. We saw lots of ducks and black swans. A Levee Bank System has been built along much of the riverbanks to protect the town from flooding. Although they don't get a regular wet season here like further north, they do get cyclones.

3-8-2013 Saturday
We left the park this morning and put the boat in the water here at Carnarvon, good boat ramps. We caught 3 small fish to put in our 2 pots (as we didn't have bait for them), and then fished for a little while but didn't catch anything. It was nice and relaxing sitting out there. After only getting 1 undersize crab in the pots we decided to pack up. After retrieving the boat we sat in Casa and had lunch alongside the lovely water. Then we drove to a free camping spot Edaggee Rest Area (WA) for 1 night, about 81kms south of Carnarvon.

4-8-2013 Sunday
We drove 247 kms south and then north to the lovely seaside town of Denham (WA) and the Blue Dolphin Caravan Park for 2 nights. This town is located on Peron Peninsula here in Shark Bay and is credited with being the westernmost town in Australia. A place called Steep Point is the westernmost point of Australia, apparently is a spectacular location (but we're not going there) and is the closest land to the final resting place for the HMAS Sydney II and Kormoran. The land on the drive here was fairly flattish with low lying shrubs. Some people say it's boring but I don't mind it, maybe because I don't do it much and I consider it part of the holiday experience. We drove up one lookout which gave a great view over the flat landscape, but the second one we stopped at gave a view over the water, Shark Bay, and it was beautiful, as is most of the waterways we've seen on the western coast.

Close to arriving at Denham we passed a turnoff to Shell Beach, which I presume is covered in lots of small white shells, probably similar to Eighty Mile Beach (shells were much bigger and varied). The reason for referring to Shell Beach that we didn't visit, is that the ground at the caravan park is covered in small white shells which makes a change from dirt, gravel, sand and grass. I expect the shells were obtained from the nearby beaches. The ground was so white you had to wear sunglasses when you went outside.

5-8-2013 Monday
We had an early start this morning, leaving at 7.30am to travel 25 kms on the scooter, to the town of Monkey Mia (WA), for the famous feeding of the dolphins. Denham is on the western side of the Peron Peninsula and Monkey Mia is on the eastern side so we drove across, the width being 25 kms. I did this back in 1988 (25 years ago - OMG!) but Dave hadn't been here. There were quite a few people there waiting at the edge of the water, as the show starts at 8am, even though it took about 50 minutes for the dolphins to stop mucking about and come in for a feed. They were too busy playing around and having a good time. The guy said sometimes they don't come in at all so we're at their mercy. They do keep having feedings through the morning but the first one is the busiest, with the most people.

We counted about 10-12 dolphins although only about 4-5 came in for a feed. They're only given about a quarter of their daily needs so they don't get dependent on humans and then, not be able to teach their calves how to find food. We weren't allowed to touch them at all, which we were allowed to do 25 years ago. I'd say some incidents over the years has put an end to that. Instead of standing in the water, Dave and I opted to do our viewing on the nearby jetty where we probably had a better overall view. Close to us, one employee with her bucket of fish, had a dolphin waiting next to her for a fish, and along came her calf, swimming around her, playing - it was a pleasure to see. The dolphin would lie on her side in the shallow water, so she could keep her eye on the person with the bucket. It reminded me a bit of the humpback whales the other day when we were in the boat - they seemed to be looking at us when their heads were out of the water.

When we got there we noticed a pelican standing near the building's ramp (for prams, wheelchairs), not down at the water, which we thought was strange. We soon found out why. When they're ready to feed the fish, the buckets are only then brought down from the building. One of them stops with a bucket at the ramp to keep the pelicans away from the water line, where they tend to snatch the fish away from the customer holding it out for the dolphin. There were 2 pelicans and one of them was pretty stroppy, constantly trying to go down to the water line - probably because they don't really give them any fish at the building, just stand there with the bucket, and he knows it! One of the employees grabbed a fish and led the stroppy one back up the beach to where he was supposed to be. He kept trying to come down though, sometimes even following one of the customers, thinking he had a fish!

On the way back we stopped along the road where there was a big round patch of ground, in a depression on the land, that was obviously different in its vegetation to the surrounds. We saw lots of these big patches intermittently along the main highway, on the way here yesterday, and were curious. We heard on a video at the centre today that these are ancient salty areas, and these remaining plants have adapted to the very salty ground. The surrounding area had taller green plants and shrubs and the plants in the 'patch' area were low lying shrubs, a reddy brown colour and were a very different plant. I thought yesterday by the shape, that it looked like it could've been a pool at one time. I squeezed the small fleshy plant in my fingers and tasted it (taking my life in my hands) and it was quite salty. Dave tasted the sand under the plants (I liked my job better) and found it to be quite salty as well.

When we got back we dropped the scooter at the park and walked the short way down along the beautiful seaside esplanade. The water was like glass and the small boat ramp park was full of cars and trailers - everyone must be out fishing today. We had a nice lunch at the 'westernmost pub' in Australia, whilst looking out over the water - lovely!

6-8-2013 Tuesday
We left the park this morning and put the boat in the water here at Denham. It was a pleasure throwing a line in these gorgeous waters, but we were on our own - no-one else was anywhere near us fishing and we realised why, after not catching much other than small fish. We were in the bay area between the Peron Peninsula and Dirk Hartog Island and it was probably more like a marine nursery with lots of weed and small fish. A guy at the park who'd come back yesterday with lots of big fish, told Dave they went further out into the open ocean which took about an hours (boat) drive. We weren't interested in doing that. We'd put our 2 pots in but the first one had nothing in it and we couldn't find the second one.

We still enjoyed ourselves anyway, and after fuelling up, it was getting close to 2pm which was a fair bit later than we'd intended to leave. We drove 108 kms south to Hamelin Pool (WA) and Hamelin Pool Caravan Park for 1 night. After setting up we took a short walk to the water to see the Stromatolites, for which Hamelin Pool is famous. Hamelin Pool is actually the name given to the very large body of water where the stromatolites are located. A stromatolite (literally, ‘layered rock’) is a solid structure created by single-celled microbes called cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). The cyanobacteria form colonies and trap sediment with their sticky surface coatings. The trapped sediment reacts to calcium carbonate in the water to form limestone. These limestone deposits build up very slowly – it can take a stromatolite 100 years to grow 5 cm. A 1 metre high stromatolite might be 2,000 years old!

Shark Bay’s stromatolites are only 2,000 to 3,000 years old, but they are similar to life forms found on Earth up to 3.5 billion years ago! They provide a unique insight into what the world was like at the dawn of time.
· Until about 500 million years ago, stromatolites were the only macroscopic evidence of life on the planet.
. The microbes that built the stromatolites were an essential building block for the evolution of more complex life forms.
· One kind of microbe found in Shark Bay is thought to have descended from an organism that lived 1.9 billion years ago – one of the longest continuing biological lineages known.

Hamelin Pool is one of only three places on Earth where you can see living marine stromatolites. (The other two places are in the Bahamas.) Stromatolites are found in Hamelin Pool because its water is twice as salty as normal seawater. Few predators and competitors can survive these conditions, allowing the microbes to flourish and form stromatolites much as they did billions of years ago. Stromatolites look a cross between a cauliflower and a rock. However, unlike rocks they are actually alive – each stromatolite has a top surface layer teeming with living, active cyanobacteria. At least 3,000 million cyanobacteria can fit in 1 square metre! Because cyanobacteria are plants, they photosynthesise their energy from the sun. A by-product of photosynthesis is oxygen.

Shark Bays’ stromatolites are significant because they represent a major stage in the Earth’s evolutionary history, one of the reasons for Shark Bay's World Heritage Listing. When the stromatolites were discovered by scientists in 1956, they were the first ever recorded living examples of structures previously found only as fossils in ancient rocks. Although Shark Bay’s stromatolites are just 2,000 – 3,000 years old, the cyanobacteria that build them are similar to life forms found on Earth up to 3.5 billion years ago! This means the stromatolites are modern-day examples of life in Precambrian times.

A DVD we saw basically said that the stromatolites were responsible for creating conditions necessary for life on earth. They existed long before there was enough oxygen in the atmosphere to support living organisms, when the air was quite toxic. As stated previously, a by-product of the cyanobacteria's photosythesis is oxygen so these organisms raised the oxygen levels into the atmosphere that enabled the start of life and eventual evolution. Cyanobacteria dominated the primordial seas forming extensive stromatolite reefs and releasing increasing amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere. Of course, they caused their own death nell because as as marine life came into being, they started eating the cyanobacteria. Now, only in high levels of salty water can they exist without being fish food.

We could see the stromatolites gently ‘fizzing’ as tiny bubbles of oxygen were released by the cyanobacteria into the water. A boardwalk has been built so visitors can view and take photos of the larger forms of stromatolites without going into the water, which is not allowed. We could still see the track remains, under the water across sand and stromatolites, of the camel-drawn wagons that transported the wool bales from the surrounding sheep stations. Whilst the camels were in seawater partway up their legs, the bales were loaded on to waiting dinghies which were then rowed out to the big ships in deeper water.

No fishing is allowed here but as the water is twice the normal salinity, there's not too many fish or other animals that can live in it. We did see some small fish swimming around. More than 50 species of cyanobacteria live in Hamelin Pool helping explain some of the different shapes and soft/hard textures.

I don't remember being taken on tour to see these stromatolites when I was here 25 years ago. I thought it probably was because I didn't remember them (don't really look important at all until you know) but it seems the world significance of these ancient structures hadn't been recognised until after that time.

7-8-2013 Wednesday
This morning we took a tour of the Telegraph Station Museum right here at the caravan park. Of course, the Telegraph Station was here first, established in 1884, a repeater station, transporting signals from Perth on the telegraph wires up to Broome, and from there to the rest of the world. There were some old switchboards, phones, telegraph pole insulators, a phone box and other telegraphic memorabilia, as well as some diary farm related equipment - all quite interesting. There was an old wind turbine which was used to provide the electricity for the telegraph. A glass cabinet displayed many different sorts of sea shells.

In the museum was an aquarium with living stromatolites, probably to allow visitors to view them up close as can't be done down at the water. Our tour guide has the job of changing the water to keep them alive. Outside was a very old gravity-fed fuel bowser with the glass indicator. In this museum we were enlightened about some structures we've seen recently, made out of a small shell conglomerate. We thought this conglomerate was shells mixed with a concrete type mix and made into blocks. No - there is a shell block quarry, not far from this place. Countless tiny shells of the bivalve Fragum erugatum have washed up on the shores of Hamelin Pool and accumulated in huge deposits up to 10 metres in depth. In parts, nature has cemented these shells together to form a unique, lightweight material called Coquina. For many years, this was cut into blocks and used as a building material in Shark Bay.

The blocks used to be cut with cross-cut saws like the ones used to cut down big trees (in the old days), with one man at each end of the saw. The teeth of the saws were straightened instead of being criss-cross because the shell was being too damaged. They now use chain saws. We'd seen a restaurant in Denham that was made out of these shell blocks and there was also a church that we didn't see. The guy here giving us the tour, said that the shell blocks are now only allowed to be used for buildings that have significant heritage status.