Broome to Point Samson

Day 149

Get up and decide that after nearly a week and half it was time to leave Broome so we pack up and head south, destination unknown.

After a long boring drive which the Australia book likens to driving across the Nullabor we stop at the Sandfire roadhouse for some lunch and to get a drink for Polly. Head onwards and turn off the main road along 10KM’s of dirt track to Eighty mile beach. The road isn’t too bad, a bit corrugated in places but nothing after the Gibb river road and Polly takes it in her stride.

As we step out of the van we realise the flies form Kakadu have told their mates we were on our way and they have organised a welcoming committee for us (how nice of them). These must be the annoying cousins as well as they seem even worse than we remember.

Despite the flies manage a nice stroll on beach and you can see where the beach gets its name from as it just seems to go on for ever in both directions, it is hot and I am tempted to jump straight in but we have heard stories of shark infested waters and so Carmen says I am not allowed a swim (Carmen was concerned about who would drive polly if I lost a limb).

Return to the beach later on for a lovely sunset over the ocean.

Day 150

Onwards ever onwards and towards Port Hedland, which is the first proper town after Broome, It’s a huge mining town and the port exports the highest tonnage of Iron Ore out of Australia (most of it bound for China). On the approach to town you drive past huge salt pans and see piles of salt like white sand dunes along the side of the road (Who’s eating all this salt China maybe??).

It shouldn’t have been a surprise therefore that the town is full of miners and the whole thing is geared towards mining and miners. We pulled into Cookes point and were confronted with one of the most expensive campsites on our trip so far!

We paid our money thinking that this must be pretty special to be charging more than Uluru but were sadly (and sorely) disappointed. The pool was as big as a large bath and the outlook was… well a view of the mine. Basically if you’re not a miner there’s no reason to be here.

 The flies at least seemed to be slightly less annoying and less in numbers (they probably couldn’t afford the campsite). Went for a stroll along the beach and a paddle in the water and returned to the van, get an early night and get the F*** out of dodge!

Sunset over the mine

Day 151

Pack up and leave first thing and drive to Karajini National Park 300KM’s away. It’s busy the whole way with miners and road trains carrying mining equipment and Polly overtook her first (and second, and third…) roadtrain carrying concrete railway sleepers and driving at about 70KM/hr.

Enter the national park and arrive at Dales Gorge campsite where we check in and park up.

The flies are worse than ever, as soon as you set foot out of your car they are on you like the plague and mainly seem to go for the eyes, nose and ears. Our only defence against them is to almost constantly swot yourself with a piece of material, something akin to self-flagellation (If only Carmen would have let me but the corked hat in Darwin).

It’s still very hot and so we head straight down into the gorge for a swim at Fortescue falls.

The gorge (Not another bloody gorge!!) is very pretty and the walls are made up of thousands of discrete layers of rock and have been weathered to reveal, in parts an Architectural façade and in parts what looks like a computer game, almost pixelated, amazing!

The falls are great, a good swimming hole at the bottom and because of the layers of rock it’s really easy to get in and out. Plus this seems to be the one place that is safe from the flies and so we spend the rest of the afternoon splashing about and staying cool.

Day 152

Up and out this morning and off on a 7KM walk right through Dales gorge ending at the falls we visited yesterday. Thankfully the day is overcast and cooler (plus there are no flies in the gorge).

Straight away were into Flora and fauna with lovely wild flowers and a lizard (that stopped and posed for a photo) and we arrive at the top of the gorge in high spirits.

When we see the path disappear over the edge of a cliff we wonder how we will get down (and back up again!).

The path is steep and rocky and there is even a ladder at one point (a first for us) but we make it down to the bottom and arrive at circular pool where we stop for a swim.

The pool is excellent and a refreshing start to the day (considering there are no showers at the campsite). We clamber over the layers of rock through the length of the gorge, meeting a large Goanna along the way (He didn’t want to stop for a photo)and end up back at Fortescue falls.

We cool off with another swim before climbing back up and out of the gorge,  back to Polly for lunch.

In the afternoon we climb back down into the gorge again (for the third time!) and continue past the falls along a dried up river bed to Fern pool, another beautiful swimming lake.

There are lots of fish in the water and if you sit on the jetty and put your feet in they come up and start nibbling at your feet, eating the dead skin. At first it freaks you out (Carmen lasted one nibble and was straight out) but after a while you get used to it and it is good (People pay good money in Thailand and Korea for this sort of thing).

Refreshed we head back and wait for sun to go down so that we get a rest from the flies.

Day 153

Today marks 5 months on the road since leaving Sydney, 153 days and XX,XXXKM’s (update coming at 6 months)

It’s a long and uneventful drive back from Karajini to civilisation (If that’s what you want to call Port Hedland) and we arrive hot and sweaty and head straight in to Mc Donalds (living the dream). We  decide not to stay another night here and so pick up some provisions and head off along the highway to a free camp at a rest stop in a place called ‘Pewah’.

It’s basic with a drop toilet and no water but it is free! The flies however are probably the worst we have experienced and we resort to sitting in the van with the doors closed (thank god for the flyscreens on the windows) until the sun goes down when it is safe to come out again and resume normal activity.

Day 154

As we are leaving in the morning we wave to a fellow traveller who gestures us over and after giving us a loaf of bread (?) tells us about a cattle station on our way that is looking for workers where you work 4 hours a day and get meals and free camping. Plus he said the surf is brilliant (my reputation precedes me) so we mark it on our map and drive on.

Roeburne (W.A.’s oldest town) visitors centre is only a short drive (80KM) away and it is a corker! Helpful, friendly staff (Listen up Port Hedland) with a good range of brochures and a genuinely interesting display about the history of the town (with free tea and coffee to boot!!).

Overflowing with useful information we head just up the road to Wickham to do some shopping before continuing to Point Samson, home to Australia’s largest pier.

First stop after setting up is the shower and after 3 days they are very welcome too!

Head to main beach to try our luck fishing and after clambering over a stupid amount of rocks I manage to loose my tackle on the first cast!

Clamber all the way back to the beach where Carmen has a go at beach casting, which lasts for about 3 minutes and so we head back and BBQ a lovely butterfly lamb shoulder for tea and enjoy a glass of cask wine (our 1^st since Mount Isa).

Broome Broome

Day 142

Wake up excited this morning as we will be meeting our dear friends from Sydney. Pack up and whilst we are waiting for them to arrive head over to Gantheaume point to the South of Cable beach to have a look at the lighthouse.

At very low tides you can see fossilised dinosaur footprints in the rocks and the wrecks of Australian sea planes from the Second World War. However it was high tide when we were there and so all we could see was the sea and the rocks and a view of Cable Beach further down the coast.

The red rocks are very nice and against the backdrop of the blue/green Indian Ocean looked even more vibrant.

Head back into town and over to the apartment at Roebuck bay that the crew have just checked into. We have sub-let the fold out couch from them and will be staying indoors for the next 5 nights with the luxury of air con and TV.

Straight over the road to Matso’s (a microbrewery) to catch up over a mango beer (very nice). Soon it seems like we haven’t been away for 5 months at all and all the Sydney gossip has been exchanged.

In the evening Tracey cooks a wonderful mixed grill and the catching up (drinking) continues and Carmen and I soon realise that we are out of practice.

Day 143

A red letter day today as I am down to the barbers to have the beard shaved off. A proper wet shave with a cut throat razor and half an hour later I feel (and look) like a new man. It has knocked 10 years off and when I stroll back into the apartment Carmen hardly recognises me and wonders who this attractive young man is!!

Before

After

Polly can only seat 4 but as there are 5 of us so Peter hires a car for a couple of days to go sightseeing. First stop is the famous Cable beach, 22KM of pristine, unspoilt sand lapped by the warm (29 Deg) Indian Ocean. The beach (and sea) is beautiful and we are all straight in for a swim.

The air temperature is pushing 40 deg and so the sea does actually feel cool when you get in but even after half an hour or more splashing about you are still nice and warm, amazing.

Next stop is the wharf and according to the fishing book (bible) this is one, if not the best fishing wharf in Australia and so after a walk up and down I vow to come back and wet a line very soon.

After getting excited about fishing from the wharf its back into town for a fish and chip lunch and then to the shops to stock up for tonight’s’ main event the ‘stairway to the moon’.

This only happens for a couple of days 7 or 8 times a year and is caused by the rising full moon reflecting off the mud flats which are revealed at low tide and seeming to make stairs leading to the moon.

Hot with anticipation we settle down with a picnic tea on a grassed area just outside the apartments overlooking the mud flats and wait for the magic.

There are a few others there and we are all looking out to sea waiting for the moon to rise, but when it does it isn’t quite where we thought it would be and is in fact behind a load of trees!!

Slightly disappointed (Peter was doing his nut as he had booked his whole trip based on seeing this) we return to the air-con and make plans to go just next door tomorrow night and get the full effect (luckily there is a repeat performance tomorrow night).

Day 144

A day of sightseeing today and so first stop is Gantheaume point to look at the amazing rocks again and the lighthouse (still no footprints). It is pretty hot and watching people jump from the rocks into the sea makes us all think of a swim but first its back to the wharf restaurant for a fish and chip lunch. Much nicer than the day before and only 50c more!

After a leisurely lunch we head back to Cable beach for the much anticipated swim and the guys are excited because this afternoon they have organised a camel ride along the beach.

Carmen and Peter team up on one camel (zena) and Rob and Tracey on another (Alice) and I nominate myself as the official photographer.

The ride takes them along the beach and past the nudie section (much to everyone’s amusement) and about half an hour later the camels are back and the team are happy to report 3 nude sightings, including a man with no pubes (Glad I didn’t go!).

Time for cocktails at a beach bar and to watch the amazing sunset over the Indian Ocean. It doesn’t disappoint and we (along with thousands of other people) happily sip and snap away as the door gently closes on another day.

Race back to the Mangrove hotel for ‘stairway to the moon’ take 2 and this time we know where it is coming up and so position ourselves right in the firing line. It is pretty good but by this time (after last night’s fiasco) it has been hyped up so much that I think we were all expecting something a bit grander.

We were all happy to have witnessed it though and Carmen was happy to have Tracey there to share the midgie bites with.

Make the short stroll into town for a Thai meal, which is pretty good but far too expensive (we are all still used to Sydney prices) and stroll home again for a nightcap in the air conditioning.

Day 145

Peter is up and out early for a massage and the girls stroll into the town to do some shopping. When they all arrive back (Rob and I had a swim in the pool) the car is returned and the guys get ready for their helicopter ride over Broome.

Carmen and I take the opportunity to get back down to the wharf and do some fishing. On advice from the man in the tackle shop we use some prawns as bait and not long into it and Carmen has hooked a fish (with the handline)

We have been told to look out for the guys in the chopper and a while later we see them come zooming overhead and wave frantically (we assumed it was them) as they fly by.

No more bites we head back to the apartment where Carmen’s fish gets inflated to shark sized proportions and I tell them all about the one that got away….

It’s Oktoberfest over the road at Matso’s and so we think it would be a crime not to go over and sample some more of the beer (Lychee beer anyone?) but when we get there the queue is round the block and the bouncer (I know bouncers in Broome!) tells us that its one in and one out so we may be there a while. Peter reminds us all that we never queue to get into a pub in Sydney and we are not doing so now and so we head back to the Mangrove and enjoy a drink in the peace and quiet.

Back to the apartment for a BBQ dinner tonight and we all feast on a spread fit for a king.

Try our luck over the road again at Matso’s and this time we are straight in. As we walk in Rob spots a familiar face and it’s Lou (formerly a barmaid from the Shakey in Surry hills) working behind the bar!

Day 146

Up to another glorious day and Polly takes the boys head to the beach for a swim and a surf whilst the girls make the most of the air-con and television. The waves are good and we enjoy a couple of hours sunbathing and splashing about before returning back for lunch.

Big game this afternoon as Australia are playing New Zealand in the rugby world cup semi-finals so we all stay in and watch Australia eventually lose the match to admittedly the better team on the day.

Back across the road for dinner this evening and not only the guys last night in Broome but also a celebration for Peter’s birthday, which is in a few days’ time. Lou is also working again so get to have a bit of a chat to her as well. The food is good but again expensive (as is the whole of Broome) but a good time is had by all and (I hope) we gave Peter a good early birthday.

Day 147

Time for the guys to head on to Perth for a few days and for us to move back into Polly (has it been a week already!) so we pack her up and head into town one last time to have Brunch before our support crew leave.

We say our goodbyes and a wave of melancholy drifts over us as we drive off, thankful that we have such entertaining friends that would come to the other side of Australia to spend some time with us and be a part of our amazing adventure (Thanks guys).

Not that we drive very far, just across town and back to Cable beach where we check into a campsite pretty much next door to the one we were in a week ago!

We start settling back into van life and head back to the beach in the afternoon for a swim and to plan our next move.

Day 148

We had sort of decided last night that we would be getting up and leaving Broome today but when we woke up and realised we had overslept (7.45!) we decided rather than rush to get packed up we would much rather stay another night and take our time packing Polly up.

We headed into town and visited the Information centre to find out about our onward journey South towards the Pilbara coast and then (leaflets in hand) went off to do some shopping.

We are adjusting to life without air-con again and finding the need to swim more often so it’s into the pool as soon as we get back and then time to hit the beach for one last surf before we leave.

Refreshed (and a bit sandy) we head back to the van to cook dinner and get an early night.