Australia here we come!

31/5/12

We left De Grey at our usual time and drove to Port Hedland. On the way we stopped at 2 roadhouses. Sandfire Roadhouse was the first and we only had a look and used the toilet. The next was Pardoo Roadhouse. We both refuelled and for a small donation to the Flying Doctor we refilled all our water tanks. We had lunch before leaving and driving the last stretch to Port Hedland. Our first stop was the Coles Shopping Centre in South Hedland. We had run out of meat and frozen veggies and Mary-Anne had to restock as well. It must have been pension or dole day as there were drunks everywhere in the car park as well as the shopping centre. It was worse than Fitzroy Crossing, Elliot and Tennant Creek put together. We survived the shopping trip and went to Port Hedland. Why they don't call it North Hedland I can't work out. We found a Big 4 caravan park called Cook Point Holiday Park and booked for one night. For some unknown reason Mary-Anne didn't get the most scenic site and it must have been our turn for the first time in 3 months. The lady at reception told Karen and I that our spot over looked the water. We were thrilled ocean views!!! The water turned out to be a tidal creek lined with mangroves and mud flats running back to the main road. Well at least it was a view. In the afternoon we drove around Port Hedland and visited the wharf area where iron ore is loaded onto huge ships. We counted 27 ships lined up out to sea waiting their turn to load up. Karen and Mary-Anne found another shopping centre, this time with a Woolworths. 'Oh we must stop and have a look,' was blurted out by both of them. God give me strength!! After another shopping trip we went to the Port Lookout and this is where we counted the ships waiting to enter the port. Then it was back to the caravan park and Happy Hours and for ME.

1/6/12

We packed up and left the caravan park and drove to Woolworths so the girls could indulge themselves once more then we hit the road and headed for Marble Bar. On the way we stopped for lunch at Des Streckfuss Rest Area and found the filthiest toilet on our travels yet. After lunch we continued on and eventually arrived at Australia's hottest town. In 1922-23 Marble Bar had 160 continuous days of temperatures over 38.3C degrees or 100F degrees in the old scale. We had a drive around town and were very impressed. It is an old gold mining town but it is very neat and tidy. We stopped at the Visitor Information Centre and were met with a smile by a very friendly and informative young lady. We left the Visitor Information Centre and drove a short distance to the only caravan park in town. What a change from the sardine setup in Port Hedland. There were not many caravans and we had the choice of spots. After tea I could smell something very strange coming from the front boot of the caravan. At first I thought the CTEC battery charger had burnt out but it turned out to be a dead deep cycle battery giving off sulphur fumes. After a quick re-arrangement of batteries the caravan lights came back on. We met our neighbour from accross the road, Graham who is a geologist. What a knowlegable bloke he was about all the different rock formations we have seen in our travels. One of the mind blowing things he explained was about granite. He said granite crystalises anywhere from 5 -8 kilometres under the earth surface. So any granite we have seen on or above the surface was once 5-8 kilometres underground. That is a lot of erosion and would have taken millions of years to happen.

2/6/12

Today we went for a drive and saw the old Government buildings that house the Police Station and Mine Wardens Office. Then we ventured a short distance out of town to see the place that gave Marble Bar its name. First we stopped at Chinamans Pool which is a permanent water hole in the Coongan River. It would be a great place for a swim and BBQ in summer, if you could find some shade. Then we found the Marble Bar which is actually a Jasper Bar. The first people to come to Marble Bar thought the bar was marble, hence the name. If you pour water over the Jasper the different colours stand out. We had a walk all over the bar then we went to a place not far away where you can collect some jasper to take home. The girls went berserk and wanted to take it all before I put my foot down and brought them back to earth. From the jasper deposit we drove to the Flying Fox lookout. This is the place where town supplies were ferried accross the flooding Coongan River in days gone by. Next we visited the Comet Gold mine museum. It was filled with old mining equipment, photos, historical information and rocks of all kind. The volunteers manning the museum were more than willing to show us around and explain what different items had been used for. We left the museum and had lunch in the RSL park. It had a talking toilet that played music and over in one corner of the park was an inpressive War Memorial. We eventually arrived back at the caravan park and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon.

3/6/12

We packed up again and drove to the Marble Bar Roadhouse and refuelled both cars. Then we were off but not for long as we visited the solar farm on the outskirts of town where 60 -90 percent of the towns power is generated. We had another stop to photograph impressive metal signs that lined the road into town. Finally we were away and into the strongest headwind we had encounted so far on our trip. It would have been good to have a fuel tanker travelling with us on the way to Des Streckfuss Rest Area. We finally made it to the rest area with some fuel left and set up camp in a great solar panel friendly spot. Early in the evening we watched the sunset and the almost full moon rise. Then the rest of the evening was spent star gazing.

4/6/12

We decided to stay another day at the rest area and I cooked a roast pork for tea. Karen made her special stuffing and after the roast was cooked the potatoes, pumkin and sweet potatoes went into the oven. What a feast we had for tea that night. While we were eating the full moon rose and then we witnessed a partial eclipse of the moon. We also saw 4 satellites, 1 falling star and 2 planes. What a life!!!

5/6/12

We finally made an early start this morning leaving at a record time of 8.20am. We drove to South Hedland and the girls did grocery shopping while I bought a new deep cycle battery and connected it up. Then we refuelled and drove to Indee Station which is a working cattle station which has a small caravan park setup but no power or water. It does have toilets and showers and free washing machines. The washing machines copped a flogging when Mary-Anne and Karen got organised. Later in the evening I saw a person up a small hill talking on his mobile phone. Karen and I walked up a higher hill and got reception and two messages. Both were from Brett, our son who advised us that Tara, his wife had given birth to our first grandchild, Stella Peyton Nolan at 3.28pm that day. She was 53cm in length and 8lbs 5ozs at birth. There were hugs all round at the great news and the fact we are finally grandparents but a little sadness as well knowing we are so far away and can't afford to fly home for a visit. Mary-Anne was over the moon at becoming a great aunty for the first time as well.

6/6/12

We woke to a cloudy sky and the threat of rain so it was decided to leave as we had to drive 8kms over a dusty corrugated road to get back to the highway before we could start our journey to Karijini National Park. We didn't want to be slipping and sliding on the road if it started raining. Not long after we reached the highway we got signal on our phone and a message came through. It was from Brett and he attached a photo of Stella. I almost ran off the road trying to look at the photo so we decided to pull into the first truck stop we could find so we all could have a good look at her for the first time. After a lot of oooooos and rrrrrrrrrs it was back onto the highway and our next stop was at an unnamed rest area that had a toilet. The girls screamed with horror when they saw the state of the toilet and both refused to use it. What a pair of wussers I had no trouble. We eventually stopped at Bea Bea Rest Area for lunch. It was showering, windy and cool so we ate in Mary-Anne's caravan. After lunch we drove to Auski Roadhouse where we refuelled. Then drove the last part of days trip to Karijini National Park. We found the Visitors Centre and had a look around. Then drove to the Care Taker's site at Dales Camp Ground and paid for 3 nights. It was still overcast and showery so I wanted a generator friendly area and got it. We set up and out came the generators to power up our batteries.

7/6/12

It was still overcast this morning and the generators were switched on again to help the batteries. We went for a walk to Fortescue Falls and then it was down a thousand steep steps to the bottom of the gorge to start the long and arduous walk to Circular Pool. Karen must have been a mountain goat in a past life as she flew ahead of Mary-Anne and I. We watched in awe as Karen leaped from boulder to boulder along the gorge floor. There was some spectacular scenery with huge boulders, cyrstal clear water in the creek and majestic trees that have defied flood waters for many years. We finally made it to Circular pool but not before Mary-Anne succumed to gravity and fell on her bottom negoiating one slippery rocky decent. She survived but for the first time in her life there was dirt on her pants. We told her there was none otherwise she would have run back to the caravan and changed them. Circular Pool was very nice. There are high rock walls on three sides and a crystal clear pool of water that invited the hardiest of back packers to have a swim. The ones we saw go in didn't stay in for long. Mary-Anne remarked that she had never seen blue back packers before and she wondered what country they came from. I think the water temperature was just above freezing so that may explain it. From Circular Pool there was only one way out and that was up. Mary-Anne and I took one look at the so called steps going up and up and for a moment we thought we would spend the rest of our lives on the gorge floor. Reality hit home when we saw Karen bounding up the steps like a startled gezal and we followed like two hamstrung turtles. About 40 minutes later Mary-Anne and I crawled over the ledge at the top of the gorge and fell prostrate onto the red dirt. We lay there for what seemed like an eternity, but was only 2 minutes and we could feel life coming back into our legs and lungs. The girls were feeling fit after a few more minutes and decided to walk to Fern Pools. This walk entailed walking all the way back to where we started at Fortescue Falls and walking down the steps again then turn right and walk for a few hundred metres then return and walk back up the steps again. I decided that a shorter walk back to the caravan was more prudent and bid farewell to the girls. The days effort had taken its toll on my right knee and after a hundred metres I was almost walking on one leg. The track just kept going and going and no caravan or tents could be seen in any direction. I found a dirt track that I thought should lead me to the camping ground. It was the longest dirt track I have ever walked on. There were no foot prints or wheel marks. The world started to spin and the shrubby trees seemed to be grabbing at me. I thought I've got to get out of here and turned around and headed back to the sealed road that seemed to lead nowhere. As I hobbled along I heard a COOEEE!! coming from behind me. I turned and there was Karen and Mary-Anne stumbling along the same track. They had somehow walked off the rim track on the way to Fortescue Falls and had just as much idea of where they were as I did. We made it back to the sealed road and turned left. After half an hour we made it to the Care Takers Office. There the girls paid for another night and got directions to our camp site. It was three happy campers when the caravan came in sight. I could smell a beer, Karen could smell a rum and Mary-Anne could smell a cup of tea all from a hundred metres away. We regained strength and almost sprinted the last few metres to the fridge and kettle respectively. To say we all slept well that night was an understatement.

8/6/12

Everyone had a sleepin this morning except me. I woke at 6.10am as the sun was just peeking over the horizon. I couldn't help myself. I had to check the state of the batteries and see if there were any clouds about. The batteries were fine and there were not many clouds. Later in the morning Karen bounded out of the caravan as fit as a fiddle and a short time later Mary-Anne emerged from her van moaning and groaning about sore leg muscles. We had a quiet morning until the girls decided to attempt the Fern Pools walk again. I stayed at camp and updated the trip diary. There was no way I could have walked any further than the toilet today. Around 1pm after the girls returned from a successful walk to Fern Pools we had a cooked lunch and did bugger all for the rest of the day. About 4pm Mary-Anne and I drove to the water tank and refilled all our 25 litre white buckets.

9/6/12

Today we took a drive to the town of Tom Price which is only about 90kms away from Karijini National Park. Tom Price is a mining town where people working at the iron ore mine live. We visited the Visitor Information Centre and found out the mine tour was booked out. Karen did some shopping at Coles while Mary-Anne caught up with all her 6 children by phone. After that we filled water containers with good drinking water and then had lunch in a beautiful park next to the Visitor Centre. We took a drive around town and discovered thatTom Price is a very neat town but unfortunately has few amenities. Then we ventured to the Tom Price Caravan Park where we refilled 4 gas bottles. It is the only place in town where gas bottles can be filled. There was not much else to do in town so we made our way back to Karijini National Park.

10/6/12

Today we packed up and drove a whole 125kms to the Auski Roadhouse and Caravan Park. We decided to have one night in a caravan park so we could replenish our tank waters and fully charge our batteries, wash and the girls could have long hot showers. Luckily for us we did decide to stay as the winds picked up and a gale force wind warnings were issued for the area. It would not have been a pleasure driving into 80kph winds and I probably would have run out of petrol trying. There was intermittent phone reception and we were all able to briefly catch up with our families. Karen and I were thrilled to hear that Tara and Stella were home and that both were doing well. Later in the night with the winds still blowing it started to rain.

11/6/12

We woke to almost blue skies and no wind. Whatever caused the weather yesterday had moved on which was good, as we are free camping tonight somewhere on the way to Karatha. We packed up and were on the road by 8.50am heading back towards Port Hedland and the Costal Highway. We stopped at an un-named truck stop for lunch then drove to the Herbert Parker Rest Area on the Yule River. Unfortunately the camping spots are limited and there was no room for our two vans. We decided to drive another 30kms to the West Peawah River Rest Area and try our luck there. This time luck was with us and we set up camp next to a patch of Snappy Gum trees. It was a little cloudy but not enough to effect our solar panels too much.

12/6/12

Karen was up early this morning and she made sure Mary-Anne and I were to. It was her birthday!!! The whole Rest Area was also arosed by the continual sound of the mobile phone ringing and Karen receiving birthday calls. When the phone finally stopped ringing we packed up and headed for Roebourne. Somewhere between the Peawah Rest Area and Roebourne a kamakazie bird flew into the windscreen of the Prado with a loud thump. It was propelled over the roof rack and fell onto the road behind us. The next thing we hear over the 2 way from Mary-Anne, 'A bird just dropped dead in front of my car!!!! I nearly wet myself I was laughing that hard and I think Karen did. We arrived at about 10.30am and had a quick drive around town. It is only a small place and a little untidy. We found a garage and decided to refill. After that Karen and Mary-Anne bought fish and chips and we had an early lunch in the car park next to the garage. When our tummies were full we headed out of town to a beach camping spot called Cleaverville. We found the Care Takers caravan and paid for 4 nights. Then it was time to find a place to camp. All the dune top spots had been taken so we searched for ancleared area big enough for the two vans to fit in. Mary-Anne and Karen stayed on the road while I drove the Prado and van through through country that would have been difficult for a Unimog to traverse. After covering the Prado and van with mud I finally found a big enough camp site just behind the dunes and not far from the water. Mary-Anne could see where I was but I told her not to come the way I did as it was too rough. After searching numerous tracks she finally made it to where I was without any dirt or mud on her car or van. When I had both caravans almost set up the Care Taker arrived and told us that a dune top site had just been vacated and we could move onto it if we wanted. We hooked up and followed him to a glorious spot over looking the Indian Ocean. We immediately decided to stay a couple more days.

13/6/12

After a slow morning soaking up the view we drove into Roebourne and visited the Visitor Information Centre. The Information Centre is housed in part of the old Roebourne Jail which has been turned into a museum. We spent a hour or so looking at the displays before we left and went to the Post Office. Then we drove to Point Samson which is about 18kms from Roebourne. It is a seaside town with a port where large ships are loaded with iron ore. We had lunch in a park and then went for a drive around town. We tried to find the jetty where the ships are loaded but public access is denied. We did however find a boat ramp and Yatch Club after driving through what appeared to be a very large scale construction site. There was a beautiful cove next to the boat ramp with a wonderful beach. It was hard to believe that right behind the sand dunes behind the beach and out of sight was the ugly very large construction site. From Point Samson we drove back towards Roebourne and visited Wickham. Wickham is a new town and we believe it was built to house workers in the iron ore industry. There is a shopping centre with Woolworths but not much else. The girls did a small shop and I visited the bottle shop attached to Woolies. I bought some bourbon for the State of Origin that night and found they had the first 4 litre casks of wine we had seen since leaving Queensland. I bought 3 for Karen so she won't drink my beer. Then we drove to the historic port of Cossack. It is a ghost town where old stone building have been restored by the National Trust. It was the original port servicing Roebourne but was nearly destroyed by a cyclone in 1898. Eventually as the ships visiting became larger the port was moved to Point Samson which had a deeper anchorage. Cossack as a town and port died as a result. We had a walk through all the old buildings and soaked up the history. We drove up tank hill and we had a 360 degree view which was wonderful. It was getting late so we drove back to our beach camp and prepared for State of Origin. Unfortunately the result was not good from a Queenslander's perpective but the bourbon was.