Broome to Exmouth

It is getting really hot now, and we are running out of days. We are now in the cyclone season, and we don't want to get caught. This is all new country for us, and there is so much to see. Our journey down to Perth will only be a bit of a scouting mission, to check out places to come back for a longer stay next time. We've also got a couple of minor problems with the caravan, which need to be addressed sooner rather than later, and Exmouth is where the next available repairer is.

Here we are at Eighty Mile Beach.

Set up at Eighty Mile Beach.

Leaving Broome we head south down the North West Coastal Hwy. We will make a beach side stop at either Barn Hill Station or Eighty Mile Beach. We slow down to make the turn into Barn Hill Station, and the decision is made for us. The gate is locked, and Barn Hill is closed for the season. We stop at Spitfire Roadhouse to top up the fuel. It is a very basic roadhouse! They tell me that Eighty Mile Beach is open and that the road is pretty good, so off we head. The road isn't bad, just lots of red dust, again, and after about 10 kms we are at the gates and over the hill to a surprisingly green caravan park, with the beautiful blue ocean over the sand hills. The park is almost deserted, and half of it is blocked off as they try and regenerate the grass after "the season". Sprinklers run around the clock from their bore, but we have no trouble finding a spot. The only frustrating thing is their generator that provides the park's power. About every 6 hours it just shuts down, and then restarts about 5 minutes later. What are all those power surges doing to our electronics??

Looking south
along Eighty Mile Beach

We find the path to the beach, and once out on the beach it is obvious they aren't kidding, this is eighty miles of beach! Actually, according to the signs, the beach runs for 220kms, and I don't care which conversion table you use that would be about 132 miles. After enquiring how the beach actually got its name, and getting some blank & puzzled looks, I decided I'd just shut up and stay with Eighty Mile Beach! It is an amazing beach. Mostly shells and shell grit, it is a breeding ground for a variety of shell fish. I remembered that at our pearl farm stay, they told us that they sent divers to Eighty Mile Beach in search of new oyster stock, and it was evident that scallops, oysters, and pippies/clams are in abundance. At low tide, the beach recedes hundreds of metres, and during our stay it would become very windy during the afternoon. On our second day, we came

The beach is made from shells.

out for a swim at high tide. There were only a few fishermen who gave us funny looks. I asked if there was a problem swimming. He just laughed and said watch the water, and sure enough we could see shark fins, just metres from shore! He said they are only small, but they came in chasing fish. We just had a paddle instead! You know that old saying about how "old fishermen never die, they just smell that way?" Well this is where they come! It is a real fisherman's paradise, but you need the right gear, as it is beach fishing with strong currents, and only on a full tide. I tried my hand without luck, but did see others catching some nice thread fin salmon and blue nose salmon, both nice to eat. We did read that the area is home to huge flocks of migratory birds, some which fly up to 10,000 kms, as they return each year to gorge themselves on the shell fish. Unfortunately, not this time of the year, though there were still plenty of birds around. That night we had a drink with our neighbours. They were an interesting couple from Victoria. When she said that they'd met in prison, I checked for my wallet and mobile phone. When she clarified it by saying they had both been prison wardens, I didn't know whether I was relieved or not!! It was very interesting happy hour!! Has anyone seen my IPod???

Turtle tracks. Unbelievable how
 far the turtles will go.

Flatback Turtle on the beach, 
using my zoom lens!

This time of the year is the turtle egg laying season, and every night, and even some days, they come ashore and lay their eggs in the soft dry sand above the high tide line. Each morning as we would head off along the beach, we would see the tell tale tracks of a turtle that had been laying its eggs. Here the turtles are Flat back Turtles, and they are quite a large turtle. We went out a couple of evenings to see if we could see a turtle. We had read how not to use strong flashlights and to be very quiet as the turtles were very timid, but we didn't see any. Unbelievably, on our last afternoon a turtle came ashore quite near us. It doesn't happen very often during the day. We stayed a distance away, and watched as this lady dragged herself up the beach in the heat and blazing sun. About 20 metres from the laying area, she just turned around and headed back to the water. We won't ever know whether she got stressed from the heat, or just didn't like people being around, but it was a long and tiring journey for no result. And ladies, if you think child birth ain't fun, add dragging yourself a few hundred metres on your belly across broken shells! Now that even brings a tear to my eye! All I know is that she swam happily out through the waves. We had just shared something very special indeed.

Dampier Salt's stock pile.

Trains that are 2 kms long!

From Eighty Mile Beach it was on to Port Hedland. What a contrast! You know that old Jodi Mitchell song line, "they paved paradise and put in a parking lot"? She must have arrived at Port Hedland! From all things remote and natural, to man made mining mayhem! Wherever you look there are railway lines, huge trucks, huger machines, trains and piles of iron ore. Oh, I almost forgot. In the middle of all that red earth and iron ore is a monstrous pile of salt. Dampier Salt, now owned by Rio Tinto, is one of the world's largest salt producers, shipping over 3,500,000 tonnes from Port Hedland last year. When Carolyn travelled around Australia in 1974, she stopped and worked in Port

The Pier Hotel at Port Hedland.

Hedland. Mining was only just starting. About the only thing that hadn't changed was the old Pier Hotel, where she worked. It was a dump then, and remains so today. It seems as though time has stood still at the Pier Hotel.

This wasn't here on my last visit!

We booked into the Point Cooke Caravan Park, and like anything in a mining town, it is expensive. Gone are most of the tourist sites, replaced by miners who set up permanent camp. They do keep a small number of sites at $54.00 per night. They have a deal that if you pay for 3 you can stay 4, which we take, and set ourselves up looking out across the salt flat to the railway line, loaders and conveyors in the distance. Aah, what a romantic setting!

Coffee & cake on the Silver Star.

Peter the ship's pilot.

True to form, we did find a nice coffee spot, The Silver Star Cafe, an old 1920's rail motor that used to travel the railway from Port Hedland to Newman. It was excellent. Walking around town, we really stand out, as we are the only ones not wearing the standard flouro work clothes, and our 4WD doesn't have a big yellow number or a flag! We liked it down around the port. There is a nice park, and so much to see as the shipping never stops. It is like no other we've seen. Here, each berth is owned by a mining giant and all the traffic is one way. Nothing comes in through the port. Each berth has a dedicated loader, and the huge ships of 200,000 tonnes and bigger, just keep coming and going. Last year 280 million tonnes of iron ore left this port and it

They leave full.

They come in empty.

will only get bigger, as Gina Rinehart has a new mine, Roy Hill Mine, coming on line, which will make the port bigger and add 55 million tonnes a year to production. BHP and Fortescue are the other two big players here, and they too are expanding. The whole thing is mind boggling. I love talking to people, and found a guy getting off a tender. Turns out he is a ships pilot, just returning from having guided one of those monsters out to sea. He's been here 5 years, lives on the Sunshine Coast, and Flys In and Out for his two weekly shifts. He summed it up best for me, when he said "people back on the east coast haven't got a clue what's happening up here. I go home and read about a downturn in the mining industry, then come up here to work and we send out another record number of boats and tonnage of ore! Who gives these dickheads their information? Go figure that out." Well Pete, I can't! Inland from Port Hedland, a whole city has been built. It is called South Hedland, and it is estimated that by 2035 this area will have a full time permanent population of 50,000 (currently 20,000) plus around 75,000 on fly in fly out rosters. Further inland are the mining towns of Newman and Tom Price, from where the recently duplicated rail line, runs a non stop shuttle service of 2 kilometre long trains full of iron ore. This area is also home to the Karinjini National Park, which is another must see for us at a future cooler time of the year. Heaven help us if the mining boom busts!

Mining country.

An unromantic sunset!

Further south, we decide on a stay at Point Samson, near Karratha and Dampier. It turned out to be a really quick stop. Our hot water system  blew an element, so we just overnighted, and next morning it was up early to head for Exmouth, as the list of things to fix on the caravan was now a bit longer, and cold showers didn't appeal. We stayed at the Cove Caravan Park in Point Samson. Again it was expensive, and the manager was almost embarrassed to tell me it was $50.00 a night, out of season! It was a lovely caravan park, really well laid out, and with a whole section reserved for travellers! The rest of the park was full of "permanent" miners in their big caravans and 5th Wheelers. The surrounding area is full of mine camps, which are like mini temporary cities, catering for the FIFO's (fly in/fly out workers), and looking out to sea you could see the dozen or so ships waiting to be loaded. Around the headland was the "port", or more accurately, a huge gantry/jetty jutting out into the sea, loading ships with iron ore. That night we walked across the road to the Tavern, and enjoyed a nice Pizza looking out over the sea. First and only time I've paid $10.00 for a beer!! Actually, beer prices up here are ridiculous. You can buy a carton of beer for not much more than in a big city. But if you buy a 6 pack it will cost you $20.00 plus, and God forbid you get them to put it in a glass! No wonder the pub's aren't real busy!!

This whole area is just one big mine and gas site. If Port Hedland is "owned" by BHP, then this area is owned by Rio Tinto (iron ore) and Chevron (gas). Sorry, no pictures of Point Samson. We were really moving!!

New arrival, Marcus Michael Brown

En route, we found out that our niece Tracey and hubby Dan, had become proud parents for the first time, after a long, long wait. We are so happy for them, and their new little son Marcus. That makes my sister Jenny and her hubby Dave, first time grandparents, and my mum a first time great grandparent. Congratulations to all!!! So we needed a post office to send off a parcel. We found a post office at a small town called Wickham, and stopped at the small shopping mall. We have never seen so many bars and window grilles anywhere. Every window and door was covered. It was like entering a prison! There were a lot of aborigines around, in varying states of disrepair. Hopefully the parcel left before it got nicked!!! 

In the morning we were up and on the road by 7.30am as we were looking at a 7 hour drive to Exmouth. We bypassed Karratha and Dampier and put them on the list for next time.