Karratha to Broome 25/8 to 4/9

On our last night in Karratha we contacted the Toyota dealer in Broome to arrange our next service for the cruiser.  Unfortunately the earliest booking we could get was for mid September, (a 3 week wait period) so we will be taking the next stage of our trip quite slowly.

Another Iron Ore Mountain Being Shipped Overseas

 Our first stop northwards from Karratha was Port Hedland.  This is yet another town based solely upon mining and the aim of shipping more W.A. mountains overseas.  The port is one of the world’s largest in tonnage terms, with over 158 million tonnes (worth billions of dollars) shipped to other countries each year.  I guess we thought Karratha was a large mining town, but from what we’ve seen, Port Headland easily takes the prize.  Mark reckons they should rename Port Headland to `BHP Billiton town’ as the brand name dominates everything throughout this town.

Ore Train - Port Hedland

Info re Train

The trains here are owned and operated by BHP Billiton and I photographed the information for any train buffs following the blog.  Most trains here relay iron ore from Mt Whaleback at Newman.  We were interested to see that all of the ore carriages were uncovered throughout this long rail journey, which may well contribute to the amount of red dust particles in the air. Mark was amazed at the number of Solahart Water Heaters built onto roofs and the fact that all of these panels were covered in red dust, rendering them almost useless or inefficient at best. 

Rio-Tinto Salt

Almost everything in Port Headland is covered in red dust and it was such a contrast to see the white salt pyramids at the Rio-Tinto operations on the outskirts of town.

De Grey River Campsite

After leaving Port Headland, we set up camp at De Grey River which has a lot more water than all of the other rivers we crossed today.  Most were completely dry river beds, while some just comprised a few small muddy waterholes.  However by the size of the floodplains surrounding these rivers, they would be an amazing sight during the wet season.  As we’ve experienced at most picturesque camp spots we’re sharing space with a lot of other campers.  There were probably 50 + motor homes, caravans, camper trailers, etc at the De Grey campsite. 

Brekkie Freeloaders

 We were also sharing the space with a small herd of local cattle.  These beasts must have heard me ask Mark what he’d like for breakfast, as they all turned up once the Weber was turned on.  Cattle weren’t the only wildlife on show at De Grey River.  While walking along the riverbank I came across two large snakes ‘courting’.  I was told these were King Browns, but I’m definitely no snake expert.  The one thing I do know for sure is that these were large brown snakes, about two metres in length.  Since this sighting we’ve both been quite wary walking anywhere around the local walking tracks and I made sure that Mark led the way at all times. 

King Browns at De Grey River

Bird at De Grey River

The bird life at De Grey River is also a delight.  We awoke to the sounds of several kookaburras, but the variety of bird life at this river was simply amazing.

Campsite Cape Keraudren

From De Grey River our next stop was Cape Keraudren which is another camping site run by the local council.  This is a great spot for fishing and swimming and a lot of people staying here have been at this spot for many months.  One couple even travels from South Australia to stay during winter. 

Would You Swim?

Octopus at Low Tide

 

Inlet at Cape Keraudren

 There is a huge inlet to the south which at low tide has shallow pools in which octopus, shell fish and even small turtles are caught, and to the north there is another inlet, which is the start of 80 Mile Beach.  We rode our push bikes to each of these, however at the inlet to the north (Mosquito Creek) we were driven away by the mosquitoes and sandflies.  There were a few of these bities on dusk on our first night at Cape Keraudren and we were quite happy to go back into our fully screened caravan for the night!

Sunrise at Cape Keraudren

 80 Mile Beach was our next stop en route to Broome.  This was a green oasis after our previous few stops.  Even though a cyclone came through here two years ago and destroyed most of the trees and buildings, they have done a wonderful job in restoring this caravan park, which is situated just behind the dunes at 80 Mile Beach.  We even had a grassed site – what luxury! 

Fishing at 80 Mile Beach

Low Tide at 80 Mile Beach

 We could not believe the number of fishermen on this beach stretching for miles in both directions – all after the giant threadfin salmon.  We saw several caught in the few days we were here, however the most common catch was shark – both large and small.  While fishing Mark kept a wary eye on sea snakes, which were quite prolific.  As we’ve come to expect in this part of the world, the difference between high and low tide can be quite extraordinary.  As one of the locals told us, whenever a big high tide is predicted then the low tide will often go out further and the edge of the water seems like it is on the horizon   On Wednesday evening’s the owners organise a hamburger night complete with live entertainment as well as afternoon markets.  On Friday’s they also engage a local band who play live music.  Although we didn’t manage to catch a fish (large Threadfin Salmon) we would recommend this stop to other travellers.

My Hero!  He Looked After Me So Well, When I Hurt My Back!

 Unfortunately we had to cut short this part of our trip because Donna has had a very painful back over the past few days and Mark kindly organised a physio appointment in Broome.  We had planned to visit Barn Hill, but will have to go back there another trip.  Broome here we come!

We've used our new telephone and internet antenna over the last week with great success...wonderful how communication with family and friends makes us feel less isolated.