Penultimate Day of the 100 Beer Trip

TUESDAY 16 JULY 2019

A very chilly night down to about 5 degrees and the floor of the caravan was very chilly on our bare toes in the morning.  Jenny was allowed a bit longer in bed this morning and was given a consolation Moccona coffee with the promise of a proper beverage when we got to Meekathara or Cue to refuel.

We made Meekathara about 9.30am and noticed a mobile food van on the side of the road boasting “REAL” coffee and as it looked similar to PJ and Deb’s set up with a queue of people lining up we decided to try it.  Well the bacon and egg toasties were really good – almost as good as Deb’s with crispier bacon but without her special homemade chutney and the coffee and chai latte were excellent so we were more than happy and continued on our way south quite happily.

Yesterday and today have been notable for the large number of extra wide loads travelling north which always seem to come past on Jenny’s driving periods.  Yesterday we had actually had to travel on the left side of the white reflector posts (luckily at a point where there was flat gravel and limited vegetation) as the loads took up the entire road.  We passed quite a few of these wide loads – everything from mining equipment, dump truck chassis, half a house, tanks and what looked like an electrical  substation. We worked out that Larry had bought 114 beers for the caravan/car. 12 remaining, 2 losses :( therefore a 100 beer trip.

Stopped again in Mount Magnet to top up the tank and to unload our personal ones (those coffees had worked their way through!) and onwards south we went.  Another stop another couple of hours south for a change of drivers and then we finally hit the end of the scrub and emerged into farming country.  There have been more and more puddles on the side of the road as we have come south and the paddocks are looking very green with pasture and crops so a lot different an outlook than we have had for many weeks.  We also started to see sheep and lambs when all we have seen recently is cows (and the occasional donkey or camel). More roadworks and the largest road line marking either of has ever seen.

About 4.30pm we made it to Miling and checked in at the store for the passcode to the ‘caravan park’ aka known as the local recreation area/showgrounds.  They have a few sites under gum trees with water and power and the passcode gives you access to a toilet/shower block.   For the first time all holiday we are absolutely on our own – nobody to hear us scream (even if they were close enough they probably wouldn’t be able to hear over the sounds of the trucks roaring down Great Northern Highway!

By the time we had set up and chilled for a while we walked back up to the main drag and headed into the Miling Hotel which is your classic old two storey Australian pub with wide verandahs all around.  We got there just another bloke arrived in his car (a farmer on his way down to Perth airport to pick up his son) and the three of us went in the completely empty building wandering around various rooms and calling out for anyone to come and serve us.  The lights were on and the doors unlocked but nobody home!!

Eventually a bloke surfaced and casually served us drinks.  We found the menus by our own devices and ordered some food with no real certainty that it would be edible based on the extremely laid back business model being displayed but after a respectable wait a really awesomely fabulous parmy and steak were produced with hot, crispy chips and a very nice salad and we sat there happily devouring our food (we hadn’t had lunch after our big toasties) and watching footy and talking through all the great moments of our trip.  

So a fitting end to our holiday and Jenny noted that she had begun and ended the holiday with steaks and garlic sauce and that that bookmarked the holiday nicely.

Back to the van to finish up the last of the chocolate and hopefully we will be home before lunchtime tomorrow.

On The Road Again

MONDAY 15 JULY 2019

Larry was keen to make an early start so the van was pretty much packed up when we awoke including, to Jenny’s horror, the coffee machine!  So it was cups of tea in the travel mug and Belvista breakfast biscuits in the car and we were on our way by 7.30am.

We drove through Port Hedland, only stopping for fuel and turned onto the road heading to Newman where we swapped drivers and then Jenny did the next 2 hours down to what used to be called Auski road house (can’t remember the new name) which is on the turnoff to Karijini NP.  We stopped for a very quick lunch (Jenny has discovered on this trip that Larry can’t go past a roadhouse dim sim) and back in the car with Jenny still chewing her last mouthful.  Our original plan was to stop at Mt Robinson rest stop again but as we got there about 2pm we decided there was no point sitting there twiddling our thumbs all afternoon and pushed on for Newman instead. 

We refuelled in Newman but Larry couldn’t bear to be there when he didn’t have to be so back on the road and headed as far south as we could whilst there was still daylight.  The sun was just setting as we reached a free camp spot on the Gascoyne River so we had enough light to find a spot right on the (dry) river’s edge and to pop the top and get dinner organised.

The climate has definitely changed today and there was a distinct chill in the air the moment the sun had set and we soon had to dig out trackies from the back of our cupboards.  A pleasant dinner of leftover pasta parcels and pesto sauce whilst we listened to the road trains thunder past back on the main road.

Shake Rattle and Roll

SUNDAY  14 JULY 2019

Owing to our somewhat unsatisfactory sleep we stayed in bed til about 9am and in fact, Jenny had coffee and toast from a reclined position and only could be enticed out by Larry expounding the virtues of the hot showers in the amenities block.

It was still breezy so we once again gave up the idea of going fishing and just went for a drive through the station and along the coast instead.  The tide was out at the nearest beaches and we couldn’t be bothered dropping tyre pressures to drive on the sand so continued north across the mudflats to the north.  You can only drive over the mudflats four days after a high tide and this was the fifth day so we were okay to do so but it still paid to stick to the path as it was clear a few people had tried to drive their own line and had started to sink into the mud before hastily cutting back to the main path.

We drove up to a rocky headland near Mount Blaze and got out of the car for a bit of rock hopping and exploring.  Very scenic with red rock which would once have been coral, the light azure water and mangroves on one side and the deep blue crashing ocean to the other.  After a reasonable effort of rock hopping we sat down on a cliff edge and watched a couple of guys fishing.  They had managed to catch a few fish in the wind and waves but had also lost a reasonable amount of tackle in the process.  Whilst we were sitting there we saw a turtle and also a shark (probably about 3 feet long) which was swimming alongside a big silver fish and seemed to be being harassed by it.

Back in the car and we drove over to the Banningarra creek where some people were fishing and Larry recognised it as somewhere he had previously successfully fished so we decided to go back later this afternoon when the tide is next coming in.  By this time we were getting hungry so headed back to the van for toasted ham and cheese sandwiches.  Just as Jenny was clearing up the dishes in the van, the entire van started rocking and shaking.  At first Jenny thought Larry was violently shoving something into the front boot of the van but the rocking continued and then was accompanied by a rumbling sound like a truck going past.   Larry and people in the nearby vans started calling out to each other as they watched their cars and vans bouncing all over the place and shouting ‘Earthquake’.  It went on for quite a while and was very exciting but at no point did we feel in any danger.   We were soon on phones and internet to find out where the epicentre had been and neighbours reported friends in Broome and Port Hedland who had also felt it.  When I heard the epicentre was just off the coast from us I was a bit worried about the possibility of a tsunami but the caravan park at Pardoo is actually quite a long way from the coast so was sure we would be okay but may have been a bit more stressed if we were staying up the road at 80 mile beach as you are much closer to the ocean there.

After sorting out some fishing gear and waiting for the tide to have turned, we headed back to the creek and threw in some lines.  Not much action and we decided we had got there a bit early as the water line was not rising at all even though the sun was starting to set.  Realising we were more likely to catch a cold than a fish as we had neglected to bring jumpers or lights with us, we cut our losses and made a quick dash to the van to better equip ourselves for night fishing.  Back to the creek and our neighbours were also there and had caught a fish which they were quite excited about until Larry had to tell them it was a catfish and hence inedible.

We then spent a couple of hours catching catfish of our own except for when Jenny thought she had managed to snag her line on a rock only to end up dragging a mud crab out of the water!  It was a good sized one too but Larry wouldn’t let us keep it as we had no way of killing or cooking it and we are on the move again first thing tomorrow.  Oh well, at least I got a photo!

We stayed until 8pm and then headed back to the van for the poor fisherman’s dinner of tinned soup and to begin a pack up ready for an early start tomorrow.

Grass Site

SATURDAY 13 JULY 2019

We had packed up quite a lot of stuff last night so it was a matter of filling the water tanks, bringing down the roof and we were ready and on the road by 8am.  A quick stop at Caltex Broome for fuel but there was no way we could get the van close enough to the air to harden up the caravan tyres so we drove out to Roebuck Plains roadhouse and did it there.  A very big Sunland Patriot in the fuel stop – googled it on the way  south and probably worth about $150,000.  They are very heavy though so we would have to get a new car/truck to go with the new van!  We have pretty much decided over the course of the last couple of weeks that the Jayco just isn’t big enough for these long haul trips and quite a bit of search activity for a new van has occurred recently.  Just a question of whether we hold out for the retirement van or else trade the Jayco in for a slightly bigger second hand version for the time being. Stay tuned...

Drove and drove south today with only stops to swap drivers and at Sandfire for fuel and our customary roadhouse hot chips.  They took forever to cook because once again, the roadhouse had failed to realise that lunchtimes and school holidays = people wanting to buy food.  Grrr!!

Made it to the Pardoo Station turnoff and were soon regretting that we hadn’t stopped to put the reverse pressure fan on as there was a fair bit of dust (although it must be said that the gravel road was well graded and probably one of the best we have been on).  We made the office at about 2pm and checked in.  Whether by accident or because we had booked so long ago we were given a powered site for the cost of an unpowered site so that was a bonus.  The site is also really well grassed and that is nice too plus we are surrounded by nice people including next to another Jayco Journey whose owners were happy to swap tips and gave us a good idea for the shower door even cutting off a bit of fuel line pipe from his own supply for us.

It was quite windy so we gave up the idea of fishing at the beach and stayed under the awning instead reading our books, keeping track of footy scores and chatting to our neighbours including the nice couple with a Retreat van who raved about it so much we started googling second hand ones of those!

Steak and chips for tea and then we retired indoors as the wind had shown no sign of abating and actually didn’t let up all night leading to one of the worst sleeps we have had.

And Then There Were 2

FRIDAY 12 JULY 2019

Another lazy morning and once we were up and dressed Kate gratefully said goodbye to her hoochie and her bed was all packed away.  Although it was a bit breezy we decided we really couldn’t come to Broome and not have a swim at the beach so we drove on down to Cable Beach and found us our own patch of sand.  The tide was out and going out even further so we could drive down quite close to the water.  The only problem with doing that, we soon realised, was that the sand was a little bit too wet for lying your beach towels on and we had not thought to bring our chairs.

We thought about going for a walk along the beach as it wasn’t super hot and a bit breezy but then decided the water looked pretty inviting so went for a swim instead. The water was actually quite a nice temperature and as long as you immersed yourself so that the breeze couldn’t blow on your wet skin it was absolutely lovely.  The water was crystal clear so it was easy to keep an eye out for any unwelcome visitors.  Jenny did see a shadow at one point but it was way too small to be a croc and we thought it was probably a sting ray only to discover it to be a turtle!  Awesome!

By the time we got back to our towels the sand wasn’t too wet and we were able to sit and soak in the view .  The colours were just white and blue and so pretty Jenny tried to do some artistic shots.  One worked quite well and might earn a spot on a wall (if we can find a blank wall in the house!)

Back to the van for showers and a tidy up and then we drove out to The Mango Place which is about 20 minutes out of town.  We had lovely mango slushies/smoothies/mojitos and a couple of wood fired pizzas for lunch and it is a lovely shady little lunch spot surrounded by green lawns, tinkling fountains and mango trees.  They also have a little shop which does mango chutneys/jams/liqueurs etc so a few little things were bought there afterwards before we headed back to the car and back into town.

Time for another swim in the caravan park pool and a relax before it was time for Kate to pack her bags and check in for her flight.  We watched the first quarter of the Eagles v Collingwood game on the telly in the van (sitting VERY VERY still!) and the 2^nd quarter in the departure lounge at Broome airport before waving our goodbyes and heading back to the van Kateless.

Well it all went downhill from there with a very lacklustre performance from the Eagles in the second half and a loss at the end of the game.  A text from Kate arrived at bedtime to advise us she had landed safely in Perth and to admonish us for doing such a bad job and barracking without her.

What Dino Prints

THURSDAY 11 JULY 2019

This caravan park is home to the Stevie Wonder bird.  So called because it whistles the first four notes of “Isn’t  she lovely” over and over again.  Annoying because a)  it starts up at about 6am (Shut up nature! shouts Kate) and b) because it doesn’t whistle the fifth note and hence leaves the phrase unresolved.

We consoled ourselves with a lovely lazy lie in reading our tablets etc because this caravan park also has Wifi.  We then drove around to the Zookeeper’s Store for brunch.  The cafe is so named as it is all that remains of Lord McAlpine’s zoo which was a big Broome attraction during the 80’s.  We did a bit of googling while we waited for our food (very popular cafe!) and it was very interesting what a lot of money could get you in the 80’s.  How McAlpine managed to stock his zoo with animals and birds direct from the UK seems dodgy to say least (quarantine anyone??!!)  There were more exotic birds than you could poke a stick at and when the zoo closed in the 90’s these were sold to private owners all over the show.  In any case, McAlpine did for Broome what Alan Bond did for Fremantle so I guess it all worked out in the end.

After brunch we drove out to Gantheaume Point as low tide had obligingly decided to be late morning instead of the crack of dawn.  We saw the fake dinosaur footprints at the top of the cliff and then started down the cliff to try and find the real ones.  Unfortunately we were still a bit early for low tide (and it wasn’t going to be a particularly low tide in any case) and Kate decided she really couldn’t be bothered climbing right down due to the action resulting in the necessary climb back up again and Jenny and Larry had already seen them so we headed back to the car.  Not a total waste of time though as it is still a very scenic spot and we could spot the sea eagle sitting near his next in the big antenna structure smugly eating a big fish he/she had just caught.

We headed into Broome and did a grocery shop at Woolies and Larry bought two tickets in a local raffle.  I am hoping we win second prize which is an Engel car fridge just so I can see the look on Ben’s face as he is exasperated that we already own 2 car fridges (plus the two fridges at home!)

Back to the van to unload and then the lure of air conditioning in the van was too hard to ignore so it was another chill session.

At about 5.30pm we headed back into town and were first in the queue for the Sun Cinemas for the 6.15pm viewing of Yesterday.  An enjoyable little movie and always fun to have one or two lines drowned out by jets flying overhead!  We grabbed some Chicken Treat on the way home afterwards – commercial junk food – we are in the big smoke!!

A Bunch of Handbags With legs

WEDNESDAY 10 JULY 2019

We had a bit of a sleep in this morning and then Larry cooked up one of his extra fluffy omelettes for us.  We decided to have a fairly cruisy day so headed into Chinatown and had a wander through the shops.  We popped into Willie Creek pearls to see if the lady Kate knows was working but she wasn’t there and then headed next door to Cygnet bay pearls.  Unlike a lot of the pearl shops, you can buy a pearl on its own at Cygnet Bay and Jenny used all of her recently acquired knowledge of pearls to find an A1 (highest quality lustre) pearl of a reasonable size and shape  within Larry’s price range.  Jenny then chose (and paid for) the white gold clasp and necklace to go with it.  We left it there for the jeweller to set and continued on our wanderings.

Larry happened across a sports massage place and booked a 1pm massage for his shoulder which has been playing up with all the driving on rough roads.  We popped across the road to the Green Mango Cafe for an early lunch (Kate:  pancakes, Jenny: smashed avo and poached eggs and Larry: chicken and avo foccacia) and yummy smoothies/iced crushes before Larry headed off to his pummelling and Kate and Jenny checked out the visitors centre and then drove down to look at what Town Beach looks like in the daylight (Kate had only seen it in the dark on her first night when we visited the Town Beach night markets).  It is very pretty with green grass and boab trees and azure blue waters and we wandered out along the old jetty and took in the views until it was time to go and pick up Larry from his massage appointment.

Jenny drove us out to the Malcolm Douglas crocodile park and we were just there for opening time at 2pm.  They have a LOT of crocodiles in the park, both in large lakes and in separate pens as the old males are very territorial and have to have their own space.  As it is ‘winter’ they are all very sleepy and they were all lying still in the sun, many with their mouths open (to regulate their temperatures).  Lots of the big males were lying right up against the edges of their pens so that only a somewhat dodgy looking cyclone fence separated you from hundreds of kilo of death.   The unnerving part was although they looked slow and sleepy the eyes were always keeping an eye on you and looking for any chance to take the hand off anyone foolhardy enough to poke their appendages through the fence.

Soon it was 3 o’clock and ‘feeding time’ so we headed back to the main lake for a safety briefing (!) and then the keepers handed round some tiddlers with their snouts taped shut for all the kiddies to have a hold of.  Kate and Jenny were brave and had a hold but Larry pretended he was totally occupied in being a photographer and getting out the right lens and so missed out.  We stood with the big holiday crowd and watched the big salties all climb out of the water and head over to the feeding station.  Kate was unimpressed to note that the alpha males get fed first, then the males then the females last.  I had to remind her that crocodiles are not quite as evolved as us!

We followed the keepers on to the alligator lake and then the jumping crocodile lake to see them also get fed and then decided we had had enough of the jostling crowds trying to see through the fences and headed back to the main building for an ice cream instead.  As Kate said, once you’ve seen half a dozen crocodiles eat a fish you kind of get how they do it.

Headed back to home base and stopped on the way to check out the Japanese cemetery.  We had been planning to go at sunset but Jenny knew that once we got back to the van, inertia would set in, so it was late afternoon instead.  Back at the van, Larry cooked up sausages and Kate made macaroni cheese and a simple dinner was had followed by trying to get the telly to work.  It kind of does as long as we all sit incredibly still.  And so to bed.

Ahhhh Cable Beach

TUESDAY 9 JULY 2019

Up early again as even more windy in the early hours and the cover over Kate’s hoochie was flapping in the breeze.  A quick breakfast and then pack up with the trickiest part being trying to fold the sun shades and floor mat in the stiff breeze.  All finally accomplished and we were on the road just after 8am. 

We encountered no oncoming traffic on the road which made the trip out on the sandy road easy and stress free and then we were back on the tarmac for a while before just after Beagle Bay where it goes back to ‘natural surface’.  Some of this road is nice and flat and level as they are preparing to pave that but the further south you get the worse it gets and we had all decided we were quite over ‘off road’ driving for this trip and were more than thankful to finally get back on the bitumen close to Broome.

Drove directly to the Palm Grove Holiday Park, which is right on Cable Beach and, as it is an RAC run park it is very clean and neat and nice.  A very nice pool area and nice new amenities block but unfortunately our site is a square of white shell pebble surface on the corner of two roads with absolutely no shade so that it is a bit of shame.  It is, however, close but not too close to both pool and toilets so it won’t be too bad, especially as we plan to be out and about during the day and the nights cool down to about 15 degrees so the van won’t retain heat for long.

After a set up we drove off in search of food as we couldn’t be bothered making lunch.  Literally 100m down the road from the caravan park was a cafe which we could have easily walked to.  Oh well.  Yummy chicken Caesar salad and burger (free chips on Tuesdays!) and a special treat of an icy cold milkshake.  Haven’t had a milky drink in weeks!

Back to the van and Kate and Jenny hit the pool for a swim and then a laze in the deck chairs whilst Larry drove off to the camping store to buy replacement parts for bits of the van that have broken in the last few days (mainly door catches and latches).  After showers etc we put the chairs in the car and drove down and onto Cable Beach and set up with chairs and beers/soft drinks to watch the afternoon sun slowly move towards the horizon.   Watched 3 sets of camels go past and then the sun set making beautiful reflections over the long stretch of wet sand left by the outgoing tide so really very picturesque.

Took the car back to the caravan park and then walked across the road to the Diver’s Cafe which was absolutely heaving.  I think I have said it before but being in Broome is like being in a city again!  We all had huge meals we struggled to finish (L seafood platter, K chicken carbonara and J pork ribs) and felt our eyes flickering from TV screen to TV screen with tennis, cricket and horse racing all being shown at once.

Home to the van and after unsuccessfully trying to make the TV work properly (looks like one of the cables is the latest thing in this van to go kaput) we gave up and decided on an early night.

A Whale of a Time

MONDAY  8 JULY 2019

Last night the wind came up a little and we awoke early to an interesting tapping sound that we couldn’t identify.  It kind of sounded like an animal going through the rubbish bin but in a very regular and rhythmic way.  When we got up we worked out it was the plastic skylight over the shower  recess  flapping in the breeze.

Omelette for breakfast and then we decided to drive out to the Whalesong Cafe which is approximately 8km from our camp but across the peninsula so facing east instead of west.  The cafe is at the Whalesong cafe and is only open between 8am and 10am each day for coffee and cake.  We made it there by 930am and sat at their tables in their little grassed area overlooking the beach and drinking coffee out of recyclable cups and caramel slice off little bamboo boats (as you may have guessed by the name it was king of a hippy/environmental friendly place selling Gubinge plum seeds and bamboo t-shirts etc.

Feeling suitably refreshed and at harmony with the world and ourselves we wandered back to the car and headed south to Beagle Bay.   Here we forked out of ‘donation’ money to visit the quaint little church which was built by catholic missionaries ad local aborigines and features mother of pearl decoration through the church but especially on the altar.  It gives the whole church a beautiful glow which is quite special.

As it was now about lunchtime we wandered over to what looked to be the only shop in town to see what they had on offer.  The sign out on the main Cape Leveque road had suggested there was a bakery in town but there was no sign of any baked goods in the grocery store.  When we enquired about said bakery the lady behind the counter said ‘It’s over the road, follow the signs you can’t miss it”.  We went back outside and over the road and there were no bakery signs but one sign that said ‘Open’ outside what looked like somebody’s metal garage.  We poked our head through the door and there was the bakery.   When we checked with the bloke behind the counter he told us he didn’t bother putting out his sign that says ‘bakery’ as it is too heavy!  He also probably didn’t bother advertising because he had even less baked goods than the grocery store.  When we enquired about pies/sausage rolls etc he told us he’d already sold out (this was about 11.45am) but he could do us some hot chips or else he had one sandwich left.  So we bought some hot chips from an otherwise sadly depleted bakery and went and sat under a tree and ate them whilst Kate and Larry had to listen to Jenny lament the total absence of any business acumen by the local baker.  I mean, honestly, you’re the only bakery in a town that tourists visit and it’s school holidays and it’s just before the lunch period and you don’t bother putting any pies in your pie warmer??!!

We stayed in Beagle Bay only long enough to make use of the only 4G Telstra area on the whole of Cape Leveque and then wended our way homewards.   Back to the van and time for a swim to cool down after our hot, dusty and bumpy ride home and then it was more ‘chill’ time with books, tablets, puzzles and a box of chicken crimpys.

We decided to arc up the fire early and through all the wood we had on so that we could make some really good coals for cooking on.  We then threw more jacket potatoes on and had them with burgers for dinner.  We also made up some damper (this time with a handful of sultanas thrown in) and put that in our coals also.  Unfortunately the coals were too good and hot and it burnt a little on the bottom, but Larry hacked that bit off and sliced up and served with cream it made a pretty good pudding for dessert.  We have certainly had some nice meals on this trip!

Packed up as much as we could tonight to save time in the morning as we hope to make an early getaway to lessen the chances of encountering oncoming traffic on the sandy road in.

Bagpipes in the Middle of ?

SUNDAY 7^TH OF JULY 2019

Woke up at 6am (way too early for Kate).  Kate was in a much better mood this morning as she only has a few drips of water on her swag throughout the night, instead of the night before when there was a constant stream of dripping in addition to Jenny’s snoring and the sounds of nature which kept her awake and then woke her too early.   Larry so kindly offered to make us pancakes, as mum and I lay in bed and scrolled through the fresh memes taking the piss out of the Freo Dockers.  After pancakes, Kate and Jenny lazed around reading our respective books, as Larry pottered around the van doing his housekeeping duties.

After about an hour or so of relaxing, Larry decided that it was time to get off our asses and go and get some firewood. We drove for about 10 minutes until we stopped and started hacking down various parts of the bush to satisfy Jenny’s pyromania tendencies.  Larry got his anger out chopping pieces of fallen trees into smaller bits, until he cut himself on one (nature fighting back). Nurse Kate to the rescue with a bandaid, and we escaped before Kate and Jenny became too obsessed attempting to dislodge a bit of beautiful firewood hooked onto a tree. We drove back with the wood strapped to the top of the car and 3 very hot and bothered campers (who would have thought that hacking down half the forest would be like exercise- add that to your work out plans people.)

We arrived home and did a quick change into our bathers and a speedy walk down to the beach to have a quick dip. The water was gorgeous, cooling down our hot bodies, expelling the heat and the salty water healing Larry’s cuts and scrapes.  All thoughts about potential crocodiles left out mind as we plunged into the ocean water. After 10 or so minutes, the thought that there may be a croc coming to bite our legs off resurfaced as Kate stepped on a rock and panicked, so in turn we dragged ourselves out of the water and back up the impossibly steep, sandy slope that was the entrance to and from the beach (some struggled more than others...)

After showers and lunch of spaghetti (K and J) and pizza (L) and the world’s best home made garlic bread we had a little relax.  Kate and Jenny played a word choice game while Larry did god knows what (probably sleep). After a few hours, Larry started the fire, and Jenny rose from her slumber to ogle at the flickering flames like a kid in a candy shop. After many sneaky attempts to add more wood onto the fire from Jenny, Kate had to leave the comfort of her swag to come and keep an eye on Jenny to stop her burning through all our firewood in one sitting. Larry prepared dinner- chucking some spuds onto the coals of the fire and fish for L and J, and calamari for K, while Jenny prepared salad. While dinner was cooking, we, and the entire campsite, was serenaded by a young bloke playing his bagpipes down on the beach, the whole camp stopped to watch and listen and applauded after each performance. After dinner, Kate prepared some S’mores, but failed miserably as we left them on the hot coals for too long and they melted to the tin-foil. Instead, we toasted some marshmallows, using Larry’s toasting skewers from Aldi (which he is very proud of).

Now we are sitting here with a very fully belly, watching the fire slowly fade out.

Pearler of a Day

SATURDAY 6 JULY 2019

Cooked breakfast day so bacon and eggs were on the menu.

After a leisurely start we headed off to the north and as we were driving it was decided we would go to Cygnet Bay Pearl Farm. We arrived about half an hour before two tours were scheduled to start so Kate and Jenny did the Pearl Farm tour and Larry headed off for the 2 hour whirlpool boat ride.

Larry had a great time as you sat astride the seat like riding a horse and the powerful boat had 12 people on it and most of the time we were full throttle. The water coming over some of the rocks  was spectacular and so were whirlpools that are created due to the tidal changes. J and K would not have enjoyed this ride, so best they did the pearl tour and a swim in the pool while waiting for Larry to get back.

While Larry was off gallivanting around the ocean, getting sucked into whirlpools and riding some waves, Kate and Jenny had a relaxing time learning about the history of pearl farming at Cygnet Bay. We had a nice small and intimate tour group of 4, plus the tour guide. She took us to the old Cygnet Bay school room (Kate was annoyed by this as she had just escaped a classroom, only to find herself back in another one) where we learnt about the history of pearling. After the fascinating lesson, we were given the opportunity to go outside to where they had tanks of oysters being farmed. Jenny and Kate were allowed to choose an oyster that would be opened, there was one in the tank that was stubborn, (a bit like Jenny) and would be hard to pry open as it was spitting out the peg that was keeping it open. Mum took a liking to this oyster (probably because she could see herself in it) and chose this to be the oyster we opened. However, much to our disappointment, the pearl that emerged from the pearl sac was small and disfigured, with a number of lesions on its surface. The other couple on the tour with us chose an oyster that produced a beautiful big pearl with a stunning iridescent surface. Kate was (and still is) a tad pissed off that mum chose a dud without consulting her first. When it came to grading and valuing our pearls, mine and mums was classified as a “non-gem” meaning it was worth zilch, zero, nothing, and it was to be grinded back down so that the nucleus that triggered the oyster to start forming the pearl, could be reused. The other couples was worth $120 which is still not fabulous, but better than ours... when the tour finished, we were offered pearl meat to try, which is the muscle that forms next to the pearl. The pearl meat tasted like I had just taken a bite out of the ocean, so we rushed back to the car to get our water to wash it down. While waiting for Larry to finish his thrill-seeking boat tour, we decided to have a quick dip in the pool next to the restaurant, which was completely empty. It was peaceful and refreshing until the hoards of children descended upon us, splashing around and enjoying life like children do (how dare they) so we exited the pool and made our way to the restaurant for lunch.

As we had to do a boat to boat transfer Larry accidently left his Jeep cap on the boat so he quickly jumped back on to the boat to retrieve it and as he was doing some self entitled old bloke said it was only a Jeep hat. When Larry got back onto the boat he went up to him and asked him what he said. The bloke said it was only a Jeep hat so Larry told him what a good effort with a look of disgust, what a twat as he was basically having a go at Jeeps.  This is from the type of person that probably drives a Hyundai Getz and has to go on a bus to see things in the bush. Could have said a lot more but as he was part of a tour group it was best not to start something. We get so sick of the self entitled generation that honestly give Jenny and Larry the shits, especially some of the tour groups. Not all people of course but it tends to be this type.

It didn’t really affect Larry and as he had caught up with J and K it was decided to have lunch at the bistro. Very nice chicken burgers and a nasi goreng with a few mango beers were consumed and soon Larry’s good humour was restored.

Off we drove to One Arm Pont community but the place was closed as it was getting past 3 pm. Into the Jeep again and off to Koolajamin and had a quick look around after paying $15 for the privilege. It was bit underwhelming so off again and headed back as it was an hour and 45 mins to get back to the van.

Arrived back and straight into preparing the dough as it was pizzas for dinner.  They were delicious and as we were eating we could get only sporadic updates on the derby score. We were pretty happy to see the final result.

We had a bit of trouble getting to sleep due to a few cackling people around their campfire but in the end we drifted off to sleep.

Bogged

FRIDAY 5 JULY 2019

It had turned into quite a humid night and when we awoke in the morning it was to grey skies, fog and everything covered in so much dew it sounded like rain with the trees dripping on to the awnings of those caravans below.

It made for a novel experience of packing up with everything either wet or being adhered to by wet grass and lots all of our dry dusty things quickly becoming wet, muddy things.  I think Kate must have brought some of the winter moisture from Perth with her!

Took us a while to pack up and find places for the extra things we now have and the extra room we require in the car with a third person but still on the road a little after 9am.  We headed north on the Cape Leveque which was paved up until the Willie Creek Pearl Farm road but then turned to red, corrugated sand.  We bumped along and Kate got her first taste of corrugations and quickly decided that she was glad she only had to put up with them for a couple of hours and not for weeks like we had just done on the Gibb.

Apparently this whole road will be bitumenised by the end of next year and it wasn’t long before we came across evidence of the work being undertaken with  a whole new road being constructed 10 metres  to the side of the one we were on.  They had also graded a lot of our road too so the road did get a bit smoother and we cruised north without too much bother except when we passed cars coming the other way as the road has been graded so much that the piles of sand either side of the road are nearly as high as the car so that it is like a cliff either side of the road you have to watch when squeezing past another car.

The top half of the Cape Leveque road is already bitumenised and we were back on this for a blissful 30km or so from before Beagle Bay and up to the turnoff for Middle Lagoon.  Here there were a number of cars/caravans stopped to let down their tyres but we had already done so in Broome so sailed past them.  All good for 10km or so and then we encountered cars coming in the opposite direction and had to move to the side of the road just at a point where the road narrowed and there was thick deep sand (like beach sand except red) and we managed to bog car and van.  All of a sudden there was a drama as the cars going the other way couldn’t get past and the cars and vans behind us started to block up behind us.  Larry leapt out and let the tyres down even further (as did the guy in the van below us),   the guy in the car next to us helping and other people leaping from their cars also to do the same to their tyres.

Letting the tyres down further did the trick and a bit of wiggling between us and the van behind us and the cars coming the other way and we were all on our way again.  Of course the road then widened out and hardened up so if we had only met those oncoming cars another kilometre down the track there wouldn’t have been an issue.   By the time we pulled up at the office at middle lagoon it had been a 3 and a half hour trip instead of a 2 and a half hour trip and we then spent another half hour to hour trying to get the van level on our sloping, sandy site.  So all in all, a rather tiring and stressful day and certainly no way to introduce Kate to the enjoyment of caravaning and camping!!

Never mind, we finally got everything set up and then K and J made hot

dogs for lunch and we all sat down with food and drink and looking at the ocean and started to feel much better.

We spent the rest of the afternoon with Larry pottering around the van and Kate and Jenny exploring the beach and dabbling our toes in the ocean.  We then played pre dinner Uno and then organised steak sandwiches for dinner.  We then played Up and Down the River (aka Oh Hell) over hot drinks before deciding to make an early night of it. 

And Now There Is 3

THURSDAY 4 JULY 2019

Woke about 6.30am and as the coffee machine is plugged into normal power and doesn’t need confusing cables/inverters to work today, Jenny got up and made the coffees.  Then it was time for a quick breakfast before pack up time again.  For some reason everything was a bit tricky to pack up this morning – maybe because we are so used to free camping, the concept of winding up power cords and water hoses was a bit foreign to us.  By the time we had hitched up Larry was dirty and dusty and had to take himself off to the showers for another wash before we could leave.

As we were on the hard stuff today, Jenny did the majority of driving as Larry’s dodgy shoulder has got a bit sore from guiding the rig over the corrugations the last couple of weeks.  It was an uneventful drive down to Broome although we did encounter a long stretch of road works which slowed our trip down so that we probably took an extra 20 minutes to reach Broome Caravan Park.  The road works also added an extra layer of red mud to the van to coat the red dust already on it.  When we arrived at the caravan park, our van had serious street cred compared to the grey nomads’ on-road vans – their axles are still silver!!

We have a nice grassy site, albeit in the sun, and after set up we threw sheets and towels in the washing machines and did odd jobs until it was time to put them on the line.  We then hopped in the car and drove to Matso’s for a well earned beer and a late lunch.  It had been hot (up to 34 degrees) while we were setting up but by now a sea breeze had come in and it was very pleasant sitting on the verandah and drinking beer and watching the world go by.  Broome is like a big city to us after our weeks of isolation.

Headed off to the caravan shop where we bought a new fitting for the loo and a new saucepan as Jenny is tired of the handle falling off our old one.  Then on to Broome Woolies to buy a few things we couldn’t get in the one in Derby (a much bigger and fresher fruit and veg section for instance).  Back to the caravan to try and stuff more food into cupboards and fridge and Larry fixed the toilet seal and gave the car a quick hose down while Jenny brought all the washing in etc.  Before we knew it, it was getting on for 5pm so we tidied ourselves us and hopped back in the car and back to town.  Fuelled up the car and then at the airport by 5.30pm to await Kate’s arrival.  The monitors said her plane was early so we went outside and watched for her plane but the monitors lied and the plane ended up coming in just as the sun was setting.  Kate came through the door just as I was beginning to stress that she had missed the plane.  I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t one of the first off rushing to see the mummy she had missed so much.  But soon she was there and big hugs all around.

Grabbed her bags and in the car and straight to the Broome Night Markets as we were all hungry (Kate included as all she had been offered on the plane was a pumpkin, spinach and fetta on dark rye sandwich).  So we sat on the grass listening to the folk singers eating pad thai (Kate) and satay chicken (L &J) and let Kate adjust to being in balmy Broome on holiday when only this morning she had been at school in the rain in wintry old Perth.

Back to the van for a cuppa and a catch up and now Kate is nagging me to finish blogging so I can do the requisite back scratches.

Tick On Jenny's Bucket List

WEDNESDAY 3 JULY 2019

We did hear some pattering of feet and saw some flashlights shone around the park about 11pm but didn’t disturb us too much and nothing was missing from our campsite in the morning.

We were up, dressed, breakfasted and ready at the gates by 8am for our exciting excursion to the Horizontal Falls.  It’s an expensive trip and we had hummed and hahhed about doing it but it was on Jenny’s bucket list and one of things where you think you have come all this way and might never have another chance so bugger it, let’s do it.  Apparently a lot of people think the same way and there were enough people for 3 minibuses out to the airport.  A quick safety briefing and then the group was divided up and put on to the waiting 4 sea planes.  For once having a surname with a letter at the beginning of the alphabet worked to our advantage as we were first in the first group and on the first plane.  We had seats right at the back of the plane which was actually to our advantage as we had the whole back seat, heaps of leg room as we were next to the exit door and little air vents in the windows.  We also had big windows to look out and enjoy the view – first over Derby town, then over the huge estuarine areas to the north before heading out over the archipelago and being able to see down to the azure waters and the little boats zipping between the gaps in the rocks.  We discovered that up until David Attenborough came here and talked about how the tidewaters flowed horizontally through the gaps the areas where it does so were just called ‘the gaps’.  They are now, of course, known as the Horizontal Falls.

The seaplane touched down perfectly on the smooth waters of the bay and puttered across to where two large boats are moored along with various pontoons etc.  

We hopped off the plane and swapped plane lifejackets for boat ones before our host for the day, Adrian, helped us onto his large jet boat and powered us off to the ‘falls’.  We are very lucky as we have somehow managed to time it for the time of day/month where this a big tide so that the falls flow really well but not so well that they can’t actually drive the boats through.  We found out Adrian has been out here for about 16 years so we had complete faith in his ability to know exactly how the tides behave and exactly what his boat is capable of.  He told us of cowboy stories of when tours first started running out here where three different companies competed for space and hence regularly banging into each other or the rocks and even sometimes throwing passengers (and in one case even the driver!) overboard.

Having seen both gaps from either side, powered through them a few times and even sat in the middle of one revving the engine we were impressed by how much water flows through the small gap and that you can really see the difference in water levels from one side of the gap to the other.  The amazing thing about having two gaps is that you can have a situation where the middle bay has a higher or lower level that the inland sea and the bay depending on which way the tide is heading.  The level difference can get as high as 5 metres – as high as a two storey house – which is truly astonishing.  Adrian knows from (bad) experience that you can’t get the boat up this height of water fall!!

We headed back to Adrian’s own charter boat (which he leases back to the Horizontal Falls company during peak season) called the Barra Shack for a cuppa and cake and a relax.  We then piled back on the power boat and went for a cruise up another section of bay, through some other gaps where there were much smaller water ‘falls’, and past interesting rock formations until we got to the upper reaches and mangrove country where we then turned around and ‘released the ponies’ to zip back to the main pontoons.  Adrian then decided he would take us back out to the main ‘falls’ so we could see them at highest tide when the most water is rushing through.  We could get through the wide gap but the smaller one was running too fast to go through but we did sit at the top and rev the engines to stay on the spot up to about 20 knots apparently.

Back to the main pontoons and time for a swim or to watch the guys feed the lemon sharks which hang around knowing they’ll get fed about lunchtime.  Larry and a couple of the guys decided to pay a little extra for a 10 minute helicopter flight back up and over the falls while they were rushing but Jenny was happy to just sit on deck and admire the scenery and watch the fish/sharks etc.

Larry and the others got back safely and we then headed back to the Burra Shack for a very yummy lunch of freshly caught barramundi barbequed on the hot plate with white crusty rolls and salads.  We all sat around a large table on deck and chatted away and decided there would be very few places we would rather be as it had been such a good day.

Back on the boat and Adrian took us back to the ‘falls’ one last time as it was getting close to the tide reaching its maximum height meaning that the levels of the various bays were much closer to being level and therefore the gaps were wider and the water flowing slower.  So we were very lucky to see the gaps 3 times over the 4-5 hours we were there and see it behave very differently on each occasion.

Finally time to head back to the pontoons and load up on the sea planes.  Because we had been right at the back on the way out the pilot asked Larry sat next to him in the co-pilot seat and me right behind the pilot on the way back so we got a very different perspective  but Larry found it a bit stressful having to keep perfectly still in case he hit an important button!

Safely back to base, back on the buses and back into Town just before 3pm.  A fabulous day and certainly a wonderful experience unlike any we have had before. 

Back to earth and reality and so a trip to a hardware store to restock things like glue and tape, to a service station for fuel and tyres pumped up and a camping store for Larry to buy a new chair as his old one is sinking lower and lower towards the ground so that L has to reach up to his food on the table!  We also did a little drive around town and out to the wharf for a look.  Quite a few people fishing but not too many catching anything.

Back to base and finally got all the blog from the Gibb River Road actually posted and then popped out to the local greasy joes for burgers and chips which were actually very nice and not greasy at all.

More blogging and a spot of Wimbledon watching before bed as it has been a long and eventful day.

GRR Finished

TUESDAY 2 JULY 2019

Jenny had dreadful indigestion last night – a combination of rich food and too much wine (obviously a bit more potent than the ciders!)  Sat up and played on my tablet for an hour or so, took a couple of Rennies and then managed to go back to sleep so all good.  We were up around 6ish and then did a slow pack up.  Larry had suggested that Jenny practice hooking up the van today but Jenny had visions of hitting up to the van a bit too hard and pushing the whole van down into the creek and therefore promises to do it another day instead.

We were on the road by 8am and back on the Gibb River Road by 9am.  This morning we finished listening to ‘Sphere’ by Michael Crichton which has kept us entertained during the boring lengths of driving on the Gibb.  As promised by the couple we had talked to at Mornington there was a particularly rough bit of road for about 5km and along this section we encountered a car that had only recently rolled over as they had obviously gone over the big corrugations too fast and lost contact with the road.  They were travelling with another car and were in the process of transferring the contents of the rolled over car to the other one.  We stopped to check they were all okay (they were) and that they didn’t need any help and got a thumbs up so continued on feeling  suitably reminded of how necessary it is to take care and remain vigilant of all the road may throw at you at any time.

We decided not to stop and inflate the tyres when we finally hit the tarmac near Derby so we continued on slowly and therefore didn’t reach the caravan park in Derby until nearly 1pm.  

The first site they had allocated us was right next to an amenity block and with a large boab tree in front of it so that you had to manoeuvre at a weird angle to get in and there was no guarantee we could pop the top up under the branches of the tree.   Although there were other vacant nicer, shadier sites around, management assured us they were all booked already and the only other site they had was over in the corner near the salt flats and in the sun so we moved there instead feeling a bit grumpy that we had seemed to draw the short straw without even knowing there would be one to draw.

 

The grumpiness was probably not helped by it now being after 2pm and having not had anything to eat but a few milk arrowroot biscuits since breakfast.   We decided food for our stomachs followed by food for the van were top priorities so headed into town to take care of both.

A big shop at Woolies Derby and BWS next door as all are supplies are pretty much depleted and then Jenny spent a fun half hour or so putting her spatial awareness skills to the test trying to cram six shopping bags worth of groceries into cupboards and fridge while Larry found some empty washing machines and put a couple of loads of washing on.

So domestic chores for the remainder of the day and we set the telly up for the first time this trip and watched the news while we ate our steak and salad dinner and are now updating blogs and Facebook etc.

The couple in the van next to us warned that there are often night time visitors in this caravan park looking to snitch anything not locked up or down (apparently a lot of people stupidly leave the cars unlocked here!) and the police regularly patrol through in the middle of the night so not to be alarmed if we see flashing lights in the small hours.  We are feeling exhausted so doubt we’ll wake for anything anyway!

Newbies

MONDAY 1 JULY 2019

A very different vibe to this campground with the feeling that there are a lot of families that are just embarking on their Gibb River Road adventures.  Some still have a little learning to do about campground etiquette such as:

1.        Open and/or close gates as you find them or as instructed to do.

2.       Drive VERY slowly through campgrounds so that you don’t cover your fellow campers in your dust.

3.       Do not let your small children scream around the campground after 8pm.

4.       Do not let your small children scream around the campground before 7am.

5.       Do not drive off in the morning (in a dust cloud) leaving your campfire still smoking (and what’s more smoking out your neighbours).

After the hire camper brigade had left, us seasoned campers tut tutted at each other and then settled in for another fluffy omelette and cups of tea.  Eventually we decided to get ourselves sorted and go for a drive to find what delights Mt Hart offered.

We drove up to Annie’s Creek which offers an ‘exciting deep creek crossing only for the serious 4WDers’.  We figured due to the poor wet season it wouldn’t be that deep and drove down to the crossing to find a couple with a Landcruiser pulled up and standing dubiously at the water’s edge.  Larry promptly hopped out, threw off the thongs and waded out to see just how deep said deep creek was.  It came up to about mid thigh (on Larry) so nothing that serious so we hopped back in the Jeep, set it to highest clearance and drove easily over.  The Landcruiser couple felt suitably embarrassed into following saying that would never live it down letting a Jeep do what they dared not.  They easily made it across also and continued on to a gorge another 20km down the track.  We decided we couldn’t be bothered going that far so hopped out near the creek to view a large boab tree with a strangler vine growing through it.

 

Jenny then followed the hiking path across the creek and back to the main carpark so that she could video Larry coming back across the creek.  At one point the front wheel dipped and the water was up over the side steps so that was exciting!

By now it was late morning and getting warm so we headed to Dolomite Gorge which has a couple of nice swimming spots.  The first one is about 200m along a rough, rocky path and the second about 1km in along a VERY rocky path and involving two creek crossings.  Suffice to say, we decided the first pool was perfectly adequate for our requirements and was actually quite idyllic with a small waterfall and little darting fish.  We had it to ourselves for about half an hour before a couple of families joined us.  They were nice enough but it was all a bit crowded in the water so we made our way back to the car and then noted that one of these young families owns the giant Dodge Ram and family sized Bushtracker (about $300,000 worth combined) so they must be pretty wealthy for so young a family.

We got back to the van and had a late lunch at our creekside camping spot and it is such a lovely spot we stayed in our chairs reading and drinking tea and relaxing while our swimming clothes dried out.  We then went for showers and did some chores and Larry sold another few sets of his patented reverse blower system (if only he got around to getting the patent and making up kits to actually sell we could probably retire on the proceeds so many people ask about it).  Late afternoon we drove up to Sunset Hill and got prime position at the front of the deck for the sunset.  We were shortly joined by half the campground and it was quite a little gathering for the sunset which the eastern staters thought was spectacular while we just thought it was ok.

Back down to the homestead for our pre-booked and paid for 3 course meal.  We had double checked when we booked in yesterday that they had our booking but of course tonight they had no record of it and were all flustered when a couple showed up when they only had two tables set up – one for the coach load of oldies and one for a large group of two families travelling together.  They couldn’t have been more apologetic and swiftly set us up in the bar area with our own private dining area and free drinks to make it up to us.  So in the end we did alright as we had the telly and could watch the news and chat to the nice barmaid from the UK and had a lovely meal of freshly made bread with babaganoush, a yummy main of chicken and interesting Yorkshire pudding type things and dessert of lemon syrup cake all washed down with free grog!

Back to home base and thankfully the campground was reasonably quiet and not giant campfires right next to our van as dreaded.