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Saturday 29 October 2011

October 24th-29th, 2011- Point Sampson-Cove Caravan Park

Monday saw us up and retracing our steps north on the Great Northern Highway to where it rejoins the main road out of Port Hedland. Stopped at the Auski Roadhouse to fuel up with Diesel and to buy ice for our Esky. Both were overpriced but what can you do? We said our goodbyes to the Hamersley Ranges as we drove north. Sandra got a few more photos on the way. What a beautiful part of Australia and the World. We saw some large Willy Willys on the way. We originally thought they were fires but realized later that it was wind storms.







Once we reached the main highway we turned West on the West Coastal Highway towards Roebourne. We had planned on another night of free camping at Yule River where we stopped at about 11am. It was already 40 degrees with no breeze, and as you can see below no water in the river!


Given our fridge situation and the heat a group decision was made to continue on to Point Sampson where Terry & Di were already settling in at the Cove Caravan Park. We stopped for a lunch break at Whim Creek which is nothing more than a Pub and a mine. The drive into Roebourne was quite nice with black hills in the distance to the South. The heat was really noticeable with heat waves coming off the fields and the highway.




Travelled through Roebourne and turned North to Point Sampson. Roebourne is not a pretty town and rivals Tennant Creek and/or Wilcania for places you'd least like to spend the night. Only maybe Elliot would so far surpass it. Travelled through Wickham which didn't beat Roebourne by much. Our expectations were dimming for what we would find in Point Sampson by this point as is only 8km further North. Well talk about night and day. As soon as you pulled into Point Sampson you could see lovely gardens, well kept homes, park areas, and most importantly buildings with out iron bars surrounding them. Lovely little town in a beautiful location. The caravan park while expensive ($39/night) is probably the cleanest and best laid out one we have been to yet. Amenities are spotless and large. Location is great as well, as you basically have water surrounding the park on 3 sides. Only downside would be that there is relatively little shade. We set up in a steamy 40 degrees. Put up our extra shade cloths before venturing down for a quick swim. It was great to see Di and Terry again and we all enjoyed a beautiful baked lamb dinner.

Tuesday morning Sandra spent some quality time on the phone with 7th Street Caravans and Dometic re our fridge problem. We have had a gut full but can't do anything until we reach next Dometic Service Agent in Exmouth. Thankfully the fridge works fine on 240AC so we are OK as long as we stay in caravan parks. Very frustrating but at least we can continue to enjoy our adventure until we get there. Sandra spent much of the day cleaning the caravan. Did it by hand with a bucket. Got 3 sides done and it looks a lot better.

John, Stephen, and Terry went for a fish down at the wharf in the morning. John caught 3 or 4 small fish, Bream and Batfish. None were keepers unfortunately. The afternoon saw most of us go down to Honeymoon Cove and enjoy a nice cool swim. The tide was mostly out but we still were able to find enough water to cool down. Sarah and Matt who we met at Eighty Mile Beach are staying at the caravan park to and came over for Happy Hour. They have had some problems with their camper as well so are stuck here for a few days while they get it resolved.

Wednesday morning we relaxed before taking Di and Sandra into Wickham for doctor's appointments. Di needed a prescription renewed and Sandra has been fighting a bad cold sore for a couple of weeks. The doctor was really nice and fixed up both girls with their prescriptions. John got some diesel and some beer while he waited. Woolies Liquor store is like a gaol with huge iron cage outside the entrance. The three of us then went shopping at Woolies, Chemist, and News Agent. The whole shopping centre was filthy and like a prison. Girls couldn't tell which bar to pull to open door into Chemist and I thought the News Agent was closed down until I saw people inside. What a terrible way to have to live and work.

Wednesday afternoon  Di, Sandra, and I went down for another swim at Honeymoom Cove. I took my snorkel gear and saw lots of fish near the reef and metal stanchion. I quickly returned to the caravan to pick up my fishing gear to have a go. Caught several small ones and used up all my bait very quickly. No fish again tonight but it was a beautiful cool way to spend the late afternoon.

Thursday the six of us went on a road trip into Karratha and Dampier. We stopped at the Karratha Visitor Centre which is quite nice before journeying on to Dampier. Karratha is another town that is 100% mining. Lots of construction both road and residential. Not much to see here other than shopping. We travelled by miles of salt storage areas before stopping at Red Dog Memorial at the entrance to Dampier. We had seen movie at the Broome open air theatre so were all anxious to see the memorial. Got a group picture before continuing on to the Lookout and Beach front for morning tea.




Busy little waterfront area but view is somewhat ruined by all the industrialization for mining/port/gas plant. You can see in the pictures below the contrast between natural beauty and the industrialization of Dampier. Journeyed from there around water front and out to the Burrup Peninsula to the Gas Plant. This was huge and had an amazing visitor centre located there. Very informative and a massive $27 Billion project. Supplies 40% of Australia's needs. It does however really ruin the natural beauty of the area; and it is understandable why they are fighting the plant at James Price Point north of Broome. Very important from an economic standpoint but what a shame to lose such beautiful natural treasures. We met some fellow Retreat owners there that we had met at the caravan park.





From there we travelled the very short distance to Hearsons Cove. How beautiful and certainly a sign of what the whole area must have once looked like. Beautiful blue waters with a beach made almost entirely of crushed shells. We enjoyed a nice lunch there although it was a bit windy. Stephen and I had a swim and I had a snorkel along the rocks to the point. Girls collected some more shells. We ran into a policeman in our travels the next day who told us they had evacuated the beach 3 days previously because of two massive Tiger Sharks. I said something about a crocodile sign and the Cop said "yeah they've had problems with that lately as well". S*#t! That was too close for comfort. Sandra will probably only let me in the shower and bathtub for a while now.




We drove back to Dampier to view the "Largest display of Japanese Dolls" at the local library. After much difficulty we found the library. The display must be the only display of Japanese Dolls as there were only about 7 dolls in total. Carol and Di got the giggles and had to be escorted out of the library and town before things turned ugly. Terry and I found a fishing book to study in the library while we waited. We actually took longer than the 3 girls and their wonderful display. As a point of interest all 3 guys had said the Doll Display sounded lame when first discussed earlier in the day. So great to be proven right once again (Well once at least)! Sorry no pictures due to the confidential nature of Japanese Doll Displays. We did see the large salt storage again on our way out and a wind surfer on the waterfront while searching for the Library.





We stopped at Karratha on the way back to do some shopping and top up the Diesel. Lovely big shopping centre. We have been told that is one of the most expensive places to live. One fellow told us people are spending over $500/week just for a room inside someones house. The Policeman we met said they are paying $2000/week for their rental home and that a basic home is worth over a million dollars. Yikes! How do people survive here? You especially wonder about retail staff etc. Once again gave Sandra and I some strong and unfavorable memories of Fort McMurray.

We continued back to Roebourne and north to Cossack. This is a lovely historic town with beautiful old buildings and the girls toured the Courthouse which had been renovated to it's original glory. We drove up to the lookout which gives a tremendous view of Point Sampson and the surrounding Ocean. It was low tide but still very impressive. We will try and get back to see during high tide as well.




Finally returned to the caravan park where Matt and Sarah joined us again for Happy Hour.

Friday morning Stephen, Carol, Sandra, and myself were up early and on the road to Millstream Chichester National Park. We took the Ransley's vehicle this time as ours was still shaken and sore from the Karijini trip. We journeyed back towards Karratha before turning south towards Tom Price. We travelled about 150Km south on this road, most of it sealed. The unsealed road was the complete opposite of Karijini and Rans was able to drive at a comfortable 100Km/h on all of it. We stopped along the way to get some pictures of the Iron Ore trains. We passed at least 6 (3 empty going South &  full going North). They were huge trains of about 250 cars. That was only in about 1.5 hours so imagine the amount of Iron Ore that travels North to the ports each day!


We continued south until we turned West towards Millstream. Our first stop was at Deep Reach Pool on the Fortescue River. It was amazing how much water was here considering almost all the creek/river beds we crossed were dry. They had a nice viewing area and ladders to climb in and out for a swim. It was still early so we passed on the swim and had morning tea overlooking the river. There was lots of lush green growth including Palm trees and hundreds of birds. Truly amazing when you consider only a short distance away there is almost no animal/bird life and very little green vegetation of any kind.




After morning tea we continued north to Cliff Lookout. Same river but suddenly we were a high above it on red cliffs.


Next stop was the Millstream Homestead which has been converted into the Park Visitor Centre. It was unmanned but very well done up. Lots of great information and may historical artifacts to view. Had running water, modern toilets and a very nice campground with lots of room and shady sites. Worth a look if ever staying in the area. We did a short walk at the Homestead which took us down through a lush area near the Millstream Creek. The original dwellers had planted palm trees etc. so was quite beautiful and surprisingly shady and cool. The water in the streams was as clear as you will ever see. Unfortunately this is an Aboriginal Sacred place and the one spot you are not to swim.




We journeyed on to Crossing Pool campground and swimming area. Had two small water crossings of Millstream Creek on the way. Also saw considerable infrastructure for the state water company. We had a nice lunch at Crossing Pool. We met the policeman we mentioned earlier with his wife and father in law here. Had a good visit about Karratha and the real humorous story about the sharks at Hearson Cove. Didn't feel much like a swim after that so decided to wait until another stop. Extra funny bit was that we had recommended Hearson Cove strongly to Matt and Sarah who were going there today. Who needs enemies when you have friends like us!


From here we left the Millstream area of the National Park and returned North before turning East towards the Chichester ranges portion of the National Park. Completely different from each other but both beautiful in their own way. Gorgeous views at Mount Herbert and Panorama Lookout. It seemed like we were pulling over around every bend in the road to get more pictures. John almost went hang gliding at Panorama Lookout when Ran's Jim Beam Sun Visor decided to blow out of the car towards the cliff. I caught it just in time and managed not to get airborne. Might have been fun for a little bit but it is pretty worn and probably would have folded up as soon as it was in the air.





We continued down the hill by car to the Python Pool. Got there just as a bus load of school kids was packing up and leaving. Thank goodness because, if they had been just getting there, we would have given it a miss. The Pool was located at the base of a cliff. It was a bit green but appeared clear and had lots of fish life. Carol and I took our chances and ventured in. Beautiful and cool. Very refreshing! Stephen and Sandra didn't like the looks of the water so gave it a miss. I didn't get any itches later so it must have been OK.


We then retraced our steps back to the main road and out to the highway at Karratha. It was a pretty quiet trip home as we were all tired. A big day with about 450Km travelled and lots of stops. Millstream Chichester is a beautiful park and is done up beautifully. Unsealed roads were high quality, amenities were good at the various stops, and beautiful paths and lookouts had been installed at many locations. Very inviting park and a shining example of what Karijini is missing. We had a wonderful day and will definitely recommend!

By the way Matt and Sarah joined us for Happy Hour; so they too survived Hearson Cove. Not so lucky with the rest of their day and ongoing issues with their tent trailer repair. Gave up on hopeless repair company in Port Hedland and went to retrieve their camper today. Matt almost got in a fight with the boss as they found grease marks all over their bed and upholstery inside. Needless to say they won't be returning to Port Hedland anytime soon.


Saturday is our last day in this beautiful location and we have spent the day relaxing, cleaning, blogging, and generally preparing for the next part of our adventure. Sandra finished the 4th side of the caravan and I got the car a bit cleaner as well after our Karijini adventure. I was just reviewing my posting and realized I have no pictures of the caravan park included. However if you look at the Cossack Lookout photo of Point Sampson and Ocean at Low tide above you can see the caravan park and what a beautiful location it is!

October 22nd & 23rd, 2011-Karijini National Park-Albert Tognolini Rest Stop

Saturday we were up and off early for Karijini National Park which is 300kms south west of Port Hedland. We travelled 50km west on the main highway before turning south on the Great Northern Highway towards Newman, then 250km along this road past the Auski Road House before stopping at a free rest stop called Albert Tognolini. Wow! This is by far the most picturesque rest stop we have seen. Even surpassed our free stay in the West McDonnell Ranges at Alice Springs. The pictures below tell the story. There is ample space past the lookout point for caravans of any size. The views from some of these are as good as the ones from the lookout. No facilities, but lots of space with shade trees available. Perfect. We had the place all to ourselves the first night.




We setup our caravans and had some lunch. Luckily the weather was not too hot (only low 30s) and we got some shade and a nice breeze. After lunch we journeyed with the Ransley's for 60kms to the Karijini National Park Visitor Centre. We got our Western Australia National Park passes and did the tour of the Visitor Centre which is lovely and informative. We then ventured out to Dales Gorge to do a quick walk. We went down into the Fortesque Falls and Fern Pool. It was a short walk but quite steep down into the gorge (Even steeper coming back up). Very pretty! Carol and Stephen went for a swim in Fern Pool while Sandra and I rested in the cool shade.






We returned to the Ransley's car and drove back to our campground. Had a lovely meal but ate in our caravans because of the flies. Once the sun was down the flies disappeared and it was a nice cool night because of the breeze. We were all a bit sore because of the walk. Had an early night as had a big day planned for Sunday.

Sunday we got away by 7:30 and headed out toKarijini again. Took our car today which turned out to be a mistake. Road was lovely and sealed until we got just past the Visitor Centre. The road turned to gravel and was it bad. Worst corrugation we have experienced and it went on and on. Disgrace for a National Park or any public road in Australia. I tried all different speeds to make it better, but just changed the speed at with your teeth shook. Thank god none of us wear dentures as they would have shaken right out! It is so unfortunate as the sights we saw rival many better known parks (Kakadu and Litchfield to name two) but will never get the attention they deserve until roads are improved. They were bad enough that we returned to the Visitor Centre on our return journey to rewrite our previous days positive review. Well enough about the roads; let's focus on the wonderful sights.




 Our first stop was Kalamina Gorge. After we stopped shaking we did a beautiful 2-3 hour walk down into the gorge and along its river bed for a few kilometers. Small falls at the start and incredible rock formations. The rocks are as red as we have seen and the upheaval that must have occurred here would have been incredible. Creek was flowing and very clear. Made it down to the Arch Rock which Stephen and I climbed before stopping for morning tea is a lovely shaded spot. Not too hot as shaded in spots and a bit of a breeze. We all really enjoyed this walk. A bit of climbing and moving along ledges but relatively easy.





We returned to the car and drove to our farthest point in our days travels, Weano Day Area. Total of about 60km of the awful road. We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch free of flies while we got our land legs back. Sandra's jaw was out of alignment because of the road and we all were a bit shaken. After lunch we did the Oxer and Junction Pool lookouts at Weano. Wow! Unbelievable drop into the gorges from the view points. Four or Five Gorges meet at this point and it is spectacular. As per usual there were a number of fools that didn't understand the dangers and what barriers mean. See below a picture of two particularly bright ones. Someone had just died in the park within the last couple of months from falling and signs were everywhere.




We headed back down the road before turning into the Joffre Falls and Knox Gorge. Even worse road but mercifully only 6km. The Joffre Falls were incredible and would be amazing in wet season when more water was flowing. Natural amphitheatre has been created by the water and people were swimming down in the gorge. We didn't venture down as was quite warm and our bodies were all showing their age.  The Knox lookout was incredible again. Huge red cliffs and a massive drop into the gorge below. Again there was swimming holes below but a number of these are Class 5 or 6 walks which are really designed for very serious climbers. We passed and returned to car and headed off for home. Stopped and took some funny shots with a couple of Termite mounds. I think we were a bit crazed by this point in our day. Called in at Visitor's Centre as per above to revise our reviews of park in Guest Book before heading home. We were all exhausted and quite shaken from our day but really enjoyed the sights of Karijini. Very underrated park that we hadn't heard of until recently from other travellers. Very difficult to not go see but be prepared for the awful road conditions.






We had another dinner in our caravans because of the flies. Flies cleared off again and the four of us relaxed outside watching the stars, counting Sputniks, and seeing some falling stars. Beautiful! A number of other campers had found the campground during the day so we didn't have it all to ourselves. Fortunately it is so spread out that you really don't notice the other campers or even hear them. Great free camp spot and one not to be missed if you travel to Karijini. Much nicer than the National Park one at Dales Gorge (which you pay for). Also don't even consider taking a caravan into the ECO Resort in Karijini. It is $30/night for an unpowered site and you would need to take your caravan over 50km of the worst road you could imagine.

Another downside from our journey here is we have discovered that our caravan fridge is once more not working on gas. Our fridge was up to 20 degrees this morning so we have transferred everything we could to our portable fridge/freezer and our Esky. I won't go into too much detail but many unkind words have been spoken (and that was just Sandra's input). The next Dometic dealer is Exmouth so we will need to avoid free camping until we reach there.