We were a bit concerned about our drive back to the highway as the fire had been burning on both sides of the road. We went through some heavy smoke but the fires were quite subdued with there being no wind early in the morning. We made it through fine and back to the highway. Unfortunately disaster hit Terry and Di on our 9Km trip into Eighty Mile Beach. The road was unsealed and quite corrugated. About 3Km in Di called us on the UHF to say they had a problem. Turned out that one of the suspension units on their caravan, that they had replaced in Darwin, had fallen apart. They were stuck in the middle of the road and unable to move. As luck would have it there was still no Telstra Mobile service so we were well and truly stranded. Sandra and I continued into the caravan park and got setup. Carol and Stephen were already there. We contacted NRMA from a payphone as the caravan office was only open for 2 hours early in morning and 2 hours late in afternoon. Numerous trips back and forth by us and the Ransley's delivering messages, water, etc. during the day. Unfortunately NRMA was not able to arrange for anyone to come pick up the caravan till the next morning. Di didn't feel comfortable leaving the van so they spent the night on the road. No problems but Di didn't sleep very well. Terry didn't let the incident inconvenience him and enjoyed his usual 5 cold cans sitting in his lawn chair in the shade of the caravan, before sleeping the night away like a baby! On the positive side as wel,l they received overwhelming support from fellow caravaners during their ordeal. Several stopped and offered assistance. Great to know that your not out there alone when disaster strikes.
Sandra, Carol, Stephen and I enjoyed some walks along the beach. This is the Shell Capital of Western Australia apparently and the girls were in their glory.
Wednesday morning the four of us were up early doing another long walk along the beach. Many, many, many shells were collected during this process. They are truly beautiful and so unique. We also were lucky enough to see a large sea turtle returning to the ocean from where she had laid her eggs. She had mistimed her return to the ocean with low tide, so had a terrible ordeal to make it back. Was sad to see her struggle but we saw her finally make it back and hope that she survived the experience.
Finally before lunch the tow truck showed up from Port Hedland and hauled Terry and Di's caravan away. NRMA put them up in a cabin for a few days at Eighty Mile Beach while their caravan got sorted out. Di was anxious to make up for lost time once she saw the girl's shell treasures and they went for another walk/collection before sunset. Beautiful. We enjoyed a nice group meal together at Terry and Di's cabin. What luxury!
Thursday morning I went for a long walk down the beach for exercise. Carol, Sandra, and Di went as well but covered a much shorter distance as they were collecting again on their walk. I picked up a few as well. The flies were atrocious but kept away from our faces with our bug repellent. Check out the girls backs below. The girls spent much of the day sorting, cleaning, and packing away their treasures. Terry, Stephen, and I went for a fish. The conditions were poor as the strong winds had really stirred up the weeds. We struggled big time so I finally walked out in the surf up to my shoulders to cast in over the weed. Caught a number of Threadfin Salmon but all were fairly small so released them. Had a couple of good bites and lost my hook on something big. A bit nervous re the shark situation but I survived unscathed. We enjoyed another dinner and Terry and Di's that evening. Met a nice young couple from Adelaide, Matt and Sarah, while fishing.
Sandra and I packed up what we could for our trip to Port Hedland tomorrow. Di and Terry will be a day behind as they pick up their caravan on Saturday in Port Hedland. Eighty Mile Beach is a lovely location that would have been that much nicer without the strong winds while we were there. The caravan park is quite nice and amenities are clean. The office staff was not very friendly and we have been warned that this is what we should expect in much of Western Australia. Apparently staffing is a difficult issue for most service businesses because of the mines hiring all the best people. Sounds a lot like our old home in Fort McMurray back in Canada.
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