Chris & Merelyn's Travels

After our couple of days inland we headed back out to the coast. Finally we are going in a Northerly direction. Next stop was Cape Keraudren.We had driven up here from Port on one of Chris’s days off last year, and thought it was a good place to come back to on our way home. As it is peak tourist season over here at the moment, we drove around the camping areas before deciding to set up down on the creek . Some areas on the cliff tops, the vans were packed in like sardines. A nice view of the ocean, but not an easy walk down to the water.

Down on the creek ,we had easy access to the beach and only a few others camped there. The water in the creek was a beautiful turquoise and ok to cool off in.

I think we stayed here for 4 days, becoming real beach bums, did lots of walking and collecting shells, even Chris would come back from a walk with a heap of little treasures. If the van wasn’t overloaded before, Im sure it is now, after our stay here.

From this area of the Cape you can see the sunrise as well as set over the water.

After our time here, an early morning start, got us back out to the highway and heading North again, we called into the Sandfire roadhouse for fuel. Next stop will be at Barnhill Station, a large property that has 80 or more kms of coast line.

Just a few more photos from Chinamans pool in Marble Bar. It may be renowned for being the hottest place in Australia, but you sure can get some cool pics there. Found these extra photos of our day there and thought I would put them up.

Our first housesit turned out to be a great, we caught up with friends, went for beach walks each evening and to top it off Tod cooked us a lovely farewell breakfast, with Darryl and Trish (also ex Kalari work mates) on their return from holiday. We ended up leaving town about lunchtime and made our first nights camp on the bank of the Shaw River, on our way to Marble Bar.

So much bird life enjoying the last of the water in the river. Bush flowers are also starting to come out in this area as well.

A nice quiet spot to enjoy the evening .

The next morning we headed out the Marble Bar road. Chris was interested in seeing the new cutting through Koogan Gorge, that has now been finished since we were here last year. It’s a shame I think, as the Pilbara’s landscape is unique and so naturally beautiful it’s a shame to go carving it up. Guess thats progress 🤔

To make up for this last photo of the cutting here is some of the landscape nearby .

The next camp was on a property not far from Marble Bar. A dry creek, but there was a dam and windmill, and a nice view out the window of the hills nearby. Also some sandstone cliffs and wildflowers.

Next day we went to Chinamans pool in Marble Bar. It’s a great place for photos and to do some rock climbing. Not a lot of water there this season, maybe next year we will see it in the wet season, the rocks would be spectacular after rain.

Just had to stop and take some photos of my favourite bush flowers, the Stuart peas. Just love them.

We then spent another night with the birds on the Shaw River.

After catching up with friends at Point Sampson a week or so ago .It was decided that we would House sit while they holiday in Bali. We arrived in time, on the saturday afternoon, to meet the 2 cats and the no so friendly dog, before they flew out. Ruby the dog and I soon came to an understanding, that she would be very hungry, if we didn’t become friends! She must of taken me at my word, as we thought we would sleep in our van, our bed already made up, ect. But no After 3 attempts at putting her to bed, lights off, shutting door and going back to van … each time she started barking and crying , just like a kid. Finally I made the spare room bed up for us, and put her dog bed at the door. As you can see by the next morning she was quite at home on the bed with Chris. And like a child I cannot even go to the toilet without Ruby and the cats escorting me. Guess that’s her meaning of friends !!??

Its been good to have some time back here, as we’ve been able to meet up with friends that worked with Chris at Kalari, and Chris has been able to get more things set up on the new ute ready for the trip home.

I was able to watch the tennis on a big screen, yes, love that, and even Chris sat up watching till the early hours of the morning .

Each afternoon we go for a nice long beach walk, collect shells and watch the sun go down . Its a beautiful time of the day and year here.

The bush is full of flowers now , the only shame is the sand is so coarse and brown. Apart from sun sets the Moon is coming up to full moon tonight, so hopefully I will get some good photos of the Stairway to the moon . The viewing platform is at the end of the street, so I don’t have to walk far.

By the way I don’t edit or add filters to any of my photos I post, In my opinion if they need to be edited then they are not good enough, I love the pastels in the evening photos.

That’s it for now the blog is up to date, bring on the full moon tonight. x

Oh what a mess, just over the bridge at Cane river, we hit not one but 2 cows. One on my side came up on the bonnett, and all I could see was its big red body and legs right in my face. Happened so quickly. Thank God for seat belts. Then we came to a standstill, still partly on the road. Too my amazement I was ok !! Such a calm feeling came over me, till I realised the situation we were in. Chris went back to check the cows were off the road, and warn a roadtrain that was not far behind us. Then panic set in as I had to try and organise a tow truck to get us off the road. Lucky help came with a young chap who already had a breakdown in tow, but said he could hook us up as well and drag us to a safer place down the road. So safe in a pull off area we gave up on trying to get help that night and went to bed. With Chris experience in driving roadtrains, he managed to hold the vehicles steady, and so no damage was done to the van. Lucky he didn’t swerve as there was about a 40 foot drop off, either side of the road where it happened

The next morning the damage was evident. The red Triton had met its fate the same as the 2 cows. Chris rang Mitsubishi Pilbara, in Karratha, to see what they had. Before we knew it Martin, the owner, was offering us a place to stay and a loan car till we got sorted. Insurance company arranged towing to Karratha, some 300 kms away. Just as well we had phone service.

A couple of cows from the herd still about to cross the road. So many feeding on the roads now after the little rain they had.

Our loan vehicle was a top of the range new Triton, very nice. The tow truck driver dropped the van off in the Caravan park and helped us get our stuff out of the red one. It was like sideshow alley when we arrived, people came out of their vans from everywhere, some offering cups of tea, others taking their dogs for a walk[ just to sticky beak] haha. we were given a good spot at the end of a row and looking out into the hills. by nightfall 24 hrs after the accident we were all good for a few days Rand R and think about whats next.

We decided on a new Triton, Karratha had one in stock, so I had the choice of silver or silver, if we wanted to get back on road sooner than later. next it was in the workshop and Chris was able do fit it all out there . They were so good to us.

Obviously he new what he was doing as by the end of the week we were all wired up with tow bar and cameras,and ready to get on road again. A bit of a blip but all is good . One more night in the van park and we were heading for Port Hedland.

After our few relaxing days at 14 mile beach, we left about 10am and travelled up the road to have lunch at Coral Bay . Nice, but very busy, so not our cup of tea, so to speak. I walked up to a lookout and took a couple of photos, before we left.

That evening we pulled into a roadside camp to spend the night before going to Exmouth the next day. Spent the whole day there looking around and getting a set of tyres on the car.

There is a fair amount to see there about WWII.

Also a ship wreck off the point

The beach front on this side of the Exmouth Gulf is very stony, but the oysters on the pier pylons were huge

That evening we were later than normal getting back to the highway, where we fueled up at a roadhouse, and made the decision to do another hour of travel before stopping for the night .We have 300 kms to go before we get to Karratha, where we have the car booked in for a service, the next morning. Driving on into the Pilbara, I took a photo thinking, how special is this place. You can see why people are so attracted to it.

Then it happened. BANG !!!

The weather cleared, and it was a bit of a non event really. Just a time to stop and catch up with fellow travellers, who give some good and some not so good comments on where to camp and the condition of the roads. We took one neighbours advice and headed out to Warroora Station, known as 14 mile beach camp . It was an hour or so drive off the highway, and we had to let the pressure down on the tyres before entering. When we arrived we were shown to a top spot on the beach front, by the caretakers.

Yes this will do us !! The station itself is huge and has a lovely beach that is protected buy the reef offshore. Can see why people from down south come up here and camp for the winter. Great fishing and swimming, and lots of off road tracks to explore.

The view from the windows of van, not bad either.

Chris is finding it hard to stay still for long, so our daily drives on the property gave him something to do and allowed me to get more photos of the place. Plenty of other campers all over the station, but mainly along the beach front.

Could quite easily get lost, but having the water on the west makes it easy to find your way back.

A bit of fun with the camera

And at the end of the day there was always a beautiful sunset over the water. Loved our 4 days here, especially having our first swims, after being in the dry Wheat belt area .

After a nice time at Wooramel Station, and still heading north ,we called in and had a look around Carnarvon. Quite nice around the foreshore

From there we headed inland again and set up in the caravan park at Gascoigne Junction. Rain was forecast so we decided to see what the day was like before going out to the Kennedy Ranges.

When the Gascoyne River floods al roads for miles around are closed, often for weeks on end, so as you can see by the boat on the roof of the building across the river , it wouldn’t be good to get stuck out here

However the rocky area around the banks of the river make a good catchment area ,and picnic spot.for the town and farms around, still has water in it, when most rivers are dry

Not far out of town there is a cobbled road, by Kingsford Smith, for transport, before he got into aircraft travel. Chris thought it interesting, so I took a photo.

The next day was fine and a little cooler, so off we went to do the Kennedy Rangers,and we were not disappointed

I have so many photos of the places we explored, it;s hard to pick which ones to load up. We walked dry creek beds ,clambered over rocks , nearly knocked myself out on a overhanging branch !! In general had a big day out .

As the clouds started to come over that afternoon we headed back into the Junction, hooked up the van and travelled back out to the coast road and found a free camp on the river, with quite a few others . All sitting there while the showers of rain cleared.

Minilya River camp with rain on the way We stayed for 3 nights before moving on.

We are just taking each day as it comes, which is nice. Not getting very far, just zig zaging from one camp to another, only going to the coastal areas on day trips. So many caravaners at the moment.

We have’nt stayed at a station, so called into Wooramel for a one night stay. That night we were entertained by a bush poet, with damper around the camp fire to follow. A nice night.

The next day we decided to stay another 3 nights . Just loved spending sunrises and sunsets in the artesian spars, there are 4 of them, which are empied and cleaned daily. Water is a constant 34 degrees. Ahhhh.

Across the way from the camp site there is the farm tip, of great interest to all the guys. Lots of interesting things, discarded over the years.

I was more interested in the bird life and taking photos of the magnificent white gums that line the river banks, which make for lovely camping spots on the property. Also nice picnic areas.

While there we purchased a mud map of the station, $10, and went for the day 4 wheel driving. The place is huge, and backs onto the Indian Ocean.

Somewhere we came across the old shearing sheds and quarters. Had fun with the camera here. Chris was more interested in the machinery, still left there.

We took the river crossing, on the way back to our camp. They call it the upside down river, dry on top and a never ending supply of water underneath. The showers are all a constant 34 degrees and the amenities are in big round tanks, quite quaint really.

On the Wednesday evenings the owners do a big cook up in the camp ovens, Chilli chicken con carne, rice greens and damper, was on the menu the night we were there. Our entertainment for the night was country singer songwriter Terry Bennetts, look him up, was he good.! We ended up buying his CDs.

The next morning it was time for one last spa and head out, We really enjoyed this place. The owners are doing a great job of setting it up, whilst keeping it as a natural bush camp . A lovely, friendly family, supplementing the hard life on the land. It only opened 5 yrs ago, and I think it has a great future. We wished them well.

After our big exciting morning up at Natures Window in the Kalbarri National Park, we had to make a dash back to the caravan park and pack up. By this time we were getting hungry, so it was cuppa time at a river park, before leaving town. Next stop was at a lookout, overlooking the Murchison. Glad we didn’t have to walk too far this time. Too much exercise in one day can’t be good for an old girl, eh. !

Ok, that done, next was to venture onto an old lead mining site.

We have been here before, and it appears the old chimney is starting to deteriorate, but that didn’t stop me from sticking my head in to take a photo.

Time to find another camp for the night, there is a good one beside a bridge that we know of so heading there.

There is a new bridge ,since here last, but the old one can still be used

lovely bush camp with lots of bird life and the wild flowers are just starting to come out after having recent rain. so relaxing,just wandering around to see what I can find.

Like a duck to water, I love staying in areas like this. Our next stop is Wooramel Station, and will be our first time to stay on a station. Looking forward to the experience, has good reports on Wiki camps, so hope we like it.